Denver-Boulder Life Sciences Summit

Elyse Blazevich leads CBSA’s work to create co-opportunity for Colorado’s life sciences community. Together with the CBSA Board of Directors, team, partners, sponsors, and members, she strategically advances CBSA’s efforts to build a collaborative environment for health innovation. Elyse brings deep knowledge of life sciences company needs, CBSA as an organization, and Colorado’s business community to offer continuity, connections, and a clear vision for the future of CBSA and the ecosystem it represents. Before joining CBSA, she co-founded Securisyn Medical and led the organization as COO and CFO, transitioning the company from a founder-led startup to a professionally led, commercial-stage medical device company. She remains a member of the Securisyn Medical Board of Directors.

Eve Lieberman was appointed by the Governor to serve as the Executive Director of the Office of Economic Development and International Trade on January 2nd, 2023. Prior to that, she had served as the Chief Policy Advisor and Legislative Counsel for Governor Jared Polis for all four years of his first term. She managed the legislative policy and federal affairs teams and oversaw many successful Governor priorities, including the passage of Free Full Day Kindergarten, the implementation of universal preschool, historic investments in transportation, and economic recovery programs. Eve served over ten years on Capitol Hill, working as Governor Polis’ Deputy Chief of Staff & Legislative Director and then Chief of Staff when then-Congressman Polis represented the 2nd Colorado Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Eve also served on the Rules Committee in her capacity working for another senior member of Congress. Eve earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and attended law school at the George Washington University Law School, completing her Juris Doctorate in 2011. During her time in law school, Eve served as a Law Clerk for the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, for a DC Superior Court Judge, for the House Judiciary Committee, and for the US Department of Justice. Eve lives in Denver with her husband and two children.

Praful Shah is an angel investor who has invested in 75 start-up companies including several healthcare companies. He has been a mentor, an advisor or on the Board of several organizations. Currently he is on the Board of a health-care company, PharmaJet, and a non-profit organization, Alliance for Collective Action. He spent over thirty years as a scientist and an executive in the Research and Development departments of the pharmaceutical and the biotechnology companies. His educational background includes a B.S. in Chemistry, an MBA in Finance, and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics.

Kelly is currently the President and CEO of the Fitzsimons Innovation Community where she leads a team focused on providing the resources, connections, and environment that help life sciences companies thrive. Kelly formerly served as the President and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce recognized three years in a row as having built one the strongest economies in the United States. The Chamber is one of the largest business advocacy organizations in Colorado with over 3,000 members. Kelly grew revenue from $17 million to over $30 million annually and raised more than $40 million ballot issue campaigns. Kelly also served as Chief of Staff to then Mayor John Hickenlooper. Kelly was responsible for over 12,000 employees and over $2 billion in budgets. Kelly oversaw the day-to-day operations for the city including managing the city through the Democratic National Convention and balancing the budget in response to the great recession. Kelly served as chair, vice-chair, and as a member of the board of directors for Delta Dental of Colorado from 2012 to 2022. Kelly now serves as an advisory board member for the fund that was developed by Delta Dental -- Ensemble Innovation Venture Fund. Since 2021, Kelly has also served on the board for Haselden Construction, a privately owned construction company with almost $500 million in annual revenue working primarily in the K-12 school system, higher education, health care, multi-family and office construction. From 2018 to 2021 Kelly served on the board of directors of the US Chamber of Commerce and has served on numerous community boards including Habitat for Humanity for Metro Denver (chair, vice-chair and chair of the policy committee), The Denver Zoo and Colorado Mesa University board of trustees. Kelly’s professional development has been extensive including: a fellow with the National Association of Corporate Directors, a graduate of Harvard’s Five-day program on the Role of Directors of Publicly Traded Boards and the JFK School of Government’s programs on conflict and negotiation and leadership development. Kelly also has significant international experience with the German Marshall Fund (GMF). She was selected as a German Marshall Memorial Fellow in 2001 and served on the Trans-Atlantic Network for GMF, 2000 to 2010. Kelly explored public-private partnerships and identified best practices for application in the U.S. including implementing the use of social impact bonds in Colorado and the first bike share program in Denver. Countries of focus were Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and Spain. In her free time, you can find Kelly outdoors. She loves hiking, biking, paddling, traveling and skiing! She thru-hiked all 500 miles of the Colorado Trail in 34 days and hiked into Machu Pichu with her daughters and climbed Kilimanjaro. She has ridden over most mountain passes in Colorado on her road bike and has commuted to work on her bike for over 30 years. She has paddled class three rapids, traveled all 185 miles of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon and paddle boards many lakes throughout Colorado. She is AIARE certified and loves ski touring the Colorado back country. Kelly has traveled to 45 states and 55 countries. She loves being challenged physically and mentally and is always seeking opportunities to learn and grow. Her personal goals are as inspiring as her professional achievements.

Dr. Afshin Safavi is a founder, CEO, councilman, consultant, board member, entrepreneur, and investor in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, animal health, technology, and real-estate sectors with multi-billion-dollar turnovers in biological products and is responsible for multiple drug products in the market today. He has founded Colorado Health & Tech Centers (CHTC) and BioAgilytix Labs, one of the most successful multi-billion-dollar Contract Research Organizations (CRO) known internationally. He has extensive experience establishing and leading teams in pharmaceutical and manufacturing companies. Before founding Colorado Health & Tech Centers (CHTC) and BioAgilytix Labs, he worked for various organizations, including AAIPharma, Bayer Biologicals, Talecris BioTherapeutics (Grifols), Nobex Corporation, GlaxoSmithKline, and IGEN International. Dr. Safavi obtained his B.S. in Biochemistry from UCLA and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Kentucky Medical School. He completed a two-year postdoctoral assignment at the Emory University, Department of Pathology.

Emma Martin is the Chief of Staff at AOA Dx, a pioneering biotech company developing an early detection test for ovarian cancer. In this role, she works closely with the CEO to drive company strategy, manage investor and board relations, and ensure cross-functional alignment across R&D, clinical, and operational teams. Emma brings deep expertise in navigating the complexities of biotech growth and innovation, specifically in the Denver area. With a background in strategic operations, business development, and investor relations in start-up organizations, Emma is familiar with the impact real estate brings to all these operations. Prior to AOA, she held roles in the health tech space that honed her ability to scale organizations, optimize internal operations, and support high-impact decision-making. Her experience gives her a comprehensive perspective on the intersection of science and business, making her an advocate for advancing bioscience innovation.

As a project executive and market lead for science and technology at Swinerton in Denver, Colorado, Adam has led complex projects throughout his career using almost every delivery method and client type. Over the last five years, Adam has planned and completed over 500,000 square feet of science and technology projects along the Front Range. He assists project teams early in pursuits and preconstruction by leveraging Swinerton’s industry-leading technology with laser scanning, VD&C, and prefabrication planning and contributes through warranty completion. Swinerton, Colorado, has a diverse science and technology portfolio under construction that includes process systems, quantum computing R&D, life science, and next-generation technology labs. As a 100% employee-owned company, Swinerton provides consistently excellent project teams and results to its customers along the Front Range and nationwide. Adam coordinates, plans, and attends a variety of networking events with the Swinerton team. Outside of work, Adam enjoys attending sporting events with his family.