The First CGT Circle x HPNE Event in RTP

Following the success of our Cambridge event, HPNE decided to once again work with The CGT Circle to sponsor an additional event. As some members of our sales team are located in the RTP region, we decided to hold our event in North Carolina. We were lucky to also work with Women in Bio, and the event was hosted at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.

The event featured a fireside chat with Juliana Blum, Principal at Oak Park Bio (formerly co-founder of Humacyte), Kelli Luginbuhl, Co-founder and CEO of Isolere Bio & our incredible moderator Susan Nichols, CEO at Propel Biosciences. 

Our panelists discussed a range of topics, including “what is your why”, who gave them their biggest career push, and the best advice that they never took. 

When speaking about the challenges faced by women in CGT, Juliana stated, “Part of the reason that these Women’s Groups are so great is that we get the opportunity to come together and talk about [our challenges] and make each other better.” She went on to talk about her reasons for working in CGT, saying “When you hear a patient say, I can’t believe I am so much better because I got your Humacyte vessel, that changes things. Those sweat, and those tears, and those hours are all worth it because you made somebody’s life different.”

When asked about her own “why” for working in the CGT industry, Kelly shared, “My why has really always stemmed from how can we do this better, how can we accelerate these life changing therapies, and how can we make sure that everybody has access to them? And with my background, and the tools and technologies I was familiar with, the way I felt I could do that was through manufacturing and bioprocessing tools.”

The experiences shared by the panelists clearly resonated with everyone in the audience, and created an opportune jumping off point for the rapid-fire style networking that followed.