Keynote Speaker, Adriana Vela Bio

Adriana Vela, Founder & Chair NanoBioNexus.  After 18 years of tracking leading-edge technologies in the high-tech industry and defining new markets, Adriana embarked in the Life Sciences arena through various client-led projects. In 2004, Adriana founded NanoBioNexus, a not-for-profit corporation focused on tracking nanotech applications in the life sciences.  She leads a team of scientists and business professionals and has developed an international presence for NanoBioNexus as well as participation in a $20 million, 5-year National Cancer Institute grant for the creation of a Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (CCNE). 

With a long history in the business and technology worlds, she credits her success to a love of learning new things, taking on new challenges and expanding her own horizons on a daily basis.  This perspective mirrors her family life which she shares with husband, Mike Milani, and two children, Nikita (13) and Arthur (7).  Her hobbies include gardening, movies and entertaining and her favorite sports are martial arts, handball, backpacking and cross-country skiing.