Speaker Bios
Jocelyn Atkinson, Co-founder and Chief Strategist of Southern Growth Studiohttp://www.southerngrowthstudio.com/ Jocelyn is Co-founder and Chief Strategist of Southern Growth Studio. As the Manager of Innovation at FNC, Jocelyn helped lead the company into a new era of growth, turning complex product concepts into a matrix of marketable and profitable products noted for their distinctive branding and ease of use. Through her work in Strategic Planning at Turner Broadcasting, Jocelyn evaluated new technologies and market opportunities for the Time Warner family of companies. At the Southern Growth Studio, Jocelyn leads the insight-generating process for clients, the account management team, and Studio operations. Back To Top ^ |
Dr. Steven Bares, President and Executive Director of Memphis Bioworks Foundationhttp://www.memphisbioworks.org/ Steven J. Bares is President and Executive Director of the Memphis Bioworks Foundation, a broad-based public/private partnership focusing on the growth of biomedical research and commercialization of life science technologies. Dr. Bares specializes in growth business management, new product development and marketing and has led the development of more than 15 new technologies, from concept through the entire technology development cycle to the penetration of consumer and commercial markets.
Dr. Bares is Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center serving as the interim Director of the School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging.
Dr. Bares formed and serves as board chair for west Tennessee's first early-stage venture fund, Innova LLC that provides capital to technology-based companies that grow in the region. Bioworks currently operates the Bioworks incubator, TECworks, executive training and other services for early-stage companies.
Dr. Bares holds a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, a Masters of Business Administration (MBA), a B.Sc. in Chemistry. He has also authored nine patents, and has published numerous articles.
Dr. Bares is co-founder and board chairman of the Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering, a middle/high school for Memphis inner city children. Dr. Bares serves on the Boards of the Memphis Chamber, Agricenter International, the Memphis Medical Center Association, InMotion Orthopedic Research Institute and the Tennessee Charter School Association, a statewide implementer of new school initiatives in Tennessee.
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Tom Davis, President and CEO, Co-Founder of arGentisMr. Davis co-founded arGentis Pharmaceuticals, LLC in October 2005. Prior to founding arGentis, Mr. Davis spent 25 years in senior management positions within the healthcare services industry. From 2000 - 2005, Mr. Davis was Chief Executive Officer of BEP Services LP, an operator of 35 healthcare services businesses in 12 states. Prior to BEP, Mr. Davis spent seven years as Chief Operating Officer of ServiceMaster Diversified Healthcare Services, LP. Previously, Mr. Davis spent over 10 years as CEO of The Brian Center Corporation, a privately owned group of 60 companies including a multi-state nursing home operation, pharmacy services, and rehabilitation facilities which merged with Living Centers of America in 1995. Mr. Davis has served on numerous corporate, industry, and philanthropic boards. Mr. Davis holds a B.S. in Business Administration from East Carolina University and is a Certified Public Accountant. Back To Top ^ |
Marc Diaz, Founding Member of Mercury Technology Labs & Launch Memphishttp://www.mercurytechlabs.com/ Marc Diaz is a founding member of Mercury Technology Labs and Launch Memphis, a non-profit organization to support entrepreneurial action.
Marc is a frequent lecturer on entrepreneurship and innovation and has served as the Entrepreneur in Residence at the FedEx Institute of Technology located on the campus of the University of Memphis.
Marc has a B.B.A., M.S. in Electronic Commerce and a J.D. all from the University of Memphis. Back To Top ^ |  |
Leigh Anne Downes, Director of Life Science Business Development for the Greater Memphis Chamberhttp://www.memphischamber.com/ Leigh Anne is the Director of Life Science Business Development for the Greater Memphis Chamber. Joining the chamber in June of 2007, Leigh Anne is responsible for business recruitment, retention and expansion in all aspects of the life science industry. Prior to joining the chamber, Leigh Anne served as a Regulatory Associate with Smith & Nephew in the company's Trauma and Clinical Therapies Division. While at Smith & Nephew, Leigh Anne trained under the Regulatory Group Director in FDA submissions and compliance as well as facility registrations. Additionally, she trained under the Director of Clinical Therapies in investigator monitoring and contract management. Prior to joining the life science industry, Leigh Anne served four years under the Herenton administration as the Administrator of Real Estate Development and Finance for the city's Housing and Community Development Division. Leigh Anne brought to that role a twelve year working knowledge of developing various forms of commercial real estate and successful residential mortgage banking experience.
Leigh Anne recently completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Leadership with a concentration in Healthcare Management from Union University and in August 2010, Leigh Anne will begin her MBA with Union. Leigh Anne serves as part of the executive staff of the chamber as well as a member of the business continuity team. Additionally, Leigh Anne serves on the Board of Directors for the Tennessee Biotechnology Association and will serve as the TN BIO 2010 Program Chair. Leigh Anne is also a fall 2007 graduate of Leadership Memphis' Grassroots Program and volunteers her time with the Memphis City Schools Robotics Team for 2010.
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Michael Graber, Managing Partner and Executive Concept Director of Southern Growth Studiohttp://www.southerngrowthstudio.com/ Michael is Managing Partner and Executive Concept Director of Southern Growth Studio and has more than fifteen years of experience leading marketing and innovation efforts. He previously founded Johnson|Graber, a successful interactive marketing firm that was acquired by the Memphis firm, Lokion, in 2004. On the client side, Michael served as the Director of Marketing at FNC, Inc. He has consistently produced award-winning, results-earning work for clients such as Fine Living, Viking Range, FedEx, International Paper, the Memphis Grizzlies, and many others. Michael speaks and publishes frequently on best practices in marketing, business strategy, and innovation. Back To Top ^ |
Bryan Jones, Associate of , Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell, and Berkowitz, PC http://www.bakerdonelson.com/ Bryan Jones is an associate with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell, and Berkowitz, PC, concentrating his practice in intellectual property matters. He has advised clients in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, polymer and metallurgy industries on matters involving patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets.
Prior to joining Baker Donelson, Mr. Jones was an extern for the Honorable Charles R. Norgle Sr. in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and was an intern with Liu, Shen and Associates, a private intellectual property firm in Beijing, China.
Before becoming a lawyer, Mr. Jones worked as a research technician in Dr. Matthew Fenton's lab at Boston University School of Medicine and in Dr. William Klein's lab at Northwestern University, where contributed to seven peer-reviewed scientific research articles in the areas of innate immunity and Alzheimer's disease.
Mr. Jones has a B.S. in Molecular Genetics from The Ohio State University, an M.S. in Neurobiology and Physiology from Northwestern University, and a J.D. from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago. Back To Top ^ |
Dr. Brian Laden, co-founder of TriStar Technology VenturesDr. Laden is a co-founder of TriStar Technology Ventures, an early stage venture fund that focuses on forming and investing in companies in the area broadly defined as "Healthcare Innovation": biotech, pharmaceuticals, personalized medicine, medical devices, healthcare IT and healthcare services. Prior to the founding of TriStar, Dr. Laden served as the Assistant Director in the Office of Technology Transfer and Enterprise Development at Vanderbilt University. That role involved leading various technology transfer functions for Vanderbilt, which included identifying, protecting, marketing, and licensing promising new technologies to companies of all stages and sizes as well as developing collaborative, sponsored R&D and material transfer relationships with industry. Dr. Laden has executed over 50 exclusive and non-exclusive licensing deals for more than $7 million in cash and $110 million in milestones. He has also participated in management of the office's venture investment and company formation activities. Since beginning as the Chancellor Fund in 2000, Vanderbilt has invested a substantial amount of capital into 30 different Vanderbilt-related companies. In his role at Vanderbilt he worked closely with researchers, administrators, legal counsel, investors and company partners in forming and nurturing long-term commercial relationships. Dr. Laden's technology portfolio at Vanderbilt was focused primarily on biotech and pharmaceutical innovations. He is also active in the Association of University Technology Managers, currently serving as a Vice President on the 2009 Board of Trustees.
Before moving into technology transfer, he was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biochemistry at Vanderbilt, where his work focused on structure-function studies of the cytochromes P450. Dr. Laden holds a doctorate in Toxicology from the University of Kentucky, a master's degree in Environmental and Industrial Health from the University of Michigan, and an undergraduate degree in biology from Penn State University.
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Eric Mathews, Founding Member of Mercury Technology Labs & Launch Memphishttp://www.mercurytechlabs.com/ Eric Mathews is a founding member of Mercury Technology labs and Launch Memphis. He is a devoted community member with interests in changing entrepreneurship and community engagement in the Mid-South area.
Eric was formerly the Associate Director of Corporate Research and Development at the FedEx Institute of Technology. There he grew research programs and lead economic development activities including growing strategic business relationships with Fortune 500 companies.
Prior to these efforts, he founded and/or directed academic technology research labs that worked on healthcare technologies, sustainable building and artificial intelligence.
Eric has a B.S. in Chemistry from Rhodes College, and an M.S. in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Memphis. Eric also serves on the Rhodes College Leadership Council and the St. Benedict at Auburndale School Board. Back To Top ^ |  |
Dr. Ronald Morton, Jr., Vice President, Chief Medical Officer of GTx, Inc.www.gtxinc.com Dr. Morton received his bachelor's and medical degrees from Johns Hopkins University and completed his urology training and fellowship at the Brady Urological Institute. Morton then served as Clinical Director of the Baylor Adult Urology Program and as Chief of Urology at the Houston VA Medical Center.
Before moving to Memphis, Morton served as Professor of Surgery, Chief of Urology and Director of Urological Oncology for the Cancer Institute of New Jersey at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He also held the Conzen Chair for Clinical Research and directed the New Jersey Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences. Dr. Morton joined GTx, Inc. in 2007 as Vice President and Chief Medical Officer.
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Dan Ryan, Senior Consultant of The Human Capital Group, Inc.http://danryansview.com In his role as a Senior Consultant, Dan provides retained search for clients. He also provides leadership consulting in both the domestic and international markets, with executive coaching, organizational development, organizational assessment, and 360 degree feedback serving as key focus areas of his work. He focuses on market segments such as facility design and construction, sustainability, technology, healthcare and life sciences.
Dan has earned a MEd from Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, an MBA from Tennessee State University, and a BS in Engineering Physics from Murray State University. He has also served as an adjunct faculty member for Belmont University.
Dan is a member of the Tennessee Biotechnology Association and is also a board member of the Middle Tennessee Workforce Investment Board, serving as a committee chair in several workforce initiatives. He is also a member of Technology 2020.
Dan speaks frequently to a wide range of groups on topics relating to Human Capital Management, leadership development and social networks & social media.
Dan is a graduate and board member of Leadership Middle Tennessee, an officer of the Franklin Breakfast Rotary Club (Paul Harris Fellow), a board member of Franklin Tomorrow and a District Committee Member for the Boy Scouts of America.
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Eric Satz, Principal of Tennessee Community Ventures Fundhttp://www.venturenashville.com/index.php For the past 18 years, Eric has been an investment banker and entrepreneur and has significant experience raising capital and creating companies.
He began as an analyst with DLJ before moving to UBS where he worked as principal and advisor in out-of-court restructurings, pre-packaged bankruptcies and Chapter 11 proceedings. He later returned to DLJ to help lead their start-up Internet Investment Banking effort.
In 1999, Eric co-founded Currenex, the leading online global foreign currency exchange. He raised $1M of seed money and engineered the acquisition of an existing trading platform before assisting the company in raising an additional $50M of venture funding. Currenex was later sold to State Street, returning almost 10x invested capital.
In 2003, Eric co-founded Plumgood Food, an online grocery and home delivery business. He raised approximately $7 million and built one of the most recognizable new brands in the greater Nashville area.
Eric received his B.A. in Economics from Amherst College in 1991.
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Christine Scifert, Managing Partner of Memphis Regulatory Consulting, LLChttp://www.memphisregulatory.com/ Prior to consulting, Christine spent 9 years at Medtronic Spinal and Biologics directing the regulatory department of 22 people. As Senior Director of the group, she set regulatory strategy, oversaw global submissions, developed a design control process, interfaced with FDA and notified bodies, oversaw modification and implementation of procedures to maintain regulatory compliance and performed due diligence activities for potential acquisitions. Prior to Medtronic, she performed evaluations of injury mechanisms associated with automobile collisions, slip and falls, and sport/recreation accidents.
Christine received a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Hamline University and a Masters of Science in Biomedical Engineering from University of Iowa. She also completed a Masters in Engineering Management from Christian Brothers University.
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Gwin C. Scott, President of EmergeMemphisGwin Scott is currently President and Board Member of EmergeMemphis, www.emergememphis.org a business and technology accelerator whose purpose is to help startups and early stage high growth companies with the resources they need to become self-sustaining and successful. An entrepreneurial culture is the lifeblood of building a vibrant community, and EM works to make an impact with those folks with the best ideas and abilities to execute on them. EM has 26 portfolio companies comprised of various technology, service, and consumer product organizations. EM offers strategic insights to these companies to the CEO's of each company, as well as sectors within management, operations, P-L and all financials, HR, PR, company recruitment, sales and marketing, and investment/angel/vc areas.
Scott previously served as President/Founder of Uvision Media, a roll-up entity of Uvision, Inc, which is a full service technology solutions provider that focuses on streaming video and audio, webcasting for internal communications, interactive dvd production, and development of group collaboration tools.
Mr. Scott's prior experience and background has been heavily weighted in Sales & Marketing and Business & Strategic Development within the media, high-tech, and international sectors over the last 17 years. Before joining Uvision Media, Mr. Scott was Director of Sales for Williams Communications/Wiltel, the largest, fully lit, next generation fiber optic network in the US that delivers broadband network services. www.wiltel.com. Williams acquired iBeam Broadcasting, the leading streaming media network and CDN provider.
Before joining iBEAM, Mr. Scott worked at Turner Broadcasting/Time Warner for 10 years. www.timewarner.com During this time, he served in various roles associated with the sales, business development, and distribution of Turner's many cable networks including CNN, CNNSportsIllustrated, Headline News, TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, Turner Classic Movies, Airport Channel, Checkout Channel, and CNNFinancial
For 3 years, he was Vice President Sales - Asia Pacific for Turner International, based in Sydney, Australia, where he had P-L/revenue responsibilities of $12,000,000 for all SE Asia countries.
Mr. Scott received a BA in Marketing at the University of Mississippi where he was a member of the varsity tennis team.
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Brad Silver, Chief Executive Officer of Computable Genomixwww.computablegenomix.com From Senate Aid to international marketer to technology developer, Brad has enjoyed a multi-dimensional career. Always a pioneer, he has been able to open markets, create products, establish manufacturing operations, and drive business strategies.
Brad started his career in Washington, DC as an aide to a U.S. Senator. He then migrated into the business world as the Europe, Africa, and Middle East manager for Chicago-based MacLean Power Systems. Brad moved to Memphis to join global manufacturer Thomas & Betts where he held a number of leadership positions before taking the leap to the start-up world.
As VP and General Manager of Snowflake Technologies, Brad guided the company through funding and managed all aspects of the business including technology and product development.
Brad now works with a remarkable team at Computable Genomix, supplying genetic researchers with next generation text mining tools and speeding the path to discovery.
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Dr. Mitchell Steiner, CEO & Vice Chairman of Board of Directors of GTx, Inc.http://www.gtxinc.com/ Mitchell S. Steiner, M.D., F.A.C.S. founded GTx, Inc. in September 1997 in Memphis, Tennessee. GTx became a public biotech company in 2004 (NASDAQ:GTXI). GTx currently has 173 employees. The GTx research facility is located in the Van Vleet Building on 3N Dunlap Street and the corporate offices are at the Toyota Center next to Autozone Park. Dr. Steiner is the Vice Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Scientific Officer of the company.
He received his BA in Molecular Biology from Vanderbilt University in 1982 and an M.D. from The University of Tennessee, Memphis in 1986. He trained in Surgery, Urology and Molecular Biology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 1986 - 1992. He did a Molecular Biology Postdoctoral Fellowship as an American Foundation for Urologic Disease Scholar from 1993 - 1995 and was Assistant Professor of Urology, Cell Biology, and Pathology at the Vanderbilt School of Medicine. He has served as the Chairman and Professor of the Department of Urology, Professor of Pharmacology, Director of Urologic Oncology and Research, Chair of Excellence in Urologic Oncology, at The University of Tennessee, Memphis, 1995 - 2003. Dr. Steiner is Board Certified in Urology and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
Dr. Steiner is a member of the Endocrine Society, American Society of Clinical Oncologists, American Association for Cancer Research, American Urological Society, Society for Basic Urology Research, Society for Urologic Oncology, and other prestigious societies. Dr. Steiner has conducted independent laboratory cancer research since 1980 and has been a recipient of numerous NIH RO1s, Department of Defense, and CaP CURE Grants. He was a member of the Cancer Leukemia Group B Intergroup study section. He served as a member of the editorial Board of Gene Therapy and Molecular Biology Journal, Editor-in-Chief of the World Journal of Urology, Section Editor of Prostate Cancer section of Current Opinions in Urology and was a member of the NIH, NCI, American Foundation for Urologic Disease, and American Cancer Society study sections. Dr. Steiner has authored over 300 abstracts and publications. He has over 300 issued, allowed or pending patents Back To Top ^ |  |
Ken Woody, President of Innovahttp://www.innovamemphis.com/ Ken has enjoyed great success as an Army Officer, a Fortune 500 Executive and a Venture Capitalist. He has successfully owned and operated his own businesses and managed multi-billion dollar global enterprises.
Ken worked for GE for over 16 years, serving as a VP and General Manager in their Healthcare and Capital businesses. He served as VP of Sales for DePuy Spine in Boston, before moving his family to the Memphis area. Ken was Senior Vice-President for Global Sales with Smith and Nephew Orthopedics.
He has worked extensively in the Mergers and Acquisitions side of BioTech, Medical Device and IT businesses. Ken owned a Consulting Company helping business leaders of large and small companies dramatically improve their business. He has a passion for helping start-up businesses achieve success.
As President of Innova, a Venture Capital firm in Memphis, Ken leads a dedicated staff focused on finding, funding and growing start-up technology businesses in the Greater Memphis area to help them achieve commercial success.
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