May 19, 2026

BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) is pleased to announce the addition of Caroline Popper and Julie Wilkinson as Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIRs). Together, they bring decades of experience across medical technology, diagnostics, digital health, commercialization strategy, FDA pathways, manufacturing, corporate development, and venture-building.

Popper is a business leader, physician, and lawyer with more than 30 years of experience in medical technology, diagnostics, and the life sciences. Her work has focused on technologies and services that improve healthcare efficiency, with a growing emphasis on the intersection of healthcare, biology, technology, and artificial intelligence.

She has held operational and strategic roles at BD and bioMérieux, served as Chief Business Officer of MDS Proteomics, founded Popper and Company, and co-founded The Sherpanis with Julie Wilkinson. She also served as Chief Commercial Officer of Johns Hopkins Precision Medicine and led commercialization activities for the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab Healthcare Mission Area. She currently serves as co-chair of the American Bar Association Healthcare Section AI Task Force.

In this episode of BioTalk with Rich Bendis, Ellen D. Harpel, Ph.D., Founder of Smart Incentives, joins the conversation to explore a topic that has shaped the growth of the BioHealth Capital Region but has rarely been discussed directly on the podcast: economic development incentives. Ellen explains why state and local governments use incentives, how they influence business location and expansion decisions, and why effective programs need clear goals, active management, performance measures, and public accountability.

The discussion looks at how incentives support companies across the full business lifecycle, from startups and emerging firms to major employers making large-scale regional investments. Ellen and Rich also examine how recent biohealth activity in Maryland and Virginia reflects the importance of workforce development, site selection, public-private collaboration, and regional thinking. A win in Maryland, Virginia, or Washington, D.C. strengthens the larger BioHealth Capital Region ecosystem.

RICHMOND, Va., May 13, 2026 — BRAINBox Solutions today announced the appointment of Richard H. Noel to the newly created position of Chief Product and Commercial Officer. Richard brings more than 10 years of experience in molecular and point-of-care diagnostics, at Roche Diagnostics, LumiraDx, and bioMérieux.

“Richard, whose expertise spans market analytics, global product management, and senior commercial leadership, has established a strong track record at leading diagnostics companies,” said Donna Edmonds, BRAINBox Solutions CEO. “He is well positioned to lead the commercial planning and launch for our BRAINBox TBI concussion diagnostic/prognostic tests.”

“BRAINBox has a unique opportunity to change the standard of care for concussion management with its BRAINBox TBI tests, the first objective tests for the diagnosis and risk of long-term complications,” said Mr. Noel. “The company has built an outstanding foundation with product and clinical development and strong relationships with key thought leaders in neurology and emergency medicine. I look forward to working with the team to bring these promising tests to clinicians and patients.”

BioHealth Capital Region Week will return on September 15 through 17, 2026, at US Pharmacopeia in Rockville, Maryland, bringing together leaders from industry, academia, government, and investment for three days focused on the future of one of the nation’s leading biohealth ecosystems. The event will again feature the BioHealth Capital Region Forum, the Crab Trap Competition, and the Investment Conference.

This year’s Forum theme, “Growing the BioHealth Capital Region of Tomorrow,” reflects both the region’s momentum and the need for continued collaboration at a time when many organizations are navigating a more uncertain funding environment. As public funding conditions shift, the region’s long-term strength will depend on its ability to deepen partnerships, support commercialization, attract investment, and build new pathways for growth. The Forum will serve as a place for those conversations to happen.

Save the date for Bench, Bedside & Breakthrough: Health Tech Innovation from Silicon Valley to BioHealth Capital Region. On Tuesday, May 26, MedStar-Georgetown's AI CoLab brings clinicians, scientists, founders, and investors together for a one-day symposium tracing how a domain-expert insight becomes a regulated, funded, market-ready product.


May 26, 2026 · 9:00 AM – 7:30 PM 


MedStar-Georgetown AI CoLab, Washington, DC

COLUMBIA, Md., (May 14, 2026) — TEDCO, Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, formally announced the promotions of Tammi Thomas to president and Geyssel Gonzalez to chief financial & technology officer. These appointments were made by TEDCO’s CEO, Troy LeMaile-Stovall, recognizing the leadership, strategic vision and longstanding contributions both leaders have made to TEDCO’s growth and Maryland’s innovation ecosystem.

“These promotions reflect the extraordinary leadership, institutional knowledge and forward-thinking vision Tammi and Geyssel bring to TEDCO and the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem,” said TEDCO CEO, Troy LeMaile-Stovall. “Both have played critical roles in strengthening our organization, expanding our impact and positioning TEDCO for the future. Their leadership will be instrumental as we continue advancing innovation, entrepreneurship and economic growth across Maryland.”

Since joining TEDCO nearly a decade ago as chief marketing officer, Thomas has played a transformative role in shaping the organization’s growth, visibility, and long-term strategic direction. Throughout her tenure, she has led the execution and evolution of TEDCO’s integrated marketing, communications, investor engagement, and fundraising strategies, helping position the organization as a nationally recognized leader in innovation and economic development.

Rich Bendis, Founder, President and CEO of BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI), was recently featured in PharmaBoardroom for a conversation on the growth of the BioHealth Capital Region and the role BHI plays in helping life sciences companies move from promising ideas to real commercial opportunities.

In the interview, Rich reflects on the early need that led to the creation of BHI. The region already had world-class research, major federal assets, leading academic institutions, and a strong base of life sciences companies. What was missing was a stronger bridge between science, entrepreneurs, investors, industry, and the market. BHI was built to help fill that gap.

The conversation also looks at how the BioHealth Capital Region became a more connected and recognized life sciences cluster across Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia. Rich discusses why regional collaboration matters and how a shared identity has helped strengthen the area’s national and global position.

SILVER SPRING, Md. & RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- United Therapeutics Corporation (Nasdaq: UTHR), a public benefit corporation, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted clearance under the company’s Investigational New Drug application to proceed with a clinical study of its investigational UHeart™ derived from a pig with 10 gene edits. The study, known as EXPRESS,will enroll an initial cohort of up to two participants. United Therapeutics will provide the FDA with safety and efficacy data from the first UHeart xenotransplant recipient in the study before enrolling a second participant. Following FDA review of available safety and efficacy data from the initial two transplants, the study may then be further expanded, with the intent to support a Biologics License Application (BLA) with the FDA.

“Moving a porcine-derived heart into human clinical trials represents another...

Last week, delegates and representatives from the state of Maryland and Montgomery County, including Governor Wes Moore, Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, and MCEDC representatives attended the 2026 SelectUSA Investment Summit, the premier event in the United States dedicated to promoting foreign direct investment. Hosted by the U.S. Department of Commerce, SelectUSA, which took place in Maryland this year, connects investors, companies, economic development organizations, and industry experts to facilitate business investment in the United States. 

Throughout the week, Maryland representatives met with potential international investors to discuss why international companies from around the world choose Maryland and Montgomery County to expand their U.S. footprint. Located near three international airports (Washington Dulles, Ronald Reagan, and BWI), Montgomery County offers companies a strong talent pipelines, close proximity to strategic partners, including...

Johns Hopkins will host Frontiers in Clinical Infectious Diseases from June 1–3, 2026, at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C., with a virtual registration option available. The three-day CME/CE course will bring together clinicians and healthcare professionals for practical updates on emerging and persistent infectious disease challenges.

The program will cover topics including antimicrobial resistance, HIV care, PrEP and doxyPEP, Candida auris, fungal pathogens, STIs, UTIs, endocarditis, C. difficile, vaccines, AI in infectious disease, tuberculosis guidance, and nontuberculous mycobacteria. The course is designed for infectious disease specialists, hospitalists, primary care providers, nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, and other professionals working across patient care.

ROCKVILLE, Md., May 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- REGENXBIO Inc. (Nasdaq: RGNX) announced positive topline and interim functional data from the pivotal Phase III portion of the Phase I/II/III AFFINITY DUCHENNE® trial of RGX-202, a potential best-in-class gene therapy for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The trial met its primary endpoint with high statistical significance (p<0.0001), with 93% of participants reaching at least 10% microdystrophin expression at Week 12 (n=30). Additionally, RGX-202 demonstrated statistically significant correlation between microdystrophin expression and interim functional improvement.

"These topline results are exciting for the Duchenne community," said Pat Furlong, Founding President of Parent Project for Muscular Dystrophy. "For decades, our community has pushed for therapies that can change the trajectory of this disease, and today's news gives us renewed optimism.

The biotech industry has thrived in Maryland for years, establishing a long history of specializing in monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Brad Stewart, chairman of Maryland Tech Council’s board of directors, spoke with BioProcess Insider about BioHub Maryland, an initiative dedicated to helping Maryland residents seek life science careers by providing training in the region. 

Stewart said mAbs accounted for the vast majority of the industry in Maryland until about seven years ago. “It was stupid, simple, and easy,” he said. “And then we went and screwed that up by doing a whole lot of crazy stuff.”

In the years since, although Maryland has remained a mAb stronghold, it has branched into more complex modalities with big biotech firms such as AstraZeneca and Regenxbio bringing cell and gene therapy (CGT) plants to the region. And with more modalities comes an increased need for more specialized training.

ATCC is a winner of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Common Fund Replication Prize, a prestigious national competition designed to advance scientific research by identifying strategies to make biomedical research more replicable. ATCC is recognized as one of 35 winners, and one of 15 selected winners for the Replication Exemplars Track.

ATCC was recognized for its innovative approach to producing Well-characterized Challenge Material (WCCM)—standardized, rigorously tested virus samples that enable researchers across institutions to generate comparable, reproducible results for high-containment virus research.

The NIH Replication Prize, launched with NASA’s Tournament Lab, addresses critical challenges in biomedical research where many peer-reviewed studies cannot be reliably replicated due to incomplete documentation and variability in materials. The program aims to shift scientific culture by embedding replication as a standard practice rather than an afterthought.

MANASSAS, VA, UNITED STATES, May 12, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Jeeva Clinical Trials (“Jeeva”), a leader in decentralized and hybrid clinical trial technology, today announced the acquisition of Clintelligence, an AI-powered clinical trial intelligence platform that analyzes insights from over one million historical studies.

This acquisition marks a significant expansion of Jeeva’s Unified AI-Ready Clinical Platform by introducing a critical intelligence layer at the earliest stages of clinical development, where trial success or failure is often determined.

With Clintelligence integrated into Jeeva’s platform, sponsors can now design, optimize, and execute clinical trials within a single, interconnected system from protocol development through patient enrollment, data capture, and study completion.