BioArbor Steering Committe Members:

Julia Owens, PhD, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy, Lycera Corp.

Steering Committee Chair

Julia joined Lycera in 2010.  Prior to joining Lycera Dr. Owens served as head of business development at QuatRx Pharmaceuticals, where she was also responsible for several in-licensing transactions, which were instrumental in building the QuatRx product portfolio. Dr. Owens has more than 10 years of licensing and business development experience, including positions at Tularik Inc (now Amgen SF) and the UCSF Office of Technology Management. Dr. Owens has a B.S. in chemistry and B.A. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from UC Berkeley and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from UCSF. 

Jack Ball, Chief Commercial Officer, Accuri Cytometers

Prior to joining Accuri Cytometers, Jack was CEO of Amnis Corporation, a venture-backed technology start-up developing high-end imaging flow cytometers. He led the launch of the first commercial product and development of consumable kits for recurring revenues. He has also served as CCO for Molecular Probes, Inc., the world leader in reagents for cell analysis, including flow cytometry consumables; he established professional management and systems in preparation for an IPO or a sale; the business was sold to Invitrogen in July 2003. Prior to that he was with Orchid Biosciences as Sr. VP and General Manager with Amersham Pharmacia Biotech Inc., where he rose to President, Region North America and was responsible for sales, marketing, and customer support for all products sold in North America.

William Brinkerhoff, co-founder, Cerenis Therapeutics

Mr. Brinkerhoff is co-founder of Cerenis Therapeutics, a multinational biopharmaceutical company, dedicated the discovery and development of novel HDL therapies for the treatment of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.  Cerenis has raised over $160 million in venture capital financing and aims to become the leader in the HDL therapeutic market with a broad portfolio of programs in development. 
Previously he was vice president of business development at Esperion, overseeing all strategic partnering activities prior to the company’s acquisition by Pfizer.  Mr. Brinkerhoff has more than 20 years of commercial and management experience. Prior to joining Esperion, he oversaw U.S. business development, market planning and sales operations for Sankyo, a leading Japanese pharmaceutical company.  Mr. Brinkerhoff holds a masters degree in business administration as well as bachelors and masters degrees in industrial and operations engineering from the University of Michigan.  

Jeff Brinza, Secretary and General Counsel, RGIS, LLC

Jeff is currently Secretary and General Counsel to RGIS, LLC, a retail and supply chain service provider located in Auburn Hills, Michigan.  Prior to joining RGIS, Jeff served as General Counsel for QuatRx Pharmaceuticals from June 2005 to July, 2009.  Jeff remains a consultant to QuatRx. His life science experience began in 1993, when he joined Warner-Lambert Company as Associate Counsel, Research and Development, Parke-Davis. He served as vice president and assistant general counsel at Warner-Lambert, Parke-Davis from 1998 to 2000 where he was responsible for all commercial matters for the Parke-Davis Research and Development Division in Ann Arbor, including handling all technology acquisitions and divestitures. From September 2001 to June 2005, he served as president of Brinza & Associates, providing legal representation for various pharmaceutical, life science and technology companies. Jeff received his B.A. in Economics and Computer Science from the University of Michigan in 1983 and his J.D. from the University of Michigan in 1986.

Connie Chang, Director of Corporate Business Development and Communications, U of M Medical School

Connie Chang is the Director of Corporate Business Development and Communications for the University of Michigan, Medical School Office of Research.  In this role Connie leads efforts in business development between the medical school research enterprise and external partners.  A native Michigander, Connie joined the University of Michigan in the summer of 2009 after a 15-year career in business in Boston and New York.  She comes to UM Medical School with nearly 12 years of experience in the pharmaceuticals industry where she worked in the commercial and marketing business functions, most recently at Sepracor as Senior Director and brand team leader for the prescription pharmaceutical product Lunesta, leading its business and marketing strategies.  Prior to Sepracor, Connie was with Pfizer’s marketing organization in New York working on brands such as Zyrtec, Lipitor, Zoloft and Caduet, as well as serving as Director of Regional Marketing for the New England region.  Previously, she also worked as a consultant at Mercer Management Consulting in New York on projects such as business strategies for consumer products, process reengineering for integrated healthcare delivery systems, and performance management for healthcare companies.  Connie has a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychobiology from Harvard University and a Master in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

Maricat Eggenberger, Event Manager, Ann Arbor SPARK

Maricat Eggenberger is currently the event manager at Ann Arbor SPARK.  She works closely with the Regional Incubator Network to support its events for entrepreneurs.  She also coordinates events in which SPARK partners with other organizations.  Her prior experience includes interning at Ann Arbor SPARK as a marketing coordinator in the summer of 2010.  Maricat has a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Communication from Alma College.

Wes Huffstutter, New Business Development Specialist, U of M Technology Transfer

Mr. Huffstutter is the Program Manager for Student Entrepreneurship and the Catalyst Resource Network at the University of Michigan's Office of Technology Transfer. Prior to his role as Program Manager, Wesley was a member of the business formation group, helping create startups based on technology developed at the University of Michigan. Before joining the University of Michigan, Wesley was an independent consultant, focusing on startups and small growth companies needing assistance with strategy, marketing, and operations. He has also performed due diligence for early-stage investors. Before consulting, he spent several years in Austin, TX working for Intelligent Reasoning Systems (purchased by Photon Dynamics [NASDAQ:PHTN] in 2001) as a Researcher, Applications Engineer before finally managing the company's marketing. Wesley has a Bachelor´s degree in computer science from DePauw University. He is also a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis where he received a Master of Engineering Management from the School of Engineering and Applied Science and an MBA from the Olin Business School where he was designated a Charles F. Knight Scholar, graduating in the top 10 in his class. Wesley holds a U.S. Patent on software design and has published an article on cost reduction and process improvement in "Circuit Assembly" Magazine. He is involved with many local organizations including Ann Arbor SPARK, BioArbor, and the Ann Arbor Angels.

Troy Ignelzi, Vice President - Finance and Business Development, Esperion Therapeutics

Troy Ignelzi received a BA in Accounting/Finance from Ferris State University in 1991 and he is a certified Development Finance Professional from the National Development Council. Troy has worked for more than 15 years in business development with start-up and established companies to raise capital, leverage resources, identify partnership and funding opportunities and enhance sales, marketing and communications. In January of 2010, Troy joined Esperion Therapeutics and currently serves as the Vice President – Finance and Business Development. Troy has led the creation of several professional networks designed to support and promote research based start-up activities, including the Bioscience Business Development Team (BBDT), which focused on providing political and financial support for the successful launch of a regional headquarters location of an international pre-clinical research services company.

Heather Kusiak, Manager, Operations & Membership, MichBio

Heather joined MichBio in 2008, with experience in management in the retail and private sales industries as well as property management. She also has experience working in the nonprofit sector, specifically marketing and fund development, where she created newsletters and annual reports, as well as marketing and advertising plans. During that time she also worked closely with educational institutions to develop interest in scholarship programs. She is a graduate of Northwood University.

Jim O’Connell, Coulter Project Director – New Business Development
University of Michigan Biomedical Engineering

Jim concentrates on business development within the College of Engineering, especially Biomedical Engineering. He has large company medical device experience from Stryker Instruments, as well as local Ann Arbor startup experience from Xoran Technologies and Sensicore. In his more than 12 years of industry experience, Jim’s roles have focused on commercialization of new medical devices and manufacturing, with both operations and engineering responsibilities. As Coulter Project Director, Jim promotes translational research within the university to get cutting edge research out of the lab and into doctor’s hands. Jim has a BS in Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer and an MS in Engineering Management from the University of Maryland. Prior to industry, Jim was a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Air Force.

David C. Olson, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer, Swift Biosciences Inc.

David is serial entrepreneur who has co-founded 6 biotech start-ups, managed other early-stage businesses, and authored business plans backed by more than $50M private and $2M public funding.  He specializes in commercializing life science technologies and has more than 15 years experience in company building, life science research and product development, intellectual property management, business development and venture financing.  He was a founding member and senior executive of Accuri Cytometers Inc. (Ann Arbor), which developed and currently markets a successful product line of flow cytometers (life science research tools).  David was responsible for creating Accuri’s product vision and played a central role in all aspects of corporate strategy, including financing and business development.  David received his doctorate in Molecular Biology from Princeton University, completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco, and is currently Adjunct Faculty at the University of Michigan Medical School.

Stephen Rapundalo, PhD, President and CEO, MichBio

As a former Pfizer and Park Davis employee, Dr. Rapundalo has worked as a senior scientist and is a pre-clinical drug discovery professional with global experience in the life sciences industry. He draws upon his professional experience and background in strategic planning and project management as executive director or MichBio. Stephen is an active member of the Ann Arbor community, currently serving the City of Ann Arbor as a council member for the 2nd ward where he has worked on a broad range of development, zoning, and core services issues.

Bhramara Tirupati, PhD, Principal Consultant, Biotechnology Business Consultants

As BBC’s Principal Consultant on SBIR/STTR proposals for federal agencies other than NIH, Bhramara has worked with early-stage entrepreneurs and faculty to assess technologies for commercial merit and assist them with proposal development. Prior to joining BBC in 2009, Bhramara worked with the new business formation unit at the University of Michigan’s Office of Technology Transfer, conducting market research on potential commercial opportunities for University technologies as well as identifying product development milestones for several technologies with commercial merit. She has an extensive resume of scientific work and published articles. Bhramara earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry and microbiology from Penn State University and completed post-doctoral research at the University of Michigan.