HISTORICAL PAGE -- VISIT THE CURRENT CONFERENCE.
Jason Brown, Ph.D.
Research Analyst
Jason Brown joined Forward Ventures in June of 2003 and is responsible for reviewing business plans and conducting due diligence research. Prior to joining Forward, Dr. Brown completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development, where he conducted research on bacterial genomics and antimicrobial drug discovery. Dr. Brown earned a Ph.D. in Biology at the University of California, San Diego and a B.S. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from Purdue University.
Charles R. Cantor, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer and Member, Board of Directors, at SEQUENOM, Inc.
Charles Cantor is Chief Scientific Officer and Member, Board of Directors, at SEQUENOM, Inc. He is founder in 2002 and member, Board of Directors, of SelectX Pharmaceuticals, a drug discovery company based in the Boston area. He is also the director of the Center for Advanced Biotechnology at Boston University, and professor of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Cantor has held positions at Columbia University and University of California at Berkeley, and was also director of the Human Genome Center of the Department of Energy at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. He has published more than 400 peer-reviewed articles, has been granted more than 60 patents, and co-authored a three-volume textbook on Biophysical Chemistry and the first textbook on Genomics: The Science and Technology of the Human Genome Project. He sits on the advisory boards of more than 20 national and international organizations and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Glen Evans, M.D., Ph.D.
Glen A. Evans, M.D., Ph.D. was the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Egea Biosciences, Inc. It has been sold to Johnson and Johnson. Dr. Evans was previously George L. Montgomery Distinguished Professor in Biomedical Sciences, Eugene McDermott Distinguished Professor in Human Growth and Development, Director of the McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development, Director of the Human Genome Sequencing Center, and Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Texas. For the past 15 years, Dr. Evans has been involved in the international Human Genome Project, an effort resulting in the completion of the human genome sequence in 2000. Dr. Evans received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees at the University of California, San Diego and postgraduate training at Stanford University and the National Institutes of Health. He is a co-founder of Nanogen, Inc. and consultant to numerous biotechnology companies around the world. Dr. Evans is an Associate Editor of the professional journal Genomics and author of over 190 scientific publications and 11 patents.
Jerry S. Feitelson, Ph.D.
VP Technology and Business Development, GenWay Biotech
Jerry S. Feitelson Ph.D., is Vice President - Technology and Business Development at GenWay Biotech, with responsibilities for strategic relationships, intellectual property, marketing and sales of innovative IgY (avian antibody)-based products and services. Dr. Feitelson lead a team at Akkadix Corporation to develop novel methods for controlling parasitic nematodes in transgenic plants. Prior to joining Akkadix, Dr. Feitelson was a Science Fellow and Manager of the Department of Molecular Biology at Mycogen Corporation. He served as Senior Research Microbiologist at American Cyanamid and an Adjunct Professor of Microbiology at Rutgers. He is an inventor on 13 U.S. patents and 6 pending patents, and author of 32 peer-reviewed scientific publications. Jerry received a B.S. at MIT, a Ph.D. at Stanford, and completed a postdoc at the John Innes Institute, UK.
Michael J. Heller, Ph.D.
Co-founder, Nanogen and Professor of Bioengineering, UCSD
Michael J. Heller received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Colorado State University in 1973. He was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University from 1973 to 1976. Dr. Heller was supervisor of the DNA Technology Group at Amoco Corporation from 1976 to 1984, and then the Director of Molecular Biology at Molecular Biosystems, Inc., from 1984 to 1987. He then went on to Integrated DNA Technologies, where he served as President and Chief Operating Officer from 1987 to 1989. He was a co-founder and the Chief Technical Officer at Nanogen, Inc., located in San Diego, CA, from 1993 to 2001. Dr. Heller is now a professor in the departments of Bioengineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University California, San Diego. He also serves as an exclusive consultant to Nanogen. Dr. Heller has extensive industrial experience in biotechnology; with particular expertise in the areas of DNA probe diagnostics and biomedical devices, fluorescent-based detection technologies, and in nanotechnology. He has been the founder of several high technology companies. Nanogen, the most recently formed, is directed at the development of novel microelectronic DNA array technology for clinical diagnostic applications. Dr. Heller has over 30 U.S. patents and numerous publications related to his work in biotechnology, DNA microarrays, and nanotechnology. He has also served on several review panels for the National Nanotechnology Initiative.
Karl Y. Hostetler, M.D.
Chairman SAB & Professor of Medicine, UCSD
Dr. Hostetler founded Chimerix Inc. in 2000 and serves as the chairman of the scientific advisory board. Dr. Hostetler is an inveterate tinkerer with pharmaceuticals and has developed a strategy for making poorly absorbed agents into oral drugs. He is named as an inventor on 29 issued U.S. patents and numerous foreign patents in the area of drug delivery and is an inventor of the family of oral smallpox drugs being developed by Chimerix. Dr. Hostetler was a founder of Vical Inc (VICL) in 1987 and Triangle Pharmaceuticals (VIRS) in 1995. VICL is a successful public company and Gilead Sciences recently acquired Triangle Pharmaceuticals. Karl Hostetler received his B.S. in Chemistry from DePauw University and his M.D. from Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Hostetler completed his internal medicine training at University Hospitals of Cleveland and training in endocrinology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, followed by postgraduate research in lipid biochemistry in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Dr. Hostetler is Board certified in both Internal Medicine and Endocrinology and Metabolism and holds the positions of Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego and Director of the Endocrinology Clinic of the San Diego VA Healthcare System.
Paul S. Kedrosky, Ph.D.
Academic Director, von Liebig Center, Jacobs School of Engineering, UCSD
Dr. Paul Kedrosky is an award-winning academic, lecturer, and columnist. He has published more than three hundred articles in academic and non-academic publications on finance, entrepreneurship, strategy, and innovation. In addition, he has lectured and consulted to Fortune 1000 clients in Canada and the U.S. Dr. Kedrosky is currently a Distinguished Fellow at the William J. von Liebig Center for Entrepreneurism at the University of California, San Diego. In addition, Dr. Kedrosky is an adjunct professor in the management of technology at Simon Fraser University. He has also been a faculty member at the University of British Columbia , Faculty of Commerce.
Dr. Alan Paau
Assistant Vice Chancellor, Technology Transfer & Intellectual Property Services, UCSD.
Dr. Alan Paau is currently Assistant Vice Chancellor of Technology Transfer & Intellectual Property Services at the University of California San Diego. His office establishes relationships with the industrial and investment sectors and manages all inventions, patents, technologies, tangible research materials, most copyrighted materials and associated trademarks for the university. From 1994 to 97, he was Executive Director of the Iowa State University Research Foundation, Inc. and the Office of Intellectual Property & Technology Transfer at Iowa State University (Ames, IA). Previously, he was Associate Director of the Biotechnology Center at the Ohio State University (Columbus, OH) with responsibilities in research administration, technology development & transfer, and industry liaison. Dr. Paau held faculty appointments while at Iowa State University in the departments of Preventive Medicine, Immunology & Microbiology, and Genetics & Zoology, and at the Ohio State University in the departments of Microbiology, and Plant Pathology. Prior to Ohio State, Dr. Paau held various research and management positions in the Cetus Corporation and in the W.R. Grace & Co. organizations for 12 years. His research resulted in two commercial products.
David R. Preston, Ph.D., Esq.
Founder of David R. Preston & Associates, Apc.
David R. Preston is a patent attorney and founder of DRPNA®.?David is a detail-oriented Intellectual Property attorney with thirteen years of relevant domestic and foreign experience including patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and research and development agreements. David's skills include legal, technical, organizational, personal interaction and training. David has experience with the Federal Government (former patent examiner with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office), the Federal Courts (former intern to the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit and U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York; former Technology Development Specialist, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Health), biotechnology law firms and biotechnology companies, and is primarily motivated by adding value to technology and assisting in taking valuable technologies to the market to further the public good. David is admitted to practice in California, U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the United States District Court, Central District of California.
Anthony Ratcliffe, Ph.D.
President and CEO of Synthasome, Inc.
Anthony Ratcliffe, Ph.D. is President and CEO of Synthasome, Inc., a biotechnology company in San Diego specializing in tissue engineering and reparative medicine. Dr. Ratcliffe obtained his B.Sc. in biochemistry in 1977, and Ph.D. in immunology in 1980, from the University of Birmingham, UK. He then joined The Kennedy Institute for Rheumatology, London as a Research Scientist, and in 1987 he moved to Columbia University, New York, as Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Biochemistry. In 1996 he joined Advanced Tissue Sciences in La Jolla, where he served as Vice President for Research until 2002. Dr. Ratcliffe has focused his research on connective tissue biochemistry, musculoskeletal research, and tissue engineering. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Orthopaedic Research Society, Study Sections for NIH, Chairman of the Grant Review Committee for the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation, Co-Chairman of the Tissue Engineering Committee for ASTM, and has published more than 100 papers.
Eddie W. Rodriguez
Principal, Fish & Richardson P.C.
Eddie W. Rodriguez is a Principal of Fish & Richardson P.C. and Practice Group Leader of the Corporate and Securities Group. His practice focuses on a full range of corporate and securities matters, including corporate formation, mergers and acquisitions, venture financing, technology licensing, and general business counseling for both public and private companies. Extensive experience with counseling public and private companies in the life science, telecommunications, software, hardware, e-commerce and information technology industries in a broad range of transactional matters. Previously a partner at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP. Selected by San Diego Metropolitan as one of "40 of the brightest young professionals, executives, entrepreneurs and civic leaders in San Diego County" under the age of 40 in 2003. Member: American Bar Association; California Bar Association; San Diego Bar Association. UCR Connect, Steering Committee member and Chair of the Program Committee. Fluent in Chinese (Cantonese dialect).
Duane J. Roth
Executive Director of UCSD CONNECT
Duane J. Roth is Executive Director of CONNECT. Prior to joining CONNECT; Mr. Roth founded Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp. where he still serves as Chairman of the board. Prior to founding Alliance, Mr. Roth held senior management positions at American Home Products (now Wyeth) and Johnson & Johnson operating companies. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the California Healthcare Institute (CHI), and immediate past Chair of BIOCOM. Mr. Roth serves on a number of advisory committees and boards of the University of California, including the President’s Board on Science and Innovation, The UCSD Cardiovascular Center, The San Diego Science and Technology Council, the UCSD School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, UCSD Rady School of Management, the Preuss Charter School, and as Chairman Emeritus of the UC San Diego Foundation Board. Mr. Roth is active in the San Diego community, serving on the board of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (past Chair), Chairman of the Lincoln Club of San Diego, Chairman of the San Diego State University College of Business, and co-Chair of the Regional Housing Task Force on Affordable Housing. He is a graduate of Iowa Wesleyan College, where he serves as a trustee.
Ivor Royston, M.D.
Managing Member & Co-founder, Forward Ventures
Dr. Ivor Royston is the co-founder of Forward Ventures and a nationally recognized physician-scientist in the area of cancer immunology. Dr. Royston has been involved in the biotechnology industry in San Diego from its inception in 1978 with the founding of Hybritech, Inc. (now Beckman Coulter [NYSE:BEC]) and later with the founding of Idec Pharmaceuticals [NASDAQ:IDPH] in 1986. Hybritech, which was sold to Eli Lilly in 1986 for $480 million, played a central role in the establishment of the biotechnology industry in San Diego. IDEC today is San Diego’s largest independent life-sciences company with a market capitalization in excess of $6 billion.Dr. Royston received his B.A. (1967) and M.D. (1970) degrees from the Johns Hopkins University and completed post-doctoral training in internal medicine and medical oncology at Stanford University (1970-72, 1975-77). He also served as a Staff Associate at the National Institutes of Health (1972-75). From 1978 to 1990, Dr. Royston served on the faculty of the medical school and cancer center at the University of California, San Diego. From 1990-2000, he served as the founding President and CEO of the non-profit Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, before joining Forward Ventures full-time at the formation of Forward fourth fund. In 1996, President Clinton appointed Dr. Royston to a six-year term on the National Cancer Advisory Board. Dr. Royston is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center.
Christophe Schilling, Ph.D.
President and Chief Scientific Officer of Genomatica
Christophe Schilling, PhD, President and Chief Scientific Officer, is one of the two founders of Genomatica together with Bernhard Palsson. Dr. Schilling received his doctoral degree in Bioengineering form the University of California, San Diego under the supervision of Professor Palsson where he was a Powell Foundation and Whitaker Foundation Fellow. Dr. Schilling also holds a BS degree in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University where he was a Howard Hughes Undergraduate Research Fellow. He is a co-author of numerous scientific articles in the fields of systems biology and modeling, and he is an inventor on a number of patent filings surrounding the Company's core technologies. He was featured in the February 2001 edition of Genome Technology as one of 16 "up and comers" who have the talent and drive to make great strides in science, technology, and business. In 2003 he was named one of the top 100 young innovators under 35 whose innovative work in technology will have a profound impact on the world as selected by MIT's Technology Review magazine.
Avi D. Spier, Ph.D.
Director of Business Development, The Genomics Institute of the Novartis Foundation
Dr. Spier was educated in Biological Sciences at Oxford University, UK. He obtained his Ph.D. from Cambridge University, UK, at the MRC-Laboratory of Molecular Biology with thesis entitled "Molecular characterization of the 5-hydroxytryptamine3 receptor complex". Dr. Spier trained as a postdoc at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) where he worked on neuropeptide neurobiology. Following the identification of a promising family of neuroprotective neuropeptides, in 2001 Dr. Spier co-founded Allon Therapeutics, Inc. in La Jolla, to develop these peptides into therapeutic products for treating neurodegenerative conditions including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and stroke. Following two rounds of financing, in October 2004 the company joined the Toronto Stock Exchange, trading under symbol NPC.V. In November, 2004, Dr. Spier joined GNF where he is responsible for developing commercial opportunities stemming from the Institute's leading position in genomics, proteomics and research technologies.
Scott N. Wolfe.
Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP
Scott N. Wolfe is a partner with the law firm of Latham & Watkins LLP. He practices in the areas of general corporate and securities law and is the head of the San Diego office Corporate Department. Mr. Wolfe has a strong background in advising startups and emerging businesses, particularly in the life sciences/biotech, high technology and healthcare industries, and in acquisitions and sales of businesses. He also regularly represents companies and investment banking firms in public offerings, private placements, venture capital financings, complex debt offerings and corporate partnering arrangements. Mr. Wolfe has lectured at Practicing Law Institute seminars on "Acquiring and Selling Privately-Held Companies" and at CEB seminars on California securities laws and acquisitions. Mr. Wolfe is named in The Best Lawyers in America (1993 - 2005), in San Diego Magazine's "The Best Lawyers" articles (September 2001 - April 2005) and in California Law Business' annual list of the state's top 200 rainmakers. In 2004, Mr. Wolfe tied for second as the United States lawyer with the most IPO representations as cited by IPO Vital Signs.
