The CBSA Board of Directors announced the appointment of Elyse Blazevich as our President & CEO on October 27. The Association is fortunate to have someone with Elyse’s business background and advocacy experience to strategically advance CBSA’s work to build a pro-innovation environment for life sciences in Colorado.     

Elyse’s expertise as a medtech founder and business community leader will be a particular asset to CBSA’s state and federal policy work. She understands what it takes to lead a Colorado life sciences company from concept to commercialization. As the Co-Founder, COO, and CFO of Securisyn Medical, she and her team secured a $250,000 Early-Stage Capital & Retention Grant through the Advanced Industries Accelerator Grant Program. Additionally, Securisyn Medical took advantage of the Advanced Industries Investment Tax Credit to raise follow-on capital.    

Following these successes, Elyse became a strong champion for the renewal of both programs at the Colorado State Capitol, providing legislators compelling insights into the programs’ impacts for emerging companies in our ecosystem. After her tireless advocacy at the Capitol for the reauthorization of the Advanced Industry Investment Tax Credit in 2017, Elyse was named Volunteer of the Year by CBSA. As highlighted during the award ceremony, advocacy is a critical part of CBSA’s work to promote and grow the life sciences community in the state.   

While with Securisyn, Elyse and her team also built an intellectual property portfolio with 12 patents, completed two Phase I and subsequent Phase II SBIR contracts, and achieved 510(k) market clearance for a Class II medical device. These experiences will strengthen CBSA’s engagement with federal policymakers. They will benefit from hearing a leader who has used such a diverse set of federal programs, which are critical to ensuring the long-term success and growth of our ecosystem. 

Elyse will officially start in her position on November 15. The CBSA team will be working on introducing her to policymakers on the state and federal levels. To learn more about Elyse and her vision for CBSA, read her interview with the Denver Business Journal.