Annual Scientific Symposium

The ChABSA 2026 Annual Scientific Symposium will be held June 10, 2026 at the Universities at Shady Grove in Rockville, MD. The symposium is an event for the biosafety and biosecurity community, bringing together leaders, biosafety professionals, scientists, innovators, influencers and partners to share issues, trends and best practices driving biosafety and biosecurity and public health today. 

Keynote Speakers

Kelly Schulz, Chief Executive Officer, Maryland Tech Council

Kelly Schulz is a mother, wife, successful small business owner, and served seven years in Governor Hogan’s administration as the Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Commerce. She currently serves as the CEO of the Maryland Tech Council.

In her most recent role as Secretary of Commerce, Kelly oversaw the state’s primary economic development agency, responsible for attracting new businesses, job growth, and workforce development. Under Kelly’s leadership, the department also served as the largest resource to provide financial assistance to struggling Maryland companies adversely impacted by COVID-19.

Prior to entering her career in public service, Kelly was always focused on her community. While raising her boys, Kelly put herself through college and worked as a server and bartender in the evenings and on weekends, yet always made time to serve on the school PTA and to volunteer with Brandon and Bradley’s sports teams.

Kelly went on to work as a program manager for a defense contractor and then became a partner in opening a small business – a cybersecurity firm.

Wanting to continue to serve her community, Kelly was successfully elected to the Maryland House of Delegates, representing Frederick County. As a Delegate, Kelly took her knowledge and experience as a small businesswoman and served on the Economic Matters Committee where she focused on legislation relating to banks and other financial institutions, business occupations and professions, economic development, labor and employment, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation.

Recognized by newly-elected Governor Hogan for her knowledge and expertise on economic matters, she was appointed as Secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (DLLR) in 2015. At DLLR Kelly managed nearly 2,000 employees and oversaw an annual budget of $375 million.

Under her leadership, Maryland’s apprenticeship program grew to its highest level since 2008, with more than 10,000 apprentices statewide and received national recognition as one of the top programs in America. Additionally, Kelly worked tirelessly to work with businesses regulated within the department to have a clear voice on how to work successfully within the state as a partner as opposed to the preexisting adversarial relationship.

In 2018, after Governor Hogan’s reelection, Kelly assumed her role in the Department of Commerce where she continued her positive approach to building relationships with a variety of industries to improve their opportunities within the state. Kelly likes to promote Prosperity with a Purpose – bringing more opportunities to the state has an effect on those that would not otherwise have opportunities.

Kelly currently lives in Frederick County, Maryland with her husband John Nowell.

Rebecca Bradford, MBA, MS, PMP, Senior Vice President, ATCC Federal Solutions

Rebecca Bradford is a senior public health and biomanufacturing leader with deep expertise in biosafety and biosecurity. She has more than two decades of experience advancing U.S. and global health security. As Senior Vice President of Federal Solutions at ATCC, she leads strategy and growth for government programs that support infectious disease research, biosurveillance, and medical countermeasure development. She also oversees the high‑quality development of biological materials that form the foundation of safe, compliant, and resilient biomanufacturing.

Her work focuses on delivering speed, scale, accessibility, quality, and system resilience across critical public health programs. Over her career, she has led teams through major public health emergencies, including H1N1, Zika, COVID‑19, and ongoing global efforts against Malaria, while managing challenges such as global supply chain disruptions, large‑scale distribution demands, and the urgent need for safe, stable, and accessible biological materials. Her systems‑level perspective emphasizes partnership with government agencies, nonprofits, academia, and industry to support safe research environments and enable robust biosafety and biosecurity practices.

Currently, she and her team are working to guide the development of ATCC’s Centennial Biomanufacturing Center, which expands the nation’s capacity for high quality, reliable, U.S. based biomanufacturing. She has been instrumental in shaping the Center’s strategic approach to reliability, secure operations, and future‑ready infrastructure to support biosecurity and preparedness efforts.

Bradford holds an MBA, an MS in Bioinformatics, and an MS in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University. She began her scientific career at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute, conducting retinal disease research before transitioning into strategic leadership roles that bridge science, operations, and public health readiness.