Our Advisors
David H. Gelfand, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer, Wafergen BioSystems
With a PhD in biology from the University of California, San Diego, Dr. Gelfand was a pioneer in PCR technology having participated in its development while at Cetus Corporation in the 1980s. As Vice President of the Discovery Research division at Roche Molecular Systems, he was recognized for his leading role in the emergence and evolution of molecular diagnostic viral load assays and DNA sequencing. Dr. Gelfand holds more than 50 US patents and was the recipient of the US Distinguished Inventor Award for Taq DNA Polymerase.
Frantisek Svec, PhD
Independent Researcher, University of California, Berkeley; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Having earned his PhD in polymer chemistry from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague (Czech Republic), Dr. Svec is a leader in the discovery and development of porous polymeric materials in general and monoliths in particular. This technology enables the design and manufacture of monolithic materials that are structurally and chemically optimized for specific applications. In addition to authoring/co-authoring hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific papers, he has written or edited numerous book chapters related to his fields of expertise. He is president of the California Separations Science Society, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Separation Science and serves on the editorial boards of several prestigious scientific journals. In recognition of his contributions, Dr. Svec won the M.J.E. Golay Award the EAS Award, ACS award in Chromatography and Dal Nogare Award in the field of separations science.
Bradley Webb, PhD
Venture Partner, Claremont Creek
After receiving a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1979, Dr. Webb joined 3M Company's ophthalmology products division as a research and development scientist managing human clinical trials and FDA approval processes. After 3M, Dr. Webb led and participated in several start-up ventures and eventually founded Vision Biology, Inc in 1988. Vision Biology's revolutionary patented Viscoelastic Surgical Fluid for use in cataract surgery was licensed to Alcon Laboratories in 1996. Dr. Webb spent several years thereafter consulting for Alcon and has recently focused on early-stage biotech and medical technology investments. He joined Claremont Creek Ventures in 2005 and is a lead partner in the fund's life sciences investment group.
Gordon Mills, MD, PhD
Chairman, Department of Molecular Therapeutics/Professor of Medicine, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Following the completion of MD and PhD degrees from the University of Alberta, Dr. Mills joined the Biochemistry and Oncology faculty of the University of Toronto Medical School as a cancer researcher. In 1994 Dr. Mills became a faculty member of the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, where he continues work today. Dr. Mills’ research focuses on the genomics and genetics of women’s cancers in addition to the identification/characterization of potential oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. He holds more than 20 patents in novel technologies and biomarkers and has contributed to more than 400 peer-reviewed publications.
Paul R. Billings MD, PhD, FACP, FACMG
Director and Chief Scientific Officer, Genomic Medicine Institute at ECH
A board certified internist and clinical geneticist, Dr. Billings received both his MD and PhD degrees from Harvard University. He is the founding and acting Director and Chief Scientific Officer of the Genomic Medicine Institute at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, CA. Dr. Billings previously served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of CELLective Dx Corporation which sought to revolutionize cancer care through the provision of microfluidic products and services focused on circulating tumor cells. He subsequently became Founder and Executive Chairman of Omicia, Inc. and Executive Chairman of Melanoma Diagnostics, Inc. Dr. Billings has served on the Board of Directors of CLDx, SGL, BioScale Inc., Cyntellect Inc., Lipomics, Inc. and several not-for-profit public interest organizations including the Council for Responsible Genetics. He has been Professor of Anthropology (adjunct) at the University of California at Berkeley and has published extensively on topics in immunology, genetics and medicine.
|
|
|
