The Center for Biotechnology has the aid of seasoned industry veterans that serve in the role of program advisors for Center activities such as the BioStrategy Session, Technology Commercialization Clinic and the Fundamentals of the Bioscience Industry program.

The core group of our affiliated advisors currently includes:

• Michael Baran, PhD, MBA, Partner, Pfizer Ventures
• Heather Bielski, Innovation Project Manager, DUKAL Corporation
• Michael R. Bielski, Founder & President, DevTech Partners
• Len Breslow, JD, Breslow & Walker
• Kara Cannon, Chief Operating Officer, Enzo Biochem, Inc.
• Richard Catalano, Senior Financial Leader; Board Director; and Retired Partner – KPMG Global Audit Methodology Group
• Colleen Cuffaro, PhD, Principal, Canaan Partners
• Anil Dhundale, PhD, Stony Brook University Incubator Program (formerly with OSI Pharmaceuticals)
• Peter Donnelly, Associate Vice President for Technology Partnerships, Stony Brook University
• Daniel Forler, PhD, Senior Director, Early Licensing, Bayer U.S. Pharma (LEAPs program)
• Lorrence Green, PhD, President, Westbury Diagnostics, Inc.
• Andreas Grill, MS, MBA, CEO, DepYMed
• John Haley, PhD, Founder, Network Pharmacology
• Kenton C. Hasson, PhD, Director of Strategic Partnerships, ANGLE plc
• Brandy Houser, PhD, Co-Founder, Traverse
• Thomas D. Ippolito, VP Clinical & Regulatory Affairs, ChemBio Diagnostics
• Seyed Khorashahi, Executive VP of Medical Devices and CTO, Regulatory Compliance Associates Inc. (RCA)
• Kevin Koch, PhD, Venture Partner, OrbiMed
• Sathapana (Sam) Kongsamut, PhD, President, Rudder Serendip LLC
• John Pennett, Partner, Eisner Advisory Group LLC, EisnerAmper
• Areta Kupchyk, Partner, Foley Hoag LLP,
• Leah Lipsich, PhD, Executive Director, Program Direction, Immunology & Inflammation, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
• Steven Lynn, Executive Vice President, Pharmaceuticals, Regulatory Compliance Associates Inc. (RCA)
• William Mann, PhD, MBA, Presdient & CEO, Archimmune Therapeutics, Inc.
• J. Brian McCarthy, PhD, MBA, CEO, MicroRid Technologies
• Mario Mendoza, MD, MS, Independent Healthcare & Medical Affairs Consultant, BorderBioMed
• Annie Mitsak, PhD, Principal, Omega Funds
• Gregory Montalbano, Principal, MIDI Product Development
• Christopher Montalbano, Principal, MIDI Product Development
• Samir Nizam, Board Member, Long Island Angel Network
• Christopher O’Donnell, PhD, Vice President – Partnering Innovation, Pfizer and Partner, Pfizer Ventures
• Barbara Sawitsky, Director of Patents and Licensing, New York Blood Center (Retired)
• Joseph Scaduto, MS, MBA, Co-Founder & CEO, CMTx Biotech; Bio Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Center for Biotechnology
• Tara Sharif, PhD, Managing Director WestPark Capital, Inc
• Stacey Sikes, Vice President, Government Affairs & Communication, Long Island Association
• Stephanie Stehman, PhD, Search & Evaluation Lead, Spark Therapeutics, Inc.
• Saied Tousi, PhD, Managing Director, NW Advisors
• Robert Van Nostrand, former CFO, OSI Pharmaceuticals
• Eric Vieira, PhD, Director of Special Research Programs at City University of New York
• Peter Young, Venture Partner, Pappas Capital and Principal, Syncratic Consulting LLC
• Anton Xavier, MS, MBA, Director, SVB Startup Banking Life Sciences, SVB Financial Group

Additional Sponsors

In addition to our New York State funding from NYSTAR, the Center for Biotechnology currently has awards from the following entities to carry out their mission:

The Research Foundation for The State University of New York (RF) has provided the Center for Biotechnology with a grant of $25,000 in 2013 in support of its BioEntrepreneur-in-Residence program as well as generous support for the Long Island Bioscience Hub (LIBH) Initiative.

The RF was founded in 1951 to serve SUNY and to capitalize on its scope, scale and diversity as an engine of New York’s innovation economy. The largest, most comprehensive university-connected research foundation in the country, the RF supports nearly $1 billion in SUNY research activity annually, providing sponsored programs administration and innovation support services to SUNY faculty performing research in life sciences and medicine; engineering and nanotechnology; physical sciences and energy; social sciences, and computer and information sciences.

The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) has provided the Center for Biotechnology with 500,000 under the U.S. Department of Commerce’s i6 Challenge Investment in November of 2016 to support the CFB’s efforts to bolster the regional bioscience ecosystem by supporting a formal mentorship program, as well as a critical NIH-focused SBIR/STTR training and application development program which will assist in capital formation and launching new companies.

The mission of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is to lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting competitiveness and preparing the nation’s regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy. An agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, EDA makes investments in economically distressed communities in order to create jobs for U.S. workers, promote American innovation, and accelerate long-term sustainable economic growth.

The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) selected the Center for Biotechnology as a DRIVe accelerator, one of eight accelerators in the nation, to drive innovation in lifesaving medical technologies that solve challenging problems spanning modern health security threats and daily medical care.

BARDA, part of the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, was established to aid in securing our nation from chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats, as well as from pandemic influenza (PI) and emerging infectious diseases (EID). BARDA supports the transition of medical countermeasures such as vaccines, drugs, and diagnostics from research through advanced development towards consideration for approval by the FDA and inclusion into the Strategic National Stockpile. BARDA’s support includes funding, technical assistance and core services, ranging from a clinical research organization network to Centers for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing, and a fill-finish manufacturing network. To-date, BARDA has supported 42 FDA approvals for products addressing CBRN, PI, and EID threats.

DRIVe (Division of Research, Innovation, and Ventures) is a bold new approach to achieving once-unthinkable solutions to health security challenges – through the power of collaboration and innovation.