Hailing from Bangs, Texas, Coffey Anderson has built an acclaimed country music career defined by his tireless work ethic, deep sense of humility, and undeniable country roots. Passionate about using music to inspire hope, Coffey’s soulful tenor has seen him uplift the nation with his patriotic songs, pay respect to our troops, and connect to millions of listeners across the globe.

Coffey grew up singing gospel in the church, but it wasn’t until a breakup that he began to immerse himself in the craft and set his sights on a professional music career. In his youth, he borrowed his then-girlfriend’s father’s guitar. While the relationship didn’t last, his love of music endured. He kept the guitar, worked on his music, and, two decades later, has built a trailblazing career as a neotraditional country entertainer.

Upon relocated to Los Angeles in 2004 to pursue music full-time, the singer’s small-town upbringing, country values and unmatched work ethic stayed with him. Once in L.A., he carved out his own lane of country music.  He’d perform on the street with a foldable IKEA table where he sold CDs and took names for his email list. He realized he had to think like an entrepreneur if he wanted to make it in the industry.  Coffey took his music career into his own hands producing his own albums, booking his own shows, and editing his music videos out of his garage. In 2006, he launched his YouTube channel, Coffey Global, which has since amassed over 276,000 subscribers and 100 million lifetime views.

In the years since, Coffey has consistently used his music not only to entertain but to spread a message of hope and healing. When thirteen service members were tragically killed in a bombing at the Kabul airport during the Afghanistan evacuation in 2021, he offered to perform his song Mr. Red, White, and Blue at the service members’ funerals. Ultimately, he accepted requests from nine of the thirteen families, traveling at his own expense to perform the song at each of their funerals.

In 2022, Coffey had his Grand Ole Opry debut and received three standing ovations during his performance, something that has never happened before at the Opry.  He was also recognized by the prestigious Texas Country Music Awards as the Badass of the Year. Created by Ron Stone, the award celebrates those who have excelled in humanitarian deeds, selfless acts, charitable work, and loyal patriotism.

While building his brand as an entrepreneur and singer, Coffey continues to use his gift as an entertainer.  His presence continues to thrive online, attracting an average of 700,000 monthly listeners to his Spotify, while his TikTok likes have grown to over 4.5 million. His Netflix original reality series, “Country Ever After,” has been viewed by an estimated 60 million people.  Despite his ever-evolving career, Coffey retains his steadfast commitment to his initial goal through his music—using his gift to spread positivity, kindness, and love.

Born in Venezuela, Nella is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music. In 2019, she won the Latin GRAMMY® for Best New Artist. Her style is a cutting-edge blend of her native country’s folklore, the sounds of her generation and influences from Spain’s Andalusia region. She carries her songs around like essential supplies in a backpack and sings them with her soul.

In 2018, she was invited to act and sing in the Spanish feature film “Everybody Knows”, starring Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem. She performed several songs written for the film by the talented Latin Grammy® winner, producer, guitarist and songwriter, Javier Limón. Shortly thereafter, she launched a tour dubbed Me Llaman Nella (They Call Me Nella), which featured songs that she performed in the film, plus other Limón-penned tunes, and Venezuelan folk songs. This tour took her to the USA, UK, Spain, Venezuela, Panama and Mexico. Her tour was so successful that it continued for two years, despite the fact that she had only released three singles up to that point.

In May 2019, she released her debut album, titled “Voy”. Its first single, the title track, was named in the New York Times’ list of the 54 Best Songs of 2019, coming in at #14.

The voice of Nella has also captivated the Venezuela native and Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel, who invited her to sing a song that he composed for Free Color, the documentary about the Venezuelan visual artist Carlos Cruz Diez.

In May 2021 she released her first album with Sony Music, “Doce Margaritas”. The 12 songs on the album were written by Javier Limon who also produced the majority of the tracks; Cheo Pardo, the Latin GRAMMY®-winning Venezuelan guitarist was also involved with recording. Also, in 2021 participated in the album & HBO Special ‘Piano y Mujer’ with the Irish American pianist Arthur Hanlon and Kany García, Natalia Jiménez, Evaluna Montaner and Goyo.

Everything in Jon McLaughlin’s life makes its way into his music, whether he’s conscious of it or not. The artist, raised in Indiana and based in Nashville, brings all of his experiences and beliefs into each song he creates, something that is especially true now that he’s the father of two young girls.

Jon released his debut album, Indiana, in 2007 on Island Def Jam, attracting fans with his heartfelt, hook-laden songwriting and impassioned delivery. He’s released six full-lengths in the years since and revealed a true evolution in both his piano playing and singing. He’s played shows with Billy Joel, Kelly Clarkson and Adele, collaborated with longtime friend Sara Bareilles, co-written with Demi Lovato and even performed at the Academy Awards in 2008. 

Jon’s album, Like Us, dropped in October of 2015 via Razor & Tie, and he spent the past few years touring extensively before heading back into his Nashville studio to work on new music. Jon released a Christmas EP in 2017 titled Red & Green with two originals and his take on a few holiday classics. In November of 2018 Jon released his album Angst & Grace which features “Still My Girl” written for his youngest daughter.

Another project started in 2018 is his Dueling Pianos video series. Every episode features a new guest artist and they perform mashups of never-before-heard arrangements.

In Fall of 2019 Jon released an instrumental piano album titled MOOD. This record demonstrates Jon's artistry and captivates his talent as a pianist. In May 2020 the second edition of the project was released entitled MOOD II.

Jon wrapped up 2020 with the release of his Christmas EP Christmas Time before putting out his most recent full length album All The Things I Say To Myself with immediate fan favorites “A Breakup Song” & “Outta My Head”. 

In the fall of 2022 Jon hit the road with his band in celebration of the 15 year anniversary of his Indiana album which will be remastered and re released on vinyl spotlighting a new a capella version of the title track “Indiana” featuring Straight No Chaser as well as never-before-released b-sides.

As with everything he does, Jon’s goal is to create connections. He wants to translate his experiences and ideas into music that reaches fans everywhere. His passion for music and playing is evident in each note he plays.

Mr. Simon is the President of Simonovation, LLC, an international consulting firm in science and technology policy. He has held senior positions in both chambers of Congress, served in two Presidential administrations, was a senior strategy consultant to a variety of international technology CEO’s, co-founded and led, FasterCures, co-founded and led the Melanoma Research Alliance, and was the Senior Vice President at Pfizer for Worldwide Policy and Patient Engagement.

Greg came to Washington, DC in 1985 as General Counsel and then Staff Director of the Investigations Subcommittee of the House of Representatives' Science, Space and Technology Committee. Greg organized a series of the earliest investigatory hearings on biotechnology policy and was involved in hearings and investigations related to NASA and the Challenger explosion.

In 1991, he was the Legislative Director for Sen. Al Gore and in 1993 President William Clinton Commissioned Mr. Simon to be Vice President Gore’s Chief Domestic Policy Advisor, a position he held from 1993-1997. He was the lead staffer for the Clinton-Gore Administration for development and passage of the Telecommunications Reform Act of 1996. He helped negotiate the US-Russia agreement on the International Space Station and oversaw several key health and science initiatives, including the Human Genome Project. He next served in the White House In 2016 as the Executive Director of the White House Cancer Moonshot Task Force, under then-Vice President Joe Biden.

Greg and his team helped launch over seventy innovative private and public-private collaborations and numerous novel interagency and international initiatives that helped support the successful effort to secure $1.8 billion in new funding for the Cancer Moonshot. After leaving office in 2017, Joe and Jill Biden asked Greg to launch and be the President of the Biden Cancer Initiative, an independent nonprofit organization from 2017-2019.

An Arkansas native, he has a B.A. in history from the University of Arkansas, he received his law degree from the University of Washington and studied at the Institute for European Studies at the University of Vienna, Austria.

Chair of the V Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Committee; Executive Vice President for Clinical Affairs and Senior Vice President and Professor, Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center; Professor and Head, Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Washington; Raisbeck Endowed Chair for Collaborative Cancer Research

Dr. Davidson is a world-renowned breast cancer researcher who serves as the executive vice president and executive director for clinical affairs and senior vice president and director of the Clinical Research Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. She holds the Raisbeck Endowed Chair for Collaborative Research. She also heads the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Washington School of Medicine and served as president and executive director of Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. She was president of American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) from 2007-2008 and of American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) from 2016-2017.

Dr. Davidson completed her MD from Harvard Medical School, internship at the University of Pennsylvania, residency at Johns Hopkins, and medical oncology fellowship at NIH’s National Cancer Institute. She served as a faculty member in the Department of Oncology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine from 1986-2009 and held the Breast Cancer Research Chair of Oncology from 1995-2009. From 2009-2016 she served as Hillman Professor of Oncology, Associate Vice Chancellor for Cancer Research and Director of the Cancer Institute at the University of Pittsburgh. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Associate Professor, Department of Biological Chemistry
Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism
School of Medicine
University of California, Irvine

Selma Masri obtained her Ph.D. at the Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope working on endocrine therapy resistance in breast cancer. For her postdoctoral training, she joined the laboratory of Dr. Paolo Sassone-Corsi to elucidate fundamental mechanisms related to circadian biology, epigenetics and metabolism (Masri et al., Cell, 2014), as well as mechanisms of circadian clock disruption linked with cancer metabolism (Masri et al., Cell, 2016). In 2017, Dr. Masri joined the Department of Biological Chemistry as tenure-track faculty at the University of California, Irvine. Research interests in the Masri laboratory are aimed at understanding the relationship between disruption of circadian rhythms and tumorigenesis in genetically engineered mouse models of cancer. Dr. Masri has received several awards in recognition of her work, including a K22 Career Development Award through NIH/NCI, the V Foundation Scholar award, the Outstanding Early-Career Faculty Research Award (School of Medicine, UC Irvine), the Johnson and Johnson Women in Stem Scholar (Science category), and the Junior Faculty Research Award through the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms (SRBR).

Assistant Professor of Microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Maayan Levy is an Assistant Professor of Microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.

Her research investigates the fascinating question of how metabolites derived from diet and from the microbiome play a pivotal role in regulating various aspects of host physiology. Moreover, she explores the potential therapeutic applications of these metabolites.

Maayan completed her doctoral training at the Weizmann Institute of Science. During her PhD studies, she focused on crucial questions concerning the stability of the intestinal microbiome and made significant discoveries related to microbiota-modulated metabolites that influence intestinal immunity.

Maayan then established her own laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania, where she investigates the intricate relationship between the host and its microbiome. Her primary emphasis is on studying microbiome-derived metabolites. Notably, her recent work introduced the concept that metabolites have the potential to regulate various aspects of host physiology, offering promising avenues for therapeutic interventions.
Currently, Maayan is applying this innovative approach to the fields of intestinal and gynecological cancers. Her goal is to make significant strides in the treatment of patients at a higher risk of developing cancer, showcasing her commitment to advancing medical research and patient care.

Vanderbilt University (TN)

Wenhan Zhu grew up in China, where he attended Sun Yat-sen University in Guangdong, China, for his undergraduate (Biotechnology) degree. He obtained his PhD in Biological Science from Purdue University under the mentorship of Dr. Zhao-Qing Luo. His postdoctoral work was with Dr. Sebastian Winter at UT Southwestern Medical Center. His postdoctoral work mainly involves precision targeting unique bacterial metabolic pathways to ameliorate inflammation and tumorigenesis in the gut. Since establishing his lab at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2020, Zhu has been interested in identifying molecular mechanisms underlying commensal resilience during episodes of intestinal inflammation. Additionally, his lab explores how a carcinogenic bacterium utilizes its virulence factor to remodel the gut's nutritional landscape to fuel the pathogen's bloom. In 2022, Zhu was awarded the V Scholar award, a Mathers Foundation grant, and the Pew Biomedical Scholar.