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James Lu, Co-Chair, james.lu (at) ventureforth.org

James is a fourth year Pharmacological Chemistry major with a minor in Management Science. He also has been taking courses through UCSD Extension to receive an Undergraduate Business Certificate. He joined VentureForth to further his aspirations of incorporating business and science together in hope to pursue a career in management in the biotech industry as well as entrepreneurial endeavors. As Vice President, he oversees the team and networks with the San Diego business community for advice and support in promoting entrepreneurship at UCSD.

Currently, he has entered his venture in the $50K UCSD Entrepreneurship Competition with an idea for the treatment of a global health epidemic affecting the developing world. This past summer he worked at Invitrogen as a Product Team Assistant optimizing an RNA polymerase assay. Previously, he worked as a Business Research Analyst at The Lancer Group, a corporate executive retained search firm, conducting market research for the IT and hi-tech industry. Even before that, he was a Research Associate at SoluLink Biosciences, a local start-up, working with protein conjugation kits and reagents.

Despite having a strong background in science, he grew up with a passion to keep up with the business application of these advancements. His broad knowledge and passion of the science and technology industry is a great asset to VentureForth.

Si Luo, Co-Chair, si.luo (at) ventureforth.org

Si is a third year Bioengineering and Management Science double major at UCSD. His involvement with VF could be described as "love at first sight". After attending their third Annual Biotechnology Entrepreneurial Conference (ABEC), he was utterly impressed with the level of professionalism and capability of this close-knit group and soon became very involved with it. He enjoys the stimulating entrepreneurial atmosphere in this group and the fact that he gets to work alongside with some of the most brilliant student leaders on campus.

He is currently a research analyst at The Lancer Group, a retained executive search firm located in downtown La Jolla. This past summer, he interned at Knowledge System Solutions Inc., a local start-up software company, where he actively participated in the entire process of an initial product launch. His experience at KSS inspired him to found, with a few fellow VentureForth board members, a new Internet software start-up aimed at providing an IT infrastructural platform for improving organizational communication and productivity.

His other student organizational experience includes the Undergraduate Investment Society, where he currently serves as Vice President. In his spare time, he loves to read, play basketball, study classical Chinese philosophy, invest in the stock market, and dreaming up new entrepreneurial ideas for others.

In the not-so-distant future, he hopes to use the knowledge he acquired from the "VF experience" to become a serial entrepreneur, and fund China's extremely underdeveloped environmental activism as well as a non-profit organization dedicated to providing education in classical Chinese philosophies and literature.

Peng Zhang, Panel Chair, peng.zhang (at) ventureforth.org

Peng Cheng Zhang is a fourth year undergraduate student at UCSD, majoring in Bioengineering. He joined VentureForth in the summer of 2006 in order to expand and explore new horizons in entrepreneurship. He is excited to bring his knowledge in scientific research and creativity to help VentureForth as Director of IT.

Peng worked as an intern at Scios Inc., a J&J sister company, in the summer of 2005, there he helped conduct cardiac arrhythmias research using isolated Lagendorff perfused heart in the safety pharmacology lab. Following the summer, Peng started doing research under Dr. Wayne Giles, a professor of Bioengineering, using mathematical models to better understand the underlying currents of ventricular action potentials. In the summer of 2006, Peng collaborated with a graduate student to develop a first order mathematical model for the action potential of a drosophila melanogaster cardiac myocyte. Now, Peng is working under Dr. Gabriel Silva in completion of his senior design project, in creating an artificial neural network based on classical graph theory and signaling dynamics.

In his free time, Peng tries to play some basketball from time to time and enjoys great food. After graduation, he will continue with graduate school and work his way to becoming a professor.

Wen-Hsin Jiang, wen-hsin.jiang (at) ventureforth.org

Wen-Hsin Jiang is a fourth year Pharmacological Chemistry student, double-minoring in Biology and Management Science. She joined VentureForth in the Spring of 2006. As the VP Internal for Events, Wen-Hsin has helped organize the 4th Entrepreneur Conference and is chairing one of the panels in the upcoming Biotech Conference.

Currently, Wen-Hsin is working as a pharmacy clerk at CVS pharmacy and is getting her pharmacy technician license at the end of February. Over the years, Wen-Hsin worked at Ambit Biosciences in San Diego as a chemistry intern and also at UCSD Revelle College.

Wen-Hsin is interested in applying her knowledge and experience, in both science and business, in a pharmaceutical or biotech related company after graduating in the Spring of 2007.

Jeffrey Cheng, jeff.cheng (at) ventureforth.org

Jeff is a third year Bioengineering:Biotechnology major. He joined the VentureForth team after attending 2006 biotechnology conference and was inspired to explore his entrepreneurial side. He hopes that VentureForth's professional and entrepreneurial atmosphere will further foster his growth in areas of technology management.

During the past summer, he has worked as a research intern at Invitrogen's proteomics division. His work involved testing novel western blotting protocols and to develop a proprietary protocol that would increase efficiency for membrane transfers. In his spare time, he loves to read about ancient Chinese history and is a passionate kendo student.

As for the future, he plans to pursue a graduate degree in bioengineering, with special focus in computational modeling of biological systems. He hopes to use his strong scientific background to develop new medical tools to benefit society.

Samuel Wang, sam.wang (at) ventureforth.org

Sam is a fourth year Management Science major at UCSD. His involvement with VF started when he realized his passion in life is not to become another 9-5 employee, but an entrepreneur that transforms ideas into a real business. He feels fortunate to be working alongside of many brilliant minds that share the same passion.

He is currently a research analyst at The Lancer Group, a retained executive search firm located in downtown La Jolla. He is also working at a start-up company Izen Mobile that provides business mobile solutions to small and medium businesses. Along with other members of VF, Sam is starting a software company that will provide communication and planning tools for organizations.

In his spare time, Sam likes to play basketball, tennis, and attending social events. He loves to travel to different countries and has been to many countries in Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

Sam hopes to use the entrepreneurial skills that he currently possesses and learning to start businesses internationally in the fields of entertainment, software, and services.

Lisa-Anne Chung, Senior Advisor: lisa.chung (at) ventureforth.org

Lisa-Anne Chung is a fourth year Management Science major at UCSD. As President, she is excited to continue serving VentureForth to even higher levels with both UCSD and the community surrounding UCSD. She loves the management involved in running a small company and helping VentureForth organize events and hopes to eventually be a COO of a prestigious coporation.

She is currently a Business Marketing Analyst Intern for Cardinal Health. Most recently she was a Research Analyst for the Lancer Group, a corporate executive retained search firm. This past summer, she interned at Deuchem in Shanghai, China and also volunteered to teach English in JiangKou, GuiZhou one of the designated poorest villages in China. Previously, she had interned at the Department of Commerce in the Foreign Commercial Affairs department. During her first three years at UCSD, she has also been an academic advising intern, orientation leader, researcher, mentor and played many other leadership roles.

With her leadership experience and passion, Lisa-Anne hopes to continue VentureForth's vision while expanding its reaches.

VentureForth Team