Building the Future of Clinical Trials: Aligning Science, Regulation, and Venture
Join us for an in-depth conversation with leaders who sit where scientific discovery, regulatory decision making, and early investment all converge. Former-FDA Chief Medical Officer Dr. Hillary Marston, Investor Anastasia Budinskya of NFX Techbio, and Stanford SPARK head and translational researcher Dr. Kevin Grimes will explore how foundational science moves toward translation, how policy and regulatory thinking are evolving in real time, and how early capital makes decisions in a landscape defined by new data sources, global participation, and growing expectations for equity and rigor.
If you are interested in clinical evidence, translational research, techbio, or the future of biomedical innovation, this session offers a rare cross sectional view of how decisions are made and what the next decade will require.
Lunch will be provided for the first 30 guests.
This event is part of Evidence for Us: Reimagining Clinical Trials in the Digital Age (BIOS 297). We are opening select sessions to the broader Stanford community. Seats are extremely limited, so please RSVP only if you are certain you can join.
📍Alway Building, Room M212 (enter Alway from sliding door entrance closest to LKSC, take elevator to second floor of Alway, turn right and go down the hallway)
🕒 3pm-4:20pm
SPEAKER BIOS:
Dr. Hilary Marston, MD, MPH
Dr. Marston is a physician and public health leader with experience across clinical evidence, global health, and federal policy. She served as Chief Medical Officer of the Food and Drug Administration, where she helped guide agency priorities on clinical research, regulatory science, and public health preparedness. Her career spans work at the National Institutes of Health, international health policy, and major federal efforts to strengthen the quality and relevance of clinical evidence.
Kevin Grimes, MD, MBA
Dr. Grimes is a Professor of Chemical and Systems Biology at Stanford and leads SPARK, Stanford’s translational research program that supports academic teams in advancing early discoveries toward therapeutics and diagnostics. His work includes drug development, translational strategy, and research on how genetic polymorphisms influence drug response across global populations. He has mentored hundreds of projects across academia, industry, and global health.
Anastasia Budinskaya
Anastasia is an early stage techbio investor at NFX, one of the world’s largest seed venture funds. Her background spans computational biology, biotech engineering, and building scientific teams. She has worked across clinical research, product development, and venture, giving her a broad view of how strong science evolves into scalable companies. She draws on her venture, scientist and operator experience to help founders build strong scientific and regulatory foundations from day one.