Torrey A. Adams joined the Greater Houston Partnership on January 18th. He comes to the Greater Houston Partnership with over 16 years of domestic and international experience in business development, sales, marketing, marketing research and communications, sales/account management, and project management and planning in chemicals and pharmaceuticals projects. He has previously worked for several life science companies including BASF in Florham Park, NJ, Cambrex in Durham, NC and Sanofi in Bridgewater, NJ. Torrey is responsible for leading the Partnership’s work to position Houston as the Third Coast for Life Sciences. He works to coordinate the efforts to support growth of the life science ecosystem and assist with the recruitment of both domestic and international life science companies to the Greater Houston region. Torrey has a B.S in Chemistry from Marquette University and a Ph.D. in Synthetic Organic/Organometallic Chemistry from Wake Forest University. He also has an MBA with a concentration in Marketing from Wake Forest University.

Gayle is based in Houston and serves as Regional Partner for Life Science & Healthcare development. She is responsible for the pursuit, conceptualization and execution of projects focused around life sciences and healthcare asset class. This includes institutional and corporate campuses, research buildings, and mixed-use placemaking projects in markets where university and healthcare research are tech transfer real estate facilities and campus placemaking demand drivers. CAREER HIGHLIGHTS Gayle has directed and participated in some of the most innovative life science developments in the country. Her work has been focused on translational research campuses and urban revitalization projects involving some of the nation’s most respected research universities, hospitals and bioscience companies. Her recent work as real estate advisor to Harvard University focused on master planning its 375-acre Allston campus including its Enterprise Research innovation campus.   Gayle also spent 25 years in Boston as CEO, Forest City Enterprises Science & Technology Group where she directed the development of $2 billion of translational research and life science facilities. Her work included:  University Park @ MIT – 2.3 million square foot, 27-acre tech transfer campus developed in partnership with MIT. The campus includes 1.5 million SF corporate headquarters, research, R&D facilities for Novartis, Takada Oncology, and Mass General/ Brigham & Women’s Hospital in addition to 700 residential units, a hotel-conference center, and retail amenities.  Science & Tech Park @ Johns Hopkins – Revitalization of an 88-acre Baltimore neighborhood through a public private partnership anchored by Johns Hopkins. The campus now includes a million SF of biomedical research facilities and a hotel, mixed-income housing, and a new elementary school.  University of Pennsylvania Translational Research Labs – Strategic partnership with Penn to create biomedical research facility to foster collaboration and drug commercialization between university and corporate research projects. PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS/RECOGNITION Mass Biotech Council & International Board MIT Center for Real Estate Research affiliate MIT School of Architecture & Planning New Century Cities Initiative ULI Past President & Chairman of NAIOP Massachusetts chapter Frequent industry speaker on university tech clusters and urban placemaking EDUCATION Gayle has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, International Relations and Urban Planning from Rhodes College in Memphis, TN.

Ann Tanabe was appointed CEO of BioHouston in October 2015 after serving four years as the company’s COO. Prior to joining BioHouston in 2011, Ann served as vice president of investor relations at Synthesis Energy Systems, a publicly traded alternative energy company from May 2008 to December 2010. Prior to this position, Ann served as vice president of corporate communications and investor relations and investor relations director at Encysive Pharmaceuticals, a publicly traded biotechnology company from July 2003 to May 2008. From October 2000 to July 2003, Ann served as investor relations manager and corporate communications coordinator to Texas Biotechnology, the predecessor company to Encysive Pharmaceuticals. Prior to 2000, Ann held a variety of positions at Rochem Separation Systems. Ann earned a BA degree from Loyola Marymount University. Ann is a member of the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Product Development Advisory Committee. Additionally, Ann is a member of The University of Houston BME Industrial Advisory Board, Rice University’s Professional Science Master’s Program Advisory Board and Houston Community College’s Biotechnology Advisory Committee. Ann has been an active member of the Houston Chapter of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) since 2000 and is a current Board Member.

Tim O’Connell is a senior principal and director of HOK’s global Science + Technology practice. As a key member of HOK’s office in Washington, D.C., he has more than 25 years of architectural experience with extensive knowledge in lab planning and programming for highly complex projects. Tim has served as lab planner, lab architect, project manager and project architect on numerous research facility projects, including the DC Consolidated Forensic Laboratory Facility, a LEED Platinum building that won the R&D Magazine Lab of the Year Special Mention Award for Collaborative Science. His experience programming and planning lab spaces for corporate and commercial life science clients gives him a unique perspective of the needs of industry and how to shape innovation developments to meet those needs. Tim’s experience working with commercial life sciences developers allows him to help those clients and design teams to program and plan the right innovation facilities and at the right size - developing projects from the inside-out. Tim frequently speaks on the topics of research facilities and scientific workplaces and has been published on the subjects of sustainable design and lab design. His focus on responding to the needs of each unique client and innate understanding of scientific environments has enabled Tim to repeatedly produce innovative design solutions and establish himself as a multifaceted Science + Technology thought leader.

Justin serves as Executive Managing Director of Transwestern’s Healthcare & Life Sciences Advisory Services Group and leads the Houston Healthcare & Life Sciences Brokerage Team. With 12 dedicated professionals, the Team leases over 6 million square feet of clinical & lab space, more than any other local firm, and has transacted over 2,000 lease and building sales in the last 5 years. The team specializes in agency leasing, tenant representation, investment services and strategic account management. Justin has been with Transwestern since 2007 and specializes in providing real estate solutions within this niche space to investors, developers, end users and VC firms. His expertise in leasing, investment services, development, construction and asset management, allows him to apply a holistic lens to any real estate opportunity, resulting in optimal outcomes for Transwestern clients.

Mary Le is a Registered Architect and serves as Manager of Facilities Planning at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. She leads a team that supports the institution’s 1.2 million square feet of research space.  She holds a Bachelor Degree in Art Education from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, a Professional Degree in Interior Design from El Centro College and a Master of Architecture from the University of Houston. Prior to her work at MD Anderson Mary Le spent over 25 years in the practice of architecture and interior design, focused on research, science, and health science buildings.  She served as Principal and Education and Science Studio Leader at WHR Architects and Project Executive at EYP. Much of her work has been focused in Houston and the Texas Medical Center including the UTHealth Medical School Expansion, UTHealth School of Dentistry, Prairie View A&M University College of Nursing, the Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions and the University of St. Thomas Center for Science and Health Professions. Mary Le supports a number of educational and community nonprofit organizations, recently leading design efforts for facility renovations at Arts for Rural Texas in Fayetteville and the Round Top Family Library and serving on the President’s Advisory Board at the University of St. Thomas.

Scott brings a unique perspective to the design and construction of life science research labs. Despite his multi-generational family history as electrical contractors, he felt called more to the problem solving inherent in science. Ultimately armed with degrees in Biochemistry and Cell Biology, he spent the first few years of his career as a research assistant in the neurobiology department at UC San Diego studying the proteins that drove the kick-back reflexes of California spiny lobsters. During those years, he worked in a new research tower on the campus and became keenly aware of how building planning and design directly affects research. That formative experience led him to believe his path was not doing research with a builder mentality, but rather being a builder with a research mentality. From that point he found alignment on that vision with Harvey/Harvey-Cleary, where he has been building labs for the past 25 years. Over that time, Scott has completed over 6M square feet of life science and material science research projects around the country focusing on projects with highly technical requirements and challenging project delivery mechanisms, such as lump sum design/build for clients that range from the federal government to commercial developers. This broad base of laboratory knowledge allows him to navigate the unique and often disparate requirements that may separate the needs of a major hospital or university lab with that of a start-up biotech company.

Laura is drawn to helping people. As a Project Director, she enjoys spending time with researchers and educators, each with a unique story, all with the shared mission of advancing science. By providing spaces that support their achievements and inspire discoveries, Laura has contributed to their respective projects and goals. Highly technical laboratory spaces are exciting and challenging. No two are alike. Each holds its own significance and importance in advancing our world. Laura has had the pleasure of planning, programming, designing, and managing projects for science, technology, and higher education clients for more than a decade, working with high-profile companies and organizations such as Curative, Inc., Shell, Dow, DuPont, the University of Houston, Texas A&M University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Southern California, and Texas Tech University. With over two million square feet of laboratory and support space completed, Laura’s experience has focused on research and development in the academic and private industry setting, spanning a diverse range of scientific fields, including analytical chemistry, physical sciences and engineering, consumer product development, material science, life sciences, aerospace engineering, manufacturing and production, and veterinary medicine. Laura is a heartfelt leader dedicated to client satisfaction and uniting project teams with their clients and constituents’ goals.

Jim has more than 40 years of experience on complex construction projects and has completed more than $1.3 Billion of pharmaceutical and life sciences projects. He has worked nationally with Turner’s large Pharmaceutical clients including Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Genentech, Baxter, MedImmune, Edwards Lifesciences, DuPont, Pfizer and Unither Pharmaceuticals. He has experience across all Life Sciences facilities including vivarium, process equipment, cGMP labs, research buildings and manufacturing plants. Prior to starting his career at Turner, Jim graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering.

Monique Salas, MPP, is the North American Director of Health & Wellness at SageGlass. In her role, she focuses on the impact Saint-Gobain SageGlass bears in Healthcare spaces. She has a rich history in the Pharmaceutical Industry and Healthcare Tech space. Monique is passionate about design that incorporates health & wellness as she has a strong belief that it uman performance. Some of her recent clients include Emory Healthcare, Geisinger Health, University of California Davis and University of California Davis Health.