Date/Time
Date(s) - 9 Oct 2026
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Location
Virginia G. Piper Auditorium, Biomedical Campus
Patients are the reason we do what we do.
Join us for a conversation on life science innovation from the patient perspective.
Friday, October 9, 2026
10 AM – 11 AM
Virginia G Piper Auditorium
550 E. Van Buren Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004
REGISTER
There is no cost for Attendee Registration.
Parking is recommended in the PBC Garage located at 5th St. and Filmore Street next to TGen.
Learn more about parking options and fees.
For more information on supporting partner opportunities, please see below.
Agenda
Produced in partnership with Arizona’s patient advocacy community, Voice of the Patient brings together people who are living with acute and chronic health challenges to share their life experiences with life science and healthcare leaders. All speakers at Voice of the Patient are patients and patient advocates sharing their experiences and what they need from us in the future.
9:00 AM Registration and Networking
9:30 AM Program Begins
11:30 AM Networking
12:00 PM Program Concludes
SPEAKERS
More Patient Voices Coming Soon
Zach Brooks
Zachary S. Brooks, PhD is the Founder & CEO of UGenome, a University of Arizona startup, and a 2-time kidney transplant recipient. Discovering that he had a condition that caused his kidneys to fail wasn’t in the plan but then helping others get better treatment options became his mission.
Tom Hunt
Thomas S. Hunt is a strategic operations leader, translating complex, multi-faceted business challenges into actionable solutions. His career spans CEO, VP-level strategist, and Director of Special Projects roles where he consistently bridged leadership teams, technical specialists, and capital partners to drive high-stakes decisions in ambiguous environments. In 2020, Tom faced a health challenge that sparked a time of transformation and rebirth. Tom contracted a virus that over just a few months destroyed his heart and gave him severe pulmonary embolims in both lungs. His patient journey began at the Banner hospital, in Tucson, AZ and then to the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix to to be evaluated for a heart transplant. What came next did more that save his life, it transformed it.
Joan Koerber-Walker, President & CEO, AZBio
Joan Koerber-Walker, is a wife, mother, grandmother, and patient advocate. She also serves as president and CEO of AZBio and as chairman of the board of the Opportunity Through Entrepreneurship Foundation. These two organizations have come together to create AZAdvances. Its mission is to support the creation and of Arizona-based health innovations. The team is working to create a sustainable solution to address the need for early-stage life science funding for researchers and companies in Arizona and developing the programs they need to succeed. The goal is to help develop and deliver the treatments and cures that patients are waiting for.
Voice of the Patient stories from past years are featured here.
Thank you to our supporting partner organizations
Please contact AZBio For more information on sponsor opportunities.