Therapeutic Development Community Session – Not Just Funders: Nonprofits as Ecosystem Builders [Fall 2025 HRA Members Meeting]

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Bringing medical breakthroughs from labs to patients takes more than funding — it requires intentional strategies to build supportive communities, provide access to the right tools, and connect innovators with the resources they need. This session will explore how nonprofits are stepping into this broader role: protecting ideas, sparking connections, and accelerating progress through non-financial support. Join the discussion on what’s working, and how organizations can drive even greater success.

Speaker and Moderator

Abi Kulshreshtha, PhD, Executive Director, Maryland Innovation Initiative

Abi serves as Executive Director of the Maryland Innovation Initiative Fund. Abi’s expertise lies at the intersection of scientific innovation, economic development, and entrepreneurship, and he has worked across the U.S. advancing regional economic competitiveness through research and development. Prior, Abi served as Chief Business Officer at Southern Research, where he launched the organization’s Station 41 biotechnology commercialization programs and led collaborative federal and state grant opportunities, including the Build Back Better and Regional Tech Hubs programs. Abi additionally worked at McKinsey & Co. as a consultant, advising state & local governments on economic development and biopharmaceutical companies on R&D operations. Abi earned a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford in Theoretical Physics studying the thermodynamics of quantum systems.

Therapeutic Development Learning Community Co-Chairs

Kaitlin Davis, PhD, Director of Translational Sciences, Additional Ventures

Maaike Everts, PhD, Executive Director, Critical Path Institute (C-Path) Translational Therapeutics Accelerator

Mary O’Reilly, PhD, Vice President of Biosciences Research, Flinn Foundation