Ashish K. Ahuja received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in applied physics and electrical engineering from Columbia University, New York, NY, in 1999 and 2001, respectively. He worked in the Condensed Matter Physics Department and Optical Fiber Devices Department at Bell Laboratories for two years. He then received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering–electrophysics from the University of Southern California in 2007. He worked in the scientific research department as at Second Sight Medical Products for three years on the development of a retinal prosthesis for those blinded by outer retinal dystrophies. He is currently Executive Director of Operations of The California Project to Cure Blindness at USC's Keck School of Medicine.
Download PDF files:
An In Vitro Model of a Retinal Prosthesis
Estradiol Potentiates Field Excitatory postsynaptic Potentials
The Dependence of Spectral Impedance on Disc Microelectrode Radius
VLSI Implementation of a Nonlinear Neuronal Model
Melissa Carpenter earned her Ph.D. degree in Neuroscience from The University of California at Irvine. Since then she has held a number of positions in academia and in industry. Her main interests lie in the development of cellular regenerative therapies, focusing on human embryonic and adult stem cells. She has numerous publications and successful patents in this field.
Dr. Carpenter has initiated and guided important programs at a number of leading stem cell companies. For example, at CytoTherapeutics (Stem Cell, Inc.), she not only derived neural stem cells but developed the media used for cell population enlargement. At the Geron Corporation, she was in charge of discovery research and preclinical testing, and as Vice President for Research at Novocell, she was involved in early stem cell development including preclinical testing and regulatory strategies.
At present, Dr. Carpenter heads Carpenter Group Consulting. This company guides groups doing stem cell research through the regulatory steps needed to move from initial discovery to final therapy. Her latest publication with Dr. Larry Couture (Regen. Med.5, 569, 2010) constitutes a comprehensive roadmap for success in addressing regulatory questions in the development of autologous induced pluripotent stem cell therapies.
Dr. Chader received his Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Louisville Medical School and held a postdoctoral fellowship (Andelot Fellow) in the Dept. of Biological Chemistry at Harvard Medical School. Subsequently, he was an Asst. Professor at HMS in the Howe Laboratory, Mass. Eye & Ear Infirmary and a Tutor of Biochemical Sciences at Prince House, Harvard College.
In 1970, he joined the intramural staff of the National Eye Institute, NIH, where he ultimately served in the Senior Executive Service as Chief of the Laboratory of Retinal Cell and Molecular Biology and Director of the Intramural Research Program. At NIH, he trained over 40 postdoctoral fellows, served on numerous Intramural Research committees, Extramural Study Sections and the Howard Hughes Scientific Advisory Committee. In 1996, he moved to the Foundation Fighting Blindness, a non-profit foundation, where he served as Chief Scientific Officer until August of 2004. He now serves as Chief Scientific Officer of the Doheny Retina Institute, USC Medical School, Los Angeles, CA.
Selected Relevant Manuscripts:
Saati Saloomeh; Agrawal Rajat N; Louie Stan; Chader Gerald J; Humayun Mark S
Effect of multiple injections of small divided doses vs. single injection of intravitreal bevacizumab on retinal neovascular model in rabbits. Download PDF file
Chader Gerald J; Weiland James; Humayun Mark S
Artificial vision: needs, functioning, and testing of a retinal electronic prosthesis. Download PDF file
Ameri Hossein; Ratanapakorn Tanapat; Rao Narsing A; Chader Gerald J; Humayun Mark S
Natural course of experimental retinal vein occlusion in rabbit; arterial occlusion following venous photothrombosis. Download PDF file
Dr. Clegg earned his BS degree in biochemistry at UC Davis and his PhD in biochemistry at UC Berkeley, where he used emerging methods in recombinant DNA to study the sensory transduction systems of bacteria. As a Jane Coffin Childs Postdoctoral Scholar at UCSF, he studied neural development and regeneration. He has continued this avenue of research since joining the UCSB faculty, with a current emphasis in stem cell research. Dr. Clegg is the recipient of the UCSB Distinguished Teaching Award in the Physical Sciences, and served as Chair of the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology from 2004-2009. He is a member of the UCSB Neuroscience Research Institute and Co-Director of the UCSB Center for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering.
Selected Relevant Manuscripts:
Clegg, D.O., Buchholz, D., Hikita, S.T., Rowland, T., Hu, Q., Johnson, L.V. (2008) Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells: Development in vivo and Derivation from Human Embryonic Stem Cells in vitro for treatment of Age-Related Macular Degeneration in Clegg, D.O., and Shi, Y. (2008) editors, "Stem Cell Research and Therapeutics", Springer, Rotterdam, Nr. Download PDF file
Buchholz DE, Hikita ST, Rowland TJ, Friedrich AM, Hinman CR, Johnson LV, Clegg DO (2009) . Derivation of functional retinal pigmented epithelium from induced pluripotent stem cells. Stem Cells. 27:2427-2434. Download PDF file
Carr AJ, Vugler AA, Hikita ST, Lawrence JM, Gias C, Chen LL, Buchholz DE, Ahmado A, Semo M, Smart MJ, Hasan S, da Cruz L, Johnson LV, Clegg DO, Coffey PJ. (2009) Protective Effects of Human iPS-Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cell Transplantation in the Retinal Dystrophic Rat. PLoS ONE. 4:e8152.
Dr. Couture received his doctorate from Albany Medical College and has been involved in cell and gene therapy since 1989 and directly involved in numerous first-in-man clinical trials for experimental viral and non-viral gene therapies. He has considerable expertise in regulatory affairs, process and product development, manufacturing, and FDA requirements.
Dr. Couture's background is in gene modified cell products, gene therapy and viral vector development and manufacture and he has served as the Director of an NIH-designated National Gene Vector Laboratory vector production center and Program for Assistance in Cellular Therapy Center.
Dr. Couture joined City of Hope in April 1998, as head of Technology Development where he founded and directs, the Center for Applied Technology Development which includes the Center for Biomedicine and Genetics, a precedent setting pilot scale multi-product biologics manufacturing facility that was designated as the National Gene Vector Laboratory for plasmid DNA production, the Islet Cell Isolation Center for Southern California, and one of 5 NHLBI PACT centers.
He has served as CEO of several biotechnology companies and is a member of a number of professional, scientific, drug development and business councils and societies and has served on FDA advisory committees and working groups.
He has mentored numerous regional start-up biotech companies and is a frequent lecturer on licensing, biologics manufacturing, gene therapy and technology transfer.
Robert H. Grubbs shared the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Yves Chauvin (Institut Français du Pétrole) and Richard R. Schrock (MIT) for "the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis." Metathesis is an organic reaction in which chemists selectively strip out certain atoms in a compound and replace them with atoms that were previously part of another compound, resulting in a custom-built molecule with specialized properties. Grubbs's work on olefin metathesis in particular has produced powerful new catalysts that have enabled the custom synthesis of valuable molecules, among them pharmaceuticals and polymers with novel materials properties.
Grubbs earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Florida in 1963 and 1965, respectively. He received his PhD from Columbia University in 1968, then spent a year at Stanford as a postdoctoral fellow before joining the Michigan State University faculty. He came to Caltech in 1978 as a full professor, and was named the Victor and Elizabeth Atkins Professor of Chemistry in 1990.
Selected Relevant Manuscripts:
"Olefin-Metathesis Catalysts for the Preparation of Molecules and Materials (Nobel Lecture)." R. H. Grubbs, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed Engl. 2006, 45 (23), 3760-3765. Download PDF file
"Highly Active Chiral Ruthenium Catalysts for Asymmetric Cross- and Ring-Opening Cross-Metathesis." Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. J. M. Berlin, S. D. Goldberg, and R. H. Grubbs, 2006, 45 (45), 7591-7595. Download PDF file
"The Living ROMP of trans-Cyclooctene." Walker, Ron and Conrad, Rosemary M. and Grubbs, Robert H, 2009, Macromolecules, 42 (3). pp. 599-605. ISSN 0024-9297
"Synthesis and Characterization of Stereoregular Ethylene-vinyl Alcohol Copolymers made by Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization." O. A. Scherman, R. Walker, and R. H. Grubbs, Macromolecules 2005, 38, 9009-9014.
"Template-Directed Olefin Cross Metathesis." S. J. Cantrill, R. H. Grubbs, D. L. Lanari, K. C. F. Leung, A. Nelson, K. G. Poulin-Kerstien, S. P. Smidt, J. F. Stoddart, and D. A. Tirrell, Organic Letters 2005, 7(19), 4213-4216.
Sherry Hikita received her B.S. in Biological Sciences from University of California, Davis. She worked at Children's Hospital/Harvard Medical School as a research associate for several years before pursuing graduate education at University of California, Santa Barbara, where she earned her Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. Her doctoral research examined the role of osteopontin, a novel matrix protein found in the vertebrate eye, during retinal development and disease. Following her postdoctoral research at the Neuroscience Research Institute and Center for the Study of Macular Degeneration at University of California, Santa Barbara, where she investigated mechanisms involved in stem cell differentiation into retinal pigment epithelium, she was appointed as Director of the Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology. Dr. Hikita has received training in human embryonic stem cell culture at Stanford University and the Burnham Institute.
Dr. David Hinton received his MD from the University of Toronto in 1978. His research focuses on the response of the outer retina to injury and how this response can lead to blinding disorders such as proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) and choroidal neovascularization (CNV). Along with his deep commitment towards the research and practice of medicine, Dr. Hinton remains one of USC's most devoted educators. He has won multiple "Outstanding Teacher" awards, has taught and mentored students at the graduate, undergraduate and high school levels and has been either chairman or member of dozens of PhD thesis committees. Dr. Hinton also remains one of the department's most prolific authors, having co-written well over 400 peer reviewed articles, abstracts and book chapters. Dr. Hinton is a sought after lecturer and has had the fortune to share his knowledge with audiences all across the globe, including several trips to China.
Selected Relevant Manuscripts:
Murata T, He S, Hangai M, Ishibashi T, Xi X-P, Kim S, Hsueh WA, Ryan SJ, Law RE, Hinton DR. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-? ligands inhibit choroidal neovascularization. Invest Ophthalmol Vis 41: 2309-27, 2000. Download PDF file
Jin ML, He S, Worpel V, Ryan SJ, Hinton DR. Promotion of adhesion and migration of RPE cells to provisional extracellular matrices by TNF-alpha. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 41: 4324-32, 2000. Download PDF file
Murata T, Hata Y, Ishibashi T, Kim S, Hsueh WA, Law RE, Hinton DR. Response of experimental retinal neovascularization to thiazolidinediones. Arch Ophthalmol 119: 709-717, 2001.
MARK S. HUMAYUN, M.D., Ph.D., received his medical degree from Duke University and his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He completed advanced fellowship training in vitreoretinal surgery from Johns Hopkins Hospital and subsequently served on faculty at Johns Hopkins. He currently holds the Cornelius J. Pings Chair in Biomedical Sciences and is a Professor of Ophthalmology and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Southern California. Dr. Humayun is a member of the National Academies Institute of Medicine and is included on many lists of Best Doctors in the country. He also is the recipient of top engineering awards including being named the R&D magazine Innovator of the Year in 2005. Dr. Humayun focuses on stem cell research for age-related macular degeneration and has been involved in retinal transplantation for the past decade. He has developed surgical instruments and procedures for transplantation of retinal and RPE tissue as part of his research.
Dr. Humayun has 148 peer reviewed publications, authored 21 book chapters and has 92 patents listed on the USPTO. He serves on the advisory boards of many federal and private organizations and has given more approximately 200 lectures in more than 15 countries.
Selected Relevant Manuscripts:
Ameri H, Ratanapakorn T, Rao NA, Chader GJ, Humayun MS. (2008) Natural course of experimental retinal vein occlusion in rabbit; arterial occlusion following venous photothrombosis. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. (In press). Download PDF file
Lo R, Li PY, Saati S, Agrawal R, Humayun MS, Meng E. (2008) A refillable microfabricated drug delivery device for treatment of ocular diseases. Lab Chip. 2008 Jul;8(7):1027-1030. Download PDF file
de Balthasar C, Patel S, Roy A, Freda R, Greenwald S, Horsager A, Mahadevappa M, Yanai D, McMahon MJ, Humayun MS, Greenberg RJ, Weiland JD, Fine I. (2008) Factors affecting perceptual thresholds in epiretinal prostheses. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 49(6):2303-2314. Download PDF file
Mir Imran has a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and an M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Rutgers University. Over the years, he has been recognized as a leading scientist and inventor. Furthermore, he has had a remarkable record as an entrepreneur and investor having founded a number of medical and high-tech companies. Mr. Imran's first big success came with the Automatic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator, and now, he has well over 200 issued patents, and has founded over 20 medical device companies. In these roles, he has been responsible for not only the invention, but the application of numerous breakthrough implantable devices in the field in the field of medicine.
Currently, Mr. Imran is Chairman and CEO of InCube Laboratories, Inc., an incubator he founded in 1995. InCube functions as an applied research facility that allows for the conception, growth, and development of many emerging companies.
Dr. Johnson received his undergraduate training in Biology at the University of California, Riverside and pursued doctoral studies in the Department of Cell and Neurobiology at UC San Francisco's School of Medicine. Subsequently, he performed postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Johnson then served on the faculty of the Department of Cell and Neurobiology at the University of Southern California, School of Medicine for fifteen years prior to joining the Neuroscience Research Institute at UCSB in 1995. He is Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Macular Degeneration, a biomedical research unit dedicated to studies of basic cellular and molecular processes that cause the blinding human disease known as age-related macular degeneration.
Selected Relevant Manuscripts:
Johnson, P.T., Lewis, G.P., Talaga, K.C., Brown, M.N., Kappel, P.J., Fisher, S.K. Anderson, D.H. and Johnson, L.V. (2003) Drusen-associated degeneration in the retina. Invest. Ophthal. Vis. Sci. 44: 4481-4488. Download PDF file
Anderson, D.H., R.F. Mullins, G.S. Hageman, and L.V. Johnson. 2002. A role for local inflammation in the formation of drusen in the aging eye. Am J Ophthalmol. 134:411-31. Download PDF file
Johnson, L.V., W.P. Leitner, A.J. Rivest, M.K. Staples, M.J. Radeke, and D.H. Anderson. 2002. The Alzheimer's A beta -peptide is deposited at sites of complement activation in pathologic deposits associated with aging and age-related macular degeneration. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 99:11830-5. Download PDF file
Leu, S.T., S. Batni, M.J. Radeke, L.V. Johnson, D.H. Anderson, and D.O. Clegg. 2002. Drusen are Cold Spots for Proteolysis: Expression of Matrix Metalloproteinases and Their Tissue Inhibitor Proteins in Age-related Macular Degeneration. Exp Eye Res. 74:141-54. Download PDF file
Dr. Martin Pera is a Research Professor at the Monash Institute of Medical Research at Monash University and the Director of Embryonic Stem Cell Research at the Australian Stem Cell Centre. He received the Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language and Literature from the College of William and Mary, and the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Pharmacology from George Washington University. Pera carried out postdoctoral research at the Institute of Cancer Research and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London, and was a Research Fellow at the Department of Zoology at Oxford University. His research interests include the cell biology of human pluripotent stem cells, early human development, and germ cell tumors. Pera was among a small number of researchers who pioneered the isolation and characterization of pluripotent stem cells from human germ cell tumors of the testis, work that provided an important framework for the development of human embryonic stem cells. His laboratory at Monash University was the second in the world to isolate embryonic stem cells from the human blastocyst, and the first to describe their differentiation into somatic cells in vitro. He has provided extensive advice to state, national and international regulatory authorities on the scientific background to human embryonic stem cell research, and is a member of the Steering Group of the International Stem Cell Initiative.
Selected Relevant Manuscripts:
Andrew L. Laslett, Sean Grimmond, Brooke Gardiner, Lincon Stamp, Adelia Lin, Susan M. Hawes, Sam Wormald, David Nikolic-Paterson, David Haylock, and Martin F. Pera. Transcriptional Analysis of Early Lineage Commitment In Human Embryonic Stem Cells. BMC Developmental Biology, Mar 2; 7:12, 2007. Download PDF file
Daniella Herszfeld, Emma Langton -Bunker, Benjamin E. Reubinoff, Souheir Houssami, Leendert H.J. Looijenga, and Pera, M.F. - CD30 is a survival factor and a biomarker for transformed human pluripotent stem cells. Nat Biotechnol. 2006 Mar;24(3):351-7. Download PDF file
Pera, M.F. and Alan O. Trounson. Human embryonic stem cells: prospects for development. Development 131: 5515-5525 (2004). Download PDF file
Pera, M.F., Jacqui Johnson, Jessica Andrade, Benjamin Reubinoff. Souheir Houssami, Dorien Ward-van Oostward,Christine Mummery, and Alan Trounson. Effects of BMP-2 and its antagonist noggin on human embryonic stem cells J. Cell Sci. 117: 1269-1280 (2004).
Dr. Sadda is Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Doheny Eye Institute. He is Director of the Medical Retina Unit, Ophthalmic Imaging Unit, Retinal Cell Replacement Laboratory, and Doheny Image Reading Center. He obtained his MD from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor of science (Cellular and Molecular Biology) from the University of Michigan. He served as an intern at the W. Beaumont Hospital and returned to Johns Hopkins University Wilmer Eye Institute for his ophthalmology residency, followed by fellowships in neuro-ophthalmology and medical retina at Wilmer. He was then recruited to the faculty of Johns Hopkins University as assistant professor of Ophthalmology in 2000, before subsequently being recruited to USC. Dr. Sadda's research interests include advanced retinal imaging technologies, image processing algorithms, image analysis and interpretation, retinal electrophysiology, retinal and stem cell transplantation, and retinal prosthetics (artificial retina).
Selected Relevant Manuscripts:
Qiu,G, Seiler MJ, Thomas BB, Wu K, Radosevich M, Sadda SR. Revisiting nestin expression in retinal progenitor cells in vitro and after transplantation in vivo. Experimental Eye Research. 84(2007), 1047-1059.
Peng Q, Thomas BB, Seiler MJ, Aramant RB, Sadda SR. Structure and function of embryonic rat retinal sheet transplants. Current Eye Research.
Thomas BB, Arai S, Yusuke I, Qui G, Chen Z, Aramant RB, Sadda SR, Seiler MJ. Retinal transplants evaluated by optical coherence tomography in photoreceptor degenerate rats. Journal of Neuroscience Methods. 2006 Mar 15; 151(2):186-93.
Thomas BB, Samant DM, Seiler MJ, Aramant RB, Sheikholeslami S, Zhang K, Chen Z, Sadda SR. Behavioral evaluation of visual function of rats using a visual discrimination apparatus. J Neurosci Methods. 2007; 162(1-2):84-90
Seiler MJ, Thomas BB, Chen Z, Arai S, Chadalavada S, Mahoney MJ, Sadda SR, Aramant RB. BDNF-treated retinal progenitor sheets transplanted to degenerate rats: Improved restoration of visual function. Exp Eye Res. 2007 Oct. 2
Yu-Chong Tai has over 12 years of experience doing micromachines and/or Micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) research. His research interests include MEMS technology, microsensors, microactuators, microstructure, MEMS systems, and MEMS science. To name a few, successfully developed MEMS devices in his lab include pressure sensors, shear-stress sensors, hot-wire anemometers, magnetic actuators, microphones, microvalves, micromotors, and so on. System-level MEMS research projects then include integrated M3 drag-reduction smart surface, flexible smart skin for the control unmanned serial vehicles, and micro fluid delivery systems. He is also interested in MEMS sciences such as MEMS material (mechanical and thermal) properties, micro fluid mechanics, and micro/nano processing issues.
Yu-Chong Tai is the director of the Caltech Micromachining Laboratory, which is a complete micromachining facility including a clean-room processing lab, a computer lab, and a measurement/testing lab. The facility is currently sponsoring more than 20 researchers (14 Ph.D. students among them) for micromachining.
Selected Relevant Manuscripts:
Song Tae Yong; Wu Heyu; Komarov Sergey; Siegel Stefan B; Tai Yuan-Chuan. A sub-millimeter resolution PET detector module using a multi-pixel photon counter array. Download PDF file
Wahjudi Paulin N; Oh Jin H; Salman Salam O; Seabold Jason A; Rodger Damien C; Tai Yu-Chong; Thompson Mark E Improvement of metal and tissue adhesion on surface-modified parylene C. Download PDF file
Wu Heyu; Pal Debashish; Song Tae Yong; O'Sullivan Joseph A; Tai Yuan-Chuan. Micro insert: a prototype full-ring PET device for improving the image resolution of a small-animal PET scanner.
Download PDF file
Dr. Thomas received his Ph.D in behavioral neuroscience from the Department of Zoology, University of Kerala, India in 1997. In January 2001, he joined the retinal transplant program at the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Louisville, KY as a Postdoctoral fellow to perform behavioral and electrophysiological evaluation of visual function in rodents. In 2002 he moved to the newly founded Doheny Retina Institute and continued his postdoctoral studies on visual functional evaluations in rodents. In 2006 he was appointed as an Assistant professor of Ophthalmology at Doheny Eye Institute, USC
Selected Relevant Manuscripts:
Seiler MJ, Thomas BB, Chen Z, Arai S, Chadalavada S, Mahoney MJ, Sadda SR, Aramant RB. BDNF-treated retinal progenitor sheets transplanted to degenerate rats - Improved restoration of visual function. Exp Eye Res 2008; 86: 92-104.
Download PDF file
Qiu G, Seiler MJ, Thomas BB, Wu K, Radosevich M, Sadda SR. Revisiting Nestin Expression in Retinal Progenitor Cells in vitro and after transplantation in vivo Exp. Eye Res. 2007;84:1047-1059.
Download PDF file
Thomas BB, Seiler MJ, Aramant RB, Samant D, Qiu G, Vyas N, Arai S, Chen Z, Sadda SR. Visual functional effects of constant blue light in a retinal degenerate rat model. Photochem Photobiol 2007;83:1-7.
Download PDF file
Thomas BB, Samant DM, Seiler MJ, Aramant RB, Sheikholeslami S, Zhang K, Chen Z, Sadda SR. Behavioral evaluation of visual function of rats using a visual discrimination Apparatus. J Neurosci Methods 2007;162:84-90.
Seiler MJ, Sagdullaev BT, Woch G, Thomas BB, Aramant RB. Transsynaptic virus tracing from host brain to subretinal transplants. Eur J Neurosci 2005;21:161-172.
Download PDF file
James Thomson holds doctoral degrees in Veterinary Medicine and in Molecular Biology from the University of Pennsylvania and completed a Fellowship at the Oregon National Primate Research Center. His background showed a strong interest in mammalian development which naturally led to his groundbreaking work on stem cell derivation. In a series of scientific publications, Dr. Thomson demonstrated the possibility of deriving ES cells from non-human primates. In 1998,he was the first to report on the isolation and growth of stem cell lines from the human blastocyst. Since then, Dr. Thomson has had many other significant findings such as the induction of pluripotent stem cell lines from human somatic cells.
Dr. Thomson now serves as Professor and Director of Regenerative Biology at the Morgridge Institute for Research at the University of Wisconsin. Here he continues his work on the basic biology of pluripotency, focusing on how ES cells develop to a restricted mature state and how this can be reversed. He is also founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Cellular Dynamics International which provides human stem cells for industrial and research work on drug discovery and toxicity testing.
Gary Wilcox is Chairman, CEO and a founder of Cocrystal Discovery, Inc., a biopharma company developing antiviral therapeutics. From 1993-2007, he was Executive Vice President of Operations and a member of the board of directors of Icos Corporation, where he played a key role in the development of Cialis, a drug with annual sales of $1.5 billion. In 1982 Gary co-founded Ingene Inc., serving as its Chairman, President and CEO through private financings, an IPO and a successful merger with XOMA Corporation in 1989. Ingene developed fundamental gene expression technologies and antibody patents, including the first chimeric anti-CD20 antibody patent that was licensed to Genentech for Rituxan. From 1974 until 1984, Gary was a Professor of Microbiology and a member of the Molecular Biology Institute at UCLA. He was the recipient of the American Cancer Society Faculty Research Award in 1977 for his pioneering work in positive control of gene expression. Gary has served on the board of directors of NASDAQ, New York and London stock exchange companies, as well as, several private technology companies. He is the author of 72 scientific papers and holds 15 patents. Gary received his Ph.D. in molecular biology and biochemistry from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Dr. Danhong Zhu received her MD from Jiao Tong University in 1983 after which she served as a resident doctor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Nanhui General Hospital. Later she moved on to become an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology at Shanghai Second Medical University. From 1993-2004 Dr. Zhu was a Research Tech in both the USC School of Medicine's Department of Biochemistry and USC School of Dentistry CCMB. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in Molecular Biology in 2004 and currently serves as a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Pathology at the USC School of Medicine.
Selected Relevant Manuscripts:
Zhu, D., Sreekumar, PG., Hinton DR., Kannan, R. (2010). Expression and regulation of enzymens of ceramide metabolic pathway in human retinal pigment epithelial cells: relevance to retinal degeneration. Vision research. 50(7):643-51.
Zhu, D., Deng, X., Xu, J., Hinton, DR. (2009). What determines the switch between atrophic and neovascular forms of age related macular degeneration? – the role of BMP4 induced senescence. Aging. 1(8). 740-745.
Zhu, D., WU, J., Spee, C., Ryan, SJ., Hinton, DR. (2009). BMP4 mediates oxidative stress-induced retinal pigment epithelial cell senescence and is over expressed in age-related macular degeneration. J Biol Chem, 284(14):9529-39
Warotayanont R, Zhu D, Snead ML, Zhou Y. (2008). Leucine-rich amelogenin peptide induces osteogenesis in mouse embryonic stem cells. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 367(1):1-6.
