Vaidehi Joshi has over a decade of experience in early-stage biotech companies developing unique therapeutic solutions, cutting-edge research products, and cell-based therapies. She is currently Director of Discovery Biology at Organovo, Inc. and Viscient Biosciences, Inc. Prior to joining Viscient, Ms. Joshi worked her way up from Research Associate to Scientist II at Organovo, Inc., from 2012-2019, where she led the pre-clinical research program for the design, development, and manufacture of 3D bioprinted therapeutic human liver tissues targeted towards the treatment of inborn errors of metabolism and genetic diseases. She received her Bachelor of Engineering in Biotechnology at the Rashtreeya Vidyalaya College of Engineering (RVCE) in Bangalore, India and received a Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) , with a specialization in Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials. While at UCLA, she performed primary intestinal epithelial stem cell isolations and 3D cultures for intestinal tissue regeneration for short gut and prepared bioengineered scaffolds from polymers and implanted these xenografts in small animal models. Ms. Joshi is an experienced speaker, panelist, and presenter at several biomedical conferences both in the U.S and internationally. Ms. Joshi has co-authored several published peer reviewed articles, and is an inventor on multiple Organovo patents and patent applications.
Doug Cohen
Douglas Jay Cohen has served as president and Chief Executive Officer of IR Medtek LLC since January 2019, a medical device company developing a non-invasive probe for cancer detection by primary care physicians using a technology licensed from the Ohio State University. Prior to IR Medtek, Mr. Cohen served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Beacon Street Innovations, an advanced technology printing company from September 2016 to present. From January 1994 to September 2016, Mr. Cohen served as Vice President of Operations and Engineering at Screen Machine Industries, an industrial and construction heavy equipment manufacturer. As an active investor in startup companies, Mr. Cohen has invested in over 20 biotech startups in the past 10 years, including investing in Organovo in 2013 and maintaining a position in the company ever since. Mr. Cohen received a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
David Gobel
David Gobel has served as Chief Executive Officer of Methuselah Fund LLC since December 2016 and as Chief Executive Officer of Methuselah Foundation since September 2001, promoting increasing the healthy human lifespan by various means including; performance prizes, targeted grant making, education, and the creation/funding of biotech startups. Mr. Gobel became Chief Venture Strategist at Transportation Security Administration from January 2009 until March 2013, where he was responsible for strategic planning, innovation management and creation of a novel Venture Capital capability for TSA and then Department of Homeland Security by partnering with In-Q-Tel. Mr. Gobel was a member of the board of Volumetric Biotechnologies, from April 2018 to January 2020, a company that focuses on the development of bioholographic human tissue printing. Since July 2018, Mr. Gobel served as member of the board for Turn Bio, and since May 2020 as chairman of the board of Turn Bio. Mr. Gobel has served as a board member of Leucadia Therapeutics since October 2015, and as an independent founding board member of Oisin Therapeutics since December 2014.
Alison Milhous
Alison Tjosvold Milhous has 20 years of audit and technical accounting experience and is a certified public accountant. She is currently the Vice President, Accounting at Erasca, Inc., a clinical-stage precision oncology company. Prior to joining Erasca, she was an independent consultant assisting public and private companies with accounting and reporting needs primarily within the life sciences and technology industries. Ms. Milhous was previously an audit partner at Grant Thornton LLP from August 2015 through September 2019 and held various positions with increasing responsibility at Grant Thornton from June 2002 as an audit associate through July 2015 as an audit senior manager. She began her career in June 2000 at Arthur Andersen LLP. Ms. Milhous served on the membership committee of Athena San Diego, a professional women’s leadership organization with a STEM focus, from August 2012 through September 2019 and was on the Pinnacle steering committee from September 2013 through April 2015. Ms. Milhous received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a dual concentration in Accounting and Finance from California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo.
Keith Murphy
Keith Murphy is currently CEO and Chairman of Viscient Bio, Inc., and a serial entrepreneur and investor in biotech. Prior to co-founding Viscient Biosciences, Mr. Murphy founded Organovoin 2007 and led all company operations until 2017. He co-invented the NovoGen MMX bioprinter platform and grew Organovo through early investments and pharma corporate partnerships Prior to Organovo, Mr. Murphy spent ten years at Amgen in roles of increasing responsibility, including four years as the Global Operations Leader of denosumab, now marketed as Prolia & Xgeva ($4B+ annual sales). Prior to Amgen, he played a key role at Alkermes (NASDAQ:ALKS) in the successful development of once-monthly human growth hormone (hGH) in partnership with Genentech. He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is an alumnus of the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Mr. Murphy serves as co-chair of the Board of No Patient Left Behind, and on the Board of Directors of the California Life Sciences Association, the state’s life science industry public policy, advocacy and business leadership organization.
Adam K. Stern
Adam K Stern is the CEO of SternAegis Ventures and has been the Head of Private Equity Banking at Aegis Capital Corp since 2012. Prior to SternAegis, from 1997 to 2012, he was Senior Managing Director at Spencer Trask Ventures, Inc., where he managed the structured finance group focusing primarily on technology and life science companies. From 1989 to 1997, Mr Stern was at Josephthal & Co., Inc., Members of the New York Stock Exchange, where he served as Head of Private Equity and Managing Director. He has been a FINRA licensed securities broker since 1987 and a Registered General Securities Principal since 1991. Mr. Stern has been a founding investor in numerous private and public companies and currently serves as a Director of DarioHealth Corp. (Nasdaq: DRIO), Matinas BioPharma Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: MTNB), Aerami Therapeutics, Inc. and HydroFarm Holdings, Inc. Mr. Stern graduated from the Lear School, Miami Florida in 1982 and The University of South Florida in 1987.