
POSTER SESSION
THE ANTHONY SHUKER SCIENTIFIC POSTER SESSION
The Executive Committee invites the submission of abstracts from Georgia-based scientists for this year's poster session. Abstracts must be submitted electronically online.
This opportunity to participate in the Poster Session is open to representatives from Georgia-based academia, research institutes and industry alike, and we especially encourage students and post-doctoral fellows to participate. Abstracts will be subject to the same scientific review as for any national or regional meeting. The scientific content of poster presentations should reflect one of the following categories:
Click on the topics below to see this year's selected Poster Sessions:
For student, post-doctoral or non-profit organization abstracts selected, the corresponding author of each poster will receive complimentary registration to the Summit. In addition, posters submitted by students will be eligible for a limited number of poster awards.
Why a poster session?
Georgia Bio understands that research takes time to accumulate, compile, and publish in an understandable format. As a Research Presenter you want to get this valuable information into as many of the right hands as possible and the Summit Poster Session is a highly effective way to do this. Apply for the poster session so you can communicate your research topic to a wide audience in Georgia's bioscience industry.
2022 Poster Winners
The Anthony Shuker Scientific Poster Award
Maria Blahove – Augusta University
Is Fluid-phase Endocytosis a Therapeutic Target for Aneurysms?
Tanvi Karve – Mercer University
Transdermal delivery of linagliptin using chemical enhancers and iontophoresis for the treatment of type-2 diabetes
Ekrem Ozkan - University of Georgia
Bioinspired Superhydrophobic and Liquid-infused Slippery Coatings for Decreased Fouling, Thrombosis, and Infection of Medical Devices
The Down South House & Home Award for Grace and Poise
Piyush Padhi – University of Georgia
Emerging Microbiome Genetic Engineering Technology for Stable Levodopa Delivery in Parkinson's Disease
The Rick Hillstead Medical Devices Award
Kayla Fantone – University of Georgia
A bacterial serine protease inhibitor, ecotin, inhibits neutrophil elastase in cystic fibrosis airway samples
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POSTER SESSION JUDGES

Stacy Shuker Reece, Ph.D.
Down South Innovation Connector, Healthcare, and Life Science Innovation
Stacy Shuker Reece has been a part of Atlanta’s life sciences industry since 2006. She started as a scientific advisor in an intellectual property law firm where she gained experience with patents, technology licensing and initiated the firm’s business development activities. In 2008 she moved to the Georgia Department of Economic Development and became the Director of the Center of Innovation for Life Sciences. In this role, she created strategic relationships for Georgia’s biotechnology companies to assist them in their technology commercialization efforts. She worked with companies ranging from global pharmaceuticals to pre-clinical, early stage companies. It was there that she pioneered the use of social media in economic development and saved the Centers $85,000 in marketing costs.
In 2012, she moved to Georgia Bio to initiate an industry partnering program between multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical companies and scientists in academia and emerging companies. These meetings led to a clinical trial, a biannual conference and research collaborations.
She has chaired and served on several committees of Georgia Bio, Southeast BIO, Southeast Medical Device Association, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the MIT Enterprise Forum of Atlanta and StartupLounge. She is also a member of the Advisory Committee for the Biotechnology Research & Development Pathway in Barrow County.

Carol E. McMahon, J.D.
Director for Privacy and Administrative Compliance, Emory University
Carol McMahon is the Director for Privacy and Administrative Compliance in the Office of Compliance at Emory University. Prior to joining the Office of Compliance, she was a practicing attorney in Atlanta, advising clients on technology commercialization and regulatory compliance matters. She has been Associate General Counsel at Emory University and Tufts Medical Center, and Managing Director for Research at Texas Tech Health Sciences Center- El Paso. Ms. McMahon holds a B.A degree from Boston University and a J.D. degree from New England Law│Boston, and is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and the Massachusetts Bar.

Richard A. Hillstead, Ph.D., FAHA
President & CEO, Richard A. Hillstead, Inc.
Rick Hillstead has been actively involved in the design and development of medical devices for more than thirty years. He held several progressive, Product Research and Development positions with Cordis Corporation (Johnson & Johnson) from 1987 to 1993 where he pioneered device development in the Cordis Coronary Stent program as a Senior Corporate Research Engineer. He then directed new technology development for Novoste Corporation from 1993 until 1999 primarily focusing on intravascular brachytherapy catheters and systems for the treatment of coronary restenosis following angioplasty and stenting. In 1999 he became a founding member of The Innovation Factory, a private medical device incubator in Duluth, GA. He was also a principal partner and founding member in Accuitive Medical Ventures I and II (2004–2007). Accuitive Medical Ventures is a $225M venture capital fund focusing on medical devices. At The Innovation Factory he served as Chief Science Officer and was primarily responsible for technical due diligence, deal structure and negotiation, early clinical investigations, and overall R&D in a wide variety of Life Science ventures. He has negotiated life science development agreements with academic institutions and individuals in the UK, Australia, and throughout the US. In 2008 he joined Georgia Venture Partners (GVP), Atlanta GA. and remains a partner today. He has managed numerous, diverse, multi-disciplinary development teams from product concept through sales release. He often speaks on the importance of Innovation and Intellectual Property to the entrepreneurial process in the medical
device industry at conferences and scientific sessions.
Dr. Hillstead is most recently CEO of Richard A. Hillstead Inc., a medical device development and entrepreneurship consulting firm located in Atlanta, GA. He is also the Chairman and former CEO of Biofisica Inc., He is a past Chairman and co-founder of Cerebral Vascular Applications, Inc. (CVA), a Georgia company dedicated to reducing the incidence of stroke through closure of the atrial appendage of the heart via minimally invasive techniques. Dr. Hillstead currently sits on the Emory University New Technology Advisory Board where he actively participates in reviewing promising new Medical Device Technologies and recommending development strategies.
He is an accomplished inventor named on approximately eighty issued U.S. patents and pending applications and dozens of international patents. He has given expert witness testimony in the field of medical devices in US courts and arbitrations and served as an expert witness to the High Court of Justice in the UK and multiple cases in Germany and The Netherlands. He has submitted expert declarations and appeared in person in connection with patent oppositions at the European Patent Office. He served as an EIR to the US FDA in 2012 and 2013 and continues to work on innovative projects with the FDA/CDRH Dr. Hillstead is a Fellow in the American Heart Association on the Council of Clinical Cardiology; Fellow on the The Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health; and a current member of the Stroke Council and council on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation.