12th Nobel Pauling Symposium Keynote Speakers
Dr Jeremy M. LevinDr Jeremy M. Levin D Phil, Global Head of Business Development and Strategic Alliances for Novartis
Dr. Jeremy M. Levin is the Global Head of Business Development and Strategic Alliances for Novartis Institutes of Biomedical Research, Inc, the Research Division of Novartis. In this capacity his team, Strategic Alliances (SA), focuses on identifying, evaluating and negotiating collaborations to secure all therapeutic and technology programs that are pre-proof of concept in man on behalf of Novartis. Headquartered in the US, the team is located in sites in Switzerland, USA, England and Japan.
Since initiation, in 2003, the team has completed hundreds of transactions with biotechnology companies and academic centers. Completing over 190 collaborations in 2005, Novartis’s SA, currently manages a portfolio of over 400 alliances in more than 20 countries. Over 80 of these alliances include those with public companies such as Morphosys, Alnylam, Vernalis, Myogen and private companies such as Ablynx, Cellzome and Infinity.
Prior to joining Novartis, Dr. Levin served as the Chairman, and then CEO, of Physiome Sciences, Inc., Managing Director of Perseus Capital LLC and the Chairman President and Chief Executive Officer of Cadus Pharmaceutical Corporation. Prior to Cadus, Dr. Levin was Vice President of IG Laboratories a wholly owned subsidiary of Genzyme Corporation. Dr. Levin has served on the Executive Committees and Boards of several public biosciences companies, including the executive committee of BIO and the Boards of the Biotechnology Institute and the New York Biotechnology Association. Dr. Levin received an medical degree (MB BChir). from the University of Cambridge and a doctorate (D.Phil.) from the University of Oxford. Dr. Levin has spoken at numerous venues on innovation in the biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industry.
In 2005 Dr. Levin was awarded Albert Einstein Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Life Sciences. Former awardees of this prestigious prize include Francis Collins, the Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute.
Arthur J. CouryDr. Arthur J. Coury Ph.D, Vice President, Biomaterials Research, Genzyme Corporation
Art Coury holds a B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Delaware (1962), a Ph.D. in organic chemistry (1965) and an M.B.A. (1980) from the University of Minnesota. His industrial career includes positions as: Senior Research Chemist at General Mills, Inc. (1965-1976), Director, Polymer Technology and Research Fellow at Medtronic, Inc. (1976-1993), Vice President, Research and Chief Scientific Officer at Focal, Inc. (1993-2000), and Vice President, Biomaterials Research at Genzyme Corporation (2000-present). His career focus has been polymeric biomaterials for medical products such as implantable electronic devices, hydrogel-based devices and drug delivery systems.
He holds over fifty distinct patents and has published and presented widely in his field. His teaching positions have included adjunct appointments at the University of Minnesota and the Harvard-MIT Graduate Program in Health Sciences and Technology. His professional service has included: Chair, Minnesota Section, American Chemical Society (1989-1990); President, Society for Biomaterials, USA (1999-2000); President, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2003-2004) and membership on several university, society and corporate advisory boards. His recent recognitions have included the delivery of distinguished lectureships and receipt of the 2007 Innovation and Technology Development Award of the Society for Biomaterials.
Carlos GenardiniCarlos Genardini CEO, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks
Mr. Genardini brings over two decades of technology management and experience to the role of CEO including four years as a vice president and manager of Motorola's Asia Pacific Group. During this time, Mr. Genardini became involved in developing the semiconductor and technology industries in Hong Kong and throughout the region. Mr. Genardini has set up and managed state-of-the-art chip design facilities in Hong Kong, Singapore and China, sat on the committees of engineering departments in the University of Hong Kong and the City University of Hong Kong, and was a founding Board member of the Provisional Hong Kong Science Park Company Ltd., which later merged into the present Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation. Mr. Genardini has a track record as an experienced executive of a major multinational corporation, knowledge of global and regional technology industries, an extensive network of contacts, and commitment and enthusiasm in helping to promote and further develop the Science Park. He is a member of the Board of the Provisional Hong Kong Science Park Company Ltd. that began the Science Park, and was the founder and CEO of Genardini and Associates, a strategic business consultancy providing market research and support along with special development work for companies looking to business in China. Prior to that Mr. Genardini was Motorola's president for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Dr. Makarand JawadekarDr. Makarand Jawadekar Director, Pfizer
Dr. Mak Jawadekar is currently a Director, AMP group, Analysis, Metrics, Performance, which is part of WWPM division within Development Operations in PGRD, Groton-New London. In the recent past, he was responsible for Drug Delivery Technology Assessment function involving external ‘Drug Delivery’ technologies. He has extensive experience in creating and cultivating external partnerships and alliances for drug delivery technologies for Pfizer Global R&D. He began his professional career at Pfizer Central Research in early 1982, after having completed his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics at the University of Minnesota.
His twenty-five years of experience with Pfizer R&D includes Solids R&D, Drug Product formulation/ Dosage Form/ Drug Delivery development, Clinical Trials Supply Manufacturing, Scale-up and Technology Transfer as well as Pharmacy areas. He managed several functions/groups within Pharmaceutical R&D for many years. In the recent past, he had been also been engaged in coordinating outsourcing R&D activities with external partners. He was presented with the "M.L. Khorana Memorial Lecture of the Year Award" at the Indian Pharmaceutical Congress held in New Delhi, India, in December 2001 for his Presentation on 'Advances in Drug Development and Delivery Systems with a Focus on Protection of Intellectual Property Rights'. He was also an invited participant at the Summit called by the President of India during 2003. He has presented at many professional meetings and has participated in various Panel Discussions/Round Tables. He was one of the invitees to join President Bush’s trade delegation to India during March’06.
Mak joined the prestigious Board of Directors for a New York City based, non-profit Organization, Just One Break (JOB), in 2001 helping those with disabilities to network to find suitable employment opportunities. (www.justonebreak.com)
He also serves on the prestigious global "Judging Panel"/ Executive Review Board instituted by IBC/ Informa Pharma Group for their Annual Global Pharmaceutical Annual Achievement Awards, since 2001. (www.pharmawards.com)
He currently serves as a member on the Editorial boards for ‘Bio/Pharmaceutical Outsourcing Report’ as well as for "Contract Pharma" a monthly publication. He also is on the Editorial Advisory Board for monthly journal, namely, "Pharmaceutical Technology Europe".
Dr. Zhenping ZhuDr. Zhenping Zhu MD, PhD Vice President, ImClone
Dr. Zhenping Zhu is Vice President, Antibody Technology, at ImClone Systems Incorporated, a Manhattan-based biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing breakthrough biologic medicines in the area of oncology. Dr. Zhu joined ImClone as a scientist in November 1996, and was promoted to Director of Molecular and Cell Biology in 2001. In 2002 he established and served as the founding Senior Director of the Antibody Technology Department at ImClone. He currently directs ImClone’s antibody discovery / engineering programs - focusing on generation and optimization of therapeutic antibodies and novel antibody-like molecules. His efforts at ImClone have led to the identification and generation of four antibodies that entered clinical development for various cancer indications, including the three fully human antibodies that are currently in clinical trials: the anti-EGFR (IMC-11F8), the anti-VEGFR2 (KDR, IMC-1121B), and the anti-IGFR (IMC-A12) antibodies. He is a member of the ImClone’s Research Management Committee.
Dr. Zhu received his medical training from Jiangxi Medical College (Nanchang, China), his MSc in Pharmacology from Institute of Hematology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College (CAMS & PUMC, Tianjin, China), and his PhD in Immunology and Pathology from Dalhousie University (Halifax, NS, Canada). During 1993 to 1996, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow in antibody engineering in the Department of Molecular Oncology, Genentech, Inc. (South San Francisco, CA, USA). He passed the US Medical Licensing Examination and secured the ECFMG certification in 1996. Since 1996, Dr. Zhu has held an adjunct professor position in the State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology at Institute of Hematology, CAMS & PUMC. Dr. Zhu has been working in the areas of antibody technologies / applications and cancer bio-therapeutics for the past 20 years and has authored over 150 peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts, including original research papers, invited reviews and book chapters. He is also a frequent invited speaker at various national/international life science conferences. Dr. Zhu organized and co-chaired the First (September 2000, Tianjin, China) and the Second (October 2005, Beijing, China) China International Symposiums on Antibody Engineering and Antibody-based Therapeutics, each was attended by over 200 scientists with 35 to 40 invited speakers who are internationally renowned experts in the antibody field.
Dr. Nermeen VarawallaDr Nermeen Varawalla MD, DPhil (Oxon), MBA VP, PRA International, UK
Dr Nermeen Varawalla is responsible for the development of investigator relations at PRA International with a focus on Asia. PRA International is a global CRO with 2800 employees, covering 68 countries in all six continents. Nermeen is recognised to be an industry expert in the utilisation of emerging world countries for global clinical trials and has established PRA’s capabilities in Mumbai and Pune, India.
Prior to joining PRA, Nermeen was the founder of PerinClinical, a niche India focused CRO. Before that she worked with Accenture’s Health & Life Sciences Business Consulting Practice in London. At Accenture Nermeen specialised in the area of drug development and has worked with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies on drug development strategies, processes and systems.
Dr. Benjamin T. LeeDr. Benjamin T. Lee Pharm.D., CEO, Comprehensive Drug Enterprises
Dr Lee is managing partner for a new biotechnology venture, Comprehensive Drug Enterprises Limited in Hong Kong focusing on advance drug delivery. He is also an adjunct member of the Faculty of Medicine at the Chinese University in Hong Kong School of Pharmacy. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Houston College of Pharmacy and a Doctorate from the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy. He trained under Drug Development and Clinical Research Fellowships at Glaxo Wellcome and the University of North Carolina School Of Pharmacy, where he also served as an Instructor. Upon completion of his Fellowships, Dr. Lee joined Glaxo Wellcome as a Senior Research Scientist, rising to Lead Scientist in the Respiratory Medicine Development Center at GlaxoSmithKline. He has participated in the development of several of the GlaxoSmithKline respiratory drugs currently on the market and has authored numerous articles on respiratory disease therapeutics.
Dr David IrvingDr David Irving CEO, Diabetes Vaccine Development Centre, Australia
Dr. David Irving is the Chief Executive Officer of the Diabetes Vaccine Development Centre (DVDC).
With formal training in biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, and more recently management, David has over 15 years' experience working in the biotechnology industry, primarily in the area of biopharmaceutical product development and commercialization. His earlier research interests were focused on the field of molecular approaches to parasite vaccine development, in particular malaria vaccine development. Prior to taking up his position with the DVDC in Melbourne, he held senior management positions in R and D and business development with Biotech Australia Pty Limited, Sydney and its successor companies. Prior to this he held postdoctoral positions at the Rockefeller University, New York and CSIRO, Sydney. He has an MSc and PhD from the Australian National University and a Certificate of Management (Technology Management) from Deakin University. He is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Dr Irving has been a Director of AusBiotech Limited for the past three years, being heavily involved with other board members in planning and implementing its transition from the former Australian Biotechnology Association to the peak industry body that it has now become. As well as AusBiotech Limited, David was, until recently, a Director of Network Limited, a company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and the Alternative Investment Market in London. Over the past year, this company has undergone a transformation from its origins as a biotechnology company to a company now focusing on the outdoor advertising market while maintaining investments in the biotechnology sector. David has served on a number of advisory committees to governments and within the tertiary education sector. He is currently a member of the Macquarie University Biotechnology Research Institute Advisory Committee and is involved in a number of committees at Melbourne University's School of Population Health.
Mr. Ali HusseinMr. Ali Hussein CEO, Science24Seven, LLC
Ali Hussein is a leading expert in Chinese, Indian and Russian scientific communities and logs more than 250 days a year traveling to the world's major scientific centers. Having built the world's first and largest virtual scientific community, he is now working on the next technological advancements to enhance global research and development through new and exciting open innovation models and services.
Dr. Grace WongDr. Grace Wong PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, ActoKine Therapeutics
Dr. Grace Wong has worked for Genentech, Millennium, AstraZeneca and Serono on new drug discovery in a variety of therapeutic areas. Dr. Wong did a PhD at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Australia. In the US, Dr. Wong did a postdoc with Dr. David Goeddel at Genentech. In 1996, Dr. Wong became the Head of Apoptosis Research at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. In 1998, she joined AstraZeneca as Section Head of Molecular Genetics and identified genes for Alzheimer's disease. Since AstraZeneca was moving to Delaware, Dr. Wong joined Serono in 1999 as Head of Functional Genomics. She has been awarded 13 scholarships from Hong Kong, Australia and USA and received 5 Recognition Awards from Genentech. She was invited to present at 139 international conferences including the Nobel Symposium (Sweden, 1994). She has published 91 papers and filed 27 patents (11 issued). Seven of her publications (3 Nature, 1 Science, 3 Cell, 3 PNAS) received 700-950 citations. In 2003, Dr. Wong has founded Actokine Therapeutics (www.actokine.com) for new drug advancements for biodefense projects (radioprotection against dirty bomb and protection against a broad spectrum of viruses). She has also founded Student Vision for helping students of all ages in biotech science through Nobel Linus Pauling Biotech Symposium (www.studentvision.org).
Dr. Stephen LamDr. Stephen Lam Ph.D., MBA, Senior Director, HKSTP
Stephen Lam, Ph.D., MBA joined the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) in November 2006 and is currently a Senior Manager, with the responsibility to develop the Life Sciences and Biotechnology cluster. He brings to the organization over two decades of research, management, and business development experience in the biotechnology industry. Prior to joining HKSTP, Dr. Lam served roles of increasing impact at several multi-national corporations including CIBA-Geigy, Novartis, Syngenta, and Pioneer (a DuPont Company). He also served as founder and Chief Operating Officer of Aryzun Pharmaceuticals, an early-stage drug development company focused on infectious diseases and oncology. He earned his B.A. at the University of Oregon, his MBA at Duke University, and his Ph.D. at the University of Utah. Dr. Lam is an inventor on 16 issued US patents and authored over two dozen scientific publications.
Dr. Richard GillDr. Richard Gill Ph.D. President and Chief Executive Officer, ProNAi Therapeutics
Dr. Gill has over 25 years of strategic management, research, and commercialization experience in the life sciences industry. He has an extensive track record in starting and building businesses, as well as facilitating company turnarounds, in both the public and private sectors. Prior to joining ProNAi, Dr. Gill was the President and CEO of Signet Laboratories, where he was instrumental in increasing company revenues and enhancing its value proposition. In addition, Dr. Gill headed up Anvil, Inc., ActiveCyte, Inc., and Genome Therapeutics , now Oscient Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OSCI). Dr. Gill previously held senior positions at BTG International, Inc., a subsidiary of BTG plc (LSE: BGC), and Unilever plc in the United Kingdom. He is an active member of Launchpad Venture Group, where he has been influential in the formation of several biotechnology companies. Dr. Gill received his Ph.D. in Endocrinology and a B.Sc. with honors in Physiology and Biochemistry from Reading University, UK.
ProNAi Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical drug development company pioneering a new class of nucleic-acid drugs based on DNA interference (DNAi®), which employs single strands of DNA to target and treat non-transcribed regions of genomes responsible for complex genetic diseases. ProNAi is currently developing multiple DNAi-based drug candidates with the potential to treat multiple cancers, including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, prostate, breast, and colon cancers. The company’s lead drug candidate, PNT-2258, which has demonstrated in vivo efficacy in a variety of human tumor xenograft models, is currently in preclinical development. ProNAi is also exploring the potential of DNAi-based therapies for indications such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s and inflammatory disease.
Dr. Blessed OkoleDr. Blessed Okole CEO, LifeLab, South Africa
Dr. Blessed Okole joined LIFElab in September 2006 as Chief Executive Officer. LIFElab is the trade name of the East Coast Biotechnology (ECoBio) Regional Innovation Centre. It is one of three Biotechnology Regional Innovation Centres (BRICs) that were set up by the South African Department of Science and Technology (DST) under the auspices of its National Biotechnology Strategy. Dr. Okole has 10 years experience in the research and development environment and 5 years experience in the South African biotechnology industry. This combination of experience and knowledge which is rare in the country is only a small part of the invaluable contribution which he is making at LIFElab.
During his career in both the private and public sector, Dr. Okole developed strategic partnerships with numerous key stakeholders in the biotechnology sector. Prior to joining LIFElab, Dr Okole held the position of Business Development Manager and Strategic Partnership Manager for CSIR Biosciences unit. He was also the interim Director for the NEPAD Southern African Network for Biosciences (SANBio) and he initially began his career as the Technology Manager at AECI.
Dr. Okole has vast experience in starting up biotechnology businesses; conversant with national systems of innovation in Africa; has extensive knowledge of the small and medium Industries in the continent and he is good in analyzing businesses, managing projects and strong in negotiating business deals.
Dr. Okole is a registered member with the South African Council for Natural Scientific professions. He holds a PhD from the Technical University of Berlin, Germany.
Mr. Jean-François MouneyMr. Jean-François Mouney Chairman and CEO, Founder, Genfit Corp, France
Jean-François Mouney, 51, Chairman of the Management Board since its creation, holds a Business Degree from the Paris Business School (ESCP), and a postgraduate degree in economics from the University of Lille. He has created, managed and developed several companies specialised in high performance materials. In 1979 he founded Brunet-Sicap, a company specialised in composite materials for the aeronautical and armaments industries. In 1986 this company was acquired by SNPE, a leading French chemicals group. He was CEO of SNPE's materials branch until 1992.
In 1992, he founded M&M, a consultancy firm specialised in healthcare technology. He was responsible for carrying out a public feasibility study for the implantation of an economic development agency in biology-healthcare in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, and was appointed Managing Director of the agency by the regional authorities when it was launched in 1995. Over seventy companies have been created as part of this venture, making Eurasanté,one of the top European bio-incubators. In 2003 and again in 2004, he received the 'Entrepreneur of the Year' award from the magazine L'Entreprise and from the Ernst & Young firm, in the 'New Technology' category.
Jean-François Mouney is also President of Cardialpha, a company created in 2001 and specialised in clinical studies, and Vice-President of the Fondation Cœur et Artèes (Heart and Arteries Foundation), an officially recognised research body. He is also Vice-President of the research hub 'Nutrition, Health and Longevity'. He is Vice-President of France Biotech, a French association of biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, where he is an active advocate of progress and innovation in the pharmacy and biotechnology sector.
Dr. Christoph HülsDr. Christoph Hüls CEO, Protagen AG, Germany
Dr. Hüls is a biologist by training. He looks back on more than 12 years of management experience in R&D, business development, marketing and sales, as well as general management in various positions at Novartis AG, Aventis SA and Hoechst AG.
Dr. Stefan MüllnerDr. Stefan Müllner PhD - CSO, Protagen AG, Germany
Dr. Müllner is chemist by training. He brings in more than 18 years of management experience in R&D and business development, as well as general management in different positions at fundamenta CAPITAL AG, Henkel KGaA, Aventis SA and Hoechst AG. He is a co-founder of Protagen AG.
Mr. Karl HandelsmanMr. Karl Handelsman Managing Director, CMEA Ventures
Karl Handelsman joined CMEA Ventures in February 1999. Karl has been involved with numerous CMEA investments such as: Ambrx, Ensemble Discovery, Ilypsa, Kalypsys, Maxygen, Phenomix, Rigel, Syrrx, and Xenoport. Prior to joining CMEA, Karl was one of the first employees of Tularik, Inc., a drug discovery company, where his business development role spanned corporate partnering, technology licensing, and operations. Karl was also one of the first employees of Whitehead Institute, a premier research organization within Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); and he worked in business development at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Karl holds graduate degrees from both MIT and Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Bing WongDr. Bing Wong CEO, Advantek Biologics, HK
Dr. Bing Wong, CEO of Advantek Biologics. Dr. Wong is also Chairman of CB Corporation, Hong Kong, distributor of Biopure Oxyglobin and Hemopure in the Asian Pacific and Chairman of API, Inc, of New Jersey, USA, an active pharmaceutical ingredient contract manufacturer. In August 2006, Dr. Wong was appointed as an adjunct professor of the Chinese university of Hong Kong. Dr. Wong holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the National Taiwan University, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering from Tufts University. Prior to joining Advantek, Dr. Wong was a founder and Senior Vice President of Biopure Corporation in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has also been an Association Professor in Chemical Engineering and Acting Director of the New England Enzyme Center at Tufts Medical School. Dr. Wong holds many patents in Biomedicine, including artificial blood replacements and antibiotics. He has served as Chairman of the Chinese Economic Development Council, Inc., a community service organization in Boston’s Chinatown. CEDC assists local residents for job training, enhances local economic development, as well as establishing numerous of moderate and low-income housing projects and education program for local residents. In 1992, Dr. Wong was named "A Model of Overseas Chinese Young Entrepreneur" by the Executive Yuan, Taiwan, Republic of China. In 2001, Bunker Hill Community College of Boston, Massachusetts awarded him the President Distinguished Service Award for his extraordinary commitment for higher education in the Boston Asian community.
Dr. Albert C. H. YuDr. Albert C. H. Yu CEO, HKDNA Chips
Professor Albert C. H. Yu is the founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of HKDNA Chips. He is a well-known scientific conference organizer, neuroscientist and biotechnology entrepreneur, active in numerous cross-cultural and industrial communities in Hong Kong and China. With a global network and an expanding base of established contacts in China, Prof. Yu has been an important facilitator of dialogue regarding the development of biotechnology in Asia. Prof. Yu is currently a professor at the Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Neurobiology at Peking University, China. After receiving his BSc, MSc and PhD from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, Prof. Yu moved to the University of California at San Francisco and subsequently spent four years at Stanford University and was honored with the status of Visiting Associate Professor. He also spent time as an investigator at the NASA Ames Research Center. Upon returning to Hong Kong, he joined the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology as a faculty member. He was a guest professor at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University, visiting professor at The First Military Medical University, and visiting investigator at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Over his academic and research career, Prof. Yu has published 3 books and over 200 peer-reviewed scientific articles and conference papers. He is also the co-inventor of numerous technologies with 6 patents granted and others pending
Dr. Xianping LuDr. Xianping Lu CEO, Shenzhen Chipscreen Biosciences, China
Dr. Xianping Lu is currently Member of the board of Directors, President, and Chief Scientific Officer of Shenzhen Chipscreen Biosciences Ltd, the leading drug discovery company in China. Dr. Lu also serves in several Advisory Committees for Biotech/Pharma/Life Sciences Division of different levels of Governments in China. Dr. Lu finished his B.S. degree in Biochemistry from University of Sichuan in 1983. He obtained respectively M.S. in Biochemistry and Ph.D. in Molecular Biology in 1986 and 1988 from Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Dr. LU completed his Postgraduate Pharmacologist Fellowship study at the Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, University of California at San Diego between 1989 and 1992. He continued his postdoctoral research at La Jolla Cancer Research Foundation (Burham Institute) prior to participate in founding Galderma Research Inc. and Maxia Pharmaceuticals in San Diego in 1995. He was the Director of Research at Galderma R & D (a subsidiary of L'Oreal and Nestle) in Princeton till 2000. He became visiting professor at The State Key Laboratory for Biomembrane and Membrane Biotechnology in Tsinghua University in the same year. During this period, he has led a group of US-trained talented scientists to successfully found Chipscreen Biosciences Ltd. in Shenzhen. Dr. Lu has more than 20 years biomedical research and biotech/pharmaceutical experiences in varieties of therapeutic area. He is a skilled leader of diverse groups within a global operating environment. During his career, he has published many research papers in journals such as Nature, Science, and Nature Medicine. He is the co-inventor of many inventions in area of small molecule therapeutics.
Dr. Stephen H. IpDr. Stephen H. Ip Ph.D.Senior Vice President, Global Business Development, TaiGen, Taiwan
Dr. Ip has over 25 years of experience in the biotech industry. Prior to joining TaiGen Biotechnology, Dr Ip held various management positions including, Vice President of Business Development & the Head of Far East at Matritech, President of American Biogenetic Sciences, President of CytoMed, where he was also the founder. He held the position of Vice President, Technology of T Cell Sciences where he was a co-founder. He was also a founding member of Cambridge Research Lab of Johnson & Johnson. Dr. Ip has extensive experience in business development including successful deals with SmithKline Beecham, Yamanouchi, Mitsubishi, Sysmex, Astra, Chiron, Pfizer, Syntex, Purdue Pharma and others. Dr. Ip received his Ph.D. in 1976 from the University of Virginia Medical School and was a staff fellow at the hematology and oncology department of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.
Dr. Zhijian LuDr. Zhijian Lu PhD Associate Director, Wyethn
Dr. Zhijian Lu graduated from Jilin University in 1982 with a BS degree in chemistry. Then he studied in the Environment Protection Research Institute in Beijing for three years and earned a Master’s degree in environment engineering. Between 1985 and 1991 he did his PhD research in Boston University in Dr. Richard Laursen’s lab on topics in protein chemistry. Dr. Lu did the post-doc studies in Dr. Gobind Khorana’s lab in MIT on structure-function relationship of rhodopsin. In 1993 Dr. Lu joined Genetics Institute, the predecessor of Wyeth Biotech, where he is the Associate Director of Biotherapeutics Expression and Purification group of Wyeth Research.
Dr. Lu’s research interest and achievements are in the areas of protein expression, protein structure/function relationship, peptide library display, discovery and functional characterization of novel genes, and proteomic study of cell signaling. Dr. Lu’s current focus is protein drug discovery.
Dr. Wei-Wei ZhangDr. Wei-Wei Zhang MD, PhD, founder, President and CEO, GenWay Biotech, USA
Dr. Wei-Wei Zhang is the founder, President and CEO of GenWay Biotech, Inc. Dr. Zhang has 24 years of biomedical research experience and 14-years of R&D and Corporate Development management experience in gene expression, protein chemistry, and antibody development. During the last seven years, Dr. Zhang has led the successful operations of GenWay Biotech, Inc, which resulted in development of the platform for providing protein and antibody solution services and a portfolio of product lines. Dr. Zhang also steered GenWay’s teams of business development and marketing and sales to establish various partnership and network to attain millions of dollars in revenues. Specializing in gene expression and viral vector technology, particularly the adenoviral and adeno-associated viral vector technologies, Dr. Zhang was the inventor and project leader for the world’s most advanced gene therapy of cancer product (Ad5CMV-p53) during 1992-1994, at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Dr. Zhang was at Baxter Healthcare Corporation, during 1995-1998, as the Director of Molecular Biology, Gene Therapy Unit, and at GenStar Therapeutics Corporation, during 1999-2001 as the Chief Scientific Officer, where he led the R&D team to accomplish pre-clinical studies of the MiniAdFVIII product for hemophilia A treatment, and he organized construction and establishment of a 9,000 ft2 GMP facility for production of clinical materials. He was involved in interactions with the FDA and RAC regulatory authorities, and he was responsible for organizing and coordinating the activities of the multi-center clinical trials for MiniAdFVIII. Dr. Zhang obtained his M.D. degree in 1982 and his M.S. of Toxicology in 1985 from Zhejiang Medical University in China. In 1989, he acquired his PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Alabama. From 1989 to 1994, Dr. Zhang was an instructor at Baylor College of Medicine and Assistant Professor at MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas. Dr. Zhang has 16 patents issued or pending. He has published more than 65 peer-reviewed articles and has been invited to write major review articles and to deliver presentations in numerous national and international conferences.
Dr. Gordon VeharDr. Gordon Vehar PhD, VP of Research, Raven Biotechnologies, SSF, CA, USA
Dr. Vehar received his PhD from the University of Cincinnati Medical School and did his postdoctoral work with Dr. Earl Davie at the University of Washington, Seattle. He joined Genentech, Inc. in 1980. During his 20 years at Genentech, Dr. Vehar served various leadership functions, including Director, Cardiovascular Research, and project team leader for the Factor VIII (Kogenate, tPA (Activase, TNKase (TNKase, and Lymphotoxin Projects, as well as Staff Scientist in the Cardiovascular Research and Protein Chemistry Departments. Dr. Vehar is co-inventor on 36 issued U.S. patents and has authored more than 35 scientific publications.
He has been awarded the Murray Thelin Award for Outstanding Research (1987) presented by the National Hemophilia Foundation, the Inventor of the Year Award from the Intellectual Property Owners, Inc. (1989) for the recombinant tissue plasminogen activator patent and the Distinguished Inventor of the Year Award from the Intellectual Property Owners, Inc (1999) for the recombinant factor VIII patent. He served on the Scientific Advisory Board for the Oklahoma Center for Molecular Medicine (1992-1996). Dr. Vehar joined Raven Biotechnologies in 2000, as Vice President, Research and Development. Raven Biotechnologies utilizes tissue specific progenitor cells and high throughput antibody production/screening to identify, validate, and develop tumor specific monoclonal antibody therapeutics.
Dr. Choong-Chin LiewDr. Choong-Chin Liew PhD, CSO, GeneNews, Toronto, Canada
Dr. Choong-Chin “CC” Liew is co-founder and Chief Scientist of GeneNews Corporation, Toronto, Ontario and Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto, He was formerly Visiting Professor of Medicine and Founding Director of the Cardiovascular Genome Center at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston.
Dr. Liew is a pioneer in the emerging field of molecular medicine and globally recognized as a leader in disease-specific genomics research. To date, he has published over 300 original scientific papers, abstracts, and monographs. His 1997 landmark publication in Circulation, a pre-eminent U.S. peer reviewed journal, reported his work in cardiovascular genomics. This report is widely acknowledged to represent the most comprehensive analysis of genes expressed in a single human organ. Currently Dr. Liew is working to develop the Sentinel PrincipleTM, a blood-based diagnostic technology that will identify molecular signatures for major human diseases.
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