Archives: Speakers

Dr. David Larwood brings a rare combination of scientific innovation and business acumen to the fight against Valley Fever, a serious and often overlooked fungal disease. While pursuing his PhD in chemistry and chemical biology at UCSF, Dr. David Larwood explored the therapeutic potential of brilacidin, an antimicrobial compound with promising activity against fungal pathogens such as coccidioides, the organism responsible for Valley Fever, which disproportionately affects immunocompromised individuals. At UCSF, he invented PEGylated lipids and with his advisor made the first ever PEGylated liposomes, which lets the “payload” content circulate much longer in the bloodstream, making new forms of delivery possible. The delivery system is integral to Doxil, a drug that treats various cancers. It also is critical to the mRNA COVID vaccines. He was also the first to synthesize Iotrolan, a widely used contrast agent in medical imaging such as X-rays and CT scans, producing more effective clinical diagnostics. His doctoral work was the foundation of a robust career at the convergence of pharmaceutical chemistry and biotech innovation.

Today, Dr. Larwood is founder, president, and CEO of Valley Fever Solutions, where he leads a team working to advance Nikkomycin Z (NikZ), a targeted antifungal therapy. With $7 million in NIH support and a collaborative research team, Dr. Larwood is driving efforts to improve treatments in the regions most affected by Valley Fever, including the Southwestern U.S., Mexico, and Central and South America. Dr. Larwood’s 2020 review of NikZ therapy has been cited more than 37 times and continues to inform the field.

Donald Kellerman is the Vice President of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs for Zosano Pharma.  Dr. Kellerman has more than 30 years of experience working in several areas of the pharmaceutical industry, primarily clinical development.   Dr. Kellerman has led registration trials in a number of therapeutic areas, including respiratory, allergy, ophthalmology, cardiovascular, and neurology.  From 2008 to 2013, Dr. Kellerman served as Senior Vice President, Clinical Development and Medical Affairs at MAP Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he led the development of Semprana for migraine.  Prior to joining MAP, Dr. Kellerman held management positions at Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Glaxo Wellcome, plc, Sepracor, Inc., Ciba-GEIGY Corporation, and E.R. Squibb and Sons, Inc.  He has served as project leader on multiple development teams including those working on Flovent,® Advair,® and Xopenex®.

Dr. Kellerman received his Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Pharmacy from the College of Pharmacy at the University of Minnesota.  He has authored major sections of eight NDAs, created labelling strategy for several pharmaceutical products, and has co-authored over 80 publications related to the results of clinical development activities.

Elise Brownell, PhD. has spent the last 35 years in the bio/pharmaceutical arena where she has played key roles in Discovery, Development and Opportunity Assessment to drive innovation.

After completing her doctorate at Yale University, Elise’s career started at SUNY Stony Brook. She continued her interest in comparative molecular biology during her tenure at Frederick Cancer Research Facility and expanded her facility with molecular genetics while in various functions at Bayer Healthcare. Her efforts were widely recognized by promotion to Director, Project Management, where she led global cross-functional teams. Elise also became a member of the founding team of a venture-backed spin out (Aerovance, Inc), where she became head of project management.

Dr. Brownell serves in Interim Executive capacities for a number of emergent and highly innovative companies in the Life Science sector, and as a mentor to the entrepreneurs who run them.

Elise received her MS, MPhil and PhD from Yale University, and her BS from Allegheny College

Dr. Ivan S.F. Chan has 20+ years of experience in pharmaceutical industry. He is Vice President and Head of Statistical Sciences, Data & Statistical Sciences, at AbbVie Inc. In this capacity, he leads the statistics organization supporting discovery, biomarker development, clinical development and global medical affairs for all therapeutic areas. Prior to joining AbbVie, Ivan was Executive Director of Biostatistics at Merck Research Laboratories.

Ivan is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association (ASA) and a Fellow of the Society for Clinical Trials (SCT). Ivan serves as Executive Director of the International Society for Biopharmaceutical Statistics (ISBS). He has 80+ publications in statistical and clinical journals.

Neil Vivian joined Anju in 2019 as Senior Director of Business Solutions and Product Manager. He is responsible for providing technical support to the Business Development group in positioning Anju Solutions and Services to potential and existing clients. His Product Manager role responsibilities include providing guidance and high-level business requirements for new product features based on his industry experience and understanding of new emerging Regulatory Guidance.

He has over 43 years’ experience in the software industry built from a solid foundation in the Defense Industry, 29 of those focused on Life Sciences.

He has a BSc in Physics and Engineering Science and MSc in Information Technology.

Stephanie Molteni, JD, Director, Site Budgets & Contract Management, Clinical Operations, Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc.

Stephanie Molteni is the Director, Site Budgets & Contract Management, Clinical Operations, at Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. where she oversees a team who manages the global investigator site budgets and contracts.  Stephanie is also responsible for the strategic development of the group, focusing on process refinement, key performance indicators and change management.  Stephanie has worked with contracts and budgets for more than 20 years, 10 of which at a large medical device company.  Prior to entering the biotech industry, Stephanie spent several years in compliance, contracts and operations within the insurance industry.

Francisco Ortigosa has dedicated 32 years to the petroleum industry holding several international technology positions in Repsol. He has particularly focused on the economic value added to the Exploration & Production Business by new technologies in the field of Geoscience. As Director of Geoscience Technology in the Repsol’s he has leaded the development of new digital technologies in the field of Geosciences. Francisco has received an award from IEEE Spectrum in 2008 for the Kaleidoscope Project recognizing one the most innovative projects of the year 2007, and another award from Platt’s (Standard & Poors) recognizing the most Commercial Technology of the year in 2009. Currently he hols the position od Director Innovation Technology expanding his areas of influence to Innovation in Upstream, Downstream, Energy Transition and Digital Transformation. Francisco has positions in Boards and Technology Boards of companies where he advises in Technology Strategy and New Technologies. In 2018 he received the Repsol´s INN Award recognizing the innovative projects developed in his area. Recently he has received the Repsol´s Digital Legend Award recognizing his successful trajectory in Digital Transformation and Big Data in the last 15 years. He has authored and coauthored numerous technical papers presented in International Conferences and Publications. He is also frequent Key Note speaker in Conferences, and a regular participant in panels regarding Digital Transformation in the Oil Exploration & Production Business. Francisco is affiliated with SEG, EAGE and SPE.

Eloise has been working at ABB for 6 years, joining as a Process Engineer in 2014, and then moving into a Process Safety Engineer role. Since then, Eloise has moved into a digital role as Safety Lifecycle Management Subject Matter Expert for a number of Process Safety related digital solutions. Included within this role Eloise developed as the Technical Product Manager for ABB’s HAZOP and LOPA SafetyInsight Digital modules. Eloise is focussed on ensuring ABB is successful at supporting and delivering value to customers on their digital journey.