November 5 | Revance Headquarters
November 5 | Revance Headquarters
LSTCON is Life Science Tennessee’s annual conference that brings together Tennessee‘s life science ecosystem to collaborate, learn, and build meaningful connections across the state.
At LSTCON, you will hear from state and national industry leaders and researchers about topics driving industry change. Past sessions have explored use cases for leveraging AI, the rise of innovation districts to support life science research and development, research innovating life-saving treatments and care, workforce development, and policies that protect (not stifle) innovation. As always, LSTCON includes the crowd-favorite Venture Forum pitch competition for life science startups and dedicated time to network.
The event will be held at Revance Headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee. If you would like to sponsor a session, suggest a speaker, or learn about other opportunities during the conference, please email us at [email protected].
Networking breakfast begins at 8:00am.
9:00 AM Welcome & Opening Remarks
- Jenn Adams, August Bioservices and Life Science Tennessee board chair
9:15 AM More Than Skin-Deep: Advances in Aesthetic and Regenerative Medicine
From advanced wound care treatments and tissue regeneration to aesthetic applications and commercial cosmetic products, Tennessee companies are driving innovation in state-of-the-art, scientific skin and tissue technology. Leaders from three top medtech companies discuss how the latest scientific advances inform their research and product development.
- Jeff Bedard, Revance; Kayla Graff, SweetBio; Charlie Hee, Lynch Regenerative Medicine; and Craig Reavis, The MJ Companies (moderator)
10:00 AM Fireside Chat with Senator Bill Hagerty
This fireside chat with U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty will explore Tennessee’s competitive advantages in life sciences and how federal policy can help accelerate growth in an industry that is increasingly important to both our state’s economy and national competitiveness.
- Senator Bill Hagerty; and Jenn Adams, August Bioservices
11:00 AM Breakout Closing the Distance: How New Medical Technology Can Bring Better Care to Rural Communities
Hospital closures, transportation challenges, and staffing shortages can mean many conditions are caught late and chronic illnesses go unmanaged for rural residents. New tools, including wearable sensors, remote monitoring, and AI-assisted screening, could help close that gap. This panel brings together researchers and med-tech founders to talk about what these technologies can do for rural patients, what it will take to get them into the homes and clinics that need them most, and how innovation can help solve chronic challenges in healthcare access and delivery.
- Brad Day, University of Tennessee – Knoxville (moderator); Santosh Kumar, CuesHub; and Jim Stefansic, OmniBuds
11:00 AM Breakout Beyond the Breakthrough: Navigating the Challenges of Academic Technology Commercialization
Transforming promising academic discoveries into real-world solutions requires more than scientific breakthroughs. Commercialization challenges can be particularly pronounced for technologies targeting rare and ultra-rare diseases, where significant unmet medical needs may intersect with small patient populations and unique development hurdles. Drawing on perspectives from research and technology commercialization, the panel will explore strategies for overcoming common barriers, building effective industry partnerships, and aligning scientific potential with viable pathways to translation.
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Lisa Jordan, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; Juan Carlos Lopez-Talavera, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; Christopher Rowe, Vanderbilt University (moderator); and Michael Villalobos, Vanderbilt University
12:00 PM Networking Lunch
1:00 PM Panel Election 2026: What Does It Mean for Life Sciences?
With the consequential 2026 midterm elections taking place just two days before LSTCON 2026, biotech industry analysts and policymakers discuss the election results, explore underlying trends, and futurecast what those political headwinds may mean for the life science industry over the next two years and beyond.
- Chris Burger, Rotunda Public Affairs; Lindsey Cox, Launch Tennessee; Abby Trotter, Life Science Tennessee; and Michael Werner, Holland & Knight (moderator)
2:00 PM Breakout Fueling the Pipeline: Capital Formation Strategies for Life Science Companies
Raising capital in the life sciences has never required more creativity. This panel brings together experts from leading VC and medtech investment firms to unpack how life science companies can build a plan that matches their science, milestones, and timeline. Panelists will share what investors are funding now, the mistakes that cost founders time, and strategies for connecting with the right investors at the right time.
- Brian Cashin, Teamworthy Ventures (moderator); Charles Caldwell, JP Morgan; Shahila Christie, Future Ethos Fund; and Colby Kash, Kash Family Office
2:00 PM Breakout Going Global: Recruiting International Companies as Partners, Investors and U.S. Market Entrants
International companies aren’t just competitors — they’re potential partners, investors, customers and neighbors. But attracting them takes more than a pitch deck and a plane ticket. In this session, two practitioners who have spent decades on the front lines of international expansion share a practical playbook for bringing global companies to your region, your organization and your cap table. Together they’ll cover what international companies actually need when entering the U.S. market, how to position your organization as the partner they choose, and how Tennessee’s life science community can turn global interest into lasting local investment.
- Nathan Buttrey, TN Dept. of Economic & Community Development (moderator); Audrey Depelteau, ETSU; and John Scannapieco, Global Health Innovators and Womble Bond Dickinson
3:00 PM Tennessee Success Story: Lyric’s Acquisition of Concert Genetics
This summer, Lyric acquired Nashville-based Concert, the company that grew out of Concert Genetics and has spent more than a decade making the complex world of genetic and diagnostic testing understandable to health plans. Lyric already supports claims decisions for more than 200 million lives and is used by nine of the Top 10 U.S. health plans. Adding Concert’s machine-readable clinical policy will create one of the most comprehensive systems in the country for precision diagnostics and treatment.
Rob Metcalf, who led Concert through its growth and the acquisition, will talk about what this exit tells us about Tennessee: the state’s strength where healthcare services meet life sciences, the talent and capital that make deals like this possible, and how local innovators can build companies that shape the national market.
- Rob Metcalf, Lyric; and Abby Trotter, Life Science Tennessee
3:30 PM Venture Forum – sponsored by Holland & Knight
- Karrie Dudek, Life Science Venture Program
- Sara Klock, Holland & Knight
5:00 PM Networking Reception – co-hosted by the Tennessee Medical Association
The Venture Forum is a unique pitch competition for Tennessee’s emerging life science startups that takes place during Life Science Tennessee’s annual conference, LSTCON. Startups will pitch their companies to a panel of investors for the chance to win a $10,000 cash prize.
Meet this year’s competing companies!
VENTURE FORUM
VENTURE FORUM
VENTURE FORUM
VENTURE FORUM
VENTURE FORUM
Borvo Therapeutics
Borvo Therapeutics is focused on the prevention of Oral Mucositis (OM) and loss of taste in radiation and chemo-therapy patients using a patented oral foaming formulation containing amifostine. Our foaming formulation is administered as a dry powder that, when taken orally, forms an expansive, sticky foam to deliver amifostine throughout the oral cavity and coat the esophagus when swallowed with increased residence time, increased concentration, increased permeation and pH control.
Perceptive Robotics
Perceptive Robotics is building the future of A.I.-enabled robotic surgery, starting with LumenSense, which gives doctors the sense of touch they need in catheter-based stroke treatment. During aspiration thrombectomy, performed about 70,000 times a year in the U.S., physicians cannot feel whether the catheter tip is touching clot, vessel wall, or open lumen. LumenSense snaps onto the hub of existing aspiration catheters and tells the physician what the tip is touching while it is still being positioned, before aspiration begins. It requires no change to the catheter, no change to the workflow, and no new expense. The technology comes from eight years of Vanderbilt research led by the company’s founders.
Provision Surgical
Provision Surgical is a Nashville-based medical device company building an AI-powered augmented reality platform for orthopedic surgery, starting with total knee replacement. Surgical robots and conventional navigation systems carry high capital and per-case costs, add setup time, and remain out of reach for most community hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers. Our system, PAIR Guide, uses AI to segment the patient’s CT or MRI into 3D bone models and build the preoperative plan, then registers that plan to the patient without markers and displays it directly on the surgical field through optical see-through glasses for real-time navigation. The result is the precision of computer-assisted surgery at a fraction of the cost.
VoluMetrix
VoluMetrix is a Nashville-based medical device company pioneering the use of the venous waveform, a signal present in every peripheral vein, to deliver actionable clinical measurements. Backed by a decade of human research, 19 peer-reviewed publications, and 58 issued patents, its platform supports eight clinical applications. Its lead products are NIVA-HF, an FDA Breakthrough Device for noninvasive cardiac filling-pressure assessment, and ClearIV, which confirms IV placement before high-risk medication administration.
