Jeff S. Dawson

Duke University is an academic university that offers undergraduate, graduate and professional programs. It also has publications and research services. The university was founded in 1838 and is headquartered in Durham, NC.

Eagle Asset Management, Inc. (Eagle) is a SEC-registered investment advisor headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida. The firm was founded in 1976 by Tom James and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Carillon Towers Advisers, Inc., which is wholly owned by Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE: RJF). Eagle provides portfolio management services to institutions and high net-worth clients (individual investors, trusts and smaller employee benefit plans) and serves as the investment subadvisor to the Carillon Funds.

Needham & Co. LLC (Needham) is a registered investment advisor and broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1985 and is a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of The Needham Group, Inc. Needham provides corporate and institutional clients with high quality research, corporate access, capital markets and trading execution services in both the public and private markets, with an emphasis on growth companies.

Founded in 1962, Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE: RJF) is a diversified holding company headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida. The firm provides services to individuals, corporations and municipalities through their wholly-owned subsidiaries: Raymond James & Associates, Raymond James Financial Services and Raymond James Ltd. Raymond James operates through eight segments: Private Client Group (PCG); Capital Markets; Asset Management; Raymond James Bank (RJ Bank); Emerging Markets; Securities Lending; Proprietary Capital; and Other. The Private Client Group segment provides securities transaction and financial planning services to client accounts through the branch office systems of the company's subsidiaries. The Capital Markets segment's activities consist primarily of equity and fixed income products and services. The Asset Management segment provides asset management services for individual investment portfolios and mutual funds. The RJ Bank segment provides corporate, residential and consumer loans, as well as Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. insured deposit accounts, to clients of the company's broker-dealer subsidiaries and to the general public. The Emerging Markets segment operates securities brokerage, investment banking, asset management and equity research businesses. The Securities Lending segment conducts its business through the borrowing and lending of securities from and to other broker-dealers, financial institutions and other counterparties. The Proprietary Capital segment consists of the company's principal capital and private equity activities, including various direct and third-party private equity and merchant banking investments. Raymond James' capital markets reach within the financial institutions segment focuses on community and regional banks and thrifts including equity research, sales, trading and investment banking resources and services. Raymond James is one of the largest research organizations in the brokerage industry and serves institutional investors domestically and abroad. The firm's capital markets activities are based on insightful, timely and comprehensive equity research. They publish research on over 1,000 companies in their core industries. Raymond James seeks attractive niches within broader industries and then covers these sectors deeply to develop differentiated sector expertise and relationships. Although their focus is mid- and small-cap companies, their coverage includes large, medium and small companies across each sector. Raymond James' Institutional Trading division is organized into 3 specialty departments: Sales Trading, Principal trading and Agency Trading. Their Sales Trading division covers over 800 domestic and 1,300 international financial institutions throughout North America and Europe. The firm's Principal Trading division consists of industry-focused teams and their OTC Principal Trading department makes markets in over 680 domestic stocks, 85% of which are covered by Raymond James Institutional Research department. Their Agency Trading department services the trading needs of over 5,500 financial advisors located in 2,500 retail offices across the US.

BB&T Securities LLC, doing business as BB&T Capital Markets, is the broker/dealer subsidiary of BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT). The firm is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. They offer a full array of investment, trading and execution services to middle-market companies. BB&T Capital Markets' sales and trading arm is comprised of 2 groups: Debt Securities Sales & Trading and Equity Sales & Trading. The Debt Securities Sales & Trading group focuses on: (1) Government and agency securities (2) corporate bonds (3) municipal bonds (4) asset-backed securities (5) mortgage-backed securities (6) preferred securities and (7) money market desk (short-term securities including BB&T funding). The Equity Sales & Trading group focuses on: (1) institutional block execution services (2) institutional distribution of proprietary research (3) providing proprietary access to industry leading conferences and management teams (4) serving as a NASDAQ market maker for over 250 securities (5) stock buybacks including 10b-18 and 10b5-1 trading plans and (6) 144 stock sales, individual 10b5-1 trading plans (buy and sell) and employee cashless stock option programs. BB&T Capital Markets provides research coverage of the communications, defense and government services, energy, financial services, furnishings and consumer durables, healthcare, industrial services, retail/consumer durables and transportation services sectors.

Avondale Partners LLC is an independent broker/dealer headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee with additional offices across the US. The firm was founded by Robert Shepherd and Philip Krebs in 2001. Avondale Partners provides financial advisory services as well as equity and fixed income underwriting and private placement services to public and private companies throughout the US, Canada and Europe. They focus on middle-market companies in the healthcare sector.

Hyde Park Capital Partners LLC provides investment banking services. The firm offers clients execution of mergers and acquisitions and private capital raising engagements. The company was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Tampa, FL.

Truist Securities, Inc. is a registered broker-dealer headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The firm was founded in 1894 as SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc. In 2020, the firm was renamed following the integration of SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and BB&T Capital Markets. The firm is a subsidiary of Truist Financial Corp. (NYSE: TFC) and is an active market maker in equity and fixed-income products. Truist Securities delivers a comprehensive range of strategic advisory, capital raising, risk management, and financing solutions, as well as a dynamic suite of sales, trading, and research services in both fixed-income and equity. Their strategies are carefully tailored to meet the needs and vision of their clients.

Edward D. Jones & Co. LP is a broker-dealer and registered investment advisor located in St. Louis, Missouri. The firm is a subsidiary of the Jones Financial Cos. LLLP. Edward Jones provides financial services for individual investors and businesses in the US, Canada and the United Kingdom. Edward Jones registered as a broker–dealer in 1941 and as an investment adviser in 1993. The firm offers a full array of investment services. They cover stocks that perform over the long-term, focusing on US, Canadian and Western European companies with long, stable, operating histories.

Founded in 1988 by Richard Messina, the Benchmark Co. LLC is a full-service broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm provides equity research, sales and trading services for institutional and private clients. They focus on the media, energy, enterprise software, infrastructure software, biotechnology, specialty pharmaceuticals, REITs, Internet and communications sectors. The Benchmark Co.'s clearing agent is JP Morgan Clearing Corp.

Modis Therapeutics, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company, which develops disease-modifying therapies for rare genetic diseases. Its product MT1621 is in clinical development for thymidine kinase 2 deficiency (TK2d), an inherited mitochondrial disease. The company was founded by Peter H. Barber and Daniel D. DiPietro in 2016 and is headquartered in Oakland, CA.

Founded in 2001, Macquarie Capital (USA), Inc. is a registered broker/dealer located in New York City. The firm is a subsidiary of Macquarie Bank Ltd. (ASX: MBL). They provide coverage of the following industries: resources, healthcare, security/defense, transportation, financial services, retail/consumer products, TMET (telecommunications, media, entertainment and technology), oil & gas, diversified manufacturing/distribution and infrastructure/utilities. Macquarie Capital (USA), Inc. is a member of FINRA.

RBC Capital Markets LLC is a full-service brokerage and financial services firm headquartered in New York City. They are a direct subsidiary of RBC USA Holdco Corp. and a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada (TSE, NYSE: RY). Founded in 2010, the firm is comprised of 3 major business lines: the Private Client Group, the Fixed-Income Group and the Clearing and Execution Services Group. The Private Client Group serves individual investors, while the Fixed-Income Group provides services to institutions, municipalities and non-profit organizations. The Clearing and Execution Services Group is a provider of clearing and execution services to independent brokers/dealers throughout the US. RBC Capital Markets focuses on the following sectors: communications, media, consumer/retail, diversified industries, energy, financial institutions, forest products, healthcare, infrastructure finance, mining & metals, real estate, social infrastructure, technology and the US municipal markets.

Turnstone Biologics, Inc. develops bio-therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. It develops Maraba oncolytic viral immunotherapy, a platform representing a disruptive approach in the treatment of cancer. The company was founded by David Stojdl, Brian D. Lichty and John C. Bell and is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. is a broker/dealer located in New York City. The firm provides a comprehensive range of equity execution services exclusively to institutional clients worldwide. Their clients include private banks, mutual funds, hedge funds, independent asset managers and investment advisors and other brokers.