Kathryn Burrer Hyer
Howard Cooper
Brian Frizzell
Troy Groetken
Laura Hollis
Jim Keating
Dr. Paul Keough
Dr. Ronald Kirschner
Caralynn Nowinski-Chenoweth
Henry Sanders, Jr.
Mary Secor
Alan Singleton
Harlee Sorkin
John Steck

Speaker Bios

Kathryn Burrer Hyer, Director of IllinoisVENTURES of IllinoisVENTURES

http://www.illinoisventures.com

Kathryn Hyer is a Director of IllinoisVENTURES and a Partner of the Illinois Emerging Technologies Fund, and is focused on the Life Sciences. Ms. Hyer spent fourteen years in investment banking, most recently as the founder and head of the Health Care Corporate Finance Group at EVEREN Securities, now Wachovia, covering a range of health care sectors, including services, drug delivery, medical device, therapeutics, and diagnostics across a range of size and stage of companies. Following her career in investment banking, Ms. Hyer served as the Chief Financial and Administration Officer for Quark Biotech (now Quark Pharma), a venture funded Israeli company backed by Larry Ellison. Ms. Hyer served on the board of Zevex International, Inc., a publicly-held medical device company, from December 2000 to December 2002, and served as Chair of the Audit Committee. In 2001, Ms. Hyer advised and served on the board of Advanced Life Sciences, a Chicago based biotechnology firm (now public), and advised Ridgeway Biosystems, a Cleveland Clinic Foundation spin-off focusing on RNAi. Ms. Hyer also dedicated two years to public service as the Chief Financial Officer of the City of Cleveland in 1994 -1996. Most recently, Ms. Hyer has driven the formation and development of ToleroGenics, Inc., Opticlot, Inc., and SteadySleep Rx Co., and serves on the Boards of all three. She is also an Observer on the Boards of Caden Biosciences, Inc. and Chromatin, Inc. and has collaborated on coverage of several other investments. Ms. Hyer graduated magna cum laude from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan and Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, in Cleveland, Ohio. Ms. Hyer now serves on the Cleveland-Marshall National Advisory Council.

Howard Cooper, Senior Regulatory Consultant of Strategic Regulatory Consulting

http://www.srcteam.com/index.html

Mr. Cooper has over 30 years of Quality and Regulatory Affairs experience in the Pharmaceutical, Biological, & Medical Device industries. His expertise includes directing quality activities, implementing Quality Systems "from scratch" for incubator, startup, and larger corporate clients, and auditing manufacturing operations to achieve compliance and effectiveness. His successful application of quality principles has resulted in a very unique and comprehensive approach to organizing, remediating, and improving quality systems to assure compliance with GMP and QSR regulations. This has resulted in the ability to assess situations quickly and to identify cost-effective plans to address any potential issues. Key features of the SRC approach is to assure company personnel are trained, and that Standard Operating Procedures are in place to assure Quality implementation in a cost-effective and ongoing manner.

Mr. Cooper has a B.S. in Biology/Chemistry. He is a Certified Biomedical Auditor (CBA), Quality Manager (CQM), and Certified Quality Auditor (CQA). He is a member of AAMI, ASQ, MWSQ, and PDA & SQA, and is well known for his corporate training and presentations at professional organizations.

Brian Frizzell, Associate Principal of Charles River Associates (CRA)

http://www.crai.com/

Brian T. Frizzell is an Associate Principal at Charles River Associates (CRA), an international management consulting firm. Mr. Frizzell's experience includes valuation of patents, trade secrets, trademarks, software, and ongoing and startup businesses. His experience spans across multiple industries, including software, telecommunications, telematics, consumer products, medical devices, financial markets, energy, utilities, and media. He has valued large patent portfolios as part of bankruptcy proceedings, examined IP landscapes in the context of making strategic business decisions, negotiated license agreements, and valued individual patents for sale or donation. Mr. Frizzell also consults in financial services where he has examined complex structured finance transactions, modeled portfolio returns, and developed sophisticated valuation models. Mr. Frizzell holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University. Mr. Frizzell is a Chartered Financial Analyst ("CFA") and a Certified Fraud Examiner ("CFE"). He has guest lectured on the topic of patent damages at both the University of Illinois School of Law and DePaul Law School.

Troy Groetken of McAndrews, Held & Malloy

http://www.mhmlaw.com

Troy Groetken is a Shareholder with McAndrews, Held & Malloy.

Troy is also a consultant clinical pharmacist.

As a registered patent practitioner, Troy regularly counsels international and Fortune 100 and 500 clients regarding advanced patent prosecution, licensing, complex transactional issues, and global portfolio management matters involving chemical, pharmaceutical and biotechnological matters ranging from new drug (small-molecule, recombinant, combinational technologies, etc.) entities, surfactant technologies, agricultural compositions, gellants, polyols, lubricants, coatings, laundry and cleaning products, pharmaceutical supplements, personal care and cosmetic formulations, alternative fuels, and renewable energies.

Prior to practicing patent law, Troy has worked as a clinical consultant pharmacist, supervised drug research programs, evaluated drug management protocols, and performed drug treatment trials on behalf of the FDA.

Troy is a member of the Illinois and Iowa State Bar Associations, member of the Federal Circuit Bar Association, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, American Bar Association, American Chemical Society, American Pharmaceutical Association, and Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago. Troy is also the past-President and current Vice-President/Board Member to the Association of Patent Law Firms. Troy has presented regularly, domestically and internationally, on a variety of intellectual topics at intellectual property minded organizations, corporate entities, and law schools. Troy was recently selected as a "Rising Star" by the Illinois Super Lawyers independent survey for 2008.

Laura Hollis, Clinical Professor of Business Administration, College of Business & Adjunct Lecturer, IESE & TEC of The University of IL

Laura Hollis, Clinical Professor of Business Administration, College of Business & Adjunct Lecturer, IESE & TEC of The University of IL A native of Champaign, Illinois, Professor Hollis received both her bachelor's degree in English and her law degree from the University of Notre Dame. Immediately following her graduation from law school, she practiced law with Meyer Capel Law Offices in Champaign, Illinois, concentrating on general litigation and corporate intellectual property. Thereafter she served as General Counsel and Director of International Affairs for Copyright Management, Inc. in Nashville, Tennessee.

Professor Hollis spent nine years teaching law, first as a tenured Associate Professor of Law at the University of Detroit Mercy, and thereafter as a Visiting Professor of Law at Michigan State University. Over the course of her academic career at those two institutions, she taught Corporate Law, the Law of Agency and Partnership, Civil Procedure, Federal Jurisdiction and Law and Literature. In addition to her legal publications in the Temple Law Review, Cardozo Law Review and the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy, Ms. Hollis was a freelance writer for The Detroit News and HOUR Detroit Magazine, and a frequent public speaker and communications consultant in the Detroit area.

Professor Hollis came to the University of Illinois in 2000. From 2000 - 2005, she served as Program Director for Network Coordination and Marketing for the Technology Entrepreneur Center, during which time she helped build TEC's entrepreneurial curriculum and outreach programs. She was also instrumental in the creation and development of the University's i-emerging technology showcases on the Urbana and Chicago campuses in 2001 and 2002. In 2005, she was hired by the College of Business to be Associate Director of the new Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership, a center created by a multi-million dollar grant from the Kauffman Foundation to encourage entrepreneurial awareness, course, and program development across the entire Urbana-Champaign campus. In 2008, she was appointed Clinical Professor of Business Administration in the College of Business, where her emphases are entrepreneurship and public policy

Ms. Hollis has received several awards for her teaching, including twice being selected as Professor of the Year at the University of Detroit Mercy, being honored by the student Moot Court organization for Outstanding Faculty Contribution, and receiving the James E. Barnes Award for Outstanding Faculty Scholarship at that institution. Most recently, Ms. Hollis received the 2005 Gamma Epsilon Award for Excellence in Teaching in the department of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering (formerly General Engineering) here at the University of Illinois.

Jim Keating, Associate of IllinoisVENTURES

http://www.illinoisventures.com/

Jim Keating is an Associate at IllinoisVENTURES primarily focused on the physical sciences. He brings a combination of chemistry and materials science expertise to the firm. He assists the firm in assessing new investment opportunities as well as managing existing portfolio companies. Prior to IllinoisVENTURES, Jim was an Analytical Chemist at Abbott Laboratories, working extensively with R&D and new product development. From there he served as an Analytical Consultant to a trust management partnership contributing grant monies for cancer research to worldwide organizations. Jim then joined a start-up consulting firm providing design and analysis services for companies looking to bring the latest technology into their design and manufacturing processes. Jim holds dual bachelor's degrees in Biology and Chemistry from Valparaiso University, an MS in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Texas, and an MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Paul Keough , Founder and President of Turnkeough Corporation

www.turnkeough.biz

Paul Keough is the Founder and President of Turnkeough Corporation, a consulting firm that serves the biotechnology sector with strategic advice, financial analysis, and fundraising efforts. Paul has a Doctorate of Philosophy in Biochemistry at Northwestern University and a Masters of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. Dr. Keough began his career by founding a medical consulting firm, then sold it when he was recruited to Wall Street to work as a sell-side equity research analyst at First Union Securities (acquired by Wachovia and now Wells Fargo). Paul then served at the University of Michigan on the Wolverine Venture Fund performing due diligence on privately held life science companies as well as consulting to several startups through TechStart at the Office of Tech Transfer. After business school, Dr. Keough joined Lehman Brothers (now Barclay's), then Wells Fargo Securities (now defunct), and Susquehanna Financial Group (exited healthcare coverage) all in the capacity of sell-side equity research analyst covering the biotechnology and specialty pharmaceuticals industries. Subsequent to his Wall Street experience, Paul now enjoys advising biotechnology companies.

Dr. Ronald Kirschner, President of Heartland Angels, Inc

http://www.heartlandangels.com/

Dr. Kirschner has a broad background in healthcare, start-ups and private equity. Dr. Kirschner practiced medicine for 23 years and anesthesia for 17 of those years. He taught at Illinois Masonic Medical Center and was an Assistant Professor at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. He was President of Irving Park Chapter of the Chicago Medical Society.

While practicing medicine, he started 3 companies of his own in the healthcare field dealing with Nutrition, Managed Care, and Utilization Review. He has been a consultant on healthcare issues to the State government and on funding and market strategies to both entrepreneurs and early stage companies. He was the VP of Technology Development for CDIB Biotech, Inc., a Midwest Biotechnology Venture Fund (started by China Industrial Industrial Bank) where his roles was to assist in the discovery and funding of early stage biotechnology in the Midwest and Canada. He was principal in the funding decisions concerning, among others, Aegera Therapeutics, Immunicon, and VitaGen (now Vital Therapies, Inc.). He was active in advising local companies, e.g., Neuronautics, on options relating to funding opportunities and was involved with the Board of Directors for Phytoceutica.

Dr. Kirschner received his BA from Beloit College and was awarded his Medical Degree from St. Louis University. He has completed residencies in Emergency Medicine at the University of Chicago and in Anesthesia at West Virginia University. He received his MBA in Finance from DePaul University.

Caralynn Nowinski-Chenoweth, Associate of Midwest Venture Partners and ARCH Development Partners

http://www.midwestvp.com/

Caralynn Nowinski-Chenoweth, M.D., is an Associate with Midwest Venture Partners and ARCH Development Partners, where she plays an active role in the investment process, working with early-stage, technology-focused portfolio companies. While pursuing a joint MD/MBA at the University of Illinois at Chicago, she co-founded SanoGene Therapeutics, an early-stage biotechnology spin-out, and currently serves as the company's President and Acting CEO. Under her leadership, SanoGene received a strategic equity investment, was recognized as the winner of seven business plan competitions, and has been featured in Business Week Chicago, the Chicago Tribune and the New York Times. Her research in cognitive neuroscience has led to several published journal articles and book chapters. Caralynn was recently named to Crain's Chicago Business 2008 "Forty Under Forty" List.

Henry Sanders, Jr., Owner of Capacity-360

http://www.spiritofmadison.com/

HENRY SANDERS, JR.'s diverse background and career have led to success for Capacity-360, a company specializing in helping small and mid size bio-tech companies build capacity through government funding, political auditing, and business strategy. His entrepreneurial spirit and business knowledge have advantageously positioned Capacity-360 to address the specific biotech industries' challenges and opportunities for growth and success. Capacity-360's measurable success includes an average government appropriations rate of return for biotech clients of 13.4 times the investment. Henry leverages his expertise and contacts from the public, private and non-profit sectors to effectively and efficiently develop strategies for growth; whether it's additional government funding for the bottom line or more public awareness for a specific product or industry.
Henry is the founder and president of the Madison Area Growth Network (MAGNET), which works to attract and retain skilled young professionals in the Madison area. He served as Vice President of Economic Development and Public Policy at the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce, where he built that organization's public policy department and started its Small Business Advisory Council. He has launched two of his own companies; Capacity-360 and Talent-360, a human capital initiative; in the last two years and is in the works to launch two more companies in early 2009.
He graduated from UW-Whitewater; where he obtained a degree in Political Science. He has worked for the City of Madison and U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, serving as an outreach coordinator on labor, education and environmental issues. He subsequently worked as a community relations officer at the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA).
Henry was recently appointed by the Governor to the Wisconsin Council on Workforce Development. He currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Wisconsin Black Caucus. He also serves on the Regional Economic Development Collaboration Council and the UW-Whitewater Alumni Board.

Mary Secor, Program Coordinator for Outreach of National Collegiate Inventors & Innovators Alliance (NCIIA)

http://www.nciia.org/

Mary Secor is the Program Coordinator for Outreach at the National Collegiate Inventors & Innovators Alliance (NCIIA). She is responsible for the development and implementation of entrepreneur education programs, such as the national Invention to Venture (I2V) workshops. Ms. Secor also works with NCIIA members and strategic partners to promote invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship in higher education Mary Secor has over nineteen years of experience in higher education as an educator, advisor, program director, administrator, and consultant and has presented at national conferences on topics related to student learning, retention, engagement and performance.

Alan Singleton, Attorney of Singleton Law Firm

http://www.singleton.law.pro/

Alan Singleton provides legal services to business clients in the areas of corporate formation and transactions, intellectual property, securities law, and real estate. He has over 17 years of experience working with entrepreneurs to develop solutions to the wide variety of business and legal issues they face in establishing and growing their companies. Through his commitment to serving the needs of clients beginning with the selection of an appropriate business entity and continuing throughout their stages of development, Alan has established a reputation as one of the leading advocates for technology transfer and early stage companies in East Central Illinois. In recognition of his work, Alan was selected by the University of Illinois and the Champaign County EDC as the 2008 recipient of the Entrepreneurial Advocacy Award.

Alan has worked with clients to form limited liability companies, subchapter S corporations, subchapter C corporations, professional corporations, and not-for-profit corporations, including publicly supported organizations and private foundations. After formation, Alan regularly advises clients on issues including raising capital, securities compliance, taxation and implementing stock option plans. He has also assisted clients with mergers and acquisitions, asset sales, recapitalizations and real estate matters, including purchases and sales, leases, installment contracts, like kind exchanges, and zoning and land use issues.

A member of the patent bar, Alan has represented clients in patent prosecution, trademark registration and negotiation of licenses and joint development agreements. He is familiar with the University of Illinois policies on technology transfer and has assisted with licensure of University technology on numerous occasions.

Alan is active in both the business and educational communities. He has served on the Advisory Councils of numerous technology companies and served on the list of advisors at the Illinois Technology Center. He is a member of the business plan review group Second Saturday and has served as a judge for the V. Dale Cozad Business Plan Competition and the Innovation Teams Entrepreneurship Competition.

While maintaining an adjunct faculty appointment with the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Alan has given guest lectures for the University of Illinois MBA course on technology commercialization, the senior Capstone Design Course in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, the Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership Idea to Enterprise Workshop, the Technology Entrepreneur Center Advanced Invention to Venture workshop and for medical residency programs throughout the state.

Alan earned a bachelor of science degree in Geology from the University of Illinois in 1988 and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1991. Following law school and prior to founding Singleton Law Firm, P.C., he practiced with the Urbana law firm Webber & Thies, P.C. as an associate and then shareholder.

Harlee Sorkin, Founder and Principal of Mentor Management, LLC

Founder and Principal of Mentor Management, LLC, a firm that provides management consulting services to early stage businesses that have demonstrated the potential for superior growth and profitability. With a focus on business development, marketing and sales, Mentor Management empowers highly skilled managers to take their businesses to higher levels.

Prior to his current role, Harlee spent seven years in a variety of roles with Traco Labs, Inc. which was a leading supplier of ingredients to the nutritional & pharmaceutical industries. Harlee started in product development where he holds two patents relating to the use of nutritional lipids to help control cholesterol levels. He moved on to become Vice President of Marketing & Sales, and later fulfilled an executive role as Chief Operating Officer. In addition to helping capitalize the growth of the business, Harlee eventually worked on the sale of the business to Munich, Germany-based Degussa AG (then SKW Chemicals), which served as the platform for their Bioactive business unit.

Harlee has held Board seats at various early-stage businesses and financial institutions, including VasSol, Inc., a Chicago based biomedical technology company, Main Street Bank & Trust, Inc., a leading downstate Illinois financial services institution, and Mobitrac, Inc., a GPS-based mobile resource management service. He is currently a Director at Busey Wealth Management, Inc. (Nasdaq:BUSE), a fiduciary trust company with $3.5 Billion under management. Harlee speaks regularly on a variety of topics related to entrepreneurship. Also active in his community, Harlee has served Board roles with a business development fund, private schools and fitness clubs.

Harlee is a graduate of the University of Illinois with a degree in Psychology, and two years of clinical experience in Neuropsychology.

John Steck, Senior Engineering Specialist of Baxter Healthcare in the Applied Science and Technology, Disposables Engineering Group

http://www.baxter.com/

John Steck is an innovative hands-on product development engineer with a passion for leading teams on business critical programs. He brings a structured cross functional approach to product development by blending marketing, industrial design, research, engineering, manufacturing, quality, and business goal considerations into all aspects of championing a program.

John has broad experience in every product development role from engineering sales to executive management across a broad range of industries giving him the needed insights to successfully operate in whatever capacity is needed on any given program. John is a seasoned plastics design and manufacturing subject matter expert with solid direct experience in other engineering disciplines, materials, and manufacturing processes. He specializes in developing and launching high volume plastic injection molded class I and class II medical devices, consumer goods, and disposable product lines.

John is a Graduate of NIU with a BS in Technology. He holds a Masters Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University, and has earned a Six Sigma Green Belt from Motorola. John is a named inventor on 7 design and utility patents with an additional 3 utility applications still pending. He has over 18 years of product development experience in medical devices, small engine power tools, consumer electronics, injection mold tooling, commercial & industrial products, merchandising systems, and prototyping technologies.

John is currently a Senior Engineering Specialist for Baxter Healthcare in the Applied Science and Technology, Disposables Engineering Group. He operates as a R&D Project Leader executing and managing programs with the framework of Design for Six Sigma, DMAIC structured problem solving, and gated Product Development Process. John works at the Round Lake, IL campus and has been with Baxter since 2005. He can be contacted by email at johnsteck@hotmail.com