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Speakers 
 Dr Tim Allsopp,
Chief Scientific Officer,
Stem Cell Sciences
Dr. T. E. Allsopp has 14 years combined experience as a cell & molecular biologist, with particular interest in neurobiology. Published papers include the topics of neural cell fate specification, programmed cell death regulation in the nervous system and acute, chronic nervous system disease. After 12 years as a leading academic with a developing interest in the biology of stem cells he joined Stem Cell Sciences Ltd to utilize pluripotent, embryonic stem cells to discover unique human disease treatment and cures. As a senior scientist with SCS Ltd, he has gained valuable research experience in the basic biology, growth, regulated differentiation, engineering & technology application of murine embryonic stem cells (ES cells). A combination of industrial sponsored academic research & biotech experience have also provided a detailed knowledge base that facilitates the current commercial exploitation of stem cell technology in pharmaceutical R&D. Current responsibilities include directing the research in ES biology, development of ES-based technologies for applications in gene & drug discovery and business development.
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Mary Archer,
Chair,and Chairman Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust,
East of England Stem Cell Network
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 Dr Holly G Atkinson,
Director of Business Development,
Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics
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Dr Mark Bale,
Head of Genetics Branch, Scientific Development & Bioethics Division,
Department of Health
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 Professor Yann Barrandon,
Joint Chair of Stem Cell Dynamics,
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) and Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
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 Dr Lauren E Black,
Senior Scientific Advisor, Navigators, Preclinical Services,
Charles River Laboratories
She left NIH for a post at FDA/CDER, performing primary pharmacology reviews of antiviral and transplant drugs. Additionally, she participated in ICH guideline development, published guidance for oligonucleotide drugs, and reviewed the leading NDAs for tacrolimus (Prograf), mycophenolate (CellCept), and rapamycin (Rapamune). She transferred to FDA/CBER where she did risk-benefit based assessments on chronic biologics, including humanized monoclonal antibodies, cell and cell/combination therapies, and xenotransplant products. She wrote guidelines and addressed the U.S. FDA Advisory Committee on Xenotransplantation. She also participated in FDA working groups on Tissue Engineering and Arthritis. Dr. Black was one of the initial co-authors for the Human Start Dose Guidance to Industry. She left FDA to join Charles River Laboratories, where she works in their Navigator's group as a consultant to the pharmaceutical development industry.
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 Mr Greg Bonfiglio,
Managing Director, Partner,
Proteus Venture Partners
Mr. Bonfiglio has over 25 years experience working with technology companies. Prior to joining Anthem, he was a Partner with Morrison & Foerster, where he worked extensively with technology clients. Mr. Bonfiglio was an Adjunct Professor of Law at Stanford Law School , from 1996 to 2000. Since 1995, he has been a regular Guest Lecturer at the Haas Business School , in UC Berkley. Mr. Bonfiglio was born in Detroit , Michigan in 1952. He received his B.A. in Mathematics (magna cum laude) from Michigan State University in 1975, and his J.D. (magna cum laude) from the University of Michigan Law School in 1981.
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 Dr Jan Matthias Braun,
Coordinator, Regenerative Medicine Network, Leipzig-Halle Max-Buerger Research Centre,
University of Leipzig
Since spring 2003, Dr. Braun heads a research team at the institute for clinical immunology at the University of Leipzig, working on the induction of immunotolerance of stem cells, engineered tissues, organs, and biomaterials in fully immune competent mice using induction therapy with anti-human-CD4 monoclonal antibodies. In addition, Dr. Braun coordinates the regenerative medicine network (www.RegMedNet.org) of the Leipzig-Halle Region with currently over 300 partners form academia, industry, and non-profit research organisations.
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 Professor Oliver Brüstle,
Director, Institute of Reconstructive Neurobiology and Scientific Director,
University of Bonn and LIFE & BRAIN
Oliver Brüstle is a neuropathologist and a renowned expert in stem cell research. Following research activities at the University of Zurich and the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland, he now serves as Professor of Reconstructive Neurobiology at the University of Bonn Medical Center.
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 Mr Christopher J Calhoun,
Chief Executive Officer,
Cytori Therapeutics
Christopher J. Calhoun is a co-founder of Cytori Therapeutics and has served as the Company's Chief Executive Officer, Vice-Chairman and Director of the Board since 1997, and as President from April 2002 to May 2004. Additionally, Mr. Calhoun previously served as the Company's President from 1996 through 1998. Mr. Calhoun is also the co-inventor on multiple U.S. and International patents used for the Company's bioresorbable implant technology. These inventions include bioresorbable polymers for skeletal repair and regeneration, implant surfaces for tissue guidance, and postsurgical scar tissue reduction. Mr. Calhoun has additional US and International patents pending for medical devices and implant instrumentation.
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 Dr Jon D Chesnut,
Director, Research and Development, Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine,
Invitrogen
Jon Chesnut received a PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of California at Davis and did his post doctoral training at the University of Colorado. Since joining Invitrogen in 1995, Jon has developed various cell and molecular biological research tools including TOPO and Gateway cloning systems. Jon is now focusing his efforts to apply these and other tools toward understanding and engineering stem cells for the development of novel research platforms.
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 Dr Yen Choo,
Chief Executive Officer,
Plasticell
Dr Choo is the Founder and Chief Executive of Plasticell. He was a Founder and Chief Scientist of Gendaq Ltd, an MRC gene regulation company which was acquired by US biotech Sangamo Biosciences Inc. (Richmond, CA). Previously Dr Choo was a staff scientist at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge. He is an inventor named in over 15 granted patents and has published over 30 scientific papers, holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Cambridge and is the recipient of the Prize for Young Scientists awarded by Pharmacia Biotech and Science the pre-eminent international scientific journal.
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 Mr Bruce Cohen,
President and Chief Executive Officer,
Cellerant Therapeutics
Mr. Cohen joined Cellerant as President, CEO and Director in 2002. Prior to Cellerant, he served as Chief Financial Officer of GeneSoft (now Oscient Pharmaceuticals), President and CEO of Acacia Biosciences (acquired by Rosetta) and Vice President of SEQUUS Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Alza). He previously served as President of ViTel International and as a management consultant with the Monitor Group. Mr. Cohen held a number of positions at Baxter as well as in the non-profit health care sector. He was a member of the founding team of the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine and co-founder of the National Health Professions Placement Network.
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 Professor Ian Cotgreave,
Director of Molecular Toxicoligy, Safety Assessment,
AstraZeneca
B.Sc. in Biochemistry (1980), Ph.D. in Biochemistry (1984, St Mary's Hospital Medical School, University of London), Docent in toxicology (1991, Karolinska Institutet). Researcher (forskare) at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, until February 2002. From the first of March, 2002 Professor of Toxicology, with responsibility for basic and post-graduate education in toxicology.
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 Dr Valentin Fulga,
Chief Executive Officer,
TheraVitae
Dr. Valentin Fulga, CEO and founder of TheraVitae is a well-known figure in the field of cell therapy. He is the Company’s delegate to the World Economic Forum that granted TheraVitae the Technology Pioneer Award. Dr. Fulga has almost 15 years of experience in the life science industry. A member of the founding team of Proneuron Biotechnologies, Inc, one of the first cell therapy companies in the world, Dr. Fulga served as Senior Vice President for development, leading the Company scientific, regulatory, clinical and business efforts in a period when cell therapy was in its infancy.
After graduating from Beer Sheva Medical School in Israel, Dr. Fulga specialized in ophthalmology, then decided to use his medical background as a research scientist in two public biotechnological companies in Israel (Biotechnology General and Pharmos) and later as Head of Clinical Trials for Holo Or Ltd., an optics medical device company where he led clinical trials in North America, Japan and Israel.
Dr. Fulga is the author of ten patents and several scientific and medical articles, has given numerous presentations at medical, scientific and business meetings and has been interviewed by many prestigious journals and electronic media, such as Time magazine, Red Herring, and Sixty Minutes.
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 Dr Gabriela Gebrin Cezar,
Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Science,
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Dr. Gabriela Cezar, DVM, Ph.D., recently joined University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Wisconsin Stem Cell Research Program as an Assistant Professor in the department of Animal Sciences. Her laboratory focuses on ES cell applications in predictive toxicology and safety aspects of cell-based therapies. Previously, she served as Principal Scientist at Pfizer Global Research and Development, where she researched and developed stem cell-based platforms applicable to drug discovery and development. Her research focused more specifically on in vitro models for obesity, neurodegeneration and drug safety. She was also involved in generation of knockout and transgenic mice for in vivo target validation. Prior to the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Cezar practiced as a veterinarian and researched cellular plasticity, epigenetic reprogramming and placental abnormalities in nuclear transfer animals at Infigen Inc. (USA) and Roslin Institute (UK).
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 Mr Michael D Goldberg,
General Partner,
Mohr, Davidow Ventures
Michael Goldberg joined MDV in 2005 and leads life science investments in the areas of molecular diagnostics, personalized medicine and wireless healthcare with particular interest in oncology, cardiology and neuroscience. He also leverages his knowledge of plant genetics and microbiology in support of the firm's energy investing. Previously, Michael was Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Axion Inc., a cancer-focused healthcare service company he started in 1987 and sold to Bristol-Myers Squibb in 1996. Prior to his tenure with Axion, Michael was a member of the Operating Committee and director of Corporate Development at Cetus Corporation (Novartis), one of the first biotech companies and the developer of PCR technology. He was also a co-founder of Agracetus, a joint venture with W.R. Grace & Co. (Monsanto), involved in plant genetic engineering. He was responsible for the commercialization of the company's agricultural technology.
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 Mr Julian Hitchcock,
Senior Solicitor,
Mills & Reeves
Julian Hitchcock is a Senior Solicitor specialising in life sciences and intellectual property (especially patents and copyright). He joined Mills & Reeve in 2004. Besides pharmaceuticals and devices, Julian has recently been occupied with a gene therapy dispute, new tissue/cell legislation and international collaboration in stem cell research. He has also been involved in a number of contentious and non-contentious copyright/design matters. Julian regularly speaks and writes on the exploitation and enforcement of IP in the pharmaceutical and biomedical sectors and has a close interest in regenerative medicine.
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 Mr Michael Hunt,
Chief Executive Officer,
ReNeuron
Michael Hunt, Chief Executive Officer, has been a director of ReNeuron since January 2001. He joined ReNeuron as Chief Financial Officer, and was appointed Chief Operating Officer in September 2003 and Chief Executive Officer in July 2005. Prior to ReNeuron, he spent six years at Biocompatibles International plc, where he held a number of senior financial and general management positions. His early industrial career was spent at Bunzl plc. Mr Hunt studied economics at University College London and qualified as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young in London.
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 Mr Hugh Ilyine,
Vice President and Chief Operating Officer,
Stem Cell Sciences
Hugh Ilyine joined the company in 2000 and brought an extensive national and international experience in developing, registering, manufacturing and distributing products in the agrochemical and bioscience sector. More recently, he was General Manager for the Bioscience Division of Bonlac Foods Ltd. Prior to this, Hugh Ilyine had ten years of managing director and international product management experience with the Rhone-Poulenc Agrochimie [S.A.]. In his current role, Hugh Ilyine oversees the local and international business operations of Stem Cell Sciences.
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 Dr Paul Kemp,
Chief Scientific Officer and FOunder,
Intercytex
Paul Kemp has been heavily involved in commercial Tissue Engineering for the last 17 years both in the U.S. and the U.K. After post-doctoral research on the biochemistry of collagen cross-links at Manchester University, he joined Organogenesis Inc in late 1986. Boston based Organogenesis is the world’s first Tissue Engineering company and while there Paul was instrumental in the commercial development of Apligraf which was to become the FDA’s first approved manufactured human organ and is currently used in the U.S. for the treatment of chronic wounds. During his time at Organogenesis, Paul was heavily involved in all aspects of the pioneering of this new area of medicine and taking on several different rolls eventually becoming a Vice President.
Paul left Organogenesis in 1997 to return to the UK and founded Intercytex in 1999. This company is devoted to the cellular induction of human tissues and organs and has products in hair and skin regeneration that are undergoing clinical studies. Paul has published on Tissue Engineering and holds several patents relating to tissue engineered tissues and organs. He has so far developed three different cell-based products that have undergone successful clinical trials in North America and Europe. Paul has raised over £20 million pounds in venture capital for Intercytex and the company was voted BioNow’s Biotechnology company of the year in 2003/4.
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Dr Christophe Labie,
Group Leader, CNS Department,
sanofi-aventis
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 Mr James Lawford Davies,
Solicitor,
Bevan-Brittan
James specialises in the law relating to reproductive and genetic technologies, and human tissue. He advises a large number of clinics and research centres licensed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) and has been involved in most of the leading cases relating to assisted reproduction and related research. James has advised widely on the regulatory and commercial issues relating to embryo and embryonic stem cell research, including patenting, cell nuclear replacement, import and export, and the implications of EU law. James is also a lecturer in Medicine and Law at the Institute of Human Genetics, the University of Newcastle.
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 Dr Alan Lewis,
President and Chief Executive Officer,
Novocell
Alan J. Lewis, Ph.D., joined Novocell in February 2006 as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director. Prior to Novocell, Dr. Lewis served as CEO and Director of Signal Pharmaceuticals before its acquisition in 2000 by Celgene, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of small molecule drugs for cancer and immunological diseases. He then served as President of the Signal Research Division at Celgene. Dr. Lewis previously held the position of Vice President of Research at Wyeth-Ayerst, where he spent 15 years leading research efforts in diabetes, CNS, cardiovascular, inflammatory, allergy, and bone metabolism diseases. Dr. Lewis currently serves as a Director of BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Inc., and Cytochroma, Inc.
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 Mr David Macauley,
Chief Executive,
UK Stem Cell Foundation
David Macauley is a qualified pharmaceutical chemist and business expert. Prior to accepting his position as Chief Executive of the UK Stem Cell Foundation he managed his own company specialising in business transformation and recently delivering major projects for Tesco plc, several UK local authorities, the NHS and a major UK FMCG brand. He began his career as a health consultant with the World Bank in Zambia and after establishing Scottish Biomedical in 1994, a self-funded drug discovery company promoting the awareness and commercialisation of medical research, was later appointed Scotland’s first Drug ‘Czar’ in 1996 by the then Secretary of State.
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 Dr Geoff MacKay,
President and Chief Executive Officer,
Organogenesis
Geoff MacKay has served in his current leadership role since Dec. 2003. Mr. MacKay provides Organogenesis Inc. with significant global, commercial experience spanning the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. Mr MacKay has held numerous leadership positions within Novartis AG in roles such as Vice-President & Business Unit Head, Transplantation & Immunology at Novartis Canada, Vice-President of Tissue-Engineering in Novartis USA, Head of Global Sales Immunology & Transplantation based in Basel, Switzerland, and prior to that as Sales & Marketing Manager of Novartis Biotech Europe. Mr MacKay has been specifically involved in the emerging field of Tissue Regeneration for the last decade.
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 Mr Chris Mason,
Regenerative Medicine Bioproessing Group,
University College London
Chris is at the forefront of the emerging field of regenerative medicine bioprocessing plus is involved in a number of committees, working groups and initiatives related to both the academic and commercial advancement of stem cells and tissue engineering. Originally graduating from Imperial College (Molecular Biology) and St. Thomas’s Hospital Medical School (Medicine) and then specialising in surgery - Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. In addition, Chris has a PhD in Biochemical Engineering (UCL), leads the Regenerative Medicine Bioprocess Group at UCL and has broad range of expertise in industrial consultancy. Furthermore, Chris has over ten years experience at boardroom level of running technology companies and is co-organiser of the London Regenerative Medicine Network.
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 Dr Ruth McKernan,
Vice President, and Head of Discovery Biology,
Pfizer Global Research and Development
Ruth McKernan joined Pfizer in May 2005 from Merck where she was previously Head of the Neuroscience Research Centre in Harlow. Her background in drug discovery is in Neuroscience, particularly psychiatry and Alzheimer’s disease. Since Joining Pfizer she has been most interested in increasing effort in the exploratory arena, introducing more Q1 targets, strengthening mechanistic understanding of new targets and being more integrated with the external scientific world. Ruth has centralized primary pharmacology and established a dedicated biomarker and translational biology group in Discovery biology. In addition to A&R, she also has responsibilities for biology in obesity, sex health, urology, antivirals and pain.
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 Prof Eldad Melamed,
Chief Medical Adviser,
BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics
Prof. Melamed is a world-renowned expert in the field of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly on Parkinson’s disease. Prof. Melamed has served as head of the Neurology Department at the Rabin Medical Center and Tel Aviv University since 1987. Throughout his career, he has specialized in neurology, holding senior positions at the Hebrew University (Jerusalem), Bispebjerg Hospital (Copenhagen), National Hospital (London) and at the Laboratory of Neuroendocrine Regulation (Massachusetts). He is a past president of the Israel Neurological Association and former director of the National Parkinson Foundation (USA). Prof. Melamed is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. Prof. Melamed is a co-inventor named in the NurOwnTM technology patent.
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 Dr Colin Miles,
Head, Molecular and Cell Biology Branch, Science and Technology Group,
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
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 Dr Stephen L Minger,
Director, Stem Cell Biology Laboratory, Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases,
King's College London
Dr Stephen Minger is the Director of the Stem Cell Biology Laboratory and a Senior Lecturer in the new Wolfson Centre for Age Related Diseases at King's College London. Dr Minger received his PhD in Pathology (Neurosciences) in 1992 from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. From 1992-1994, he was a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Professor Fred Gage, University of California, San Diego, where he first began to pursue research in neural stem cell biology. Additional post-doctoral training was obtained at the University of Kentucky, and in 1995, Dr Minger was appointed an Assistant Professor in Neurology at The University of Kentucky Medical School. He moved his stem cell research programme to Guy’s Hospital in 1996 and was appointed a Lecturer in Biomolecular Sciences at King's College London in 1998. Over the last 13 years, his research group has worked with a wide range of somatic stem cell populations, as well as mouse and human embryonic stem (ES) cells. In 2002, together with Dr Susan Pickering and Professor Peter Braude, Dr Minger was awarded one of the first two licenses granted by the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority for the derivation of human ES cells. His group subsequently generated the first human embryonic stem cell line in the UK and was one of the first groups to deposit this into the UK Stem Cell Bank. They have gone on to generate three new human ES cell lines, including one that encodes the most common genetic mutation resulting in Cystic Fibrosis.
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 Dr Ignacio Munoz-Sanjuan,
Senior Scientist,
Amgen
Dr Munoz-Sanjuan obtained his PhD in Molecular Biology and Genetics at the Johns Hopkins University Medical School under the supervision of Dr. Jeremy Nathans, and was awarded a Helen Hay Whitney Foundation Fellowship to conduct postdoctoral research on neural induction mechanisms and organogenesis at The Rockefeller University, in Dr. Ali Brivanlou’s laboratory. In 2003 he joined Merck Sharp & Dohme as a Research Fellow to direct a program on adult neural progenitor modulation for the treatment of central nervous system disorders. Currently, Dr. Munoz-Sanjuan has joined Amgen, Inc. as a senior scientist and leads a program to identify new targets for neurodegenerative conditions.
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 Dr Thomas B Okarma,
President and Chief Executive Officer,
Geron
Thomas B. Okarma, Ph.D., M.D. was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Geron in July, 1999. Dr. Okarma served as Vice President of Research and Development of the Company since May 1998. From December 1997 until May 1998, Dr. Okarma was Vice President of Cell Therapies. Prior to joining the Company in 1997, Dr. Okarma was a senior Vice President at Rhone-Poulenc Rorer. In 1995, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer acquired Applied Immune Sciences, Inc. (AIS) which was founded by Dr. Okarma in 1985. By the time of its acquisition by Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, AIS was in advanced cell therapy human clinical trials in cancer and bone marrow transplantation and in early gene therapy human trials in breast cancer. Dr. Okarma was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AIS. Prior to founding AIS, Dr. Okarma was a member of the faculty of the Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Okarma received both his Ph.D. and M.D. from Stanford University. He is the author of over 50 publications on cell and gene therapy and is an inventor on numerous patents in the field.
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Dr Madhusudan Peshwa,
Vice President, Research & Development,
MaxCyte
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 Dr Robert A Preti,
President and Chief Scientific Officer,
Progenitor Cell Therapy
Dr. Preti is PCT's President, Chief Scientific Officer, and a member of the Company's Board of Managers. He has held these positions since March 1999. He is one of the country's leading authorities on hematopoietic stem cell engineering and the principal investigator for a number of clinical trials relating to stem cell transplantation. He was a founding member and Treasurer of the International Society for Hematotherapy and Graft Engineering (ISHAGE), now the International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT), and is currently both an active member and speaker.
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 Dr Octavi Quintana Trias,
Director "Health", Research DG,
European Commission
Octavi served as director of the Regional Hospital of Málaga (Spain) and later he worked as Senior advisor at the Ministry of Health of Spain. Former Director of International Affairs of the Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs of Spain. Former President of the Spanish Society on Quality Assurance. Former President of the Steering Committee on Bioethics of the Council of Europe. Former Vice President of the European Group of Ethics of the European Commission. Director of a series on medicine at the State Spanish TV. He has participated as health coordinator of humanitarian crisis in Rwanda, Bosnia and Kosovo. Mr Octavi Quintana is the Director for Health Research at the European Commission, in Directorate-General Research and Technology Development since May 2002.
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 Dr Frances Rawle,
Programme Manager, Molecular and Cellular Medicine Board,
Medical Research Council
Dr Frances Rawle has a research background in immunology, and has worked at the Medical Research Council Head Office since 1991. She is currently the Board Programme Manager for the Molecular and Cellular Medicine Board, which has responsibility for the MRC’s research portfolio in Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells.
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 Dr Paul Rodgers,
Managing Director,
Ithaka Life Sciences Ltd
An entrepreneur with over twenty five years experience in the life sciences industry, who has co-founded ten biotechnology companies. Paul is currently Managing Director of Ithaka Life Sciences Ltd, a company that he founded in 2000 to provide consultancy and interim management services to emerging biotechnology companies. He is currently Chairman of Psynova Ltd and Creative Gene Technology Ltd , and Paul is also a non-executive director of Ampika Ltd, Smart Holograms Ltd and Ziva Bioscience Ltd. Paul and his colleagues at Ithaka have worked with a range of organisations in the stem cell field in an advisory role; clients include Axordia Ltd, the Centre of Excellence for Life Sciences, Manchester University, Sheffield University and the BioIndustry Association.
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 Dr Paul Rounding,
Managing Director, Business Development & Operations,
Artemis Pharmaceuticals
Dr. Paul Rounding has primary responsibility for all business development, marketing, IP and project management activities within Artemis. He has been with ARTEMIS since January 2000. Paul previously has over 17 years of experience working for Bayer AG where he held various positions in the pharmaceutical business group including drug discovery for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, cardiovascular technology, international cooperation and licensing, and strategic marketing for Bayer's blockbuster antibiotic Ciprofloxacin.
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 Mr Michael Sianni Rose,
President and Founder,
Theregen Corporation
Michael Siani-Rose, President and Founder, has 15 years of biotechnology experience. He has extensive experience in the computational chemistry and drug discovery fields, including managerial and scientific positions at Protos/Chiron Corporation, Kosan Biosciences and Affymetrix. Michael has published 35 peer-reviewed articles, is inventor on five patents in the field of drug discovery/drug design, and has a dozen patent applications in the fields of bioinformatics and tissue engineering.
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 Dr John Sinden,
Chief Scientific Officer,
ReNeuron
Dr John Sinden BA MA PhD has been a director of ReNeuron since October 1998. He is a scientific co-founder of ReNeuron. Prior to founding ReNeuron, he was Reader in Neurobiology of Behaviour at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London. He graduated in Psychology from the University of Sydney and completed a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Paris at the College de France. He subsequently held post-doctoral appointments at Oxford University and at the Institute of Psychiatry prior to joining the permanent staff of the Institute in 1987.
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 Dr Alan K Smith,
President and Chief Operating Officer,
Cognate BioServices
Alan K. Smith, Ph.D. is President & Chief Operating Officer. Dr. Smith joined Cognate BioServices in 2002 and was promoted to his current position in January 2004. He also currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Chata Biosystems of Fort Collins, CO. Dr. Smith has over 20 years of combined experience in the biotechnology industry with the vast majority of that time spent in the cellular therapeutics area. Prior to joining Cognate, Dr. Smith served as Chief Operating Officer at Osiris Therapeutics where he held responsibilities for manufacturing, operations, facilities and research and development and also played a key role in devising clinical and regulatory strategies for the Company. From 1995 through 2000, Dr. Smith served as Vice President of Research, at Aastrom Biosciences, Inc., where he was responsible for development of processes for ex vivo expansion of bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, T-cells, dendritic cells and other cell types for therapeutic use Prior to that, Dr. Smith served as Vice President for Geneic Sciences, a wholly owned subsidiary of Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. During his tenure with Titan Dr. Smith led development of cell therapy processes to effect recipient tolerization to solid organ and allogenic bone marrow transplants and implantation of cells for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
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 Professor Lars E Sundstrom,
Chief Scientific Officer,
Capsant Neurotechnologies
Lars Sundstrom is Chief Scientific Officer and a founder of Capsant Neurotechnologies LTD. Capsant specialises in 3-dimensional tissue culture models of neurological disease with a specific emphasis on restoring function to damaged nerve tissue. Pr. Sundstrom and his colleagues have developed complex in-vitro models of brain tissue damage based on cultured brain slices maintained on an air liquid interface. Most recently his group has been using tissue engineering principles to regenerate embryonic and early postnatal tissues in-vitro for drug testing. Capsant is also actively involved in developing 3D tissues from rodent and human stem cells.
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 Dr Jon Tinsley,
Head of Biology,
VASTox
Jon Tinsley spent seven years in the laboratory of Prof. Kay Davies working on the concept of the up-regulation of utrophin as a potential therapy for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy resulting in 30 publications and three patents. He received a prestigious Non-Senior MRC Fellowship before moving on to take up a position with the UK biotech company, Oxagen, where he ran a multi-facetted biology group. Jon worked on a number of projects identifying novel therapeutic targets and saw the progression of a number of compounds into preclinical development. He joined VASTox as Head of Biology in the spring of 2005.
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 Dr Helmuth van Es,
Chief Scientific Officer,
Stem Cell Innovations
Helmuth started his business career as senior scientist at Introgene, (now Crucell) Leiden, The Netherlands. He left Introgene to become Director Molecular and Cellular Biology of a spin-off of Crucell, Galapagos Genomics, for which he co-authored the business plan. Subesequently, Helmuth became Head of Science at Galadeno a subsidiary of Galapagos. He was responsible for science strategy and all external partnerships, including RI-CEDD GSK, Bayer, and the US Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
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 Dr Mark Walport,
Director,
The Wellcome Trust
Dr Mark Walport MA PhD FRCP FRCPath FMedSci, Director of the WellcomeTrust, has enjoyed a varied career in the medical sciences. The Wellcome Trust is one of the world’s largest biomedical research charities, spending £400 million a year in fostering and promoting research to improve human and animal health. An expert in immunology and genetics of rheumatic diseases, Mark Walport led a research team at Imperial College London as Professor of Medicine and Head of the Division of Medicine, before he took up the leadership of the Wellcome Trust. Mark Walport is a founder Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. He was awarded the Roche Rheumatology Prize in 1991 and the Graham Bull Prize for Clinical Science (Royal College of Physicians) in 1996. He was appointed a member of the Council for Science and Technology in 2004.
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 Mr Michael West,
President & Chief Scientific Officer,
Advanced Cell Technology
Dr. West is the President, Chairman, and Chief Scientific Officer of Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. of Worcester, Massachusetts and Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley. Advanced Cell Technology (OTCBB: ACTC) is a company focused on the medical applications of nuclear transfer (cloning) and human embryonic stem cell technologies. He received his Ph.D. from Baylor College of Medicine in 1989 concentrating on the biology of cellular aging. He has focused his academic and business career on the application of developmental biology to the age-related degenerative disease. He was the Founder of Geron Corporation of Menlo Park, California (Nasdaq: GERN) and from 1990 to 1998 he was a Director, and Vice President, where he initiated and managed programs in telomerase diagnostics, oligonucleotide-based telomerase inhibition as anti-tumor therapy, and the cloning and use of telomerase in telomerase-mediated therapy wherein telomerase is utilized to immortalize human cells. From 1995 to 1998 he organized and managed the research between Geron and its academic collaborators James Thomson and John Gearhart that led to the first isolation of human embryonic stem and human embryonic germ cells.
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 Dr Lilian Wikström,
Head of Research,
NeuroNova
Born in 1961. Head of Research since October 2003. Formerly Director of Target Discovery at NeuroNova (2000–2003). Prior to joining NeuroNova, Dr Wikström worked within CNS and Pain Control Discovery at AstraZeneca plc (1995–2000) where she managed early drug discovery projects and was Head of the section for Target Selection. She was awarded a PhD for her research at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, USA.
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 Dr Werner Wolf,
Venture Partner,
TVM Capital
Dr. Werner Wolf has been an advisor to TVM Capital since 1994. He joined TVM Capital as Advisor in Residence in early 1998. Prior to joining TVM Capital, Dr. Wolf was Vice President of R&D in the Biochemical Division of Boehringer Mannheim GmbH where he was also responsible for the creation of a global network of scientists and entrepreneurial companies; he was also part of the strategic planning group to enhance the collaboration between the various divisions within the firm. He was chairman of the European Yeast Industrial Platform, started the European Structural Biology Industrial Platform and acts as an advisor for several German Federal and European Commission research programs. Dr. Wolf served on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Institute of Plant Biochemistry (Halle, Germany) for the maximum eight years, and is board member of several biotech companies. In January 2006 he was elected as member of the executive board of the European Federation of Biotechnology.
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