Enjoyed returning to the Bio International Convention in San Diego, but in this case, representing Seattle as opposed to my past life building the state of Georgia’s life science industry. It was great to run into old colleagues, spend time with the president of Life Science Washington, as well as friends from Poland that were just in Seattle on an economic development mission.

Admiral William McRaven, retired four-star admiral in the U.S. Navy spoke about leadership, global events, and the national security importance of biotechnology. And Viola Davis, an award-winning actress and author shared her story about being a loving and caring person in the face of adversity in a conversation with Brooke Baldwin.

Key subjects were definitely around the convergence of artificial intelligence and biotech, and Seattle is playing a leadership role in the development of new drugs, identifying new proteins at a quicker rate, and data analytics. Frankly, the cells in our bodies have become like applications on our phones, and we will continue to dive deeper into the precise activation or repression of genes.

Bio always puts on an amazing welcome reception, as well as a fun street party in the Gaslamp quarter.