Board Members

President - Bailey DeBarmore, PhD MHS RDN
​Dr. Bailey DeBarmore is an epidemiologist who works with real world evidence. She focuses on applying rigorous epidemiologic methods to electronic health records and claims data to answer health questions pertinent to current and future patients. She received her BS in Nutritional Sciences from Cornell University, her Master of Health Science in Clinical Epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University, and her PhD in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also trained as a clinical dietitian at the University of Virginia Health System. 

​As TBT President, her favorite parts of events are meeting 1st time attendees, connecting people with similar interests or in similar industries, and running the raffle giveaways. Dr. DeBarmore joined the board in 2021.

Outside of work, you'll find Bailey walking her dog, playing with her nephews, or attending local pop-up markets, food truck rodeos, and other events in the area.
Director of Finance - Anne Ballou, PhD
​Dr. Anne Ballou works to support sustainable and safe food animal production by improving gastrointestinal health and function in swine and poultry.  She received her B.S. and M.S. in Animal Science from the University of Kentucky, and her PhD in Functional Genomics from North Carolina State University, where she studied the relationships between gastrointestinal bacteria and host immune function.  Anne overlays nutrition, genetics, and immunology in her research to understand and promote microbiomes that contribute to host health and function.  In addition to her research efforts, Dr. Ballou works to be a part of the cross-disciplinary cooperation that goes into developing and implementing effective outreach, and science and agriculture policy. 

​Learn more about Dr. Ballou in her Board Member Highlight!
Director of Marketing - Caroline Wake
​Caroline works to connect industry-leading organizations with the engineering and life science talent they need. She received her BS in Health Sciences from James Madison University and is driven to connect her background in science with her desire to connect people. Caroline joined the board in 2022.
Director of Strategic Partnerships - Phillip Carter
Phillip brings over 20 years of experience building and leading high-performing commercial organizations across several industry-leading biotechnology companies. He has launched and expanded the adoption of multiple first-in-class and blockbuster products spanning a broad range of therapeutic areas and markets. Phillip has dedicated more than a decade to commercializing medicines for rare and ultra-rare diseases and is an active member of the Cell & Gene Therapy Community, serving as committee and sub-team member to multiple industry organizations, including Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) and MIT’s FOCUS|NEW Drug Development Paradigms (NEWDIGS) initiative. Phillip holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Management/Marketing from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and has completed Executive Education programs at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Phillip joined the board in 2022.
Director of Communications - ​Zack Miller
​Zack has contributed to many Life Science startups throughout the RTP area for over 11 years. With a passion for cell & gene therapy organizations and a focus on manufacturing, Zack is dialed into the industry through various consulting projects and internal roles. He feels passionate about supporting local organizations like TBT to deliver unique peer group opportunities for our industry. When Zack isn’t working, you’ll find him riding a rollercoaster or playing a board game with his friends. Zack joined the board in 2023.
Director of Activities - Deepthi Rajagopalan, MS MRes
​Deepthi is a leader in the bioinformatics product support space, with experience leading interdisciplinary teams on a wide range of projects. She received her MRes in Bioinformatics from the University of Nottingham and her Masters degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Toronto. Deepthi joined the board in 2022.
​Event Coordinator - Oswaldo (Ozzy) Lozoya, PhD MS
Dr. Lozoya is a seasoned biomedical engineer and subject matter expert on integrative multi-omics analytics, single-cell sequencing R&D, biomarker discovery, and high-dimensional data mining.  His scientific publications span the fields of metabolism, mitochondrial biology, biophysical stimuli, epigenetics, and regenerative stem cell physiology, with emphasis on the effects of environmental exposures and infectious pathogens.  In his previous work while at NIH, he developed a SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 mass-scale surveillance technology, currently one of 11 NIH patents licensed by the U.S. Government to the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) for global access and pandemic preparedness. He currently works as a Scientific Computing Principal Investigator at RTI International, working to accelerate extraction of biological insight from “Big Data” by deploying new analytical paradigms to the benefit of public health. Dr. Lozoya received BS and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso, and a PhD from the Joint Biomedical Engineering Program at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. ​He joined the board in 2023.

Outside of work, Ozzy enjoys fishing local ponds, baking bread, grilling, and watching fútbol (favorite sport) and other shows on TV with his family (The Muppets have a special regular rotation).  He's a native Mexican, and an adopted North Carolinian since 2006.
Member at Large - Ali Ghiassi
With degrees from UNC-Greensboro in International Business, Economics, and Spanish, and over a decade of experience in the Life Sciences industry, Ali has had the opportunity to support a wide range of innovative Pharma, Biotech, Medical Device and Services organizations (CRO, CDMO) across the globe.

He prioritizes creating strategic partnerships while implementing effective and efficient programs for talent acquisition, talent management, employee engagement and employer branding. Leveraging his international experience across LATAM and Europe, and his language skills, Ali currently leads recruitment for Labcorp’s Global Commercial Organization. Ali has been involved in TBT since its inception in 2012.

Outside of work, Ali enjoys travel - he is a fan of seeing as much of our amazing planet as possible, cooking, camping, hiking, skiing, painting and lending time to a few great non-profit organizations. 

Interested in joining the TBT board or volunteering at events?

We are looking for motivated and proactive individuals in the RTP area to join our board and help us out with day-of event volunteering. If you are interested, please contact us or reach out to a board member to chat during one of our in-person events.