First Look SoCal Innovation Showcase 2020

Ajay Nirula, MD, PhD, is Vice President, Immunology for Lilly Research Laboratories (LRL) based at the Lilly Biotechnology Center in San Diego. Dr. Nirula joined Lilly in 2015 and is responsible for discovery research and early phase clinical development in immunology. Prior to joining Lilly, Dr. Nirula held leadership positions at Amgen and Biogen Idec and was involved in several research programs and regulatory filings spanning diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, and vasculitis.

Dr. Nirula earned his undergraduate degree in molecular biology from UC Berkeley, his MD from UCLA School of Medicine, and his PhD from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. He subsequently joined the faculty in the Division of Rheumatology at UCSF Medical Center conducting research in T cell signal transduction. He has been a board member at the Vasculitis Foundation and continues to serve on the foundation’s research committee. He has published extensively in the scientific literature in journals such as New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Immunology, and Journal of Experimental Medicine.

Matt Bresnahan is a partner in the San Diego and Los Angeles offices of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he has focused his practice over the past 10 years on all aspects of intellectual property, including strategic patent counseling, patent prosecution, licensing, and litigation. Matt is primary outside IP counsel to more than 50 life sciences companies within the biotechnology, molecular biology, pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and medical device fields in Southern California. Matt is an adjunct professor of law at the University of San Diego School of Law, where he has taught patent law for the past five years.

Dr. Hoffman is responsible for the development of commercialization opportunities for The Lundquist Institute’s intellectual properties, capabilities and expertise.

Prior to The Lundquist Institute, Dr. Hoffman held senior management roles (COO, CBO, VP) in business, corporate, science, and intellectual property development for biotechnology, healthcare data, medical device, and consumer product companies. As part of those efforts Dr. Hoffman drafted, and assisted in the prosecution of, over 70 patents. Most recently, he was part of the founding team at Advera Health Analytics where he developed and helped monetize big data platforms that provide real world side effect data on all FDA approved drugs.

Dr. Hoffman is a native San Diegan who earned both his B.S. in Biology and Ph.D. in Neuroscience from UC Irvine in the laboratory of Dr. Gary Lynch. His research at Irvine focused on the molecular basis of learning and memory with an emphasis on how neural cell adhesion molecules may modulate synaptic architectures.

Alex leads the team of investment analysts at Kairos that conducts research and due diligence on all the companies we consider to invest in, either through incubation or Series-A funds. Alex joined Kairos with 20+ years of experience at high-tech companies specializing in enterprise software, ranging in size from startups with a handful of employees to behemoths with tens of thousands of employees. In these companies, Alex led global teams of dozens of employees responsible for product strategy, intellectual property protection, engineering, professional services, sales, marketing, and business development, and actively participated in the efforts to close, and successfully closed, multiple rounds of financing by venture capital firms as well as the public markets. Moreover, while at Oracle, Alex led the research and strategic alignment efforts for numerous acquisitions ranging in value from a few tens of millions to billions of dollars.

Alex has a degree in Electrical Engineering with a specialization in Computer Engineering and an MBA in Finance and Marketing.

As a Principal on Alexandria Venture Investments and Science & Tech teams, Alice oversees Alexandria’s Seattle investment and tenant portfolios, respectively. Additionally, as the Head of Alexandria LaunchLabs – Seattle, Alice collaborates with entrepreneurs and supports early-stage companies in the Seattle region. Ultimately, these roles contribute to Alexandria Real Estate Equities’ efforts in fueling the growth and development of our life science innovation clusters. Prior to joining Alexandria, Alice was the founding Program Director of the Life Sciences and Healthcare vertical at the Harvard Innovation Labs where she led the creation and expansion of the Harvard Life Lab, co-managed the President’s Innovation Challenge, and advised 100+ life science/healthcare startups, which have raised $250M+. Before Harvard, Alice created and developed programs to support PhDs and postdocs develop professional skills for a wide range of career paths in her role as Associate Director of Postdoctoral Affairs at Yale University. Alice completed her Ph.D. and M.S. in Developmental Neurobiology from Yale and holds a B.S. in Biological Sciences from University of California – Irvine.

Dr. Sean Harper’s career has been driven by one central mission, which he gives as advice to entrepreneurs: “Focus on profound unmet medical needs, rather than market projections. Fill those needs and the rest will follow.”

Named by Time as one of the 50 most influential people in healthcare in 2018, Harper has helped bring well over a dozen novel therapies to patients during his career. In areas as diverse as oncology, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease and migraine, Harper’s passion for science and medicine has benefited millions of patients worldwide.

Harper brings a rare breadth of experience to Westlake Village BioPartners. He has experience in both basic research and as a practicing physician. He has led a wide range of clinical research programs, extending from early translational trials to global outcomes studies. As managing director, Harper will use this breadth of experience to identify promising new therapies and technologies and launch life sciences companies to address significant unmet medical needs.

From 2002 to 2018, Harper worked for Amgen, rising to become head of R&D in 2012. In that role, he managed investments of more than $3.5 billion annually, applying breakthroughs in science to address some of society’s biggest health challenges.

Harper put Amgen on the leading edge of the industry in a number of notable areas, including utilizing the increasing understanding of human genetics in drug target identification and validation and developing novel platforms and modalities to target some of the most difficult-to-treat diseases. Harper was involved in the strategic deployment of Amgen’s venture capital funds, acquisitions of smaller biotech companies, and licensing opportunities.

Earlier in his time at Amgen, Harper held a number of key leadership positions, including establishing the translational medicine group focused on biomarker discovery, development and integration into early-stage clinical studies. He also held positions as head of Global Regulatory Affairs and Safety, and head of Global Development/Corporate Chief Medical Officer.

Gladys Nunez, MS, is an experienced early stage investor with two decades of experience supporting opportunities and alliances with health venture groups and organizations.

Ms. Nunez has been Principal of Amgen Ventures since 2014 where she currently leads diligence on new venture opportunities, working closely with Amgen’s Digital Health Organization. Since joining Amgen in 1997 as a biochemist, she has held various roles within the company including managing Amgen’s Academic Alliance Group, an initiative to build bridges between academia and industry through the establishment of comprehensive academic alliances. In 2002, she transferred into business development where she has completed numerous deals focused on discovery, development, and commercial applications in life sciences. She began her career as a biochemist for AstraZeneca.

Ms. Nunez holds a bachelor’s degree in biology/pre-med from Marist College and a master’s degree in biochemical pharmacology from the University of Southampton.

Nancy joined RiverVest in 2016 and focuses on both biopharmaceutical and medical device opportunities, contributing to the formation, development and strategic direction of RiverVest portfolio companies. Currently, Nancy is a member of the Board of Directors at Scout Bio, Inc. and Xilio Therapeutics, Inc.

Previously, Nancy was a principal with BioMed Ventures, where she originated and managed successful investments in therapeutics, diagnostics and medical devices. Prior to BioMed, she was an investment professional at Forward Ventures and served as an advisor to biotech and pharmaceutical companies entering new areas of research. Nancy started her career as a scientist at Phenomix, a venture-backed discovery biotech company in San Diego.

Trained in the areas of immunology and oncology, Nancy earned a B.S. with honors in Biology from the California Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley. She conducted postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco, as a fellow of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Twitter: @NancyAHong
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyahong/

Mory Gharib is Hans W. Liepmann Professor of Aeronautics and Bioinspired Engineering; Booth-Kresa Leadership Chair, Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies; Director, Graduate Aerospace Laboratories; Director, Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies. He received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Tehran University (1975) and his M.S. 1978, in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering from Syracuse University and his Ph.D.1983, in Aeronautics from Caltech. He joined the faculty of the Applied Mechanics and Engineering Sciences Department at UCSD in 1985. In 1993, he joined Caltech as a professor of Aeronautics. Currently, he is director of Graduate Aerospace Laboratory (GALCIT).

Professor Gharib’s current research interests in conventional fluid dynamics and aeronautics include: Vortex dynamics, active and passive flow control, nano/micro fluid dynamics, autonomous flight and underwater systems, as well as advanced flow-imaging diagnostics.

His bio-mechanics and medical engineering research activities can be categorized in two areas:

1. fluid dynamics of physiological machines such as the human cardiovascular system and ophthalmology as well as aquatic-breathing/propulsion
2. development of medical devices such as heart valves, cardiovascular and human eye health monitoring and drug delivery systems.

Dr. Gharib’s honors and affiliations include: Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Member, National Academy of Engineering; Charter Fellow, National Academy of Inventors; Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science; Fellow, American Physical Society; Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineering; Fellow, International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering. He has received the G.I. Taylor Medal from the Society of Engineering Sciences, The Fluid Dynamics Prize from the American Physical Society and five new technology recognition awards from NASA in the fields of advanced laser imaging and nanotechnology. In 2008 he received R&D Magazine’s “R&D 100 innovation award” for one of the best inventions of the year for his 3-D imaging camera system. Additionally, Dr. Gharib has published more than 250 papers in refereed journal and has been issued 116 U.S. Patents.

Rick has been an early-stage venture capital investor for over two decades. He co-founded Crosscut Ventures in Los Angeles, where he is focused on enterprise software, fintech, and consumer internet. He has invested in several successful companies, including Narvar, JustFab, Ipsy, GumGum, Docstoc, Inspire Energy, Shoedazzle, Fabletics, Dermstore, Magma Design, Micromuse, Maverick Networks, Virtela, Trivida, TeamPay, and Pulpo Media.  He received a Finance degree from the University of Illinois, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Minnie Ingersoll is a partner at TenOneTen and host of the LA Venture podcast.  TenOneTen is a venture fund based in LA investing in early stage software and data companies.

Prior to TenOneTen, Minnie was the COO and co-founder of Shift.com, an online marketplace for used cars. Minnie started her career as an early product manager at Google where she co-founded the Access team to get more people online at faster speeds and lower prices.

Minnie studied Computer Science at Stanford and has an MBA from HBS. In her spare time, Minnie surfs baby waves and raises baby people.

Krisztina Holly (AKA ‘Z’) is an MIT-trained engineer and serial tech entrepreneur who has been scouting, connecting and investing in early stage deep tech innovators for nearly two decades. She is a Venture Partner for Good Growth Capital and Chief Instigator at At Large and Dangerous. She’s best known as curator of the first-ever TEDx and the founder of pioneering centers at MIT and USC, which invested more than $5M in early stage ideas and launched 39 venture-backed startups from university research. Z has deep technical roots and extensive operating experience (Stylus Innovation, Direct Hit, Jeeves Solutions) and has been advisor and board member to two dozen organizations globally, including the Obama Administration and World Economic Forum. When she’s not scouting undiscovered innovators, you’ll find her hosting The Art of Manufacturing podcast, skiing the backcountry, building airports in the desert, and seeking adventure in her spare time. She’s based in Los Angeles.

Shahin empowers entrepreneurs aiming to accelerate humanity towards a brighter future through feats of engineering. He is passionate about artificial intelligence, robots, space, cars, and engines—pretty much anything you might find in an episode of Star Trek.

He led Lux’s investments in Silicon Clocks (acquired by Silicon Labs), which shrank electronics by baking bulky quartz crystals into silicon chips; SiBeam (acquired by Lattice Semiconductor), which aims to eliminate wires from living rooms by introducing full-HD wireless connectivity; Planet, which is launching the world’s largest fleet of Earth-imaging satellites; Nervana (acquired by Intel), the first full-stack platform for machine intelligence; Mythic, bringing powerful AI to miniature, inexpensive devices; Zoox (acquired by Amazon), which is reinventing the automobiles from the ground up towards offering robotaxis and autonomous mobility to all people and things; Astranis, which is building low-cost telecommunications satellites; and Covariant.ai, which empowers industrial machines to perceive and act like humans.

Shahin also led Lux’s role in the formation of several new companies including: Flex Logix, which makes chips that can reprogram themselves; Aeva, which brings perception to all machines; and Subspace, which delivers a real-time, latency-free internet.

Previously, Shahin co-founded Vista Integrated Systems, which built wireless vital sign monitors based on a neural interface technology he developed during his PhD at UCLA. Shahin also developed hybrid electric vehicles for GM in Detroit, worked as a software developer in several Silicon Valley startups, and researched new techniques for semiconductor manufacturing. He earned his Bachelor’s in EECS at UC Berkeley.

Deep roots in Silicon Valley with focus on Internet scale and big data ventures. Longstanding relationships across Caltech, Global 500 corporations, startups and VC communities. Passion for translating high-risk research into impactful technologies and businesses.

Andy is a leader in the Southern Californian innovation ecosystem and has started, led or invested in more than two dozen tech start-ups. In addition to leading the Alliance as Executive Director, he serves on the City Council for the City of Pasadena and he is a founder of Innovate Pasadena (www.innovatepasadena.org), which is dedicated to advancing the Eastside of Los Angeles as a vibrant innovation center for deep tech.

Previously, as founder of Momentum Ventures, an early stage tech accelerator and venture fund, he personally led more than a half dozen SoCal tech start-ups and invested in almost a dozen others. He previously held senior executive roles (President, SVP Product, CIO, COO) at Overture Services/Yahoo!, RiverOne, Bowne & Co and RR Donnelley & Sons. He has extensive board experience in not-for-profit and community organizations such as Pacific Oaks College, Pasadena Heritage and STEAMCODERS. He is a regular speaker at entrepreneurs’ events and business schools and was named one of the 50 Most Innovative Men in the San Gabriel Valley. Andy holds an engineering degree with honors from Dartmouth College and received his MBA with a concentration in operations and technology management from Harvard Business School.