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SynBioBeta Speaker

Ross Uhrich

ARPA-H

PM, Health Science Futures

Dr. Ross Uhrich joined ARPA-H in February 2023 from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, where he worked as a board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon and assistant professor of surgery. In addition to these roles, Uhrich spent 12 years with the U.S. Navy, finishing his tenure as a Lieutenant Commander.Throughout his career, he has cared for thousands of members of the U.S. Armed Forces at various health care facilities, including the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), Naval Health Clinic Quantico, and WRNMMC, and served as an oral and maxillofacial surgery consultant to Congress. He also treated patients at Charleston Area Medical Center, R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, and Suburban Hospital. Uhrich holds a doctorate in dental medicine from the University of Pennsylvania, an MBA from the University of Virginia, and completed his surgical residency at WRNMMC.

Sessions Featuring

Ross

This Year

Presentations

3:30 PM

-

4:15 PM

Human Health

Government Agency Showcase #1

ARPA-H Pitches

Presentations

3:30 PM

-

4:15 PM

Human Health

Government Agency Showcase #1

ARPA-H Pitches

Breakout Session

4:30 PM

-

5:15 PM

Business of Biology

Fueling the Bioeconomy: How Founders Can Unlock Government Capital to Build the Next Generation of Biotech

Venture capital alone is no longer enough to power the next wave of biotechnology innovation. Across health, biosecurity, climate, and advanced biomanufacturing, government agencies are emerging as catalytic partners, deploying billions in non-dilutive funding to accelerate high-risk, high-impact breakthroughs. But accessing this capital requires more than strong science. Founders must understand how agencies like ARPA-H, DARPA, BARDA, and others evaluate risk, define mission impact, and structure partnerships that bridge research and real-world deployment. This session brings together agency leaders, founders, and experienced operators to demystify how government funding actually works in today’s market. The panelists will explore how startups can position themselves for success, avoid common pitfalls in proposal development and contracting, and strategically leverage non-dilutive funding to extend runway, de-risk technology, and unlock new commercial pathways.

Breakout Session

4:30 PM

-

5:15 PM

Business of Biology

Fueling the Bioeconomy: How Founders Can Unlock Government Capital to Build the Next Generation of Biotech

Venture capital alone is no longer enough to power the next wave of biotechnology innovation. Across health, biosecurity, climate, and advanced biomanufacturing, government agencies are emerging as catalytic partners, deploying billions in non-dilutive funding to accelerate high-risk, high-impact breakthroughs. But accessing this capital requires more than strong science. Founders must understand how agencies like ARPA-H, DARPA, BARDA, and others evaluate risk, define mission impact, and structure partnerships that bridge research and real-world deployment. This session brings together agency leaders, founders, and experienced operators to demystify how government funding actually works in today’s market. The panelists will explore how startups can position themselves for success, avoid common pitfalls in proposal development and contracting, and strategically leverage non-dilutive funding to extend runway, de-risk technology, and unlock new commercial pathways.

TBD

Session lineup still growing

Featuring

Speaker Coming Soon

Fireside Chat

12:00 AM

-

8:30 AM

Human Health

From Cells to Patients: Solving the Scale Mismatch in Virtual Biology

Drug discovery often measures biology at the cell level while interventions work at the tissue, organ, or whole-patient scale. This mismatch can make accurate cell-level predictions irrelevant in the clinic. This session dives into strategies to bridge that gap: multiscale modeling that nests single-cell dynamics within organ-level simulations, spatial transcriptomics that preserve context, and surrogate models that translate cell-level outputs into clinical biomarkers. Speakers will ask: how do we ensure virtual biology reflects not just what cells do in isolation, but how biology behaves in the real complexity of patients?

Featuring

Speaker Coming Soon

Previous Speakers Include