Mr. Ruffin has more than 25 years of experience in the regenerative medicine, biotech, and healthcare industries. Prior to founding Adjuvant Partners, he was the Chief Executive Officer of LifeTech Innovations, LLC, a business development consulting firm based in Bethesda, MD. Prior to his position at LTI, Mr. Ruffin was Executive Vice President of Capital Formation and Business Development at the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the largest trade organization representing the biotech and drug development industries. Joining BIO in 1994 as one of its original employees, Mr. Ruffin was responsible for building the organization’s global business development and investor outreach programs focused on helping companies raise capital and identify strategic partnering and licensing opportunities. This BIO business development franchise is now the largest in the world, with operations in the US, Europe, and Japan.
Mr. Ruffin has also founded and led several other key industry organizations in the life sciences sector, with a primary focus on cell and gene medicine and the application of artificial intelligence in healthcare. From September 2009 – December 2019, he co-founded, built and led the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), the foremost global advocacy organization representing the interests of the cell and gene therapy and tissue engineering communities. In January 2018 he led the effort to establish the ARM Foundation for Cell and Gene Medicine and has served on its Board of Director’s and as the Executive Director since its launch. He also co-founded the Standards Coordinating Body for Regenerative Medicine and continues to serve on its’ Board of Directors and was founder and Board member of the Interoperable Informatics Infrastructure Consortium (I3C), an international standard setting body for the bioinformatics industry. Most recently, Mr. Ruffin co-founded the Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (AAIH) in 2019, a multi-stakeholder advocacy organization comprised of technology developers, pharma companies, and research organizations with a common goal of realizing the potential for AI in healthcare to significantly improve quality of care.
Prior to his work in the private sector, Mr. Ruffin worked for U.S. Senator Arlen Specter for five years as his senior legislative assistant. In his early career, he worked for the Systems Planning Corporation International and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Mr. Ruffin received his MA in International Studies & Economics from the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and his BA from the University of Virginia.