Board of Directors
Board of Directors
François Ferré, Ph.D.
François Ferré, Ph.D.
Chair of the Board, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of ALMA Lifesciences, LLC
Dr. Ferré is one of San Diego’s leading biotech entrepreneurs and angel investors. In 1998, Dr. Ferré and his wife, Magda Marquet, Ph.D., started their first company, Althea Technologies, which became a leading provider of contract services to the biotechnology field in the U.S. and Europe. That company was acquired in 2013 by the Japanese group Ajinomoto. Dr. Ferré also co-founded a spinoff company, AltheaDX, which specializes in personalized medicine and pharmacogenomics. Four years ago, Dr. Ferré and Dr. Marquet co-founded ALMA Life Sciences, LLC, an early-stage investment firm focusing on the creation and growth of health care companies in San Diego.
Dr. Ferré has also been active in the non-profit arena, serving on the Boards of the Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences, the Chopra Foundation, and the San Diego Museum of Art. He received the 2005 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in life sciences, and, in 2016, he and Dr. Marquet were inducted into San Diego’s CONNECT Entrepreneur Hall of Fame.
Born and raised in France, Dr. Ferré received his Ph.D. in Molecular Oncology from the Pasteur Institute before coming to the U.S. where he completed his post-doctoral work at the University of California, San Diego in the mid-1980s. During his first decade in San Diego, Dr. Ferré worked as a scientist in the biotech industry specializing in gene quantification and biomarker development. In that time, Dr. Ferré’s co-edited a book on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with Nobel Prize winner Kary Mullis and worked with Dr. Jonas Salk on development of a therapeutic HIV vaccine.
Chair of the Board, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of ALMA Lifesciences, LLC
Richard S. (Dick) Bodman, MSIM, BSE, CPA
Richard S. (Dick) Bodman, MSIM, BSE, CPA
Managing Partner of VMS Group, Chairman of TDF Ventures
Mr. Bodman is the Chairman of TDF Ventures, which manages several telecommunications venture capital funds, and co-founder and Chairman of PurThread Technologies, Inc., a maker of antimicrobial textile products for healthcare and consumer use. Mr. Bodman is also general manager of Bodman Oil and Gas LLC, and a Trustee at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato, California.
In 1996 Mr. Bodman retired as Senior Vice President of AT&T for Corporate Strategy & Development. He was a member of AT&T’s Management Executive Committee and Lead Director of Sandia National Laboratories. Simultaneously, he acquired AT&T Ventures, which he had founded at AT&T, and became its co-managing partner. The firm was renamed Venture Management Services.
Prior to AT&T, Mr. Bodman was CFO of The Communications Satellite Corp. (COMSAT) and, subsequently, President and CEO of Comsat General Corp. and President of Satellite Television Corp. Mr. Bodman also served as Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior and Assistant Director of the Office of Management and Budget during the Nixon administration.
He holds a B.S. in Engineering from Princeton University and an M.S. in Industrial Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Managing Partner of VMS Group, Chairman of TDF Ventures
Mark Bowles, MS
Mark Bowles, MS
Board Chair of Hyduro, Co-Founder of Truvian Sciences, Inc.
Mr. Bowles is the Board Chair of Hyduro, a start-up in the hydration space, and he is also the co-founder of Truvian Sciences, Inc, a San Diego-based diagnostics company.
Previously, Mr. Bowles was Chairman and a Board Member of San Diego Venture Group. Notably, he has 100+ issued patents both domestic and international, with dozens of pending patents. He has given guest lectures on entrepreneurism and innovation at universities including Duke, Stanford, UC San Diego, USD, SDSU, PLNU, Pepperdine, Hult, Texas A&M, Wharton and Harvard.
Mr. Bowles earned an M.S. in Technology Management from Pepperdine University and a B.S. in Industrial Distribution from Texas A&M University.
Board Chair of Hyduro, Co-Founder of Truvian Sciences, Inc.
John M. Carethers, M.D.
John M. Carethers, M.D.
Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences, UC San Diego
Dr. Carethers is the Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences at the University of California, San Diego. In this role, he leads the School of Medicine, Skagg School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, and UC San Diego Health. Dr. Carethers is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He’s also the president of the American Association of Physicians.
Dr. Carethers received his MD from Wayne State University School of Medicine in 1989. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1992 and his gastroenterology fellowship at University of Michigan in 1995.
Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences, UC San Diego
Anthony R. (Tony) Carr
Anthony R. (Tony) Carr
Managing Partner, Carlo Development
Mr. Carr is the managing partner of Carlo Development, a southern California based real estate development company. Carlo Development also owns and operates multi-family and self storage/industrial properties throughout California. Mr. Carr is also a managing member and co-owner of San Diego Self Storage, the largest self storage company in San Diego County with 18 locations. Prior to this, Mr. Carr was a registered principal for C&L Securities Corp., a wealth management firm, and an investment advisor licensed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He received his Bachelor’s from UCLA Anderson School of Management before beginning his career in finance and real estate.
Mr. Carr has been active in several community organizations, including service with the Advisory Board for the University of San Diego Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate, the UCSD Athletic Advisory Board, the Board of Trustees for The Grauer School, the Board of Directors for Big Brothers of Greater Los Angeles, the Board of Directors of International Relief Teams, UCLA Chancellor’s Associates, and The Los Angeles BIA Multi-Family Housing Council.
Managing Partner, Carlo Development
Susan Davis, MSW
Susan Davis, MSW
Congressional Representative
Susan Davis served as the U.S. representative for California’s 53rd congressional district for ten terms from 2001 to 2021. As a member of Congress, her district included central and eastern portions of the city of San Diego, as well as eastern suburbs such as El Cajon, La Mesa, Spring Valley, and Lemon Grove. Her legislative leadership includes authorship of provisions of an OB/GYN bill which became part of a health care reform bill enacted into law. Her roles in Congress also included leadership as the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development and work as a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
Congressmember Davis holds a master’s degree in social work from UNC Chapel Hill, and she began her career as a social worker in San Diego. She first became active in politics through her membership in the local branch of the League of Women Voters, of which she became president in 1977. She was elected to the board of the San Diego Unified School District in 1983. She served there until 1992, including two years as president. In 1994, she was elected to the California State Assembly, and was reelected in 1996 and 1998. In the Assembly, Davis chaired the Committee on Consumer Protection, Government Efficiency and Economic Development.
Congressional Representative
Barbara Donnell, MA
Barbara Donnell, MA
Philanthropist and T1D Advocate
Barbara Donnell is a San Diego-based philanthropist and type one diabetes (T1D) patient parent advocate. Her work includes coordination of JDRF/LJI “Meet the Scientists Day” for T1D patients and their families.
In addition to her work with the JDRF, Ms. Donnell has coached early career researchers through the highly competitive application process for the Tullie and Rickey Families SPARK Awards for Innovations in Immunology. She is also a member of the Salk Institute Council, and is involved in the San Diego arts community.
Ms. Donnell received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in German from Middlebury College in Vermont. Previously, she worked in international biotech and biomedical marketing research for Robert S. First, Inc., and was also an educator in Southern California and in Europe in the 1980s and 1990s. Her daughter’s diagnosis of type 1 diabetes in childhood led to her passion for pursuing new research and support for scientists studying the autoimmune disease.
Philanthropist and T1D Advocate
Robert C. (Bob) Dynes, Ph.D.
Robert C. (Bob) Dynes, Ph.D.
President Emeritus of the University of California, Former Chancellor of UC San Diego
Dr. Dynes, a distinguished physicist, was the 18th president of the University of California system-serving for five years from 2003 to 2008 and subsequently named UC president emeritus. Prior to assuming the UC president role, Dr. Dynes served as the sixth chancellor of UC San Diego from 1996 to 2003. He came to UC San Diego in 1990 after a 22-year career at AT&T Bell Laboratories, where he was department head of semiconductor and material physics research and director of chemical physics research. Dr. Dynes recently rejoined the UC San Diego faculty as a professor in the Department of Physics.
Over the years, Dr. Dynes has received numerous scientific awards. In 1989, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences; in 1990, he received the Fritz London Award in Low Temperature Physics; and in 1994 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Since leaving the UC presidency in June 2008, Dr. Dynes joined the boards of the San Diego Foundation, the Argonne National Laboratory, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation review panel, and the Helmholtz Foundation in Germany. He recently chaired a National Academy of Sciences Study Committee on Advanced Radiation Detection for the Department of Homeland Security.
Dr. Dynes has also served on the executive committee of the U.S. Council on Competitiveness, the California Commission for Jobs and Economic Growth and is a Fellow of the California Council on Science and Technology.
President Emeritus of the University of California, Former Chancellor of UC San Diego
Brad Greenwald, MBA
Brad Greenwald, MBA
Founder and Managing Partner, Hilltop Venture Partners
Brad Greenwald is the Founder and Managing Partner of Hilltop Venture Partners. Over the past 30 years, Brad has successfully launched and operated innovative technology start-up and corporate businesses.
Brad began his career at management consulting firm Bain & Co then went on to senior management roles (marketing, sales and operations) in several global businesses including Time Warner Cable, Polaroid, and WildBlue Communications. He has helped raise over $200 million to fund start-ups including TrueCoach, Flextrip and WildBlue. Brad founded several businesses including consumer media tech company TidBitts and education services firm Education Funding Partners (a “doing well by doing good” BCorps that won the 2013 Harvard Business School New Venture Contest).
Brad currently manages Hilltop Venture Partners which invests in and helps manage early stage technology businesses including TekDry, HelperBees and StellarFi. He is an invited speaker at several national venture capital conferences.
Since 2010, Brad has been a Professor of Executive MBA Strategy and Entrepreneurial programs at the University of Denver’s Daniels School of Business. He founded the Denver Angel Club in 2009. Brad was a member of the Downtown Denver Partnership and an organizer of Denver Startup Week. He has served on the Board of Directors for Oxfam America, Food Bank of the Rockies as well as currently the La Jolla Institute for Immunology and chairperson of Colorado Public Radio. Brad was named a Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, and received the 2006 Share Our Strength National Community Leader Award.
Brad received a B.A. in Economics from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He speaks fluent Spanish and French and has lived in Venezuela, Brazil, France, England and Spain. He resides in Denver, CO with his wife and three children.
Founder and Managing Partner, Hilltop Venture Partners
Renetta Haas, MBA
Renetta Haas, MBA
Independent Director, Retired Deloitte Principal
Ms. Haas is a financial and strategic risk management specialist and senior executive with over 35 years of experience advising and mentoring hundreds of companies, executives, and boards in adapting and transforming their businesses to achieve and maintain financial success in the rapidly changing marketplace. Her expertise is early identification of industry disruption and helping develop cyber security, compliance, and operational strategies that empower companies to mitigate both identified and unforeseen risks. From complex Fortune 500 to mid-market brands, she has helped organizations across a broad set of industries, public, private and private equity backed, to create strategic, long-term solutions to difficult, multifaceted issues for their success.
Ms. Haas currently serves on the board of Sharp Healthcare, Audit & Compliance Committee. Qualified to serve as a financial expert and audit committee chair, Ms. Haas has extensive experience leading fully outsourced Internal Audit departments and supporting the CAEs and Audit Committees in numerous industries. She conducted financial operations for multiple government programs and developed operational forecasts, working closely with operational leaders in engineering & manufacturing.
Ms. Haas brings a unique combination of exceptional leadership, and operational and financial management from her career in corporate, professional services and board service. As a partner at Deloitte, she has risen through increasing levels of leadership responsibility, locally, nationally and globally, generating above market growth in every role. In addition, she played a critical role in Deloitte’s Executive Accelerators program, leading 100+ CEO, board and C-suite executive workshops on executive transition, agile leadership, strategy, transformation, innovation, and governance.
Ms. Haas earned a B.S.B.A. in Operations Management from the University of Arizona and an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of San Diego.
Independent Director, Retired Deloitte Principal
Emily Holmes, Esq, Ph.D., CHRC
Emily Holmes, Esq, Ph.D., CHRC
Senior Director of Research Compliance and Regulatory Affairs, Seattle Children’s
Emily Holmes, Ph.D., J.D., currently serves as Senior Director of Research Compliance and Regulatory Affairs at Seattle Children’s. Prior to her role at Seattle Children’s, Holmes led compliance efforts at Scripps Research in La Jolla, CA, one of the largest biomedical research institutes in the world. From 1991 to 2019, Holmes served in various positions, including serving as a patent attorney and drafting patents on behalf of the Institute. At Scripps Research, she went on to supervise the research cores and specialize in research compliance. By the time she moved on, Holmes had moved into the role of Vice President of the Scripps Research Office of Policy, Education and Risk Administration.
In addition to her research and administration skills, Holmes has spearheaded the drafting of regulatory policy. She is registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office and is a current member of the California Bar. She is certified in healthcare research compliance (CHRC).
Senior Director of Research Compliance and Regulatory Affairs, Seattle Children’s
Mitchell Kronenberg, Ph.D.
Mitchell Kronenberg, Ph.D.
Professor, President Emeritus, La Jolla Institute for Immunology
Dr. Kronenberg is an internationally recognized scientist and one of the most highly cited immunologists in the world. This distinction is held by less than one half of one percent of all publishing scientific authors.
He received his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 1983, and stayed on to complete his postdoctoral work before joining the faculty of the UCLA School of Medicine in 1986. At UCLA, he rose through the ranks to full professor. In 1997, he joined La Jolla Institute. In September 2003, Dr. Kronenberg was appointed President of La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI)—a role which he served until 2021. In addition to his executive duties, he serves as Chief Scientific Officer and conducts an active research program.
Over the years, Dr. Kronenberg has received many major awards, including a prestigious Merit Award for scientific achievement from the National Institutes of Health and the Distinguished Service Award by the American Association of Immunologists. He has also been a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Visiting Professor at Harvard University, delivered the Joseph S. Ingraham immunology lecture at the Indiana University School of Medicine, and has been elected a fellow of the American Associations for the Advancement of Science as well as most admired CEO by the San Diego Business Journal.
Professor, President Emeritus, La Jolla Institute for Immunology
Carolee Lee
Carolee Lee
Founder, Women’s Health Access Matters (WHAM!) Founder and CEO, AccessCircles
Carolee Lee is an innovator, entrepreneur and thought leader dedicated to improving women’s health and wellbeing, and their opportunities to succeed. She was founder and CEO of Carolee Designs, one of the world’s leading accessories brands. In 2008, she founded Access Circles, a global, by-invitation network committed to bringing women access to leaders, resources and experiences that can help transform their lives.
In 2018, Carolee launched Women’s Health Access Matters (WHAM!), a nonprofit organization to improve the health and wellbeing of women by accelerating attention to sex and gender in medical research, to better understand health conditions that occur exclusively or predominately in women in order to develop solutions that optimize women’s health. Carolee has forged a research partnership with the RAND Corporation to highlight the economic costs, benefits and social impacts of health research that focuses on women and is using that data is being to erase the gender research gap and accelerate women’s health around the world.
Carolee is also a mentor and leader in business, philanthropic and educational organizations. She is a past Chair and Foundation Board Chair of the Committee of 200, a community of the most successful women in business, and has served as director on the board of DSW, Inc., a leading shoe retailer. Carolee is a founding board member of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, where she has served since 1986. She currently sits on the Women’s Leadership Board at The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Founder, Women’s Health Access Matters (WHAM!) Founder and CEO, AccessCircles
Fred Miller, MBA
Fred Miller, MBA
COO, GHR Foundation
Fred Miller serves as chief operating officer of GHR Foundation. In this role, he leads strategic planning for the foundation and manages its health program, which focuses on curbing the impact of Alzheimer’s disease by investing in prevention research and therapies.
Miller is a director emeritus of McKinsey & Company, having served the company for more than 27 years. He launched McKinsey’s Minneapolis office and spent the past decade as a leader in the firm’s healthcare practice, where he helped guide business strategy, new product development and commercial operations for Fortune 500 healthcare companies. Miller has experience leading corporate strategies with a focus on growth and innovation.
Miller earned his master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago, where he was a Kemper Fellow. He received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics summa cum laude from DePauw University where he was a National Merit Scholar.
COO, GHR Foundation
Gail K. Naughton, Ph.D., MBA
Gail K. Naughton, Ph.D., MBA
Executive Chair BiOHIP Inc, Founder of Histogen Inc and Advanced Tissue Sciences Inc
Dr. Naughton is a highly respected scientist with extensive experience in the field of regenerative medicine. She has been an executive in the life science industry for more than 35 years and has also served as the Dean of the College of Business Administration at San Diego State University for nine years. She is extensively published, is the inventor of over 130 patents, and received the 27th Inventor of the Year Award in 2000 from the Intellectual Property owners Association for her pioneering work in tissue engineering.
In the 1980s, Dr. Naughton co-founded Advanced Tissue Sciences, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the development of tissue-engineered products for wound care, orthopedics as well as aesthetic and reconstructive purposes. She served as the Company’s President for eight years. In June 2007, Dr. Naughton became Chairman & CEO of Histogen, Inc, a regenerative medicine company that uses a unique technology, developed by Dr. Naughton, to create therapeutic and biomedical applications in the areas of skincare, oncology, orthopedics and wound care.
Dr. Naughton earned a Ph.D. in Hematology and M.S. in Histology from New York University Medical Center. She also earned her M.B.A. in Executive Management from the UCLA Anderson School of Business Administration and a B.S. from St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York.
Executive Chair BiOHIP Inc, Founder of Histogen Inc and Advanced Tissue Sciences Inc
David M. Rickey
David M. Rickey
Principal, Rickey Enterprises, LLC
Mr. Rickey is a technology and business leader with proven success in bringing fledgling technologies to market. He currently leads Rickey Enterprises LLC and previously served as Chairman of the Board of Cytori Therapeutics. Before that, Rickey led Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (AMCC) as CEO, President and Board Chairman. He took the private chip company public and turned it into a leading supplier in the telecom market. He has also served as Interim CEO and Consultant at Calient Technologies, Vice President of Operations at NextGen, Vice President of Operations at AMCC and Director of Operations and Engineering at NorTel. Mr. Rickey has also been on the Boards of Netlist (2005–2008), AMI Semiconductor (2000–2006), Agility Communications (2000–2004), and Silicon Wave (2000–2003).
Mr. Rickey is an engineer by training and a long-time philanthropist. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics from Marietta College, a B.S. in Metallurgy and Materials Science from Columbia University, and an M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University.
Principal, Rickey Enterprises, LLC
Erica Ollmann Saphire, Ph.D., MBA
Erica Ollmann Saphire, Ph.D., MBA
President & Chief Executive Officer, La Jolla Institute for Immunology
Dr. Saphire is a professor in LJI’s Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research and the Director of the Coronavirus Immunotherapy Consortium (CoVIC), which united academics, non-profits, small and large biotechs, and major corporations from around the globe to address the urgent need of identifying the most efficacious antibody therapeutics to prevent and treat COVID-19.
Throughout her career, Dr. Saphire had her sights firmly trained on the global threat of highly infectious diseases. Before CoVIC, she galvanized the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Immunotherapeutic Consortium (VIC), a multidisciplinary, five-continent collaboration of former competitors that together accelerated the research pipeline against emerging viral threats such as Ebola and Lassa. In her own lab, Dr. Saphire studies the three-dimensional structures that drive immune recognition and protection. Her research reveals where viruses are vulnerable, how a successful immune response can be mounted, and draws the blueprints for better vaccines and treatments.
Dr. Saphire received an undergraduate degree from Rice University with a dual major in Biochemistry and in Cell Biology and Evolutionary Biology. She received her Ph.D. degree in 2000 from Scripps Research. After postdoctoral work at Scripps Research, Dr. Saphire joined the faculty at Scripps Research as an Assistant Professor in 2003. Dr. Saphire was steadily promoted there, becoming a full Professor in 2012. In 2019, she joined LJI.
Dr. Saphire’s work has been recognized at the White House with the Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering, with young investigator awards from the International Congress of Antiviral Research, the American Society for Microbiology, and the MRC Centre for Virus Research in the United Kingdom. She has been awarded a Fulbright Global Scholar fellowship from the United States Department of State and a Mercator Fellowship from Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, to develop international collaborations using cryoelectron microscopy to further global health.
President & Chief Executive Officer, La Jolla Institute for Immunology
Sandra Schmid, Ph.D.
Sandra Schmid, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub
Dr. Sandra Schmid is Chief Scientific Officer of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub.
Dr. Schmid’s research has been directed toward elucidating the molecular mechanisms and regulation of clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME), which controls nutrient uptake, cell signaling, and the surface expression of membrane transporters. Her highly collaborative laboratory applied cell and molecular biology, biochemistry,
biophysics, structural biology, and quantitative live cell microscopy to identify components of CME machinery and to elucidate their mechanisms of action. In
particular, she focused her attention on the large GTPase, dynamin and its dual roles in CME: as the paradigmatic catalyst of membrane fission, and as a key regulator of early stages in CME.
Dr. Schmid holds a doctorate in chemistry from Stanford University. She has published over 170 original articles and reviews. Her work has been recognized by numerous awards, including a National Institutes of Health MERIT Award, the William C. Rose Award from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the Women in Cell Biology Senior Career Award from the American Society for Cell Biology, the Sir Bernard Katz Award from the Biophysical Society and the Arthur Kornberg and Paul Berg Lifetime Achievement Award in Biomedical Sciences. Dr. Schmid was elected a foreign member of the European Molecular
Biology Organization in 2014, to the American Academy of Arts of Sciences in 2015 and to the National Academy of Sciences in 2020. Her leadership roles at the national level include co-founding editor of the journal, Traffic, editor-in-chief of MBoC, and President of the American Society for Cell Biology.
Chief Scientific Officer of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub
Linda Sherman, Ph.D.
Linda Sherman, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Scripps Research
Linda Sherman, Ph.D., is a former President of the American Academy of Immunology and Professor Emeritus at Scripps Research.
Dr. Sherman has helped shape the national scientific community as a member of numerous NIH committees and National Advisory Councils designed to review grant applications and write policy on federal funding priorities. She served as a member of the Board of Trustees at Scripps Research and also led promotions and faculty recruiting committees for many years. In her own laboratory, Dr. Sherman made substantial contributions to the fields of autoimmunity, immune tolerance and tumor immunity. Dr. Sherman was the first woman to be promoted to the position of Full Professor at Scripps Research. Along with her late husband Dr. Norman Klinman, Dr. Sherman was involved in the early growth and direction of a successful San Diego charitable organization, Kids Included Together (KIT). KIT provides opportunities for inclusion of children with developmental disabilities in child care, after school, and recreational programs throughout the community.
Dr. Sherman was the ninety-eighth president of The American Association of Immunologists (AAI) from 2014 to 2015 and served as an AAI Council member from 2009 to 2016. She was elected a Distinguished Fellow of AAI in 2019.
Dr. Sherman holds several US patents and has served on the Scientific Advisory Board for several biotech companies. She currently serves on the Advisory Board of the San Diego Biomedical Research Institute.
Professor Emeritus, Scripps Research
Paul Thiel, MBA
Paul Thiel, MBA
President, Northern Trust Wealth Management, San Diego Region
Mr. Thiel is the President of the San Diego region of Northern Trust Wealth Management. Prior to joining Northern Trust Wealth Management, he was the regional managing Director of BNY Mellon, San Diego Region, and co-chair of BNY Mellon’s National Family Law Advisory. Mr. Thiel serves as Chairman and CEO of The Chairmen’s Roundtable, a two-decades old organization of former CEOs who provide pro bono consulting to San Diego businesses. He is also currently an Advisory Board member of Dallman Confections, a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board at California State University San Marcos, and a guest lecturer at San Diego State University.
Mr. Thiel started his career as an award-winning journalist covering finance for publications such as The Washington Post, Business Week, The New York Times, and Newsweek. He also served as CEO for two regional media companies and an information services company in the hospitality industry.
Mr. Thiel earned a B.A. from the University of Connecticut and an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia. He also completed executive programs at Northwestern University and Stanford Business School.
President, Northern Trust Wealth Management, San Diego Region
Yoshifumi Torii, Ph.D.
Yoshifumi Torii, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President, Global Research Head, Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd.
Dr. Torii is the Global Research Head, Executive Vice President of Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd., a Japan-based global specialty pharmaceutical company. In 1994 he started his career as a scientist in hematology in pharmaceutical labs at Kirin Brewery, and has served in several functions including—but not limited to‑ clinical development, project management, project lead, product strategy, and planning. He led the development of cinacalcet, a Ca- sensing receptor agonist in collaboration with Amgen, which subsequently obtained approval from the Japanese health authority. In 2013 he was seconded to Fujifilm Kyowa Kirin Biologics (FKB) to establish its European Branch in the UK. He led global clinical programs of biosimilars of adalimumab and bevacizumab as the General Manager of the European Branch. In 2017, he was appointed as CEO and President of FKB. In 2000, he returned to Kyowa Kirin appointed as the Head of Global R&D, and was appointed to his current position in 2024.
Dr. Torii received an undergraduate degree from the University of Tokyo with a major in Pharmacology. He received his Ph.D. degree in 1994 from the University of Tokyo, and joined Kirin.
Executive Vice President, Global Research Head, Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd.
Tom Tullie, MBA
Tom Tullie, MBA
Executive Chairman of Miku, Inc., Principal at Tullie Investment Corporation
Mr. Tullie is the Executive Chairman of Miku, Inc., the world leader in contactless breathing and health monitoring in the smart baby and pediatric monitoring market. He is also the Principal at Tullie Investment Corporation.
Previously, Mr. Tullie was the Chief Operating Officer at Applied Micro Circuits Corporation where he was part of the executive team that took the company public and raised $1 billion in secondary offerings. He was also the Executive Chairman at Everyone Counts, Inc., the world’s leading provider of secure software-based elections. In 2013, Mr. Tullie was chosen by Ernst & Young as an Entrepreneur of the Year.
Mr. Tullie earned an M.B.A. from Clark University and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts.
Executive Chairman of Miku, Inc., Principal at Tullie Investment Corporation
David R. Webb, Ph.D.
David R. Webb, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor, The Scripps Research Institute
Dr. Webb is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology at The Scripps Research Institute. He is also Chairman of the Board at Agragene, Inc. and the Chief Executive Officer of Synbal, Inc., a platform technology company that is commercializing CRISPR-based breakthrough active genetic technologies developed at the University of California, San Diego.
Dr. Webb is the former Vice President and Research Site Head at Celgene-San Diego. Between 1995 and 2003, he held a series of senior management positions in several biotechnology companies where he developed and led drug discovery programs focused on inflammation, asthma, cancer, and diabetes. Notable companies include Syrrx, OSI Pharmaceuticals, and Cadus Pharmaceutical Corporation, where he was the Vice President of Research and Chief Scientific Officer from 1995 to 1999. Dr. Webb was also an Adjunct Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at New York Medical College.
From 1987 to 1995, Dr. Webb was at Syntex, Inc. where he held the positions of Distinguished Scientist and, later, Director of the Institute of Immunology and Biological Sciences. Dr. Webb was also a Consulting Professor of Cancer Biology at Stanford University. From 1973 to 1987, he was a member of the Department of Cell Biology at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology and Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Dr. Webb earned his Ph.D. in Microbiology/Immunology from Rutgers University and both a B.A. and M.A. in Biology from California State University, Fullerton.
Adjunct Professor, The Scripps Research Institute
Sandy Boek Werness, JD
Sandy Boek Werness, JD
Executive Director, Global Autoimmune Institute
After Sandy’s father, Walter E. Boek, passed away, in 2013, she accepted the leadership of the nonprofit he founded in 1967, to which her mother, Jean K. Boek, also dedicated decades of her working life. She sought to establish a new direction for the organization, centering on research and education. Because of Sandy’s immediate family’s experience with delayed and misdiagnosed autoimmune disease, it was apparent to her that the huge gap in understanding, awareness, and knowledge of autoimmune disease needed to be addressed, and the patients and families needed support and validation. Developing the Global Autoimmune Institute to propel advancement in diagnosis and treatment naturally followed Sandy’s parents’ love of science and education, and their early career as leaders in public health.
Sandy began her legal career as a member of the D.C. and Virginia Bar Associations, on Capitol Hill, rising to Assistant Minority Counsel to a U.S. House of Representatives select committee, followed by eleven years in private law practice, ten years as Vice President of Northern Virginia Pathology, P.C., and eleven years leading the Global Autoimmune Institute. She is a graduate of Duke University and the law school at the College of William and Mary. She attended high school at the National Cathedral School. Sandy has regularly devoted her time to a variety of organizations, including legal professional associations, organizations furthering science, supporting the arts, education, helping refugees, and many events and activities at each of her children’s schools.
Sandy and her husband Bruce have three adult children and live in beautiful Great Falls, Virginia.
Executive Director, Global Autoimmune Institute
Chair Emeritus
John E. Major, ENGD, HC
John E. Major, ENGD, HC
Chair Emeritus, La Jolla Institute for Immunology
Mr. Major is the founder and President of MTSG, a private investment, consulting and governance company. He previously serves as Chairman of the Board of Broadcom, Inc., a major technology innovator and global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications.
Mr. Major has also held Chief Executive positions at Novatel Wireless, Inc., a wireless data access solutions company, and Wireless Knowledge, a San Diego-based joint venture between Microsoft Corporation and QUALCOMM. Prior to joining Wireless Knowledge in 1998, Mr. Major served as corporate Executive Vice President of QUALCOMM and President of its Wireless Infrastructure Division. He is currently on the boards of Lennox International Inc., Littelfuse Inc., Lattice Semiconductor Corporation, and ORBCOMM Inc.
Mr. Major participates in several industry, research, and educational organizations and is currently Chairman Emeritus of EvoNexus, a nonprofit organization created to support the growth and success of the San Diego area communications industry. He is the former Chairman of the University of Illinois Chicago Engineering School Advisory Board and the University of Rochester Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Science Dean’s Advisory Committee.
He has a B.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the University of Rochester and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois. Mr. Major holds an M.B.A. with Distinction from Northwestern University Kellogg School and a J.D. from Loyola University. Mr. Major received an honorary doctorate from Westminster College and in 2019, an honorary Doctorate of Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago. In 2002, he received the Meliora Citation for Career Achievement from the University of Rochester. He holds 10 US patents.
Watch video of: Presentation of honorary Doctorate of Engineering to John Major
Watch video of: Presentation of honorary Doctorate of Engineering to John Major
Chair Emeritus, La Jolla Institute for Immunology
Directors Emeriti
David Dominguez
David Dominguez
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Andrew Lauren Company
Mr. Dominguez has a long professional history as a successful entrepreneur spanning a broad array of fields and businesses for more than three decades. Since 1975, Mr. Dominguez has served as Chairman, President, managing Partner, and/or CEO of numerous companies, including EarthCraft, a chain of retail stores; Saunders Telecom, a manufacturer of telecom infrastructure hardware; Polo Ralph Lauren Shops, a chain of retail stores in California, Arizona and Hawaii; Standards of Excellence, a distributor of high end appliances and plumbing fixtures; Central Wholesale Plumbing and Supply; Partner Press, a commercial printing company; and AdDnamix, an internet advertising company. Currently, Mr. Dominguez is CEO of The Andrew Lauren Companies and Chairman and CEO of TechsNow.
Mr. Dominguez has also served on numerous Boards, including Independence One Bank. He has been involved in a variety of community organization Boards, including the Salvation Army, the Village Church Foundation, and Boy Scouts of America. Mr. Dominguez also served as Chairman of the San Diego Young Presidents Organization and Chairman of the World Presidents Organization. Mr. Dominguez is also founder and Chairman of Freedom is Not Free, a non-partisan non-profit organization established with the mission of aiding wounded troops, their families, and the families of the fatally wounded.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Andrew Lauren Company
Larry S. Spitcaufsky
Larry S. Spitcaufsky
Owner and Director, Petroleum Technologies Inc.
Mr. Spitcaufsky is the owner and director of Petroleum Technologies Inc. (PTI), a crude petroleum and natural gas company in Kansas City, Missouri. He is also the founder and Chairman of Hootwinc, LLC., which operates as a restaurant franchisee in California, Oregon and Washington. Mr. Spitcaufsky was previously rhe Chairman of the Board and owner of Arrow Truck Sales in Kansas City, North America’s leading source of pre-owned heavy-duty and medium-duty trucks. Co-founded in 1950 by his father, Melvin Spitcaufsky, Arrow Truck Sales started as a small used truck business and became the largest dealership of its kind before it was sold to the Volvo Truck Corporation in 1998.
Mr. Spitcaufsky has expanded into wide-ranging investments, selling his chain of convenience stores to Circle K, investing in real estate, starting PTI to drill for oil and gas, and becoming majority owner of a chain of 16 Southern California restaurants. He has served as a Board member and partner of Star Fuel Mart and on the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club governing Board and its Finance Committee.
Owner and Director, Petroleum Technologies Inc.
