Suzette Dutch,
is Managing Partner of Triathlon Medical Ventures. She has 20 years
venture investing and 10 years operating experience in
pharmaceuticals, surgical devices and diagnostics. At Senmed
she served on the investment committee from its creation in
1987 and led the strategic planning, clinical/regulatory,
market and business development due diligence efforts for
start-ups through later stage investments. Previously she
was responsible for strategic marketing for Sentron’s
surgical stapling business until its sale to Ethicon. Prior
to that she held various positions in clinical studies
design, market research, and corporate planning at
SmithKline integrating the acquisitions of Allergan,
Beckman, and Clinical Laboratories.
Suzette has an MBA from
Wharton in Finance and Decision Science, and a BA in
economics from Case Western Reserve University. She is
currently on the Board of Directors of Biovex and an
observer on Akebia, and was on the Board of Directors of
Renal Solutions prior to its acquisition by Fresenius.
Sam Kiderman, Ph.D.,
is Director, New Ventures at Cleveland Clinic Innovations, where
his main focus is the administration, development and
growth of new ventures/spin offs. Prior to joining CCI, he
was responsible for Clinic Care, a subsidiary of the
Cleveland Clinic, which provides multifunctional support for
the Clinic and CCI spin-offs. Sam has extensive experience
in business development and has been involved in the
organization and start-up of a number of financially
successful companies. He serves as a treasurer for
PrognostiX and OrthoMEMS and serves on the board of
directors of New Generation Technology and Foundation for
Humanitarian Aid. Prior to the Cleveland Clinic, Sam had
started-up and developed financially successful business
enterprise and held executive financial positions with
several organizations. He also served as a business
Advisor/Consultant for several Foreign Embassies. Other
industries of expertise include bio-tech, commercial real
estate investments and financial services. His B.S. in
Accounting, MBA and Ph.D. in Economics are from Moscow State
University.
Douglas R. Morton, Jr. Ph.D., is a
consultant to the pharmaceutical industry, specializing in
discovery, early development and strategic alliances. He was
previously CEO of the Southwest Michigan Innovation Center
located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, an incubator/accelerator
that provides wet-laboratory space, access to venture
funding and business services to emerging companies in the
life sciences arena. Dr. Morton spent the majority of his
career in the pharmaceutical industry, joining the Upjohn
Company as a research scientist in 1973. He remained with
the surviving entity through Upjohn's merger with Pharmacia
AB (in 1996), the consolidation of Pharmacia & Upjohn with
Monsanto (in 2000), and Pharmacia's merger with Pfizer
(2003), serving in a series of increasingly significant
discovery research management positions. At the time of the
Pfizer merger, he was Group Vice President, Technology
Acquisitions & Operations for Discovery Research in
Pharmacia Corporation. In this position, he was responsible
for technology acquisition and operations for worldwide
Discovery Research throughout Pharmacia.
Dr. Morton holds an A.B. in chemistry from Kenyon
College and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Columbia
University. He completed postdoctoral studies in organic
chemistry at Stanford University. Dr. Morton has served on
the Board of Directors of TissueInformatics, Inc. from May
2003 until the closing of Paradigm Genetics' acquisition of
the company in 2004. He was a member of the Board of
Directors and Interim CEO of Icoria, Inc. (formerly Paradigm
Genetics, Inc.) until its acquisition by Clinical Data, Inc.
in 2005. He now serves on the Scientific Advisory Board and
Management Committee of the Southwest Michigan Life Science
Fund and also serves on the Boards of NanoMed
Pharmaceuticals, Inc., TCH Pharmaceuticals, Inc., NephRx
Corporation and MichBio.
Donald R. Parfetis Managing Partner
of Apjohn Group a Midwest focused venture fund. Prior to
Apjohn, Don was a Senior Vice President at Pharmacia. At
Pharmacia, Don's responsibilities included all of the
Associated Businesses (Animal Health, Diagnostics,
Pharmaceutical Commercial Services and Plasma Products.)
Additionally, Don oversaw the company's investments in
Amersham Pharmacia Biotech and Biacore International AB. Don
also had overall Site Management responsibilities for the
company's operations in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Don received his BA degree in economics from the University
of Arizona in 1975 and his M.B.A. degree in finance from the
University of Michigan in 1977. Don is a trustee of the W.E.
Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, trustee and the
past Chairman of the Board of Bronson Healthcare Group and
Chair of the Board of the Kalamazoo College Board of
Trustees. In addition, Don serves as a Board Member of
Southwest Michigan First, MPI Research and Kelly Services,
Inc (NASDAQ: KELYA) and was recently elected to the board of
directors of Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK).
John J. Puisis,
President and Chief Executive Officer
John is a senior executive adept at transforming
technology-based companies into value creating organizations. He
combines a unique set of strategic, financial, talent
management, and operating skills to identify growth and value
opportunities, while optimizing an organization’s technology and
talent. He was President and CEO of Third Wave Technologies
(NASDAQ: TWTI), a Madison, WI-based biotechnology company, where
he led the transition from a non-sustainable research tools
business to a robust growth driven molecular diagnostics
company. John also served as a strategic consultant to DEKALB
Genetics Corporation which was ultimately sold for $2.8 billion.
John was with the Spencer Stuart life sciences practice group
where he consulted with biotech and pharmaceutical firms on
strategy and implementation. John received his BS - Accounting
from Northern Illinois University and his MBA at Northwestern
University.
