Speaker Bios

Michael P. Arlotto, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President of Emerging Biotech
NovaQuest

Michael Arlotto applies his expertise in finding innovative financial solutions to emerging biotechnology customers, allowing them to bring new products to market faster and maximize product sales. Early on in his career with Quintiles, Arlotto handled projects for all North American Clinical Development Services, managing a staff of about 250 research professionals in multiple locations in the United States and Canada. Prior to joining Quintiles in 1997, Arlotto implemented an in vitro metabolism laboratory, creating a liver microsomal library and developing liver-slice methodology for Bayer Corp. As director of scientific planning and development for Dallas Biomedical, he directed research projects in oncology, immunology, biochemistry and molecular biology. Previously, as a research scientist, he worked on the application of recombinant enzymes for in vitro drug metabolism and toxicology testing, among other projects.

Arlotto received a bachelor’s degree in toxicology from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science before earning a doctorate in toxicology from Kansas University Medical Center. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Oak Ridge Associated Universities’ National Center for Toxicology Research in Arkansas. Over the years, he has acquired additional executive and applied-science training through numerous short courses at universities and technology centers around the country. Arlotto has published dozens of abstracts and articles in research journals and has patented a generation of radioactive oxidation products.

William (Bill) Barrett
Vice President, Intellectual Property,
Advanced Liquid Logic, Inc.

William Barrett is lead author of iProperty: Profiting from Ideas in an Age of Global Innovation (Wiley & Sons, 2008) and is vice president, intellectual property at Advanced Liquid Logic, Inc. (ALL), a spin-out company from Duke University located in Research Triangle Park, NC. A patent attorney with over ten years of experience and a passion for developing and implementing better ways to strategically manage intellectual property, Barrett constantly asks, "How can it be done better, faster, in a more strategically targeted and economically sensible manner, with less risk and with the ultimate goal of creating more value?"  He puts these ideas into practice at ALL, where he works with an incredibly bright team of engineers and scientists developing digital microfluidics technology. Barrett has broad experience in the intellectual property field, having formerly worked with Moore & Van Allen, PLLC, Nobex Corp., and ipCapital Group, Inc. and has represented clients in a variety of technology areas ranging from biotechnology to semiconductors.

Marjorie Benbow
Director
North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s Greater Charlotte Office

Marjorie Benbow, an executive with extensive experience in biotechnology research, business and technology development, is the director of the Greater Charlotte Office of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.

Benbow works with companies, schools and institutions throughout an 11-county region to strengthen biotechnology research, business, education and workforce training, and to identify new opportunities for commercial biotechnology based on the region’s assets. Counties to be served by her office include Anson, Cabarrus, Catawba, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Richmond, Rowan, Stanly and Union.

Benbow serves as the region’s direct conduit to the Biotechnology Center funding programs. Prior to joining the Biotechnology Center, Benbow was the science and technology officer at WakeMed Health and Hospitals in Raleigh, where she developed collaborative agreements with other institutions and scouted emerging technologies to improve health care and hospital operations.

Before that she worked in the technology transfer office at UNC-Charlotte, where she managed intellectual property for university technology, licensed technology to companies and advised inventors how to commercialize their technology. Previously she was a public health policy consultant to state and county governments. She spent the first 13 years of her career in scientific research and teaching at various institutions.

A native of Winston-Salem, Benbow has a bachelor’s degree in zoology and a master’s degree in public health, both from the UNC-Chapel Hill; and an MBA and law degree from Wake Forest University.

Steven Casey
Vice President for Statewide Operations
North Carolina Biotechnology Center

Steve Casey is responsible for developing, directing and coordinating all biotechnology growth and development activities surrounding the Biotechnology Center's five regional offices.

Casey was the former Biotechnology Center Business Development Director where he helped to create the Technology Evaluation and Acceleration Model loan program and the Business Acceleration and Technology Outlicensing Network (BATON) which supports, streamlines and provides business-related inception activities for new companies emanating from North Carolina research organizations.

Casey is the founder and former chief operating officer of Expression Analysis, a Durham company that provides gene expression, genotyping and re-sequencing services for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

Before that he was a manager with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Duke University. Previously he was discharged with honors from the U.S. Air Force after two decades of service. Casey has a bachelor's degree in business administration from Wayland Baptist University and received an MBA from Elon College in 2001.

John Chaffee
Director
North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s Eastern Office

John Chaffee is the director of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center Eastern Regional Office after retiring as the Executive Director of the Pitt County Development Commission. As the lead economic development official for the Greenville/Pitt County area for more than 22 years, companies created 10,000 new primary jobs and invested more than $1 billion in plant and equipment.

Chaffee received his bachelor's and master's degree in economic geography, with a specialization in industrial location and regional economics, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

He began his career with the Sampson County Planning and Development Commission in 1977, then moved on to work with the Henderson-Vance County Planning and Development Commission. He left the position to direct Pitt County's economic development program in 1983.

During his 29 years in economic development, he was recognized as one of the Outstanding Young Men in America by the Jaycees and selected as one of the Outstanding Young Leaders in Geo-Economics by Site Selection Handbook. In 1994, Business North Carolina recognized Chaffee as one of the Top 12 Industrial Recruiters in the State of North Carolina.

Chaffee's trademarks have been the creation of comprehensive economic development “data books,”the revitalization or creation of local development corporations and the formation of public and private partnerships to support local and regional economic development.

He has published several articles on economic development and served on several statewide committees including Economic Development Information Network and reviewing North Carolina's competitive position in economic development.

He was appointed to the North Carolina Economic Development Board in January 2002 and served on the Biotechnology Center Board from 2003-2005.

J. Donald deBethizy, Ph.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Targacept

J. Donald deBethizy, Ph.D., is a co-founder of Targacept, Inc. and has served as President and Chief Executive Officer since its spinout from R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in August 2000; he has also served as Targacept's President since its inception in 1997. 

Previously, Dr. deBethizy held positions of increasing responsibility at RJR, including Vice President of Product Evaluation, Research and Development, where he was responsible for development, regulatory affairs and market introduction of reduced risk products. At Targacept, Dr. deBethizy continues to play a key role in development of a portfolio of clinical stage novel small molecules targeting central nervous system diseases, and in developing business relationships with AstraZeneca, Aventis, Dr. Falk Pharma and GlaxoSmithKline. 

Dr. deBethizy led Targacept’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) in April 2006, raising $45 million; during Targacept's years as a private company, he was instrumental in raising $123 million in venture capital. Dr. deBethizy co-authored Innovation That Fits:  Moving Beyond the Fads to Choose the Right Innovation Strategy for Your Business published by Prentice Hall.  He is also the author of numerous peer-reviewed scientific articles and book chapters.  Dr. deBethizy was recognized by Ernst & Young as Emerging Company Entrepreneur of the Year in 2002 for his leadership in founding Targacept. 

In June of that year, Targacept was also the subject of a Best Practice case study article in the Harvard Business Review entitled Spinning Out a Star. Within the Winston-Salem community, he is currently on the board of directors of the Piedmont Triad Research Park, United Way of Forsyth County, and Winston Salem Chamber of Commerce.  He has also served on the boards of Forsyth Technical Community College Foundation and Piedmont Triad Entrepreneurs Network (PTEN).  Dr. deBethizy was recently elected to the Emerging Companies Section Governing Body of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). In December, 2006, he joined the Board of Directors of LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals.

Maarten de Jong
Managing Director
Lehman Brothers Global Healthcare Group

Based in New York, Maarten de Jong is a Managing Director in the Lehman Brothers' Global Healthcare Group. Before moving to New York, Maarten was at Lehman Brothers in London for five years, where he was responsible for the European healthcare coverage effort. Over the past 15 years, Maarten has been involved in a wide variety of Life Sciences transactions across the globe, including M&A and financings, for the major biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.

Prior to joining Lehman Brothers, Maarten worked for five years at MeesPierson, where he was a director and head of the Biotechnology Group. He began his career at Royal Dutch/Shell. Maarten holds a M.Sc. with distinction in Chemistry from Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Maarten is also serving on the Advisory Board of C21 BioVentures and served as a Supervisory Board Member of the Netherlands/Luxemburg listed BioPharma Fund.

Wing Delatorre, M.D., M.B.A.
Director, New Ventures
Biogen Idec

Wing Delatorre is currently a Director of New Ventures at Biogen Idec, where she sources and evaluates venture investment opportunities with a focus in cardiovascular disease and immunology/inflammation. Wing worked in the Biogen Idec Business Development group for one and a half years before joining the New Ventures Group.

Prior to joining Biogen Idec, Wing was an Engagement Manager at L.E.K. Consulting, a global strategic consulting firm, working with leading biopharma and biotech companies on their corporate strategy. Wing trained in General Surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and completed a Research Fellowship at the Laboratory of Tissue Engineering at Harvard Medical School with Dr. Joseph Vacanti.

Wing received her M.D. from Harvard Medical School/M.I.T. Health Science and Technology Program, B.S. in Biology from the California Institute of Technology, and M.B.A. from Duke Fuqua School of Business and Administration.

Jennifer Fox
Managing Director, Investment Banking Healthcare
Deutsche Bank

Ms. Fox joined Deutsche Bank in May 2006 and has 14 years of healthcare investment banking experience, primarily in life sciences. She has wide ranging transactional experience including private and public equity, convertible securities, strategic advisory and mergers and acquisitions.

Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Ms. Fox was a Senior Managing Director at Bear Stearns in the Health Care Investment Banking Group for three years.  Ms. Fox also worked as a Vice President in the Healthcare Corporate and Investment Banking Group at Banc of America Securities for two years and from 1993 to 2001, Ms. Fox worked in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group for Prudential Securities Inc. and the Prudential Vector Healthcare Group focusing on life sciences. Ms. Fox graduated summa cum laude with degrees in Finance and Marketing from Manhattan College. She is a member of the Board of Directors for The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation.

Simon Gill
Managing Director and Co-head of U.S. Healthcare Investment Banking
RBC Capital Markets

Simon joined RBC Capital Markets in April 2006. He was previously at Needham & Company, where he served as the Co-head of the Biotechnology & Healthcare Group. Simon has been an investment banker for over 25 years, starting his career with Credit Suisse First Boston in London in 1982. He has worked in the U.S. since 1984, focused primarily on providing financial advisory and capital raising services for U.S. healthcare companies. In addition to Needham and CSFB, he has worked at SBC Warburg (now called UBS) and Prudential Securities, where he was Head of Investment Banking. Simon graduated from the University of Oxford in 1982 with MA and BA degrees.

A.R. Kinney Horn
Business Development
Genentech, Inc.

Mr. Horn is a Senior Manager in Business Development at Genentech, Inc. He is involved in licensing transactions for novel therapeutics, technologies and intellectual property. In addition, Mr. Horn works with early stage biotechnology companies that Genentech has invested in through its GenenFUND, Genentech’s private equity fund. Mr. Horn joined Genentech in 2003 in the R&D finance group.

From 2003 to 2005, Mr. Horn held positions of increasing responsibility supporting 10 molecules in Genentech’s portfolio as a Financial Analyst, the B-cell franchise core team as a Senior Financial Analyst, and Genentech’s business development transactions as a Finance Manager. Prior to Genentech, Mr. Horn worked with early stage life science companies as part of venture capital investments and investment banking transactions at Emerging Technology Partners and Oscar Gruss & Son respectively. Mr. Horn holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and International Affairs from Mary Washington College and a Master’s Degree in Biochemistry from Georgetown University.

Randall Johnson
Director
North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s Southeastern Office

Randall Johnson has extensive experience in entrepreneurial development, opportunity-driven business plan creation, scientific research, education, regional and statewide economic development, and creative sector development. Johnson has started and operated his own businesses, conducted scientific research for Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and taught entrepreneurial skills to budding start-up companies. Immediately prior to joining the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, Johnson's activities included economic development and community development work for Wilmington.

Johnson graduated cum laude from Wake Forest University with an undergraduate concentration in psychology, and he holds an MBA from the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University. He serves on the Boards and Committees of business, civic and arts-related organizations in the region and state.

Ramana Kuchibhatla, Ph.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Ventureast Pharmaceutical Services, LLC

Ramana Kuchibhatla received a B.Sc. {Hons} in mathematics and a M.Sc. in applied statistics from the Osmania University in Hyderabad, India. He worked at ICMR’s Institute for Research in Medical Statistics in Madras in public health and health statistics before joining the Administrative Staff College of India in Hyderabad as a faculty member in the Center for Energy, Environment & Technology. He was recruited by the University of Iowa to join the Graduate Program in Geography to major in quantitative methods and environmental studies. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.

He worked at ManTech Environmental Technology, Inc. a private consulting company specializing in environmental and health assessments where he studied cancer risks of agricultural chemicals.

His pharmaceutical career began in 1996 with Glaxo Wellcome (now GlaxoSmithKline) where he consulted in Biostatistics and later in clinical research and development in the neurology and psychiatry therapeutic area. During his tenure, he was involved in the successful filing of two sNDAs that brought Zyban® and Lamictal® to market.

In 2001, he joined Targacept, Inc. as director of clinical research and development to help setup clinical operations and later assumed management of not only clinical development but also biostatistics and data management functions at Targacept Inc.

In April 2007, Kuchibhatla left Targacept and founded Ventureast Pharmaceutical Services, LLC based in North Carolina, USA and QED Pharmaceutical Services Pvt Ltd. located in Hyderabad, India to offer integrated clinical research services to the pharmaceutical companies.

Reid J. Leonard, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Licensing & External Research
Merck & Co, Inc.

Dr. Reid Leonard is Executive Director, External Research and Licensing for the Merck Research Laboratories. Reid's home base is Merck's Boston research facility at 33 Avenue Louis Pasteur, in the Longwood Medical Area.

Reid's role is to identify partnering opportunities that fit with Merck's strategic research and development goals across all therapeutic and technology areas. This is an outreach function to complement Merck's existing world-wide licensing and collaborative research activities. As such, the focus is on early-stage opportunities: university technologies, incubator and start-up companies, and programs within established companies that may be a “good fit” for Merck, but which are not (yet) actively seeking a partner. His goal to build relationships that will foster lasting, productive partnerships between Merck and other members of the biomedical research community. Reid's geographic area of responsibility includes the Eastern United States and Canada, with a heavy concentration on the Boston/Cambridge bio-pharma cluster.

Dr. Leonard graduated from Brandeis University with a BA in biology and psychology. He earned a Ph.D. in biology (neuroscience) from Purdue. Following a postdoctoral fellowship in molecular pharmacology at Caltech with Profs Norman Davidson and Henry Lester, Reid joined the Merck Research Labs in Rahway, NJ. After ten years of basic and discovery research in ion channel biology, Reid moved into External Scientific Affairs, where he was responsible for the scientific evaluation of partnering opportunities in several therapeutic areas, most recently endocrine/metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. In November 2005, Reid transitioned to the “licensing ambassador/scout” role in Boston.

Cheryl McMurry
Director
North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s Western Office

Cheryl McMurry is an executive with extensive experience in biotechnology business development, commercialization and recruitment.

Prior to joining the Biotechnology Center, she managed the North Carolina Community College System's BioNetwork BioBusiness Center at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. Before moving to Asheville, she spent three years as senior vice president of Emergent Technologies Inc., a venture capital company headquartered in Austin, Texas, and was President of Emergent Technologies, Oklahoma, a partnership fund with investments in five Oklahoma biotechnology companies.

As the director of Technology Development and Marketing, McMurry was instrumental in creating the Oklahoma Technology Commercialization Center, now widely considered a national model for commercialization and capital formation activities.

She coordinated a statewide campaign to change the Oklahoma Constitution to allow public-private partnerships in research, development commercialization activities. As director of the Western Office, McMurry works with companies, schools and institutions throughout Western North Carolina to both identify and strengthen their capabilities for biotechnology development.

She administers the Advisory Committee for Biotechnology in Western North Carolina, which has determined that native plants and biotechnology are a significant strength and opportunity for the region, and she serves as a direct conduit for Western North Carolina to the Biotechnology Center's funding programs and other resources.

McMurry is also the executive director of the Bent Creek Institute which studies the efficacy of Appalachian native plants for improving human health.

A native of Ardmore, Okla., McMurry has a bachelor's degree in education from Auburn University, a master's degree in education from Winthrop College, a master's degree in public administration and a law degree from the University of South Carolina.

David Pierson
Partner
Intersouth Partners

David Pierson brings over 12 years of pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry experience to Intersouth Partners, where he is a member of the life science investment team. David joined Intersouth in early 2005 from New Jersey-based NPS Pharmaceuticals, where as head of US sales he built and launched the company’s first specialty field sales organization.

Prior to joining NPS Pharmaceuticals, David held several global director level positions with Pharmacia Corporation’s oncology business franchise. He was director of global new product marketing with commercial responsibility for a series of new oncology drugs moving through late pre-clinical and clinical development. Later he worked as director of global oncology marketing, managing the company’s portfolio of branded oncology drugs in Europe and Latin America.

David began his pharmaceutical career at Johnson & Johnson’s Ortho Biotech unit in 1992, advancing through a variety of sales, sales management, and marketing management roles culminating as director of oncology marketing for PROCRIT® which grew to over $1 billion in US sales during his tenure. In addition to his marketing, sales and new drug commercialization experience, David has participated in numerous in/out-licensing and acquisition evaluations on the corporate side. At Intersouth Partners, David is responsible for sourcing new investments, performing diligence, negotiating and syndicating investments and participating in ongoing portfolio company monitoring.

David serves on the board of directors of MaxCyte, Inc., and Novamin Technology, Inc., and is a board observer for six Intersouth portfolio companies. David holds a B.S. from the United States Military Academy at West Point and an M.B.A. from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Brandon J. Price, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer
GalenBio, Inc.

Brandon J. Price, Ph.D. has more than 25 years experience in the biotechnology industry.  He has been CEO of Cognate Therapeutics, a stem cell research company, president and CEO of Goodwin Biotechnology, Inc., a biologics contract manufacturing organization and CEO of CropTech Corporation, a transgenic plant protein company.

Price has also held senior-level management positions at Cardinal Health, as vice president of biotechnology services; BioReliance Corp., where he was a key member of the team that led the company public in 1997, at Damon Biotech in the U.K. and Ortho Diagnostic Systems, a Johnson & Johnson Company. 

In addition, he co-founded the Institute for Cell Analysis at the University of Miami (FL), and Quality Biotech, a biosafety testing company. He has served as Board Chairman of the Virginia Biotechnology Association and Maryland’s counterpart, MdBIO. Price was named the 2001 Biotechnology Leader of the Year in Virginia and was appointed by then-Governor Warner as co-chair of the Virginia Biotechnology Initiative.

 

He currently sits on the Board of George Mason University Intellectual Properties, Inc., Prairie Plant Systems, Inc., OcuSciences, Inc., OtoMedicine, Inc., Research Triangle Europe, and CONNECT Central Europe. He also serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for Pall Biopharma and the Advisory Councils for the Keck Graduate Institute and the Amgen Bioprocessing Center (Claremont, CA), the Biological Systems Engineering Department at Virginia Tech University (Blacksburg, VA), and the College of Life Sciences at George Mason University (Fairfax, VA). He currently is CEO of GalenBio, Inc., a San Diego based novel vaccine platform technology company, where he has worked with the founders to license veterinary applications of the technology to a major veterinary vaccine company and is also working to leverage the technical and clinical results into the human vaccine market.  He is working with the owners on other opportunities, including a new product development services firm, Carlsbad Research Organization, and development of a major life sciences park, Research Triangle Europe, in the western region of Hungary. He holds the Ph.D. degree in biophysics from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and is the author of more than 50 articles in the scientific and business literature.

Christopher Price, Ph.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer,
LaamScience, Inc.

Dr. Price is a serial entrepreneur, inventor, consultant, and educator in life sciences with more than 20 years of senior executive R&D, business development, and management experience in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and specialty chemicals.   LaamScience is his third CEO assignment.  His teams have brought 4 therapeutic products into clinical study, of which one is marketed and the 3 others are in ongoing studies, and 2 consumer products are in the market.

 

He has raised more than $100 million of equity and debt for his early stage companies and completed a number of licensing deals collectively worth more than $400 million plus royalties.   Chris received his PhD in biology from Syracuse University and an MBA from the Sloan School (MIT).  He is an author on 28 peer-reviewed scientific papers, a book on global patent strategy (Wiley, 2007), and inventor on 34 U.S. patents and patent applications.  He is a Director of Otothera, Inc.,  a tinnitus therapy company, and a member of the scientific and clinical advisory boards of The Endpoint Group and of ConjuGate, Inc., an injectable drug delivery firm.

Gwyn Riddick
Director
North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s Piedmont Triad Office

Riddick joined the Biotechnology Center in September 2003 with more than 35 years of experience in the life science and horticulture industries and the higher education sector. With the life science industry, Riddick manufactured and managed various human and animal vaccines, diagnostics, blood products, consumer products and pharmaceuticals.

While a faculty member of North Carolina State University in Raleigh, Riddick served as Guilford County Director of the Cooperative Extension Service. Riddick later managed the Economic Development and business and industry education at Guilford Technical Community College as director.

He now directs activities in the Piedmont Triad region that promote biotechnology development through community capacity building and the Biotechnology Center's grant and loan programs. The grant and loan programs encourage research and development, entrepreneurial development and academic program development.

Riddick received his BSc Degree in Microbiology from The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio and an MBA in economics and marketing from Butler University in Indianapolis. He is a Fellow of the Natural Resource Leadership Institute and received a Certificate in Non-Profit Management from Duke University, Durham.

He is a member of the University of North Carolina-Greensboro's Bryan School of Business Advisory Board and works as a freelance journalist covering ecology, environment and horticulture.

“Horticulture and microbiology have been avocations or vocations for all of my life,” says Riddick. “As a Fellow of the Natural Resource Leadership Institute at North Carolina State University, I know that we owe significant tribute to plants for not only our shelter, clothing, food and medicine. We also owe our very existence through the oxygen we breathe which plants produce.

“We have hardly begun to tap the resources harbored in plants that will benefit mankind. Plants are our future and are an integral platform for biotechnology development.”

David Shoemaker, Ph.D., R.A.C.
Senior Vice President, Global Regulatory Affairs and Pharmacovigilance
Pharmaceutical Product Development, Inc.

As senior vice president of global regulatory affairs and pharmacovigilance at PPD, David Shoemaker, Ph.D., R.A.C., applies more than 25 years experience toward the design and execution of global regulatory strategies for the development of biologics and drugs from discovery through post-market approval. He also oversees the development of risk management plans and the reporting of adverse drug reactions to global regulatory authorities. Dr. Shoemaker serves as an advisor to multidisciplinary project teams providing regulatory perspective on clinical, preclinical, chemistry, manufacturing and controls decisions.  Dr. Shoemaker has been responsible for the submission of over a dozen marketing applications in a variety of indications for both drugs and biologics.

Prior to joining PPD in 2005, Shoemaker was with Cato Research Ltd., where he began his tenure as a clinical research scientist and eventually obtained the position of vice president of regulatory affairs and project management and served simultaneously as managing director of the company’s U.S.-based headquarters in North Carolina.

Dr. Shoemaker holds a doctorate in physiology and pharmacology from Duke University. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the department of physiology at Yale University School of Medicine. He holds a bachelors degree in chemistry from Trinity College and studied engineering at the United States Military Academy.

Richard Soltero, Ph.D.
President
PharmaDirections

Dr. Soltero has over 40 years of pharmaceutical research and development experience. Prior to founding PharmaDirections in 2003, he was Executive Director of Pharmaceutical Development and Analytical Chemistry at Nobex Corporation where he led the strategic and project teams on oral insulin (licensed to GSK in 2002). Before that he was Vice President of Laboratory Operations at Magellan Laboratories (now Catalent) and at AAI. He has managed Analytical Chemistry, Organic Synthesis, Peptide Synthesis, Microbiology, and Biotechnology contract research laboratories. At AAI he was responsible for managing 300 staff in 8 labs with combined annual revenue of over $30MM.

Dr. Soltero has also managed ethical and OTC pharmaceutical R&D groups. SmithKline Beecham Consumer Healthcare employed him as their Worldwide Head of Analytical, Microbiology and Stability R&D. At Johnson & Johnson he was Manager of Pharmaceutical Analysis where he conducted biotechnology research and was a leader of the Platelet Derived Growth Factor project (now on the market as Regranex). At Berlex Laboratories he managed the Analytical R&D laboratory and the Pharmacy R&D formulation development programs. He joined Ciba-Geigy in 1967 where he held various positions of increasing responsibility from Formulation Technician to Senior Scientist/Supervisor in Biopharmaceutics and Preformulation Laboratories. He has over 45 scientific publications and presentations in the areas of biopharmaceutics, automation and protein product development. He is the primary inventor on 6 issued patents and on multiple patent applications in the areas of oral protein formulations, recombinant protein processes, drug delivery technologies, sustained release products, and electronic quality and manufacturing systems.

Mary Beth Thomas
Senior Director
North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s Centers of Innovation Operations

Mary Beth Thomas, Ph.D., is the senior director, Centers of Innovation (COI) Operations, the Biotechnology Center's newest and largest funding program targeting development of important new business sectors.

Thomas formerly served as the former statewide director of technology commercialization with the Small Business and Technology Development Center in Raleigh.

Before working at the Small Business and Technology Development Center , Thomas was the assistant director of the neurosensory program at Tranzyme Pharma in Research Triangle Park. She had also been assistant director of the neuroprotection program at Cogent Neuroscience in Durham.

She earned a bachelor of science degree in biotechnology at the Rochester Institute of Technology (New York), a doctorate in developmental biology from the University of Cincinnati (Ohio) and served as a postdoctoral fellow with the Department of Neurobiology at Duke University.

The Biotechnology Center, backed by funding from the General Assembly, started the Centers of Innovation program in 2007. It is designed to establish research and commercial hubs for products and processes deemed especially well-suited to creating biotechnology-related jobs across the state.

Paul B. Watkins, M.D.
Verne S. Caviness Professor of Medicine, Director, Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute
UNC-Chapel Hill

Paul Watkins is the Verne S. Caviness Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Professor of Pharmacotherapy and Toxicology, and Director of the Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute at the University of North Carolina.  Dr. Watkins’ research interests include drug metabolism, disposition, and hepatotoxicity.  He is chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Liver Toxicity Biomarker Study, an FDA Critical Path intiative.  He also chairs the Steering Committee for the Drug Induced Liver Injury Network (DILIN) funded by the National Institute for Diabetes Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Alastair J.J. Wood, M.D.
Managing Director
Symphony Capital

Dr. Wood received his medical degree from St Andrew’s University and Dundee Medical School in Scotland.  He joined the Faculty at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 1978 where he became tenured Professor of both Medicine and Pharmacology and Attending Physician at Vanderbilt Medical School.  He was Assistant Vice Chancellor for Clinical Research (1999-2004), and Associate Dean, Vanderbilt Medical School (2004-2006) before being appointed Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology in 2006.  His current academic appointments are Professor of Medicine and Professor of Pharmacology at Weill Cornell Medical College, New York.  He is Managing Director of Symphony Capital LLC, a New York based Private Equity Company managing over $300 million dedicated to investments in the clinical development of novel biopharmaceutical products.

Dr. Wood is a member of many societies and has received numerous honors, notably election to membership of The National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine, The American Association of Physicians (AAP), The American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), Honorary Fellow, American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society (AGOS), Fellowship of The American College of Physicians, Fellowship of The Royal College of Physicians of London, and Fellowship of The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.  He was the 2005 recipient of the Rawls-Palmer Award in recognition of “Drug investigation that brings the effects of modern drug research to the care of patients” from the American Society for Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

Dr. Wood has served on a number of Editorial Boards.  He was a member of The New England Journal of Medicine Editorial Board (2004-2006); he was the Drug Therapy Editor of The New England Journal of Medicine from 1985 to 2004, and is also on the Editorial Board of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics and The Scientist.  He has previously served on the Editorial Boards of The British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Biopharmaceutics and Drug Disposition.  He authored the Chapter in Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine on Adverse Drug Reactions from the 9th through the 15th edition.

Dr. Wood was the chairman of the FDA’s Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee until 2006, and chaired the 2005 FDA Advisory Committee on Cox-2 inhibitors.  He previously served as a member of the Cardiovascular and Renal Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration, and the FDA’s Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee.  Dr. Wood has also been both a member, and has chaired NIH Study Sections, and has served in a similar capacity for various philanthropic grant-giving bodies.  He has served as a director of pharmaceutical companies including Antigenics (AGEN), Symphony Neurodevelopment, and Symphony Evolution.  He has also served as a consultant to pharmaceutical companies, investors and academic institutions.  He has provided Congressional testimony, and directly interacted with and advised senior White House officials, legislators, and the Secretary of Health on matters related to public health.  He is a frequent commentator in the national press on issues related to medicine and pharmaceuticals.

His research interests have been focused on understanding the mechanisms for interindividual variability in drug response, with a particular focus on the molecular genetics of adrenergic receptors, ethnic differences in drug response, vascular response, and the genetics of drug metabolism.  His research has been continuously funded by NIH, and has resulted in over 280 articles, reviews and editorials.