Carolina-South Atlantic Chapter 2017 Life Sciences Technology Conference

The ISPE Carolina–South Atlantic Chapter celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary in style, hosting its Life Sciences Technology Conference at the Raleigh Convention Center in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, on 14 March 2017. The event drew a record 1,000 attendees and almost 200 exhibitors, including eight manufacturing companies—Merck, Novo Nordisk, FujiFilm Diosynth, Seqirus, Biogen, BioTechnique, Catalent Pharma Solutions, and Pfizer—that were highlighted in the CaSA Pavilion with the corporate sponsors.

The annual conference, which has become a premier life sciences education event for the Southeastern United States, featured presentations by top industry speakers on topics such as serialization, information management, cleaning, engineering, and project management. The Investigational Products Community of Practice hosted an education track, as did the new Women in Pharma Initiative and the NC BioProcessing Development Group. New for 2017 was a breakfast for honoring the Chapter’s Past Presidents, who were also recognized during the keynote session.

Each year the conference also hosts a track for the students and Young Professionals to provide them with career development advice and increase their knowledge of the industry. Students and YPs also help by volunteering at the conference. The undergraduate student poster winner was Morgan Caudill from North Carolina State University; graduate student poster winner was Yen-Cheng Chen from Georgia Tech. Both will advance to the ISPE International Student Poster Competition at the ISPE Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, 29 October–1 November 2017. The Jane Brown Scholarship Award winner was Amanda Kaufman from North Carolina State University.

As in years past, the conference partnered with a local nonprofit for fund-raising. This year’s honoree was The V Foundation for Cancer Research. Founded in 1993 by basketball coach and broadcaster Jim Valvano, the organization has donated over $170 million in cancer research grants nationwide. Conference raffle ticket and silent auction purchases raised nearly $6,000 for the foundation.

The conference wrapped up with a wonderful networking reception in the ballroom lobby—a great time to catch up with colleagues and co-workers—followed by the ever-popular “casino night.”

I want to thank all the conference speakers for sharing their insights and knowledge, the dedicated volunteers on the Technology Conference Committee for helping the conference grow and succeed, and the ISPE CaSA Executive Board and FirstPoint Management Resources for their guidance and help. Most of all, I want to extend very special thanks to our sponsors for the support they give to ISPE and our Chapter each year. Without them, this conference would not happen.

The twenty-fifth Annual Life Sciences Technology Conference is set for 13 March 2018. Preregistration for exhibit space is available until 15 August 2017. Visit ispe-casa.org for more information.