Partnering Preview: NCI SBIR at the 2024 BIO International Convention

In this episode, host and NCI SBIR Program Director William Bozza invites NCI SBIR Director of Investor Relations Brittany Connors to discuss how biotech innovators and investors can connect with NCI SBIR and other NIH institutes from June 3-6 at the 2024 BIO International Convention in San Diego.

Listen to this podcast to hear:

• Overview of BIO International Convention and the networking opportunities for attendees to participate
• NCI SBIR's involvement at the annual conference; how and where to connect
• How the Investor Initiatives program supports SBIR-funded biotech startups
• NCI SBIR-funded biotech startups to lookout for at the event

Name

Bios

William Bozza, PhD

Program Director

SBIR Development Center

National Cancer Institute

William Bozza, PhD serves as a Program Director, managing a portfolio of oncology startups (SBIR & STTR awardees) to facilitate small businesses in technology commercialization for cancer diagnosis and treatment.  Dr. Bozza is currently leading the Center’s efforts on the Small Business Concept Award for early-stage high risk/high reward technologies that are targeting rare and pediatric cancers.  He is also taking the lead on the Program’s Peer Learning and Networking Webinar Series to help SBIR companies learn from peers and facilitate collaboration.

Brittany Connors, PMP

Director of Investor Relations

SBIR Development Center

National Cancer Institute

Brittany Connors serves as the Director of Investor Relations at NCI SBIR. She has worked at NCI SBIR in various roles since 2013, playing a major role in the center’s Investor Initiatives program. She has maintained a vast network and works with more than 70 industry-leading investors and strategics each year to review the NCI SBIR portfolio and to select companies to attend and pitch at events like BIO.

Programs referenced in this episode:

• 2024 BIO International Convention
• BIO One-on-One Partnering Match-making platform
• Investor Initiatives

TRANSCRIPT

BILLY BOZZA:     Hello, and welcome to Innovation Lab, your go to resource for all things biotech startups, brought to you by the National Cancer Institute’s Small Business Innovation Research, SBIR Development Center. Our podcast hosts interviews with successful entrepreneurs and provides resources for small businesses looking to take their cutting-edge cancer solutions from lab to market.

     I'm Billy Bozza, a Program Director at NCI SBIR and today's host. Today, we're excited to talk about the upcoming BIO International Convention in San Diego. I've invited the Director of Investor Relations at NCI SBIR, Brittany Connors, to discuss our program’s involvement at the event and how attendees can connect with our staff while we're there. Welcome, Brittany.

BRITTANY CONNORS:     Thank you for having me, Billy. I cannot believe BIO is just around the corner and that we're talking about it already. I feel like the year just started. But let's talk about it, I'm excited.

BILLY BOZZA:     Me too. So, before we discuss NCI SBIR's participation in the event, can you give our listeners who might be unfamiliar with BIO, a brief introduction to what the event is all about?

BRITTANY CONNORS:     Yeah, definitely. So, BIO is perhaps the largest biotech focused event maybe in the world, probably in the world, bringing together upwards of 20,000 industry leaders from everywhere. You can really expect to see attendees