MichBio Board of Directors' Biographies

Linda Chamberlain, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Grand Valley State University
Dr. Chamberlain received both her BS and Doctorate degrees in chemistry with honors from Purdue University.  Dr. Chamberlain joined Shell Development Company in 1987 as a Futures Research Chemist and later moved into management of scientific and technical teams.  During her eight years at Shell, she had 19 patents issued for work in catalyst, polymer, and product/process development. Dr. Chamberlain next served as Director of Research and Technology, Engineering Plastics for AlliedSignal where she was involved in development of resins for a variety of consumer products.  Dr. Chamberlain joined Johnson Controls, Inc. in 1997 as Director of Advanced Manufacturing and was later appointed JCI's Global Executive Director of New Product and Business Development. Dr. Chamberlain has also worked for Holland Community Hospital and the law firm of Butzel Long. During her tenure at Butzel Long, she was employed in the public sector, serving at the pleasure of the Governor of Michigan as an Executive on Loan.  For the three years prior to her current role, Dr. Chamberlain served as Executive Director of the West Michigan Science & Technology Initiative, a business accelerator focused on commercialization of life science products and technologies.  In addition, Dr. Chamberlain is the owner and principle of InnoValuation®, a company that focuses on ensuring companies have the processes and tools to extract the full value of their best innovations.

J. Patrick Elliott
Vice President, Business Development
Terumo Cardiovascular Systems Corp. 
Mr. Elliott’s experience in the healthcare industry spans more than twenty nine years and includes positions in executive management, sales and marketing management, technical management, and product development for several global medical device companies, including Sarns Corporation, 3M HealthCare,and Terumo Cardiovascular Systems Corporation. As V.P. Market & Business Development of Terumo Cardiovascular Systems, a subsidiary of Terumo Corporation of Japan, he is responsible for the development of partnerships and acquisitions assisting Terumo Cardiovascular Systems in meeting their strategic objectives in expanding their position in the cardiac surgery market. Former responsibilities with TCVS include Business Unit General Manager in the US and Europe.

David Felten, M.D., Ph.D.
Vice President, Research & Medical Director
Beaumont Hospitals Research Institute
Dr. David L. Felten, is the Vice President, Research, and Medical Director of the Research Institute at Beaumont Hospitals, Royal Oak, MI. He oversees the hospital's research portfolio and actively participates in the development and commercialization of Beaumont's intellectual property. Dr. Felton received a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1969, an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1973, and a Ph.D. from the Institute of Neurological Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania in 1974. He has received numerous honors and awards, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Prize Fellowship. In addition, he has received two distinct NIH 10-year MERIT awards.

Previously, Dr. Felten was Chair of the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy at the University of Rochester School of Medicine; founding director of the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine; Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology at the University of California, Irvine, College of Medicine; and also served as Dean of the School of Graduate Medical Education at Seton Hall University. Dr. Felton's research provided the foundation upon which the field of neuroimmunology emerged. He is the author of over 210 peer-reviewed publications and reviews, the majority of which focus on links between the nervous system and immune system, and the role these connections play in health and disease. Dr. Felten has served as the Chairman of the Scientific and Medical Advisory Board for Australian Cancer Technology (Avantogen), The Medingen Group, Medingen Services, and The Clerisy Corp, and is active in identification, evaluation, and commercialization of IP in medical and biological sciences and biotechnology.

James F. Freeman, Ph.D.
Vice President, Laboratory Services
Pfizer Animal Health
Since 2005, Dr. Freeman has served as Vice President, Laboratory Sciences, within the Veterinary Medicine Research & Development organization in Pfizer Animal Health.  His responsibilities include pharmaceutical sciences, biologicals development, pharmacokinetics, metabolism, safety and clinical supply chain functions.  Pfizer Animal Health discovers, develops and markets a broad range of innovative pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and vaccine products for companion animals and livestock worldwide.

Dr. Freeman has previously held various scientific management positions within The Upjohn Company, Pharmacia & Upjohn and Pharmacia, prior to joining Pfizer Global R&D in 2003.  Past responsibilities have included pharmaceutics, in vitro and in vivo drug absorption models, drug release, analytical development, solid forms characterization, structure elucidation, product specifications, preclinical profiling in drug discovery, GMP manufacturing and clinical supply chain management.  He has served as a member of the ICH Q6A Expert Working Group and as a member of the PhRMA Analytical R&D Steering Committee.  Dr. Freeman received his B.S. degree in chemistry from Allegheny College in 1979 and his Ph.D. degree in analytical chemistry from Indiana University in 1984.

Teri Grieb, Ph.D.
Director of Administration for Research, Office of Research and Graduate Studies
University of Michigan Medical School, Office of Research
As Director of Administration for Research, Dr. Grieb partners with the Sr. Associate Research Dean in advocacy for the research mission of the University of Michigan Health System. As the chief business and administrative officer for the research mission, Dr. Grieb is responsible for the operational and fiscal management of the Office of Research and its reporting units. She assists with devising and deploying strategic research initiatives; managing projects; and advising on policy, procedural, and operational issues for the research enterprise. Dr. Grieb holds a Ph.D. from the Genetics Program at George Washington University. After receiving her doctorate, she joined an early-stage, life sciences start-up company. She was the Director of Tissue Biologics and lead scientist responsible for developing the company licensed technology for sterilizing allograft tissues. Dr. Grieb then joined MedImmune, Inc., as the first project manager for Research Operations, where she oversaw commercial and university in-licensed technologies. Just prior to her current role at the university, Dr. Grieb joined the Office of Research as the Industry Research Liaison and was responsible for planning and implementing outreach activities to increase participation in technology transfer and foster entrepreneurship.

Mark Kielb
Chief Financial Officer
Altarum
Mr. Kielb joined the Altarum team in January 2007, and his responsibilities include mergers and acquisitions, all accounting and finance functions, asset and treasury management, and infrastructure support services including facilities management, information technology, and legal affairs.  Mr. Kielb brings 20 years of industry experience and management expertise with an emphasis on technology growth companies. In 2006, his consulting practice, Venture Launch LLC, assisted the University of Michigan Office of Technology Transfer and Ann Arbor SPARK in the analysis and creation of several technology startups.  In 2001, Mr. Kielb founded, and later served as president and chairman of the board of DNA Software, Inc. DNA Software is the developer of Visual OMP, an industry leading nucleic acid modeling software application.

As founder and principal in Brophy & Kielb (1988), a financial and venture capital consulting firm, Mr. Kielb worked on numerous technical finance, merger and acquisition, business valuation, and capital procurement projects. Clients ranged from multi-national accounting and consulting firms to regional venture capital and investment companies to start ups in search of venture capital, private equity financing, or interim management.  Mr. Kielb holds a bachelor of arts degree in history from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, and a master's in business administration. from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Barry Klein
Director, Market Development
GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals
A native of West Michigan, Barry Klein received his undergraduate degree in 1988 from Grand Valley State University where he was voted “outstanding marketer of the year” by the business school faculty.  He went on to earn his MBA where he graduated with honors from the University of Michigan.  In 1992 Barry began his career in the pharmaceutical industry where he has held various marketing, sales and leadership roles of increasing responsibility throughout the country. He returned to Grand Rapids in 2000 and has focused his attention on understanding and positively impacting the health care environment in Michigan. Barry has worked with many state advocacy organizations and is currently active with the “Patient Centered Medical Home initiative” designed to transform health care delivery in the state.   Outside of his career, he has found success in sport. In the 90's he was a member of the United States National Rowing team, where he won a gold and silver medal in the Pan American games and was elected by his fellow athletes to represent their interests with the U.S. Olympic committee.

Paul Morris
Consultant
Mr. Morris was most recently Director, Operations-Lumigen at Beckman Coulter. He was previously a Senior Manager in the Detroit office of Grant Thornton LLP and a member of the firm's national Life Sciences Steering Committee. With 10 years of industry and management advisory experience, Mr. Morris has worked in a variety of industry settings, primarily life sciences, and led several engagements for biotech and pharmaceutical clients related to operational and process reviews. Other projects revolved around process improvement, both in manufacturing operations and supporting business functions, including research and development (R&D) and quality control. Mr. Morris is just finishing a term as MichBio's Treasurer, having served two years as Assistant Treasurer. Mr. Morris earned an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He also earned a BBA with First Class Honors from Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Stephen Munk, Ph.D.
President & Chief Executive Officer
Ash Stevens Inc.
Dr. Munk is experienced in drug discovery, development, and manufacturing both as a scientist and as a manager. Prior to joining Ash Stevens in 1997, he worked at Allergan, Inc. initially as a drug discovery scientist and subsequently as the co-team leader of the adrenergic drug discovery team. Under his leadership, Ash Stevens has received nine FDA approvals to manufacture novel drug substances. Ash Stevens also won over $20MM in government contracts during his tenure as well as numerous commercial contracts. Dr. Munk's work has been summarized in a number of publications, patents, and in a book covering topics in medicinal chemistry and process development. He has served as a Guest Editor for the Journal “Drug Development Research. He earned his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley and was an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow at Purdue University. Dr. Munk serves as an Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Wayne State University, and is on the Steering Committee of the Chemistry in Cancer Research Working Group of the American Association for Cancer Research (CICR-AACR) as well as the Board of Trustees of the Michigan Opera Theatre.

Jennifer Rice, D.V.M., MSc, Ph.D.
Senior Scientific Officer
Neogen Corporation
Dr. Rice is Senior Scientific Officer for Neogen Corporation in Lansing, MI.  Dr. Rice received her D.V.M. and MSc from the University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.  She was awarded a Medical Research Council Fellowship to pursue her Ph.D. in the field of Immunology and completed her Ph.D. studies also at the University of Guelph.  She was then awarded a Natural Sciences and Engineering Council Post doctoral Fellowship which focused her research activities on veterinary vaccine discovery.   She completed her education by receiving an M.B.A. from Colorado State University in 2001. 

Dr. Rice came to Neogen with more than 15 years experience managing global research and development teams in the veterinary pharmaceutical industry.  Previously, Dr. Rice was Global Product Development Leader for Dow AgroSciences Animal Health plant-cell expressed vaccine efforts.   As Senior Scientific Officer for the Neogen Corporation, Dr. Rice is responsible for the company's R&D efforts focused on developing quality products for the food safety and animal safety industry. 

John J.H. Schwarz, M.D.
Physician and Former U.S. Representative
Battle Creek Family Health Care Center
Since graduating from Battle Creek Central High School in 1955, U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz has served his nation, his state, and his community. In 1986, Dr. Schwarz won a hotly contested race for the Michigan state senate. He joined the chamber's leadership in 1993 as president pro tempore. He held that office for the next 10 years until term limits compelled his departure from the legislature at the end of 2002.

As the state senate's only physician, and as a member of the Health Policy Committee, Dr. Schwarz was the chamber's resident expert on health-care issues. As chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher Education, Dr. Schwarz was, and remains, a forceful advocate for keeping the avenues of scientific and medical research open to students and scientists. While serving as chairman of the subcommittee, Dr. Schwarz made sure our public colleges and universities received adequate state funding, helping keep education accessible to Michigan residents.

Eric Stief
Director, Venture Development
Wayne State University
Eric Stief is Director of Venture Development at Wayne State University.   Eric facilitates the creation of start-up companies based on WSU technology and the enhancement of the entrepreneurial community on campus, interfacing with faculty, students, outside entrepreneurs and investors.  Mr. Stief has worked in corporate and academic technology-based business development since 1994. His areas of focus have included research and development, mergers and acquisitions and new product and venture development. He was previously Licensing Manager in Delphi Corporation's Commercialization and Licensing group, Licensing Manager for Technology Transfer at Wayne State University, a Business Planner for the FMC Corporation, and a researcher for the Kellogg Company in Battle Creek, MI. He earned a BS in Food Engineering from Michigan State University and an MBA from University of Michigan.  He is a Certified Licensing Professional and a member of the Association of University Technology Managers.

Karen Studer-Rabeler
General Manager and Vice President of Business Development
Coy Laboratory Products
Karen Studer-Rabeler re-joined Coy in October 2007 to lead their business development efforts. Previously, she was Associate Director, New Business Development at the University of Michigan's Office of Technology Transfer where she managed the Business Formation Group and personally assisted in the creation of new businesses based on technology invented at U-M. Ms. Studer-Rabeler was educated in microbiology but has a broad base of experience encompassing semiconductor process engineering, product development, project management, marketing and field sales in both large and small companies. While at the Howard Hughes Research Labs in California, Ms. Studer-Rabeler developed submicron lithography for some of the world's fastest FET's and brought that capability to the University of Michigan's Solid State Electronics Laboratory in the late 1980's. Following that, Karen was an integral part of the technical sales, customer service, marketing, and product development functions for Coy Laboratory Products, a small business supplying life science laboratory equipment. Prior to joining U-M Tech Transfer, she provided account and project management as well as consultative technical assistance to a multi-million dollar, three state territory for the BioProcess Division of Millipore Corporation that supplies process-scale filtration to the Pharmaceutical Industry.

Stephen T. Rapundalo, Ph.D.
President & Chief Executive Officer
MichBio
Dr. Rapundalo, has broad experience in the life sciences with an extensive background in pharmaceutical research and development. Prior to his appointment as Executive Director of MichBio in April 2006, he spent almost 20 years as a senior research scientist, project manager, and group leader with Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Research and then Pfizer, Inc., primarily in the area of cardiovascular drug discovery. In recent years, Dr. Rapundalo led a global interdisciplinary team that developed a strategic, operational and organizational change management program to improve Pfizer's worldwide R&D business processes. He has a strong background in innovation and is an internationally recognized expert in a number of technology areas including high-throughput screening and proteomics, among others.

Dr. Rapundalo has a superb record of scientific achievement with over 50 publications, book chapters, and monographs. He has served as a peer-reviewer for a variety of prominent scientific journals and national funding agencies. In addition, he continues to be active in a broad range of industry and governmental initiatives including intellectual property commercialization, talent recruitment and retention, science education and economic development. Dr. Rapundalo has been a community advocate and civic leader for almost 20 years and currently serves as an elected member of the City Council in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Bill Worzel
President & Chief Executive Officer
Genetics Squared
Bill Worzel is a co-founder and President and Chief Executive Officer of Genetics Squared, an Ann Arbor-based company founded in 2002 focused on developing molecular prognostic and diagnostic tests. In this capacity he has participated in raising capital, directing R&D activities and building a team capable of developing, commercializing and marketing new tests. Under his guidance Genetics Squared has established ongoing partnerships with several academic institutions both within and outside of Michigan as well as a growing collaboration with the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, part of the Military Health System. He also directed the successful effort to gain a 21st Century Jobs Fund Award from the State of Michigan and raised more than twice the original amount funded by the state.  Mr. Worzel has an MSc from the University of Cambridge in computer science and is one of the leading experts in genetics programming.  Prior to founding Genetics Squared, Mr. Worzel was the Chief Technology Officer at Widevine Technologies, an Internet company based in Seattle, WA.

David Zimmermann
Chief Executive Officer
Kalexsyn, Inc.
Mr. Zimmermann has worked in the life science industry for over a quarter century. Following a 23-year career at The Upjohn Company, Pharmacia and Upjohn, and Pharmacia he co-founded Kalexsyn, Inc. where he has served as Chief Executive Officer. Under his leadership, Kalexsyn has maintained a steady and rapid growth in a challenging economic environment. Revenue growth for Kalexsyn has far outpaced expectations with the successful partnering of Kalexsyn with pharmaceutical companies in the US, Europe and Asia. Kalexsyn provides IP enabling, early drug discovery hit-to-lead and lead optimization services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners. While at Pharmacia, Zimmermann, a medicinal chemist by training, was responsible for negotiation and management of outsourcing contracts in addition to leadership roles on therapeutic program teams in both the infectious disease and CNS areas.