Category Archives: Health

MESHSC: Cultivating Biotech Talent in South Carolina

Is South Carolina prepared for Biotech?

With the advent of exponential technologies, the Life Science and Biotech industry continues to drive forward with ever increasing speed. Is South Carolina’s workforce ready?

We will continue our MESH-SC conversation about biotech with Julian Nixon, Professor of Anatomy & Physiology and Department Head of Biological Sciences at Greenville Technical College Julian will share an educational perspective of how students are being prepared for biotech careers. We will also tour Greenville Technical Colleges state of the art biotech lab.

Christian Graves, President of the Carolina Biotech Group will share an industry update and key developments in life science and biotech in South Carolina. He will also provide an industry perspective of what we need to do to prepare the SC workforce for careers of biotech.

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MESHSC: News Impacting the Future of Health & Medicine

Thanks to Dr. David Orr for sharing his insights on direction of Medtech and Biotech Tuesday at Brewery 85. He was gracious to share a sample of recent news articles on the topic to get your creative juices going. Stay tuned to future MESHSC talks and meetups that are focused on this continually evolving field.

How Your Gut Affects Your Bones(Scientific American)

Cancer Took His Wife. Now He’s CEO Of One Of The Most Audacious Cancer Startups In Years (Forbes)

Automated empathy allows doctors to check on patients daily (CNN)

Novartis signs Aetna, Cigna for pay-for-performance drug deal (MobiHealth News)

New Ways Into the Brain’s ‘Music Room’(NY Times)

Halo claims to make you jump higher, think faster, remember longer (Newsweek)

We Have the Technology to Destroy All Zika Mosquitoes (MIT Tech Review)

Software Measures Heartbeats in Video Recordings (MedGadget)

The Digitalization of Prosthetics Is Transforming How Wounded Service Members and Veterans Recover (Singularity Hub)

Give Up Your Data to Cure Disease (NY Times)

The Mycobiome (The Scientist)

World’s First Wireless, Continuous, Fully Disposable Pulse Oximeter (MDTMag)

The chips are down for Moore’s law(Nature)

Miniature Microsocope will ID Cancer Cells in Real Time (MNT)

A Gadget for Spotting Fake Viagra, and Other Counterfeit Pills (MIT Tech Review)

Mattel acquires baby health wearable maker Sproutling (MobiHealth News)

Sam Konduros, Brewing a Biomedical Innovation Revolution

A revolution in healthcare is brewing in the upstate!

The number of biomedical and heathcare technology startups, collaborations, and innovations is accelerating at a rapid pace in the upstate. The brewmaster at the epicenter of this technological shift is Sam Konduros. Sam is the Executive Director of the Research Development Corporation (RDC), supporting organization of GHS dedicated to improving the health of upstate South Carolina and beyond by being the engine of growth for medical and healthcare delivery advancements.

Sam will share his entrepreneurial story in economic development and the exciting developments in biomedical and healthcare technology. He may even throw in a few of his motorcycle adventure stories.

The agenda will close with a question and answer session and participants will have the opportunity to engage in an ideation session focusing on key challenges in the healthcare and biomedical technology area.

Tickets include choice of craft beer (over 21 only) and pizza will be served.

About our Speaker

Sam Konduros serves as Executive Director for Greenville Health System’s Research Development Corporation, focusing on industry collaborations and partnerships, development of intellectual property, and mission-supporting economic development strategies. Konduros also served as President of Greenville, South Carolina-based SK Strategies, LLC, from 2004-2014, which specialized in innovation strategies, integrated marketing, economic development, public/private partnerships and strategic planning – including the creation of visions & brands, “strategic roadmaps” and market penetration strategies – for numerous corporate, governmental and university entities which have included Greenville Health System, Clemson University, CU-ICAR, and Kent Worldwide among others. Konduros has been actively engaged in state, regional, and local economic development initiatives since 1989.

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Beer and Napkins Event- RiverReConnect: ReConnecting People to Rivers Initiative

RiverReConnect: ReConnecting People to Rivers Initiative

Tuesday, June 9th, 6:00pm – 8:00pm The Community Tap, 217 Wade Hampton Blvd, Greenville, SC 29609 (864) 631-2525

Upstate Forever Staff Members Nancy Eisen Fitzer and Heather Bergerud Nix will present key initiatives in education and engagement to cultivate a stronger appreciation for our limited water resources and a fascination with the ecological richness of Upstate SC water resources and rivers. Several projects will be highlighted including Blueway Mapping and Upstate Adopt-A-Stream. We will follow the presentation with an ideation session targeting these two projects.

Limited to 30 Attendees

(Tickets include choice of craft beer and pizza will be served)

About our Presenters

Nancy Eisen Fitzer has been with Upstate Forever since 2005. Her responsibilities include producing our newsletters, maintaining this website, researching and writing other publications, and monitoring state legislation.
Nancy has a masters degree in City and Regional Planning from Clemson University, a B.A. in biological anthropology from Harvard, and also studied natural resource management and rainforest ecology in Australia. Her previous experience includes organizing community service projects in partnership with schools, parks, and shelters in Columbia for City Year, a national youth corps program.Nancy lives in Greenville with her husband, Matt, and three children.

Heather Bergerud Nix joined the Upstate Forever staff in 2007 and is the Director of the Clean Air & Water Program, where she leads a variety of advocacy and outreach efforts. Heather received her B.S. in Biology from Winthrop University. Before joining Upstate Forever, Heather was a project manager at an environmental consulting firm. Her main focus was wetland delineation and permitting, construction site inspections, and industrial facility inspections. Previously, Heather gained a variety of experience working at Glacier National Park in Montana, a chemical manufacturing facility in South Carolina, and onboard commercial fishing vessels in the Bering Sea.
Heather is thrilled to be able to use her technical knowledge and background to help further positive changes in the Upstate. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, gardening and traveling.

For more information contact Phil McCreight or Tony Miller