Frontiers in Science & Technology

The Frontiers in Science and Technology lecture brings together the business community with our leading scientists, engineers and researchers from San Diego’s 50 research institutes.

"CONNECT has set a nationwide standard for programs and resources necessary for entrepreneurs and innovators to take ideas from concepts to markets. How technology moves forward is featured in their unique Frontiers in Science’ lecture series...The topics are contemporary and the people attending are valuable new connections."

Bryan Bjorndal

President and CEO
Assure Controls, Inc.


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Past presenters include (chronologically):

Disaster Relief Workers Navigate Chaos Using SDSU Mapping Technology
Eric Frost, Director, SDSU Visualization Center and the Center for Information Technology and Infrastructure; Co-Director, Institute for Public Security and Health; Co-Director, San Diego State University (SDSU) Homeland Security Program

New Paradigms for Drug Development
Gary S. Firestein, M.D., Director, Clinical and Translational Research Institute (CTRI); Professor, Medicine; Chief, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology; Dean, Translational Medicine, UC San Diego School of Medicine

Exercising Your Imagination through Biomimicry
Lee Hagey, Ph.D., Biomimicry Expert, Zoological Society of San Diego; Project Scientist, UC San Diego School of Medicine
Jon Prange, Venture Business Manager, Zoological Society of San Diego

A Non-Invasive Wireless Window into the Brain
Philip Low, Ph.D., Founder, Chairman & CEO, NeuroVigil, Inc; Adjunct Professor, Stanford School of Medicine; Visiting Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Research Affiliate, Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Swarms of Ocean Robots to Monitor Oil Spills
Jorge Cortés, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, UC San Diego

In Search of Less Toxic Cancer Therapies
Catriona Jamieson, Ph.D., Professor, Pathology; Associate Director, Translational Research, Moores Cancer Center, UC San Diego

When Cells Go Rogue: Controlling Tumor Growth
David Cheresh, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Medicine, Hematologic Malignancies Program, UC San Diego; Director, Stem Cell Research Program, Moores UC San Diego Cancer Center

Using Stem Cells to Cure Diabetes
E. Edward Baetge, Ph.D., Senior Vice President & Chief Scientific Officer, Novocell

Inside the Mind of an Internet Criminal: How Economics Impact Cyber Security
Stefan Savage, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, San Diego

Revolutionizing Vaccine Development
Shane Crotty, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology

Transforming Healthcare through Wireless Innovation
Eric Topol, M.D., Director, Scripps Translational Science Institute, Chief Academic Officer, Scripps Health; West Wireless Institute

Green Innovation: The Emergence of San Diego as a Hub for Biofuel Innovation
Steven Briggs, Ph.D., Professor, Cell & Developmental Biology, UC San Diego; Co-founder, Sapphire Energy

Amazing Man-Made Nanomachines
Joseph Wang, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Nanoengineering, UC San Diego

From Monkeys to Mechanics: The History and Future of Heart Surgery
Dr. Stuart Jamieson, Distinguished Professor and Head, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, UC San Diego Medical Center

Advancing America's National Security
Frank E. Gordon, Ph.D., Head, Research and Applied Science Department, SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific

Seeing the Ocean Through Autonomous Eyes
Russ Davis, Ph.D., Research Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), UC San Diego; Director, Instrument Development Group, SIO, UC San Diego

Groundbreaking New UCSD Institute Partners Engineering, Medical, and Pharmacy Schools to Improve Health Care Delivery
Shu Chien, M.D., Ph.D., Institute for Engineering in Medicine, UC San Diego

Thermoelectric Materials for Energy Conversion: Whither nanotechnology?
Prabhakar Bandaru, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Materials Science, UC San Diego Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Reverse Chemical Genetics Approaches to Drug Discovery
Maurizzio Pellechia, Ph.D., Professor, Infectious Diseases, Burnham Institute for Medical Research

Quantum Dots: New Tools for Biological Research
Martin Hetzer, Ph.D., Hearst Endowment Assistant Professor, Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Science of Anxiety
Nadar Amir, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, San Diego State University

Protein Networks in Cancer
Trey Ideker, Ph.D., Department of Bioengineering, UC San Diego

A BioScience Smorgasbord: Research at SDSU and Future Possibilities
Roberta A. Gottlieb, M.D., Director, BioScience Center, San Diego State University

Genomic Advances on a Grand Scale: New Energy Sources
J. Craig Venter, Ph.D. , Founder, Chairman, President, J. Craig Venter Institute; X Synthetic Genomics; 2008 Medal…

Can Plankton Tell Us When the Ocean is Sick?
David Lapota, Ph.D., SPAWAR/San Diego and Bryan Bjorndal, President and CEO, Assure Controls

Climate Change, Renewable Energy and the Promise of Biotechnology
Aristides A. N. Patrinos, Ph.D., President, Synthetic Genomics

Design of Green Buildings
Paul F. Linden, Ph.D., Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, UC San Diego

From Algae to Bio-Engery: Concepts for Use, Scale Up and Commercialization
Greg Mitchell, Ph.D., Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego

Visual Analytics: The Power of Pixels in the Pursuit of the Big Picture
Falko Kuester, Ph.D., CalIT2, UC San Diego

New Drug Treatments and the Future of Stem Cells for the Aging Brain and Alzheimer’s Disease
Stuart A. Lipton, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Director, Del E. Webb Center for Neuroscience and Aging, Research Burnham Institute for Medical Research

How Computers are Changing Biology and Medicine - What are the Opportunities?
Phil Bourne, Ph.D., Professor, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Co-director, Protein Data Bank, UC San Diego

Cross-Talk Between Stem Cells and the Neurodegenerative Environment
Evan Snyder, Ph.D., Professor and Director, Stem Cell and Regeneration Program, Burnham Institute for Medical Research

Protecting our Infrastructure against Terrorist Attacks
Frieder Seible, Ph.D., Dean, Jacobs School of Engineering, UC San Diego

Cheating Death: Novel Targeted Therapies for Controlling Cell Life and Death
John C. Reed, MD, Ph.D., President & CEO, Burnham Institute for Medical Research






Program Contact:


Bethany Kraynack
Director, Education Programs
Frontiers in Science
& Technology
Email: bkraynack@connect.org
Phone: (858) 964-1312
Fax: (858) 964-1301

San Diego
Office Address
8950 Villa La Jolla Drive
Suite A124
La Jolla, CA 92037

Mailing Address
8950 Villa La Jolla Drive
Suite A124
La Jolla, CA 92037

Washington DC
Office Address
1608 Rhode Island Ave
Suite 245
Washington DC, 20036