Speaker Bios

Ray Akhavan, Associate of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati email:rakhavan@wsgr.com  -  www.wsgr.com Ray Akhavan is a patent attorney in Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati's intellectual property and patent practice. He focuses on patent prosecution, strategic patent counseling, and IP due diligence in a variety of fields, including pharmacogenomics, biochemistry, and molecular biology. Ray has extensive laboratory research experience, with nearly seven years as a biologist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. At NIH, Ray conducted research in the fields of biochemistry and molecular biology to examine regulation of gene expression as mediated through chromatin remodeling. Prior to joining Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Ray was a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, where he examined applications for inventions encompassing several fields, including proteins, DNA vectors, research tools, assays for candidate drug identification, regulation of gene expression, and gene therapy. Back To Top ^

Larry Aronhime, Senior Lecturer, Center for Leadership Education of Johns Hopkins University email:aronhime@jhu.edu  -  web.jhu.edu/Leadership Larry Aronhime is a full time lecturer with the W.P. Carey Program and has been teaching with Johns Hopkins University since 1992. He teaches in the areas of accounting, entrepreneurship, and technology commercialization. He has successfully started several technology ventures and is actively involved in supporting university technology commercialization efforts through the formation of student teams and projects as well as coursework. He obtained his B.A. and M.S. from Johns Hopkins University, and MBA from Loyola College. Back To Top ^

Wes Blakeslee, Executive Director of Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer email:starman@jhu.edu  -  www.techtransfer.jhu.edu Wes Blakeslee is executive director of Johns Hopkins University Technology Transfer, an office of more than 30 professionals who help the university make the benefits of discovery available to the world by commercializing discoveries and inventions. Blakeslee, a former NASA engineer, founded the Carroll County firm of Blakeslee and Wallace. In 1999, he joined the University's Office of General Counsel and was responsible for intellectual property, sponsored research, technology and business arrangements. Now, as head of JHTT, Blakeslee plays a pivotal role in assuring that Johns Hopkins remains a world leader in applying important discoveries for society's use and benefit. Back To Top ^

Ralph Cope, President of Accudyne Systems email:rcope@accudyne.com  -  www.accudyne.com Dr. Cope received his Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering (1978) and Master in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (1979) from the University of Delaware in 1978. In 1986 he received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Ohio State University. While working on his doctoral degree, he spent 2 years at HP Labs developing automation technology. After completion of his doctoral work, he returned to the University of Delaware as an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering, taught all of the design courses, and was a cofounder of the Orthopedic and Biomechanics Engineering Center. In 1993, he left to start his own consulting company, EPOCH which merged with WTC to form Accudyne Systems in 1995. Since its formation, Ralph has served as a Senior Partner and President of Accudyne. His areas of expertise include creative problem solving, automation, biomechanics, composites, and system integration. He has been the lead engineer for the development of over 60 machines ranging from biological pipettors to machines for fabricating thermoplastic and thermoset composite parts. Accudyne Systems conceives and fabricates custom solutions for companies around the globe. It presently employs about 35 people and does over $4.5 million of business annually. Back To Top ^

Eugene de Juan, Founder & Vice-Chariman of ForSight Labs email:edejuan@forsightlabs.com  -  www.forsightlabs.com Renowned retinal surgeon, inventor, and entrepreneur Dr. Eugene de Juan, Jr., serves as Vice-Chairman of ForSight Labs, where he participates as an active inventor and advisor in early-stage ophthalmic device opportunities. Dr. de Juan, Jr. splits his time between ForSight Labs and UCSF. He holds the "Jean Kelly Stock Distinguished Chair" in Ophthalmology, where he continues to see patients, operate and teach at UCSF. Dr. de Juan, Jr., has participated in the development a number of ophthalmology's most exciting new technologies with over 100 products and founding a number of venture funded companies, including Second Sight, InnoRx (bought by Surmodics in 2005), and NeoVista. ForSight Labs' first company, Transcend Medical, was founded in 2005. He was previously a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Southern California and CEO of the Doheny Retina Institute, focusing on innovative techniques for treating blinding retinal disorders through retinal transplantation, macular translocation, robotic surgery, and retinal implants. He was also previously co-director of Vitreoretinal Service, director of the Microsurgery Advanced Design Laboratory (MADLAB) and Joseph E. Green Professor of Ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. de Juan completed his MD and internship training at the University of South Alabama. He holds patents on over 40 medical devices and has more than 200 academic publications. Back To Top ^

Jennifer Ellisseeff, Chief Scientist & Founder of Cartilix email:info@cartilix.com  -  www.cartilix.com Dr. Elisseeff is an associate professor of Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University with an adjunct appointment in Orthopedic Surgery. She received a BSc in chemistry from Carnegie Mellon and a PhD in biomedical engineering from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. After doctoral research in tissue engineering with Robert Langer, Dr. Elisseeff received a Pharmacology Research Associate Fellowship from the National Institute of General Medicine. Her biomaterials and tissue engineering laboratory at Johns Hopkins focuses on developing new biomaterials and minimally invasive technologies for tissue repair, stem cells, and musculoskeletal tissue engineering. Dr. Elisseeff has published over 50 articles and book chapters, several patents issued and pending, and given over 60 invited lectures. She serves on a number of NIH and foundation review panels, the science advisory board for Bausch and Lomb and Cellular Bioengineering, Inc. Dr. Elisseeff has received the Carnegie Mellon Young Alumni Award, the Arthritis Foundation Investigator Award, and was named by Technology Review magazine as a top innovator under 35 in 2002 and top 10 technologies to change the future. The Baltimore Business Journal recently named her to Baltimore's 40 under 40. Back To Top ^

Owen Faris, Scientific Reviewer, Center for Devices & Radiological Health of Food and Drug Administration email:owen.faris@fda.hhs.gov  -  www.fda.gov Owen Faris received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Rice University in 1997 and his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 2003. Dr. Faris' doctoral research focused on the use of novel cardiac mapping and MRI methods to assess electrical and mechanical relationships in the failing and paced heart. Since 2003, Dr. Faris has been a Scientific Reviewer in FDA's Division of Cardiovascular Devices where his responsibilities include review of clinical trial and marketing applications for active implantable cardiovascular devices as well as MRI compatibility issues for those devices. Back To Top ^

Kevin Forrest, Principal of 5AM Ventures email:kevin@5amventures.com  -  www.5amventures.com Kevin M. Forrest, Ph.D. joined 5AM Ventures in 2005 from Princeton University where he studied RNA-based regulatory processes in the lab of Dr. Elizabeth Gavis. His work has been published in Current Biology, Development, and Developmental Cell. Prior to Princeton, Dr. Forrest was a summer fellow at the National Institutes of Health where he studied the genetics of human stuttering. Dr. Forrest previously served as a due diligence advisor to ProQuest Investments. Dr. Forrest currently serves on the Board of Directors of WaveRx and represents 5AM as a Board Observer to Marcadia, Relypsa, Semprus, Synosia and Variation. Dr. Forrest holds a B.S. in Biology with honors from Boston College and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Princeton University. Dr. Forrest is based in the Waltham, MA office. Back To Top ^

Thomas Jackson, Partner of Smith, Gambrell & Russell email:tjackson@sgrlaw.com  -  www.sgrlaw.com Before joining Smith, Gambrell & Russell, Tom was with the intellectual property law firm of Banner & Witcoff, Ltd. in their Washington, D.C. office and earlier served as in-house patent counsel at Siemens AG in Iselin, NJ and at AT&T Bell Laboratories. Tom has written and prosecuted hundreds of patents to issue in the electrical, electronic and computer arts including specialties in medical device, optical device, telecommunications and converging television technologies. Tom is also an experienced litigator serving as counsel to both patent owners and in defense of patent litigation. Tom received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a member of the Hexagon Honors Society. He received his Masters in Engineering Administration from George Washington University. He earned his J.D. degree from Seton Hall University. Back To Top ^

Tina Kiang, Acting Branch Chief, Center for Devices & Radiological Health of Food and Drug Administration email:tina.kiang@fda.hhs.gov  -  www.fda.gov Tina Kiang received her Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 1997 and her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 2005. Dr. Kiang's doctoral thesis focused on non-viral controlled release gene delivery for HIV vaccination. Dr. Kiang joined the FDA in 2005 as a Scientific Reviewer in the Division of Ophthalmic and Ear, Nose and Throat Devices, where she is responsible for reviewing the engineering and chemistry aspects of implantable ophthalmic devices. She is currently the Acting Branch Chief of the Ear, Nose and Throat Devices Branch. Back To Top ^

Mark Kroll of Mark Kroll & Associates, LLC email:mark@kroll.name Recently retired as CTO (Chief Technology Officer) and Sr. VP from St. Jude Medical's main division (second largest manufacturer of cardiac rhythm management products). St. Jude was twice named as a "Top 50" performing large company by BusinessWeek during this tenure. Now corporate director of Haemonetics (NYSE:HAE), Taser International (NASD:TASR), NewCardio (BB:NWCI) and numerous private companies. Faculty for the UCLA Anderson School "Creativity and Innovation" annual program. Invited lecturer to Caltech MIT Enterprise Forum. Adjunct Full Professor of Biomedical Engineering, California Polytechnic University, and Adjunct Full Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota. Senior member of IEEE. Listed in Who's Who In Science And Engineering since 1992. Awarded "Fellow" recognition by the American College of Cardiology. Fellow of the Heart Rhythm Society. Co-editor of 3 books, and author of over 200 papers, invited presentations, book chapters, and abstracts. B.S. Mathematics and M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. M.B.A. from the University of St. Thomas. Research specialty is the effects of electricity on the human body. Holds over 275 issued U.S. patents. Honored by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as most prolific inventor of electrical medical devices in the world. All ICDs sold have at least one licensed Kroll patent. Over 1 million human beings have his patents in their bodies. Back To Top ^

Brian Lipford, Vice President, Strategic Development of Key Technologies email:blipford@keytechinc.com  -  www.keytechinc.com Brian co-founded Key Technologies in 1998, to create and develop new products with a specialty in medical devices and instruments. Mr. Lipford has over 25 years of experience in new product development, engineering and management. He is currently the VP of Strategic Development, responsible for a pipeline of new medical products being developed within Key Tech in areas of laparoscopic instruments, respiratory flow sensors and novel EEG electrodes. He received a BS in Mechanical Engineering from University of Maryland and an MA in Business Administration from Loyola College. He is also a registered professional engineer in the state of Maryland, and was a past Chair of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Baltimore Chapter. Mr. Lipford has multiple patents and has authored several technical articles. Back To Top ^

Elliot McVeigh, Director of Biomedical Engineering of Johns Hopkins University email:emcveigh@bme.jhu.edu  -  www.bme.jhu.edu Elliot McVeigh joined Hopkins' Department of Radiology in 1988 after receiving his Ph.D. in medical biophysics from the University of Toronto. In 1991, he also joined the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Since then, he has helped develop the research program in cardiac MRI and directed Hopkins' Medical Imaging Laboratory, which seeks to develop new imaging techniques and advance existing ones to solve problems in medicine and biology. In 1999, while maintaining a part-time faculty appointment at Hopkins, Dr. McVeigh joined the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda as a senior investigator in the Laboratory of Cardiac Energetics, where he developed a research program devoted to cardiovascular interventional MRI. Among his many achievements, he is an inventor on eight patents for real-time interventional MRI and real-time MRI devices, has published more than 150 peer-reviewed research papers, and has mentored more than 20 graduate students. Back To Top ^

Aris Melissaratos, Senior Adviser to the President of Johns Hopkins University email:aris@jhu.edu  -  www.jhu.edu Aris Melissaratos, recently joined The Johns Hopkins University as Senior Advisor to the President for Enterprise Development. Melissaratos, a 1966 Johns Hopkins graduate and longtime member of the School of Engineering's National Advisory Council, has overall responsibility for building the university's relationship with business and forging new connections between the research and corporate communities. Specific assignments include supervision of Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer, the office that links university researchers and businesses interested in commercializing their inventions. Melissaratos also markets opportunities for businesses to locate to Johns Hopkins-related research parks such as the Montgomery County Campus, the nearby Belward Research Campus, and the Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins in East Baltimore. Melissaratos spent most of his career with Westinghouse Electronics, eventually becoming VP of Science and Technology and CTO at their headquarters in Pittsburgh. Before joining state government in 2003 as Secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, he also served as VP of Thermo Electron Corp. and founded Armel Private Equity Investments. He was a founding co-chair of the Greater Baltimore Technology Council and is a former VP of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce. He holds a master's degree in engineering management from George Washington University and completed a program for management development at Harvard Business School. Back To Top ^

Vern Norviel, Partner of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati email:vnorviel@wsgr.com  -  www.wsgr.com Vern Norviel is a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he leads the patents and innovation counseling practice. Vern has more than two decades of experience in formulating successful strategies for life science companies and the development of their IP programs. He represents a wide variety of companies, as well as venture capital firms, in areas such as therapeutics, diagnostics, nanotechnology, genomics, proteomics, and personalized medicine. Before joining the firm in 2003, Vern was the general counsel and corporate secretary of Perlegen Sciences, Inc., a start-up biotechnology company that scans the entire human genome for important therapeutic and diagnostic products. Previously, as senior vice president and general counsel, he was an early employee of Affymetrix, the biotechnology company that pioneered and developed DNA chip technology. He also had been a partner at Townsend and Townsend and Crew in Palo Alto. During his career, Vern has authored or prosecuted more than 15 patents that have been litigated in the United States and abroad, and has overseen intellectual property lawsuits throughout the world. Back To Top ^

James Poulos, Vice President of Technology Transfer & Commercialization of Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) email:jpoulos@marylandtedco.org  -  www.marylandtedco.org James A. Poulos, III is a registered patent attorney. His career in patent law began in 1980 as a selfemployed patent researcher. Mr. Poulos has written over 150 patent applications and has prosecuted at least a thousand applications. Over 90% of these applications issued into US Patents. From 1991-1998 Mr. Poulos was responsible for the US patent portfolio of the multi-national company Zambon Group S.p.A. (Zambon). Zambon is the largest Italian-owned pharmaceutical company in Italy. Mr. Poulos has prosecuted a patent application of Nobel Laureate, Giulio Natta. Mr. Poulos joined the University of Maryland's Office of Technology Liaison (OTL) in March 1998 as the Associate Director for technology management. Mr. Poulos served as the Acting Executive Director of OTL from June 1999 to June 2000. After a national search, Mr. Poulos was named the Executive Director of the Office of Technology Commercialization at the University of Maryland, College Park in June of 2000. Since joining the office, Mr. Poulos has negotiated over 200 license agreements with commercial entities both within and without the state of Maryland. During his tenure over 30 University spin-off companies have been created, including Quantum Photonics (College Park, MD), Little Optics (Columbia, MD) and RioRey, Inc. (Bethesda, Maryland). These three companies have received over 85 million dollars in combined venture capital funding. Back To Top ^

Bruce Robertson, Managing Director of H.I.G. Ventures email:brobertson@higventures.com  -  www.higventures.com As a Managing Director at H.I.G. Ventures, Bruce Robertson focuses on investment opportunities in the life sciences sector, including biopharmaceuticals and medical devices. Bruce currently serves on the boards of Apollo Endosurgery, CardioFocus and Clarus Therapeutics. Prior to joining H.I.G., Bruce served as Managing Director at Toucan Capital, an early-stage venture capital fund focusing on life science investments. Prior to Toucan, Bruce was a General Partner at GIV Venture Partners, a VC firm focused on early stage investments in the US, India, and China. Prior to his venture capital career, Bruce was Director of Business Development at IGEN International, where he was responsible for formulating and implementing IGEN's partnering and M&A strategies. Bruce started his career as a Research Manager at W.R. Grace & Co., focusing on medical devices. Bruce is on the boards of the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association, the Georgia Biomedical Partnership, Shady Grove Hospital, the BioLife Fund of Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology, and the University of Delaware Research Foundation. Bruce holds a BSE in Chemical Engineering and BA in Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania, a PhD in Chemical/Biomedical Engineering from the University of Delaware, and an MBA with High Distinction from Harvard Business School. Back To Top ^

Neil Rothman, Vice President of R&D of Infinite Biomedical Technologies email:neil@i-biomed.com  -  www.i-biomed.com Neil Rothman oversees the company's research & development group to translate products from discovery research to clinical development. With over 28 years in medical device development, Dr. Rothman has experience in the fields of orthopedic surgery, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, clinical diagnostics, and respiratory monitoring and holds thirteen patents. Dr. Rothman holds a BS in Biomedical Engineering and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from The Johns Hopkins University. Back To Top ^

Amita Shukla, Principal of New Enterprise Associates email:ashukla@nea.com  -  www.nea.com Amita joined NEA in 2003 and focuses on investments in biotechnology, biopharmaceutical and specialty pharmaceutical companies. Prior to NEA, Amita was Vice President of Business Development at AmiKa Corp., a research tools company that developed and marketed proprietary genomics and proteomics products and was later acquired by Harvard Bioscience (HBIO). Before that, Amita worked in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group at Merrill Lynch, where she focused on mergers and acquisitions and public offerings for biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device clients. She also conducted in-depth, strategic research on biotechnology industry dynamics for Merrill Lynch's large cap pharmaceutical clients. Amita has been a freelance writer for a spectrum of industry and news publications. She holds nine issued and two pending patents. Amita received her MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she led a team that won first place at the Stanford Business Plan Competition for a novel, patent pending cardiovascular device. She received her BA in Biochemistry from Harvard University. Back To Top ^

Joseph Smith, Vice President of Emerging Technologies of Johnson & Johnson email:JSmith84@its.jnj.com  -  www.jnj.com Dr. Smith is currently VP of Emerging Technologies for Johnson & Johnson in the Corporate Office of Science and Technology. His obtained his undergraduate degree in EE from Johns Hopkins, a Master's degree in EE from MIT, a PhD in Medical Engineering and Medical Physics from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences & Technology, and an MD from Harvard Medical School. He completed his residency and his cardiology and clinical electrophysiology training at Brigham and Women's Hospital, the Krannert Institute of Cardiology, and Washington University in St. Louis. From 1991 through 2000, he held academic positions at the School of Medicine and Dept of Biomedical Engineering at Washington University and served as Associate Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology at Barnes Hospital. He then went on to found the Arrhythmia Institute in Fairfax Virginia, a center of excellence in clinical cardiac electrophysiology and clinical research. From 2003 through 2006 he served as Senior VP and Chief Medical Officer of Guidant /Boston Scientific - Cardiac Rhythm Management, where he provided senior scientific and medical leadership in research R&D. He joined Johnson & Johnson in 2007 as VP, Microelectronic Technologies for Cordis Corporation. Dr. Smith has published in the areas of cardiac electrophysiology with special interest in ICD technology, catheter ablation, atrial fibrillation, and quantitative analytical techniques in biomedical signal processing, and holds a number of patents in the area of signal processing and catheter and defibrillator design. Back To Top ^

Santosh Venkatesha, CEO of Infinite Biomedical Technologies email:santosh@i-biomed.com  -  www.i-biomed.com Santosh Venkatesha has grown the company to over $20M in NIH SBIR funding since launching his career in 1999. He has led the commercialization effort to establish the company's first revenue-generating contracts with local hospitals in 2008. In addition, he holds 3 patents in the field of neurodiagnostics. Mr. Venkatesha received his BSE in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University in 1999 and his MBA from The Wharton School University of Pennsylvania in 2007. Back To Top ^