Katerina Akassoglou, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Pharmacology at the University of California, San Diego. Katerina performed her graduate studies at the University of Athens in Greece and the University of Vienna in Austria, where she developed a novel transgenic animal model for multiple sclerosis. As a recipient of the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) postdoctoral fellowship and the Young Investigator Award from the Wadsworth Foundation, Katerina performed her postdoctoral studies at SUNY at Stony Brook, the Rockefeller University and New York University. Her lab studies molecular mechanisms triggered by vascular damage to inhibit tissue repair. Her research on interactions of the blood protein fibrinogen with the nervous system identified fibrinogen as a potential therapeutic target in multiple sclerosis. Katerina has authored 28 peer-reviewed papers that have received over 800 citations in scientific journals and textbooks and are featured in press releases worldwide. She has been an invited speaker at conferences and universities both nationally and internationally and has received six Young Investigator Awards. She is a member of the Expert Referee Panel of the Alzheimer’s Research Fund and an ad-hoc reviewer for several scientific journals. Katerina is Director of the UCSD Pharmacology Summer Undergraduate Program and she currently mentors five postdoctoral fellows and one graduate student. Katerina is a named inventor on two US patents and she is the principal investigator of four research grants from the National Institute of Neurologic Diseases and Stroke (NIH/NINDS), the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Christopher Reeve Foundation. [Hide Bio]

Janet Bandows Koster assumed her position as executive director of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS) in July 2006. Bandows Koster is responsible for the day-to-day management of the 5,000 member organization. Bandows Koster has more than 20 years experience in international association and nonprofit management including a strong background in membership marketing and fundraising. Most recently, she served as Executive Director of the United German-American Committee of the USA, Inc. She has also held senior leadership positions in organizations such as AARP and Volunteers of America. Bandows Koster earned a B.A. degree in Diplomacy and World Affairs from Occidental College in Los Angeles, a M.A. in International Relations from Troy State University, and a M.B.A. from the Keller Graduate School of DeVry University. She is a member of the American Society of Association Executives.

AWIS is the largest multi-disciplinary scientific organization for women in the U.S. dedicated to achieving equity and full participation of women in the STEM disciplines. As the premier professional association for women in science and technology, over 65% of AWIS members have doctorates and hold positions at all levels of industry, academe, and government. Membership is open to all organizations, businesses, institutions of higher education, and individuals that support the full participation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. [Hide Bio]

Marie Betts-Johnson is founder and President of the MBJProtocol Consulting. Originally, from Tipperary, Ireland, she is an internationally recognized consultant, speaker and columnist and is a regular guest on KUSI TV, Channel 9, San Diego.

Her experience and hands-on expertise have enabled her to develop hundreds of customized training programs for top U.S. corporations including IBM, Gucci Timepieces, Sony Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, W-D 40 Company, Pfizer, U.S. Postal Service, Toyota / Lexus, Carlsbad, The University of California, San Diego, The Thomas Jefferson School of Law and the International Bankers' Association of California.

Based in San Diego since 1989, Ms. Betts-Johnson provides seminars on:

Corporate Protocol for the Business Professional

Office and Customer Service Protocol

Executive Dining Diplomacy

Protocol for the Job Interview

Etiquette for Teenagers

Cross-Cultural Understanding for International Business

International Business Protocol

International Dining Diplomacy

The Art of Hosting International Guests and Clients

She has identified the multi-layered complexities of hosting international delegations and served as Protocol Coordinator for the Washington Diplomatic Corps, during their visit to San Diego in 1996.

Ms. Betts-Johnson served four years on the staff of the late King Hussein and Queen Noor of Jordan. This experience gave her the opportunity to meet and interact with royalty and dignitaries from all over the world, some of whom included Prince Charles and the Late Princess Diana of Wales. She then went on to hone her protocol expertise, and has developed the most extensive business protocol and international protocol programs available. [Hide Bio]

Julia R Brown is a member of the Board of Directors of Tanox, Inc., Labopharm, Inc. MediQuest Therapeutics, Inc. and Trius Therapeutics, Inc. She serves on the business advisory board of CovX Pharmaceuticals. Julia is a member of the board of the University of California, San Diego Foundation, CONNECT, the La Jolla Institute for Molecular Medicine, and the Veterans Medical Research Foundation. She is a Tech Coast Angel, a member of BIOCOM, Corporate Director’s Forum, and Athena.

From 2000-2003, Julia was Executive Vice President of Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and continues to serve as Advisor to the CEO. Prior to joining Amylin, Julia was Executive Vice President of Dura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. She was with Dura from 1995-1999. Julia spent over 25 years with Eli Lilly and Company in progressively more senior roles. From 1992-1994, Julia was Vice President of IVAC Corporation and General Manager of its Vital Signs Division (a Lilly subsidiary). She was Vice President of Worldwide Marketing for Hybritech (another Lilly subsidiary), and led global marketing from 1986-1992. She held a variety of positions in the pharmaceutical division, including eight years in the Company’s international division. She did basic research in antimicrobials from 1969-1973. Julia is a graduate of Louisiana Tech University where she studied microbiology and biochemistry. [Hide Bio]

Cathryn Campbell is Of Counsel at Needle & Rosenberg and practices in its biotechnology practice group and leads N&R's Southern California office in San Diego County. She concentrates her practice on biotechnology intellectual property law and has extensive experience in developing patent portfolio strategies, negotiating and drafting license agreements, and preparing patentability, validity, infringement and freedom to operate opinions. She represents biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, as well as numerous non-profit universities and institutions. She has been a member of the team that litigated the case of Integra LifeScience v. Merck KGaA, which resulted in a U.S. Supreme Court decision of great importance to the biotech industry. Cathryn has been recognized by California Lawyer as one of the state's top patent lawyers, and she was the recipient of the 1997 "Women Who Mean Business" award for law. [Hide Bio]

Lisa Caralli has more than 15 years of pharmaceutical industry experience in both drug research and development. Lisa's area of expertise is analytical methods and formulation development. Currently, she is a Senior Scientist at Pharmatek Laboratories, Inc., a pharmaceutical chemistry development company where she guides a team of scientists in developing oral and parenteral pharmaceutical products for Phase 1 and 2 clinical studies. Prior to joining Pharmatek, Lisa was an Analytical Project Manager at Isis Pharmaceuticals where she worked on the chemistry, manufacturing and controls of antisense (oligonucleotide) drugs. Lisa joined Isis from Amylin Pharmaceuticals where she directed their amino acid analysis core facility and performed methods development for peptide-drug candidates. She started her career at the Immune Response Corporation studying biological markers of autoimmune diseases. Lisa holds a B.S in Biochemistry from the University of California at Davis. [Hide Bio]

Brenda Clapper is a medical writer for Amylin Pharmaceuticals, a San Diego based company that researches and develops investigational drugs for diabetes and obesity. Brenda is responsible for writing documents to support Amylin’s clinical development program. These documents include clinical trial protocols, clinical study reports, and informed consent forms.

Brenda joined the industry as a medical writer two years ago after completing her doctorate in microbiology at the University of Alabama, at Birmingham. Although she was not formally trained as a writer, Brenda gained relevant experience while writing her dissertation and journal publications. [Hide Bio]

Dr. Donna J. Dean is Senior Science Advisor with Lewis-Burke Associates LLC, a Washington D.C. based government relations consulting firm that advocates for the public policy interests of institutions of higher education and other research and education organizations. She has 27 years of experience as a senior Federal government executive, with experience in research and science policy across the entire range of biomedical related areas at the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration. Immediately before joining Lewis-Burke in 2005, Dr. Dean was Senior Scholar in Residence at the National Academy of Engineering of the National Academies and Senior Advisor for Engineering to the Director, National Institutes of Health (NIH), focusing on policies and projects at the interface of engineering and the health and life sciences.

Dr. Dean was designated the founding/acting Director of the new National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) at NIH in 2001. Prior to and concurrent with her service for NIBIB, Dr. Dean was Senior Scientific Advisor in the Office of the NIH Director from 1998 to 2002. She previously held a number of senior management and supervisory positions in NIH’s grants peer review system. In addition, she led special projects for the NIH, such as NIH liaison to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, management of the first ever periodic reviews of NIH Institute Directors (at the request of then NIH Director Dr. Harold Varmus); co-chairing the taskforce which developed the research agenda for the Office of Research on Women’s Health; and representing NIH/DHHS on the Congressionally mandated Commission on the Advancement of Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science, Engineering, and Technology.

Dr. Dean attended Berea College in Kentucky, graduating with a B.A. in chemistry, and minors in biology and mathematics, and then received the Ph.D. in biochemistry from Duke University. After postdoctoral work in cell and developmental biology at Princeton University, she conducted research in biochemical endocrinology at NIH prior to moving into science administration. In 2000, she completed a senior management program in the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

She has been a pivotal leader on scientific and technical workforce issues, in women's health, and in career development strategies for young scientists. Among her current professional activities are national President of the Association for Women in Science (of which she has been a member since its founding in 1971), member of the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), advisor to the joint biomedical engineering program of the University of North Carolina/North Carolina State University, and Board member of the Washington Academy of Sciences, of the NIH Alumni Association, and of the School of Science and Engineering of Tulane University. She is a fellow of the AAAS, the Washington Academy of Sciences and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. [Hide Bio]

Grace completed undergraduate and graduate degrees in Biochemisty and Chemistry at University of Toronto (Toronto, Canada). There she worked on design and synthesis of protease inhibitors during her masters work. She then collaborated with Genencor International (now Danisco) during her doctoral work to re-design subtilisin's substrate specificity using a combination of protein engineering and chemical modification to introduce unnatural amino acid side chains into the protein backbone. This work resulted in numerous publications and patents. She then moved to the Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla, CA) as a NSERC post doctoral fellow, where she worked with Professor C. H. Wong on elucidating the mechanistic details and structure of DERA aldolase as well as developing enhanced variants of this enzyme for biocatalysis applications. The highlights of this work were published in the journal Science (2001) and also led to patent applications. Grace joined Diversa Corporation (San Diego, CA) early in 2001 as a Staff Scientist and has applied her experience in enzymology, protein engineering and chemistry to a number of projects with pharmaceutical and industrial applications. Grace is now Principal Scientist at Diversa where she manages several programs and external collaborations in addition to providing oversight to a group focused on enzyme optimization and characterization in a high throughput environment. While in an industry setting, Grace continues to participate actively in the external scientific community via publication, speaking at international conferences and recruiting activities. [Hide Bio]

Renee Drucas is currently Director of Manufacturing at Invitrogen Corporation, with responsibility for Invitrogen’s manufacturing operations in Carlsbad , CA and Israel . She was formerly Manager of Quality Control at NOVEX—a supplier of pre-cast electrophoresis gels. Renee has a BS in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin and is currently pursuing an MBA at UCSD’s Rady School of Management. [Hide Bio]

Tammy J. Dwyer Nailing the Interview [View Bio]

Dr. Tammy J. Dwyer received a B.S. in Chemistry from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemistry from UCSD under the guidance of Dr. Charles Perrin.  She taught at UCSD for two years (1988-1990), followed by two years of post-doctoral research at UC Berkeley (1990-1992).  Dr. Dwyer joined the faculty at CSU San Marcos as Assistant Professor in 1992 and then moved to the University of San Diego in 1994.  She has served as Chair of the Chemistry Department at USD since 2001, and in that time, has completed six successful faculty searches at USD and participated in five other searches at Cal State San Marcos and USD.

Dr. Dwyer has served as Chair (2000, 2001), Councilor (1997-1999) and Chair of the Education Committee (1995-2000) of the San Diego section of the American Chemical Society. In 1999, Dr. Dwyer was recognized with a University Professor award at USD.  In 2000, she won the Davies Award for Teaching Excellence, which is awarded yearly to one faculty member in the College of Arts and Sciences at USD.  In 2004, she was named Administrator of the Year at USD.  A San Diego native, she lives in Poway with her husband Brian, a scientist at BD Rapid Diagnostics and two children, Anne, 21 (a student at Cal Poly SLO) and Nick, 4. [Hide Bio]

Lynne Eddy received her Ph.D. in Physiology and Biophysics from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She has extensive experience teaching in a university environment, having been a faculty member at Florida State University, the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, and the University of Southern California. She also has over 15 years of experience in clinical research in both the pharmaceutical industry and in contract research organizations. She most recently was Director, Clinical Research Practices, at Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp. in San Diego and was responsible for assurance that SOPs in clinical research were comprehensive and assuring that clinical studies were being conducted in accordance with company, federal, and other agency guidelines and laws. In addition, she oversaw the training programs within the department including training for new personnel and refresher training for others. She is currently serving as a consultant to the pharmaceutical and medical device industry in clinical research, compliance, and training and continues her teaching at UCSD Extension in several programs relating to clinical research. [Hide Bio]

Dr. Mary Ruth Erickson is a Senior Scientific Investigator in Discovery Research at Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. In her current role as a project team leader, she is managing a cross-functional team focusing on the identification of a second generation therapeutic protein. Mary has been at Amylin for over 4 years and has experienced the rapid growth of the company from 240 employees to 1,600. During this time, she has built a dynamic group focusing on molecular biology and protein expression. This group’s primary role is to support the company's current drug discovery efforts in the areas of diabetes, obesity and metabolic disease. Previous roles at Amylin have involved leading programs for the discovery and validation of peptide hormones using a combination of molecular biology, bioinformatics and Mass Spectrometry techniques.  

Prior to joining Amylin, Mary worked in research at Valigen Inc and Genset Inc. At Valigen, her efforts focused on furthering a proprietary Genoplasty technology platform for use in target validation, SNP validation and ex vivo therapy applications.  During her time at Genset, Mary was an integral member of the gene discovery team focused on the identification and characterization of genes involved in obesity/metabolism. She also significantly contributed to the establishment of a new functional genomics lab and the recruitment of personnel.

Mary received her Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from The Pennsylvania State University in 1997 and a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Kalamazoo College in 1990. Mary is currently a member and officer of the Biotoasters Toastmasters Club. She lives in San Diego with her husband and 3 children. [Hide Bio]

William (Bill) Fenical, Distinguished Professor of Oceanography, and Director of SIO’s Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, did his undergraduate work, in chemistry and biology, at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. After graduation in 1963, he attended San José State University where he received his MS degree in organic chemistry studying the pigments in abalone shells. He then moved south to UC-Riverside, where he received his Ph.D. degree in organic synthesis in 1968. More recently, Bill’s interests have focused on the undeveloped field of marine microbiology and the utilization of marine microorganisms as a source for new drug discovery. As in the past, the ecological roles of marine microorganisms as symbionts and in interspecies interactions continues to be a topic of strong interest. Bill’s most important recent work involves the discovery of new, drug-producing actinomycete bacteria residing in deep ocean sediments. As a product of his work, two important drugs are currently in clinical trials for cancer. Bill serves on the editorial boards of 9 major journals of natural products chemistry, and has co-authored more than 370 papers in these fields. Bill is the recipient of the Paul Scheuer Award in Marine Natural Products Chemistry (1996), the International Society of Chemical Ecology’s Silver Medal Award (1997), the Burroughs-Wellcome Visiting Professor Award (2002), the National Cancer Institute’s Merit Award (2003), the Ernest Guenther Award in the Chemistry of Natural Products (2006; Am. Chem Soc.) and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Society of Pharmacognosy (2006). In 2006, Bill was elected as a Fellow of the American Society of Pharmacognosy [Hide Bio]

Ananda Goldrath received her Ph.D. from the University of Washington. She was a postdoc at the Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard Medical School where she was the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation-Irvington Fellow. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Molecular Biology at UCSD. Dr. Goldrath's research focus is on T-cell immunology in particular Regulation of naïve and memory T cell populations. [Hide Bio]

Dr. Lisa A. Haile is a partner at DLA Piper and co-chair of the firm’s global Life Sciences Group.  Her practice focuses on strategic counseling relating to all areas of biotechnology and life sciences intellectual property law.  Dr. Haile has particular expertise in patentability, non-infringement and validity opinions, due diligence work in connection with venture capital, private and public financing, mergers and acquisitions in the biotechnology industry, and strategic counseling for comprehensive life sciences patent portfolio management.

Dr. Haile was named as one of the top 45 Lawyers Under 45 by American Law Magazine, in January 2003.  She was the only San Diego Lawyer to be named to the list and only one of seven women.  Dr. Haile was named as one of the “Top Attorneys in San Diego” and named to the list of “Best Lawyers in America”, both in August, 2005.    

Dr. Haile was an NIH postdoctoral fellow at The Burnham Institute in La Jolla, California prior to attending law school.  [Hide Bio]

Dr. Ciara Kennedy is Director of Strategy and Corporate Development at Cypress Bioscience Inc., based in San Diego California. In this role her responsibilities range from program and alliance management to business development.

Prior to joining Cypress Bioscience Dr. Kennedy held several positions in the Program and Alliance department of Biogen Idec, managing multiple projects spanning the drug discovery and development continuum. Program teams were cross-functional, bi-coastal and often multi-company.

A Ph.D scientist by training Dr. Kennedy received her doctorate at the Queen's University of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Following which she relocated to the Burnham Institute, La Jolla, California, to continue her research in the field of apoptotic proteases. In 2004 Dr. Kennedy became a member of the inaugural class of the Rady School of Management at UCSD, and graduated with a Masters of Business Administration in 2006.

Dr. Kennedy's is actively involved with several associations including Athena and the Rady School Alumni Association, of which she is president.

Her experience as a scientist and a business professional complement her expertise in managing technical and diverse teams to achieve defined goals and desired outcomes. During her career, Dr. Kennedy, has successfully led teams through turbulent times including mergers and reorganizations and to significant program check-points.

Dr. Kennedy is currently teaching a course titled "Project Management within a Scientific/Research Environment" that is part of a certificate in project management, offered by UCSD and the University of Washington. [Hide Bio]

Professor of Biochemistry Emerita, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6003 USA

Education/Training/Positions: BS Swarthmore College, 1957; PhD, Bryn Mawr College, 1963; Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania 1963-1966; NATO Postdoctoral Fellow, Weizmann Institute, Israel; Assistant, Associate and Full Professor of Biochemistry, University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, 1967-2005; Visiting Prof. Biochemistry, Univ. California at San Francisco, 1979-80, Visiting Fellow, Oxford University, 1989-90, Chair, Graduate Group in Molecular Biology, Univ. Pennsylvania 1984-86; Chair, Biochemistry Department 1992-95; Professor, Bioengineering Graduate Group, Univ. Penn 1996-2005; Director of Faculty Development., Univ. Penn. School of Dent Med 2005-06.

Honors/Awards: NATO Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1966-67; NIH Research Career Development Award 1971-76; Fogarty Senior International Fellowship, 1989-90; Helen & Robert Davies Professorship, Univ Pennsylvania, 1994-97, Philadelphia AWIS Mentoring Award, 2001; Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching, 2005

Editorial Duties/Peer Review Panels: Member, Orthopedics Study Section, NIH, 1994-1998; ad hoc member, Oral Biology and Medicine Study Section, 1992, 2000, 2001; Member, Skeletal Biology, Development and Disease (SBDD) Study Section, 2002-04. Chair, NIH SBDD Study Section 2006-07.

Professional Societies: Membership: Am Soc Bone Min Res; Orthopedic Research Society; American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, American Society for Cell Biology, American Association for Women in Science. Service: American Society for Biochemistry Committee on Women 1972-75, Committee on Educational Policy 1975-78, Public Affairs Committee 1978-1981; AAUP Committee on Women 1985-88; Orthopaedic Research Society Program Planning 2004-06.

AWIS activities: Executive Board 1974-1976; Chair, Nominating Comm 1999; National Secretary 2004-06; Chair, Chapters Comm 2005-2007; President-elect 2007.

Scientific interests: Molecular biology of osteogenesis; osteoinductive implant materials, actions of bone morphogenetic proteins, signaling mechanisms in endochondral bone formation.

AWIS-related interests: The leaky pipeline for women in academic bioscience; increasing the numbers of women in the physical sciences, computer sciences and engineering; improving career tracks for women in corporate research. [Hide Bio]

Alison Macpherson is currently the President and owner of Bright Pharmaceutical Services and Bright Media Services. She founded both companies in 2002. Ms. Macpherson has been in the pharmaceutical clinical trials industry since 1988 where she began working as a Clinical Research Fellow on NIMH-funded grants at the Danielsen Institute at Boston University.

In 1990, Ms. Macpherson was brought on board to facilitate the expansion of California Clinical Trials Medical Group, a prominent investigative site in Beverly Hills, CA. As Director, she helped grow CCTMG from a respected but small independent site to a large company of nearly 200 employees, which was subsequently bought by United Health Group. She earned the post of Interim Director at their sister site, International Clinical Trials, in London. Ms. Macpherson headed phase I-IV trials in varied therapeutic areas such as: psychiatry, internal medicine, immunology, endocrinology, dermatology, rheumatology and neurology. She presided over clinical and administrative departments and was responsible for the clinical operations and administration of several departments.

Ms. Macpherson also worked closely with the Advertising Department and had a hand in determining media strategy and placement for print, radio, internet and cable TV. Ms. Macpherson spear-headed and chaired the Website Development Committee for the company’s patient and client sites. She also managed their 24-hour, 365-day-a-year Call Center. Ms. Macpherson has authored several articles and abstracts of her research.

During 2 years of her tenure at California Clinical Trials, she split her time on projects for United Health Group’s corporate-owned Contract Research Organization, i3. For these international registration clinical trials for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, she managed a team of psychometricians and a Call Center.

Ms. Macpherson left United Health Group and began her own Contract Research Organization and Advertising Agency to focus on the needs of niche biotech and pharmaceutical projects and specializing in unique patient recruitment challenges. Bright Pharmaceutical Services uses Bright Media Services to carry out patient recruitment projects for phase I-IV projects internationally. Bright Media Services expanded its roster of capabilities in 2004 with the hiring of a COO and a Media Director. Ms. Macpherson continues daily oversight and business development of Bright Pharmaceutical Services. She is the immediate Past President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Association of Clinical Research Professionals.

Ms. Macpherson was elected to the Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters in 2001 and was published in “From Inspiration to Realization”, volume II and authored the upcoming compilation “Potluck Wisdom for the Pharmaceutical Professional”. She resides in Sherman Oaks, California. [Hide Bio]

Ms. McWeeny has 11 years of life science expertise in the areas of genomics and molecular biology with 4 years of experience in product commercialization in genomics. She currently holds the position of Director of Marketing at GenVault Corporation, the leader in room temperature biosample management. Prior to GenVault, Ms. McWeeny held the position of Quality Lab Manager at Motorola, where she managed a 7 day high throughput microarray laboratory performing quality testing for product development, manufacturing and customer array processing. Prior to this position she held varying positions in applications engineering for Motorola and in functional genomics research for Abbott Laboratories. Ms. McWeeny obtained a BS in Biological Sciences from the University of Iowa, a MS in Biotechnology from Northwestern University and an MBA from DePaul University. [Hide Bio]

Laura received her B.S. in Biology from Duke University in 1995 and her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences, with an emphasis in Neurobiology, from the University of California, San Diego, in 1999. During her graduate career, she also actively pursued teaching opportunities, and was an instructor for general biology labs at the University of San Diego, as well as a participant in the Preparing Professional Faculty Program at the Center for Teaching Development at UCSD. Following her graduate work, she transferred into the field of Marine Microbiology and spent 5 years as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Project Scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, studying the molecular biology of symbiosis and the production of bioactive compounds by microbial symbionts. During this time she continued to expand her teaching skills and was an instructor for both lab and lecture courses at UCSD and MiraCosta College. Her wonderful experiences teaching in the community college system led to her to her current position as Assistant Professor in the Natural Sciences Department at Miramar College, San Diego, where she is lead instructor for Microbiology. Laura spends her free time traveling and enjoying life with her husband and young daughter. [Hide Bio]

Dr. Janis Naeve joined Amgen in 2005 and is currently Director for Amgen Ventures, the Company’s corporate venture capital fund. She manages deal flow evaluation and on-going oversight of investments in multiple portfolio companies.

Before joining Amgen, Dr. Naeve was Director of Corporate Development for X-Ceptor Therapeutics where she supported strategic planning including repositioning the company’s platform to a cardiovascular drug company. Her broad-based experience encompasses revenue generation in a profitable biotech, transitioning of a platform research company into preclinical/clinical development, and fundraising through venture capital or M&A.

Naeve did her postdoctoral research work at Caltech after receiving her Ph.D. in Experimental Pathology from the University of Southern California. Naeve completed her undergraduate work in Medical Microbiology at California Polytechnic University. [Hide Bio]

Dr. Dawne Page is an Associate Professor of Biology at Point Loma Nazarene University and is also Director of SEASAND (Science Education Association of San Diego). She received her Ph.D. in Microbiology & Immunology from UCSF in 1989 and did her post-doctoral training with Steve Hedrick at UCSD. Dr. Page then became an Assistant Research Scientist at UCSD and focused on research in T cell development until 2002. She then transitioned to Point Loma Nazarene University, where she teaches Genetics & Immunology and conducts research in T cell development with undergraduates. She also directs a local program, SEASAND, which offers summer institutes for local middle school science teachers. Overall, Dr. Page has a long-term interest in the development of young scientists and teachers and is directing an HHMI-funded project at PLNU that is focused on these areas. [Hide Bio]

Leslie Robinson received a B.Sc. in Chemistry from Duke University in 1984, and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Indiana University in 1989, where her doctoral research focused on the total synthesis of marine natural products. Following postdoctoral research at the University of California, she worked for six years as a medicinal chemist at Novartis Pharmaceuticals in New Jersey. In 1997, she joined CombiChem, Inc., a combinatorial chemistry start-up in San Diego. From 1999-2002, she was Director of Medicinal Chemistry for DuPont Pharmaceuticals Research Laboratories, where she led project teams focused on the discovery of small molecule therapeutics for metabolic diseases, inflammation and thrombosis.

Dr. Robinson received her J.D., cum laude, from the University of San Diego School of Law in 2006. While attending law school, she served as Editor-in-Chief of the San Diego International Law Journal. She currently works as a patent attorney with Morrison & Foerster, LLP in San Diego, where her practice focuses on providing intellectual property protection for clients in the life sciences and biotechnology industries. [Hide Bio]

Dr. Shen is the Senior Director of Business Development at Immusol, a private, clinical stage biopharmaceutical company in San Diego developing novel therapeutics in oncology, HCV, ophthalmology, and dermatology. Her key responsibilities include leading all of Immusol's licensing and corporate partnering activities, marketing, and corporate communication. Previously, Dr. Shen founded BioForesight, Inc., a life science strategic consulting company focusing on licensing, partnering, and financing for its clients in the US and Asia/China. She also held positions at The Wilkerson Group/ IBM, Bayer, and Chiron, with increasing responsibilities in marketing, strategic planning and business development.

Dr. Shen is an organizer, speaker, and chair of numerous life science business conferences on licensing, venture capital investing, and Asia Pacific partnering. She is the author of feature articles published on Pharmaceutical Executive, Ernst & Young Global Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Reports, and BioExecutive International. She has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Nature, Wall Street Reporter, Drug Discovery News, Slate, San Diego Business Journal, ASIA Media, and San Diego Chinese Tribune. She received the 2006 Asian Heritage Award in Science, Technology, and Research; and serves on the Board of Directors of Sino-American Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Professionals Association (SABPA), the largest and most influential Chinese American life science professional organization in Southern California.

Dr. Shen received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Colorado, and an MBA from the Johnson School at Cornell University. She attended Peking University and Peking Union Medical College in China. [Hide Bio]

Terri Somers has been a biotechnology reporter at the San Diego Union-Tribune for the past four years. She added stem cells to her beat three years ago, when a group of California scientists, politicians and patient advocates first floated the idea of asking the state's taxpayers to fund stem cell research.

Somers, who grew up on the S. Jersey Shore, spent 13 years working at the Asbury Park Press in Neptune, N.J. She spent much of her time there covering cops, courts, major crime and state-wide legal issues. Her work included the coverage of organized crime. And her stories about a man who claimed the Virgin Mary visited him on the first Sunday of each month attracted more than 10,000 people to visit that man's back yard on a monthly basis. She was also a member of an award-winning team that uncovered a massive real estate flipping scheme. Those stories prompted an FBI investigation that has led to more than a 20 convictions.

For four years as a reporter in South Florida, she covered state and regional legal issues. Her work included coverage of the 2000 presidential election, a historical state-wide class action against Big Tobacco, the state law banning gay people from adopting and the failings of the state's Department of Children and Family Services. [Hide Bio]

Dr. Lalitha Subramanian is the Director of Contract Research Services at Accelrys and has over 15 years of experience in applied research using simulations and molecular modeling tools and techniques. She was a Principal Scientist at Accelrys (aka Molecular Simulations, Inc.) where she spearheaded research efforts in the areas of heterogenous and homogenous catalysis, structural characterization, reaction optimization, process improvement and materials design. She worked on applied research projects for General Electric, Pennzoil, Chevron, Johns Manville, Knolls Atomic Power Labs, etc. Lalitha has active collaborations with industry and has authored a book “Molecular Modeling Techniques in Materials Sciences” published by CRS Press, 2005. She obtained her Ph. D. in Chemistry in 1989 from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. After her post-doc in Theoretical Chemistry at Cornell University with Prof. Roald Hoffmann (Nobel laureate) and a post-doc in experimental Organometallics at University of Arizona with Prof. Dennis Lichtenberger, she joined Biosym/Molecular Simulations Inc. in 1994. She now guides and mentors applied research projects in areas of Nanotechnology, Nanobiology, Fuel Cells, Lubrication, Structural Characterization, Homology modeling, Protein Structure, Pharmacophore modeling and Structure activity relationships. Some of the recent projects are in collaboration with General Motors, BAE Systems, Solvay, Symrise, MannKind, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Galderma, PolyOne, Optimer, CV Therapeutics, PPG, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Northrop Grumman etc. [Hide Bio]

Jean Y. J. Wang received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from U.C. Berkeley and was a Jane Coffin Child postdoctoral fellow at MIT. Honors include the Searle Scholar Award, a MERIT Award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the Herbert Stern Endowed Chair. Dr. Wang is Associate Director of Basic Research for the UCSD Cancer Center and an editor for the journal Molecular and Cellular Biology. She has been elected to the Board of Directors of the American Association for Cancer Research and has served on the NCI Board of Scientific Counselors. Dr. Wang's research focus deals with the study of mammalian cell growth control and function of gene products that are mutated in cancer. Examples are c-Abl tyrosine kinase, which is activated in the Bcr-Abl fusion protein of human chronic myelogenous leukemia; and the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein (RB), which is inactivated by mutations in human retinoblastoma and osteosarcoma. [Hide Bio]

Ms. Wei has more than 20 years of biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry experience focused in regulatory affairs and quality assurance arenas before joining Favrille, Inc. in October 2002. Her involvement in the bio-pharmaceutical arena has included development of products in a variety of therapeutic areas (oncology, anti-inflammatory and immunologic disease, medical imaging/radiopharmaceuticals, anti-viral and anti-infective agents, dermatology, anesthetics/analgesics, and neuropharmacology) as well as managing a variety of product types (i.e., injectable, orals, and topicals), and developing the infrastructure for several regulatory affairs units. She was employed at IDEC Pharmaceuticals from 1993-2002, most recently as Department Head/Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs. While at IDEC, Ms. Wei led the company's successful efforts for FDA approval of Rituxan® and Zevalin®. Rituxan® was the first monoclonal antibody approved for oncology and Zevalin® is a "first in class product" - radioimmunotherapy. The Rituxan® clinical development program and registration strategy culminated in a BLA that was approved by FDA in only 9 months. In addition, she was instrumental in the company's receipt of FDA approval for a Rituxan® supplemental BLA that expanded the label for two additional patient populations and a new dosing schedule. She played a prominent and lead role in obtaining FDA licensing for IDEC's manufacturing facilities and the development of new FDA initiatives for oncology products and electronic filing standards. Zevalin® was the first radioimmunotherapy approved and today, remains the only therapy of its kind approved anywhere in the world. Ms. Wei also contributed to the organizational development of the clinical research and regulatory affairs division and participated in the company's growth from around 60 people in 1993 to a corporation of around 1000 staff in 2002. [Hide Bio]

Ian Wisenberg, an internationally experienced executive with more than 20 years experience in finance, human resources and administration is the SVP of Business Development and CFO of BIOCOM.

Mr. Wisenberg leads the organization’s Capital Development initiative to identify opportunities for further investment in Southern California life science companies as well as the establishment of strategic financial partnerships with local, national as well as international financing institutions. Mr. Wisenberg is responsible for the overall financial and accounting systems of the organization and for leading the Purchasing Group subsidiary.

Prior to his employment at BIOCOM, he was vice president of finance and administration, as well as interim president, secretary and treasurer of Aerocast, Inc., a secured broadband media streaming company that was funded jointly by Motorola, Inc. and a subsidiary of Liberty Media, Inc., Liberty Satellite, Inc.

Before Aerocast, Mr. Wisenberg was a CFO, HR and administrative consultant for several emerging companies where he not only supplied the services of a CFO, but also helped with strategic alliances and raising finances for several of the companies.

He was formerly the VP of finance for Health Care Group, Inc., and also served as the executive vice president and CFO of Partners-in-Health, Inc.

Mr. Wisenberg has a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in accounting from Cape Town University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

BIOCOM represents the Greater San Diego and Southern California life science community and is the largest regional life sciences association in the world, representing more than 520 member companies. BIOCOM seeks to position the Greater San Diego life sciences community to achieve individual and collective success on the world stage of scientific and technological innovation, and in the development of products that improve global health and quality of life. The association focuses on initiatives that positively influence the growth of the life science industry, including capital formation, public policy, workforce development, and scientific discovery and development.
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Jessica Yingling, Ph.D., is an account executive with Porter Novelli Life Sciences, a public and investor relations agency dedicated solely to life science companies. PN Life Sciences clients represent every stage of the life science company - from start-up to global. Thus, each day brings new and different projects because every client has their own goals and needs as well as unique products and technology. As an account executive, responsibilities include developing corporate communications strategies, managing client, media and investor relations, writing press releases and articles, and creating corporate content such as presentations, Web sites, fact sheets and newsletters. Jessica's current clients span the life science fields from nanotechnology to diagnostics. As such, her broad science background makes a natural fit for such a position. Jessica received her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from University of California, San Diego for the study of the neurodevelopmental disorder lissencephaly. Upon entering graduate school, she was awarded the National Science Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowship. Jessica earned her B.S. with honors in Biochemistry from the University of Arizona, where she also performed research in cancer biology, RNA regulation and bioremediation. While bench science brought certain rewards, Jessica found her talent and enthusiasm was more in talking about science than doing science. Life science communication was a natural fit and merges her extensive science background with a passion for public science education. [Hide Bio]

J. Zeltinger, PhD is the Vice President of Scientific Affairs for REVA Medical. Dr. Zeltinger has 12 years of industry research and business experience. At REVA, she has chosen the Company's core polymer technology and she assisted in the licensing of the patents. She obtained and managed REVA's grants and the corresponding academic collaboration for the resorbable stent program. Her current role is to develop and implement preclinical testing strategies, prepare preclinical reports and regulatory submission documents, to serve as a liaison for the Company’s business partner, participate in strategic planning, and to manage REVA’s substantial patent portfolio.

She previously directed Advanced Tissue Sciences resorbable coronary graft and tissue engineered heart valve programs and served as the company’s Technology Assessment agent for Corporate Development. She has a variety of publications and patents to her credit. Dr. Zeltinger has co-developed standards and served as Chairwoman of the ASTM standards subcommittees for Cells and Terminology for combination products. Dr. Zeltinger conducted her post-doctoral work at the School of Medicine, University of Washington -- Seattle. She obtained her PhD in Biology at University of South Carolina, and BS - Cum Laude, in Biology at University of North Dakota. [Hide Bio]