PJ Anand is the founder and CEO of Alcyone Lifesciences, with over 20 years of experience in the life science industry. Prior to founding Alcyone, he held executive roles at Arsenal Medical and Spire Biomedical, where he was responsible for business development, strategic partnerships, and establishing business units. PJ has a background in biochemistry and several patent pending inventions.

1.
PJ Anand
Founder and CEO
Alcyone Life Sciences
@AlcyoneLS
PJ Anand is the founder of Alcyone Lifesciences and serves as its President
and CEO, with over 20 years of experience in life science industry. Prior to
founding Alcyone Lifesciences, PJ was a founding executive of Arsenal
Medical, Inc., the first collaborative enterprise between Drs. George
Whitesides, Prof. Harvard University (founder of Genzyme, Geltex,
Theravance) and Bob Langer, Institute Prof. MIT (founder Momemta,
MicroChip, Pervasis). As Executive Vice President of Corporate
Development, PJ was responsible for leading Arsenal's corporate strategy
and business development activities including technology in-licensing,
out-licensing and strategic alliances. In preparation for this role, PJ served
as the Company's Vice President of Business and Commercial
Development and working closely with Arsenal's technology visionaries,
operational team and founding scientists played a critical role in creation
of Arsenal's platform and product portfolio as well as executing on key
strategic alliance transactions.
Prior to joining Arsenal in 2005, PJ served as Vice President & General
Manager of Spire Biomedical, Inc., a division of Spire Corporation
(NASDAQ: SPIR), where he was responsible for establishing a medical
products business unit. While at Spire, PJ was responsible for R&D, sales &
marketing and business transactions. In addition, PJ was chiefly
responsible for identifying and in-licensing the seminal technology for the
company as well as executing major transactions with medical device
companies that resulted in several million dollars of non-dilutive revenue
for the company. PJ has also served as head of business development for
Toxikon Corporation, a preclinical CRO based out of Massachusetts.
PJ Anand has a bachelors degree and a masters level education in
Biochemistry and has several patent pending inventions to his credit.
Rich Anders
Managing Director
MassMed Angels
Richard Anders is a seasoned entrepreneur who has had careers in
computers, publishing, and consulting, and has a strong personal focus
on life sciences and life science investing. He is the managing director of
Rubin/Anders, a leading placement agency for scientific experts in major
litigations. Previously, he founded Jurisoft, which he sold to Lexis/Nexis,
published newspapers including Boston Digital Industry and New York
Digital Industry, and was a founding trustee of the Massachusetts
Interactive Media Council. Richard is a trustee of the Boston Museum of
Science, a former trustee of the Boston Biomedical Research Institute and
an overseer of the Gardner Museum. He is a member of the Institutional
Review Board at the Dana Farber Cancer Center, which reviews clinical
trials for the hospital. He founded the angel group Launchpad and
founded and currently runs MA Medical Angels (MA2), one of the country's
leading angel groups focused exclusively on life sciences. He currently
serves on the board of Bliss Healthcare, is a board observer at Avaxia
Biologics, and served on the board of Quosa, Inc., which was acquired by
Elsevier Publishing. Richard teaches medical device entrepreneurship at
the Harvard/MIT HST program. He is a graduate Summa Cum Laude in
Mathematics from Harvard and holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
1

2.
Mirena Bagur founded the company in 2005. During almost two decades
of marketing and communications experience, Mirena has counseled a
wide variety of technology-inspired companies. In addition to executing
marketing programs for clients, Mirena is the Associate Course Director of
the joint Harvard-MIT Division of Health, Sciences, and Technology course
HST.921 "Information Technology in the Heath Care System of the Future".
Mirena Bagur
President
CONTeXO Group
@MirenaBagur
Prior to this, Mirena was a senior vice president at Weber Shandwick, a
leading global communications agency. She collaborated with emerging
and enterprise companies to conceive and execute strategic marketing
and PR programs. Mirena’s capabilities to grasp not only clients’ brand
issues, but also understand the challenges associated with educating the
influencers on the adoption of complex concepts and technologies in
business environments, translated into leading roles in numerous
technology and healthcare accounts. She led teams that thoughtfully
coordinated marketing programs with strategic partners, led
communications campaigns for industry analyst firms, and was chosen to
lead national-level initiatives designed to elevate Weber Shandwick’s
brand and to increase visibility in new markets (start-ups and healthcare
businesses, boomers’ market) resulting in numerous referrals and revenue
increase.
Prior to Weber Shandwick, Mirena worked at T-Catalyst, a public affairs
agency and Nathan Tyler Productions, a producer of business videos
including “in Search of Excellence.” Prior to that, Mirena founded a branch
of the American Institute for Foreign Studies, the "Camp America" student
exchange program in former Yugoslavia when she developed and
implemented business and marketing plans, and procured approval of the
program by government.
Mirena holds a bachelor’s degree in international trade and marketing
from the University of Zagreb, Croatia, and has completed a strategic
business leadership program at Columbia University.
2

3.
Nancy Briefs
CEO
InfoBionic
@nancybriefs
Ms. Briefs' background includes 30+ years in the medical device industry.
She is a serial entrepreneur and has been an integral team member
responsible for successfully developing and commercializing innovative
paradigm shifting technologies with five (5) prior med-tech startups.
Having raised over $200M in venture capital and four successful liquidity
events (including an IPO with Goldman Sachs) she has proven the ability to
lead teams from concept thru commercialization and value creation. She
was awarded: with the Ernst & Young (EOY) New England Entrepreneur of
the Year Award for Emerging Companies in 2003; received the "Spirit
Award" in 2009 from NH Biotech Council and in 2010 was honored with a
"Leadership & Inspiration: Award from WEST (Women Entrepreneurs in
Science and Technology). She currently serves on the Boards of: MDMA
(Medical Device and Manufacturers Association), CardiAQ Valve
Technologies, Apama Medical and InfoBionic.
An entrepreneur inventor she is listed on seven issued and two pending
US patents.
Nancy has an MBA in Marketing and Finance from Golden Gate University
and a BA and BSB from Emporia University.
A notable and inspiring public speaker, Ms. Briefs has spoken at the MIT
Enterprise Forum, Harvard Medical School, Tuck School at Dartmouth
College, NH Women’s Leadership Conference, Smith College, WEST,
MassMEDIC, MIT Sloan School, Venture One, MDMA, MedTech Insight,
OneMedForum and other numerous industry events.
Lauren Celano
CEO
Propel Careers
@Propel_Careers
Lauren Celano is Co-founder and CEO of Propel Careers and has nearly a
decade of experience working with emerging drug discovery &
development biotechnology companies. Prior to Propel Careers, she was a
senior account manager for SNBL USA where she worked with emerging
biotech companies in Europe and the US to help characterize and advance
their drug molecules. Prior to SNBL USA, she held business development
positions with Aptuit and Quintiles, where she focused onIND enabling
studies to advance therapeutics from discovery into the clinic. At
Absorption Systems, Lauren held positions as a marketing manager and
account manager managing clients in the northeastern United States. She
has a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Gettysburg College
and an MBA with a focus in the health sector and entrepreneurship from
Boston University. Lauren is on the membership committee of the North
Shore Technology Council and the Healthcare Businesswomen’s
Association and on the programming committee of The Capital Network.
3

4.
Pravin Chaturvedi
Chairman & CEO
IndUS Pharmaceuticals,
Inc.
@tieboston
Pravin Chaturvedi has over 18 years of pharmaceutical industry experience and
has been associated with the discovery and development of several novel drugs for
the treatment of a variety of diseases. Over his career, Dr. Chaturvedi has been a
part of the discovery, development and marketing of five new drugs that are on
the market (globally) and has more than 10 new drugs undergoing clinical
evaluation at this time at his previous companies. Currently Dr. Chaturvedi is the
founding Chairman & CEO of IndUS Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an emerging
pharmaceutical company, headquartered in the Boston area (with a subsidiary
Sindu Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd., in Hyderabad, India). IndUS Pharmaceuticals is
focused on the discovery and development of novel small molecule drugs for the
treatment of cancer, diabetes and infectious diseases.
Prior to founding IndUS Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Chaturvedi was the founding
President & CEO of Scion Pharmaceuticals, a Boston-based biotechnology company
focused on the discovery and development of new drugs targeting ion channels for
the treatment of central nervous system (CNS), cardiovascular (CV) and urological
disorders. Under his leadership, Scion successfully recruited a very experienced
management team that achieved key scientific and business milestones and raised
venture capital to support its R&D operations. Prior to Scion, Dr. Chaturvedi, spent
several years at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, where as the Head of Lead Evaluation and
he had oversight of several therapeutic programs from early discovery through
clinical proof-of-concept studies (phase IIA). During his tenure at Vertex, he
played a key role in the discovery and development of several therapeutic agents
for immunosuppressive, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, oncology and neuroscience
indications.
Prior to Vertex, Dr. Chaturvedi was in the preclinical group at Alkermes, where he
participated in CNS and oncology product development through novel strategies
for crossing the blood-brain-barrier (BBB). Prior to Alkermes, he was in the
Product Development group at Parke-Davis/Warner-Lambert Company, where he
worked on the development of new drugs for the treatment of oncology, epilepsy,
pain and cognition. Dr. Chaturvedi holds a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from
West Virginia University and a Bachelor's in Pharmacy from the University of
Bombay.
Yumin Choi
Partner
HLM Venture Partners
@YuminVC
Yumin is currently a Director of Vets First Choice and is a board observer
at Institute for Health Metrics (IHM), Nordic Consulting, and TYRX. Yumin
is a director to The Capital Network, a non-profit focused on educating
entrepreneurs around topics of fundraising and finance. He previously was
chair of the New England Venture Network (NEVN), the largest young
Venture Capital organization in New England. Yumin is co-chair of the
Boston Symphony Orchestra Venture Capital and Private Equity committee
and is on Boston University’s Coulter Foundation Oversight Committee.
Prior to HLM, Yumin was with Angel Healthcare Investors, a health care
focused early stage investment group, ZweigWhite’s Financial Advisory
Services and Mergers & Acquisitions Group and was co-founder and CEO
of CY Digital. He is also a mentor in health care focused startup
accelerators, Blueprint Health and Healthbox, and is an active angel
investor.
Yumin received a BS from Babson College.
4

5.
John Conley
Launchpad Venture Group
Bill Contente
Launchpad Venture Group
Bio: BS Economics, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. MBA, Yale
School of Management. Manager, Bain and Company. 10 years with
Biogen: business development, marketing, sales, finance, project
management. Co-founder, first employee, VP Strategy and Finance of
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. through to its IPO. VP Business
Development, Transkaryotic Therapies Inc. Advisor with JSB Partners LP
(life science deal broker). Partner at Gilliam Capital LLC, pursuing life
science start ups and venture financing. 2014: Advanced Leadership
Fellow at Harvard University
Bill Contente is a corporate lawyer and former Managing Partner at
Gesmer
Updegrove LLP. He represents a wide range of emerging companies,
including
companies focused on e-commerce, SaaS, computer hardware and
software,
medical devices, systems integration and other services, angel investment
and consulting. He has represented his clients through hundreds of
financing deals, including angel deals, venture capital investments,
private equity investments, bridge financings and bank financings. He also
has extensive experience in corporate exit transactions, including
mergers,
acquisitions, stock deals and asset deals. Mr. Contente is Chairman of the
Board of Launchpad Venture Group, one of the nation’s top 5 angel
investment groups. He has served as a director and member of the
Executive
Committee of the Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation (2006 – 2012),
Chairman
of the Board of Lena Park Community Development Corporation (1997 –
2002),
Co-chair of the High Technology Practice Group of the Massachusetts Bar
Association (1994 – 1999) and an Arbitrator for the National Futures
Association (1989 – present).
5

6.
James E. Dawson is a partner in the Business Department and a member of
the firm's Life Sciences group. He practices in the areas of corporate and
securities law, including mergers and acquisitions, public offerings,
private placements and investment adviser representation. He represents
life sciences companies, including biotech and medical device companies,
and life science venture funds, as well as emerging and high tech
companies.
Jim Dawson
Partner
Nutter McClennen & Fish
Jim has handled more than 100 mergers and acquisitions of both public
and private buyers and sellers. He represents public companies, handling
all facets of securities law issues, including compliance with SarbanesOxley. Jim is a former co-chair of the Boston Bar Association’s Securities
Law Committee and has been a frequent lecturer at Massachusetts
Continuing Legal Education. He also represents companies based in
Europe and Asia doing business in the U.S.
Jim is a member of the American, Massachusetts and Boston Bar
Associations.
Eric J. Evans has nearly thirty years of experience in the life sciences
industry, as executive, consultant and investor. Since 2010 he has been
active as an investor and interim CEO for a variety of early-stage and
emerging companies in therapeutics, devices and diagnostics.
Eric Evans
MassMed Angels
Targeted Cell Therapeutics
From 2007 to 2010, he was Chief Executive Officer of Targeted Cell
Therapies, a Worcester-based biotechnology company developing gene
therapies for various inherited disorders. While there, he was responsible
for overseeing drug discovery and development, business intelligence,
business development & licensing, competitive analysis, strategy
development, corporate financing, staffing and administration, and
alliances with other pharmaceutical companies. He took the company from
founding by its scientists through several key milestones, culminating in
the negotiation of an exit to a big international pharma company.
Previously, Mr. Evans had advised nearly all of the world’s largest
pharmaceutical companies on issues of growth, strategy, market
assessment and business development, while with the Boston Consulting
Group and then for nearly fifteen years as president of Growth Analytics
Inc., a strategy boutique based in the U.S. and Europe. He has also worked
extensively in the related industries of medical devices and diagnostics.
He began his career at Procter & Gamble, in brand management, an
experience that continues to inform his work in consumer health. He has
been a policy adviser to various candidates for public office, and has
taught as an adjunct professor on the faculty of County College of Morris.
Mr. Evans holds a B.S. in biomedical Physics from Brown University and an
M.B.A. in Finance and Public Policy (double major) from the Wharton
School, University of Pennsylvania.
6

7.
Ben Gardner
Founder and President
Linkwell Health
@LinkwellHealth
Adam Ghander
Partner
Ben founded Linkwell Health in 2007 with the mission of developing
simple, meaningful ways to engage and empower consumers to promote
healthier lifestyles. Ben’s 20+ years of experience spans both the
healthcare and marketing services sectors, working primarily in start-up
and early stage businesses. Ben was Vice President of Sales for 10 years at
Imagitas, a marketing services company reaching the new mover market
through an exclusive relationship with the U.S. Postal Service. Ben also led
ParentSource (a successful couponing and sampling partnership with
McDonalds) and DriverSource (a direct marketing program in partnership
with state DMVs). Ben’s earlier career was focused on healthcare, working
for companies including Stryker Medical (medical devices) and HPR
(clinical software). Ben is a graduate of Bentley University with a BA in
Marketing.
Adam B. Ghander focuses his corporate finance and securities practice on
private equity, venture capital, and emerging companies representation;
mergers and acquisitions; and securities regulations. He represents clients
in a wide variety of industries, including banking and financial services,
telecommunications, social networking, manufacturing and professional
sports. Adam previously served as in-house counsel for a publicly-traded
manufacturing and technology company. Prior to his in-house experience,
he spent many years as a corporate attorney at the Boston office of an
international law firm. Adam lectures frequently on corporate finance and
teaches at the Boston University School of Management.
Nutter McClennen & Fish
@NutterLaw
7

8.
Launched and managed an injection molding company that manufactured
close-tolerance custom plastic components for use in technicallydemanding applications. The company was self-financed and profitable
from the first year of operation.
Mike Gordon
Launchpad Venture Group
Launched and managed a very profitable company that developed and
manufactured products that controlled static electricity for the microelectronics industry (25 - 30% EBITDA). Sold to a public British company.
Founded two business networks, one face-to-face and one in virtual
space that bring entrepreneurs together with capital providers.
Founded a private management consulting firm for CEOs seeking funding,
growth, global competitive advantage and corporate revitalization.
Adjunct Lecturer: Babson College, Harvard Extension School, ISM, France,
many others.
Recipient of the 2009 Teaching Excellence Award for the entire
International Region from the Association of Collegiate Business Schools
and Programs (ACBSP)
Curriculum and Editorial Review Boards: International School of
Management; Paris
Managed departments of engineers and technicians that had
responsibilities for developing state-of-the-art chemical and plastic
manufacturing processes.
Wrote book entitled: “Entrepreneurship 101: How to Turn Your Idea Into
a Money Machine,” John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2nd Edition, 2010 (Trump
University Series)
Many patents and publications
Many national/international speaking & teaching engagements: DBA, MBA,
Exec. Ed
Discovered a unique chemical reaction during PhD thesis research.
Reviewed over 1500 Executive Summaries / Business Plans
Developed a unique predictive model for the nine entrepreneurial thriving
forces.
Member, Launchpad Venture Group, one of the 5 largest angel groups in
the USA
.
8

9.
Dave Greenwald
Co-Founder and Managing
Director
Relay Technology
Management
Dr. Greenwald is a co-founder of Relay Technology Management, Inc. and
currently serves as Managing Director. Dr. Greenwald was an Associate
Investigator at the Naval Medical Research Center in Silver Spring, MD. Dr.
Greenwald worked with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on 510(k)
applications for diagnostic devices for dengue fever. Dr. Greenwald was a
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) research fellow while earning a
B.S. in Cellular Biology and Molecular Genetics from the University of
Maryland, College Park. Dr. Greenwald was awarded an NIH Ruth L.
Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) towards his Ph.D.
research dissertation on gene therapy for Retinitis Pigmentosa. Dr.
Greenwald is an active Licensing Executive Society member, and serves on
the Board of Directors for Piers Park Sailing Center in Boston, MA. Dr.
Greenwald focuses on infectious diseases, cancer and genetics and enjoys
sailing in Boston harbor. Dr. Greenwald publishes his perspectives on the
entrepreneurism and the innovation economy on his personal blog.
9

10.
Rana Gupta has spent the last 12 years investing in and developing novel
technologies. His passion for entrepreneurship is concentrated in
entrepreneurial finance and technology development.
Rana Gupta
Boston University
Most recently, Mr Gupta was CEO of HistoRx, a cancer diagnostics
company and Yale University spin-out. He ran HistoRx for six years until
selling the company to Novartis AG in September 2012. Previous to
HistoRx, Mr Gupta was Managing Director at Navigator Technology
Ventures (NTV). NTV was an early stage technology venture capital firm
spun out of Draper Laboratory and based in Cambridge, MA. NTV’s
investments were in multiple industry sectors including materials,
software, medical devices and media. Six of NTV’s investments were
laboratory or university spin-outs.
For the last eight years, Mr Gupta has been teaching in BU’s
entrepreneurship program in the areas of entrepreneurial finance and
technology development.
Prior to his position with NTV, Mr Gupta was Product Manager for Global
Services with yet2.com, a B2B marketplace for technology transfer. Before
yet2.com, Mr Gupta founded IndoSine U.S. Link, Ltd., a business
development company that helped clients to expand international
businesses between India, China, and the U.S. While running IndoSine, Mr
Gupta co-founded a wireless software company, International Solutions, a
digital signal processing software company, for which he served as Vice
President of Sales and Marketing. Previous to IndoSine, he served as
Manager, PRC Investment Strategy for Zeneca Pharmaceuticals in Beijing,
China. At Zeneca, Mr Gupta was responsible for the China manufacturing
strategy, for which he secured a $22M investment from the Board of
Directors.
Previous to Zeneca, Mr Gupta was a senior consultant at Arthur D Little, a
technology consultancy. Stationed primarily in Cambridge, MA, Mr Gupta
also served as a member of the start-up team for Arthur D Little’s
Bangalore, India office.
He holds an MBA in Finance and International Business from New York
University's Stern School of Business, an MS in Operations Research from
Stanford University, and a BA in Mathematics from Earlham College.
10

11.
Jeremy Halpern
Partner
Nutter McClennen & Fish
Jeremy Halpern, is a Partner, and the Director of Business Development,
Emerging Companies Group, at Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP. As a former
entrepreneur in mobile and entertainment, Jeremy concentrates on
connecting with and supporting the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in New
England, working with current entrepreneurs, angel investors, venture
capitalists and corporate strategic partners. In addition to his work with
TCN, Jeremy is an angel investor, and serves on the Boards of
MassVentures, a MicroVC firm and Pintley, a next generation marketing
company for the brewing industry. Jeremy is a member of or participates
at Launchpad Venture Group, Boston Harbor Angels, Golden Seeds, TiEAngels, MassChallenge, Web Innovators Group, MassTLC, Mobile Mondays
and other area industry groups. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and the
UCLA School of Law.
@startupboston
Paul is a longtime life sciences executive with a proven track record in
launching successful startup businesses and leading Fortune 500
organizations. He has extensive experience in the laser and medical
device industries, including managing manufacturing for Summit
Technology, Inc., a leading developer of the LASIK procedure and other
laser eye correction procedures.
Paul Hartung
President and CEO
Cognoptix
Mike Koeris
Founder and COO
Sample6 Technologies
Prior to Cognoptix, Paul was Vice President of Operations at Winphoria
Networks, a successful mobile communications startup acquired by
Motorola. Before that he was Senior Director at 3Com Corporation, where
he was involved in a number of mergers and acquisitions, and directed
global operations and new product introductions. At Trumpf, he
developed high power automated laser systems for industrial applications.
As Director of R&D at Laser Fare Ltd., he developed new laser processing
techniques for the medical device industry and other applications. Paul
started his career as an Advanced Manufacturing Engineer at General
Electric Company. He graduated from MIT with an MS Degree in
Mechanical Engineering. He received the FW Taylor Award of the CIRP for
his research.
Micah is a co-founder and CEO of Sample6 Technologies. Prior to
Sample6, Micah co-founded Brontes Technologies, Inc. in 2003 and
served as General Manager of the business after its acquisition by 3M
Corp in 2006. Brontes technology was a handheld 3D imaging system that
replaced traditional paste-based dental impressions. Prior to Brontes,
Micah co-founded SimplyDone Business Solutions/Handshake.com, in
which he raised over $20,000,000 in financing from venture and strategic
investors. Micah received his B.S. degree from Cornell University and his
MBA from Harvard Business School. Micah is also on the Board of Advisors
for Cornell's Entrepreneurship Program, and is a Founder Partner to the
Founder Collective, a Boston/NYC based seed stage venture fund.
11

12.
Konstantin Linnik is a partner in Nutter’s Intellectual Property Department.
He works with biotech, pharma and other life sciences companies on
various matters involving intellectual property. Examples include: strategic
counseling, building and leveraging patent portfolios, competitive
analysis, product design and development, licensing and negotiations,
due diligence and IP audits, and patent enforcement and litigation.
Konstantin Linnik
Partner
Nutter McClennen & Fish
@LifeSciIP
Before joining Nutter Konstantin was Senior Corporate Counsel at Pfizer,
where he was lead patent counsel for Pfizer research units located in
Cambridge, Massachusetts; Düsseldorf, Germany; and Ottawa, Canada.
Prior to Pfizer, he had extensive experience representing many pharma
and biotech companies as their external counsel.
Active in the Boston legal community, Konstantin currently chairs the
Biotechnology Committee of the Boston Patent Law Association and serves
as co-chair of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council’s Legal &
Regulatory committee. In addition, he serves on the board of directors of
Seeding Labs. He also frequently speaks or lectures on IP-related topics
such as: IP strategy; the role of IP counsel in business transactions; duty
of disclosure; claim drafting; intellectual property due diligence; and IP
licensing. Konstantin is an adjunct professor at Suffolk University Law
School. He also serves on Nutter's Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
12

13.
Semprus BioSciences co-founder David L. Lucchino served as Chief
Executive Officer and President of Semprus BioSciences until its
acquisition by Teleflex Medical, Inc. (NYSE: TFX) for $80 million. He then
served as a Vice President executing the post M&A integration plan for
eighteen months.
David Lucchino
Co-Founder
Semprus BioSciences
@SemprusBio
Mr. Lucchino co-founded Semprus BioSciences while attending the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he earned an MBA as an
Alfred P. Sloan Fellow. He led an MIT team to first place at entrepreneurial
competitions at MIT, Harvard and Oxford universities’ by beating more
than 300 teams collectively.
Under Mr. Lucchino’s stewardship, Semprus BioSciences grew from
two to 45 employees, secured $28.5 million in venture capital financing,
$5.4 million in federal funding and received regulatory approval from the
FDA and the European Union for their first product.
Mr. Lucchino is a member of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts
Biotechnology Council, the leading not-for-profit organization that
supports the region’s biotechnology industry. He is a Trustee of Mt.
Auburn Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching facility and also
serves on the Audit Committee for CareGroup: the parent organization of
Mt. Auburn, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and The New England
Baptist Hospital. Mr. Lucchino was a member of the Board of Directors of
the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), the national
trade association representing the U.S. medical device industry from 2010
to 2013.
Mr. Lucchino began his career as a technology marketing
executive. He also earned a Master of Science degree from Syracuse
University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Denison University.
Outside the office, Mr. Lucchino is active with the National Outdoor
Leadership School (NOLS), where he was part of an expedition that
climbed Alaska’s Mt. McKinley, North America's tallest mountain, and
spent 95 days living in the Rocky Mountains as part of a leadership
training program. He most recently rafted down Idaho’s “River of No
Return,” the Salmon River, with NOLS. Mr. Lucchino has also participated
as part of the Boston Red Sox’s “Team 9” in the annual Pan Mass
Challenge, the two-day bike ride that raises funds for adult and pediatric
cancer care and research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
13

14.
Corey McCann
Principal
MPM Capital
@MPMCapital
Nandini Murthy
Principal and Founder
ENEM Consulting LLC
Dr. Corey M McCann joins MPM's Boston office as a Principal. Prior to
MPM, he was an Engagement Manager with McKinsey & Company, where
he advised pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotechnology companies
on the acquisition, development, and commercialization of life science
technologies. In addition, he was a leader of McKinsey's Central Nervous
System (CNS) expertise group, advising clients across the healthcare value
chain. Dr. McCann brings investment experience to MPM. He was
previously an Associate with RiverVest Venture Partners where he
performed diligence on early stage investments and he was also a Market
Analyst for NeuroInsights, covering advances in brain related
technologies. He is a founding member of Alcyone Lifesciences, a startup
focused on developing treatments for chronic neurologic conditions. Dr.
McCann trained as a physician-scientist via the Medical Scientist Training
Program. For his Ph.D., he studied the molecular biology of synapses at
Harvard University and Washington University in St Louis. He was also a
researcher at the Massachusetts General Hospital where he developed
imaging techniques for the visualization of the brain. Dr. McCann received
his M.D. from Washington University in St. Louis. He graduated summa
cum laude from The Pennsylvania State University where he was an Evan
Pugh Scholar, receiving a B.S. in Biology with minors in neuroscience,
biochemistry, and molecular biology.
Ms. Murthy is Principal and Founder of ENEM Consulting LLC, a regulatory
consulting firm based in MA. As a Consultant, Ms. Murthy has worked with
clients in industry and academia, on novel diagnostic and therapeutic
products, including cardiovascular, neurological, radiological, imaging,
urological and oncology devices. Ms. Murthy has developed regulatory
strategy, represented clients at FDA meetings and authored FDA
submissions. She has also led worldwide regulatory projects, including
product launch in the EU, Japanese and South American markets. In
addition to her core expertise in regulatory affairs, Ms. Murthy has
designed and executed clinical trials and established quality systems to
ISO and FDA Quality System requirements. This complementary work
experience enables Ms. Murthy to provide the kind of comprehensive
regulatory support crucial to novel, early stage ventures, aligning the
engineering and clinical support documentation with overall regulatory
strategy.
Prior to establishing ENEM Consulting LLC in 2007, Ms. Murthy held senior
management positions at InfraReDx, Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology
Systems, Thermo Cardiosystems and Hologic. Ms. Murthy holds a M.S.
from UMass-Boston.
14

15.
Vinit Nijhawan
Managing Director,
Technology Development
Boston University
Dimitri Racklin
Launchpad Venture Group
Detlef Rethage
Launchpad Venture Group
Vinit Nijhawan has over 25 years experience building five startups: as CEO
of three, four were acquired, and the fifth has grown to over 300 people.
Recently, Vinit was Venture Partner at Key Venture Partners and over two
years sourced over 200 deals and made one investment which was
acquired for $430M. Vinit is an advisor and board member to several
technology startups and was a Mass High Tech All-Star in 2005. Vinit has
participated in over 120 panel discussions and paper presentations, and is
a Board of Trustee of TiE Global, a non-profit that fosters
entrepreneurship globally. Vinit is Managing Director, Office of
Technology Development, and Director of Enterprise Programs at ITEC
(Institute of Technology, Entrepreneurship & Commercialization) at Boston
University. Vinit also teaches an MBA course on Entrepreneurship at BU.
Vinit earned a B.A.Sc in electrical engineering from the University of
Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.
Dimitri Racklin is the founder and principal of RacklinLaw LLC, a boutique
corporate law practice he started at the beginning of 2013, focusing
on emerging growth and other privately held companies; venture capital
and private equity; M&A; corporate partnering, strategic alliances and
licensing/technology transactions; project development/finance; and
general corporate work. Prior to starting RacklinLaw, Dimitri was a
corporate partner at WilmerHale (formerly Hale and Dorr) since 1995,
where his practice followed a similar focus and included clients in
biotech/pharma, health care, technology and telecommunications, energy
and power, financial services, gaming, professional services, food and
beverage and other industries. In 2007, Dimitri joined Fidelity as a Senior
Vice President and Deputy General Counsel (supporting Devonshire
Investors, Fidelity's private equity arm), returning to WilmerHale in 2008.
Prior to Hale and Dorr, Dimitri worked in Washington, DC and Moscow,
Russian Federation offices of Vinson & Elkins and Fried, Frank, Harris,
Shriver & Jacobson, both major national law firms. Dimitri holds a B.A.
from Yale University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and is an active
angel investor.
As team leader, developed organizations, transformed cultures and
improved profitability of drug development service companies, CRO's /
CMO's and fine chemical businesses.
Experienced with small and large national/international organizations in
General Management, Strategic Development and M&A in the USA,
Germany and Italy.
Expertise: Leadership. Build teams/organizations. Develop and implement
strategies.
Improve revenue, profitability and the value of the business.
Successful turn around and divestiture, Post Merger Integration, M&A
transactions (buy, sell, JV)
15

16.
Cheryl Richardson
Launchpad Venture Group
Cheryl Richardson is the New York Times bestselling author of several
books including, Take Time for Your Life, Life Makeovers, Stand Up for
Your Life, The Unmistakable Touch of Grace, The Art of Extreme Self Care
and her new book with Louise Hay called You Can Create an Exceptional
Life. She was the first president of the International Coach Federation and
holds one of their first Master Certified Coach credentials. Her work has
been covered widely in the media including Good Morning America, The
Today Show, CBS This Morning, New York Times, USA Today, Good
Housekeeping, and O Magazine. She was the team leader for the Lifestyle
Makeover Series on the Oprah Winfrey Show and she accompanied Ms.
Winfrey on the “Live Your Best Life” nationwide tour. Cheryl also served as
the co-executive producer and host of “The Life Makeover Project with
Cheryl Richardson” on the Oxygen Network and as the co-executive
producer and host of two Public Television Specials – “Stand Up for Your
Life” and “Create an Abundant Life.” You can check out Cheryl’s radio talk
show — Coach on Call — on the Internet at www.hayhouseradio.com. The
show airs live on Mondays at 5pm ET (2pm PT) and is replayed throughout
the week. You can also find her Facebook Fan Page here and follow her
on Twitter under her username “coachoncall.”
Ed Ross is President and Managing Director of Excelerate Ventures LLC, a
strategy and commercialization consultancy and angel investment
cooperative focusing on disruptive medical innovation.
Ed Ross
President and Managing
Director
Excelerate Ventures LLC
Mr. Ross has spearheaded the development and global commercialization
of several significant disruptive medical device and regenerative
technologies including InFuse, the current ‘gold standard’ bone-growth
implant nearing $1 billion in sales through Medtronic.
Recently Mr. Ross was the Vice President and General Manager for
Alphatec Spine where he initiated an independent orthobiologics division
and launched PureGen, a disruptive stem cell line for spinal
reconstruction. Mr. Ross has been a founding and/or executive team
member for notable medical device start-ups including ConforMIS,
Gliatech, Anika Therapeutics and ClozeX Medical, a wound closure
company acquired by 3M Healthcare. Prior to entrepreneurial pursuits, Mr.
Ross built the orthopedic, anesthesia and healthcare IT businesses for
industry leaders such as Zimmer, Genetics Institute, American Hospital
Supply and Whittaker General Medical, all marked by successful
introductions of key innovations.
An active advisor and Board Member to several startups, Mr. Ross is a
founding member of MDG, the Medical Development Group, and active in
Mass Medical Angels and Golden Seeds. He serves on the steering
committees of entrepreneurial educational groups including the MIT
Enterprise Forum Life Sciences Group and the North Shore Technology
Council. Mr. Ross has an MBA in Marketing and Finance from University of
Rochester and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Dickinson
College.
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17.
Praveen Tailam
Managing Director
TiE Angels Boston
@tieboston
As a managing director Praveen overseas the operation of the TiE Angels
functions and partnerships. Praveen is an active investor, mentor, start-up
advisor, entrepreneur and business plan competition judge. Prior
experience includes Information Technology and Consulting. Praveen
incorporated Redtail Consulting, a Boston area consulting firm and
managed the business from 2006 thru 2012. Praveen was associated with
companies in retail, banking and insurance sectors and catering to their IT
infrastructure needs. Prior to being an entrepreneur his direct
engagements were in managing and deploying enterprise messaging
solutions at IBM, Putnam Investments, Wellpoint, Blue Cross Blue Shield
etc,. Additionally Praveen works closely with his dentist wife in managing
multiple dental practices in New Hampshire area.
Praveen has Masters in Information Systems from Northeastern University
and Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering. Praveen is an avid golfer and
has interests in cricket and squash. Praveen is active charter member of
TiE-Boston.
Mark Tepper
President and CEO
JB Therapeutics
@marktepper
Dr. Tepper has more than twenty years of leadership
experience in pharmaceutical and biotech companies including Bristol
Myers Squibb, Serono, CytRx, RXi Pharmaceuticals and NKT Therapeutics.
He has been involved in the discovery, development, and approval of a
number of marketed drugs including Deoxyspergualin, Taxol, Rebif,
Orcenia and Gonal-F. He has successfully founded and led
a number of therapeutics based biotech companies and raised over
$45M in funding for these companies and provided investors with a high
ROI. Dr. Tepper received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry & Biophysics from
Columbia University, New York, and a B.A in Chemistry (Cum Laude) from
Clark University, Worcester, Mass. He gained postdoctoral training at the
University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA in the
laboratory of Professor Michael P. Czech.
17

18.
Leslie Williams
CEO
ImmusanT
@ImmusanT
Leslie Williams has more than 20 years of industry experience in
healthcare, management, commercial product development and
marketing. Williams joined the specialty pharmaceutical company,
Ventaira, in 2003 and was quickly promoted to president and chief
executive officer from 2004 to 2007. Prior to Ventaira, Williams was
director of marketing for INO Therapeutics, Inc., where she played a
significant role in the development of INOmax (nitric oxide). Williams's
prior pharmaceutical industry experience includes commercial positions at
Merck and GlaxoSmithKline, and drug-delivery and monitoring experience
at Datex-Ohmeda (formerly Ohmeda, Inc.) where she also discovered,
developed and managed "OptimizOR".
Leslie was a Venture Partner with Battelle Ventures, and serves on the
Board of CDI Bioscience. She also serves on the board of Hepregen, an MIT
spin out, which has developed a stable and highly functional micro- liver
model. Leslie currently serves as Interim CEO for an early stage Cancer
Therapeutics company in Cambridge, MA. Williams holds an MBA from
Washington University, John Olin School of Business, and a B.S. degree
biology with honors in nursing from the University of Iowa.
18

19.
Dr. Jill Wittels is CEO of Sostenuto Strategic Advisors and a Founding
Partner and Chief Technology Officer of Terra Prima Partners LLC. She
serves as Fiduciary or Advisory Director or Strategic Advisor to technology
companies in a wide range of markets.
Jill Wittels
She is Chair of the Board of eMagin (EMAN), an OLED microdisplays company, since August 2011.
-
She is an Advisory Board Director for SmartSenseCom, an early
stage company with equipment in field trials for better control of
high and medium voltage transmission on the electric grid.
-
She was a founder and Strategic Advisor to Owl Biomedical, a
medical device company spun out in December of 2010 and
successfully sold to a strategic buyer in January 2013.
-
She has served on the Board of Directors of Fermi Research
Alliance, which oversees the DOE’s Fermi National Accelerator
Laboratory, since 1995, with a short break from June 2011-August
2013.
-
She serves as a CEO advisor to early stage companies in the New
England high tech zone in markets from medical IT to mobile
banking security
Launchpad Venture Group
Sostenuto Strategic
Advisors
Terram Prima Partners LLC
@LaunchpadVG
Since launching SSA in July of 2011, Dr. Wittels has also done consulting
work for several of the top rank Aerospace and Defense enterprises.
In July 2011 she retired as Corporate VP of Business and Technology
Strategy at L-3 Communications, which she had joined in February 2001
to report to the CEO, Frank Lanza. During her tenure at L-3, Dr. Wittels
had oversight responsibility for the Corporation’s $400M+ investment
budget. She served for 10 years as a L-3’s Director of Innovative
Microtechnologies Inc, a CA based MEMS company, as well as for 15 years
as a Director on the Board of Overseers of DOE’s Fermi National
Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, IL.
Dr. Wittels has nearly 35 years of business unit P&L management,
strategy, engineering management and leadership experience. Prior to L3 Communications, Dr. Wittels worked for 21 years with BAE Systems and
its predecessor companies, including Lockheed Martin, Loral and
Honeywell. She was the instrumental leader in launching the thermal
infrared microbolometer products business, which was the spark for
creation of a multi-billion dollar industry supplying DoD, first responders,
and commercial applications. In her final assignment with BAE, she served
as VP/GM of BAE Systems' Information and Electronic Warfare
Systems/Infrared and Imaging Systems Division. Dr. Wittels began her
industrial career at Honeywell as a systems engineer.
Prior to industry, Dr. Wittels served as a Congressional Fellow for the
American Physical Society working in the US Senate, a Senior Visiting
Scientist for the US National Academy of Sciences exchange program with
the USSR Academy of Sciences and a Research Associate at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dr. Wittels received a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from MIT in
1970 and a PhD in Physics from MIT in 1975.
She is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors, the
Corporate Directors Group, and Women Corporate Directors, as well as the
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American Physical Society and the American Astronomical Society.

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