School of MCB Graduate Research Retreat

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Our keynote speaker will be Illinois alumnus and biotechnology executive Dr. Michael A. Recny (PhD, '83, biochemistry). Dr. Recny is a veteran drug developer with four decades of experience in the biotechnology and contract research organization (CRO) industries. During his career, he made important contributions to the R&D and commercialization of three FDA approved drugs that have collectively sold billions worldwide, and to four other experimental drug candidates that entered human clinical trials.

Dr. Recny most recently served as CEO and a co-owner of Calvert Holdings, Inc., a diversified holding company with subsidiaries that offered non-clinical services and investment opportunities to early-stage biotechnology companies. He also served as CEO of Calvert Laboratories, one of Calvert Holdings wholly owned subsidiaries that conducts FDA regulated laboratory studies for biotechnology companies developing experimental drugs. After selling Calvert Labs to a large multinational CRO in 2021 and dissolving Calvert Holdings in 2023, he continues to serve as President and co-owner of Calvert Research, LLC, an investment company that holds equity positions in private biotechnology companies. Prior to his role as CEO, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer for Calvert Holdings where he focused on identifying new business opportunities and sourcing capital to fund new business ventures. 

Before joining Calvert Holdings in 2007, Dr. Recny spent 12 years with Trimeris, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRMS; acquired by Alexion, Inc.) as Vice President of Corporate Development where he was a key member of Trimeris’ 1997 internal IPO team. He also made significant contributions to the development and approval of FUZEON®, Trimeris’ first-in-class HIV antiviral therapeutic. Prior to Trimeris, he was Director of Protein Biochemistry at Procept, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRCT; acquired by Interneuron, Inc.), where he structured three collaborative R&D agreements with international pharmaceutical companies over a five-year period.

Earlier in his career, Dr Recny was a Staff Scientist and Laboratory Head at Genetics Institute, Inc. (NASDAQ: GENI; acquired by Pfizer), where his laboratory was the first to report the correct protein structures of both natural and recombinant human erythropoietin. He was a Joseph C. Wilson Scholar at the University of Rochester (1979) and he earned his PhD in Biochemistry from Illinois (1983). Michael and his wife Catherine have two grown children and split their time between homes in Chapel Hill, NC, and on Cape Cod, Mass.

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Our guest speaker is Dr. Gene E. Robinson, Director of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Robinson obtained his PhD from Cornell University in 1986 and joined the Illinois faculty in 1989. In addition to being director at IGB, he holds a University Swanlund Chair and a Center for Advanced Study Professorship and is director of the Bee Research Facility. 

Dr. Robinson pioneered the application of genomics to the study of social behavior and founded the subfield of sociogenomics, led the effort to sequence the honey bee genome, authored or co-authored over 350 publications, obtained over $75M in extramural research funding and two patents, and has trained over 35 postdoctoral associates and 25 doctoral students, about half with faculty/independent scientist positions in academia, government, and industry.

Selected awards and honors include Fellow and Founders Memorial Award (Entomological Society of America), Fellow and Distinguished Behaviorist (Animal Behavior Society), Distinguished Scientist Award (International Behavioral Genetics Society), Guggenheim Fellowship, Fulbright Fellowship, NIH Pioneer Award, Honorary Doctorate (Hebrew University), and the Wolf Prize in Agriculture. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, and American Philosophical Society. 

*All abstracts were evaluated prior to the retreat. The top 10 were selected and are now under consideration for an award. An asterisk (*) denotes presenters whose abstracts are among the top 10.