Pauling Biotech Symposium Speakers MIT Faculty Club, Cambridge, MA, USA Click here to register This is a preliminary list of speakers from Start Up Companies. More will be added soon. New Start Up Companies Frank Striggow, PhD KeyNeurotek Mark Tepper, PhD Araios Sunkwei Huang, PhD ActivBiotics Amy L. Rubinstein, PhD Zygogen Kathy Hehir TranXenoGen Inc. Erdogan Memili, PhD GTC Biotherapeutics Daniel Hu, PhD Bonature James Yingjian Wang, PhD Hypromatrix Frank Striggow, PhD Frank Striggow PhD, CEO of KeyNeurotek , Germany Title: Tissue-based, functional screening–bridging the gap between high-throughput screening and preclinical drug development Dr. Striggow was one of the co-founders of KeyNeurotek AG in 1999 and is the CEO since that time. KeyNeurotek is positioned at the interface between neuroscience and CNS drug development and combines scientific expertise and technological uniqueness. The company uses efficient platform technologies for a tissue-based and disease-related functional screening in situ and in vivo (using functional imaging and spectroscopy). Clinical indications of interest are stroke, traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer and epilepsy. Dr. Striggow did his post-doctoral training at the Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Germany, the University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT and the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the Magdeburg University in 1995. Dr. Striggow published several papers in the fields of signal transduction, calcium signaling and neuronal degeneration and protection, among them publications in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (USA), FASEB Journal and the Journal of General Physiology. Recently, he received the innovation award of the government of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Back to Top Mark A. Tepper, PhD Mark A. Tepper PhD, President Araios Dr. Tepper has over 25 years of experience in biomedical research with most of the last 15 years spent leading small molecule and protein therapeutic discovery and development projects in large pharma and biotech. Dr. Tepper has contributed to the discovery and development of a number of protein and small molecule drug candidates and marketed drugs including: Deoxyspergualin, Taxol, Esperamycin, BR96-PE, BR96-Dox, TGF-b, CD40L mAb, CTLA4Ig, CD4, LAG-3Ig, sIFNAR2, FSH, LH, and Antide. He has authored over 40 scientific publications and holds 6 patents. In January 2003, Dr.Tepper joined Thermogenic Imaging Inc. as Chief Scientific Officer. Prior to that he was President and CEO of Arradial. From 1995 -2002, Dr. Tepper served in a number of senior management roles at the Serono in Rockland most recently as Vice President, Research and Operations and Head of Lead Discovery. At Serono, Dr. Tepper was responsible for early lead discovery, biological evaluation for both small molecule and protein therapeutics, and overall operation of the Institute. He also served as Worldwide Project Leader for the 2nd generation Interferon based MS drug InferceptTM (rec. Interferon a/b Receptor/Interferon Complex) which he advanced from discovery to phase II clinical development over 1999-2002. From 1988-1995, Dr. Tepper was Sr. Research Investigator at the Bristol Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute in Wallingford, CT and Seattle, where he worked on the discovery and development of drugs in the area of Oncology and Immunology. Dr. Tepper was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (1985-1988) in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Czech, and received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Biophysics from Columbia University in 1985, and a B.A. in Chemistry from Clark University with highest honors in 1979. Back to Top Raul Krauss, PhD Raul Krauss PhD, Director of CNS Dr. Krauss received his PhD in neurobiology from Harvard, where he studied the extracellular signaling mechanisms that regulate the expression of neurotransmitter receptors in the CNS, in the laboratory of Dr. Gerald Fischbach. After completing postdoctoral work in the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, he joined the Department of Tissue Growth and Repair at Genetics Institute in Cambridge, MA (now part of Wyeth). At GI, he designed and implemented a program to study the role of Bone Morphogenetic Proteins in neural stem cell differentiation. From Genetics Institute, Dr. Krauss has moved into positions of increasing responsibility in the biotech industry, first as Director of Neurosciences at AlphaGene, where he developed the strategic scientific research plan for the company, and subsequently as Director of Discovery Research and Cell Biology at Linden Bioscience. Dr. Krauss has broad experience in neuroscience and oncology and has served on study sections at the NIH to review grants in spinal cord trauma and brain cancer. He has published a chapter in the standard textbook in the field, Culturing Nerve Cells (Banker and Goslin, Eds, MIT Press), several publications and two patents. Back to Top Jim Dasch PhD Dr. Dasch has worked for Collagen Corporation, Celtrix, Serono, CytoTherapeutics and Alkermes, conducting cytokine research in a variety of therapeutic areas, including autoimmune, inflammatory and neurological diseases. Dr. Dasch holds a BA from Kenyon College, a PhD from Case Western Reserve University and he did a Postdoc with Dr. Patricia Jones at Stanford. In 1987 at Collagen Corporation, he identified TGF-b as an important immunoregulatory cytokine and created the first monoclonal antibodies that blocked the function of TGF-b in fibrotic disease. In 1993, he joined Serono as Associate Director of Pharmacology, focusing on inhibiting the pro-inflammatory cytokine, TNF-a. In 1995, he joined CytoTherapeutics as Associate Director of Development, and managed four teams working on encapsulated cell therapies. From 1997 to 2002 at Alkermes, he examined the interplay between polymers used for drug delivery and the local inflammatory response that these polymers evoke. In his 20 years of biotechnology experience, Dr. Dasch has shown consistent leadership and strong intellectual focus. He has published more than 30 papers and filed nine US patents (seven issued in the US). Back to Top Catherine Laplace, PhD Catherine Laplace , PhD Dr. Laplace has professional research experience in the field of molecular and cellular biology and has also studied graphic design at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. She received her PhD from the University of Bordeaux in France where she cloned the genes encoding two mouse adenine nucleotide carriers and demonstrated the role of each isoform during cardiac differentiation. She joined the New England Baptist Bone and Joint Institute as a postdoctoral fellow where she conducteding research experiments leading to new discoveries in the field of osteoclast function and arthritis. Her scientific expertise is complemented by experience in graphic design concentrated on layout, design and editing, skills utilized in the realm of web technology pertaining to biomedicine and biotechnology. Dr. Laplace also has professional experience encompassing market analysis, research proposal writing and product marketing. Back to Top Sunkwei Huang PhD, Director of Analytical Chemistry, ActivBiotics Prior to joining ActivBiotics, Dr. Huang, was a Senior Research Investigator at TAP Pharmaceutical Products, where he worked on new oral formulations for Prevacid and inhalational formulations for Lupron. From 1997 to 1999, he was an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and the Director of the Core MS labs at the Baylor College of Medicine. Before that, he was a Senior Research Associate and Section Head at Hoechst Corporation. Dr. Huang began his pharmaceutical career in 1986 at Affinity Biotechnology where he was a Scientist and Group Leader. He was a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Michael Gross at the Midwest Center for Mass Spec/NIH, University of Nebraska. Dr. Huang received his Master’s degree in organic synthesis from National Taiwan University in 1977, and his PhD in analytical instrumentation from Michigan State University in 1983. His responsibilities at ActivBiotics include supervision of analytical techniques and formulation of drug products. He has been responsible for setting up both GMP pharmaceutical and GLP bioanalytical laboratories. His lab developed a lipid formulation for ActivBiotic’s lead compound. He developed a stability assessment program to assure the drug’s safety for human clinical trials. Back to Top Amy L. Rubinstein, PhD Amy L. Rubinstein PhD, Director Zygogen Dr. Amy Rubinstein is Director of Research at Zygogen, LLC in Atlanta, Georgia. Zygogen uses transgenic zebrafish technology to design disease models that will be used for drug target discovery, target validation and drug screening. Dr. Rubinstein was previously Senior Scientist at Zygogen (2000-2001). Dr. Rubinstein received her bacheloràs degree in chemistry at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts (1988) and her Ph.D. in biology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina (1995). She was trained in zebrafish developmental biology as a postdoctoral fellow at the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Baltimore, Maryland (1996-2000). Back to Top Kathy Hehir Kathy Hehir, Director of Technology Development & Regulatory Affairs, TranXenoGen Inc. Ms. Hehir joined the Company in July 2000 and has over twenty years' experience in biotechnology, with particular expertise in Molecular Biology and Gene Therapy. Prior to joining TranXenoGen, Ms. Hehir was with Genzyme Corporation, where she was responsible for the manufacture, process development, quality control and distribution for all of the Adenovirus gene therapy products in various stages of development. She was also responsible for the appropriate regulatory submissions to support the gene therapy programs and for regulatory submissions on the cell line characterization of several recombinant protein therapeutics which are currently marketed products. Ms. Hehir holds a BS in Chemistry and BioPsychology from Tufts University. She obtained Regulatory Affairs Certification (RAC) in 2000. Back to Top Erdogan Memili, DVM, MS, PhD Erdogan Memili DVM, MS, PhD, GTC Biotherapeutics Title: Career Planning: Progress in Confidence Dr. Erdogan Memili is a molecular embryologist with extensive experience in key areas of biology including molecular/cellular biology, epigenetics and embryology/developmental biology. Having completed graduate study in control of gene expression at the onset of bovine embryonic development in the laboratory of Dr. Neal L. First at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Memili defined the structure of the Xist (X inactivation specific transcript) RNA molecule in mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells during his postdoctoral studies at the Harvard Institute of Human Genetics, Harvard Medical School. This finding is an important step in better understanding the molecular details of how exactly X chromosome inactivation (an epigenetic event) occurs during early development in female mammals. Currently Dr. Memili is working on elucidating molecular details of reprogramming events taking place in early mammalian embryos derived by IVF and nuclear transfer. Expertise in both in molecular biology and embryology enables him to target areas crucial to our understanding of nuclear reprogramming with advanced molecular tools. Back to Top Daniel Hu, PhD Daniel Hu, PhD, CEO, Bonature Title: Developing a novel protein with bioactivity to increase cytokine production for anti-microbial infection and anti-allergy therapy Dr. Hu is a co-founder of Bonature. He received his PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Warwick, UK, and did postdoctoral work at Heriot-Watt University in the UK. After working as a research scientist at TerraGen Discovery, Inc. in Vancouver, Canada, Dr. Hu joined the Biomedical Engineering Center (BMEC) at the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) in Taiwan in 2000. In 2001, Dr. Hu became a department manager at BMEC, supervising projects in recombinant DNA expression systems and establishing drug screening methods. Recently, he and a group of scientists from McGill University (Canada) and National Taiwan University founded Bonature in Montreal. Back to Top James Yingjian Wang, PhD James Yingjian Wang, PhD, Hypromatrix James Yingjian Wang, Ph.D., is the Chief Scientific Officer at Hypromatrix, where he has worked since 2000. Dr. Wang received an B.S. in Biology from the Peking University and his Ph.D. in Physiology from Miami University. Dr. Wang was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Pathology at Yale University. There he identified a novel red cell protein (SLP-2) and studied its function using molecular and cellular techniques. Prior to his postdoctoral work at Yale, Dr. Wang was also a post-doc at Woods Hole for one year. At Hypromatrix, Dr. Wang is the inventor of several protein microarray technologies, including Interactive Protein Array Technology, DNA Transfection Array Technology, and most recently, Dissociable Protein Microarray technology. He is in charge of research and development of new genomic and proteomic technologies and manufacturing of related products. Dr. Wang has published 10 original papers in important journals such as the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology and Journal of Cell Science. Back to Top Back to Speaker List See other speakers: Linus Pauling Speakers Pharmaceutical Companies Private Biotech Companies Cytokine Companies Public Biotech Companies Academic Institutions Other If you would like to be involved with the 2006 Pauling Symposium please email Dr. Grace Wong at gw@studentvision.org. Home | Mission | Registration | Sponsors | Job Strategies | News, Events, Contact Biotech Booth | Event Photos | Nobel Day | Dr. Linus Pauling | Who's Who Pauling Biotech Symposium | Symposium Agenda | Symposium Speakers | Symposium Testimonials Founder & Board of Directors | Scientific Advisory Committee | Scholarship Application copyright 2003 to 2012