Science advances through data, discovery, and determination — but it moves the world through stories. At the 2026 BIO International Convention, the Storytelling Stage (Booth #3035) serves as the beating heart of an event otherwise defined by partnering meetings, investor presentations, and pipeline discussions. Here, the science steps aside just long enough for the people behind it — and the people it serves — to speak.

The BIO Storytelling Stage is open to all convention attendees and runs across three days of programming: June 22, 23, and 24, 2026. Each session brings together researchers, founders, patient advocates, caregivers, and community leaders to share the perspectives that remind the industry why the work matters.

What the Storytelling Stage Is

The Storytelling Stage is a curated showcase of the human dimension of biotechnology. Its programming spans the full spectrum of what the industry does and who it touches: researchers discussing emerging science in accessible terms, founders recounting the obstacles that nearly derailed the companies that now serve patients who had nowhere else to turn, and patients and caregivers offering firsthand accounts of how biotech interventions — or the absence of them — have shaped their lives.

It is not a pitch forum. It is not a panel debate. It is a deliberate act of storytelling, presented in a format that invites attendees from any background to sit down for twenty minutes and be reminded that the molecules in the pipelines they evaluate, the deals they negotiate, and the regulatory submissions they prepare are ultimately about people.

Sponsored by leading organizations in the life sciences, the stage is located at Booth #3035 on the convention floor and requires no separate registration or ticket — any BIO 2026 attendee can walk in and take a seat.

Day One Programming — June 22, 2026

The first day of Storytelling Stage programming opens in the early afternoon and covers a range of voices from across the biotech ecosystem.

2:00 PM – Joni Ekstrum, Executive Director, South Dakota Biotech
Joni Ekstrum opens the afternoon with a perspective from the regional biotechnology community — an often underrepresented voice in a convention that gravitates toward the established innovation hubs of Boston, San Francisco, and San Diego. As Executive Director of South Dakota Biotech, Ekstrum brings insight into how biotech ecosystems develop in markets outside the coasts and what that means for talent, investment, and patient access.

2:25 PM – Blake Clough, Founder & CEO, and Brandon Clough, Board Member, Sensory Studios
Blake and Brandon Clough of Sensory Studios share their story of building a company with a mission tied to sensory experience and inclusion. Their session explores the intersection of entrepreneurship, purpose, and the relentless commitment that founder-led companies require to advance from concept to impact.

3:15 PM – Patient Story and Film: ASMD and the Hope for Expanded Treatment Options
One of the most powerful sessions of the day, this presentation features Jillian Arnold — mother to two children living with Acid Sphingomyelinase Deficiency (ASMD), a rare and progressive lysosomal storage disorder. Arnold, who hosts the podcast Confessions of a Rare Disease Mama, will speak to the lived reality of raising children with a rare disease: the diagnostic odyssey, the emotional burden, the relentless search for options, and the cautious hope that new treatments on the near horizon represent. The session is presented in collaboration with Daniel DeFabio, Co-Founder of Disorder: The Rare Disease Film Festival and The Disorder Channel.

Day Two Programming — June 23, 2026

The second day features the most expansive slate of programming, running from late morning through early evening with sessions covering cancer, mental health, rare disease, ALS, diabetes, arthritis, LGBTQ+ health equity, oral vaccines, and patient media.

11:00 AM – Mona Jhaveri, Founder and Executive Director, Music Beats Cancer
Mona Jhaveri founded Music Beats Cancer at the intersection of personal experience and scientific curiosity. Her organization explores the therapeutic and community-building role of music in the lives of people affected by cancer. Jhaveri’s session speaks to the increasingly recognized role of integrative approaches in supporting patients through treatment and survivorship.

11:25 AM – Amber N. Freed, Founder & Mother, SLC6A1 Connect
Amber Freed’s journey into rare disease advocacy began with her own child’s diagnosis with SLC6A1 — a rare genetic epilepsy caused by mutations in a gene encoding a GABA transporter. Unable to find adequate resources or a research community with sufficient momentum, Freed founded SLC6A1 Connect to accelerate scientific progress and provide community infrastructure for affected families. Her story is one of a parent who became a driver of drug development.

11:50 AM – Jeff Winton, Founder and Chairman, Rural Minds
Jeff Winton founded Rural Minds to address the mental health crisis in agricultural communities — a population facing compounding stressors including economic uncertainty, geographic isolation, and cultural barriers to help-seeking. His session brings to the BIO floor a conversation about mental health access that extends well beyond the urban and insured populations that tend to dominate healthcare policy discussions.

12:15 PM – Cathryn Nacario and Anita A. Fisher: Mental Health Access and Advocacy
Cathryn Nacario, President and CEO of NAMI San Diego & Imperial Counties, joins Anita A. Fisher, CEO of Fisher Mental Health Consulting, for a dual perspective on what mental health advocacy looks like at the organizational and systems level. Their session addresses how community organizations and consultancies are working to bridge the gap between mental health innovation and the people who need it most.

12:40 PM – Jessy Ybarra and Kuldip Dave: The ALS Research Horizon
Moderated by Karin Hoelzer, Senior Director of Patient Advocacy at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, this session brings together Jessy Ybarra — a member of the ALS Association Board of Trustees with personal connection to the disease — and Kuldip Dave, Senior Vice President of Research at the ALS Association. Together they offer a view of where ALS research stands today, what the research pipeline looks like, and what ALS patients and families are watching for on the near horizon.

2:00 PM – Kyle J. Rose, Global Vice President, International Diabetes Federation
Kyle Rose brings a global perspective to the diabetes conversation — one that encompasses not only therapeutic innovation but also the vast disparities in treatment access that define the diabetes landscape across low- and middle-income countries. His session frames biotech’s role in diabetes not as a solved problem but as an ongoing responsibility.

2:25 PM – Tim Clepper, Advocate for the Arthritis Foundation
Tim Clepper shares a personal patient advocacy story through the lens of the Arthritis Foundation — one of the oldest and most established patient organizations in the United States. His session speaks to the long arc of living with chronic disease and the role that advocacy organizations play in connecting patients to science.

2:50 PM – Gabriel Maldonado, Founder & CEO, TruEvolution
Moderated by Karin Hoelzer, this session features Gabriel Maldonado, who founded TruEvolution to advance LGBTQ+ health equity — particularly in the context of HIV prevention, treatment access, and the intersection of sexual health with broader chronic disease management. Maldonado’s work represents the biotech industry’s responsibility to serve populations that have historically been underserved by clinical research design and healthcare delivery systems.

3:15 PM – Steven Lo, President & CEO, Vaxart
Steven Lo of Vaxart brings a scientific and commercial perspective to the convention floor, discussing the development of oral vaccine platforms and what they represent for global immunization strategy. Oral vaccines address critical barriers to immunization in resource-limited settings — cold chain requirements, needle-based administration, and healthcare worker availability — making this technology relevant not only scientifically but from a global health equity standpoint.

3:40 PM – Paul Kidwell, Co-Host and Producer, “In Sickness” Podcast
Paul Kidwell uses narrative media to explore what it means to live with serious illness — from the patient perspective, the caregiver perspective, and the systemic perspective. As co-host and producer of the In Sickness podcast, Kidwell’s session speaks to the growing role of patient-centered media in shaping how the public understands and engages with health and healthcare innovation.

4:05 PM – Katy Grainger, Board Member, Sepsis Alliance
Katy Grainger brings to the Storytelling Stage the story of survival, recovery, and purpose that followed her own encounter with sepsis. As a board member of the Sepsis Alliance and author of Finding Solid Footing: Thriving Beyond the Unimaginable, Grainger speaks to the lasting physical, emotional, and psychological consequences of sepsis survival — and to the importance of continued research and clinical attention to a condition that kills more Americans annually than breast cancer, prostate cancer, and AIDS combined.

4:30 PM – Book Signing with Katy Grainger
Following her talk, Katy Grainger will hold a book signing and meet-and-greet at the Storytelling Stage. Complimentary copies of Finding Solid Footing will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Day Three Programming — June 24, 2026

11:00 AM – Patient Story and Film: PWS and the Hope for Expanded Treatment Options
Guillaume Guillard, founder and house manager of LetGo House, joins Daniel DeFabio for a session focused on Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) — a complex genetic disorder affecting appetite regulation, metabolism, and cognitive development. Guillard has spent years working directly with individuals affected by PWS and will speak to the transformative effect that emerging drug therapies are having on quality of life and long-term outcomes for this community.

12:15 PM – Bradley Burnham, CEO and Founder, Turn Therapeutics
Bradley Burnham shares the founder’s perspective on building a therapeutics company from the ground up — the scientific conviction, the fundraising uncertainty, the regulatory navigation, and the patient communities that make the journey meaningful. His session offers a candid look at what it takes to translate a promising hypothesis into a clinical program.

2:30 PM – James Roe, INDY NXT Driver
In a session that bridges high-performance sport and patient advocacy, INDY NXT driver James Roe shares how he overcame asthma to compete at the highest levels of professional racing. Moderated by Sarah Alspach, Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, Roe’s story is a testament to what becomes possible when biomedical innovation enables people to live without the limitations their conditions once imposed. A meet-and-greet with Roe follows the session.

Registration and Access

The Storytelling Stage is open to all registered BIO 2026 attendees at no additional cost. BIO 2026 registration offers three access tiers:

• Basic Access ($700): Includes entry to the Exhibition, Company Presentations, and Start-Up Stadium.
• General Access: Includes education sessions, networking receptions, lunch, and Exhibition. Does not include BIO Partnering™.
• Premier Access: Full access including BIO Partnering™, education sessions, networking receptions, lunch, Exhibition, Company Presentations, and Start-Up Stadium.

BIO members save up to $700 on registration. Advance rates are available through May 21, 2026; regular rates apply from May 22 through June 25. Academic, government, and non-profit registrants are eligible for a dedicated pricing tier.

The 2026 BIO International Convention is held June 22–25 in Boston, Massachusetts. For those attending to partner, invest, or simply to understand what the biotech industry is working toward — the Storytelling Stage offers something that no partnering meeting or investor presentation can: the reminder that at the center of every pipeline, every filing, and every deal, there is a patient waiting.