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| Keynote
Speaker |
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Alan Levy, Ph.D, President and CEO, Northstar Neuroscience
Dr. Levy brings more than 30 years of experience in the medical device industry. Prior to co-founding Northstar Neuroscience, Levy served as president and CEO of Heartstream, a company that developed, manufactured, and marketed an innovative automatic external defibrillator that revolutionized the treatment of sudden cardiac arrest. He successfully guided the company through product development, venture financing, U.S. Food and Drug Administration marketing clearance, product launch, manufacturing scale-up, an initial public offering, worldwide sales and distribution, and the sale of the company to Hewlett-Packard. Prior to joining Heartstream, he was president of Heart Technology, which developed, manufactured, and marketed devices for removing plaque from coronary arteries. Levy effectively led Heart Technology through key business and product development milestones. The company was sold to Boston Scientific in 1995. Before joining Heart Technology, Levy was vice president of research and new business development and a member of the board of the Ethicon division of Johnson & Johnson. Recently, Levy served on the board of Gynecare, a medical device company acquired by Johnson & Johnson. Currently, he serves on the boards of Intuitive Surgical, a public company, and Proteus. Levy received his bachelor's degree in chemistry from City University of New York and his doctorate in organic chemistry from Purdue University.
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| Neurotech
Reports Editors |
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James Cavuoto, editor
and publisher
James Cavuoto is editor and publisher of Neurotech Business Report
and the founder of Neurotech Reports. He was the lead author of "The
Market for Neurotechnology," a market research report published
by Neurotech Reports. Cavuoto was the founder of Micro Publishing
Press, Inc., a publishing company that helped pioneer the market for
electronic publishing, digital imaging, and computer graphics. He
holds a degree in biomedical engineering from Case Western Reserve
University, where he studied under pioneers in the field of functional
electrical stimulation. He has also studied human factors engineering
at University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Cavuoto spent
three years as a member of the technical staff at Hughes Aircraft
Company in Los Angeles, where he worked on simulation, training, and
publication products produced for the U.S. Department of Defense.
Cavuoto is an adjunct professor at Rochester Institute
of Technology and the author of eight books on computer graphics,
electronic publishing, and digital imaging. He is a member of the
IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.
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Glenn Cornett, M.D.,
Ph.D., senior financial editor
Glenn Cornett is an experienced neuroscientist, entrepreneur, and
financial consultant, with a background in research and business development.
After earning his Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA and his M.D. from
University of Michigan Medical School, Glenn spent several years as
a technology and healthcare consultant with McKinsey & Company.
He has also held marketing and business development positions at Lilly
& Company and Razorfish. He currently runs his own consulting
firm, Metastrat, in Palo Alto, CA, providing strategic advisory services
to biotechnology and medical device firms.
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Warren Grill, Ph.D., senior technology editor
Warren M. Grill is one of the nation's leading experts in neural stimulation and neural prostheses. Dr. Grill is Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University. He earned his Ph.D. at Case Western Reserve University, where he was most recently Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering. He has been nominated for both undergraduate and graduate teaching awards. He and his colleagues were awarded the 2002 Excellence in Neural Engineering Award by the IEEE-EMBS / BMES and he was named the 2003 Neurotechnology Researcher of the Year by Neurotech Business Report. Dr. Grill serves on the editorial boards of the IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering and Neuromodulation and as a Consultant to the Neurological Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee, U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
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| Venture Capital Professionals |
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Leslie Bottorff, General Partner, ONSET Ventures
Leslie Bottorff joined ONSET Ventures in 1998 after 19 years in the medical industry. At ONSET Ventures, Leslie specializes in medical technology investment opportunities. She has worked closely with several portfolio company entrepreneurs at the seed stage to formulate and validate their companies' business plans, including Curon Medical, Novasys Medical, and Embolic Protection, where she was interim VP of Marketing and Business Development at inception. Leslie has served in board or advisory roles for several portfolio companies including Spinal Concepts, Novasys Medical, VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies, Neuronetics, Sadra Medical, and CardioMind. Prior to joining ONSET , Leslie was VP of Sales and Marketing of Medtronic's CardioRhythm division. She has also served in various marketing and sales management positions at both venture backed start-up companies and in large companies, including Nellcor, Ventritex, Menlo Care, and General Electric's Medical Systems division. Leslie has a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She serves on advisory boards or as program faculty at several universities, including Stanford University and Purdue University. |
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Daniel O'Connell, NeuroVentures Fund
Daniel O'Connell is a Director of NeuroVentures Fund LP, a venture capital firm specializing in the neuroscience field. Mr. O’Connell originally worked with founding members of NeuroVentures to launch the Fund while he was attending business school. In 2000, he joined as a Director. In addition to his experience at NeuroVentures, Mr. O’Connell’s involvement with venture-stage medical technology companies includes co-founding MedSpecialists, Inc., a clinical ASP for medical specialists, and Surgical Solutions, LLC, a company dedicated to commercializing innovative neurosurgical products from leading research universities. Prior to business school, Mr. O’Connell spent four years in investment banking with Advest, Inc. He holds a B.A. from Brown University and M.B.A. from the University of Virginia.
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Roger Quy, Ph.D., Technology Partners
Roger Quy is partner with Technology Partners. He joined Technology Partners in 1989, where he has been responsible for building the life science practice of the firm. Previously, he led an artificial intelligence research group at Hewlett Packard Laboratories. Prior to that, he managed the development of medical devices at Oxford Instruments Group in England. He is a Director of several private companies including InnerCool Therapies, Rinat Neuroscience, and Spinal Dynamics. Roger began his career as a post-doctoral Research Fellow of the Medical Research Council at the Institute of Neurology in London, where he developed new techniques and devices for the diagnosis and treatment of neurological, cardiac and sleep disorders. He has published a number of scientific papers and contributed to a textbook on epilepsy. He has four patents issued and one pending. Roger earned a BA with honors in psychology and law and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Keele, England. He received an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. |
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Alexander Arrow, M.D., Lazard Capital Markets
Known to some as the most skeptical of all medical device analysts, Alex Arrow's research calls are based on detailed surgeon customer channel checks and are known for their objectivity and bluntness. At Lazard Capital Markets, he runs a three-person team that covers medical technology stocks, specializing in implantable and invasive surgical products, and his semi-annual industry piece is among the most quoted of all medical technology equity research publications. Prior to joining Lazard, Dr. Arrow was the medical technology analyst at Ladenburg Thalmann & Co, where his unusual surgeon channel check system was developed. Before that, he was the CFO of PLX Systems, Inc., where he raised $32 million in three equity financings from 11 institutional investors without the use of investment bankers. He also created and led the firm's six-person intellectual property valuation team. Prior to PLX Systems, Dr. Arrow was Vice President, Research at Wedbush Morgan Securities and led the firm's medical technology practice. Prior to Wedbush Morgan, he was a general surgery resident at the UCLA Medical Center, a management consultant at Arthur D. Little, Inc., a biotechnology analyst for Hambro Biofinance, Inc., and a biomaterials researcher at MIT. Dr. Arrow is a Chartered Financial Analyst, holds an M.D. from Harvard University, and a BA in physics magna cum laude from Cornell University.
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| Panelists |
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Gail Schechter, Ph.D., President, BioIntelligence
Gail Schechter is a neuroscientist with experience in the pharmaceutical industry, in academic medicine, and at the National Institutes of Health. She is the president of BioIntelligence, a consulting company specializing in technology assessment, product development, and grant writing. During her 10 years at BioIntelligence, she has written many successful multi-million dollar grant applications to fund emerging companies. She also has authored industry reports analyzing novel therapeutics to treat neurological disorders. Previously, she worked at Genentech, Inc., and other biotechnology companies to facilitate research collaborations. She was a clinical faculty member at the Stanford University School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She also spent 10 years conducting research in human electrophysiology at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Schechter specializes in neuroscience research, and she received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of California San Francisco Medical Center. |
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John McDonald, M.D., Ph.D., Director, International Center for Spinal Cord Injury
John McDonald is the director of the International Center for Spinal Cord Injury at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore MD. He joined Kennedy Krieger Institute in 2004 in order to launch a brand-new spinal cord rehabilitation and research program with a focus on pediatric paralysis, a program that will become the only of its kind in the world. Dr. McDonald also holds a primary appointment as Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with co-appointments in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Neuroscience departments. He sits on the advisory boards of two companies, Restorative Therapies, Inc. of Baltimore, MD and BioAxone of Montreal, Canada. Dr. McDonald graduated from the University of Illinois, Champaign Urbana in 1985 with Bachelor's of Science degree, magna cum laude, in Neuroscience. From there he matriculated at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he began a combined M.D./Ph.D. program in the Medical Scientists Training Program (MSTP) that he completed in 1992. Following his residency, Dr. McDonald joined the Washington University faculty in the Department of Neurology as an instructor in 1997, promoted to assistant professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine. He also held co-assistant professorships in the School's Departments of Neurological Surgery and Anatomy and Neurobiology. In 1998, Dr. McDonald was named Medical Director of the Spinal Cord Neurorehabilitative Unit at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis and Section Head of Spinal Cord Injury Program at Washington University. It was there that he developed the “activity-based restoration” (ABR) therapies designed to help patients with long-term spinal cord injuries recover sensation, movement and independence; the therapy approached publically acknowledged as producing the substantial and delayed recovery of actor/activist Christopher Reeve.
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Jennifer French, Executive Director, Society to Increase Mobility
Jennifer French is executive director of the Society to Increase Mobility (STIM), a nonprofit organization founded in Florida in 2003. Jennifer acquired her C6-7 incomplete spinal cord injury in 1998. Prior to her injury, she was recreationally active with such sports as canoeing, snowboarding/skiing, sailing, fly fishing, biking. After her injury, she still participates in all those activities. She is an active user of an FES system. Now residing in Tampa, Florida, Jen is active in the community accessible sailing program, Sailing Alternatives as well as the national US Sailing, Sailors with Special Needs. French has helped launch successful divisions is such organizations as Bombardier Capital and PC Connection, Inc. With an MBA specializing in marketing & strategy, she works with for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, large and small, emerge into new markets, profile target customers and create and build systems to support sales efforts. She is currently freelancing her talents through TJF Consulting, Inc. |
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Joseph Pancrazio, Ph.D., Program Director, NIH/NINDS
Joseph Pancrazio earned a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana, in 1984, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, in 1988 and 1990, respectively. His Ph.D. training focused on the characterization of voltage-dependent ion channels in small cell lung carcinoma using the patch clamp technique. After postdoctoral training in pharmacology in the Department of Anesthesiology at UVa as a recipient of a National Research Service Award, he received a joint appointment in the Departments of Anesthesiology and Biomedical Engineering as an assistant professor of research at the University of Virginia in 1991. During this time, he studied the effects of clinically relevant anesthetics and antidepressants on the electrophysiologic properties of neural and cardiac cells, while teaching graduate level courses in Neuropharmacology and Bioelectronic Systems in the Departments of Pharmacology and Biomedical Engineering, respectively. In 1997, he joined Georgetown University Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology as an Assistant Professor working at the US Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. In 1998, he joined the NRL as a Principal Investigator at the Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering, becoming the Head of Code 6920, the Laboratory of Biomolecular Dynamics, in 2002. Dr. Pancrazio joined the Repair and Plasticity Cluster of NINDS in January of 2004, where his research interests include: 1) neural engineering and neuroprosthesis; 2) novel neural repair technologies and biomaterials, and 3) neural information processing and control.
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Jeff Newman,
Technology and Commerce Partnership Manager, California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency
Jeff Newman is the Technology and Commerce Partnership Manager for the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. Mr. Newman is responsible for the Agency's technology-based economic development programs and initiatives that support innovation and create wealth and jobs throughout California. This includes supporting the Governor's Life Science Initiative, and working with the University of California and representatives from industry sectors to streamline the technology transfer process in the University of California system. Mr. Newman is the primary contact between the Agency and all federal technology development agencies and programs related to research, development technology commercialization that sustain regional and statewide economic vibrancy and accelerate industry-sector specific innovation to the marketplace. From 1994 to 2003, Mr. Newman was the Partnership Manager for the Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) in the California Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency. Mr. Newman also has seven years of experience in the private sector as an electronics engineer. He holds a Bachelor's and Masters in Physics from California State University. |
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Zack Lynch, Managing Director, NeuroInsights
Zack Lynch is an economic and social forecaster advising global organizations on the impact of neurotechnology on business, government and society. Known for his scientific acumen and deep historical perspective, Lynch's articles and vision have been sought out by diverse publications, including US News and World Report, Lancet Neurology, CMO Magazine, and the New York Academy of Sciences, among many others. Lynch serves on the advisory boards of the Global Neuroscience Initiative, Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics, the Institute for Global Futures, the Pulse Mental Health Network and Socialtext, a software company. He is the editor of Brain Waves, an industry weblog that provides commentary on the intersection of neuroscience and society and he is co-author of NeuroInsights' annual report on The Neurotechnology Industry. Previously, he founded several enterprise software companies in profit optimization and collaborative forecasting. Zack received an MA in Economic Geography and double BS in Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Science, all from UCLA. |
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Iain Glass, President and CEO, Mindcare Centres
Iain Glass is the founding Partner of the Mindcare Centres, a chain of medical clinics specializing in the delivery of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) therapy for the treatment of depression. His educational background in brain imaging and neuropharmacology, combined with a successful 15-year track record in high tech, has been instrumental in clearing the regulatory and insurance hurdles to allow rTMS therapy in Canada. Iain Glass has been extensively involved in business analysis, development, and deployment of management and operational systems for several companies, including Imperial Oil/Exxon, Johnson & Johnson, and several e-commerce initiatives. He has worked extensively with Medtronic Ltd. in the development of magnetic stimulation technology. Iain Glass is dedicated to educating the medical community about the enormous potential for rTMS therapy to help treatment-resistant patients overcome depression and other mood disorders. He has been involved within the rTMS community for over five years and has recently co-authored a paper on the efficacy and effectiveness of rTMS in clinical delivery for treating depression.
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Andrew Merickel, Ph.D., Attorney at Law, Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear
Andrew Merickel joined Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear in 2000 and is an associate in the firm's San Francisco office. His practice focuses primarily on patent prosecution in the areas of biotechnology and integrated circuit fabrication. In addition, Dr. Merickel has particular experience in the legal areas of intellectual property due diligence, international intellectual property matters, licensing, patents, right-to-practice opinions, and invalidity/non-infringement opinions. Dr. Merickel is an active member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, American Bar Association, and Bar Association of San Francisco. He also has written for various scientific publications. Dr. Merickel graduated from Amherst College in 1992 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. In 1997 he received his Doctorate in Neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles. In 2000, Dr. Merickel received his Juris Doctorate for the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Merickel is a member of the State Bar of California and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. |
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Gary Karp, Author
Gary Karp was injured at T12 in a fall from a tree at the age of eighteen. He is the author of two books "Life On Wheels: For the Active Wheelchair User" and "Choosing A Wheelchair: A Guide For Optimal Independence," both widely reviewed as definitive guides for people with disabilities. His new book of essays by people with spinal cord injuries, is titled "From There To Here: Stories of Adjustment to Spinal Cord Injury," was published in April, 2004. His feature articles and profiles have appeared in New Mobility magazine, and he is Executive Editor of S-C-I Life, the newspaper of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association. A very popular international speaker, Gary is sponsored in part by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center. He is also a corporate trainer on disability and employment, a musician, and a juggler. |
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| Entrepreneur Panel |
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Mark Carney, President and CEO, Andara Life Science, Inc.
Mark Carney is President and CEO of Andara Life Science, Inc., a startup company located in Indiana. Andara was formed to accelerate research and development and commercialize a platform of promising therapeutic devices and drugs for treating central nervous system injury and disease. His experience inlcudes senior leadership and investment roles in outsourcing of information technology and business process services to the life science, provider, and payer markets. He also founded and sold a leading catastrophic medical management firm and founded and led a variety of health payer organizations. He has a B.S. degree from Purdue University. |
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Souhile Assaf, Ph.D., President and CEO, Medtrode Inc.
Souhile Assaf is a neurophysiologist who conducted research in electrical stimulation of the brain to study obesity and drinking behavior, hippocampal function, and elucidating mechanisms of epilepsy. In 2001 he was elected to the board of the London Life Science Council and currently chairs London's Medical Device Cluster. In 2003 he was appointed CEO of XLR Imaging, which develops high field MRI coils used in functional brain imaging. In 2004 he turned his attention to developing next-generation neurostimulation systems through the founding of Medtrode inc. In 2005 Medtrode acquired majority control of XLR Imaging and is incorporating intracranial MRI in Medtrode's products. |
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Elisabeth Hager, MMM, President and CEO, GentCorp.
Dr. Elisabeth Hager is a Board Certified Neuropsychiatrist with a 15-year history of founding and leading entrepreneurial companies in the medical industry. In addition to her clinical and business background, she is experienced in clinical trials management and physician network development and management. Her expertise allows GentCorp, Ltd. to work directly with the physician end users of medical devices to solicit their involvement early in the development process and to expand GentCorp, Ltd.'s reach into neurostimulation. |
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K.C. Fadem, COO, Neuronetrix, Inc.
Mr. Fadem, inventor of the COGNISION™ System, has extensive experience in the medical device industry. In 1993, he founded Val-U-Med, Inc., a medical device development and distribution company headquartered in Atlanta, GA. While at Val-U-Med, Mr. Fadem developed a number of innovative surgical instruments including an endoscopic device for Guidant Corp. which is used in saphenous vein harvesting. In 1996, Mr. Fadem sold Val-U-Med to LifeQuest Medical, Inc., a public company based in San Antonio, TX. As Director, EVP, and COO of LifeQuest Medical, Mr. Fadem managed the development and market introduction of more than 20 surgical products resulting in annual sales of over $24 million. In 1997, Mr. Fadem founded Surgical Visions I, Inc. (SVII) to fund the development of two innovative surgical devices; the PneumoSleeve™ and Protractor™. Mr. Fadem holds several patents for a variety of medical devices. Previously, he spent 10 years in the engineering software industry, where he held positions in application engineering, marketing, sales, and sales management. Mr. Fadem attended Georgia Institute of Technology, where he studied Aerospace Engineering.
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Daryl Kipke, Ph.D., CEO, Neuronexus Technologies
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