
LSTCON 2022
PHOTOS
Thank you for joining us for LSTCON 2022. We hope to see you next year!
LSTCON 2022 speakers are industry leaders in innovative diagnostics, drugs and therapies, medical devices, investment and economic growth and regulatory issues.
Thank you for participating in LSTCON 2022.

Alejandra Alvarez
Director of the Center for Innovation, Regional One

Dr. Bryan Heckman
Director of Social Determinants of Health, Meharry Medical College

Elizabeth Hart
Director Office of Faith-Based and Community Engagement, TN Dept. of Health

Courtney Christian
Senior Director- Equity Initiative, PhRMA

Stephen White, DPhil
President and Dean, St. Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

Stacey Patterson
Vice President for Research, Outreach and Economic Development, University of Tennessee

Dr. Erika Dillard
Founder/ CEO, PopCheck Technologies, Inc

Padma Raghavan
Vice Provost for Research and Professor of Computer Science, Vanderbilt University

Peter Pellerito
Senior Policy Adviser in the executive office, Biotechnology Innovation Organization

Mark Kilgore
Associate, Patterson Law Firm

Megan Lane
Founder, Lane Government Relations

Jim Stefansic, Ph.D.
Director of Corporate Development, Cumberland Emerging Technologies

Kevin Christopher
Founder & Principle, Rockridge Venture Law Co-founder, Resolute Therapeutics

Kayla Rodriguez Graff, MBA
CEO and Co-Founder, SweetBio

Kris Todd
Founder, Living with Melanoma

Dr. Melissa Johnson
Lung Cancer Specialist, Tennessee Oncology

Tom Rogers
Executive Director, Spark Innovation Center

Dr. Christopher Calabrese
Vice President of Laboratory Research Operations, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Meryl Harris
Director of Business Development, TNECD

Brian Yoor
Chairman and Operating Partner, Portal Innovations

Ken Brown
Executive Vice Chancellor, UTHSC

Emily Ogden
Regional Government Relations Director, American Cancer Society
The Venture Forum, sponsored by Waller, is a unique pitch competition for Tennessee’s emerging life science startups that takes place during LSTCON. The forum allows startups to access funding and potential investment opportunities, as well as marketing support. Each company has 10 minutes to pitch before a panel of judges who evaluate each team on IP and commercialization strategy. Finalists compete for a $10k prize awarded by Waller.
Our Presenting Companies for 2022:
AUGMENT HEALTH- Based in Memphis, Augment Health is a medical device company empowering people to achieve their maximum health, dignity, and independence. Their technology helps patients with neurological conditions monitor and manage the health of their bladders while eliminating the usage of urine bags.
HERA HEALTH SOLUTIONS- Memphis-based Hera Health Solutions is a pharmaceutical device company specializing in the research, development, and commercialization of long-acting treatments through proprietary bio erodible delivery implants.
LIMULESS, LLC- Limuless, LLC, based in Nashville, is a research-based biotechnology company developing a drop-in, recombinant substitute for the Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate (LAL) assay, which will supply the pharmaceutical industry with the necessary tools to sustainably safeguard humanity’s supply of medicines from bacterial contamination.
UTILIZE HEALTH– Headquarter in Nashville, Utilize Health is a digital health company that manages health plans, provider systems and self-funded employers with a specialized care management program for their members with complex neurological conditions, including stroke, spinal cord injury, and traumatic brain injury.
YAYA SCIENTIFIC- Founded and operated in Nashville, Yaya Scientific is a medical device company using a patented combination of polarized light (PoL) and diffuse reflectance imaging (DRIm) which provides surgeons unparalleled resolution and detection to prevent accidental nerve injury surgical mistakes.