Bridging The Gap 2023

A GLOBAL LIFE SCIENCE EVENT

Bridging the Gap is an annual life science event organized together by the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce in San Diego, San Francisco/Silicon Valley, New England and Minnesota- the top four life science clusters in the U.S. Since Life Science Bridge's mission is to promote trade between our clusters and Sweden. Bridging the Gap is a joint initiative to promote trade between the top four life science clusters in the U.S. and Sweden. In addition, with the purpose to inspire, educate and connect people in the life science scene. With Sweden and the U.S. being at the top of the life science industry, we aimed to build bridges between these nations to promote a healthy and innovative world.

Bridging the Gap 2023 was a one-day webinar on April 27th, with speakers within the various areas followed by a panel discussion. The topics focused on The impact of Life Science innovation on healthcare. Speakers attended from both Sweden and the U.S. For more information or questions, please check our social media or email development@sacc-sandiego.

REVIEW EVENT PROGRAM

SPEAKERS 2023

MICHAEL OSTERHOLM

We are thrilled to announce that Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, will be joining us as speaker on April 27th! Dr. Osterholm is is Regents Professor, McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, a professor in the Technological Leadership Institute, College of Science and Engineering, and an adjunct professor in the Medical School, all at the University of Minnesota. In November 2020, Dr. Osterholm was appointed to President-elect Joe Biden's COVID-19 transition advisory board. From June 2018 through May 2019, he served as a Science Envoy for Health Security on behalf of the US Department of State. He is also on the Luther College Board of Regents.

He is the author of two New York Times best-selling books, In 2000, he authored Living Terrors: What American Needs to Know to Survive the Coming Bioterrorist Catastrophe, laying why the biological attacks (like the 2001 anthrax attack) are a new reality and what we must do to prepare, and his 2017 book, Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs, details the most pressing infectious disease threats of our day (including coronaviruses and pandemics) but lays out a strategy to address them.

Please read more about Michael Osterholm here.

HELENA LINGE

Helena Linge was awarded a PhD in 2006 at Lund University, Sweden and completed post-doctoral research in New York, covering cell- and molecular biology of infection and immunology. She later moved her research into e-health applications for follow-up after childhood cancer, where she co-founded a medtech startup and served as its CEO. Helena Linge continues at Lund university and as a senior researcher at Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE) and since August 2023 she is employed by AI Sweden as Strategic Initiative Developer for AI in Health care.

MATTHEW KOKKONEN

Matthew Kokkonen is a seasoned professional skilled in performing portfolio and program management. Having worked for large, medium, and small pharmaceutical and biotech companies, Matthew developed a deep appreciation for the challenges these organizations face, and with that granular understanding, he brings innovative ways of working to plan and deliver value to patients and the organizations serving them. Matthew has extensive experience working in senior roles in both the industry and as a consultant, and enjoys collaborating with stakeholders to build high performing teams, strategies for growth and maturation.

Another passion of his is developing efficient and effective use of process and business solutions. Matthew started his career as an officer in the United States Air Force and holds an MBA in International Management from the University of London. He earned a project management certification from Stanford University, and a Clinical Trial Design and Management certification form UC San Diego. He has a wife and twin daughters, and enjoys forests, mountains, skiing, and traveling in his spare time.

CLAES GUSTAFSSON

As ATUM's Co-Founder and CCO, Dr. Gustafsson oversees most of the company's external communications. Prior to co-founding ATUM, Dr. Gustafsson led, managed and collaborated with key strategic teams at Maxygen Inc. Before Maxygen, Dr. Gustafsson worked as a scientist at Kosan Biosciences, a number of research, teaching, and post-doctoral positions at UCs Santa Cruz and San Francisco, and at University of Umeå. He received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology/Biochemistry from the University of Umeå, Sweden.

SPEAKERS FROM DIAMYD MEDICAL

Life Science Bridge is thrilled to announce that Diamyd Medical - Precision Medicine for Autoimmune Diabetes will have several speakers attending this years event. It's an honor to have Diamyd Medical as part of our esteemed lineup of speakers and look forward to hearing more about their exciting work.

ULF HANNELIUS

JOHNNY LUDVIGSSON

KARIN ROSEN

Life Science Bridge has the honor to be partnering with Diamyd Medical as they are developing a potential game changing antigen-specific immunotherapy Diamyd®, that currently is being confirmed in the first ever precision medicine Phase III clinical DIAGNODE-3. We will be joined by Diamyd’s CEO, Ulf Hannelius CEO, PhD, Johnny Ludvigsson, professor, who will discuss Diamyd's phase-III study and the importance of disease modifying therapeutics; and Karin Rosen, PhD., who will join us from the US to discuss the importance of US-Swedish cooperations within the Life Science Space.

Read more about Diamyd Medical here.

THE PANEL

Life Science Bridge proudly presents this year's panelists moderated by Viveka Rydell-Andersson. The panel will feature entreprenur Anders Essen-Möller, Diamyd Medical, Vinnova Wallenberg senior fellow Åsa Wallin, and David Becedas, CEO and founder of AlgoDX.

ANDERS ESSEN-MÖLLER

ÅSA WALLIN

DAVID BECEDAS

SPONSORS 2023

The Life Science Bridge initiative would like to extend our gratitude to our sponsors, whose support is evital for creating a strong, successful and innovative event that brings people together while promoting trade across boarders.