Celebrating Evolution and Innovation: Our look back at 2023 and ahead to 2024

Maria Thacker Goethe headshot

The life science industry and its innovations are always advancing, always evolving in a never ending quest to address unmet patient and clinical needs. Industry organizations like Georgia Bio may not experience the frequency of flux – driven in large part by new technologies – as the members and partner entities we serve, but when significant change is needed, we are committed to swift action.

Such was the case earlier this year when Georgia Bio returned to our core mission and re-established our independence as a 501(c)6 advocacy organization from the Center for Global Health Innovation. From our November 1st announcement , “The ‘re-emergence’ of Georgia Bio is an industry demand-driven development. Academic and industry life science leaders have told us directly that they need a strong advocacy organization around which to engage with each other and advance their priorities. Those industry leaders are also prepared to provide the financial support required for Georgia Bio to be the entity that provides those services.”

What other accomplishments can we as an organization and industry celebrate from 2023 and what do we look forward to in 2024? 

The Rural Teacher Training Initiative, a program administered by our BioEd Institute, launched its fifth year in September. RTTI provides hands-on, immersive science teacher professional development for rural Georgia teachers. Curriculum is built to highlight and leverage the biotechnology that exists within traditional science courses, including biology and AP biology, chemistry and AP chemistry, physics, environmental biology, agriculture and horticulture, physical science, and life science.

GIS Workshop participants

Funded by the State of Georgia, we have reached more than 52,000 students in 87 counties across the state through 370 educators who have participated in the program since its inaugural year, 2019. 70% of these educators and students teach and learn in Title I schools. 

RTTI 5.0 will have a Fall Training series followed by Spring Training Series. The Fall Series is virtual, live, hands-on, and will take place over four, two-hour sessions. Participants will be sent supplies to engage and practice during each session.


Back to the Summit!
Our Innovation Summit returned, this time hosted by our friends in Sandy Springs, bringing together more than 300 of our industry, advocacy and higher ed colleagues. Check out the highlights in our recap posts including BIO Board Chair Ted Love’s keynote , venture funding and AI & medtech sessions.

BioReady Communities logo

As part of the program, we celebrated Johns Creek and its certification as a BioReady Community, the first municipality in Georgia so designated. As just the second state in the country to formally adopt such a program, the BioReady Communities program will allow Georgia’s municipalities to showcase biotech-zoned science parks, streamline permitting, build a robust infrastructure, and identify biotech-friendly sites more effectively in the interest of attracting companies interested in relocating. Read more.

How about “Southeast Venture Investment”

In the interest of serving the life science ecosystem beyond our historic focus on pharma, ag tech, legislative affairs, education and workforce development, we worked closely with Life Science Nation to create and confirm RESI South. (In a peek behind the curtain, bringing these opportunities to the ecosystem don’t happen in a vacuum. It took the collective team six months to make the upcoming event opportunity real.)

RESI South 2024 banner

“Dennis Ford, CEO of Life Science Nation [stated], ‘I have seen firsthand the incredible opportunities abounding in the Southeast U.S. with a plethora of colleges, universities, and hospitals, fostering life science research and development. This is combined with an amazing array of incubators, accelerators, regional and governmental entrepreneurial programs, and world-class Bio Clusters supporting startups across all phases of development. LSN’s global partnering network wants to tap into these seven states’ technological and innovative firepower.’” The in-person piece of RESI South is March 24 at the Whitley Hotel in Atlanta. Follow Life Science Nation (and this space) for additional details.

Speaking of next year… 

One of our top priorities for 2024 will be supporting our industry colleagues and patient advocacy groups. As we wrote recently, “Americans want policymakers to see lowering out-of-pocket costs for health care as a top priority. Putting pharma and its innovators who invest billions of dollars in R&D for therapies that improve outcomes and save lives in villainous crosshairs is easy to understand and politically expedient, but misguided.

“In 2021, West Virginia became the first state in the nation to adopt ground-breaking legislation related to drug pricing and PBM transparency. The State of Georgia is considering HB343 in its upcoming legislative session, requiring insurers and their PBMs to share the savings they negotiate on medicines directly with patients.”

It is likely more states will consider similar legislation. In this “environment,” it has never been more important for pharma to clearly communicate the value of its therapies or to deliver those therapies with great efficiency.

You can learn more about how we support the industry through legislative affairs by reading out Legislative Watch publication that we issue during GA Session. Take a look at our policy priorities, including support for academic research institutions within the University System of Georgia that feed industry innovation here.

New Digs!

A big thank you to Eversheds Sutherland and Bill Warren for “hosting” our offices for the past seven years, Georgia Bio is now seeking a new home for 2024. Have space? Interesting in sharing? Contact Maria!

Telling our story

Mainstage at the GA Life Sciences Summit

During his Summit keynote, Dr. Ted Love emphasized the importance of ‘taking back our narrative’ as it relates to the beating pharma cos have taken in the drug price debate. Georgia Bio will endeavor to follow that lead by developing and sharing more content featuring our members, our partners, industry, advocate, legislative and education in the coming year. Our collective work matters to patients, to business, to our state and local economic growth and we intend to make sure the importance of that work, and its outcomes, is well known.

If you have a story you’d like to share or help tell, we welcome your ideas. Email admin@gabio.org.

Organizationally, we are adding three new committees to our roster: business strategy, medtech (as mentioned in our November 1 missive), and innovation and entrepreneurship. One of the innovation and entrepreneurship committee’s charges will be to support venture events and young company pitch events throughout the state. We are also preparing to launch a new “Fellows Program” which offers companies the opportunity to access Georgia Bio’s extensive services, benefits, and network to help them grow. The program offers a three-year membership providing early-stage life science, biotech, and medtech companies full access to the complete Georgia Bio portfolio of benefits, including the Georgia Bio purchasing consortium and discounted access to seminars, conferences, and networking events. 

Again, we encourage you to get in touch with insights on events, organizations, young companies or investors with whom we should be in touch or aware.

In closing: a few asks

We are a member-driven and funded organization. As such, we need your help to not only ensure you and your organization’s membership is accounted for in forward-facing budgets, but also to communicate our value and share our stories encouraging others to become members.

We commit to listening closely to our members and partners to best understand how we can deliver value for your membership and/or sponsorships in events like the Summit.

A few recommendations:

  • To our large institutions and enterprises: engage locally, keep a close eye on the Georgia legislative session and stay in touch. We are working to advance your mission in innovation and health. 
  • Smaller companies including life science startups of all disciplines: get engaged with our new committees, participate in the Business Solutions program to save money on everything from lab supplies to shipping, watch for RESI South registration details and jump in!
  • To all, ask about our new sponsor packages.
  • Patient advocates: help us help you tell your (our) story. Get in touch and we can add your story to our patient blog.
  • Higher ed colleagues: Assign faculty to directly engage with us regularly, especially for innovation inclined faculty. Because a huge portion of successful life science innovation that becomes commercially available is born in academic settings, our relationship with and advocacy for industry is more closely tied to your mission and success that you might think.
  • For all, engage with us on social media!

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading! Look out for an announcement of our 2024 Board of Directors in the new year.

The Georgia Bio team wishes you joyful, safe and restful holidays, and a healthy, prosperous new year.

If you’re not already doing so, we encourage you to register for our weekly newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn.

Attendees at BioSpark event

Workforce & Education Impact: Building Georgia's Future Life Sciences Workforce - One Teacher at a Time

June 15, 2026
June 16, 2026 - As Georgia Life Sciences concludes the 2025-2026 cycle of the Biotech Teacher Training Initiative (BTTI), the results reinforce the critical role educators play in building the state's future life sciences workforce. Since July of 2025, BTTI engaged 98 educators representing 40 schools across 23 school systems, reaching an estimated 5,375 students through hands-on biotechnology instruction, career-connected learning, and industry-relevant classroom experiences. The Georgia Life Sciences Equipment Depot further expanded the program's impact by supporting 238 teachers with access to laboratory equipment and materials that make authentic life sciences learning possible. Georgia Life Sciences is also pleased to report that funding for BTTI was maintained in the Georgia House version of the FY 2027 budget approved earlier this year. The upcoming 2026-2027 program cycle will mark an important evolution for BTTI. Building on feedback from industry partners and workforce trends across the life sciences sector, Georgia Life Sciences will expand the program's scope to better reflect the skills and competencies employers increasingly need. In addition to foundational biotechnology concepts, future programming will be organized around key industry domains, including Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC), Research & Development (R&D), MedTech, Artificial Intelligence, Automation, and Advanced Manufacturing. This expanded approach will provide educators with greater insight into the breadth of career opportunities available across Georgia's life sciences ecosystem while helping students develop awareness of the technologies and disciplines shaping the industry's future. The impact extends far beyond individual workshops, creating lasting connections between Georgia classrooms and the state's growing life sciences ecosystem while helping build the talent pipeline that will power Georgia's future innovation economy. "Before BTTI, I was hesitant to do biotech labs because they seemed too complex and expensive," shared Josephine Jeganathan of Stockbridge High School. "The program showed me how simplified it can be and provided the equipment and materials needed to successfully implement the Central Dogma Lab with all my classes." Teachers are also seeing increased student engagement through hands-on learning experiences. Tonie Curry of North Clayton High School used a chromatography lab to connect environmental science concepts to water pollution and sustainability. "Students were highly interested in seeing how substances separated and made strong connections to water pollution and environmental sustainability," Curry noted. "The hands-on nature of the lab encouraged curiosity and deeper understanding." For many educators, one of the most valuable aspects of the program is the connection between classroom learning and real-world careers. As Marshai Waiters of Marietta Middle School reflected: "Exposure is key. There are so many avenues to work in STEM, and they are all accessible with opportunity and knowledge. The insights gained from industry speakers will inform my teaching and create new opportunities for student exposure." When teachers are trained, equipped, and connected to industry, students gain more than a science lesson—they gain a window into Georgia's life sciences future.

PULSE Urges FTC, DOJ to Support Pro-Competitive Life Sciences Collaborations and M&A

June 10, 2026
In recent comments to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC), PULSE highlighted critical reforms to ensure that U.S. competition policies support – and do not impede – the pro-competitive mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and other collaborations that drive American life sciences innovation. PULSE submitted comments in response to two joint DOJ/FTC Requests related to Guidance on Collaborations Among Competitors and Improvements to the Premerger Notification and Report Form (HSR Form). Read below for key takeaways from PULSE’s comment letters: 1. Life Sciences Innovation Depends on Collaboration “At its core, life sciences innovation is overwhelmingly collaborative. The cutting-edge medicines and cures developed by America’s life sciences industry are rarely the result of just one sole actor. Instead, they more often emerge from a calibrated sequence of partnerships… that collectively usher a biomedical breakthrough from early-stage discovery to FDA approval and delivery to patients.” – PULSE, Comments on Guidance on Collaborations Among Competitors 2. Policies that Ignore the Fundamental Role of Life Sciences M&A Risk Chilling Innovation for Patients “Against the significant challenges and pressures inherent to life sciences innovation, such policies that needlessly delay pro-competitive transactions have significant ripple effects: eroded investment incentives, disruptions in the path to launch and, ultimately, slowed or stalled development of new treatments and cures for patients.” – PULSE, Comments on Improvements to the HSR Form 3. Clear, Predictable Standards Can Support Competition and Innovation in America’s Life Sciences Ecosystem “Preserving clear and workable pathways for collaboration is therefore essential to sustain the broader ecosystem that delivers innovation and sustains America’s status as the world leader in life sciences innovation.” – PULSE, Comments on Guidance on Collaborations Among Competitors Leading business and industry organizations echoed and reinforced these priorities. Their comments highlight the unique market dynamics of life sciences innovation and the importance of collaboration and M&A – particularly with respect to early-stage R&D. “Because drug development typically takes over a decade, and the vast majority of drugs in development never make it to market, the antitrust risks associated with R&D collaborations in this space may be less than with other R&D collaborations.” – ABA Antitrust Law Section, Comments on Guidance on Collaborations Among Competitors “In the biopharmaceutical sector, for instance, R&D ventures in the pre-clinical or Phase I stages should be presumed lawful. At these early stages, about 90% of drugs never make it to market, so these collaborations are far too distant from commercialization to pose a meaningful threat to competition.” – U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Comments on Guidance for Collaborations Among Competitors “Healthy M&A activity also aids company formation and capital raising earlier in a business’s life cycle, as entrepreneurs and early-stage investors often depend on M&A for an exit opportunity. Conversely, discouraging business combinations by imposing burdensome one-size-fits-all standards on all transactions, like those imposed by the 2024 amendments, would disincentivize early-stage innovation and slow down economic growth.” – National Association of Manufacturers, Comments on Improvements to the HSR Form The bottom line: A balanced approach to antitrust enforcement policy should support life sciences M&A and other collaborations, ensuring new medicines continue to reach patients, while preserving a diverse and collaborative ecosystem. PULSE urges the agencies to adopt clear, workable and predictable standards that companies can apply with confidence. That includes preserving enforcement safety zones for low-risk, pro-competitive collaborations, as well as ensuring the HSR Form facilitates a timely, focused and fit-for-purpose screening process for life sciences M&A deals. Click below to read PULSE’s full comments: PULSE Comments on Guidelines on Collaborations Among Competitors PULSE Comments on Improvements to the HSR Form Source: PULSE Urges FTC, DOJ to Support Pro-Competitive Life Sciences Collaborations and M&A - Partnership for the U.S. Life Science Ecosystem (PULSE)

Georgia Life Sciences Promotes Stacey Bowlin to Executive Vice President

June 5, 2026
 June 5, 2026 - Georgia Life Sciences is pleased to announce the promotion of Stacey Bowlin to Executive Vice President . Since joining Georgia Life Sciences in 2024, Stacey has played a central role in advancing the organization’s strategic visibility, industry partnerships, membership growth, and statewide engagement. Her leadership has helped strengthen Georgia Life Sciences’ position as a leading voice for Georgia’s biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostics, and digital health sectors. “Stacey has made an extraordinary impact on Georgia Life Sciences in a very short period of time,” said Maria Thacker Goethe, President & CEO of Georgia Life Sciences . “She successfully led our transformation from Georgia Bio to Georgia Life Sciences, helping modernize our brand and better reflect the full breadth of Georgia’s life sciences industry. She has also strengthened our member recruitment and retention strategy, deepened engagement across the ecosystem, and brought a level of operational discipline that has helped position the organization for continued growth. I am thrilled to recognize Stacey’s leadership and contributions with this well-deserved promotion to Executive Vice President.” In her expanded role, Stacey will continue to lead key areas of organizational strategy, operational execution, member engagement, and long-term growth. She will work closely with the CEO to support financial and organizational performance, oversee key initiatives, and help translate Georgia Life Sciences’ long-term vision into actionable strategies that strengthen the state’s life sciences ecosystem. With more than two decades of experience in strategic engagement, marketing, operations, and industry development, Stacey brings a collaborative, mission-driven approach to leadership that aligns closely with Georgia Life Sciences’ vision for the future.
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