About the Advisory Committee
Benjamin R. Bowen, Ph.D, Managing Director, Investment Banking, Rodman & Renshaw, LLC
Dr. Bowen is a Managing Director in Rodman & Renshaw’s Investment Banking group, where he specializes in financing and advisory transactions for life science companies. Dr. Bowen’s previous experience includes a position as Director of Biological Sciences at Acumen Sciences, a retained advisory services firm focused on the life sciences industries, as well as 14 years in pharmaceutical research and research management at Genentech, CIBA-Geigy, and Novartis. Dr. Bowen holds a BA from Hamline University and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Howard Furst, MD, Partner, Deerfield Management
Howard Furst, MD, is currently a partner at Deerfield Management, a healthcare investment fund based in New York City. He is primarily responsible for overseeing the firm?s private investments, which may include typical venture investments, or structured investments in public companies. Prior to joining Deerfield, Dr. Furst was the portfolio manager for the healthcare group at Magnetar Capital. Prior to that he was a Principal at Maverick Capital where he was responsible for the management of biopharmaceutical investments in the public and private markets. Prior to joining Maverick in 2000, Dr. Furst was a Fellow in the University of Pennsylvania?s Renal, Electrolyte and Hypertension Division. Before being selected for this Fellowship, he was the Senior Chief Medical Resident at New York University. Dr. Furst received an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania with a dual major in Finance and Health Care Administration and an MD from the New York University School of Medicine. Dr. Furst received a BA from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Furst is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Coalition for the Homeless in New York.
John R. Leone, Partner, Paul Capital
Mr. Leone joined Paul Capital in 2007 with over 30 years of pharmaceutical industry experience. Most recently, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Cambrex Corporation, a leading life sciences company. Previously, Mr. Leone was at Aventis, where he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of US Commercial Operations. Among other initiatives, Mr. Leone spearheaded the successful integration of its predecessor companies, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer and Hoechst Marion Roussel, to form Aventis. His industry experience also includes both domestic and international executive management roles with Pfizer and Wyeth. Mr. Leone received his BS degree in Engineering from the US Military Academy at West Point and his MBA from the University of Colorado.
Graeme Martin, Ph.D, President and CEO, Takeda Research Investments, Inc.
Dr. Martin is President and CEO of TRI with day-to-day responsibility for operations. He brings more than 28 years of pharmaceutical R&D experience, primarily in multinational Pharmas (Wellcome; Glaxo Wellcome: Hoffman La Roche). He was responsible for the discovery and preclinical development of Zomig®, marketed worldwide for the acute treatment of migraine. More recently, Dr. Martin served as Chief Technical Officer at Telik Inc. with responsibility for technology and business development before establishing a Bay Area biopharmaceutical consulting operation, Discovery-Insight. Dr. Martin received his Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacology from the University of Bath, and his doctorate from University College, London, UK.
Evan McCulloch, CFA, Vice President and Portfolio Manager, Franklin Templeton Investments
Evan McCulloch is a vice president and portfolio manager for Franklin Advisers, Inc. Mr. McCulloch also specialises in research analysis of the health care industry; including pharmaceuticals, health care information systems/internet and health care providers.
Mr. McCulloch joined Franklin Templeton Investments in 1992 as a management trainee. He received a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and a member of the Association for Investment Management and Research (AIMR) and the Security Analysts of San Francisco (SAs/f).
Oleg Nodelman, Portfolio Manager, Biotechnology Value Fund, LP
Mr. Nodelman is a Portfolio Manager of the Biotechnology Value Fund, a biotech focused investment fund in San Francisco where he is responsible for evaluating investment opportunities, in-depth scientific due diligence and working with company management on strategic and financial matters. BVF was founded in 1993 and is focused on both public and private therapeutic discovery and development ventures. Mr. Nodelman has served on the Boards of several seed stage start-ups. Before joining BVF, Mr. Nodelman was a consultant with Mercer Management Consulting: a strategy firm. At Mercer, he worked with senior management from companies in a variety of industries to develop and implement long-term strategy and build shareholder value. Mr. Nodelman holds a Bachelor of Science in International Affairs and a minor in Science in Technology from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He was also the recipient of an honors certificate in International Business Diplomacy from the Landegger Program at Georgetown. Mr. Nodelman speaks fluent Russian, and conversational Spanish and French.
Heather Preston, MD, Managing Director, TPG Biotech
Prior to joining TPG Biotech in May 2005, Dr. Preston spent two years at JP Morgan Partners where she focused on medical device and biotechnology venture capital investing. Prior to JP Morgan Partners, Dr. Preston was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence with New Enterprise Associates. Dr. Preston has an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of London and a medical degree from the University of Oxford. After leaving Oxford, she completed a post-doctoral fellowship in molecular biology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard University. She completed her training in Internal Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital and then she sub-specialized in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at U.C.S.F. During her academic career, she was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship, a Fulbright Cancer Research Scholarship, a Harlech Scholarship and a Science and Engineering Research Council Post-doctoral Fellowship Award. After leaving academic medicine, she spent five years at McKinsey & Co. in New York, where she was a leader of their pharmaceutical and medical products consulting practice. She advised large pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies on critical strategic issues such as R&D portfolio prioritization, M&A opportunities, new technology acquisitions, new product launches and product growth strategies. Dr. Preston co-founded, and is the CEO of Virobay Inc., a biotechnology company which is seeking to develop new therapies for the treatment of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV). Dr. Preston serves on the boards of Albireo, Alder Biotherapeutics, Axcan Pharma, Virobay Inc. and VLST Inc.; and is an observer on the boards of Aerie Pharmaceuticals, FoldRx, Kémia and Macrogenics.
Bryan E. Roberts, Ph.D, Partner, Venrock
Dr. Roberts joined Venrock as a Kauffman Fellow in 1997. Previously, he earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry & Chemical Biology at Harvard University and, prior to his doctoral program, held corporate finance positions at Kidder, Peabody and Co. Dr. Roberts was named a Henry Crown Fellow by the Aspen Institute in 2006 and was the highest-ranking healthcare investor on Forbes’ Midas List in 2008 and 2009.
Mark Schoenebaum, MD, Managing Director and Senior Biotechnology Analyst, Deutsche Bank AG
Dr. Schoenbaum joined Deutsche Bank in June 2008 as a Managing Director and senior Biotechnology Analyst. Prior to DB, Mark held a similar position at Bear Stearns. Mark has ranked #1 in the Institutional Investor All America analyst survey for biotechnology in each of the past 4 years, enjoying over 30% market share in the last 2 surveys. In addition, Mark placed first in the highly regarded 2006, 2007, and 2008 Greenwich surveys. Mark holds an MD from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a BA (highest distinction) from Indiana University. In his free time, Mark enjoys playing the violin.
Chris Swindle, Managing Director, Life Sciences, Wedbush PacGrow Life Sciences
Mr. Swindle is a Managing Director in the Life Sciences group at Wedbush Pac Grow Life Sciences focusing on biotech and specialty pharmaceuticals. Chris has been actively involved in the Life Sciences sector for more than 10 years. Since joining Pacific Growth in 1999, Chris has advised clients in raising more than $4 billion dollars through public and private equity transactions and serving as a strategic advisor to clients in the biotech and specialty pharmaceutical sectors. Prior to joining Pacific Growth Equities, Chris worked at Jefferies & Company. Chris started his career with Leucadia National Corporation analyzing Russian investments in their Moscow, Russia office.
Paul A. Wagner, Ph.D, CFA, RCM Capital Management LLC
Dr. Wagner is a research analyst and a portfolio manager of the RCM Biotechnology and Wellness Funds. Paul joined RCM in 2006 from PDL BioPharma, where he worked in corporate and business development. Prior to PDL BioPharma, Paul was a vice president and senior equity research analyst in the biotechnology sector at Lehman Brothers, where he worked since 1999. Prior to Lehman Brothers, Paul held a position at the Wisconsin Biotechnology Center beginning in 1993. Paul has a PhD in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology and is a CFA charterholder.