Nick Anderson, Ph.D.
Deputy Director of the Biomedical Informatics Core,
Institute of Translational Health Science
Dr. Anderson is Deputy Director of the Biomedical Informatics Core of the Institute of Translational Health Science, a National Institutes of Health funded by a $62 million 5-year Clinical Translational Science Award. Dr. Anderson has 15 years experience in medical informatics, with 10 years involved in software engineering in industry. He received his Masters of Science in 2004 from Oregon Health Science University and in 2007 his PhD in Biomedical Informatics from the University of Washington. His research focuses on issues associated with designing, developing, implementing and extending laboratory-based research systems, with a focus on data sharing policies and user needs assessment. Secondary research areas are bioinformatics workflows, personal health information management and decision analysis for biomedicine. He is an Acting Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Education and Biomedical Informatics at the University of Washington.
Michael Cox, Ph.D.
Dept. of Urologic Sciences, Univ. of British Columbia;
The Prostate Centre at Vancouver General Hospital
Dr. Cox is a molecular and cellular biologist who earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of North Carolina. His research program is dedicated to understanding how prostate cancer initiates and progresses, and to finding ways of halting androgen independent disease progression. Dr. Cox's research is funded by the Terry Fox Foundation, National Cancer Institute of Canada, the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority Hospital Foundation, the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research and the British Columbia Foundation for Prostate Disease. His work focuses on early genetic changes in prostate cells, how resulting tumor cells respond to growth factors in the presence or absence of testosterone, and how these cellular changes allow prostate tumor cells to utilize these growth factors to aid development of testosterone independence. With colleagues at the University of British Columbia, Dr. Cox is developing antisense and small molecule drug strategies that decrease the responsiveness of tumor cells to growth factors and has shown that prostate cancer cells treated in this way are more sensitive to testosterone deprivation or treatment with other chemotherapies; first steps in developing effective treatments for patients with advanced prostate cancer.
Alix Darden, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, The Citadel Department of Biology
Dr. Alix Darden, Associate Professor Biology at The Citadel, Charleston, SC and Associate Professor, Adjunct Appointment, Associate Member of the Graduate Faculty, Department of Ophthalmology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, has taught a variety of courses at the graduate and undergraduate level including immunology, general microbiology, genetics, human genetics, and molecular biology. Her areas of expertise include faculty development, research in teaching and learning, and effective engagement of students in undergraduate research projects. Dr. Darden studies development of expert scientific thinking as students participate in her NSF funded research on promoters for opsin genes in amphibians. Dr. Darden earned a BS in Biology from Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY, and her PhD in Immunology from Southwestern Graduate School, Dallas, TX.
Kendra Key
Administrator, Swank MS Foundation
Mrs. Key has been working with Dr. and Mrs. Swank for the last five years as a Personal Assistant, managing all daily responsibilities and helping Dr. Swank with his manuscript. In addition, she has been the Administrator for the Swank MS Foundation for the last 3 years, handling correspondence, donations, and other financial duties. She also meets regularly with the Board of Directors to further the work of Dr. Swank and help lead the Foundation to the next level of outreach in the MS community. Kendra's previous experience includes production work, and she is also the webmaster for www.swankmsdiet.org. Kendra works with volunteers on a daily basis, and has established a mentoring program pairing longtime Swank patients those with 20-50 years on the diet with new devotees for an easier, more supportive transition to the diet. Mrs. Key currently resides in Portland, Oregon. The Swank MS Foundation is a public charity and 501c3 tax-exempt foundation that provides information and resources on the Swank Low Fat Diet, vitamin supplements, and life-style changes beneficial to patients with Multiple Sclerosis, as well as their families and friends. The information on this healthy low-fat diet was developed by Roy L. Swank, M.D., Ph.D., and based on years of study, research and experience with multiple sclerosis patients.
Constance Kaye Lautieri
Teacher and Real Estate Agent
Ms. Lautieri has a doctorate in Christian Education from Cathedral Bible College in Myrtle Beach, S.C. She was chosen for Whose Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges in 2007. In 2005-2007, she received Certificates of Appreciation from Veterans of Foreign War, Hope, Father Flanagans Girls and Boys Town, Feed the Children, and Miami Rescue. Constance, a widow and mother of two children, has a Real Estate license for Florida, where her home was a church for a Spanish-English Congregation for 8 years. She has experience in tax preparation, and investments. She currently resides in Somerset, Kentucky and is teaching at L.A.M. and Outreach for Jesus Bible Colleges.
Alexander Pemov, Ph.D.
Scientist, Kelly Scientific, Inc.
Dr. Alexander Pemov is a molecular biologist with expertise in high-throughput, genome-wide methods of analysis, multiplex solid-phase nucleic acid amplification, DNA replication, and chromatin and nuclear architecture. During his career, Dr. Pemov worked on projects as diverse as the role of histone variants in gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana, and genomic analysis of NF1 haploinsufficiency in humans and mice. A native of Russia, he graduated from Moscow State University with a degree in Physiology and earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology at the Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology in Moscow, Russia. Dr. Pemov completed his post-doctoral training in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, where he studied the role of chromatin and nuclear matrices in the initiation of DNA replication. As a visiting scientist at Argonne National Laboratory, he developed a proof of concept for the multiplex PCR amplification of nucleic acids on 3-dimentional microarrays as a tool for pathogen detection and identification (patent pending). Currently, Dr. Pemov works for Kelly Scientific, Inc. as a contractor for the National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, where his research focuses on molecular mechanisms of the human genetic disorder Neurofibromatosis Type 1. Dr. Pemov has published numerous papers in peer-reviewed, international journals.
Gloria M. Northcroft
Life Sciences Consultant, G&G With over 20 years of recognized leadership, Ms. Northcroft is a seasoned executive in the bio-pharmaceutical industry. As a Senior Clinical Specialist with Genentech, Inc. a Biotech company, her focus was on the innovative therapies for patients with serious or life threatening medical conditions. Previous responsibilities have included Area Operations Manager for American Abbey Homecare, Hospital Representative with Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pharmacy Supervisor at the University of Washington Medical Center and Director of Pharmacy Services at North General Hospital in New York. In addition to her full-time career, Gloria has had an active involvement in civic and community focused volunteerism. Gloria is presently on the governing Board of Trustee for Seattle Children's Hospital and served as Vice Chairman and Assistant Treasurer. She served on the governance committee which restructured the Seattle Children's Board. She is currently Chair of the Audit and Corporate Responsibility Committee. Additionally, Gloria served as Chair of the Investment Advisory Committee and Chair of the Government Affairs Committee. Gloria has also served as a Board of Trustee-Vice President with the Bellevue Schools Foundation, Trustee, Advance Bellevue, Youth Initiative Task Force, Youth at Hope, Bellevue Downtown Park Master Plan-Citizen Advisory Committee, Board of Trustee-Forest Ridge School and the Regional Justice Center-Task Force. In the past, she has served as President of the Somerset Community Association, President of the Odessa Brown Children's Clinic Advisory Committee and Chair of the Diversity Task Force for the Forest Ridge School and parent volunteer-Somerset Elementary School. Gloria and her husband, George were recognized as Bellevue Citizens of the Year.
Ramanath Vairavan, M.S., M.B.A
Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing for AutoGenomicsMr. Vairavan has more than 30 years experience in the clinical diagnostics industry. He holds a BS degree in Chemical Engineering, an Masters of Science degree in Biomedical engineering from Washington University, St. Louis, MO and an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, NJ. He worked for Hoechst AG / Behring Diagnostics of Germany over a period of 25 years where he held several key management positions in research, operations, international sales and marketing in the US, Singapore and Germany. He is a co-founder, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for AutoGenomics, a biotechnology company based in Carlsbad, CA which has developed an automated multiplexing microarray platform for the clinical laboratory to assess disease signatures through cost effective genomic and proteomic profiling.
Richard Hemmi Valente, Ph.D.
Senior Researcher, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, BrazilDr. Valente received his BS in Biological Sciences and a Masters degree in Biochemistry from the University of Campinas, Brazil, where his primary focus was in the field of snake venom protein chemistry. He earned his Ph.D. from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro working with natural inhibitors of snake venoms, specifically by thoroughly describing a new inhibitor isolated from a venomous snake's serum. Dr. Valente has worked as a Research Associate at the Biomolecular Research Facility located at the University of Virginia (USA) where he continued his scientific studies and gathered experience working in a core facility gaining exposure to emerging proteomic techniques. Upon his return to Rio de Janeiro, Dr. Valente was awarded a tenured position at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, a leading Latin American research center, where he has actively participated in the quest for funding, implementation, and running of a proteomics laboratory that is being used both in snake venom natural inhibitor research, and also in projects focused on infectious diseases such as Dengue fever, Leishmaniasis, Leprosy, and Chagas disease, among others. Lowrens Van der Linden
Immigrated from The Netherlands in 1980 with his family. Mr. Van der Linden started Linden Holdings, Inc. in 1979, a real estate investment company. Started Delta Horseshoe Company, Inc. in 1984, an equine products distribution company and still involved with the company. Involved with multiple commercial real estate projects. Mr. Van der Linden is also on the advisory board of Mustad Hoofcare, Switzerland.
Tomas Vomastek, Ph.D.
Dr. Vomastek received a Ph.D. in 1998 from the Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. His post-doctoral studies were undertaken in the field of intracellular signaling at University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA. In 2007 he returned to Czech Republic and became an independent investigator at the Institute of Microbiology, Prague. Mr. Vomastek's research focuses on the role Extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) cascade plays in the regulation of a diverse array of cellular programs including cell growth and division, cell death, cell differentiation and cell movement. His goal is to understand the mechanism by which ubiquitously activated ERK cascade create unique biological response and how this mechanism is altered in development and progression of cancer.
Howard RosenBio to come.
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