Speaker Bios

Chris Andon, Licensing Associate of Technology & Research Collaborations (TRC) Office, OHSU

Chris Andon is a Licensing Associate in the Technology & Research Collaborations (TRC) office at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in Portland, Oregon. Prior to joining OHSU, Chris spent over five years in intellectual property law as a Patent Agent with a focus on biomedical device, biomedical informatics, and software innovations. Additionally, Chris has worked at a start-up software company and has experience in medical informatics software development and in molecular biology and biochemistry research.
In his role at OHSU, Chris manages faculty inventions and industry collaborations for much of the non-wet lab technologies at OHSU. His portfolio includes research and innovations from Cardiology, Biomedical Engineering, Emergency Medicine, Radiation Oncology, the Advanced Imaging Research Center (AIRC), and the Casey Eye Institute. Technologies under his management range from microbubbles and nanoparticles to non-invasive diagnostic and monitoring techniques to implantable medical devices and diagnostic assays.
Chris has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from UC San Diego, a Masters in Biomedical Informatics from OHSU, and is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. He is an active member of the Association of University Technology Managers.

Dr. Melissa Appleyard, Ames Professor in the Management of Innovation and Technology of School of Business Administration, Portland State University

Melissa Appleyard joined the faculty of Portland State University's School of Business Administration in 2003, as one of the first Ames Professors in the Management of Innovation and Technology. Her research focuses on how knowledge creation and diffusion catalyze economic growth and business longevity in technology-intensive industries. Over the past decade, in affiliation with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Competitive Semiconductor Manufacturing Center at U.C. Berkeley, she has concentrated on the global semiconductor industry's ability to achieve perpetual innovation in design, process integration, and manufacturing. Prof. Appleyard's work has been published in leading academic journals such as the California Management Review, Industrial Relations, the Journal of Product Innovation Management, and the Strategic Management Journal. She has worked with a variety of business organizations on research projects and has written or supervised over fifteen business cases for MBA and executive courses. She holds a B.A. in Economics/ International Area Studies from UCLA and a Ph.D. in Economics from U.C. Berkeley.

Dr. Abhijit (Jit) Banerjee of Oregon Health and Science University

Jit Banerjee joined OHSU in March 2008 as Director of Commercialization Strategies.

He previously provided services to large pharmaceutical and biotech companies as a consultant in the Strategy & Operations Group of Deloitte Consulting.

Dr. Banerjee received his PhD in Biochemistry from Indian Institute of Chemical Biology and did post doctoral work at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. He was a visiting lecturer at Imperial College, London for a year, and later worked as a research faculty at the Boston University School of Medicine. He is a recipient of the Joseph Shankman Award from the National Kidney Foundation for his research in the area of regulated secretion.

After about 12 years into his scientific career, Jit received an MBA from Suffolk University in Boston and joined the technology transfer office at Cornell University where he worked before joining Pfizer in their Strategic Alliance group. At Pfizer he was responsible for developing and negotiating strategic initiatives directed toward developing a new drug pipeline and partnering opportunities.

Dr. M. Patricia Beckmann, Executive Director of Oregon Translational Research & Drug Development Institute (OTRADI)

Prominent researcher M. Patricia Beckmann, Ph.D. with more than 25 years of experience leading biotechnology projects and companies was recently named the Executive Director of the Oregon Translational Research and Drug Development Institute (OTRADI), the state's effort to commercialize therapeutics to combat infectious and other diseases via a collaboration between Oregon universities and industry.

M. Patricia Beckmann, Ph.D., was most recently a Kauffman Fellow at the Accelerator Corporation in Seattle and a Venture Partner with Northwest Technology Ventures fund in Portland. Beckmann served as the Chief Scientific Officer for Homestead Clinical Corporation, an Accelerator-backed start-up focused on the development of diagnostic biomarkers for oncology and other disease indications. Before that, she was a biotechnology investment specialist for Vulcan Capital, the investment platform for Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen.

Dr. Beckmann spent the majority of her career at Immunex Corporation (now Amgen) in research, administration and law. She is a co-inventor of Amgen's blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug Enbrel, as well as several other drugs in clinical trials. She was awarded National Inventor of the Year in 2001 for her work discovering TNF receptor molecules which led to the development of Enbrel.

Beckmann holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Pharmacology. She pursued postdoctoral studies as a Fulbright Scholar at the Ludwig Institute in Uppsala, Sweden and at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD.

Ms. Dana Bostrom, Director of Innovation & Industry Alliances of Portland State University

Dana Bostrom is the Director of Innovation & Industry Alliances for Portland State University, and is the founder of PSU's efforts in innovation management. She holds masters degrees in communication and information science, and prior to engaging in innovation management, coached competitive intercollegiate speech and debate. She previously worked in innovation management and instruction at the University of Washington & the University of California, Berkeley. She previously served as Program Chair and Vice President for the Association of University Technology Managers.

Tom Bruggere, Founder of Mentor Graphics Corporaton

Tom Bruggere is the Founder and former Chairman/CEO of Mentor Graphics Corporation, a post he held from the time he founded the company in 1981 until his retirement in 1994. Since its inception, Mentor Graphics has pioneered advancements in the use of advanced computer software to automate the design, analysis and documentation of electronics. Prior to founding Mentor Graphics, Bruggere held management and engineering positions at Tektronix and Burroughs Corp.

Tom has been honored as U.S. Department of Commerce Small Business Person of the Year, Oregon Executive of the Year, Oregon High Technology Executive of the Year and one of the Electronic Industry's Top 10 CEOs. In 1996, he was the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from Oregon.

Tom was the founding Chairman of Stamps.com, the founding Chairman of Sensoria Corp., and has served on the Boards of biotech company Sirigen, internet commerce company Open Market, animation company Will Vinton Studios and other private companies. He is currently CEO of 13Therapeutics, a biotech spinout from the Oregon Health Sciences University.

Tom's non-profit service has included the Boards of the American Electronics Association, the Oregon Business Council, the Oregon Symphony, Oregon Public Broadcasting, the Portland Chamber of Commerce, and Reed College. He has been actively involved in public education in the State of Oregon having served on the Oregon State Board of Higher Education; Chairman of the Oregon Center for Advanced Technology Education; Chairman of the Oregon Joint Graduate Schools of Engineering; Chairman of the Ed-Net Board, a statewide telecommunications distance-learning network; and Chairman of the West Linn-Wilsonville School Board. He has been instrumental in the formation of the Mercy Corps Phoenix Fund which invests in emerging businesses in developing parts of the world.

Tom holds a BA degree in Mathematics from the University of California at Santa Barbara; a MS degree in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin; and a MBA degree from Pepperdine University. He served in combat with the First Infantry Division in Viet Nam.

Tom was born and raised in Berkeley, California and he currently resides in Wilsonville, Oregon.

Dr. Christopher Corless, Professor of Pathology of Oregon Health & Science University

www.ohsu.edu

Christopher Corless, M.D., Ph.D., is a Professor of Pathology at Oregon Health & Science University. He completed his medical and graduate school training at Washington University, St. Louis, and his residency in Anatomic Pathology at Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston. In addition to serving as Director of the Cancer Pathology Shared Resource for the OHSU Cancer Institute, Dr. Corless pursues research on immunohistochemical and molecular testing to novel therapeutic targets.

Dr. Daniel Dorsa, Vice President of Research of OHSU

www.ohsu.edu

Dr. Dorsa joined OHSU in 2001 as vice president of research. In this role, he administers and coordinates academic research at OHSU's three schools and helps develop the agenda for building OHSU's research capacity. He was recently appointed Senior Associate Dean for Research in the School of Medicine. As vice president for research, Dr. Dorsa oversees several NIH funded research entities including the Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute and the Oregon National Primate Research Center. In addition, he also serves as President of a newly funded partnership between OHSU and the State of Florida involving the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute. Dr. Dorsa also serves as the key interface between investigators and central administration and represents the interests of OHSU's research community at the highest level.

Dr. Dorsa has served on several editorial boards and is a member of several organizations including the Society for Neuroscience, the Endrocrine Society, and the Association of Academic Health Centers. He remains an active researcher in the neurosciences. He was a recipient of a distinguished investigator award from the National Association for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression and has published more than 150 scholarly articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Mr. David Eastman, Interim CEO & Head of Business Development of Yecuris

David Eastman is a interim CEO of Yecuris and head of business development. He is a marketing, communications and program management professional who specializes in go-to-market strategies and programs for medical device and high technology systems and software companies.
Eastman has a M.S. Degree from the U of O.

Dr. William Feyerherm, Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Studies of Portland State University

www.pdx.edu

William Feyerherm is Vice Provost for Research and Dean of Graduate Studies at Portland State University and directs the Office of Graduate Studies and the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects. The Graduate Office has oversight on over 50 Master and Ph.D. programs with over 5,000 graduate students. The Office of Research and Sponsored Projects provides oversight, regulatory assistance, and support for all funded research within PSU. Current projects generate over $30 million of research expenditures each year.

Dr. Feyerherm has published extensively on topics such as race and its impact on processing in the justice system. His recent research is in the areas of detention reform and over-representation of minorities in juvenile justice. He currently serves as a member of the Oregon Law Enforcement Contacts Policy and State Review Committee and is a consultant to Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention on disproportionate minority contact issues. In 2002 Dr. Feyerherm received the W.E.B. DuBois Award from the Western Society of Criminology for his contributions to racial and ethnic issues in criminology.

Dr. Markus Grompe, Director of Papé Family Pediatric Research Institute

Markus Grompe, M.D. is the Ray Hickey Chair and Director of the Papé Family Pediatric Research Institute at Oregon Health & Science University. He serves on the Board of Directors of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. Dr. Grompe's laboratory studies the human and molecular genetics of the cancer susceptibility syndrome and stem cell failure syndrome Fanconi's anemia. He also is an expert on hepatic stem cells, including their therapeutic uses and role in liver cancer. In 2007 Dr. Grompe founded Yecuris, a company focused on humanized mice for pharmaceutical research.

Dr. Tamara Hayes, Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering of Oregon Health & Science University

www.ohsu.edu/bme/people

Dr. Hayes received her M.A.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto in 1990, and her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh in 1994. After receiving her doctorate she worked at OHSU doing telemedicine research, developing a teledermatology system and doing outcomes research evaluating the use of the system to deliver tertiary dermatology care to rural Oregon. She then worked in industrial software development at Informix and IBM, both as an engineer and a senior manager. She returned to OHSU in 2002 as an Assistant Professor in the newly formed Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Dr. James Huntzicker, Head, Division of Management of OHSU School of Medicine

Dr. James J. Huntzicker is Head of the Division of Management in the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) School of Medicine. Dr. Huntzicker joined Oregon Graduate Center/Institute in 1974 and served in a number of capacities, including several department headships, provost, and acting president. He joined OHSU in 2001 when Oregon Graduate Institute became the OGI School of Science & Engineering at OHSU. In 2005 he became Head of the Department of Management in Science & Technology, which subsequently became the Division of Management in the OHSU School of Medicine. He has a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Michigan, a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California (Berkeley), and a Master of Management (International Masters for Health Leadership) from McGill University.

Marvin Kaiser, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences of Portland State University

Dr. Marvin A. Kaiser is Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Professor of Sociology at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. He serves as the lead for the Portland State University, National Science Foundation funded, Lab2Market Initiative and is the Executive Director of the Society for Values in Higher Education. He previously served as Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and as Director of the Center for Rural Initiatives and the Community Service Program at Kansas State University. Dr. Kaiser received his BA in Philosophy from Cardinal Glennon College, an M.S.W. from the University of Kansas and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He was the co-founder of the Oregon Community Service Commission and the Oregon Campus Compact. He co-chaired the Mayor's Vision PDX. In addition, he serves on the board of directors of, among others, Mary's Woods Retirement Community in Lake Oswego, Oregon Mentors, Young Audiences and Life by Design. From 1985 to 1988 Dr. Kaiser was a W.K. Kellogg National Fellow. As the author of numerous articles, book chapters and monographs, Dr. Kaiser has focused his scholarly efforts on domestic and international aging issues. He has also published in the area of community and service learning.

David Peyton, CSO of DesignMedix

David Peyton, CSO, is a Professor of Chemistry at PSU, where he has been since 1987. He has worked on many areas of research, from nuclear magnetic resonance methods development, to medicinal chemistry. His work on parasites began in about 1992, with NMR-based studies of antimalarial drug action. David obtained his BS from Abilene Christian University, his Ph.D from University of California, Santa Barbara and did postdoctoral work at Cornell University Medical College and University of California at Davis.

Mr. Arundeep Pradhan, Director of Technology & Research Collaborations of Oregon Health & Science University

Arundeep S. Pradhan serves as Oregon Health & Science University's Director of Technology & Research Collaborations. He is an active participant in initiatives to align the interests of universities, city and state constituencies through the Oregon Innovation Council, Oregon University System's Research Council and work groups with the Portland Development Commission and Oregon Economic & Community Development Department.

Among other things, Mr. Pradhan has been instrumental in developing and implementing several programs for seed research funding and business development at Oregon Health & Science University (Innovation and Seed Fund), Colorado State University Research Foundation (Springboard for University Entrepreneurs and the Commercialization Opportunity Fund) and University of Utah (Technology Innovation Grant).

Mr. Pradhan is currently on the Board of the Oregon Bioscience Association and is President of the Board of Trustees of the Association of University Technology Managers.

He was a founding Board member for the AUTM Foundation (2007) and served on the Managing Committee of the Colorado BioScience Association (2002-2004) as wellas the Board for the Western Institute for Biomedical Research (1997-1999).

Mr. Jack Raiton, Senior Fellow of OHSU School of Management

Jack Raiton is a Senior Fellow/Professor at OHSU's Division of Management teaching capstone (business plan/entrepreneurship), creativity, innovation, & commercialization courses. In 2005, Jack was named OGI's Teacher of the Year, by vote of the student body. In 2007, Jack received the OGI School of Science and Engineering's Faculty Significant Achievement in Innovation Award.

Jack served as Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of Planar Systems, Inc. and Smith's Home Furnishings and Corporate Controller of Tektronix.

Jack is active in the leadership of the American Electronics Association (AeA), having served as Vice-Chair and Chair of both the Finance and the Emerging Business Committees. Jack was also a Board Member and President of the Portland Chapter of Financial Executives, International (FEI). During Jack's FEI Presidency, the local chapter was runner-up for the Outstanding Chapter of the Year award. Jack is also active with the Oregon Entrepreneurial Network (OEN), having served twice on the Entrepreneur of the Year Committee. Jack is also a member of the Association for Corporate Growth. In 2006, Jack was one of the judges for Ernst &Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award and in 2007 and 2008, was a judge for the Portland Business Journal's CFO of the Year award.

Ms. Kristin Rencher, Associate Director of Technology & Research Collaborations of Oregon Health & Science University

Kristin Rencher is Associate Director of Technology & Research Collaborations (TRC) at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in Portland, Oregon. She is the former executive director of the national Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Association and has over twenty years of leadership, management and marketing experience.

In her role at OHSU Kristin coordinates the Innovation and Seed Fund, a suite of technology development and startup programs. She also manages faculty inventions and industry collaborations, primarily for the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, and coordinates marketing and communications for TRC. Kristin has been a driving force in the creation of OHSU's web-based technology marketing program, the OHSU Tech Portal. The program incorporates a unique database-to-web interface and is being adopted statewide by other universities and served as the genesis for the soon-to-debut Oregon Innovation Portal.

Kristin has a Bachelor of Science with majors in bioscience and music and Master in Business Administration with a focus on technology entrepreneurship and law. She is an active member of the Association of University Technology Managers and serves on its Board of Trustees as Vice-President for Communications.

Sandra Shotwell, VP, Business Development and IP of DesignMedix

Sandra Shotwell (VP, Bus Dev and IP) most recently has been a Managing Partner of Alta Biomedical Group, a consulting firm that handles projects in the commercialization of innovative technology. Sandra has over 20 years experience in technology commercialization at Stanford, NIH (where she founded and led the licensing program) and OHSU (where she was Director). She also is nationally recognized as an authority on the role of intellectual property in the development of neglected diseases. Global health clients include the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) and the Center for the Management of Intellectual Property in Health Research and Development (MIHR). Sandra did her undergraduate work at Princeton University, earned a Ph.D. in Biology from the California Institute of Technology, and did postdoctoral research at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Lynnor Stevenson, CEO of DesignMedix

Lynnor Stevenson (CEO) most recently been a Managing Partner of Alta Biomedical Group, a consulting firm that handles projects in the commercialization of innovative technology. Lynnor is a veteran of ten start-up companies, of which five are now public companies, and has thirty years experience in the formation and growth of bioscience companies based on university research. She was founding CEO for 5 years and a director for 18 years of Heska Corporation, an animal health company that develops drugs, vaccines and diagnostics including for parasites. She was a member of the early-stage teams for Creative BioMolecules (now Curis), AP Pharma, Agen and Univax (now Nabi). In addition to business and R&D experience relating to drugs, vaccines and diagnostics, she has experience in drug development at several companies including the submission of several IND (Investigational New Drug) applications to the FDA. She received B.Sc.Hon. and B.Ed. degrees from Melbourne University and a Ph.D in Biochemistry from Monash University, Australia.

Dr. J. Timothy Stout, Vice President, Commercialization Strategies of Oregon Health & Science University

Dr. Stout is the Vice President for the Commercialization Strategies program, which addresses OHSU's interest in translating its research into products that benefit human health. Dr Stout is also an associate professor of ophthalmology at OHSU's Casey Eye Institute, where he specializes in pediatric vitreoretinal diseases and surgery. As the Director of the Clayton Genetics Laboratory his research interests include novel therapies for proliferative and inherited ocular disease, retinal disease genotype-phenotype correlation and ocular disease gene mapping and discovery.

Dr. Kent Thornburg, Director of OHSU Heart Research Center

Kent L. Thornburg, PhD, is a medical scientist who is internationally known for his work on the roots of adult-onset heart disease. In 1994 he became the first director of Oregon Health and Science University's Heart Research Center. He holds the M. Lowell Edwards Endowed Chair in the Department of Medicine at OHSU and serves as Associate Chief for Research in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine. Dr. Thornburg is a Fellow of the American Physiological Society. He has received some 25 teaching awards at OHSU and was elected Outstanding Scientist of the Year in 2000 by the Oregon Academy of Science. Dr. Thornburg has served on numerous study sections and advisory boards at the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association and other international bodies. He is the Section Head for the Commission on Development for the International Union of Physiological Sciences.

The Thornburg laboratory studies pregnancy as well as embryonic and fetal heart development. He also leads clinical studies designed to determine the role of maternal development in regulating placental gene expression and fetal growth in women of Oregon. He spearheaded joint course in entrepreneurship for Ph.D. students in the School of Medicine and the University of Portland.