Chris Ehrlich is a Partner with InterWest Partners, a leading diversified venture capital firm.   As a member of the Life Sciences team, Mr. Ehrlich’s focus is investing in and building new businesses around entrepreneurs with novel technologies.  He currently serves on the boards of BioMimetic Pharmaceuticals, Carbylan BioSurgery, Inc., KAI Pharmaceuticals, QuatRx Pharmaceuticals, TransOral Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Xenon Pharmaceuticals. He is also an observer on the board of Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation and a founder of AlgoRx Pharmaceuticals, which recently merged with Corgentech (to form Anesiva Pharmaceuticals.  Prior to joining InterWest in 2000, Ehrlich was Director, Licensing & Business Development at Purdue Pharma, a private pharmaceutical firm based in Stamford, CT.  In this position, he was responsible for developing a biologic oncology franchise, including inlicensing key intellectual properties, establishing and managing collaborations with biotechnology companies and participating in the commercial operations of Purdue BioPharma, a biotechnology company located in Princeton, NJ.  Prior to joining Purdue, Ehrlich worked in business development at Genentech, Inc., in venture capital at The U.S. Russia Investment Fund, and in biotechnology strategy development at LEK Consulting.  Ehrlich earned his Bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College, cum laude and an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management where he serves as an instructor and advisor to the Biotech Program.

Stephen Hoffman

Steve is a Managing Director at Skyline Ventures. Prior to joining Skyline in May 2007, he was a General Partner at TVM Capital from 2003-2007. Prior to that, he served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Allos Therapeutics from 1994 to 2002., where he remains Chairman of the Board. From 1990 to 1994, Dr. Hoffman completed a fellowship in clinical oncology and a residency/fellowship in dermatology, both at the University of Colorado. Dr. Hoffman was the scientific founder of Somatogen Inc., where he held the position of Vice President of Science and Technology from 1987 until 1990. Dr. Hoffman received his Ph.D. in bio-organic chemistry from Northwestern University and his M.D. from the University of Colorado School of Medicine, where he is currently Clinical Assistant Professor. He serves on the board of directors of Allos, Concert Pharmaceuticals, KAI Pharmaceuticals, Acelrx Pharmaceuticals, Dicerna Pharmaceuticals and Tolerx.

Steven James

Steve joined KAI as President and CEO in October 2004.  He has over twenty years of pharmaceutical, biotechnology and start-up experience in the life science industry.  Steve began his career in new product planning at Eli Lilly followed by California Biotechnology (Scios/J&J).  In 1990 he joined Landec Corporation, a specialty materials company, as Vice President of Business Development and General Manager.  During his 7 years at Landec Steve led commercial strategy, product launches and negotiated multiple diverse alliances leading to an IPO in 1995.  Steve then became Vice President of Business Development at Isis, where he was instrumental in establishing business units in functional genomics and small molecule discovery and negotiating partnerships with Merck, Zeneca, and Abbott.  In 1999 Steve joined Sunesis as Senior Vice President and member of the board of directors, and later, Chief Business Officer.  At Sunesis he played a key role in raising over $80 million of venture and partner financing and securing alliances with Merck, J&J, and Biogen.  Most recently, Steve was Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations at Exelixis.  Steve has a biology degree from Brown University and a Masters in Management from the Kellogg School of Northwestern University.

Daniel Kisner, M.D.

Daniel Kisner is a Partner at Aberdare Ventures.  Prior to joining Aberdare Ventures as Partner in 2002, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Caliper Technologies, now Caliper Life Sciences, where he is still Chairman of the Board.  Prior to that he was President and Chief Operating Officer of Isis Pharmaceuticals.  Earlier positions in large pharma include that of  Division Vice President of Pharmaceutical Development at Abbott Laboratories and Vice President of Clinical Research at SmithKline Beckman.  Earlier he held a tenured position in the Division of Oncology at the University of Texas at San Antonio School of Medicine.  Dr. Kisner is certified by the American Board of Internal medicine and Medical Oncology.  Dr. Kisner holds an A.B. from Rutgers University and an M.D. from Georgetown University.

Abhijeet J. Lele

Abhijeet joined Investor Growth Capital as a Managing Director in April 2009. He is based in IGC’s New York office and focuses on investments in pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Before joining IGC, Abhijeet spent 10 years as a Managing Member of EGS Healthcare Capital Partners, a venture capital firm focusing on private and public investments in biotechnology, specialty pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Prior to EGS, Abhijeet was with the New York offices of McKinsey & Co., where he primarily served medical device, pharmaceutical and health insurance clients. He previously held operating positions with Lederle Laboratories, Progenics Pharmaceuticals and Clontech Laboratories. Abhijeet received an M.B.A. from Cornell University and an M.A. from Cambridge University, where he studied Natural Sciences. He currently serves on the boards of Stereotaxis and KAI.

Daria Mochly-Rosen, Ph.D.

Dr. Daria Mochly-Rosen received her B.Sc. in Biological Sciences from Tel Aviv University and her doctorate in Chemical Immunology from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot.  She joined the Stanford University faculty in 1993. Dr. Mochly-Rosen is a Professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology, and Professor, by courtesy, in the Department of Neurosurgery at Stanford University School of Medicine.  From 2002-2006, she was the Chair of the Department of Molecular Pharmacology. In 2005, she became the Senior Associate Dean for Research for Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Mochly-Rosen was the Reed-Hodgson Professor in Human Biology at Stanford from 1996 to 2001 and was appointed the inaugural holder of the George D. Smith Professorship in Translational Medicine in 2003.  She currently leads the school’s effort in advancing the field of molecular pharmacology and chemical biology and its application to translational medicine.  A biochemist by training, Dr. Mochly-Rosen is focused on medical research.  She studies a family of enzymes called protein kinase C, which, when activated, regulate diverse functions such as heart rate, the response of the heart and brain to stress induced by heart attack, and the regulation of cell growth in normal and cancer tissues.  Her laboratory generated novel isozyme-specific inhibitors and activators.  This research led to the foundation of KAI Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Paul Sekhri

Paul Sekhri is the Head of Biotech Ops at TPG Biotech. Prior to joining TPG Biotech in 2009, Mr. Sekhri was President and Chief Executive Officer of Cerimon Pharmaceuticals. Prior to founding Cerimon, Mr. Sekhri was President and Chief Business Officer of ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In 2002, Mr. Sekhri joined the Sprout Group, the venture affiliate of Credit Suisse First Boston in New York, where he was a Partner for healthcare technology investments. Prior to joining Sprout, Mr. Sekhri spent four years at Novartis, most recently as Senior Vice President and Head of Global Search and Evaluation, Business Development and Licensing for Novartis Pharma AG. Prior to this, Mr. Sekhri set up a new department, Early Commercial Development, in order to ensure the differential competitive advantage of Novartis’ pipeline. Mr. Sekhri completed graduate work in neuroscience at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine where he also received his BS in Zoology. Mr. Sekhri is currently a member of the Board of Directors for ARYx Therapeutics, A.P.T. Pharmaceuticals, and KAI Pharmaceuticals. Additionally he is on the Board of Directors of the Cancer Research Institute, a member of the Advisory Board for The BioExec Institute, Inc and an advisor to the Brookings Global Health Financing Initiative.