The Hoover Institution Program on the US, China, and the World and Bio-Strategies and Leadership invite you to Winning the Biotechnology Competition on Monday, August 18th, 2025 from 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. PT.
Biotechnology holds transformative potential for security, competitiveness, human flourishing, and democracy. Increasingly, it is central to US-PRC science and technology competition. The Hoover Institution programs on the US, China, and the World and on Bio-Strategies and Leadership convene a distinguished panel of experts from the realms of science, policy, and industry to discuss the state of play in biotechnology and its implications. What are the current challenges facing US competitiveness in biotechnology? How can we foster a biotechnology innovation ecosystem that addresses urgent needs and aligns with American values of safety, security, and responsibility? What role should government play?
About the speakers
D. Michael Ackermann is the founder and CEO of Osanni Bio. In addition, he serves as Director of Biotechnology for the Stanford University Byers Center for Biodesign. He is a Co-Founder and Board Member of Presidio Medical. He was previously a Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals and Oyster Point Pharma, Inc. (acquired by Viatris in 2023). Prior to this, he was a Vice President of Neurostimulation for Allergan (an AbbVie company), after serving as Co-Founder and CEO of Oculeve, Inc., acquired by Allergan in 2015. Ackermann received a BE degree from Vanderbilt University and MS and a Ph.D. degree from Case Western Reserve University.
Drew Endy is the Martin Family University Fellow in Undergraduate Education (bioengineering), codirector of degree programs for the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (the d.school), core faculty at the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), and senior fellow (courtesy) of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He serves as president and director of the Biobricks Foundation and director of the iGEM Foundation and the Biobuilder Educational Foundation. His research focuses on the foundations of synthetic biology along with broader societal aspects. He earned a PhD in biotechnology and biochemical engineering from Dartmouth College.
Anna Puglisi is a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution. She also serves as a Technology and Security Fellow at RAND. Puglisi previously served as a Director for Technology and Security at the National Security Council, a senior advisor to the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, where she focused on science and technology policy development and global technology competition; and the national counterintelligence officer for East Asia at the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, advising senior US and foreign government officials at the highest levels and members of academia and the private sector on counterintelligence issues, including research security.
Todd Renshaw is the founder and managing director of Downeast Biopharma Consulting LLC and serves as Expert-in-Residence in biopharmaceutical outsourcing and operations at UC Berkeley’s Bakar Bio Labs. He previously led manufacturing and supply chain operations at Vir Biotechnology, where he built global networks for developing and manufacturing multiple therapeutic modalities and helped secure over $1 billion in government funding for pandemic preparedness. Prior to this, he led global clinical and commercial outsourced process development and manufacturing for Genentech/Roche. Earlier in his career, he worked in operations and supply chain consulting at PRTM (now PwC) and process development at Merck. Renshaw holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from MIT and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Glenn Tiffert is a distinguished research fellow at the Hoover Institution and a historian of modern China. He co-chairs Hoover’s program on the US, China, and the World, and also leads Stanford’s participation in the National Science Foundation’s SECURE program, a $67 million effort authorized by the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 to enhance the security and integrity of the US research enterprise. He works extensively on the security and integrity of ecosystems of knowledge, particularly academic, corporate, and government research; science and technology policy; and malign foreign interference.
