Speaker Biographies
Dr. Imran Ahmad
Imran Ahmad, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice
President, Research & Development, joined NeoPharm in July 2000. He holds a
Ph.D. degree in drug delivery systems and has been active in drug development
for the last 19 years. During his Ph.D. training, he developed several novel
liposome-based anti-fungal drugs; one is currently in commercial use. He
conducted his post-doctoral work at the University of Alberta, Canada, where he
became a pioneer in targeting long circulating liposome-based anti-cancer
agents to diseased sites. Prior to joining NeoPharm, Dr. Ahmad was at The
Liposome Company, where his group was responsible for discovery and drug
development of antineoplastic agents. He has designed and developed several
lipid-based drug delivery systems. Dr. Ahmad has authored numerous original
articles, book chapters and reviews, and is a co-inventor on many patents.
 Dr. Tarif
Awad
Tarif has been with Affymetrix for 6 years, serving
in a number of roles including Applications Scientist, Manger of Applications
Laboratories, and most recently as Sr. Scientist in the Genomics Collaborations
Group. Tarif was educated at the
University of California, Irvine (B.S., Biology; B.A., Music), and completed
his doctorate at the University of Washington, Department of Zoology.
He trained as a postdoctoral fellow at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center in Seattle. Tarif’s
current research interests focus on the design and interpretation of
array-based gene expression profiling experiments, for basic research in a
variety of complex biological processes, and for therapeutic target discovery
and validation.
 Dr.
Eleanor Barnard
Eleanor is Director of Operations and a co-founder of ExpressOn
BioSystems. Prior to this she worked with ExpressOn's CEO at the University of
Edinburgh as a post-doctoral research fellow holding a supervisory position in
the laboratory. She is an experienced molecular biologist with a PhD in
molecular virology from the University of Glasgow. Eleanor has been responsible
for developing manufacturing, QC and QA procedures for ACCESSarray 4000 as well
as putting into place the applications, technical support and operational
infrastructure that supports all of the company's products and services.
Dr. Angelika Bonin-Debs
Angelica Bonin-Debs received her PhD in Biology at the Heidelberg
University in 1993 and was a postdoctoral fellow at BASF Bioresearch Corp.
Worcester, MA (now Abbott) on conditional knock out technologies from 1993
through 1997. For two following years, she worked for Synaptic Pharmaceutical
Corp. in Paramus, NJ, USA as a Scientist and Senior Scientist on GPCR drug
discovery, until, in 1999, she joined atugen AG in Berlin, Germany, as a Group
Leader in target discovery and validation and, in 2002, Xantos Biomedicine AG
in Munich, Germany, where she took over the position as Head of Xantos'
Molecular & Cell Biology Division.
Prior to joining Galapagos Genomics, Helmuth van Es was Group Leader and
Senior Scientist at IntroGene, now Crucell NV (Nasdaq, CRXL) where he ran
research projects on the development of stem cell gene therapies for Gaucher
disease using retroviral vectors and phage display technologies. He is a key
inventor of the Galapagos functional genomics platform (US patent 6,340,595
others pending, Nat. Biotechnology 20(11): 1154-7) and the adenoviral siRNA
technology SilenceSelectTM (WO03020931A1, 2; Genome Research 13: 2325-2332) and
started Galapagos with CEO Onno van de Stolpe. He is currently responsible for
the research at the Dutch site of Galapagos in Leiden that includes target
discovery and validation for osteoarthritis and upper airway
hyper-responsiveness, GPCRs and external alliances programs. As a postdoctoral
fellow at the Montreal General Hospital, McGill University he worked on drug
resistance of malaria, after receiving his PhD in Medicine from the University
of Amsterdam in the laboratory of Dr. Ronald Oude Elferink and Professor Guido
Tytgat. During his PhD period he worked on UDP-glucuronosyltransferases in
particular their deficiency in the Crigler Najjar syndrome a form of hereditary
unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia.
Dr. Evans has over 15years industrial experience in drug discovery. He joined
TGEN in 2003 where he has been responsible for building the infrastructure
(robotics, compounds/RNAi libraries and IT platforms) necessary for high
throughput functional chemogenomics. TGEN is applying this process to the rapid
discovery/validation of targets and biomarkers useful in the development of
novel therapeutics to treat cancer. Prior to joining TGEN, Dr. Evans was
Director, Drug Discovery at Psychiatric Genomics (PGI, Gaithersburg, MD), where
his group applied high throughput array-based gene expression technologies to
drug discovery for psychiatric disorders (e.g. Bipolar Disorder/Schizophrenia).
Prior to PGI, Dr. Evans was Head of High Throughput Screening for Serono
Pharmaceuticals (Rockland, MA) where he set up the robotics and compound
management functions and coordinated target-based screens in a variety of
therapeutic areas. Dr. Evans managed several programs and was the chair of the
target evaluation committee. Dr. Evans has extensive assay development
experience and was previously responsible for novel assay technology
development at Millennium Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, MA) and PerSeptive
Biosystems (Framingham, MA). Dr. Evans obtained both his B.Sc. and Ph.D. from
Imperial College, London studying the mechanism of botulinum toxin on
neurotransmitter release in the CNS. He is an inventor on several patents
focused on novel technologies for gene expression analysis and/or drug
discovery as well as compounds identified using these approaches.
 Dr. Xavier Gidrol
Xavier Gidrol received his PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology from
Aix-Marseille University in 1984. Post-doctoral research at Harvard School of
Public Health. He was specialized on transcriptional regulation of gene
expression. Obtained a tenure position at the National Institute of Agronomical
Research in France. Served as associate director of R&D at Xenometrix Inc.
in Boulder Colorado and then as Scientific Attaché at the French Embassy in
Tokyo Joined the new Functional Genomics Service at France's Atomic Energy
Commission (CEA) in 2000 and manage it since 2001.
Bettina Hädrich is Sales Development Manager Gene Silencing and Genomic
Services at QIAGEN. After receiving here PhD in Biology from the University of
Düsseldorf she joined a research group at the Research Centerin Juelich. She
has more than 9 years experience in the biotech industry in R&D in
functional genomics as well as Product Management and Sales Development.
Bettina has a strong background in genome analysis and gene expression
analysis. Her work has also contributed to the filing of more than 30 patents
in functional genomics. She joined QIAGEN`s Genomic Services division in April
2000 and has been involved in the rapid expansion of QIAGEN`s gene silencing
business.
Dr. Torgeir Holen
Torgeir Holen got his B.Sc and M.Sc. from the University of Bergen. After a
period working at the HCRC in Honolulu (US), he got his PhD at the University
of Oslo with a thesis on RNA interference.
 Dr.
Jens Kurreck
Jens Kurreck holds a diploma in biochemistry and a master's degree in
philosophy. He received his PhD at the Technical University Berlin in 1998 with
a thesis in the field of photosynthesis research and was postdoc at the Arizona
State University in Tempe/USA thereafter. Since 1999 he is group leader in the
department of Prof. Dr. Volker A. Erdmann at the Institute for Biochemistry of
the Free University Berlin. His current research focuses on the application of
different antisense strategies for medical applications. Antisense
oligonucleotides, ribozymes and deoxyribozymes as well as small interfering
RNAs have been applied in collaborations for various topics including chronic
pain, renal cancer and viral heart infections.
Dr. David Lewis
Mirus Bio Corporation specializes in the development
and application of nucleic acid delivery technologies both
in vitro and in vivo. Dr.
Lewis joined Mirus Bio in 2000 as a Senior Scientist and now serves as Program
Director. His group was the first to demonstrate that RNAi could be used to
inhibit target gene expression in multiple organs of adult mammals. His current
responsibilities include development and oversight of projects investigating
the application of gene knockdown technologies in animal models. Prior to
joining Mirus Bio, Dr. Lewis was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research
Associate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Lewis received his B.S.
degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin
and his Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry from Michigan State University.
 Dr.
Angré Lochter
Dr. André Lochter joined atugen in 2003 as Director Business Development. He
worked previously in two roles at Nordic Bioscience in Denmark, where he was
Business Development Manager for Preclinical Research and In Vitro Diagnostics
from 2000. In the last post he created the interface between research and
marketing and was responsible for growing Nordic's diagnostics market in the
US, Europe and Japan. He holds an MSc in Biology from the University of
Heidelberg and a PhD in Neurobiology from the Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology in Zürich. Dr. Lochter also has several years of research experience
in cancer progression which he gained at the Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory in Berkeley, California. He has published widely in the field of
cell and molecular biology. Recently, he obtained an Executive MBA from
Copenhagen Business School.
 Dr. Bill
Marshall
William S. Marshall, Ph.D. serves as Site Director and Executive Vice President
of Research and Operations, at Dharmacon. In this capacity, Dr. Marshall
oversees Dharmacon's daily operations and directs the company's research and
development programs. Dr. Marshall was instrumental in leading the chemistry,
biology, and bioinformatics research, which led to the development of the
industry's most effective siRNA design algorithm and novel chemical
modifications to enhance siRNA specificity and stability. He is also
responsible for streamlining, automating and increasing the capacity of the
company's chemical synthesis facilities.
Prior to joining Dharmacon, Dr. Marshall held several senior scientific
positions at Amgen from 1992 through 2002, most recently as associate director
of research and head of the Nucleic Acid and Peptide Technology department. As
the leader of the Amgen Therapeutic Antisense Evaluation Team, his work
included the development of platforms in functional genomics using nucleic acid
knockdown technologies (antisense, RNAi) and efforts to develop novel methods
of gene expression regulation for functional genomics and gene therapy
applications. Dr. Marshall also led the development of peptide library
approaches for lead discovery and development via carrier protein fusion and
peptidomimetics.
Dr. Marshall received his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison and his Ph.D. in the laboratory of Dr. Marvin
Caruthers at the University of Colorado, Boulder where his research focused on
developing chemical synthesis methods and determining the biological properties
of oligonucleotide analogs including phorphorodithioates. Dr. Marshall is
author and co-author of 30 research papers and 10 patents.
Dr. Craig C. Mello
Dr. Craig C. Mello is the Jack and Shelly Blais Professor of Molecular Medicine
at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and an Assistant Investigator
of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He received his B.Sc. degree in
Biochemistry from Brown University in 1982, and received his Ph.D. from Harvard
University in 1990. From 1990 to 1994 he conducted postdoctoral research at the
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA. His awards include
fellowships from the American Cancer Society, the March of Dimes and the PEW
charitable trusts for his work on developmental biology. Recently, his work on
RNAi has been recognized with the Wiley Foundation Prize and the prestigious
National Academy of Sciences Molecular Biology Award.
 Dr. Dmitry Samarsky
Dr. Dmitry Samarsky received his doctoral degree from the University of
Massachusetts, Amherst. His thesis focused on theoretical aspects and practical
applications, including ribozymes, of small RNAs. Dr. Samarsky performed
post-doctoral work with Dr. Michael R. Green, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute
investigator at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester.
During postdoctoral training he was awarded a three-year H. Arthur Smith
Fellowship for Cancer Research. In 2001 Dr. Samarsky joined Sequitur, Inc., and
his role there was to develop and promote company's antisense and RNAi
technological platforms. In 2003 Dmitry Samarsky joined Invitrogen, Corp. His
current role in the company is to formulate partnership models and to provide
BioDiscovery platform solutions for the drug discovery process. Dr. Samarsky
has numerous publications, including research articles, reviews, book chapters
and patent applications.
 Dr.
Raymond Schiffelers
Raymond Schiffelers studied bio-pharmaceutical sciences at the Leiden-Amsterdam
Center for Drug Research (LACDR). In 1993-1994 he investigated tumor-targeted
liposomes at the Dept. of Biopharmaceutics and in the following year he worked
at the Dept. of Vascular Biology of SmithKline&Beecham Pharmaceuticals in
Welwyn (UK) on murine models for atherosclerosis.
From 1996 to 2000 his research was aimed at liposomal targeting of
antimicrobial agents to bacterial infections as part of a project initiated by
the Dept. of Medical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases of the Erasmus
University Rotterdam and the Dept. of Pharmaceutics of the Utrecht Institute
for Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS). This research resulted in his Ph.D. degree,
obtained in February 2001.
Since August 2000, he is funded by the Dutch Cancer Society on strategies to
target the angiogenic tumor endothelium. As part of this project he spend one
year at Intradigm Co. (USA) where he studied, in collaboration with several
academic groups, strategies for endothelial cell-targeted delivery of siRNA
Dr. Yvette Stallwood
Yvette Stallwood received her BSc from the University of Warwick and PhD in
Gene Therapy of Cancer from the University of Birmingham, UK. Since 2000 she
has been working for Lorantis Ltd, Cambridge, UK, an Immunology company
developing biotherapeutics for the selective treatment of immune disease, based
on the Notch signalling pathway.
Dr. Oliver Steinbach
As a genomic scientist, Oliver Steinbach serves since 2002 as the Director of
Functional Cloning for the ALTANA Research Institute. Specializing in the
application of genomics and proteomics technology with underlying automation
technology and bioinformatics he manages the discovery and validation of novel
pharmaceutical targets used in the treatment of inflammation, gastroenterology,
and oncology. Prior to starting at the ALTANA Research Institute, Oliver
Steinbach has been involved in the setup and growth of the Functional Genomics
Department as Head of Expression Profiling at Byk Gulden, Germany (now Altana
Pharma AG), where he started as a Post Doctoral Fellow in 1999. Oliver
Steinbach received his Ph. D. degree in biochemistry from the University of
Tuebingen, Germany in 1998, and was awarded with the Otto-Hahn-Medal of the
Max-Planck Society.
Dr. Nassim Usman
Dr Usman is currently Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at
Sirna Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: RNAI). His responsibilities include business
and corporate development, manufacturing, and operations. Prior to his
promotion to COO, Dr Usman was Chief Scientific Officer & Vice President,
Research & Development at Sirna Therapeutics Inc and Ribozyme
Pharmaceuticals, Inc (RPI). Dr Usman has entered several RNA-based drugs into
clinical development, including Sirna?027, an siRNA for the treatment of AMD.
In business development, he has completed several licensing deals with major
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Finally, he has been involved in
both private and public financing activities, raising in excess of $250 MM, and
regularly interacts with the financial community.
Dr Usman's other professional responsibilities include: founder and former
member of the Board of Directors of atugen AG, a Berlin, Germany based
biotechnology company and member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Noxxon
Pharma AG, a Berlin, Germany based biotechnology company. He was also a member
of the Board of Directors of Archemix Corporation, a Cambridge MA based drug
discovery and aptamer therapeutics company through 2002.
He joined RPI in 1992 as a Senior Scientist in Chemistry & Biochemistry and
was promoted to Director of Chemistry & Biochemistry Research in 1994; VP,
Research in 1996; Senior VP, Research in 1999; VP Research & Development in
July 2000, Chief Scientific Officer in February 2002 and Senior Vice President
and Chief Operating Officer in December 2003. Prior to joining RPI, Dr Usman
was an NIH Fogarty and NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow and Scientist in the
Departments of Biology and Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology from 1987 to 1992. Additionally, he has consulted for several
companies and law firms on nucleic acid chemistry. He received his B.Sc. and
Ph.D. degrees from the Department of Chemistry at McGill University, and as
part of his doctoral dissertation, developed a method for the solid-phase
synthesis of RNA that is currently used throughout the fields of chemistry,
biochemistry and the nucleic acid industry. He has authored more than 70
articles and 25 patents on nucleic acids and serves as a reviewer for several
journals.
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Prof Craig C. Mello |
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