The Innovation Quarter announced the addition of Isaac Perry as Head of Biotech and Life Science Ecosystem Development. The Innovation Quarter is working in collaboration with Greater Winston-Salem, Inc. to develop opportunities for new life science companies to enter Forsyth County. As a part of this collaboration, Isaac will work closely with Greater Winston-Salem, Inc.’s economic development team for industry recruitment within the sector.
In this leadership role, Isaac will promote Winston-Salem as the premiere city for industry to access knowledge and resources in biotech and life sciences, especially in the fields of in regenerative medicine and clinical trials innovation. His work to expand these sectors will align with strategic growth for the Innovation Quarter as a whole.
“The growth of the Innovation Quarter to-date has depended upon the collaboration of countless individuals and many organizations dedicated to achieving success together, including Atrium Health, Wake Forest University, WFIRM, Wexford Science + Technology, Greater Winston-Salem, Inc, and more. In this new role, Isaac will serve as a bridge between collaborators, external partners, and life sciences companies and concentrate all of those efforts into attracting tenants, partners and growing our innovation ecosystem,” says Terry Hales, Executive Vice Chief Academic Officer, Administration, for Advocate Health and Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
Through partnerships with Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM), the Innovation Quarter has become a leading district of its kind throughout the world. Intentional collaborations between WFIRM, ReMDO (RegenMed Development Organization), and Innovation Quarter have formed the RegenMed Hub, a growing ecosystem that includes physical presence of global leaders in healthcare technology such as PHC Group, Axiom Space, MiMedx and more.
“The biotech and life sciences sector is one of the leading industry sectors identified for strategic growth and investment for Winston-Salem,” says Mark Owens, President and CEO of Greater Winston-Salem, Inc. “We have seen unprecedented interest from life sciences companies in recent years, since the evolution of the Innovation Quarter downtown. Interest from healthcare, biotech, and life sciences companies has increased more than 600 percent since 2018. There is incredible potential for future development, and I am excited to work with Isaac and the team at the Innovation Quarter to generate further success.”
Isaac is a Winston-Salem native and most recently served as the Director of Strategy and Innovation for Miracles in Sight, one of the world’s largest eye banks. He holds a B.S. in Biology and a Graduate Certification in Public Health from UNC Chapel Hill, an M.B.A. from Wake Forest University, and a Black Belt Certification in Innovation Engineering from the Innovation Engineering Institute.
“Winston-Salem’s biotech ecosystem is truly unique from anywhere else in the world, and is as accessible to small and startup companies as it is to larger ones. Having all of these companies and researchers together in one space helps fast-track growth and also bring solutions to market more quickly that will impact the future of healthcare for years to come. I am very excited to play a part in growing the ecosystem,” says Isaac Perry, Head of Biotech and Life Science Ecosystem Development for the Innovation Quarter.
