Claude Benchimol, Ph.D.
Claude Benchimol served as the Senior Vice President of Research & Development at Life Technologies Corporation (Invitrogen Corp.) since September 2003. Before joining Invitrogen, Dr. Benchimol held technology leadership roles for 25 years at General Electric. He served as VP of global technology for GEs Medical Systems, Information Technologies. Dr. Benchimol received a masters degree in engineering from Ecole Nationale Superieure des Telecommunications in France, as well as a masters and doctorate degree in System Science from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Myles Fennell, Ph.D
Scientific Leader, Neurosciences Assau Development, MSK-CC
Myles is an expert in drug discovery and in vitromodels with extensive experience in High-Content Screening and Neuroscience. During his time atWyeth and Bristol-Myers Squibb he has been a leader of several drug discovery teams and technology initiatives including High-Content screening and the use of stem cell derived models for drug discovery and development. At GigaCyteMyles was the Director in charge of developing and launching products based on neural stem cells and building collaborations with pharma and academia.
Ralph Garippa, Ph.D.
Dr. Garippa is the Head of the newly created RNAi Core facility at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Ralph is the former Head of Cell-Based High Throughput Screening (HTS) and Microscopic Imaging-based High Content Screening (HCS) at Hoffmann-La Roche’s Nutley NJ Site.
Prior to this role, Ralph was Roche's site manager for the Perkin Elmer / Evotec-Zeiss Ultra High Throughput Screening platform. He is former member (2005-2008) of the Scientific Advisory board for the MLSCN Roadmap Project at the NIH.
Joanne Gere
Joanne Gere is the Executive Director at the BioPharma Research Council, a non-for-profit producer of high-content educational programs for the biotech/pharmaceutical research community. Joanne is a versatile business strategy and communications professional. Her leadership assignments address the dynamic interplay between strategic thinking, validation of business assumptions, and actionable plans.
The BioScience Collaborative was founded by Ms. Gere in 2007 as a framework for consulting with life science. In addition to working directly with growing businesses, she has organized many symposia, round-tables, and conferences.
Ed Kuspiel
Chair, LRIG (Laboratory Robotics Interest Group) Mid Atlantic
Edward Kuspiel received a B.A. and B.S. in Engineering from The College of New Jersey in 1981. Working as a Senior Engineer for Wallace and Tiernan, Ed designed electronics and control software used in new products for chemical process instrumentation. Since 1986, Ed has been with Bristol-Myers, Squibb where he is a Group Leader in Discovery Informatics and Automation. During his tenure at BMS, Ed has developed multiple novel robotics systems, laboratory instruments, and specialized controls used in pharmaceutical research.
Lisa Minor, Ph.D.
Lisa is a Biomedical Expert with more than 20 years of experience in a variety of technologies used for Drug Discovery Research, Screening and Assay Development and safety pharmacolohy. Most recenly at Johnson and Johnson Pharmaceutical R&D, she led several initiatives to evaluate and implement screening and cellular imaging technologies. She chairs several Cell-based assay development meetings and is an active speaker in the same. Lisa is an NIH grant reviewer and on the Editorial Board for NIH Assay Development Manual. She is a past Board, serving two terms for the Society for Biomolecular Sciences and is a member of the Board of Scientific Counsellors for the National Toxicology Program.
Karl-Heinz Ott, Ph.D:
Karl-Heinz is a scientist experienced in drug discovery and development across the pharmaceutical portfolio, including oncology, immunology, metabolic diseases, and neuroscience. Most recently at Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Frederic Pla, Ph.D.
Vice President, Corporate Business Development, for Life Technologies, San Diego, CA
Fredeirc leads external growth and M&A initiatives for Life Technologies in areas such as molecular medicine and applied markets. Frederic joined Life Technologies in 2005 as Vice President and General Manager of the Diagnostics Business. Prior to joining Invitrogen, Frederic Pla held key global managerial positions at GE Healthcare, including General Manager of Cardiology Care, General Manager of Clinical Enterprise Solutions, and General Manager for the Cardiovascular Information Systems business. Frederic He is a holder of 23 U.S. patents. Frederic Pla holds a Ph.D. in Acoustics from the Pennsylvania State University and is a holder of 23 U.S. patents.
Adam J Simon, Ph.D
13 years at Merck Research Laboratories in the field of discovery, analytical fit-for-purpose validation of neuroscience biomarkers across multiple disease areas and in support of Imaging ( PET, MRI, MRS), Molecular Profiling and Experimental Medicine projects. Initiated and leadinternational collaborations with renowned Alzheimer biomarker thought leaders. Alzheimer's disease biomarker advisor to FDA