Kausar Samli, Ph.D., Associate Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Glycocensors & Diagnostics; and Peter Borden, a Ph.D. Candidate in Biomedical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), have been named the 2016 Emerging Leaders of the Year by Georgia Bio (GaBio). Additionally, Beatrice Wan, Regulatory Affairs Specialist at Bard Medical Division, C.R. Bard will receive an award for her community service. All will be honored at the GaBio Annual Awards Dinner, January 28, 6 pm to 9 pm, at the Atlanta Fox Theatre.

The Emerging Leader of the Year awards honor young professionals for outstanding contributions to the success of the Emerging Leaders Network (ELN) and/or the growth of Georgia’s life sciences community. The award winners are selected by a panel of seasoned industry leaders acting as advisors to the ELN.

Dr. Samli is being honored for his leadership in managing Glycosensors & Diagnostics, which today has 5 employees and over $2 Million in research grant funding. Additionally, he is being recognized for being active in the Athens entrepreneurial community and the Georgia life sciences community at-large through his volunteer work with Georgia Bio, Four Athens, and various UGA events.

Mr. Borden is being honored for his dedication to the GaBio ELN while conducting scientific research at Georgia Tech. He enthusiastically spreads awareness of Georgia Bio and provides critical insight into one of Atlanta's major universities. Lastly, Mr. Borden is always available to volunteer for GaBio functions including the GaBio Summit, Awards Dinner, Investor Network, and general member events.

Beatrice Wan is being recognized for her Distinguished Community Service as the Small Dinner Series Co-Director of the ELN in 2014 through 2015. During her leadership, she helped coordinate and run the Georgia Bio Small Dinner Series and doubled the number of small dinners for the association. In addition, Ms. Wan has been a great source of wisdom for current students and young professionals who are looking to transition into a major corporation.

Awardee Biographies

Dr. Kausar Samli is Associate Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Glycosensors & Diagnostics. G&D is developing enabling technologies for applications in glycoscience and has received multiple SBIR/STTR Phase I and Phase II awards.

Previously, he served as a Marie Curie Fellow developing novel biotechnologies as part of a collaborative effort between the National University of Ireland and Bristol-Myers Squibb. At the Biodesign Institute he was a founding member of the Center for Innovations in Medicine, and developed biosignature technologies focusing on personalized medicine. At the Center for Biomedical Inventions at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center he led the effort to commercialize a cell-targeting technology through the Wharton Business Plan Competition.

Living in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America significantly shaped Dr. Samli’s global perspective. As a thought-leader and internationalist, he advises teams and organizations on strategy, technology, leadership, and organizational development. He focuses on fostering innovation to enact positive rapid change critical for addressing regional and global challenges. Dr. Samli serves as a member of Singularity University’s Speaker Bureau Faculty and previously served as Singularity University’s Ambassador. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Women@TheFrontier, the Board of Advisors of the Aubrey Daniels Institute, Thinc’s Advisory Board, and GaBio’s Commercialization Committee. In recognition of his scholarship, leadership, and service at the University of Georgia (UGA), he was elected as a member of the Blue Key Honor Society.

He and his wife, Dr. Farah Samli, make their home in Athens and are looking forward to the birth of their first child in May.

Peter Borden is a fourth year Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. student at Georgia Tech. His current research on understanding sensory perception uses state of the art techniques to explore neural circuits. Specifically, Mr. Borden is utilizing advanced genetics to manipulate the thalamic brain region to control the detectability of sensory information. His work has been featured at several conferences across the country.

In addition to his scientific graduate work, Mr. Borden has been a member of the Georgia Bio Emerging Leaders Network Board for three years. Peter is currently the co-director of the Emerging Leader Network Small Dinner Series where he helps to develop and moderate an intimate forum with young professionals and Georgia’s biotechnology leaders. He will continue his involvement with Georgia Bio as Chair of the Emerging Leaders Network in 2016.

In his personal time, Mr. Borden enjoys hiking, running, and skiing. Additionally, he volunteers to support the development of STEM learning in underprivileged youths at the B.E.S.T. Academy in Atlanta.

Mr. Borden earned his bachelor’s degree in Bioengineering at Rice University in Houston, Texas, in 2012.

Beatrice Wan is a regulatory affairs specialist at Bard Medical Division, C. R. Bard. She joined C. R. Bard four years ago as a rotational engineer in the Bard Medical’s Climber program, completing 6 month rotations in quality engineering, R&D, manufacturing and regulatory affairs. After completing the two-year program, she joined the regulatory team, where she is currently a specialist with experience in international and US medical device regulations. Ms. Wan is co-manager of the Small Group Dinner Series for Georgia Bio’s ELN and on the Marketing and Communications team for Georgia Tech’s Young Alumni Council, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biomedical Engineering. Currently, Ms. Wan is pursuing her MBA part-time at Emory University's Goizueta Business School, where she serves as Vice-President of the Goizueta Evening Business Association, an organization dedicated to giving students a voice in decisions regarding the Evening MBA program.

For a list of past Georgia Bio Industry Growth Award recipients, click here.

Georgia Bio (www.gabio.org) is the state’s life science industry association whose members include pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies, medical centers, universities and research institutes, government groups and other business organizations involved in the development of life sciences related products and services.

Note to Editors: Credentialed members of the news media are invited to attend. Registration is complimentary. Please contact Maria Thacker (404-920-2042; mthacker@gabio.org).