Speakers & Bios
Dan BalbierzCEO, Barosense
Michael BarberVP, Healthymagination, GE
Daniel BradburyCEO, Amylin
David Brailer, MD, PhDChairman, Health Evolution Partners
Chuck BrynelsenCEO, IntraPace
Chris CoburnCleveland Clinic
Delos Cosgrove, MDCEO & President, Cleveland Clinic
Pierre Cremieux, PhDThe Analysis Group
Susan DentzerEditor-in-Chief, Health Affairs
Paul DiCorleto, PhDCleveland Clinic
Daaron DohlerTakeda Pharmaceuticals International
Steven EngleCEO, Xoma
Bill EricsonMohr, Davidow Ventures
David Ewing DuncanBest-Selling Author and Science Journalist
Craig Feied, MDMicrosoft
Jeffrey Friedman, MD, PhDProfessor, Rockefeller University
Alex GorskyWorldwide Chairman, Medical Devices and
Diagnostics Group, Johnson & Johnson
Thomas Graham, MDCleveland Clinic
Jurek GruhnU.S. President
Novo Nordisk
Joseph Hahn, MDCleveland Clinic
John HammergrenCEO, McKesson Corporation
Martin Harris, MDCleveland Clinic
William HawkinsCEO, Medtronic
David KapposDirector, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Paul Keckley, PhDExecutive Director, Deloitte Center for Health Solutions
David Kendall, MDAmerican Diabetes Association
Laurence "Ned" Kennedy, MDCleveland Clinic
Debra LappinPresident, Council for American Medical Innovation
John Lechleiter, PhDCEO, Lilly
Jack LiefCEO, Arena Pharmaceuticals
Antonia LofasoCelebrity Chef
Roger LongmanCEO, Real Endpoints
Stephen MacMillanCEO, Stryker
Michael McMillanCleveland Clinic
Rich MeeliaCEO, Coviden
Peter Menzel and Faith D'AluisioPeter Menzel Photography
Alan Moses, MDGlobal Chief Medical Officer
Novo Nordisk
Bill MurrayCEO, ReShape Medical
Steve Nissen, MDCleveland Clinic
Sam Nussbaum, MDWellpoint
John O'DeaCEO, Crospon
Mehmet Oz, MD"The Dr. Oz Show"
William PlovanicCanaccord Genuity Corp.
Stuart RandleCEO, GI Dynamics
Harry ReinFoundation Medical Partners
Eric ReuterCEO, Satiety
Timothy RingCEO, CR Bard
Michael Roizen, MDCleveland Clinic
Ellen Rome, MDCleveland Clinic
David RowanCleveland Clinic
Philip Schauer, MDCleveland Clinic
Kevin SharerCEO, Amgen
Nancy Snyderman, MDChief Medical Editor, NBC News
Anders Svensson, MD, PhDF. Hoffmann–La Roche
Joseph Talarico, MDCleveland Clinic
Peter TamPresident, VIVUS
Chris ViehbacherCEO, sanofi-aventis
Vishal WanchooCEO, GE Healthcare IT
Ron WinslowWall Street Journal
Bruce Wolfe, MDPresident, American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery
James WrightPresident, Valentx
James Young, MDCleveland Clinic
Dan Balbierz, BaroSense, Inc.
Dan is a seasoned executive with 25 years of medical device experience, who has worked in small entrepreneurial companies, as well as Fortune 500 corporations. Dan has served as the President & CEO of BaroSense, Inc. and as a member of its Board of Directors since October 2008. From 2002 to 2008, he held the position of General Manager and Vice President.
From 1998 to 2002, Dan served as Vice President, Research and Development and led the regulatory, clinical and research & development groups of RITA Medical Systems, a medical device company that pioneered advances in tumor ablation. RITA Medical Systems had a successful IPO in June of 2000.
From 1996 to 1998, Dan held the position of Worldwide Director, Research and Development for the Vascular Access Division of Johnson & Johnson Medical, Inc.
From 1987 to 1996, Dan held various engineering roles at Menlo Care, ultimately serving as the Director of Research and Development. Menlo Care was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in May of 1995. Dan began his career in an engineering role at American Pharmaseal.
Dan holds a BSME from California Polytechnic State University and is the author over 75 patent and patent applications in the medical device field.
Michael Barber, GE
Michael Barber is a GE Officer and the VP of GE’s healthymagination business strategy on global health. The healthymagination charter is (by 2015) to improve the quality of care by 15% or more, reduce the cost of procedures and processes through the appropriate use of GE technologies and services by 15% and increase access to technologies and services essential to health by 15%.
Prior to this position Barber, a 25+-year GE veteran, was Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for GE Healthcare, leading a technology team of more than 7,000 engineers, technologists and scientists working in diverse fields such as MRI, CT, ultrasound, patient monitoring, anesthesia, life sciences, imaging contrast agents and health-related R&D at GE Healthcare. Healthcare’s revenue totals over $17B and the company spends over $1B annually for R&D.
Barber started with GE in 1982 and has had a variety of roles in engineering, operations and product management. When Barber was selected to lead healthymagination in June 2009, GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt remarked “Over the last four years, Mike has led all aspects of product development for advanced healthcare technologies, Mike knows how our technology can help patients, he knows what doctors, clinics and hospitals need to improve care and cut costs and he knows how to lead teams. With his deep experience in engineering and technology and his strong operations and process-driven expertise, Mike is the right leader to lead healthymagination and to grow our healthcare partnerships globally.”
Daniel Bradbury, Amylin
Mr. Bradbury has been Chief Executive Officer since March 2007, serving as President since June 2006 and as Chief Operating Officer since June 2003. He has served as a director since June 2006. He previously served as Executive Vice President from June 2000 until his promotion in June 2003. He joined Amylin in 1994 and has held officer-level positions in Corporate Development and Marketing during that time. Prior to joining Amylin, Mr. Bradbury spent ten years at SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, where he held a number of sales and marketing positions. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Illumina, Inc., Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), BIOCOM, the Keck Graduate Institute's Board of Trustees and the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation. Mr. Bradbury is a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and serves on the UCSD Rady School of Management's Advisory Council, RAND Health Board of Advisors and University of Miami's Innovation Corporate Advisory Council. He received a Bachelor of Pharmacy from Nottingham University and a Diploma in Management Studies from Harrow and Ealing Colleges of Higher Education
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David Brailer, MD, PhD, Health Evolution Partners
David Brailer, MD, PhD is Chairman of Health Evolution Partners. Dr. Brailer has sought to drive positive change in health care in his work as a physician, researcher, teacher, entrepreneur and policymaker. Dr. Brailer founded CareScience, Inc. and served as Chairman and CEO from inception, through its IPO, and until its sale in 2002. Under his leadership, CareScience led the market in development of care management, outcomes analysis and health information exchange. In 2004, Dr. Brailer was appointed by President George W. Bush as the first National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. In this role, Dr. Brailer developed and led the nation's strategy for ushering health care into the digital era.
Dr. Brailer is committed to improving health care by discovering and funding health technologies and health service companies to the industry. Founded in 2007, Health Evolution Partners is investing in companies that may lead and become valuable in the new era of value-based, cost-effective, and consumer-driven health care.
Dr. Brailer earned his MD at West Virginia University, completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and earned his PhD in health economics at The Wharton School. Dr. Brailer taught in Wharton's MBA curriculum for ten years.
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Chuck Brynelsen, IntraPace
Chuck Brynelsen was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer in June of 2005 after a 24 year career at Medtronic where he served in general management positions in a variety of business units. Immediately prior to joining IntraPace, Chuck was Vice President and General Manager of Medtronic's Cardiac Surgery Technologies business.
Previous positions include Vice President and General Manager of Medtronic Perfusion Systems, Vice President and President Medtronic Asia Pacific, and Vice President Corporate Marketing. During his tenure at Medtronic Chuck gained extensive experience in the application of electrical stimulation therapy for treating numerous cardiac and neurological diseases. He spent the early years of his career at Medtronic in the Cardiac Rhythm Management business participating in the introduction of dual chamber pacemakers, rate responsive pacemakers, implantable defibrillators, and bi-ventricular pacemakers.
Chuck received his B.A. degree from Bradley University and an MBA from Northwestern University. Additionally, Chuck is active in improving the education experience of East Palo Alto students and is a volunteer pilot with Angel Flight.
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Chris Coburn, Cleveland Clinic
Chris Coburn has served as Executive Director of Cleveland Clinic Innovations, Cleveland Clinic’s corporate venturing arm, since it was established in May, 2000. He has built a high performing team of nearly three dozen professionals guided by some of the nation’s top venture capitalists. In June 2010, Innovations recognized by Global Corporate Venturing as one of the world’s top 30 health corporate venturing organizations.
Mr. Coburn serves on the board of directors of Autonomic Technologies, Cleveland HeartLab, Intelect, PeriTec, and BioEnterprise. He is a former Vice President and General Manager of Battelle Memorial Institute, director of the U.S. Enrichment Corporation (NYSE:USU) and author of the only comprehensive profile of public sector commercialization initiatives as well as numerous articles and book chapters. He has consulted, testified and spoken on technology commercialization throughout North America and more than 20 countries. He is a member of the Ohio’s 3rd Frontier Advisory Board and a trustee of Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, Hathaway Brown School, and the City Club of Cleveland. He was selected in 2008 by Neurotech Business Reports as the most valuable financial professional.
He and his wife Nancy have three mostly grown children and live in Shaker Heights, Ohio.
Delos Cosgrove, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer Cleveland Clinic
Delos Cosgrove M.D., is president and chief executive officer of Cleveland Clinic.
As CEO, Dr. Cosgrove presides over a $5 billion healthcare system comprised of the Cleveland Clinic, nine community hospitals, 15 family health and ambulatory surgery centers, Cleveland Clinic Florida, the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, Nevada, Cleveland Clinic Toronto, and Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. His leadership has emphasized patient care and patient experience, including the re-organization of clinical services into patient-centered, organ and disease-based institutes. He launched major wellness initiatives for patients, employees and communities. In 2008, he oversaw the completion of more than 4 million square feet of new construction and improvements at Cleveland Clinic, including new homes for the Heart & Vascular Institute and Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute.
Dr. Cosgrove received his medical degree from the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville and completed his clinical training at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Brook General Hospital in London. His undergraduate work was at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
He was a surgeon in the U.S. Air Force and served in Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam as the Chief of U.S. Air Force Casualty Staging Flight. He was awarded the Bronze Star and the Republic of Vietnam Commendation Medal.
Joining Cleveland Clinic in 1975, Dr. Cosgrove was named chairman of the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular surgery in 1989. Under his leadership, Cleveland Clinic’s heart program was ranked number one in America for ten years in a row (U.S. News & World Report).
He has published nearly 450 journal articles, book chapters, one book and 17 training and continuing medical education films. He performed more than 22,000 operations and earned an international reputation for expertise in all areas of cardiac surgery, especially valve repair. As an innovator, Dr. Cosgrove has 30 patents filed for developing medical and clinical products used in surgical environments.
Dr. Cosgrove is a sought-after speaker worldwide. He has addressed the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting at Davos, Switzerland, and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, in Washington, D.C. He is regularly quoted and featured in national magazines and newspapers, including a cover story in Time, and major articles in Newsweek, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. He has appeared on CNN, Fox, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, “The Charlie Rose Show” on PBS, and other national media outlets.
The recipient of Cleveland Clinic’s Master Clinician Award, Innovator of the Year Award and Lerner Humanitarian Award, Dr. Cosgrove is also a member of Cleveland Medical Hall of Fame and Cleveland Business Hall of Fame. In 2007 he was named Cleveland Business Executive of the Year by the Sales and Marketing Executives of Cleveland, and Castle Connolly’s National Physician of the Year. He also received the Woodrow Wilson Center Award for Public Service as well as Harvard Business School’s Award from HBS Alumni, Cleveland, and the Humanitarian Award of the Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio. Dr. Cosgrove topped Inside Business’s “Power 100” listing for Northeast Ohio, and is highly ranked among Modern Healthcare’s “100 most powerful people in healthcare” and “most powerful physician executives.”
Pierre Cremieux, PhD, The Analysis Group
Dr. Cremieux specializes in microeconomics, econometrics and pharmacoeconomics. He has published extensively on various aspects of cost effectiveness and cost utility of treatments for patients with cancer and anemia, as well as on analyses of the cost of cancer, depression and rheumatoid arthritis on workplace performance. Dr. Cremieux's research on health care spending, drug cost effectiveness and industry regulation has appeared in numerous academic and trade journals. He has consulted to numerous clients in the U.S. and Canada, including law firms, corporations, and government agencies and testified in jury and bench trials as well as arbitrations and administrative proceedings. Recent testimony before government agencies has included topics of pharmaceutical labeling, reimbursement, and pricing. He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Quebec at Montreal.
Susan Dentzer, Editor-in-Chief, Health Affairs
Susan Dentzer is the editor-in-chief of Health Affairs, the nation's leading peer-reviewed journal focused on the intersection of health, health care and health policy in the United States and internationally. One of the nation's most respected health and health policy journalists, she is an on-air analyst on health issues with the PBS NewsHour, and a frequent guest and commentator on such National Public Radio shows as This American Life and The Diane Rehm Show. Dentzer is also an elected member of the Institute of Medicine and the Council on Foreign Relations.
At Health Affairs, Dentzer oversees the journal's team of nearly 30 editors and other staff in producing the monthly publication and web site. Health Affairs has been described by the Washington Post as the "Bible" of health policy. Its articles and their authors are frequently cited in the Congressional Record and in congressional testimony as well as in the news media. The Health Affairs web site recorded 21.5 million page views in 2009.
Before joining Health Affairs in May 2009, Dentzer was on-air Health Correspondent at the PBS NewsHour. From 1998 to 2008, she led the show's unit providing in-depth coverage of health care, health policy and Social Security. Prior to joining the PBS NewsHour, she was chief economics correspondent and economics columnist for U.S. News & World Report, and previously was a senior writer covering business and economic news at Newsweek.
Dentzer's other work in television has included appearances as a regular analyst or commentator on CNN and The McLaughlin Group. Her writing has also earned her several fellowships, including a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University, where she studied health economics and policy, and a U.S.-Japan Leadership Program Fellowship, during which she researched the effects of the rapidly aging Japanese population.
Dentzer is an elected member of the National Academy of Social Insurance, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization made up of the nation's leading experts on social insurance, is a fellow of the Hastings Center, a nonpartisan research institution dedicated to bioethics and the public interest.
Dentzer chairs the Board of Directors of the Global Health Council, the largest membership organization of groups involved in global health, and is a member of the Board of Overseers of the International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian organization providing relief to refugees and displaced persons around the world. She chairs the IRC board's Program Committee, which oversees the organization's activities in resettling refugees in the United States and in dealing with refugees and displaced persons in roughly 25 countries. A graduate of Dartmouth and holder of an honorary master of arts from the institution, Ms. Dentzer is a Dartmouth trustee emerita and chaired the Dartmouth Board of Trustees from 2001 to 2004. She currently serves on the Board of Overseers of Dartmouth Medical School.
Dentzer, her husband and their three children live in the Washington, DC area.
Paul DiCorleto, PhD, Cleveland Clinic
Paul E. DiCorleto, Ph.D., is the Chair of the Lerner Research Institute of the Cleveland Clinic and Chair, Department of Molecular Medicine, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The Lerner Research Institute (LRI) is home to over 180 principal investigators and 1500 total employees performing biomedical research that ranges from cellular and molecular biology to biomedical engineering. The LRI is also home to the Center for Clinical Research, which provides infrastructure support and oversight for all human subjects research at the Cleveland Clinic. Research funding from external sources to the LRI exceeded $165 million in 2008 with over $100 million coming from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other Federal agencies.
Dr. DiCorleto received his undergraduate training in chemistry at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his doctorate in biochemistry from Cornell University. Dr. DiCorleto’s research focuses on the molecular and cellular basis of atherosclerosis. He has been with the Cleveland Clinic since 1982, having served previously as Chairman of the Department of Cell Biology and as an Associate Chief of Staff. He is currently a member of the Clinic’s Board of Governors and Board of Trustees.
On a national level, Dr. DiCorleto has chaired multiple NIH and American Heart Association review panels, as well as several national conferences on research into heart and vascular disease. He has published over 100 articles in his field and serves on the editorial board of multiple scientific journals. Dr. DiCorleto has served as President of the North American Vascular Biology Organization, and is currently a member of the Scientific Advisory Board. He also serves as a member of the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Advisory Panel on Research. He was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2007. Dr. DiCorleto is a Community Board member of the Cleveland State University Board of Trustees. He has served as a consultant and Board member of multiple companies and is currently a director of Cleveland BioLabs, Inc., a publicly traded company.
Steven Engle, Xoma
Steve Engle is a senior biopharmaceutical industry executive with more than 30 years of leadership experience in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, drug delivery and device industries. Since 2007, he has been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of XOMA Ltd., a leading developer of monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics. Based in Berkeley, California, XOMA has 200 employees focused on the development of XOMA 052, a paradigm-shifting anti-inflammatory approach to the treatment of diabetes, cardiovascular and other diseases, among other proprietary and funded collaborative development programs. Previously, Mr. Engle was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company, which discovered the B cell tolerance mechanism and developed the first B cell toleragen for lupus patients. Mr. Engle also served as Vice President of Marketing for Cygnus, a drug delivery company that developed the Nicotrol transdermal smoking cessation system, in management positions at other medical device companies, and as an industry consultant.
A frequent speaker at industry-wide investment and management forums focused on innovation in biomedical product development, commercialization and partnering, Mr. Engle is on the Board of Directors of BIO, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and a member of the Board of Directors of BayBio, northern California’s life science association. He also served on the Board of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Council and the Lupus Foundation of America. Mr. Engle holds M.S.E.E. and B.S.E.E. degrees from the University of Texas and was an invited operating room intern for Dr. M. E. DeBakey at Baylor Medical School.
Bill Ericson, Mohr Davidow Ventures
Bill Ericson joined Mohr Davidow in 2000 after more than a decade of working closely with entrepreneurs to start and build innovative businesses in the role of lawyer, board member, entrepreneur and investor. Bill believes that entrepreneurship is a singularity of the American experience, and strives to help as a key advisor and counselor to great entrepreneurs from the very earliest days of an enterprise.
Bill's investment focus at Mohr Davidow is primarily in life sciences, with a current specific focus on molecular diagnostics and platforms that will enable the vision of personalized medicine. He works closely with a cross-disciplinary team of leading scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs, and seeks to apply technology solutions to life sciences in non-traditional ways. Bill has also led investments in a number of information technology and Internet companies.
Prior to Mohr Davidow, Bill founded and ran Venture Law Group's Seattle office. Bill is particularly proud of being a member of the founding team of Rosetta Inpharmatics and serving on its Board of Directors until its acquisition by Merck in 2001.
Bill serves on the Board of Northwestern University School of Law and is a member of the Personalized Medicine Coalition.
Bill received his B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University of Foreign Service and J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law.
He led investments and holds board seats with Adamas Pharmaceuticals, Artemis Health, AudienceScience, CardioDx, Finsphere, MLCDx, nLight, Pacific Biosciences, Rocket Fuel, RainDance Technologies, Tethys Bioscience and Visible Measures.
David Ewing Duncan, Best-Selling Author and Science Journalist
David Ewing Duncan is an award-winning, best-selling author of seven books and numerous essays, articles and short stories; and a television, radio and film producer and correspondent. He is a columnist for Fortune and The Fiscal Times, and the Chief Correspondent for public radio's "Biotech Nation". He writes for the New York Times, Wired, Discover, National Geographic, and many other publications. At UC Berkeley he is the Director of the Center for Life Science Policy. David's most recent book is the bestselling Experimental Man: What one man's body reveals about his future, your health, and our toxic world (Wiley). His previous books include Masterminds: Genius, DNA and the Quest to Rewrite Life (Harper Perennial). He wrote the international bestseller Calendar: Humanity's Epic Struggle to Determine a True and Accurate Year (Harper-Collins/Avon), published in 19 languages, and a bestseller in 14 countries. David has been a Contributing Editor and columnist for Conde Nast Portfolio, and a Contributing Editor for Wired and Discover; he has been a longtime commentator for NPR's "Morning Edition.", and a special correspondent and producer for ABC's Nightline and 20/20. He has been a correspondent for NOVA's ScienceNow!, and a producer for Discovery Television.
Craig Feied, MD, Microsoft Health Solutions
Dr. Feied is Chief Health Strategy Officer for Microsoft’s Health Solutions Group, and Professor of Emergency Medicine at Georgetown University.
His background is equal parts clinical and technical; he has provided direct patient care to more than 80,000 patients in high-intensity urban emergency departments, taught a generation of residents and medical students, published articles and textbooks in the areas of biomedical informatics, Emergency Medicine, and venous disease, and directed more than 100 technology engineering projects.
His work with technology and medical informatics has been featured on national television; in publications such as Business 2.0 and Healthcare Informatics; and in newspapers including the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, and has been the subject of a series of five Harvard Business School case studies.
Dr. Feied was a Founding Director of the Institutes for Innovation in Medicine, where he developed a unique software architecture ("Azyxxi") for real-time integration, display, and analysis of all data from all legacy systems across an enterprise. In 2006 the Azyxxi system was acquired by Microsoft Corporation, and in 2008 the system was renamed "Amalga” and made commercially available for the first time.
Dr. Feied is committed to improving medicine through innovation in medical informatics.
Jeffrey Friedman, MD, PhD
Dr. Jeffrey Friedman is a physician scientist studying the genetic mechanisms that
regulate body weight. Dr. Friedman's research on various aspects of obesity received
national attention in late 1994, when it was announced that he and his colleagues had
isolated the mouse ob gene and its human homologue. They subsequently found that
injections of the encoded protein, leptin, decreases body weight of mice by reducing food
intake and increasing energy expenditure. Current research is aimed at understanding the
genetic basis of obesity in human and the mechanisms by which leptin transmits its weightreducing
signal.
He is currently a Professor at the Rockefeller University, an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Director of the Starr Center for Human Genetics. Dr. Friedman's affiliation with The Rockefeller University began in 1980, where he was awarded a PhD degree in 1986. He was appointed Assistant Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Rockefeller in 1986, promoted to Associate Investigator in 1991, and Investigator in 1997. Dr. Friedman received an MD degree from Albany Medial College in 1977 and completed a medical residency at Albany Medical College in 1980.
Dr. Friedman was born in Orlando, Florida, on July 20, 1954, and grew up in North Woodmere, Long Island. He graduated from Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute magna cum laude and, at the age of 22, received his medical degree from Albany medical College of Union University in Albany, New York. While at Albany Medical College, he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, the medical honor society. After completing a residency in Internal Medicine at Albany Medical Center Hospital, Dr. Friedman came to Rockefeller as a postgraduate fellow and associate physician in 1980. From 1980 to 1981, he also served as a postgraduate fellow at Cornell University Medical College. In 1986, he received a PhD under the tutelage of Professor James Darnell, was appointed assistant professor, and became an assistant investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Friedman was appointed Professor at Rockefeller in 1995 after serving as Associate Professor and Head of Laboratory of Molecular Genetics at the Institution since 1991 and in 1998 awarded the Marilyn Simpson Professorship. In 1995 he was appointed Director of the Starr Foundation Center for Human Genetics.
Alex Gorsky, Johnson & Johnson
Alex Gorsky is the Worldwide Chairman of Medical Devices and Diagnostics Group and a member of the Executive Committee at Johnson & Johnson. He assumed this role in September 2009.
Alex began his Johnson & Johnson career as a sales representative with Janssen Pharmaceutica Inc. in 1988. Over the next 15 years, he advanced through positions of increasing responsibility in sales, marketing and management and, in 2001, was appointed President of JANSSEN. In 2003, he was promoted to Company Group Chairman of the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Alex left Johnson & Johnson in 2004 to serve as the chief operating officer for Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. In 2005, he was named head of Pharma North America and Chief Executive Officer for Novartis.
Alex returned to Johnson & Johnson in 2008 as Company Group Chairman and Worldwide Franchise Chairman for ETHICON. At that time, he was also appointed to the Surgical Care Group Operating Committee. In early 2009, he was appointed Worldwide Chairman of the Surgical Care Group and also was appointed to the Johnson & Johnson Executive Committee.
Alex holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and spent six years in the U.S. Army, finishing his military career with the rank of Captain. Alex earned a Master of Business Administration degree from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1996.
A longtime advocate of diversity and inclusion, Alex was named the 2009 Mentor of the Year by the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, an organization he has been involved with for many years. During his tenure with Novartis, he established the Novartis CEO Award for Diversity and Inclusion. Currently, he is the Executive Sponsor of the Johnson & Johnson Women’s Leadership Initiative. Throughout his many years with Johnson & Johnson, Alex has supported a wide variety of diversity groups.
Alex serves on the board of directors of the Doylestown Hospital in Doylestown, PA. He and his wife, Pat, have a son, Nicholas.
Thomas Graham, MD, Cleveland Clinic
Renowned Hand Surgeon, Dr. Thomas J. Graham, rejoined Cleveland Clinic after a decade as the Chief of the Congressionally-designated National Hand Center. He also served as the Vice-Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore and has appointments as an Associate Professor in both Orthopaedic and Plastic Surgery at Johns Hopkins.
Graham’s many developments in surgical science, including his many patents on implants and other devices have provided his specialty with the most contemporary tools for advancing the health and function of patients worldwide. He has started and divested medical device companies, is a principal in operating corporations and serves on the Boards of several concerns in the medical device space.
Graham's history as an educator and Program Director aligns with the mission of the Clinic's Orthopaedic and Rheumatology Institute to deliver excellence in musculoskeletal care, conduct meaningful scientific inquiry and educate future leaders in the specialty.
Presently, Dr. Graham’s practice is recognized as the premier destination for the care of the professional athlete's hand and wrist. He is the recognized Hand Surgery Consultant for the NHL, MLB and NFL and his work with the PGA Tour is well-chronicled.
His experience as a surgeon-entrepreneur and business developer adds another dimension to the growing success that the Cleveland Clinic has enjoyed in commercializing the creative productivity and transcendent thought of their physicians and scientists. Graham believes that the Cleveland Clinic will add to its considerable legacy as a local medical icon and international healthcare resource by pursuing clinical excellence while fostering and nurturing creative thought and transcendent ideas.
In 2008, Dr. Graham paid the ultimate honor to his longtime patient and friend, Mr. Arnold Palmer, by launching the Arnold Palmer SportsHealth Center in Baltimore, destined to be among the country’s premier centers for the care of sports injuries. In addition to his status as the Founder, Dr. Graham serves as the Surgeon-in-Chief of the Palmer Center, directing its operations and strategy.
A graduate of Williams College, he received his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati. Graham, an Ohio native, is married to his childhood sweetheart; they have two college-age daughters.
Jurek Gruhn, Novo Nordisk
Jerzy Gruhn is president of Novo Nordisk Inc. Previously he managed a merger of Novo Nordisk's Business Area Europe East and the former Regional Office South East Europe as vice president of Business Area Europe East. With 16 countries, eight business units and more than 500 employees, the Europe East region is the most diversified of the business areas for Novo Nordisk in Europe.
Mr. Gruhn has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 20 years, starting his career as a medical representative. Joining Novo Nordisk Poland as sales manager in 1996, Mr. Gruhn played a leading role in building the field organization and implementing sales management tools and systems to improve proper targeting and segmentation of customers. Additionally, he launched activities to address the needs of people with diabetes in Poland, including the Diabetes Newspaper and a painting competition for children with diabetes. Both activities endure today.
In 2003, Mr. Gruhn initiated the National Program to Support People with Diabetes and played a key role in maintaining the success of Novo Nordisk in Poland at a time when the company’s portfolio of insulin analogs could not be introduced in that country. The program paved the way for the launch of new insulins, which achieved a 60 percent market share in the modern insulin segment within 23 months.
Mr. Gruhn is a member of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, American Diabetes Association, and Forum for Responsible Business in Poland (Partner of Corporate Social Responsibility Europe). In 2003, he was awarded the Silver Cross of Merit by the president of Poland for his involvement in the improvement of diabetes care in that country.
Joseph Hahn, MD, Cleveland Clinic
Joseph Hahn, M.D., MBA, was appointed Chief of Staff of Cleveland Clinic Health Systems and Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors for Cleveland Clinic in September, 2005. Dr. Hahn is responsible for the clinical divisions and the institutes, with over 2,200 professional staff members. In addition, Education, Research and Florida operations report to the Chief of Staff. He is widely regarded throughout the entire Cleveland Clinic as a compassionate clinician and manager.
Previous to that appointment, Dr. Hahn was the Chairman of Cleveland Clinic Innovations (CCI). As Chairman of CCI he was responsible for commercialization of all technology developed at the Cleveland Clinic.
Dr. Hahn was the longest serving Chairman of Surgery in the history of Cleveland Clinic, having served as Division Chair from 1987 to October, 2003. As Surgery Chair, he managed an enormous growth in the CCF’s surgical capabilities, ultimately reaching a budget level of more than $600 million with more than 220 surgeons. Six of the surgical departments he was responsible for were rated in the top ten in the United States. Cardiothoracic surgery was ranked #1 for nine years in a row and continues in that position.
A noted neurosurgeon, Dr. Hahn has also served as Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery and the head of the Pediatric Neurosurgery Section. He received his BA from Johns Hopkins University in 1964, his medical degree from the University of Virginia in 1968, his MBA degree from the Weatherhead School of Management in 1990, and was a flight surgeon in Southeast Asia. His wife Andrea is a distinguished artist. They have three grown children and six grandchildren.
John Hammergren, McKesson Corporation
John Hammergren is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of McKesson Corporation. He has been a director of
McKesson since 1999 and was elected President and CEO in 2001 and Chairman in 2002. He joined McKesson in January 1996.
Under Hammergren's leadership, McKesson has emerged as the leading provider of supply, information and care management solutions designed to reduce the cost and improve the quality of healthcare. During his tenure, the company has more than doubled its revenues to $106B, expanded into new markets and advanced to number 15 on the Fortune 500. It has also experienced a cultural transformation driven by the establishment of a set of core values, a commitment to continuous process improvement, and a collaborative approach to serving its customers.
In 2007 Hammergren co-authored the book, "Skin in the Game," where he describes the history of our health care system, provides an explanation of its current state, and outlines the great strides that he sees being made in the near future. In 2009 Hammergren became the chairman of the Healthcare Leadership Council, a coalition of chief executives of the nation's leading health care companies and organizations. Hammergren is a member of the Hewlett Packard board of directors. He is also a director of Nadro, S.A. de C.V., a leading pharmaceutical distributor in Mexico.
Hammergren earned a BA in business administration from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from Xavier University in Cincinnati.
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Martin Harris, MD, Cleveland Clinic
Martin Harris, M.D., M.B.A., is the Chief Information Officer and Chairman of the Information Technology Division of Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. Additionally, Dr. Harris is Executive Director of e-Cleveland Clinic, a series of e-health clinical programs offered over the Internet.
Dr. Harris’ interest and expertise in the area of improving the practice of medicine through the innovative application of information technology is reflected in his serving on numerous national policy and technology organizations, including:
Appointed to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Information Technology Standards Committee, which is charged with making recommendations to the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology on standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria for the electronic exchange and use of health information
Chairman of the Board, Health and Human Services Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine, which serves as an advisory body to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services
Chairman-elect, Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)
Presidential appointment to the Commission on Care for America’s Wounded Warriors
Presidential appointment to the Congressional Commission on Systemic Interoperability, which studies the steps required to develop a national health information network
Former Advisor to the Director of the National Institutes of Health
Dr. Harris received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. His residency training in general internal medicine was completed at The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He completed a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar fellowship in General Internal Medicine at The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and holds a Masters in Business Administration in Healthcare Management from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
William Hawkins, Medtronic
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bill Hawkins assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer of Medtronic, Inc. in August 2007 and became Chairman of
the Board in August 2008. Hawkins was named President and Chief Operating Officer in May 2004 after joining Medtronic
as Senior Vice President and President of Medtronic's Vascular business in January 2002.
Hawkins joined Medtronic from Novoste Corp., where he had been President and Chief Executive Officer since 1998. Earlier positions included Corporate Vice President and President of the Sherwood Davis and Geck organization of American Home Products; President of the Ethicon Endo-Surgery organization of Johnson & Johnson; President, Devices for Vascular Intervention and President U.S. Operations, for Guidant Corp.; and several increasingly responsible executive positions culminating in the presidency of the IVAC organization for Eli Lilly & Co. He began his medical technology career with Carolina Medical Electronics in 1977.
Hawkins received his Bachelor of Science degree in electrical and biomedical engineering from Duke University in 1976 where he also conducted medical research in pathology. He received a Master of Business Administration Degree from the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia, in 1982.
Hawkins is a member of the Board of Visitors of the Engineering School of Duke University and the Guthrie Theatre Board.
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David Kappos, U.S Patent and Trademark Office
David Kappos is the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). He was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate and was sworn in on August 11, 2009. In this role, Director Kappos is the Administration’s principal advisor on all aspects of intellectual property policy, and through the Secretary of Commerce, advises the President on intellectual property matters.
Since joining the USPTO, Mr. Kappos has adopted an ambitious agenda to address the significant challenges facing the agency. His top priorities are reducing patent pendency and the related backlog, improving patent quality, and effective policymaking and global intellectual property leadership. In his first few months at the USPTO, Director Kappos moved swiftly to implement much needed reforms in the patent examiner count system, providing incentives that will improve the examination process and reduce pendency. He rescinded the claims and continuations rules that would have penalized the innovation community, and he adopted an application exchange pilot program designed to speed up processing for selected applications while reducing the USPTO's backlog. Director Kappos also launched a new initiative designed to reduce the average processing time of green technology patent applications, and has taken measures to put the USPTO, a fully fee-funded agency, on a sustainable funding model.
David Kappos has spent 21 years in the intellectual property law field, and has a deep background in all aspects of the IP system. Before taking leadership of the USPTO, he was Vice President and Assistant General Counsel for intellectual property law at IBM. In that capacity, Mr. Kappos managed IBM’s intellectual property law department worldwide.
Director Kappos has served on the Board of Directors of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the Intellectual Property Owners Association, and the International Intellectual Property Society. He has also lived and worked in Asia.
Director Kappos received his bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of California-Davis in 1983, and his law degree from the University of California-Berkeley in 1990. He is licensed to practice law in California, New York, and Washington D.C., as well as before the USPTO.
Paul Keckley, Ph.D., Deloitte Center for Health Solutions
Paul Keckley, Ph.D., is Executive Director for the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions ("the Center"), the health care research arm of Deloitte LLP. He brings a distinguished 30 year career in health services research in the private sector and academic medicine. He is a health economist and policy expert, and a regular contributor to CNN and Fox News health reform coverage. Dr. Keckley is considered one of the country’s leading experts on U.S. health reform.
Prior to joining Deloitte, Dr. Keckley served in leadership roles at Vanderbilt Medical Center including international joint ventures, the Vanderbilt Center for Integrative Health, the health care MBA program launch, and as Executive Director of the Vanderbilt Center for Evidence-based Medicine (VCEBM). He has published several articles in peer reviewed journals and continues to serve in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine as a Visiting Professor and the Owen Graduate School of Business at Vanderbilt as an Adjunct Professor.
Dr. Keckley is a member of the Health Executive Network, Healthcare Strategy Institute, Healthcare Leadership Council, Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University Advisory Board, Lipscomb University College of Pharmacy Advisory Board, and the Personalized Medicine Coalition. He has authored three books and more than 200 articles, and publishes the Monday Health Reform Memo (www.deloitte.com/centerforhealth solutions). He has keynoted national meetings of the American College of Health Executives, Medical Group Management Association, World Hospital Association, Medical Travel Association, Convenient Care Association, American Medical Association House of Delegates, America’s Health Insurance Plans, the Personalized Medicine Coalition, eHealth Initiative, American Hospital Association, National Quality Forum and others. In 2007, he appeared with Michael Moore in a CNN series about the “facts” in Mr. Moore’s controversial documentary: SiCKO".
David Kendall, MD, American Diabetes Association
David Kendall, MD serves as Chief Scientific and Medical Officer for the American Diabetes Association (ADA) in Alexandria, Virginia. In this role he provides leadership and oversight of the Association’s scientific and medical activities including medical affairs, research programs, medical and community information, scientific and consumer publications and professional education.
In addition to his role with ADA, Dr. Kendall holds an academic appointment as Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota and serves as an Adjunct Medical Director at the International Diabetes Center (both in Minneapolis, MN).
With more than a decade of service to the International Diabetes Center, Dr, Kendall has previously served as Medical Director and Chief of Clinical and Professional Services (2008-9), Chief of Clinical Services (from 1997-2005). He was previously the Executive Director of Medical Affairs at Amylin Pharmaceuticals from 2005-2008. He served as full-time faculty at the University of Minnesota Medical School from 1994-1997.
Active in a broad array of diabetes research activities, medical education and clinical care for nearly 25 years, Dr. Kendall’s research and clinical interests have emphasized the management of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, emerging and novel therapies for diabetes care, the treatment and prevention of complications of diabetes and studies of models of diabetes care delivery.
He has authored more than 170 original manuscripts, chapters and professional reviews. Additionally, Dr. Kendall has served as an investigator in both the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial/Epidemiology of Diabetes Intervention and Complications (DCCT/EDIC) Trial and as a principle investigator for the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) Trial in type 2 diabetes.
Laurence "Ned" Kennedy, MD, Cleveland Clinic
Dr. Laurence Kennedy had his medical education at the medical school of the Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, graduating MB, BCh (equivalent of MD in US) in 1972. His medical residency was in the teaching hospitals of the medical school there, and he had his clinical endocrine training there also. He then came to the USA as a Research Fellow at the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, from 1978-1980, and returned to his native Belfast to take up the post of Consultant Endocrinologist at the Royal Victoria Hospital. He remained in that position for 12 years (equivalent of Assistant/Associate Professor) and returned to the USA in the mid 1990s. After a year at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, Dr Kennedy returned to the University of Florida in 1997 as Associate Professor in the Endocrine Division, gaining tenure and promotion to full Professor in 2002. He served as Interim Chief of the Endocrine Division at University of Florida from 1999-2000, and then as Chief for nine years until June 2008.
Dr. Kennedy’s current position is Chair of the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH, a position he took up in April 2009.
Dr. Kennedy’s initial laboratory-based research interest in the field of diabetes was glycation of proteins, and the studies he carried out at the University of Florida and on his return to Belfast resulted in his being awarded the degree of MD by thesis (equivalent of PhD in US) at Queen’s University, Belfast in 1982. His research interests subsequent to that have been mainly clinical, in the fields of diabetes and of pituitary disease with a particular interest in Cushing’s syndrome.
He has published approximately 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals including Lancet, BMJ, Diabetes, Diabetes Care, Diabetologia, Diabetic Medicine, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, Clinical Endocrinology, and Annals of Internal Medicine. He has also contributed chapters to four books, several editorials, and about a dozen monographs.
He has been an Associate Editor of Diabetologia (in the 1980s) and is currently on the Editorial Board of Diabetes Care.
Before returning to the USA Dr. Kennedy served on various committees of the British Diabetes Association, including the Committee of the Medical and Scientific Section, the Research Committee, and the Executive Council. He served as Chair of the Grant Review Committee of the American Diabetes Association from 2008-2009, and remains a member of the Committee.
Debra Lappin, Council for American Medical Innovation

Debra Lappin is recognized across government, academic and non-profit sectors as a public servant and leading strategist in public health and science policy. She serves as president to the Council for American Medical Innovation, an organization that brings together leaders in research, medicine, public health, academia, education, labor and business who are working in partnership toward a national policy agenda that preserves U.S. leadership in medical innovation.
As a senior vice president at B&D Consulting, Debra consults on innovative public-private partnerships and other alliances to drive translation research and public health promotion and prevention. Calling upon her experiences as former national chair of the Arthritis Foundation, she is a recognized national spokesperson on public engagement in the nation's public health and scientific enterprise.
Debra's practice focuses on the increasingly influential role of non-profit patient organizations as partners with government in research, development and prevention, where she orchestrates coalitions, global consortia, and other strategic alliances among academic research institutions, voluntary health agencies, government and industry. Areas of focus for such collaborative agreements have included work with the leading causes of disability, Arthritis and Alzheimer's disease, and rare diseases, such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Most recently, she has orchestrated science policy campaigns on issues of open access and genetic non-discrimination.
Drawing upon her understanding of health agency trends, law, ethics, and practical business challenges, she advises on the development of a broad range of emerging, complex tools to enable translation, such as disease registries, large integrated databases, bio-specimen repositories and cross-institution affiliations to share data.
Debra serves or has served as an advisor to the leading agencies in public health, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, and has participated on a number of committees at the National Academy of Sciences, including the Committee on the Organizational Structure of the NIH which led to a number of directions incorporated in the 2006 NIH Reform Act. She is a member of the board of Research!America and is a adjunct professor at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center
John Lechleiter, PhD, Eli Lilly and Company
John Lechleiter, Ph.D., is chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Eli Lilly and Company. Lechleiter served previously as president and chief operating
officer of Lilly, beginning in 2005, when he also joined the board. In 2004, he became Lilly's executive vice president for pharmaceutical operations. Prior to that,
he had served as executive vice president for pharmaceutical products and corporate development since 2001.
Lechleiter received a bachelor of science degree in chemistry from Xavier University (Cincinnati, Ohio) in 1975. He subsequently studied organic chemistry as a National Science Foundation Fellow at Harvard University, where he received his master's and doctorate degrees. In 2006, Lechleiter received an honorary doctorate of business administration from Marian University (Indianapolis).
Joining Lilly in 1979 as a senior organic chemist in process research and development, Lechleiter became head of that department in 1982. In 1984, he began serving as director of pharmaceutical product development for the Lilly Research Centre Limited in Windlesham, England.
He returned to the United States in 1986 as manager of research and development projects for Europe. In 1988, he became director of development projects management, and in 1989, he assumed additional responsibility for pharmaceutical regulatory affairs. In 1991, he was named executive director of pharmaceutical product development, and in 1993, he became vice president. He was appointed vice president of regulatory affairs in 1994. In 1996, he was named vice president for development and regulatory affairs. Lechleiter became senior vice president of pharmaceutical products in 1998.
He is a member of the American Chemical Society; Business Roundtable; and Business Council. Currently, Lechleiter serves on the boards of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers
of America (PhRMA); Nike, Inc.; Xavier University; Fairbanks Institute (Indianapolis); Indianapolis Downtown, Inc.; the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership; and the United
Way of Central Indiana.
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Jack Lief, Arena Pharmaceuticals
Jack Lief is a co-founder of Arena and has served as a director and our President and Chief Executive Officer since April 1997. Mr. Lief has also served as the Chairman of our Board of Directors since October 2007. From 1995 to April 1997, Mr. Lief served as an advisor and consultant to numerous biopharmaceutical organizations. From 1989 to 1994, Mr. Lief served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Secretary of Cephalon, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. From 1983 to 1989, Mr. Lief served as Director of Business Development and Strategic Planning for Alpha Therapeutic Corporation, a manufacturer of biological products. Mr. Lief joined Abbott Laboratories, a pharmaceutical company, in 1972, where he served until 1983, most recently as the head of International Marketing Research. Mr. Lief serves as a member of the board of directors of Adventrx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a research and development company focused on pharmaceuticals for cancer and infectious disease. Mr. Lief is also an Executive Board Member of BIOCOM, a life science industry association representing more than 550 member companies in Southern California, and was the Chairman of the board of directors of BIOCOM from March 2005 to March 2006. Mr. Lief holds a B.A. from Rutgers University and an M.S. in Psychology (Experimental and Neurobiology) from Lehigh University.
Antonia Lofaso, Celebrity Chef
Top Chef finalist, major brand spokesperson and national speaker Antonia Lofaso has always pursued her passion for food with zeal. From her six years at Wolfgang Puck’s Spago to her role as Executive Chef for Foxtail, the upscale Los Angeles supper club, Antonia has honed her creative culinary skills in four-star kitchens.
A passion for cooking came naturally for Antonia, who was born into a family with the classic Italian-American love of food as nourishment for both body and soul. She joined her mother in the kitchen from early childhood, and regular work in her father’s restaurant followed. Barely out of her teens, Antonia made the commitment to refine her skills by enrolling in the French Culinary Institute. She graduated with a command of technique that landed her positions with catering companies and fine dining restaurants.
The opportunity arose to join the team at Wolfgang Puck’s famed Spago, and Antonia seized the chance to accelerate her professional development. Under the mentorship of her greatest culinary influence, Executive Chef Lee Hefter, she mastered every station in the expansive kitchen, and modeled her leadership style after Chef Hefter’s example of consistency and composure.
After 6 years of furthering her craft with Spago, it was her turn to take the helm. Antonia fused her passion for fine cuisine with her leadership abilities when SBE Restaurant Group tapped the young culinary artist to serve as Executive Chef of their new Los Angeles venture, Foxtail. There she designed a unique menu, adding her own flair to classic European dishes. Though the hours were long and the responsibilities demanding, Antonia relished the challenge.
While developing the Foxtail menu, Antonia was chosen by television producers for another adventure—competing for the title of Top Chef on cable television’s highest-rated food show of the same name. Her most important role, as single mother to then 8 year old Xea, might’ve caused her to lose focus, but Antonia chose instead to use it as an inspiration to go as far as she possibly could in the contest. Noted for her calm demeanor under the extreme pressure of the show, she beat out 12 other talented chefs to make it to the final-four episode. 3.5 million viewers tuned-in to watch.
Antonia has shared recipes and tips on NBC’s Today show, and will appear as a guest judge on episodes of Top Chef Masters, airing on Bravo in the summer of 2009. She has been profiled in Parade, People, Bon Appetite and Cookie magazines, as well as the Los Angeles Times and L.A. Confidential, and numerous web magazines. The four page profile in American Way magazine declared her “The Unstoppable Antonia Lofaso." In addition, Antonia has used her skill and celebrity to contribute to fund-raising events, such as The St. Croix Food & Wine Experience, for which she served as Celebrity Chef Judge. Since Top Chef introduced her into homes across America, Antonia has continued to reach out to share with the public her love of food and her appreciation for the bonds formed around the dinner table. She is currently the spokesperson for Stouffer’s Easy Express and Stouffer’s Let’s Make Dinner, as well as for Sara Lee/Gallo Salami. She recently shot a Cheerios commercial as a chef-expert for General Mills, and is the staff chef-expert for momlogic.com. Antonia is currently working on a cookbook with over 100 recipes. These will be supplemented with tips and suggestions from her own experience and the experience of other celebrity single moms. The book will be the busy mother’s guide to easily reconnect with family and friends through the shared pleasures of cooking and enjoying meals at home. She looks forward to its completion and publication.
Roger Longman, Pharma, Elsevier Business Intelligence
Roger Longman was most recently Managing Director, Pharma at Elsevier Business Intellegence, a Reed Elsevier company. In 1983, Longman joined The Wilkerson Group as a writer covering the pharmaceutical and biotech industries for IN VIVO: The Business & Medicine Report. In 1989, along with David Cassak, he led a buyout of IN VIVO, moved the newly created company - Windhover Information - to Connecticut. In addition to IN VIVO, Windhover now publishes Start-Up, The RPM Report, Medtech Insight, and The Strategic Transactions Database; produces a series of in-depth market reports on the device industry; and organizes a number of conferences, including Pharmaceutical Strategic Alliances and The FDA/CMS Summit. In 2004, Windhover acquired Medtech Insight, an information company covering the medical device field through a market-leading newsletter, a series of in-depth market reports, and a number of conferences. In 2008, Windhover was acquired by Reed Elsevier and merged with its FDC Reports division (publishers of The Pink Sheet, The Tan Sheet and many other medical-industry newsletters), creating Elsevier Business Intelligence. Over the years, Mr. Longman has become recognized as one of the leading experts in biopharmaceutical strategy and dealmaking. He is often asked to speak at many key industry events organized by important trade organizations like the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), investment banks, venture capital firms and leading pharma and biotech companies. He lectures regularly at several leading universities. Mr. Longman completed his BA at Cornell University and an MA in English literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Stephen MacMillan, Stryker Corporation
Stephen P. MacMillan is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Stryker
Corporation and serves on its Board of Directors. Mr. MacMillan joined Stryker in 2003
as President and Chief Operating Officer, and was appointed CEO effective January
2005.
Mr. MacMillan began his career with Procter & Gamble in 1985 and later spent 11 years with Johnson & Johnson in both the U.S. and Europe, and was later named President of the joint venture between Johnson & Johnson and Merck.
In 2000, he joined Pharmacia Corporation where he oversaw five global businesses with revenues exceeding $2 billion and was a member of Pharmacia's Executive Committee. Throughout his career, Mr. MacMillan has focused on consistently driving strong double-digit revenue and profit growth, and developing strong teams.
In 2008, Mr. MacMillan was elected to the Board of Directors of Texas Instruments. He
also serves as a board member for the Greater Kalamazoo United Way and AdvaMed.
He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Davidson College and is a
graduate of Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program. He is married
and has two children.
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Michael McMillan, Cleveland Clinic
Michael McMillan is the Executive Director of Market and Network Services for the Cleveland Clinic, a $5 billion system with operations in Ohio, Florida, Nevada, and around the globe. He is accountable for all aspects of the business relationship with health plans and employers, including managed care business development, network management, contracting and direct sales for the Cleveland Clinic’s world class products and services. Mr. McMillan is also the President of the Cleveland Clinic Community Physician Partnership, which is a network of independent community based physicians.
In addition to his extensive experience in Managed Care, Mr. McMillan has held senior marketing and strategic planning positions with organizations across the country.
Mr. McMillan serves on the Board of The Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio. He is also a member of Leadership Cleveland.
In 2007, he was on the cover of Managed Healthcare Executive magazine; an article entitled “Face Value”. In this article Michael shares his focuses on outcomes and value to improve quality and expand national access.
Mr. McMillan earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Columbia University in New York.
Richard Meelia, Covidien Ltd.
Richard Meelia is Chairman, President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Covidien Ltd., a leading $10 billion global
healthcare products company. The business, formerly known as Tyco Healthcare, spun off from parent company Tyco International on June 29, 2007.
Covidien manufactures, distributes and services a diverse range of medical devices, supplies, imaging products and pharmaceuticals, sold under industry-leading brand names such as Autosuture, Kendall, Mallinckrodt, Nellcor, Puritan Bennett, Syneture, United States Surgical, Valleylab and others. Covidien has more than 43,000 employees in 57 countries, and its products are sold in over 130 countries.
Mr. Meelia, 60, joined Kendall Healthcare Products Company, the foundation of the Tyco Healthcare business, as Group President in 1991 and became President of Tyco Healthcare in 1995. During the ensuing decade, he directed Tyco Healthcare's acquisition, integration and product development efforts, growing the business from $600 million to the diverse $10 billion healthcare products leader it is today.
Prior to joining Kendall/Tyco Healthcare, Mr. Meelia was President of Infusaid, Inc., a division of Pfizer Hospital Products Group that manufactures and markets implantable infusion pumps and ports. Before that, he held sales and marketing positions with the Pharmaseal and McGaw divisions of the American Hospital Supply Corporation.
A graduate of Saint Anselm College, Mr. Meelia earned an MBA degree from Boston College.
Mr. Meelia is a member of the Board of Directors of Triangle, a career empowerment network for people with disabilities, and the Board of Directors
of Massachusetts Hospital School. He serves on the Board of Governors of the Tufts Medical Center and the Board of Trustees of St. Anselm College.
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Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio, Peter Menzel Photography
Peter Menzel is a freelance photojournalist known for his coverage of international feature stories on science and the environment. His award-winning photographs have been published in GEO, Stern, Le Figaro, Der Speigel, Paris Match, Focus, Muy Interesante, El Pais, National Geographic, Smithsonian, the New York Times Magazine, and Time. He has received a number of World Press and Picture of the Year awards.
Faith D'Aluisio is a former award-winning television news producer. She is the editor and lead writer for the book-publishing imprint Material World Books.
In 1998, Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio published their third book, Man Eating Bugs: the Art and Science of Eating Insects, a worldwide look at the human consumption of insects. This critically acclaimed book, a Material World Book imprint distributed by Ten Speed Press, won the 1999 James Beard Award for Reference and Writings on Food.
In November 2005 Menzel and D'Aluisio released another around-the-world exploration of average daily life in 24 countries - this time focusing on food. Hungry Planet: What the World Eats, details each family’s weekly food purchases and average daily life. The centerpiece of each chapter is a portrait of the entire family surrounded by a week’s worth of groceries accompanied by interviews and detailed grocery lists. The book received the coveted James Beard Best Book Award in 2006 and was awarded Book of the Year from the Harry Chapin World Hunger Media Foundation.
Alan Moses, MD, Novo Nordisk
Alan Moses received a BS from Duke University and an MD from Washington University School of Medicine prior to training at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, MO, the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, and Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston.
Dr Moses is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and has subspecialty certification in Endocrinology and Metabolism. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. In 1998, he was appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of the Joslin Diabetes Center, a Harvard-affiliated independent clinical and research facility and was appointed to the rank of Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in 2002. During his tenure at Harvard, Dr. Moses was involved in basic and clinical research, patient care, teaching of medical students, housestaff, and fellows, and medical research administration. He co-founded and co-directed the Clinical Investigator Training Program at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology HST Program.
In April 2004, Dr. Moses joined Novo Nordisk, Inc as Associate Vice President for Clinical Research and Medical Affairs - Endocrinology and in 2007 was named Chief Medical Officer, North America. In January of 2008, he was named Corporate Vice President and Global Chief Medical Officer. In this role, he is involved in the full spectrum of the diabetes focus of Novo Nordisk from drug discovery, through drug development, brand messaging, and the implications of diabetes for the company and for patients, healthcare professionals and for healthcare systems. He is intimately involved in the design of clinical trials, their interpretation, and translation into both regulatory and clinical documents.
He has written over 100 papers and articles on the treatment of diabetes, is an Editor of the Fourteenth edition of Joslin’s Diabetes Mellitus, and has been recognized both locally and nationally for clinical care in diabetes and for his research in diabetes and growth factors.
Bill Murray, ReShape Medical

Bill has over 25 years of experience in the Medical Device and Life Science areas. He is currently the President and CEO of ReShape Medical, Inc. a development stage company focused on non-surgical therapy for the treatment of obesity. Prior toReShape, Bill was President of the Molecular Biology Division at Applied Biosystems (Life Science tools for genetic analysis), and Group President Respiratory Technologies at Viasys Healthcare. For 18 years, Bill worked in various senior executive and general management positions at Medtronic, including President of the Pacing Business, the EP Systems Business, and the Functional Diagnostic Business. Prior to running these businesses, he had responsibility for manufacturing, development and project management of a number of implantable pacing systems. Bill holds a BSEE from the University of Florida and currently serves on the Boards of MTS Systems and ReShape Medical.
Steve Nissen, MD, Cleveland Clinic
Steven E. Nissen MD is Chairman of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Nissen came to the Cleveland Clinic in 1992. He served for 9 years as Vice- Chairman of the Department and five years as Medical Director of the Cleveland Clinic Cardiovascular Coordinating Center (C5), an organization that directs multicenter clinical trials. In 2006, he was appointed Chairman.
National leadership positions include a term as President of the American College of Cardiology (ACC), the professional society representing American cardiologists (March 2006 to March 2007). Dr. Nissen has served numerous ACC committees and working groups, including 2 terms on the ACC Board of Trustees.
Steven Nissen earned his medical degree from the Michigan University School of Medicine in Ann Arbor. He completed Internal Medicine internship and residency at the University of California, Davis in Sacramento, and Cardiology Fellowship at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington.
Dr. Nissen’s research during the last two decades has focused on application of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging to the assessment of progression and regression of coronary atherosclerosis. Contributions to scientific literature include being author/coauthor of more than 300 journal articles and 60 book chapters. As a physician/scientist, Dr. Nissen consults for many pharmaceutical companies on the development of new therapies for cardiovascular disease, but maintains a longstanding personal policy of requiring companies to donate all related honoraria directly to charity so that he receives neither income, nor a tax deduction.
In recent years, he has also written extensively on the subject of drug safety. In 2001, he co-authored the first manuscript that raised concerns about the safety of rofecoxib (Vioxx), which was withdrawn from the market 3 years later. In 2005, he re-analyzed data submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to support approval of muraglitazar, a new agent to treat diabetes and lipid disorders. Despite recommendation by an FDA Advisory Panel to approve this new agent, Dr. Nissen’s study reported that muraglitazar doubled the risk of major adverse cardiovascular outcomes and the Agency halted approval. In 2007, he authored a manuscript which demonstrated that the widely used diabetes drug rosiglitazone (Avandia™) raised the risk of myocardial infarction, resulting in a “black box’ warning by the FDA 6 months later.
Dr. Nissen served as a member of the CardioRenal Advisory Panel of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for 5 years, and served as Chairman the final year of his membership. He continues to serve as Advisor to several FDA committees as ‘Special Government Employee’. In July 2008, while serving as guest member of the Endocrine and Metabolism Advisory Panel, Dr. Nissen recommended a new approach for approval of diabetes drugs, which was ultimately adopted by the Agency in November 2008.
Steven Nissen is also known for his role in public policy discussions, particularly in the area of drug safety. He has testified in both the Senate (Health Education and Labor Committee) and House of Representatives (Energy and Commerce Committee) on the need to reform the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). He was actively involved in discussions with Congress on the FDA Amendments Act of 2007 that added additional regulatory authority for the Agency.
Professor Steven Nissen was selected for the ‘Outstanding Scientist Award’ by the Cleveland Clinic in 2004. Cleveland Clinic Cardiovascular Medicine Fellows have awarded him the ‘Outstanding Teaching Award’, an annual recognition, on 3 occasions. He also received the distinguished ‘Outstanding Contributions to Cardiovascular Research Award’ from the Gill Heart Institute of the University of Kentucky in 2004.
Samuel Nussbaum, MD, Wellpoint
Dr. Samuel Nussbaum is executive vice president, clinical health policy and chief medical officer for WellPoint, Inc. He oversees corporate medical policy, clinical pharmacy programs, and programs in clinical excellence. His principal responsibilities include: serving as chief spokesperson and policy advocate on medical issues, guiding the corporate vision regarding quality of care and its measurements, leading efforts to assess clinical quality performance and safety and developing a strategy to foster further collaboration with physicians and hospitals and national organizations (such as CDC and FDA) to strengthen and improve patient care. Dr. Nussbaum also has responsibility for HealthCore, WellPoint's clinical outcomes research subsidiary.
Dr. Nussbaum has served as president of the Disease Management Association of America, Chairman of the National Committee for Quality Health Care, as Chair of America's Health Insurance Plan's (AHIP) Chief Medical Officer Leadership Council and as a member of the AHIP Board, and currently serves on the National Quality Forum (NQF) Board and on the Secretary of Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health, and Society. He received the 2004 Physician Executive Award of Excellence from the American College of Physician Executives and Modern Physician magazine. Dr. Nussbaum is professor of clinical medicine at Washington University School of Medicine and serves as adjunct professor at the Olin School of Business, Washington University.
Dr. Nussbaum served as executive vice president, Medical Affairs and System Integration, of the BJC Health Care, where he led integrated clinical services across the health system and served as President of its medical group.
Dr. Nussbaum earned his medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He trained in internal medicine at Stanford University Medical Center and Massachusetts General Hospital and in endocrinology and metabolism at Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital, where he directed the Endocrine Clinical Group. Dr. Nussbaum served as a professor at Harvard Medical School where his clinical and basic research has led to new therapies to treat skeletal disorders and new technologies to measure hormones in blood.
John O'Dea, Crospon
John O'Dea is CEO of Irish medical device company Crospon. With 19 years experience in the medical device industry, he has overseen the successful launch of seven electronic medical device products in the past thirteen years. He co-founded Caradyne, an Irish respiratory medical device company in 1998, which was acquired by Respironics Inc. in 2004. Crospon, founded in late 2006, has received a number of awards in the past year including the 2009 Frost & Sullivan European Gastroenterology Technology Implementation of the Year award, the Overall Medical Technology Excellence Award and the Gold Award for Innovation and Research and Development at the 2009 Irish Medical Device Association Awards and, most recently, the 2010 Innovator of the Year Award at the Irish Small Firms Association National Business Awards. Mr. O'Dea is currently a Board Member of the Irish Medical Device Association, and Chair of the External Advisory Board of the Irish Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI) at NUI Galway. He has previously served as a member of the Irish Advisory Science Council Task Force on Company R&D, and represented Ireland on the working group responsible for developing the IEC60601-1-2 standard for electromagnetic compatibility requirements for medical devices. He holds Bachelor and Masters Degrees in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in Electronics Engineering all from University College Dublin.
Mehmet Oz, MD
Dr. Oz, host of "The Dr. Oz Show," is Vice-Chair and Professor of Surgery at Columbia University. He directs the Cardiovascular Institute and Complementary Medicine Program at New York Presbyterian Hospital. His research interests include heart replacement surgery, minimally invasive cardiac surgery, complementary medicine and health care policy. He has authored over 400 original publications, book chapters, and medical books and has received several patents. He performs 250 heart operations annually.
Dr. Oz was born in Cleveland, Ohio and received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University (1982) and obtained a joint MD and MBA (1986) from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Wharton Business School. He was awarded the Captain's Athletic Award for leadership in college and was Class President followed by President of the Student Body during medical school. He lives in Northern New Jersey with his wife Lisa of 23 years and their four children, Daphne, Arabella, Zoe, and Oliver.
Previously, Dr. Oz was a featured health expert on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" for over five seasons, spanning 55 episodes. He has also served as chief medical consultant to Discovery Communications, where his "Transplant!" series won both a Freddie and a Silver Telly award. In addition to numerous appearances on "Good Morning America," he has also appeared on the "Today" show, "Larry King Live," "The View," guest-hosted the "Charlie Rose" show and appeared on all the evening news broadcasts. He also served as medical director of Denzel Washington's "John Q" and participated in several other feature films.
Dr. Oz authored six New York Times Best Sellers including "You: The Owner's Manual," "You: The Smart Patient," "You: On a Diet," "You: Being Beautiful" as well as the award winning "Healing from the Heart". His new book "You: Having a Baby," was published by Free Press on December 1, 2009. He has a regular column in Esquire magazine and O, The Oprah Magazine and his article "Retool, Reboot, and Rebuild" was awarded the 2009 National Magazine Award for Personal Service.
Dr. Oz is also the host of a daily talk show on Sirius XM Radio's "Oprah Radio" on XM Channel 156 and Sirius Channel 195.
In addition to belonging to every major professional society for heart surgeons, Dr. Oz has been honored as one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People (08), Esquire magazine's 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century, a Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum (99-04), and "The Harvard 100 Most Influential Alumni" in the 02138 magazine, as well as receiving the Ellis Island Medal of Honor (08). He won the prestigious Gross Surgical Research Scholarship, and has received an honorary doctorate from Istanbul University, He was voted "The Best and Brightest" by Esquire Magazine, a "Doctor of the Year" by Hippocrates magazine and "Healer of the Millennium" by Healthy Living magazine. Dr. Oz is annually elected as a highest quality physician by the Castle Connolly Guide as well as other major ranking groups.
William Plovanic, Canaccord Genuity Corporation
Mr. Plovanic joined Canaccord in 2007 as a Managing Director, Medical Technology Equity Research Analyst. He has been a publishing sell-side analyst with coverage of medical devices for over 14 years. Mr. Plovanic's areas of coverage include Orthopedics, Diabetes, Obesity, Neuro-technologies, Dialysis, Aesthetics & General Surgery. In 2009 Mr. Plovanic was ranked as the #2 Earnings Estimator for Health Care Equipment & Supplies by Starmine. Furthermore, in 2003 and 2004, Mr. Plovanic was selected as a Wall Street Journal "All Star" Analyst in the medical device sector and in 2002 was named the #1 ranked analyst by Starmine for stock picking and performance in the medical technology sector. Mr. Plovanic is a frequent presenter at medical and industry meetings. Prior to Canaccord, Mr. Plovanic was a Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst at First Albany (now Gleacher & Company). Previously, he worked at PMG Capital covering medical devices and products. Mr. Plovanic also worked as Director of Research for the Capital Markets Division of LaSalle St. Securities Inc., where he focused on the small-cap healthcare, technology and biotechnology industries. He graduated from Bradley University with a BS in finance and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Stuart Randle, GI Dynamics
Stuart Randle is a seasoned executive with over 20 years experience in the life sciences industry. He joined GI Dynamics in 2004, and the company has since raised more than $75 million in venture financing and strategic investments by Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic. During his tenure as CEO, GI Dynamics has made significant clinical progress with its EndoBarrier technology platform for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity. Prior to GI Dynamics, he was an Entrepreneur in Residence at Advanced Technology Ventures. Previously, Stuart served as president and CEO at ACT Medical, Inc., where he implemented a strategic repositioning of the company that resulted in the acquisition by MedSource Technologies in 2001. Prior to ACT, Stuart was corporate officer at Allegiance Healthcare Corporation, where he was integral to the successful spin-off of Allegiance from Baxter International. Stuart started his career at Baxter Healthcare where he spent 10 years in various senior management positions. Stuart earned an MBA from The Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University.
Harry Rein, Foundation Medical Partners

Mr. Rein is General Partner of Foundation Medical Partners. He served for 15 years as the founder and managing general partner of Canaan Partners. In addition to his role as the managing general partner at Canaan Partners, Mr. Rein was responsible for Canaan’s Life Sciences Investment Practice. Prior to Canaan Partners, for four years he was president and CEO of GE Venture Capital Corporation. Mr. Rein has extensive experience with small and mid-sized companies, including the supervision of all investments made by GE Venture Capital during his tenure as President. Mr. Rein joined the General Electric Company in 1979 and directed several of GE’s lighting businesses as general manager before joining the venture capital subsidiary. He has also worked for Transaction Systems, a strategic consulting firm, as a vice president; with Gulf Oil Corporation as director of corporate planning; and with Polaroid Corporation in several manufacturing positions. Mr. Rein has served on the boards of directors of more than 20 public and private entrepreneurial companies, including: Cell Pathways, OraPharma (acquired by Johnson & Johnson), National MD (acquired by GE), OmniSonics, GenVec (NASDAQ: GNVC), CardioNet (NASDAQ: BEAT) and Spine Wave, and was an investor in Praecis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: PRCS). Currently, Mr. Rein serves on the Board of Directors of Anadigics (NASDAQ: ANAD), IlluminOss Medical and Marinus Pharmaceuticals. Previously, Mr. Rein was a member of the Board of Directors of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and was a recipient of the 2002 NVCA Outstanding Service Award. Mr. Rein also serves as a trustee of Cleveland Clinic, and is a member of the Clinic’s Research and Education, Finance and Budget, and Emerging Businesses Committees. Mr. Rein is Chairman of the Cleveland Clinic Industrial Advisory Board. He also serves as a trustee of the University of Virginia Darden School Foundation, where he is a member of the executive committee and chairman of the investment committee.
Mr. Rein attended Emory University and Oglethorpe College and holds an MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia.
Eric Reuter, Satiety
Eric Reuter joined Satiety as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director in May 2008. Prior to joining Satiety, he served on the board of directors of Insound Medical. From June 1999 until August 2006 Eric was President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of Laserscope, a publicly traded medical device company that was sold to American Medical Systems. Eric joined Laserscope as Vice-President, Research and Development in September 1996. Before joining Laserscope, from February 1994 to August 1996, Eric was employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center at Stanford University (SLAC) as the Project Engineer for the B-Factory High Energy Ring, an electron storage ring used for high-energy physics research. From February 1991 to January 1994, he served as a senior staff engineer and program manager in digital imaging at Siemens Medical Systems - Oncology Care Systems, a medical device company. Eric has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science & Engineering from UC Davis.
Timothy Ring, CR Bard
Mr. Ring was named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for C. R. Bard, Inc. as of August 2003. He joined Bard in
June 1992 as Corporate Vice President,, Human Resources and was promoted to Group Vice President, International in
December 1993. In November 1995, he was given additional responsibility for Interventional Cardiology and Electrophysiology.
In January 1997, he also assumed additional responsibility for the Cardiac Assist and Cardiopulmonary Divisions and in April
1997, he was promoted to Group President for Coronary Vascular Products. In 1999, he was named Group President for Bard
Electrophysiology and Peripheral Vascular Products and in 2002 was given additional responsibility for Bard Access Systems,
Bard Europe and Corporate Healthcare Services.
Prior to Bard, he worked for Abbott Laboratories for nearly 10 years, most recently as Director of Personnel for the Hospital Products Division. Before that, he was General Manager for Abbott's Australian, New Zealand and Indonesian operations, residing in Sydney. Prior to that, he was Director of Personnel for Pacific/Asia/Africa and Europe. From 1984 to 1986, he was also Director of Personnel for Latin America & South East Asia. He started at Abbott in 1983 as Assistant Personnel Manager for the Pharmaceutical Division. Before joining Abbott, Mr. Ring was employed by The General Motors Corporation. Mr. Ring has a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University.
He is a trustee for the Foundation of The University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey and the HealthCare Institute of
New Jersey, and serves on the Cornell University Life Sciences Advisory Board. Mr. Ring is also a member of the Board of
Directors for C. R. Bard, Inc., AdvaMed, the medical device industry association, and NAM (National Association of Manufacturers).
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Michael Roizen, MD, Cleveland Clinic
Michael Roizen, MD, is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Williams College, Alpha Omega Alpha graduate of the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, is board certified in both Anesthesiology and Internal Medicine. In 2007 Dr. Roizen was named the Chief Wellness Officer (the first such position in a major healthcare institution in the United States) for Cleveland Clinic, and Chair of its Wellness Institute. Dr. Roizen co-founded RealAge and chairs its Scientific Advisory Board. He is 64 calendar years of age, but his RealAge is 44.3.
Dr. Roizen is a past chair of a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee, a former editor for six medical journals, has over 165 peer reviewed and over 200 editorials and review papers. He has received 13 U.S. patents. He founded or co-founded 9 companies, Dr Roizen Chairs a non-profit foundation sponsored by the FDA and IARS called SafeKids.
He and Dr Oz have authored 8 NY Times bestsellers between them, and three separately, including 4 #1 NY Times Bestsellers, including RealAge, Are You As Young As You Can Be, YOU: The Owner’s Manual, YOU: On A Diet, the Owner’s Manual for Waist Management, and YOU Staying Young, the Owner’s Manual for Extending Your Warranty. Dr Roizen and Oz write a column syndicated to 71 newspapers daily, have a daily 1 hr radio show and a 2hr syndicated show weekly, and has appeared on Oprah, Dr. Oz, GMA, Today, and Canada AM more than 18 times each.
Ellen Rome, MD, Cleveland Clinic
Dr. Rome currently serves as an Associate Chief of Staff at the Cleveland Clinic. Head of the Section of Adolescent Medicine, she is a board certified pediatrician who was also among the first in the US to be board certified in Adolescent Medicine. Dr. Rome received her undergraduate degree in psychology, magna cum laude, from Yale University in 1984. She received her medical degree and was initiated into Alpha Omega Alpha in 1988 from Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine, then completed an internship and residency in pediatrics at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She next completed a three year fellowship in adolescent medicine at Children’s Hospital, Boston, during which time she also obtained a masters degree in public health at the Harvard University School of Public Health.
Dr. Rome also serves as an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case. An expert in the field of eating disorders and obesity, Dr. Rome runs the Cleveland Clinic’s Pediatric Obesity Initiative, working to decrease childhood obesity through healthier exercise and eating habits. She also initiated the outpatient and inpatient eating disorder service at the Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital, drawing in patients from around the region. Past chair of the Media Committee for the Academy for Eating Disorders and member of their Public Affairs Committee until 2007, Dr. Rome currently serves as Vice President for the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (NASPAG) and President of its international counterpart, the Federation Internationale for Gynecologie Infantile and Juvenile (FIGIJ). She also enjoys her role on the USTA Sport Science Committee. Dr. Rome’s research interests include eating disorders and obesity, preventive health and wellness, and reproductive health. She has been an invited speaker locally, nationally, and internationally on various topics in adolescent medicine, while maintaining a commitment to ongoing teaching of house staff and students in the local and surrounding areas. She has written and published on various adolescent medicine topics, including eating disorders and obesity, the female athlete triad, nutrition for the teen athlete, and adolescent sexuality.
David Rowan, Cleveland Clinic
David Rowan has served as Chief Legal Officer and Secretary of Cleveland Clinic since June 2005. In 2006, he was also appointed as its Chief Governance Officer and serves on the Clinic’s Board of Governors. From 1995 to 2005, Mr. Rowan served as General Counsel and Secretary of Cleveland Clinic while remaining a partner in Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, LLP. Mr. Rowan received his JD magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 1978 and a BA summa cum laude from the University of Toledo in 1975. Mr. Rowan joined the law firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, LLP upon graduation from law school and became a partner in 1987. Mr. Rowan served on the Squire, Sanders & Dempsey Management Committee from 1993-1996. He left Squire, Sanders to become the Chief Legal Officer of Cleveland Clinic in 2005. The 30 attorney law department is responsible for all legal matters of Cleveland Clinic and its Health System.
Philip Schauer, MD, Cleveland Clinic
Dr. Philip Schauer is Professor of Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Chief of Minimally Invasive General Surgery and Director of the Cleveland Clinic Bariatric and Metabolic Institute (BMI). He is past president of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), the largest association in the world dedicated to this particular specialty.
After receiving his medical degree from the Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Schauer completed his residency in surgery at The University of Texas, where he served as chief resident of general surgery. He then completed his fellowship in laparoscopic surgery at Duke University Medical Center. Prior to joining The Cleveland Clinic in 2004, Dr. Schauer served as director of endoscopic surgery, director of bariatric surgery and Director of the Mark Ravitch/Leon Hirsch Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Dr. Schauer's clinical interests include surgery for severe obesity, minimally invasive surgery (laparoscopic), and gastrointestinal surgery. He has performed more than 5000 operations for severe obesity. His research interests include the pathophysiology of obesity and related diseases, physiologic effects of laparoscopic surgery on postoperative injury and recovery, and outcomes of laparoscopic management of obesity, gastrointestinal diseases, and hernias. He has also participated in the development of new minimally invasive, endoscopic, and laparoscopic operations. New concepts in surgical training and education have been a major focus of his educational interests.
He has authored more than 200 scientific papers, editorials, textbook chapters, abstracts, and video productions. He is editor of the textbook Minimally Invasive Bariatric Surgery. He has been an invited speaker for more than 100 regional, national and international lectures on the subject of obesity surgery and laparoscopic surgery. He is principal investigator the STAMPEDE trail comparing medical and surgical treatment of diabetes and an NIH funded study evaluating surgical treatment of diabetes. He is past chairman of the research and training and credentialing committees of ASMBS. He is current chairman of the Bariatric Surgery Section of the Obesity Society. He has been on the board of Governors of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons. He is also a member of International Federation of Surgery for Obesity, the American Surgical Association, the Society of University Surgeons, the Society of Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, Central Surgical Society, and the Society of Clinical Surgery. He is a member of the American Board of Surgery Advisory Council and former member of the Board of Governors of the Fellowship Council. He is on the editorial board of Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases and Obesity Surgery as well as 3 other medical journals. He has been director of more than 75 courses and workshops on advanced laparoscopic surgery and has trained more than 30 fellows in advanced laparoscopic surgery.
Martín-J Sepúlveda, MD, IBM
Martín-J Sepúlveda, M.D. FACP is an IBM Fellow and Vice President of Integrated Health Services for the IBM Corporation. He leads a global team with responsibility for healthcare policy, strategy and design, as well as the management system and services supporting the health and well-being of IBM’s workforce and work environments. He was recently appointed to the highest level of technical achievement in the IBM Corporation, an IBM Fellow, by the Chairman and CEO of the IBM Corporation. He is also a fellow of the American College of Physicians, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, and the American College of Preventive Medicine. He serves on the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine’s Population Health and Public Health Practice Board, the Board of Directors of the Employee Benefits Research Institute, the Board of the National Business Group on Health, Commission on a High Performance Health System (Commonwealth Fund), and the Board of Advisors to the School of Public Health at the University of Iowa. He chairs the EBRI Center for Health Benefits Innovation Research, and the Global Health Benefits Institute. He received his M.D. and M.P.H. degrees from Harvard University, completed internal medicine residency at the University of California San Francisco Hospitals & Clinics, internal medicine fellowship at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, occupational medicine residency at NIOSH, CDC, and Epidemic Intelligence Service at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
Kevin Sharer, Amgen
Kevin Sharer has been Amgen's chief executive officer and president since May 2000, and he has also been chairman of the company's Board of Directors since January 2001. From October 1992 to May 2000, Sharer was Amgen's president and chief operating officer. He has been a director of Amgen since November 1992. Before joining Amgen, Sharer was president of the Business Markets Division of MCI Communications. Prior to MCI, Sharer served in a variety of executive capacities at General Electric and was a consultant for McKinsey & Company. Sharer serves on the Board of Directors of Northrop Grumman Corporation and Chevron. He is a trustee of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
Nancy Snyderman, MD, NBC News
Dr. Nancy Snyderman joined NBC News as the Chief Medical Editor in September 2006. Her reports appear on "Today," "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams," "Dateline NBC," msnbc and msnbc.com.
Snyderman has reported on wide-ranging medical topics affecting both men and women and has traveled the world extensively, reporting from many of the world's most troubled areas. She is on staff in the Department of the Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania.
Prior to joining NBC News, Snyderman served as Vice President, Consumer Education for the health care corporation, Johnson & Johnson. There she led the independent educational initiative, Understanding Health, focusing on educating and informing the public about health and medicine. Before that, Snyderman served as the medical correspondent for ABC News for 17 years and was a contributor to "20/20," "Primetime," and "Good Morning America." Prior to leaving ABC she was a frequent substitute co-host on "Good Morning America."
Snyderman attended medical school at the University of Nebraska and continued with residencies in Pediatrics and Ear, Nose, and Throat Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh. She joined the surgical staff at the University of Arkansas in 1983 and began her broadcasting career shortly after at KATV, the ABC affiliate in Little Rock, Ark.
Snyderman's medical work has been widely published in peer review journals and she is the recipient of numerous research grants from the American Cancer Society, the Kellogg Foundation, and the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. She has received numerous awards for her broadcasting. She is the author of Medical Myths That Can Kill You, Dr. Nancy Snyderman’s Guide to Good Health for Women Over Forty, Necessary Journeys, and Girl in the Mirror: Mothers and Daughters in the Years of Adolescence. She also writes a monthly column for Good Housekeeping magazine.
Snyderman lives in Princeton, N.J., with her husband, Doug, and is the mother of three children, Kate, Rachel and Charlie.
Anders Svennson, MD, PhD, F. Hoffmann–La Roche
Anders Svensson MD, PhD is Head of Global Clinical Development for Metabolism at F. Hoffmann–La Roche, based in Basel, Switzerland. He oversees the late clinical development of compounds addressing unmet medical needs in metabolic and vascular disease areas, and as chairman of the Late Development Review Committee has a broad responsibility for the development of new drugs in this area. Since joining Roche in 2007, Anders is a member of the Disease Biology Portfolio Team for Metabolic and Vascular Diseases, and has been deeply involved in taking 3 major projects into phase 3 - Dalcetrapib (a novel CETP inhibitor), Taspoglutide (the first human once-weekly GLP-1 analogue) and Aleglitazar (a dual ppar agonist).
Before joining Roche, Anders Svensson held several positions with AstraZeneca, including the position Vice President for Clinical Development in CV-GI, and was involved in the development of candesartan, rosuvastatin, and ticagrelor among other projects.
Prior to joining industry in 1997, Anders Svensson, who is board certified in Internal Medicine and in Cardiology, spent close to 20 years in academic clinical medicine, at Sahlgren’s University Hospital/Ostra, in Gothenburg, Sweden, where he was Associate Professor of Medicine since 1985.
Joseph Talarico, MD, Cleveland Clinic
Joseph A. Talarico, MD, is a Staff Surgeon in the Digestive Disease Institute at Cleveland Clinic. He
joined the staff after completing a General Surgery residency at the University of Illinois, Chicago and
a fellowship in Advanced Laparoscopic and Bariatric Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Talarico also
holds a position with the Center for Surgical Innovation, Technology, and Education, located at the
Cleveland Clinic main campus. He is licensed by the State Medical Board of Ohio and board-certified by
the American Board of Surgery. His specialty interests include advanced laparoscopic surgery, bariatric
surgery, gastrointestinal surgery, acute care surgery, and creating innovative surgical devices.
After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Case Western Reserve University,
Dr. Talarico received his medical degree from the Medical College of Ohio at Toledo. Dr. Talarico has
lectured at each of major surgical society's on a wide variety of topics and has co-authored many articles
and book chapters that have appeared in leading medical journals, such as Surgical Endoscopy,
Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases, Journal of the American College of Surgeons, and Hernia. In
2008 he received the John Halverson Young Investigator award from ASMBS. He has been involved in
numerous research projects focused on NOTES as well as the molecular mechanisms of obesity and
diabetes. Dr. Talarico is a co-developer of a gastric band for weight stabilization as well as an
endoluminal device for gastric volume reduction. His professional memberships include the American
College of Surgeons, American Medical Association, Surgical Society of the Alimentary Tract, American
Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic
Surgeons, and the Associate for Academic Surgery.
Peter Tam, VIVUS
Mr. Tam has been President since December 2009. Prior to that time, Mr. Tam held various senior management positions at VIVUS, including senior vice president of product and corporate development and vice president of strategic planning and corporate development. Mr. Tam joined VIVUS in 1993 as manager of clinical research, and in 1999 he assumed the responsibilities of director of clinical and corporate development. Prior to VIVUS, Mr. Tam held various research and clinical development positions at Genentech from 1991 through 1993 and XOMA Corporation from 1987 to 1991. Mr. Tam received a B.S. in Chemistry from University of California Berkeley in 1986 and his M.B.A. at Santa Clara University in 2000.
Chris Viehbacher, sanofi-aventis
Chris Viehbacher, born March 26, 1960, holds German and Canadian nationalities. He is a graduate of the Queens University
(Ontario, Canada) and a certified public accountant.
After beginning his career at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, between 1988-2008 he acquired broad international experience in Europe, in the United States and in Canada with the GlazoSmithKline (GSK) company. In his last position, Chris Viehbacher was President, Pharmaceutical Operations North America, a member of the board and Co-Chairman of the Portfolio Management Board.
As of December, 1, 2008, Chris Viehbacher is a sanofi-aventis board member, CEO and a member of the Strategy Committee. Chris Viehbacher is a Board member of PhRMA in the United States.
Chris Viehbacher is married with three children. He speaks French, English and German. He has lived in France for nine years and
was made a knight of the French Legion of Honor in 2003.
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Vishal Wanchoo, GE Healthcare IT
Vishal Wanchoo is President and CEO of GE Healthcare Information Technology (HCIT), a $1.4 billion segment of GE Healthcare. GE Healthcare IT, headquartered in Barrington, Illinois, near Chicago, is a global leader in delivering information technology solutions that help to improve quality, lower cost and increase access.
Vishal has been involved in the healthcare industry for more than 25 years. He started his career with GE in November 1997, as the Vice President and General Manager of the Imaging and Information Systems organization. In January 2005, he was promoted to President and CEO of GE Healthcare Information Technology, a newly created, separate business entity within GE Healthcare, and made a corporate officer. This business delivers information at the center of care with the Centricity portfolio to help organizations achieve more effective and efficient decisions on behalf of patients and providers. GE Healthcare IT offers financial & administrative, clinical, eHealth and service solutions that serve a broad range of organizations from small physician practices, to imaging centers and the largest hospital/integrated delivery networks (IDNs).
Before joining GE Healthcare, Vishal was Vice President of Electronic Imaging at Agfa Medical, where he created and developed Agfa’s PACS business. He started his career as a software engineer at Matrix Instruments, and was quickly promoted through engineering ranks to Director of Engineering.
Vishal holds an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and a Master of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of Southern California.
Ron Winslow, Wall Street Journal
Ron Winslow is deputy bureau chief, health and science, and senior medical writer for The Wall Street Journal. For more than two decades, his articles have chronicled how the forces discovery, innovation and economics have transformed medicine and buffeted the health-care system. He is the principal contributor to Heartbeat, the Journal's regular column on cardiovascular disease. His work has been recognized by the American Heart Association and other organizations. He was a founding board member of the Association of Health Care Journalists and is a board member of the National Association of Science Writers. He is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire.
Bruce Wolfe, MD, American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery
Bruce Wolfe, MD is a graduate of Stanford University and the St. Louis University School of Medicine. His surgical training was completed at St. Louis University. He did additional research training at Harvard Medical School. He recently relocated from the University of California Davis to Oregon Health & Science University, where he serves at Professor of Surgery.
Dr. Wolfe has devoted his surgical career to surgical nutrition and specifically obesity, including the surgical care of obese patients and related research. He has made many contributions to the advancement of the surgical treatment of obesity, including a demonstration of the many benefits of laparoscopic surgery. He presently serves as the chair of the National Institutes of Health research consortium on bariatric surgery, known as LABS. He has participated in approximately 1000 bariatric surgical procedures in his career.
Ja
mes Wright, ValenTx
James Wright joined ValenTx, Inc. as President in 2006, and has over 17 years experience developing minimally-invasive medical devices. During his tenure at ValenTx, the company has moved from concept and preclinical activities to a series of clinical studies with a unique endoscopic device that mimics the mechanisms of a R-n-Y Gastric Bypass, while preserving the patient’s anatomy.
Prior to joining ValenTx, Mr. Wright was Vice President of Marketing for INAMED (now Allergan Medical), the developer of the Lap-BAND, an innovative device for the treatment of morbid obesity. AtINAMED, Mr. Wright was initially charge of marketing for the Breast, Facial, and Health businesses in Europe, Middle East, and Africa, and went on to focus on the Lap-BAND business worldwide.
Mr. Wright’s career in medical devices began at Computer Motion (now Intuitive Surgical) where he was part of the team that brought the world’s first FDA-cleared surgical robot to market. As Vice President of Procedure Development, Mr. Wright helped develop clinical applications for a new class of technology in the operating room.
Mr. Wright holds a B.S. in Finance and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering.
James Young, MD, Cleveland Clinic
Dr. Young is Professor of Medicine and Executive Dean, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University and Chairman, Endocrinology and Metabolism Institute. He is also Physician Director of Institutional Relations and Development and a Medical Director of the Kaufman Center for Heart Failure. He holds the George and Linda Kaufman Chair and is the Study Chairman of the NIH, FDA, and CMS Interagency Registry for Mechanical Circulatory Assist Support (INTERMACS). He has a joint appointment to the Clinic’s Multi-organ Transplant Center. Dr. Young is certified as a Diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine as well as the subspecialty of Cardiovascular Disease and holds medical licensure from the states of California, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.
Dr. Young spent his early years in the San Francisco Bay Area and then attended the University of Kansas, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors in Biology and was a resident of Stephenson Scholarship Hall. He matriculated to Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, where he was awarded his Medical Doctor degree with honors in 1974 and was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society. Dr. Young remained in Houston at the Baylor Affiliated Hospitals to complete his clinical training, joining the faculty, and becoming a Professor of Medicine with Tenure in 1992. He was the Clinical Coordinator and Scientific Director for Dr. Michael E. DeBakey’s Multi-organ Transplant Center at The Methodist Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine. He subsequently relocated to the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, in 1995 when he became Head of the Section of Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Medicine in the Department of Cardiovascular Disease. In 1998 Dr. Young, along with his surgical colleague Dr. Patrick McCarthy, created the Kaufman Center for Heart Failure at the Cleveland Clinic.
Dr. Young’s research activities began during his residency and fellowship training when he was a Lipid Research Clinic (LRC) physician. He subsequently focused his efforts on heart failure, mechanical circulatory support, and cardiac transplant therapeutics including early experiences with dopamine receptor agonists, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, angiotensin receptor blockers, many new immunosuppressants, and a variety of parenteral inotropes and vasodilators. He has collaborated extensively with his basic science research associates focusing on ‘translational’ research with respect to the molecular biology of cardiac remodeling, allograft arteriopathy, and transplanted heart rejection. Dr. Young served as the United States Principal or Co-Principal Investigator for the HOPE, RESOLVED, SPICE, VMAC, MIRACLE-ICD, RED-HF, ACCLAIM, ONTARGET, TRENSCEND, and CHARM multi-center clinical trials. He has participated in over 150 clinical trials as an investigator. Dr. Young has published almost 600 manuscripts and several textbooks. Professionally, Dr. Young is most proud of his contributions to the development and administration of donor organ procurement programs, his efforts to secure recognition for the newly emerging cardiology subspecialty of “Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Medicine”, his collaborations with basic and clinical scientists, his contributions to a unique medical school curriculum, and the programs that he helped develop in Houston and Cleveland.













