Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap Steering Committee comprises more than 80 leaders from the public and private sectors in science, health care, business, academia, and policy. This group oversees Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap, which the Flinn Foundation released in 2002. A new iteration launched in 2025 to guide discovery, innovation, and economic growth.
Steering Committee members participates in five project teams to advance Arizona’s bioscience ecosystem and the Roadmap’s goals: Communications and Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Legislative Relations, Risk Capital, and Workforce Alignment.
The committee is led by chair Jennifer Barton, Ph.D., and vice chair Kyle Jardine, who assumed their roles in early 2026.
Steering Committee responsibilities include:
- Encouraging new research partnerships that address statewide health challenges.
- Stimulating a business environment in Arizona that fosters growth in the biosciences and the innovation-driven economy.
- Tracking major research, business, and policy developments that impact the biosciences in Arizona.
- Coordinating efforts to raise the visibility of bio in Arizona and promoting it to key audiences statewide and beyond.
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Jennifer Barton, Ph.D.
Chair
Thomas R. Brown Distinguished Chair of Biomedical Engineering
University of Arizona
Kyle Jardine
Vice Chair
Vice President, Market Executive
Wexford Science and Technology
The Honorable Heather Carter, Ed.D.
Immediate Past Chair
Chief Executive Officer
Health Choice Arizona
The Honorable Amanda Aguirre
President & CEO
Regional Center for Border Health
William Aylor
Associate Vice President, Research and Innovation
Northern Arizona University
Jeremy Babendure, Ph.D.
Executive Director
SciTech Institute
The Honorable Betsey Bayless
President Emeritus
Maricopa Integrated Health System
Teresa Bertsch, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer, Chief Wellbeing Officer
The NARBHA Institute
Richard Bowen
Senior Vice President
Genterra
The Honorable Kate Brophy McGee
Chair, District 3
Maricopa County Board of Supervisors
Chris Camacho
Senior Vice President, Global Site Strategy and Expansion
Axon
Board of Directors, Flinn Foundation
Jennifer Carusetta
Vice President, Public Affairs & Advocacy
Phoenix Children’s Hospital
The Honorable Becky Daggett
Mayor
City of Flagstaff
Bob DeLean
Chairman, CEO & Managing Director
Arizona Tech Investors
Reetika Dhawan, Ed.D.
President
Arizona Western College
David Engelthaler, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Arizona State University Health Observatory
Director and Professor
Translational Genomics Research Institute North
Translational Genomics Research Institute
Maureen Fahey
Chief Strategy Officer and Chief of Staff
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona
The Honorable Kate Gallego
Mayor
City of Phoenix
Stewart Goldman, M.D.
Senior Vice President, Research
Phoenix Children’s Hospital
Helen Goldstein
Senior Associate
Procopio
David J. Gullen, M.D.
Community Internal Medicine
Mayo Clinic (retired)
Board of Directors, Flinn Foundation (retired)
Michael Guymon
Chief Advocacy Officer
The Chamber of Southern Arizona
Desire’e Hardge
CEO
Maricopa County Medical Society
Sharon J. Harper
President & CEO
The Plaza Companies
Doug Hockstad
Associate Vice President, Tech Launch Arizona
University of Arizona
Gail Jackson
President & CEO
Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona
Chad Jaeger
Chief Operating Officer
Banner Research
Heidi Jannenga
Co-Founder and Chief Clinical Officer
WebPT
Secretary, Board of Directors, Flinn Foundation
Paul Keim, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Pathogen and Microbiome Institute
Northern Arizona University
Joan Koerber-Walker
President & CEO
Arizona BioIndustry Association
Beth Kohler
Chief Executive Officer
Arizona Association of Health Plans
Meaghan Kramer
Senior Policy Advisor
Arizona Governor’s Office
Joshua LaBaer, M.D., Ph.D.
Executive Director, Biodesign Institute
Arizona State University
The Honorable John Lewis
President & CEO
PHX East Valley Partnership
Matt Likens
Senior Advisor
Likens Healthcare & Management Consulting
Holly Lisanby, M.D.
Dean and Professor
John Shufeldt School of Medicine and Medical Engineering, Arizona State University
Janine LoBello, D.O.
Senior Clinical Laboratory Medical Director
Exact Sciences
Daniel McCombs
Vice President, Pathology Lab Development Network Lead
Roche Tissue Diagnostics
Christine Mackay
President and CEO
Greater Phoenix Economic Council
Jay Maningo-Salinas, Ph.D.
Vice Chair, Research
Mayo Clinic, Arizona
Hiral Mistry
Director, Research and Development Program Management
W.L. Gore & Associates
Rick Naimark
Associate Vice President of Program Development Planning
Arizona State University
Matthew Nelson
Manager of Research Operations
St. Joseph’s Hospital & Medical Center
The Honorable Douglas Nicholls
Mayor
City of Yuma
Tanya Osborne-McKenzie DNP, MBA, NEA-BC, CPPS
Chief Nurse Executive
CommonSpirit Health
Kimberly Ott
Associate Vice President, Communications
Northern Arizona University
Kevin Parker
Senior Vice President Operations
CND Life Sciences
Julie M. Pastrick
President & CEO
Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce
Liz Pocock
CEO
Startup Tucson
Eric Reiman, M.D.
CEO Emeritus and Lead Researcher
Banner Alzheimer’s Institutes
Chair Board of Directors, Flinn Foundation
The Honorable Regina Romero
Mayor
City of Tucson
Nannon Roosa
Managing Partner
Crescent Edge
Eve Ross
Vice President (Retired)
W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
Former Chair
Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap Steering Committee
Chad Sampson
Executive Director
Arizona Board of Regents
Todd Sanders
President & CEO
Greater Phoenix Chamber
Jeff Saville
Executive Director
Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation
Ronald E. Shoopman
President (Retired)
Southern Arizona Leadership Council
Former Chair
Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap Steering Committee
Martin Shultz
Senior Policy Director (Retired)
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
Former Chair
Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap Steering Committee
Mark Slater, Ph.D.
CEO
HonorHealth Research Institute
Former Chair
Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap Steering Committee
Scarlett Spring
Executive Director
Phoenix Bioscience Core
Sarah Stabenfeldt, Ph.D.
Assistant Vice President for Research
Arizona State University
Carol Stewart
Vice President
Tech Parks Arizona
Kristen Swingle
President and Chief Operating Officer
Critical Path Institute
Melissa Taylor
Executive Vice President
Greater Phoenix Leadership, Inc.
Jeffrey M. Trent, Ph.D.
President & Research Director
Translational Genomics Research Institute
Victor Waddell, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Arizona Biomedical Research Centre
Arizona Department of Health Services
Sandra Watson
President & CEO
Arizona Commerce Authority
Jason Wertheim, M.D., Ph.D.
Vice Dean, Research and Graduate Studies; Associate Vice President for Research and Partnerships – Health Research
University of Arizona
Michael White, M.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Valleywise Health
Jason Wilder, Ph.D.
Vice President for Research
Northern Arizona University
Frederic Wondisford, M.D.
Dean
University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix
Russ Yelton
President
Yelton & Associates
Chris Yoo, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer
CEO, Yoo and Co. Accelerators
Fanny Zylstra
Director of Operations
Translational Genomics Research Institute
Steven Zylstra
President & CEO
Arizona Technology Council
Flinn Foundation Bioscience Entrepreneurship Program
Participating on the Steering Committee in 2025-2026:
Matthew Becker, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer
Immunoshield Therapeutics
Elsa Chi Abruzzo
CEO & President
Anuncia Medical, Inc.
Tammy Crawford
Chief Executive Officer
Aces Diagnostics
Tim Dickman
Chief Executive Officer
Hypersound Medical, Inc.
Anthony Dietz, Ph.D.
President
Paxauris
Oleg Gusyatin
Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder
Macula Vision Systems
Charles Jepson
Chief Financial Officer
Hypersound Medical, Inc.
Julie Ledford, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Aspiro Therapeutics
James Lovgren
Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder
Aspiro Therapeutics
David Richardson, PSM
Chief Executive Officer
King Therapeutics
Nicholas Singh
Chief Executive Officer
MindFit
Isaiah Slemons
Co-Founder
King Therapeutics
Jessica Weaver, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Immunoshield Therapeutics
Flinn Foundation Seed Grant Program
Participating on the Steering Committee in 2026-2027:
Jared Duval, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Northern Arizona University
Sandeep Gupta, Ph.D.
Professor
Arizona State University
Melissa Herbst-Kralovetz, Ph.D.
Professor
University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix
Heather Mead, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor
Translational Genomics Research Institute
Mehdi Nikkhah, Ph.D.
Professor
Arizona State University
Jonathon Parker, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Mayo Clinic in Arizona
Raffaella Soldi, Ph.D.
Senior Translational Scientist
HonorHealth Research Institute
Flinn Foundation Seed Grant Program
Participating on the Steering Committee in 2025-2026:
Roberta Diaz Brinton, Ph.D.
Director
Center for Innovation in Brain Science, University of Arizona
Elise Erickson, Ph.D., CNM, FACNM
Associate Professor
University of Arizona
Steven Goldman, M.D.
Professor
University of Arizona
Rizal F. Hariadi, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Arizona State University
Chris Hulme, Ph.D.
Professor
University of Arizona
Zong-Ming Li, Ph.D.
Professor
University of Arizona
Laurent Martin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
University of Arizona
Mark Nelson, Ph.D.
Professor
University of Arizona
Nina Sharp, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Arizona State University
Hao Yan, Ph.D.
Professor
Arizona State University
