Life Science Tennessee Convention spotlights biotech parks across the state
From Johnson City to Memphis, there were four that made the grade.
The annual conference of Life Science Tennessee, shortened to a six-letter word known as LSTCON, launched with a bang on Tuesday during a general session with a panel that cast the spotlight on “Tennessee Innovation Parks Driving Life Science R&D.”
The all-day event, held of the Westin Hotel in Nashville, began the morning with a session focused on Sickle Cell disease and therapeutics before shifting to a discussion focused on Tennessee’s innovation economy and the importance of not just R&D, but also infrastructure.
The panelists included:
- Brad Day, University of Tennessee (UT), Knoxville;
- Eric Jorgenson, East Tennessee State University (ETSU) Research Corporation;
- Christopher Rowe, Vanderbilt University;
- Jessica Snowden, UT Health Science Center; and
- Eric Elmquist, Covalent Properties (moderator).
Day noted that he was three weeks into his new role leading the East Tennessee Health Innovation Alliance, while Rowe described his new and very early role leading what he described as an “innovation neighborhood” that will occupy 40 acres on the west side on Vanderbilt’s campus.
”There’s not a lot of information about who we are partnering with, but we are listening,” he said. The idea includes a live-work-play space that will include areas for both Vanderbilt-related start-ups as well as others.
Day described a vision that includes 1.5 million square feet of new space with early planning, in conjunction with the UT Medical Center, on a 360,000-square-foot cancer center.
He also noted that 22 of the state’s 95 counties do not have a local hospital.
Jorgenson, who is part of the ETSU Research Corporation and the lead person on its Biomanufacturing initiative that we previously spotlighted in this January 2024 article in teknovation.biz, described his work as “lining up all the pieces of the puzzle.” We also spotlighted more recently the work that ETSU is doing to transform a former Eastman facility known as Valleybrook into a vibrant new R&D facility with $5 million dollars in state funding (see teknovation.biz article from September 30, 2025, here).
He described the facility as a “transition space.”
Both Snowden and Rowe talked about different aspects of the technology transfer process.
- She noted that “tech transfer rates (at universities across Tennessee) are lower than they should be.”
- He said, “Our faculty are increasingly interested in getting their inventions out into the marketplace.”
All four talked about the importance of knowing what each organization and region is doing and becoming a “champion for each other.”
Snowden, who also touched on the importance of the workforce at all levels, asked attendees to consider, “Where do you fit in that story?”
Day also said, “We are creating a place where people want to be engaged. We want them to stay in Tennessee.”
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