Vic Suarez, Colonel (Ret), US Army, MS, PMP, CMRP is the Founder and Principal Growth Partner of Blu Zone Bioscience & Supply Chain Solutions, LLC. Blu Zone Bio assists biotechnology and life science supply chain organizations accelerate growth and expand domestic biomanufacturing through effective public and private partnerships, strategic alliances and business development. Vic recently retired from over 27 years on active duty as a Biotechnology Advanced Developer and Health Care Supply Chain senior leader. He recently served as the Senior Medical Acquisition Consultant at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command’s Tech Transfer, IP/Patent and Business Development Office at Fort Detrick, MD. He also completed serving as the Commander of the 6th Medical Logistics Management Center, a globally deployed healthcare supply chain, information systems and biomedical maintenance solutions organization. His unique dual background has enabled him to lead highly complex biotechnology and supply chain programs and organizations. In 2020-2021, he served as the lead Vaccine Program Manager for the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine at Operation Warp Speed/BARDA and has served in the U.S. Army for nearly three decades in world-wide operational, healthcare supply chain, acquisition, and product development roles, including two combat tours in the Middle East as a medical company and battalion commander. Vic is a former Chief of Staff of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), DOD’s largest biomedical research laboratory headquartered in Silver Spring, MD and was the Joint Product Manager of the Joint Vaccine Acquisition Program (JVAP), a biodefense advanced development vaccine program where he played key roles in the advanced development and delivery of both the FDA licensed Ebola and MPOX vaccines. Vic served as an Army War College Fellow at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at GWU, Washington DC. He is a Certified Materials & Resource Professional (CMRP®) and Project Management Professional (PMP) and holds a BS and MS from UCLA and Central Michigan University, respectively. He also serves as a visiting Senior Fellow at the Council on Strategic Risks (CSR), a DC based national security think tank; Board Advisor to BioBuzz, a Mid-Atlantic based biotech/life sciences media and talent acquisition platform company which seeks to drive bio-innovation forward in multiple U.S. markets; a Senior Advisor to Securing America’s Medicines and Supplies (SAMS), a multi-industry coalition of companies with the mission to strengthen the security of the medical supply chain in the USA; and Board Advisor to ScienceWerx, a non-profit organization designed to accelerate the commercialization of technologies for the betterment of humankind.