Board of Trustees
Jeffrey S. Aroy
Leerink Swann
Jeff is Managing Director and Head of Leerink Swann Consulting. He has over 20 years of experience as a consultant and executive in life sciences. In his six years with Leerink Swann, Mr. Aroy has helped life sciences companies develop and implement growth strategies in a variety of therapeutic areas.
Prior to joining Leerink, with The Wilkerson Group/IBM Healthcare Consulting, Mr. Aroy was the Practice Leader for Medical Device and Diagnostic Consulting as well as the head of the West Coast Practice. Mr. Aroy also served as COO of Cholestech, an $85M diagnostics company sold to Inverness Medical for $326M and served as General Manager of Berkeley HeartLab, a $65MM advanced cardiovascular diagnostics company sold to Celera for $195M. Prior to his executive roles, Mr. Aroy worked for four years in life sciences for Deloitte Consulting.
Mr. Aroy received his BA in Economics from Harvard University and his MBA in Strategic Management from The Wharton School.
Charles V. Baltic III, JD
Needham & Co.
Mr. Baltic is an investment banker with Needham & Co. in New York City, focusing on the biopharma and life sciences industries. Until recently, he served as Managing Director, Investment Banking at CRT Capital Group LLC. Prior to joining CRT in 2006, Mr. Baltic served as Managing Director, Healthcare Investment Banking at Wachovia Securities for five years from 2001-2006 and headed Wachovia’s biotechnology practice in New York. Prior to Wachovia, Mr. Baltic was with Healthcare Investment Banking at Cowen and Company for six years from 1996-2001, ultimately serving as a Director of Life Sciences. Prior to beginning his investment banking career in 1996, Mr. Baltic practiced corporate and securities law with Dewey Ballantine. His transactional experience spans a broad range of public and private market financings and merger and acquisitions and advisory assignments for both public and private companies specializing in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and life sciences. Mr. Baltic holds a B.A. and J.D. degrees from Georgetown University and an MBA degree in finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Robert Bazell
NBC’s Chief Science and Health Correspondent
After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1967 with a B.A. in biochemistry and Phi Beta Kappa honors, he studied biology at the University of Sussex as part of his graduate work before returning to Berkeley to complete his doctoral candidate degree in immunology. Mr. Bazell pursued a dual interest in journalism and science by joining Science magazine in 1971 and writing for its News and Comment section. In 1976, he began a career in broadcast journalism by joining WNBC in New York as a reporter before moving to NBC News, where he was one of the first network news correspondents to report on the emerging AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s. He continues to cover health and science issues for the network. His reports appear on NBC Nightly News, Today, and Dateline NBC. Mr. Bazell is a recipient of two Emmy Awards for his reports on the human brain, the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award, the Maggie Award from Planned Parenthood, and the George Foster Peabody Award for his service to broadcast journalism. In addition to his television accomplishments, he is the author of HER-2, the acclaimed account of the making of the first targeted cancer drug. Robert is the Hope Funds for Cancer Research 2008 Award of Excellence Recipient in Advocacy.
Patricia F. Bilden, MD
Patricia is a dermatologist who has lived in Hong Kong since 1996. She received her BA from Georgetown University and her MD from the University of Iowa College of Medicine. She did her internship in Internal Medicine at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Boston and her Dermatology residency at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. She is currently a member of the Board of Governors of the Canadian International School of Hong Kong and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Aquidneck Land Trust in Newport.
Her husband is a managing director of HarbourVest Partners, LLC, and has been director of the Hong Kong office since 1996.
Patricia and her husband are involved with the International Yacht Restoration School and the Newport Historical Society in Newport.
Gail L. Brown, M.D.
Telik, Inc.
Dr. Brown is Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Telik, Inc. She has directed the company’s clinical development programs since 1998. Prior to joining the company, Dr. Brown was affiliated with several investment organizations specializing in the biotechnology industry, and she served a consultant and member of clinical and scientific advisory boards at numerous public and private biotechnology companies. Dr. Brown began her career at the Harvard Medical School, where she served on the faculty of the Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology. She holds an M.D. degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and an M.B.A. degree from St. Mary’s College of California School of Economics and Business Administration.
Leah Rush Cann
Research & Consulting, LLC
Leah is an independent research analyst. She began her career as a research scientist with Memtec Corporation and moved to Wall Street in 1992, where she was a research analyst with CIBC Oppenheimer for nearly nine years. Leah was a healthcare analyst for the Boston-based asset manager, Cadence Capital, and later the senior biotechnology analyst for Wachovia Securities. Twice recognized as an All-Star analyst by the Wall Street Journal, she is the founder of Leah Rush Cann Research and Consulting, LLC, an oncology research and consulting organization. Ms. Cann received a BA in Art History and Chemistry and an MBA from Stetson University. She was a post-baccalaureate at the College of William and Mary and a post-graduate at Columbia University.
Leah has been a trustee and member of several committees of International House in New York City for more than 15 years. She serves on the Board of Directors of Marshall Edwards, Inc. and on the Strategic Advisory Board of MiraDx.
George Demetri, MD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Dr. Demetri is a medical oncologist at the Dana Farber Institute and is a key-opinion-leader in sarcomas and gastro-intestinal stromal tumors (GIST). Dr. Demetri received his MD from Stanford University in 1983, followed by an internal medicine residency and chief residency at the University of Washington Hospital, Seattle, and a fellowship in medical oncology at Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) in 1989. He is director of the Center for Sarcoma and Bone Oncology at DFCI, director of the Ludwig Center at Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, and executive director for Clinical and Translational Research at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. George is the Hope Funds Award of Excellence Honoree for Clinical Development in 2010.
Jacalyn Egan
Jackie received her BA in English from Regis College. Her interests in philanthropy lead her to train at the Rockefeller Philanthropic Workshop. She is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the Duniry Foundation. Mrs. Egan has served on the Boards of Regis College, the Museum of Russian Art in Minneapolis, the Newport Art Museum and Association, and Project Healthy Children. Jackie and her husband, Bill live in Boston and Newport where they are involved in a number of charitable organizations. Jackie has served on the Hope Funds Gala Committee and has co-chaired the Hope Funds Gala from 2008-2010.
Melissa Eisenstat
Melissa’s career spans Silicon Valley and Wall Street. She spent seven years at Apple Computer and at a start-up software company in sales and marketing. She moved to Oppenheimer as the firm’s senior software analyst for nine years, then became president of Palladian Research, an independent equity research firm, and subsequently worked as a hedge fund consultant. A lifelong cellist, she currently performs solo, chamber and orchestral concerts in New York. In the not-for-profit arena, she is on the Board of the New York Youth Symphony, where she serves on the Finance Committee and works on program-related projects. Melissa received her BA from the University of Pennsylvania and her MBA & MA from the Wharton School and Penn’s Lauder Institute.
Harold P. Freeman, M.D.
NCI/ Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention
Dr. Freeman is the President and Founder of the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention in New York City. He is Senior Advisor to the Director of the National Cancer Institute. He is a Professor of Clinical Surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Freeman is the chief architect of the American Cancer Society’s initiative on cancer in the poor and is a leading authority on the interrelationships between race, poverty and cancer. Dr. Freeman is past Chairman of the United States President’s Cancer Panel. He has been appointed to this position for four three-year terms, first by President Bush in 1991 and subsequently by President Clinton in 1994, 1997 and 2000. He is also the pioneer of Patient Navigation, the purpose of which is to eliminate barriers to timely cancer care for poor and uninsured patients. President George W. Bush signed the Patient Navigation and Chronic Disease Prevention Act in 2005 based on this model. He was elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 1997Dr. Freeman was born in Washington, D.C. and graduated from the Catholic University of America. He graduated from Howard University Medical School, Washington, D.C. and completed internship and residency in General Surgery at Howard University Hospital where he received the Daniel Hale Williams Award for Outstanding Achievements as Chief Resident. Subsequently he was Senior Resident in Cancer Surgery for three years at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York City.
Dr. Freeman is a Director of Howard University and a Trustee of Howard University Hospital. Dr. Freeman was the Hope Funds for Cancer Research Award of Excellence Recipient in Advocacy in 2010.
David Garrett
David Garrett is an institutional salesperson specializing in the healthcare sector. Prior to joining Canaccord Adams, he was a sell-side securities biotechnology analyst with Fortis Securities. He has extensive Wall Street experience in healthcare. Prior to joining Fortis, David was a biotechnology analyst with UBS Securities and prior to that with Wachovia Securities. David also worked as buy-side healthcare analyst at the mutual fund, Scudder, Stevens and Clark.
Antonio J. Grillo-Lopez, MD
At IDEC, Antonio J. Grillo-Lopez led clinical development of IDEC-C2B8 (Rituxan®, MabThera) which was approved in 1997 by the FDA for the treatment of patients with low-grade or follicular non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. At IDEC he also supervised the development of Zevalin, which is the first radioimmunotherapy approved for the treatment of cancer. For his medical work he was awarded the Leukemia Society of America Triumph Award, the Cure for Lymphoma Foundation Trailblazer Award and the Peter McCuen Cancer Research Excellence Award from the University of California.
Prior to his groundbreaking work at IDEC, he was Executive Medical Director for International Clinical Research Development at DuPont Merck for five years, Vice President, clinical Therapeutics and Director, Clinical Oncology Research at Parke Davis (Warner Lambert) for seven years and was Associate Professor of Medicine in the Department of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Michigan. Dr. Grillo-Lopez trained as a hematologist and oncologist at the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, San Juan, where he received his medical degree and later founded the Puerto Rico Society of Hematology and the Latin American Society of Hematology. Dr. Grillo-Lopez has authored over 200 publications, primarily in the fields of hematology and oncology, including co-authorship of the current international response criteria for lymphoma.
Dr. Grillo-Lopez was the 2007 recipient of the Hope Funds Award for Excellence in Clinical Development, a co-recipient of the 2008 Robert Tiedemann Award for Courage.
Dan Gold, Ph.D.
Marshall Edwards, Inc.
Dr. Gold has been President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Marshall Edwards since April 2010. From October 2009 to April 2010, Dr. Gold was Managing Partner of Theragence, Inc., a service provider that focuses on optimizing biopharmaceutical product development, which he co-founded. From July 2008 to May 2009, Dr. Gold was President and Chief Executive Officer of Prospect Therapeutics, a clinical stage, oncology focused, biotechnology company. From January 2000 to May 2009, Dr. Gold was Chief Scientific Officer of Favrille, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that focused on the development and commercialization of immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and other diseases of the immune system, which he founded. He was an associate Professor at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center in LaJolla, CA from 1991 – 2001.
Dr. Gold was a member of the Executive Council of the Sabin Cancer Vaccine Consortium from 2004 to 2006 and a member of the board of directors of the San Diego chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society from 1998 to 2003
Dr. Gold received a Bachelors degree in biology from University of California Los Angeles and received a Doctorate degree from Tufts University in Pathology/Immunology. He was a postdoctoral fellow at MIT.
Leah Hartman
SKY Harbor Capital Management
Leah Hartman is currently the Head of Research at SKY Harbor Capital Management LLC, a high yield fund, located in Greenwich, CT. She previously was a sell-side analyst at CRT Capital Group LLC for nearly 20 years and covered biotechnology companies, among others. Prior to joinging CRT Capital, Leah was an investment banker at Swiss Bank. She received her BS from Indiana University, her JD from Indiana School of Law and her MBA from University of Chicago.
Lily Hayes
Global Prairie
Lily Hayes currently an account manager at Global Prarie in Kansas City. Prior to joining Global Prarie, she served as a territory manager in the specialty pharmaceuticals division of Bristol Myers Squibb. Prior to joining BMS, Lily held marketing and communications positions with Pfizer and Amgen. Miss Hayes holds a degree in biology from the University of Richmond where she graduated cum laude and was a member of the biology honor society, Beta Beta Beta. In addition to serving as a Trustee of the Hope Funds for Cancer Research, she volunteers for the Mayflower Foundation and was a member of the Junior League of Boston.
Debra Kennedy, MD
CSL Behring
Debbie Kennedy is the Therapeutic Head for Coagulation in Clinical Research & Development at CSL Behring. Prior to joing CSL Behring, Dr. Kennedy was Medical Director of Clinical Research Oncology for Cephalon Corporation, were she was responsible for leading the clinical development of multiple investigational agents in oncology.
Debbie received her B.S. degree in Chemistry from American University, Washington DC in 1992, and her M.D. from Medical College of Virginia, VA in 1997. Upon graduating, Dr. Kennedy trained in Internal Medicine at the University of Maryland, Baltimore and then completed her fellowship training in Medical Oncology, Hematology and Transfusion Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, MD. She is also continues to work towards her Ph.D. in Clinical Investigation at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, MD. She was on the faculty at LSU, New Orleans as an Assistant Professor in Oncology and Pathology from 2005-2006. Prior to joining Cephalon, Dr. Kennedy’s research spanned from benchtop carbohydrate synthesis to transfusion support in hematologic malignancies. Currently, Dr. Kennedy is responsible for five active clinical trials targeting kinase inhibition with study sites worldwide.
Paula Kim
Translating Research Across Communities
Paula Kim, Founder and President, Translating Research Across Communities (TRAC) and Principal of Paula Kim Consulting is recognized for her work in advocacy and bridging the gap between the research community and those with whom they must collaborate to accelerate research that benefits patients.
Ms. Kim’s father died from pancreatic cancer in 1998, just seventy-five days after his diagnosis. Throughout her father’s illness and afterwards, she used the Internet to connect with researchers, patients, and families affected by pancreatic cancer. The tremendous need for improvement in patient services, early detection, treatments, awareness, and research funding for the disease was evident. Her lack of knowledge and experience in advocacy, public policy, and research did not diminish her determination to make a difference. In 1999, she co-founded the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN), the disease’s first and only national patient advocacy organization, serving as Chair and CEO between 1999 and 2004. During her tenure, PanCAN developed the first national programs for pancreatic cancer in patient services, national grassroots volunteer awareness, and privately funded career-development grants.
Ms. Kim’s involvement with the patient, research, agency, and industrial communities is an important focus of her efforts and she was recently honored with the 2006 Society of Surgical Oncology James Ewing Layman Award, the 2004 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Public Service Award and the 2004 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Partners in Progress Award.
In addition to her professional work, Ms. Kim maintains longstanding commitments to volunteer service that preceded PanCAN and continues with service to the National Cancer Institute, the Food and Drug Administration, as well as with many researchers, cancer centers, and organizations around the world.
John Kooyman
Colgate Palmolive
John has been with Colgate for 13 years and has had management posts within USA and Nordic Group. John has an MBA from Harvard Business School. He serves on the Marketing Committee of International House and was a Trustee of International House from 1999-2001.
Jonathan Lewis, MD, PhD
ZioPharm Oncology
Dr. Lewis is Chief Executive Officer, and Director of ZIOPHARM Oncology. He served as Professor of Surgery and Medicine at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He has been actively involved in leading translational and clinical research in cancer, and is globally recognized by patient advocacy groups. He has helped develop several drugs in cancer. He has received numerous honors and awards in medicine and science, including the ASCO Young Investigator Award, the Kristen Carr Fellowship, the Yale University Ohse Award, the Royal College of Surgeons Trubshaw Medal, and the Sarcoma Foundation of America Hope and Vision Award. He serves as a Director on the Board of POPPA (the Police Organization Providing Peer Assistance) of the New York Police Department (NYPD). He also serves on the Medical Advisory Board of the Sarcoma Foundation of America, and the Scientific Advisory Board of the Combat Wound Initiative and Limb Salvage Program of the Henry Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine.
Dr. Lewis is a member of the Hope Funds Scientific Advisory Council and has served on its Board of Trustees since 2008.
Scott T. Lewis
Mr. Lewis is senior investment professional with 25 years of experience. Scott has been a senior portfolio manager at ING Investment Management in New York, NY, as well as Credit Suisse Asset Management and Warburg Pincus Asset Management in New York. Scott received both his MBA and B. Sc. in International Business and Management from New York University. Aside from business, Scott enjoys fishing, hunting, sporting clays, travel, cooking, coaching youth football. He and his family reside in Wilton, CT.
Paul D. Maxwell
Great Range Capital
Paul Maxwell is a Founder and Principal at Great Range Capital in Kansas. Prior to founding Great Range, Paul was a Principal at Monitor Clipper Partners, a private equity firm based in Boston. Paul began his career as an investment banking analyst at Salomon Smith Barney in New York. His prior experience also includes working for Merrill Lynch in London and for Fenway Partners, a private equity firm based in New York.
John E. Parks
Oppenheimer & Co., Inc.
John is the Director of Equity Research at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., a position he has held since 1999. He joined the firm in 1989 as a senior institutional salesman covering major clients in New York City. He became Head of Domestic Institutional Sales in 1995 and Head of Global Institutional Sales in 1997. He has been a member of the firm’s US Management Committee, the Executive Committee, and the Commitment Committee. He is currently Chairman of the Research Review Committee and member of both the Equity Transaction Committee and the Benefits Committee. John began his Wall Street career as an investment banker and later as an institutional salesman at the First Boston Corporation from 1983 to 1989.
He holds a BA in economics from Princeton University and an MBA in finance from Columbia University. John is also a founding board member of EmergingMed.com which is the premier online clinical trial matching and referral service for cancer patients.
Andrew Robertson
President and Chief Executive Officer of BBDO Worldwide
Andrew born in Zimbabwe and was raised in South Africa and England and started his ad career as a media planner at Ogilvy & Mather. After rising through the ranks at O&M, he moved to J. Walter Thompson in 1989 and managed the firm’s biggest account, Kellogg, before moving on to mid-sized British agency WCRS, and then London’s Abbott Mead Vickers. In 1999, when AMV was purchased by Omnicom and merged with the Omnicom-controlled BBDO London, Robertson was made CEO of the combined company, Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO.
In 2001, he moved to New York to take the job of president and CEO of BBDO North America, where he was widely viewed as the likely successor to aging BBDO Worldwide CEO Allen Rosenshine. When Rosenshine retired three years later, Robertson was picked for the job, making him, at 44, the youngest-ever CEO of the global agency. He now oversees BBDO Worldwide’s 16,000 employees in 287 offices in 77 countries, and reports to Omnicom CEO John Wren. Mr. Robertson was subsequently elected to the Worldwide Board of Directors of BBDO.
BBDO began in 1891 with George Batten’s Batten Company, and later in 1928, through a merger of BDO (Barton, Durstine & Osborn) and Batten Co. the agency became BBDO. BBDO Worldwide was recently named the “Most Awarded Agency Network in the World” by The Gunn Report in 2010 and in 2009, 2008, and 2007 before that. With 15,000 employees in 287 offices in 79 countries, it is the largest of three global networks (BBDO, DDB, TBWA) of agencies in Omnicom’s portfolio. BBDO was named Agency of the Year in 2005 by ADWEEK, Advertising Age, and Campaign Magazine. In 2006, Mayor Bloomberg proclaimed January 10 as BBDO day in recognition of the strength of its advertising, as well as its contributions to New York City. The company’s extensive list of clients includes: The Economist, PepsiCo, Diageo, Skanska, FedEx, General Electric, Campbell’s, Arby’s, Gillette, Motorola Solutions, Orbitz, Bayer, Wrigley, AT&T, Mars, Bank of America, Pinnacle Foods Monster.com, HBO, Hyatt Hotels, Starbucks, Lowe’s, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Fonterra, Imperial Chemical Industries, Hewlett-Packard, Watson’s, Emirates, ThaiBev, Syngenta, and Olympus. Mr. Robertson is on the board of Autism Speaks—the non-profit foundation founded by NBC chairman Bob Wright and his wife Suzanne. Andrew and Susan, along with their son and Andrew’s mother, attended the Hope Funds 2011 Gala and BBDO was a very large donor to the Gala.
David J. Straus, MD
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
David Straus is a medical oncologist and hematologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Dr. Straus received his MD at Medical College of Wisconsin (Marquette), was a resident at Montefiore Medical Center, and held fellowships at Beth Israel Hospital/Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology. Dr. Straus’s clinical expertise is in Hematology, Lymphomas and Hodgkin’s Disease, Multiple Myeloma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.
O. Lee Tawes III
Northeast Securities
Lee is Executive Vice President and Head of Investment Banking, and a Director at Northeast Securities, Inc. From 2000-2001 he was Managing Director of Research for C.E. Unterberg, Towbin an investment and merchant banking firm specializing in high growth technology companies. Mr. Tawes spent 20 years at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. and CIBC World Markets, where he was Director of Equity Research from 1991-1999. He was also Chairman of the Stock Selection Committee at CIBC, a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, and Commitment Committee. From 1972 to 1990, Mr. Tawes was an analyst covering the food and diversified industries at Goldman Sachs & Co. from 1972 to 1979 and Oppenheimer from 1979 to 1990. As a food analyst, he was named to the Institutional Investor All American Research Team five times from 1979 through 1989. In addition to serving on the Northeast Board, he is on the Board of Baywood International, GSE Systems, Houston American Energy, and 100 Wall Energy Partners. Mr. Tawes is a graduate of Princeton University and received his MBA from Darden School at the University of Virginia.
J. Gregory Van Schaack
Executive Vice President, Academy Securities, Inc.
Mr. Van Schaack is co-founder of Academy Securities, a disabled veteran owned broker/dealer. The mission of the firm is to bring together Wall Street veterans with military veterans to provide institutions with superior financial services while creating jobs for disabled veterans. Prior to founding Academy, Mr. Van Schaack had advised private clients at firms including Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. and the United States Trust Company and Citizens Fidelity Bank and Trust Company. He has a wide range of experience in the financial services industry and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences.
Mr. Van Schaack is a graduate of Williams College.
Professor Bryan R.G. Williams, Ph.D.
Monash Institute
Professor Williams has over 30 years of experience in basic and pre-clinical cancer research. Since January 2006, he has been the director of the Monash Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia. From 1991 to 2005, Professor Williams was Chairman of the Department of Cancer Biology, Lerner Research Institute, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio. From 1993 to 2005, he was Professor, Department of Genetics at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. From 1998 to 2005, he was an Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Chemistry at Cleveland State University and Kent State University, also both in Ohio. Professor Williams holds a BSc. (Hons) (Microbiology) and Ph.D. (Microbiology) from the University of Otago, New Zealand. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
all photography on this page is courtesy of Julie Skarratt Photography