07.31.13
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, a semi state-funded agency tasked with implementing the Bay State’s 10-year, $1 billion Life Sciences Initiative, has added seven new members to its scientific advisory board (SAB).
The SAB is chaired by Harvey F. Lodish, Ph.D., member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and professor of both biology and bioengineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
“Our Scientific Advisory Board members come from diverse backgrounds, representing the life sciences industry, the investment community and academia,” said Susan Windham-Bannister, Ph.D., president and CEO of the MLSC. “We are fortunate in Massachusetts to have life sciences expertise. Rotating the SAB members allows for broad inclusion and enables more of those experts to become engaged in the Life Sciences Initiative. The SAB members play a critical role in the center’s review processes and investment decisions, and we are excited and grateful these new members are willing to contribute their time and talent.”
The Life Sciences Center’s 24-member SAB provides technical guidance and oversight for the MLSC’s funding and program decisions. The expert panel ensures that decisions made at the MLSC are based on merit, scientific credibility and transparency.
“We are pleased to have these seven individuals joining the Center’s Scientific Advisory Board,” said Lodish. “Volunteers from the scientific and investment community have been essential to the center’s success in making wise investment decisions. Alongside the current SAB members, the new members will play an essential role in guiding the investments of the MLSC in both translational academic research and early-stage companies. And we still are nowhere near exhausting our A-list of potential SAB members.”
The seven new members are as follows:
Kevin Bitterman, Ph.D.
Principal, Polaris Venture Partners
Kevin Bitterman sits on the boards of numerous early-stage companies in the Polaris portfolio, including pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Bitterman is a cofounder of Genocea Biosciences and Sirtris Pharmaceuticals and was the founding CEO at Visterra Inc. (formerly Parasol Therapeutics). He currently represents Polaris as a director of InSeal Medical, Follica Inc., Genocea Biosciences, Kala Pharmaceuticals, Neuronetics, Inc., Visterra Inc., Taris Biomedical, and Vets First Choice. Additionally, Bitterman is a board observer to Arsenal Medical and 480 Biomedical. Bitterman has a B.A. in biology from Rutgers College and a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology from Harvard Medical School. His doctoral research focused on the molecular regulation of caloric restriction and on modulation of a novel class of protein deacetylases.
Glenn R. Gaudette, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)
Glenn Gaudette’s focus is on myocardial infarction and other cardiovascular diseases. His work addresses regenerating mechanical and electrophysiological function in the heart, and his team has demonstrated the induction of adult cardiac myocytes into the cell cycle. He also has differentiated adult stem cells into cardiac myocytes. To deliver stem cells with high engraftment efficiency, Gaudette’s laboratory has developed a novel suture-based method. His research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, and private industry. Gaudette has 18 years of experience in the cardiac research field, including 10 years in cardiac surgery research. At WPI, he teaches biomedical engineering design, biomechanics, physiology and tissue engineering.
José-Carlos Gutiérrez-Ramos, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President, Worldwide Biotherapeutics Research and Development, Pfizer Inc.
An expert in immunology and cell biology, Jose-Carlos Gutiérrez-Ramos is senior vice president of worldwide biotherapeutics research and development at Pfizer Inc. Before joining Pfizer, Gutiérrez-Ramos was senior vice president and head of the Immuno-Inflammation Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery at GlaxoSmithKline. He also has served as senior vice president of research and non-clinical development and chief scientific officer at Avidia and was a senior scientist and head of experimental therapeutics at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Gutiérrez-Ramos has Ph.D.s from both the Basel Institute for Immunology and the Unversidad Autonoma de Madrid.
Henry Kay
Angel Investor, Boston Harbor Angels, Launchpad and the Boston Haifa Life Sciences Connection
Henry Kay is an angel investor in the Massachusetts life sciences community, participating in Boston Harbor Angels, Launchpad and the Boston Haifa Life Sciences Connection, which assists and mentors Haifa-based Healthcare companies. He formerly was group vice president of new market development/strategic planning of endosurgery at Boston Scientific Corporation. Prior to joining Boston Scientific, Kay was based in the United Kingdom for five years as senior vice president of sales and marketing for Allergan Europe, a global eye care company. He has 35 years of experience in the medical industry in roles that include R&D, international marketing, regulatory affairs and strategic planning for major pharmaceutical companies. Kay is a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine (United Kingdom), and is a mentor with the venture mentoring service of MIT. He is a member of the Forefront Committee of the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. He also is an active member of the Research Advisory Committee of the Board of Directors of Beth Israel-Deaconess Hospital. Kay holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from Rutgers University, and an M.B.A. in international marketing from Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J.
Judith Lieberman, M.D., Ph.D.
Senior Investigator, Immune Disease Institute and Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Children’s Hospital Boston, and Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
Judith Lieberman is senior investigator at the Immune Disease Institute and Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Children’s Hospital Boston, and professor of pediatrics, Harvard Medical School. Lieberman’s laboratory was the first to demonstrate in an animal model that RNA interference (RNAi) could be used to protect animals from disease. Her laboratory actively is working to harness RNAi for therapeutic use for HIV and other indications and has developed novel strategies for cell-specific targeting of small interfering RNAs that are effective in vivo. Lieberman received a Ph.D. from Rockefeller University and an M.D. from the Harvard-MIT Program in Health, Science and Technology. She completed a residency and hematology-medical oncology fellowship at Tufts-New England Medical Center and a postdoctoral fellowship in immunology at MIT.
Barbara Osborne, Ph.D.
Professor of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, UMass Amherst
Since coming to UMass Amherst in 1985, Osborne has followed her research through various twists and turns. In the 1990s, Osborne earned international renown as a researcher of apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Hematech, a start-up Osborne co-founded in 1999, pioneered the use of cloned animals for the development and production of antibodies for therapeutic uses. Now, with support from a 2011 UMass President’s Science and Technology Initiatives Fund, Osborne is working with Grew Tew and Maria Santore of the department of polymer science and engineering to open the Center for Soft Materials Immunology, where UMass faculty and collaborators are developing biologically compatible synthetic materials that allow the body’s own cellular mechanisms and pathways to control the immune system in order to fight disease. Osborne has a Ph.D. from Stanford University and performed her postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health. She also has co-authored Immunology, a leading textbook in the subject.
Guillermo Tearney M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School; Affiliated Faculty member, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology; and Associate Director, Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
Guillermo Tearney is professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School, an affiliated faculty member of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, and the associate director of the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital. His research interests are focused on the development and clinical validation of non-invasive, high-resolution optical imaging methods for disease diagnosis. Tearney’s lab was the first to perform human imaging in the coronary arteries and gastrointestinal tract in vivo with Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and is considered an expert on OCT image interpretation. Tearney is co-editor of “The Handbook of Optical Coherence Tomography” and has written more than 170 peer-reviewed publications. He received his M.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School and received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT.
The SAB is chaired by Harvey F. Lodish, Ph.D., member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and professor of both biology and bioengineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
“Our Scientific Advisory Board members come from diverse backgrounds, representing the life sciences industry, the investment community and academia,” said Susan Windham-Bannister, Ph.D., president and CEO of the MLSC. “We are fortunate in Massachusetts to have life sciences expertise. Rotating the SAB members allows for broad inclusion and enables more of those experts to become engaged in the Life Sciences Initiative. The SAB members play a critical role in the center’s review processes and investment decisions, and we are excited and grateful these new members are willing to contribute their time and talent.”
The Life Sciences Center’s 24-member SAB provides technical guidance and oversight for the MLSC’s funding and program decisions. The expert panel ensures that decisions made at the MLSC are based on merit, scientific credibility and transparency.
“We are pleased to have these seven individuals joining the Center’s Scientific Advisory Board,” said Lodish. “Volunteers from the scientific and investment community have been essential to the center’s success in making wise investment decisions. Alongside the current SAB members, the new members will play an essential role in guiding the investments of the MLSC in both translational academic research and early-stage companies. And we still are nowhere near exhausting our A-list of potential SAB members.”
The seven new members are as follows:
Kevin Bitterman, Ph.D.
Principal, Polaris Venture Partners
Kevin Bitterman sits on the boards of numerous early-stage companies in the Polaris portfolio, including pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Bitterman is a cofounder of Genocea Biosciences and Sirtris Pharmaceuticals and was the founding CEO at Visterra Inc. (formerly Parasol Therapeutics). He currently represents Polaris as a director of InSeal Medical, Follica Inc., Genocea Biosciences, Kala Pharmaceuticals, Neuronetics, Inc., Visterra Inc., Taris Biomedical, and Vets First Choice. Additionally, Bitterman is a board observer to Arsenal Medical and 480 Biomedical. Bitterman has a B.A. in biology from Rutgers College and a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology from Harvard Medical School. His doctoral research focused on the molecular regulation of caloric restriction and on modulation of a novel class of protein deacetylases.
Glenn R. Gaudette, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)
Glenn Gaudette’s focus is on myocardial infarction and other cardiovascular diseases. His work addresses regenerating mechanical and electrophysiological function in the heart, and his team has demonstrated the induction of adult cardiac myocytes into the cell cycle. He also has differentiated adult stem cells into cardiac myocytes. To deliver stem cells with high engraftment efficiency, Gaudette’s laboratory has developed a novel suture-based method. His research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, and private industry. Gaudette has 18 years of experience in the cardiac research field, including 10 years in cardiac surgery research. At WPI, he teaches biomedical engineering design, biomechanics, physiology and tissue engineering.
José-Carlos Gutiérrez-Ramos, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President, Worldwide Biotherapeutics Research and Development, Pfizer Inc.
An expert in immunology and cell biology, Jose-Carlos Gutiérrez-Ramos is senior vice president of worldwide biotherapeutics research and development at Pfizer Inc. Before joining Pfizer, Gutiérrez-Ramos was senior vice president and head of the Immuno-Inflammation Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery at GlaxoSmithKline. He also has served as senior vice president of research and non-clinical development and chief scientific officer at Avidia and was a senior scientist and head of experimental therapeutics at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Gutiérrez-Ramos has Ph.D.s from both the Basel Institute for Immunology and the Unversidad Autonoma de Madrid.
Henry Kay
Angel Investor, Boston Harbor Angels, Launchpad and the Boston Haifa Life Sciences Connection
Henry Kay is an angel investor in the Massachusetts life sciences community, participating in Boston Harbor Angels, Launchpad and the Boston Haifa Life Sciences Connection, which assists and mentors Haifa-based Healthcare companies. He formerly was group vice president of new market development/strategic planning of endosurgery at Boston Scientific Corporation. Prior to joining Boston Scientific, Kay was based in the United Kingdom for five years as senior vice president of sales and marketing for Allergan Europe, a global eye care company. He has 35 years of experience in the medical industry in roles that include R&D, international marketing, regulatory affairs and strategic planning for major pharmaceutical companies. Kay is a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine (United Kingdom), and is a mentor with the venture mentoring service of MIT. He is a member of the Forefront Committee of the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research. He also is an active member of the Research Advisory Committee of the Board of Directors of Beth Israel-Deaconess Hospital. Kay holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from Rutgers University, and an M.B.A. in international marketing from Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J.
Judith Lieberman, M.D., Ph.D.
Senior Investigator, Immune Disease Institute and Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Children’s Hospital Boston, and Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
Judith Lieberman is senior investigator at the Immune Disease Institute and Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Children’s Hospital Boston, and professor of pediatrics, Harvard Medical School. Lieberman’s laboratory was the first to demonstrate in an animal model that RNA interference (RNAi) could be used to protect animals from disease. Her laboratory actively is working to harness RNAi for therapeutic use for HIV and other indications and has developed novel strategies for cell-specific targeting of small interfering RNAs that are effective in vivo. Lieberman received a Ph.D. from Rockefeller University and an M.D. from the Harvard-MIT Program in Health, Science and Technology. She completed a residency and hematology-medical oncology fellowship at Tufts-New England Medical Center and a postdoctoral fellowship in immunology at MIT.
Barbara Osborne, Ph.D.
Professor of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, UMass Amherst
Since coming to UMass Amherst in 1985, Osborne has followed her research through various twists and turns. In the 1990s, Osborne earned international renown as a researcher of apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Hematech, a start-up Osborne co-founded in 1999, pioneered the use of cloned animals for the development and production of antibodies for therapeutic uses. Now, with support from a 2011 UMass President’s Science and Technology Initiatives Fund, Osborne is working with Grew Tew and Maria Santore of the department of polymer science and engineering to open the Center for Soft Materials Immunology, where UMass faculty and collaborators are developing biologically compatible synthetic materials that allow the body’s own cellular mechanisms and pathways to control the immune system in order to fight disease. Osborne has a Ph.D. from Stanford University and performed her postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health. She also has co-authored Immunology, a leading textbook in the subject.
Guillermo Tearney M.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School; Affiliated Faculty member, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology; and Associate Director, Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
Guillermo Tearney is professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School, an affiliated faculty member of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, and the associate director of the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital. His research interests are focused on the development and clinical validation of non-invasive, high-resolution optical imaging methods for disease diagnosis. Tearney’s lab was the first to perform human imaging in the coronary arteries and gastrointestinal tract in vivo with Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and is considered an expert on OCT image interpretation. Tearney is co-editor of “The Handbook of Optical Coherence Tomography” and has written more than 170 peer-reviewed publications. He received his M.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School and received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT.