CHI Welcomes New Member Hyperion Therapeutics

Hyperion Therapeutics, Inc. is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to developing and delivering life-changing treatments for orphan diseases. The company’s first commercial product, RAVICTI (glycerol phenylbutyrate) Oral Liquid, was approved in February 2013 and is currently being marketed in the United States. The company also owns worldwide rights to BUPHENYL (sodium phenylbutyrate) Tablets and Powder, which it markets in the U.S. The compound is also marketed internationally through business partners. In addition, the company is developing glycerol phenylbutyrate for the potential treatment of hepatic encephalopathy. For more information, please visit www.hyperiontx.com.


Donald J. Santel
Chief Executive Officer

Donald J. Santel has served as the Hyperion Therapeutics Chief Executive Officer since June 2008. Mr. Santel has been a member of the Board since March 2007. Previously, Mr. Santel was a member of the board of directors and the Chief Executive Officer of CoTherix, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company he co-founded in 2000 and brought public in 2004, where he was responsible for the oversight of all aspects of the business and led the sale of the company to Actelion in January 2007. Prior to joining CoTherix, Mr. Santel was employed by or consultant to several medical device companies, including Reflow, Inc., Cardiac Pathways Corporation and Medtronic, Inc. Mr. Santel previously served on the board of directors and the audit and compensation committees of Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and as a director of ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Mr. Santel holds an M.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota and a B.S.E. in biomedical engineering from Purdue University. Mr. Santel’s extensive experience as an executive officer of public pharmaceutical companies and his knowledge of the day-to-day operations of the company provide him with the qualifications and skills to serve as a director.

Jeffrey S. Farrow
Chief Financial Officer

Jeffrey S. Farrow has served as the Chief Financial Officer of Hyperion Therapeutics since July 2010, as Secretary from May 2011 to August 2013 and as Vice President, Finance from February 2010 to June 2010. From May 2008 to December 2009, Mr. Farrow was Vice President, Finance at Evotec AG, a drug discovery and development company, where Mr. Farrow was responsible for Evotec’s corporate treasury function and compliance with the Sarbanes Oxley Act, as well as overseeing the finance and general and administrative functions of the company’s Renovis subsidiary. From January 2004 to May 2008, Mr. Farrow held various positions, the most recent being Vice President, Finance and Chief Accounting Officer, at Renovis, Inc., a drug discovery and development company, which was acquired by Evotec AG in May 2008. While at Renovis Mr. Farrow was a key member of the management team responsible for the merger with Evotec, as well as Renovis’ initial public offering and secondary offering. Previously, Mr. Farrow held various positions over his seven years in the audit practice of KPMG LLP and was most recently a Senior Manager. Mr. Farrow holds a B.A. in Business Administration with a concentration in Corporate Finance from California State University at Fullerton.

Christine A. Nash
Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer

Christine A. Nash has served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Hyperion Therapeutics since May 2012. From August 2008 until May 2012 she served as Vice President, Strategic Marketing and Corporate Business Development and she joined Hyperion Therapeutics in August 2007 as Senior Director, Marketing. From October 2004 to February 2007, Ms. Nash held various positions of increasing responsibility within the commercial organization at CoTherix, Inc. As Director of Marketing at CoTherix, Ms. Nash led all marketing and product support aspects for the launch of the company’s initial product, Ventavis ® (iloprost) Inhalation Solution. Ms. Nash’s previous experience includes business development and product planning and management roles with Genesoft Pharmaceuticals Inc., Oncology Therapeutics Network, Eli Lilly and Company, and Imana, Inc. Ms. Nash holds an M.B.A and a B.A. with Honors in Public Policy, both from Stanford University.

Bruce F. Scharschmidt, MD
Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President

Bruce F. Scharschmidt, M.D. has served as the Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Hyperion Therapeutics since April 2008. From April 2006 to April 2008, Dr. Scharschmidt served as Vice President of Scientific Affairs for NOVARTIS Vaccines, a division of NOVARTIS, a healthcare products company, where Dr. Scharschmidt was responsible for developing the clinical strategy for early-stage vaccines. From August 1996 to April 2006, Dr. Scharschmidt held senior positions at Chiron Corporation, including VP and head of clinical development for vaccines and therapeutics and as Vice President of Scientific Affairs in the Corporate Group, where he was involved in the strategic direction and management of key research and development programs including vaccines, therapeutics and blood testing. Before joining Chiron, Dr. Scharschmidt was Chief of Gastroenterology and Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Investigation and President of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. Dr. Scharschmidt received both his M.D. and undergraduate degree from Northwestern University as part of a six-year Honors Program in Medical Education. Dr. Scharschmidt completed his training in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology at the University of California, San Francisco.

Ashley C. Gould
Senior Vice President, Governmental Affairs and Chief Legal and Compliance Officer

Ashley C. Gould has served as the Senior Vice President, Governmental Affairs and Chief Legal and Compliance Officer of Hyperion Therapeutics since October 2013 and has also served as the Secretary since August 2013. Ms. Gould joined Hyperion Therapeutics in July 2013 as Senior Vice President, Governmental Affairs and Chief Legal Officer. Prior to joining Hyperion Therapeutics, Ms. Gould recently served as Vice President, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer at 23andMe, Inc. a personal genetics company. Prior to joining 23andMe in 2007, Ms. Gould was Vice President, Legal Affairs at CoTherix, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. Previously, Ms. Gould was associated with the law firms of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC and O’Melveny & Myers LLP. Ms. Gould received her J.D. from the University of  San Francisco School of Law and her B.S. in Political Economy of Natural Resources from the University of California, Berkeley.

Natalie C. Holles
Senior Vice President, Corporate and Business Development

Natalie C. Holles has served as the Senior Vice President, Corporate and Business Development of Hyperion Therapeutics since June 2013. From 2010 to 2013, Ms. Holles worked as an executive-level consultant leading business development activities for several life sciences companies, including Immune Design Corp. and Pathway Therapeutics, Inc. Starting in 2005, Ms. Holles worked with KAI Pharmaceuticals, most recently as Vice President of Business Development. Prior to KAI, Ms. Holles held roles of increasing responsibility in corporate development at InterMune, where she was participated in and led both buy-side and sell-side asset transactions. Ms. Holles began her career in the industry as a Marketing Planning Associate at Genentech, Inc. Ms. Holles received her M.A. in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology from the University of Colorado, where she was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Predoctoral Fellow, and her A.B. in Human Biology from Stanford University.

CHI Welcomes New Member ReVision Optics, Inc.

ReVision Optics, Inc. focuses on the development and commercialization of custom optical solutions dedicated to presbyopic vision correction. ReVision Optics’ Raindrop™ Near Vision Inlay offers a unique, patented refractive surgery solution. The inlay is designed to improve near vision that has been lost by the eye’s natural aging process called presbyopia. The Raindrop inlay provides an ideally suited surgical option for near and intermediate vision enhancement. The Company is actively pursuing regulatory approvals and market opportunities for the Raindrop Near Vision Inlay worldwide. The Raindrop has received CE Mark authorization and is available for sale in Europe. The Raindrop™ Near Vision Inlay is limited by U.S. (Federal) law to investigational use.

John T. Kilcoyne
Chief Executive Officer and President

John T. Kilcoyne brings more than 30 years of experience in the medical device market to ReVision Optics. He has a demonstrated record in understanding the needs of both patients and physicians combined with an ability to move companies from development into the commercial market.

Most recently he served as Chairman and CEO of Micrus Endovascular Corporation, until its sale to Johnson & Johnson in September 2010. Kilcoyne also previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Solace Therapeutics, a medical device company from 2002 to 2004. Prior to Solace, he served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Endonetics, Inc. from 1997 until its acquisition by Medtronic in December 2001. Kilcoyne received his B.S. from Cornell University.

CHI Welcomes New Member Jazz Pharmaceuticals

Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc is an international specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on improving patient lives by identifying, developing, and commercializing differentiated medicines that address significant unmet medical needs. Their therapeutic areas of focus include sleep, hematology/oncology, pain and psychiatry; areas in which they have a deep understanding of the patient journey, innovative products and services that address significant critical unmet medical needs, and an increasing investment in R&D.

Bruce Cozadd
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Bruce C.Cozadd is a co-founder and has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since April 2009. From 2003 until 2009, he served as Executive Chairman. From 1991 until 2001, he held various positions with ALZA Corporation, a pharmaceutical company now owned by Johnson & Johnson, most recently as its Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, with responsibility for research and development, manufacturing and sales and marketing. Previously at ALZA Corporation he held the roles of Chief Financial Officer and Vice President, Corporate Planning and Analysis. He serves on the boards of directors of Cerus Corporation, a biomedical products company, Threshold Pharmaceuticals, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, and The Nueva School, a non-profit organization. He received a B.S. from Yale University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Russ Cox
Executive Vice President and Chief Operation Officer

Russell J. Cox was appointed as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in May 2014. He has served in a variety of escalating senior management roles since joining the company in 2010, including Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial officer from March 2012 to May 2014. From January 2009 to January 2010, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Ipsen Group and from 2007 until December 2008, he was Vice President of Marketing at Tercica, Inc. (acquired by Ipsen Group), a biotechnology company. From 2003 to 2007, he was with Scios Inc. (acquired by Johnson and Johnson later in 2003), where he also held the role of Vice President, Marketing. Prior to 2003, Cox was with Genentech, Inc. for 12 years, where he was a Product Team Leader (PTL) responsible for the Growth Hormone franchise and led numerous product launches as a Group Product Manager. Cox received a B.S. in Biomedical Science from Texas A&M University.

Laurie Hurley
Vice President, Corporate Affairs

Laurie Hurley has served as Vice President of Corporate Affairs since May 2013. From 2010 to 2013 she consulted with a variety of biotechnology and specialty companies. She served as Managing Director at Resolute Communications, an international boutique healthcare communications agency from 2007 through 2010, and from 2003 to 2007, she was Partner and Senior Vice President at Fleishman Hillard. From 1996 to 20013, she held corporate communications and corporate marketing positions as McKesson and Gilead Sciences. From 1988 to 1996 she held roles in the healthcare practices at Burson-Marsteller and Edelman Public Relations. Hurley received a B.S. in from Southern Methodist University and an M.B.S from Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

CHI Welcomes New Member RealHealthData

RealHealthData works with medical transcription companies across the country to build a database of detailed narrative medical records, providing a unique perspective on patient conditions and physician interaction. Once the medical transcription process is complete, de-identified records are added to their data repository.

Manuel Prado
Founder and CEO

Manuel has extensive experience in leading new and innovative healthcare technology companies. Prior to RealHealthData, he served as CEO of Viva Corporation, a technology company offering an advanced information capture platform to hospital systems and medical practices. Prior to Viva, Manuel served in several business development roles with Thomson Financial. He is a graduate of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

CHI Welcomes New Member Nidek

NIDEK offers a wide array of equipment designed for the diagnosis and treatment of retinal diseases, glaucoma, and other vision-impairing afflictions. Their aim is to avail the field with products of unmatched quality, service, and value. Since its inception, NIDEK has been expanding the boundaries of vision science. Their devotion to this endeavor is reflected by the ongoing research and development of new technologies, such as optoelectronics and artificial vision. NIDEK has always strived to maintain its place as an innovator in the industry. With their sound business foundation and a pledge to excellence, NIDEK will continue to move forward in answering the needs of vision-care providers throughout the world.

Jun Iwata
Chief Operating Officer

Jun Iwata is the Chief Operating Office of NIDEK Inc., located in Fremont, Calif. He originally joined NIDEK CO., Ltd. in 2004 and took the position of chief operating officer in 2013 after more than 20 years experience in medical device industry, primarily in marketing and business development roles at Boston Scientific Corp. and NIPPON ZEON.

CHI Welcomes New Member Moss Adams

Moss Adams LLP provides accounting, tax, and consulting services to life science companies of various sizes, complexity, and growth stages.  They have a strong track record of working with emerging and growth companies and their investors and can fully manage the buy-side or sell-side activities of public and private companies.  Their team understands the issues that are unique to life science companies and the changing landscape in which they operate.  For example, their team regularly addresses key matters such as revenue recognition, licensing and cross licensing of intellectual property, equity transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and collaboration with large pharma.

Eric Miles
Partner, Life Sciences National Practice Leader

Eric has practiced public accounting since 1997. He helps clients implement enterprise risk management processes, perform risk assessments, and develop internal audit functions and other risk mitigation capabilities. His experience covers a wide variety of areas, including operations, compliance, accounting, information technology, and fraud prevention, and he is the outsourced director of internal audit for many organizations in several industries.

Eric is the Northern California leader and quality assurance coordinator of the firm’s Internal Audit Practice. He is also a former member of the Audit Advisory Committee, which sets audit policies for the firm. Eric is a frequent speaker on risk management topics and is a current and founding member of the AICPA’s Risk Assurance and Advisory Services Task Force. The goal of this task force is to position the CPA profession as the leader on enterprise risk management.

Carisa Wisniewski
Partner, Southern California Life Sciences Leader

Carisa has practiced public accounting since 1990. Before joining Moss Adams, she spent 16 years with a Big Four firm, including two years in its national office’s SEC department. Carisa has experience providing external audit and internal control audit services to a variety of both public and private companies in the technology, manufacturing, and life sciences industries. She is a past practice leader of the firm’s Technology and Life Sciences practices and is currently the partner in charge of their San Diego office as well as a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. Carisa is also a founding member of the Private Company Financial Reporting Committee, an initiative of the Financial Accounting Standards Board in conjunction with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.


Richard Croghan
Partner, Northern California Life Sciences Leader

Rich has been in public accounting since 1991. He primarily serves small and midsize life science, technology, and health care organizations, including pharmaceutical companies, research companies, medical device companies, digital health companies, hospitals, managed care organizations, physician groups, and ancillary service organizations. He provides tax and consulting services related to tax return preparation, research and development tax credits, international tax planning, state and local tax planning, tax accounting methods, and mergers, acquisitions, and reorganizations.

Rich is the Industry Group Tax Leader for the Technology, Communications and Media industry group, and leads the Health Care Tax Services Committee. Rich joined Moss Adams in 2004, after working with Ernst & Young for 13 years.

CHI Welcomes New Member Audentes Therapeutics

Audentes is a biotechnology company committed to the development and commercialization of gene therapy products for patients with serious, rare diseases. The company consists of a focused, experienced, and passionate team driven by the goal of improving the lives of patients. Audentes takes pride in strong, global relationships with the patient, research, and medical communities.

Matthew R. Patterson
President and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Patterson is the co-founder of Audentes and has served as President and Chief Executive Officer since the Company’s inception in November 2012. Mr. Patterson has 20 years of experience in the research, development, and commercialization of innovative treatments for rare diseases and has held positions of senior management in both private and public biotechnology companies. Prior to Audentes he was an Entrepreneur-In-Residence with OrbiMed Advisors, the world’s largest health-care dedicated investment firm.In this role Mr. Patterson identified and evaluated orphan drug investment opportunities. From 2004 to 2011, Mr. Patterson worked for Amicus Therapeutics, most recently serving as President and Acting Chief Executive Officer.  Prior to his work at Amicus, from 1998 to 2004, he worked at BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc., first serving as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and later Vice President of Commercial Planning. From 1993 to 1998 Mr. Patterson worked at Genzyme Corporation in Manufacturing and Regulatory Affairs.

Mr. Patterson is a member of the Board of Directors of Gilda’s Club of New York City, which provides social and emotional support for people living with cancer.Mr. Patterson received his B.A. in Biochemistry from Bowdoin College.

Michael O’Callaghan DVM, PhD
Senior Vice President, Preclinical Development and Translational Medicine

Michael O’Callaghan has served as Senior Vice President, Preclinical Development and Translational Medicine since August 2013.  Dr. O’Callaghan is an experienced biotechnology executive with broad expertise in Preclinical Biology, Translational Medicine and Therapeutic product development. For 15 years Dr. O’Callaghan held executive leadership positions related to Research and Development at Genzyme Corporation.  He was responsible for therapeutic development strategies and assisting with regulatory strategy for several Genzyme rare disease therapeutics, most notably Myozyme®, Fabrazyme®, and Carticel®.  Apart from the orphan disease portfolio he also worked on cardiovascular, orthopedic and oncology indications employing several different technology platforms, including proteins, biopolymers, cell therapies and small molecule drugs.

Prior to joining Genzyme in 1996, Dr. O’Callaghan was an academic and clinical veterinary radiologist, first at Massey University in New Zealand for 8 years, then at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine for 10 years, the last 3 as Head of Department.  His academic research centered around performance-limiting cardiopulmonary, skeletal muscle and orthopedic projects and bone cancers.  Dr. O’Callaghan has a DVM degree from Massey University in New Zealand, a Masters degree in Pathophysiology from the École Nationale Vétérinaire of Toulouse, France and a PhD in Cardiovascular Physiology from the University of Cambridge, England.

Suyash Prasad, MD
Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Prasad has served as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer since February 2014. He has a wide range of experience and achievement in international drug development across Phase I to IV, with a specific focus in the clinical development of therapies to treat rare pediatric disorders. Dr. Prasad has worked in drug development for the past 12 years in positions of increasing responsibility at BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Inc., Genzyme Corporation, and Eli Lilly and Company. He has broad therapeutic expertise in neuromuscular disease, metabolic medicine, bone, neuroscience, endocrinology, immunology, and genetics. Dr. Prasad has significant experience with the development and commercialization of enzyme replacement therapies to treat lysosomal storage disorders, including Cerezyme®, Aldurazyme®, Fabrazyme®, and Myozyme®. For Pompe Disease, he led the global medical planning activities for Lumizyme® for the treatment of adult Pompe Disease and for Myozyme® to treat infantile Pompe. Most recently, he was responsible for the clinical development of novel treatments for phenylketonuria (PKU) and achondroplasia.

Dr. Prasad graduated in Medicine at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, where he received commendations for Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Medical Ethics. He is a United Kingdom board certified physician with a sub-specialty interest in Pediatric Critical Care, and is a member of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP), the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health (MRCPCH), and the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine (MFPM). Dr. Prasad is a past recipient of the Outstanding Contribution Award from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine of the UK Royal College of Physicians.

CHI Welcomes New Member MannKind Corporation

MannKind Corporation (Nasdaq: MNKD) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapeutic products for patients with diseases such as diabetes and cancer. Their lead investigational product candidate, AFREZZA® (pronounced uh-FREZZ-uh) is a first-in-class, ultra rapid-acting mealtime insulin therapy. AFREZZA is being developed to improve glycemic control in adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. It is a drug-device combination product, consisting of AFREZZA Inhalation Powder single-use dose cartridges and the small, discreet and easy-to-use AFREZZA inhaler. Because of its unique pharmacokinetic profile, AFREZZA may be a promising new therapy for patients with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, as it has been shown in clinical studies to control post meal-time glucose levels, cause less weight gain and have lower risk of hypoglycemia than current standard insulin therapies. AFREZZA utilizes our proprietary Technosphere® formulation technology, which is based on a class of organic molecules that are designed to self-assemble into small particles onto which drug molecules can be loaded.

Hakan Edstrom
President & CEO

Hakan Edstrom has been MannKind’s President and Chief Operating Officer since April 2001 and has served as one of the directors since December 2001. Mr. Edstrom was with Bausch & Lomb, Inc., a health care product company, from January 1998 to April 2001, advancing to the position of Senior Corporate Vice President and President of Bausch & Lomb, Inc. Americas Region. From 1981 to 1997, Mr. Edstrom was with Pharmacia Corporation, where he held various executive positions, including President and Chief Executive Officer of Pharmacia Ophthalmics Inc. Mr. Edstrom was educated in Sweden and holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Stockholm School of Economics.

Matthew Pfeffer
Corporate Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Matthew Pfeffer became the Corporate Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of MannKind Corporation in April 2008. Previously, Mr. Pfeffer served as Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration of VaxGen, Inc. from March 2006 until April 2008, with responsibility for finance, tax, treasury, human resources, IT, purchasing and facilities functions. Prior to VaxGen, Mr. Pfeffer served as CFO of Cell Genesys, Inc. During his nine year tenure at Cell Genesys, Mr. Pfeffer served as Director of Finance before being named CFO in 1998.  Prior to that, Mr. Pfeffer served in a variety of financial management positions at other companies, including roles as Corporate Controller, Manager of Internal Audit and Manager of Financial Reporting. Mr. Pfeffer began his career at Price Waterhouse.  Mr. Pfeffer graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and is a Certified Public Accountant.

David Thomson, Ph.D., J.D.
Corporate Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary

David Thomson, Ph.D., J.D. has been MannKind’s Corporate Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary since January 2002. Prior to joining MannKind, he practiced corporate/commercial and securities law at the Toronto law firm of Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP. Earlier in his career, Dr. Thomson was a post-doctoral fellow at the Rockefeller University in New York. Dr. Thomson obtained his bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and Ph.D. degree from Queens University and obtained his J.D. degree from the University of Toronto.

CHI Welcomes New Member UK Trade & Investment

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) works with UK-based businesses to ensure their success in international markets, and encourage the best overseas companies to look to the UK as their global partner of choice.

UKTI has professional advisers both within the UK and across more than 100 international markets.

As the business development arm of the UK Government, UKTI provides a free & confidential advisory service to US companies interested in doing business in the UK.

How We Help:

• Opening doors and creating lines of communication for US life science companies; with the NHS, Department of Health, NICE, MHRA, Clinical Research Networks and Ministers.
• Facilitating introductions to professional service providers who can advise on legal, accounting, banking and immigration essentials for your business.
• Utilizing the UKTI network of sector specialists to provide expert advice on the UK marketplace.
• Leveraging the global presence of UK Embassies & Consulates which offer inroads to secondary markets & business.

Lucy Gharibian
Business Development Manager

Lucy Gharibian is employed as a Business Development Manager for the Life Sciences/Healthcare sector at UKTI. Lucy supports the Vice-Consul in managing the LA post consular region (Arizona, Southern California, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah and Washington) for trade and investment opportunities.

Lucy earned a Biochemistry degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. Prior to joining UKTI, Lucy worked as a Laboratory Manager for a neuroscience lab and as a Business Development Associate for a business intelligence consulting firm.


Marisa Montalvo
Vice Consul, Life Sciences and Consumer Goods

Marisa brings with her nearly a decade of broad and varied experience in business development, account and event management, relationship building and fundraising. Prior to joining UKTI in May of 2012, Marisa spent several years as Director of Development for Science Buddies, a Bay Area STEM education software developer where she managed and grew relationships with a large portfolio of life science accounts spread across the United States. Prior to this role, Marisa was Director of Corporate Relations at the American Heart Association in Baltimore, MD where she managed key accounts and helped oversee logistics of the annual million dollar Heart Walk. Before the American Heart Association, Marisa held the position of Senior Development Officer at United Way of Miami-Dade where she was in charge of managing and growing the retail, higher education and consumer goods sectors. Marisa has a BA in History and Social Sciences from the American University of Paris in France.


Harrison Shapira
Vice Consul

Harrison Shapira is Vice Consul, Trade & Investment Officer for Life Sciences & Healthcare at UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the commercial branch of the UK Government. Harrison works out of the British Consulate General – Los Angeles and heads up the Life Sciences & Healthcare sectors in the Southwestern US on behalf of the British Government.

Covering Southern California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Washington & Hawaii, Harrison works with Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical & Medical Technology organisations.

Previously, Harrison Shapira worked at Amgen in the Neuroscience therapeutic area. His research in functional neuroanatomy focused on screening drug candidates for the treatment of Schizophrenia. Pior to Amgen, Harrison worked in the Haematology & Oncology department at the University of Michigan Medical School, performing research on the pharmacogenomics of Breast Cancer therapies.  He received his Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Michigan and his Masters of Science in Biotechnology and Masters of Business Administration from California State University.

CHI Welcomes New Member Banyan Biomarkers

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a major medical condition with over 1.7 million people annually suffering TBI in the U.S. resulting in more than 230,000 hospitalizations, 50,000 deaths, and over 80,000 permanent disabilities.  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 2 percent of the U.S. population now lives with TBI-caused disabilities, at an annual cost of about $77 billion.  Banyan Biomarkers, Inc. is focused on developing a simple point-of-care blood test that could be used by physicians to rapidly detect the presence of mild and moderate brain trauma and improve the medical management of head injured patients. The Company’s test uses two protein biomarkers licensed from the McKnight Brain Institute at the University of Florida that rapidly appear in systemic circulation after a brain injury.    Development of valid biomarkers of TBI will have a major impact on diagnosis, management, and treatment of brain injury patients.  Accurate diagnosis in acute care environments can significantly simplify decisions about patient management including whether to admit, discharge or to administer other time consuming, expensive and often inaccurate diagnostic tests including CT and MRI scans.


Jackson Streeter, M.D.
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Medical Officer

Jackson Streeter earned his B.S. degree in Biology from the University of Nevada Reno and his M.D. from the University of Nevada School of Medicine.  Prior to joining Banyan Biomarkers, Dr. Streeter served most recently as the Founder, CEO and Chief Scientific Officer of PhotoThera, Inc.  During his tenure at PhotoThera Dr. Streeter raised over $120M of invested capital and was responsible for the design and management of five US and international clinical trials.  He was also the co-founder of American Veterinary Laser.  He is the inventor on over twenty patents and author on multiple scientific publications.  Dr. Streeter is a member of the Governor’s Life Science Task Force for the State of Florida, FBI counter terrorism south east working group and the Gainesville Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

Prior to becoming a medical industry executive, Dr. Streeter served as an Officer in the U.S. Navy, completing a general surgery internship at Naval Regional Medical Center in Portsmouth, Virginia and then primary Flight School at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.  During his military service, Dr. Streeter was the first Naval Flight Surgeon selected as a TOPGUN staff instructor, served on several overseas deployments and was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal (2)  and the Navy Commendation Medal.

Steven P. Richieri
Executive Vice President

Steven Richieri has more than 25 years of experience in the health care industry and has a broad background in biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device product development and research.  He also has extensive experience in the US Food and Drug Administration’s regulatory process and has been responsible for taking a number of products from the research laboratory to the clinic for stroke, HIV, autoimmune diseases, cancer, and allergic rhinitis.  Mr. Richieri has held senior executive positions at PhotoThera, Inc., Egea Biosciences, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Centocor Inc.), The Immune Response Corporation and Dura Pharmaceuticals. He is also the co-founder of American Life Science Pharmaceuticals, a start-up drug discovery company focused on finding novel therapeutics to treat neurodegenerative and age-related disorders and NuVista Technology Corporation, a privately held medical device company.  Mr. Richieri received a B.S. in Pharmacy from Rutgers College of Pharmacy in 1977 and a MBA from the University of San Diego in 1983.

Tony Grover
Vice President of Business Development

Tony Grover is responsible for fostering new business initiatives, reimbursement, and managing key partnerships.  His career spans venture capital, government relations, reimbursement, marketing, and operations for a variety of life science companies.  Most recently he served as Director of Marketing and Reimbursement at PhotoThera, Inc., a privately held medical device company that raised approximately $120M for the treatment of acute stroke.  Prior to joining PhotoThera, Mr. Grover was a management consultant for Pittiglio Rabin Todd & McGrath (PRTM), now PwC, where he worked with a variety of Fortune 500 companies to increase operational efficiency.

Mr. Grover currently serves as the Chairman of the American Heart and Stroke Association, San Diego.  He is also a member of the American Academy of Neurology and served on the Corporate Roundtable Executive Committee from 2009-2013.  Mr. Grover is a Ronald E. McNair Scholar from Michigan State University with a B.S. in Biochemistry.  He also has a M.B.A. from Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business and attended the Harvard School of Public Health.

Henry L. Nordhoff
Executive Chairman

Mr. Nordhoff served as President and CEO of Gen-Probe Inc. for fifteen years until his retirement in May 2009.  In December 2011, he retired as Chairman of the Board.  Prior to joining Gen-Probe Inc., Mr. Nordhoff served as President and CEO of TargeTech, Inc., a gene therapy company focused on the treatment of inherited diseases, which was merged into the Immune Response Corporation in 1992. Previously, Mr. Nordhoff spent over 16 years at Pfizer Inc. where he held several senior positions in Brussels, Seoul, Tokyo and New York.

Mr. Nordhoff is Vice Chairman of the Shipston Group, and leads the private equity firm’s healthcare investments in Asia and serves on the board of directors of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, MannKind Corporation and the San Diego Museum of Art.  He is a member of the Advisory Committees of the USD School of Business Administration, the Jacobs School of Engineering at UCSD, the Rady School of Management at UCSD, and the International Advisory Board for Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. of Tokyo.  He is a member of the Founders Committee at the Preuss School and is a past Chairman of the California Healthcare Institute and the San Diego Regional Economic Corporation.

Mr. Nordhoff received his Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations and Political Economy from Johns Hopkins University and earned a Master’s degree in International Business and Finance from Columbia University.