Biomedical Engineering
K. Kirk Shung obtained a B.S. in EE from Cheng Kung University, Taiwan in 1968 and a Ph.D. in EE from University of Washington, Seattle, WA, in 1975. He has been a professor of biomedical engineering at USC since 2002 and the director of NIH Resource Center on Medical Ultrasonic Transducer Technology from 1997 to 2017. He was a dean’s professor in biomedical engineering at the Viterbi School of Engineering of USC from 2013-2018. He became the Dwight C. and Hildagarde E. Baum Chair of Biomedical Engineering in 2018.
Dr. Shung is a life fellow of IEEE, and a fellow of American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine. He is a founding fellow of American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering. He received the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Early Career Award in 1985 and was the coauthor of a paper that received the best paper award for IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control (UFFC) in 2000. He was elected an outstanding alumnus of Cheng-Kung University in Taiwan in 2001. He was selected as the distinguished lecturer for the IEEE UFFC society for 2002-2003. He received the Holmes Pioneer Award in Basic Science from American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine in 2010 and the academic career achievement award from the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society in 2011. He was bestowed the IEEE Society wide Biomedical Engineering Award in 2016. Dr. Shung has published more than 500 papers and book chapters. He has written two textbooks. He is an associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroeelctrics and Frequency Control, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics. Dr. Shung’s research interest is in ultrasonic transducers, high frequency ultrasonic imaging and applications in cellular bioengineering.
Dr. Shung is a life fellow of IEEE, and a fellow of American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine. He is a founding fellow of American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering. He received the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Early Career Award in 1985 and was the coauthor of a paper that received the best paper award for IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control (UFFC) in 2000. He was elected an outstanding alumnus of Cheng-Kung University in Taiwan in 2001. He was selected as the distinguished lecturer for the IEEE UFFC society for 2002-2003. He received the Holmes Pioneer Award in Basic Science from American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine in 2010 and the academic career achievement award from the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society in 2011. He was bestowed the IEEE Society wide Biomedical Engineering Award in 2016. Dr. Shung has published more than 500 papers and book chapters. He has written two textbooks. He is an associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroeelctrics and Frequency Control, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics. Dr. Shung’s research interest is in ultrasonic transducers, high frequency ultrasonic imaging and applications in cellular bioengineering.
Sunghwan Cho is CTO of NanoCellect Biomedical Inc (www.nanocellect.com). The company’s mission is to facilitate breakthrough biomedical discoveries by making cell analysis and sorting technology more affordable and easier to use. He is an inventor of the core technologies of the company and manages the company’s R&D projects and Product Development. He is also a Marylou Ingram Scholar of International Society for Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC), recognized by his contribution to the field of cytometry. Sunghwan received his Ph.D in Materials Science & Engineering at UCSD and B.S. in Materials Science & Engineering at Seoul National University, Korea.
Abraham P. Lee, Ph.D., is the William J. Link Professor and Chair of Biomedical Engineering in the School of Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. He is a pioneering inventor in biomedical devices and biotechnologies, including microdevices for interventional neuroradiology and microfluidic platforms for point-of-care and molecular diagnostics, sample preparation and liquid biopsy, multimodal vesicles for theranostics, single cell processing platforms, and vascularized organ-on-chips. He has held key leadership positions including group leader at Lawrence Livermore National Lab, Program Manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Senior Technology Advisor at National Cancer Institute (NCI), Director of DARPA and NSF Microfluidics Centers, and Department Chair. He received two Federal Laboratory Consortium Awards for Excellence in Technology Transfer and the 2009 Pioneers in Miniaturisation Prize. He holds 46 US patents and 18 (including pending) of them have been licensed to seven companies. He is founder of four startup companies with several others partially founded on his technologies. He has published over 100 journal articles and currently serves as editor-in- chief of Lab on a Chip and was formerly associate editor for Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems. Lee is a Fellow of the American Institute of and Medical and Biological Engineering, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Biomedical Engineering Society, the National Academy of Inventors, and the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Maurice obtained his PhD. in Pharmacology from the University of Toronto in 2015. His thesis examined the physiological role of a novel dopamine receptor complex, the D1-D2 heteromer, in drug addiction and depression-related behaviors, as well as the associated neuroadaptations.
Maurice believes that the current research process can be greatly complemented by the recent advance in machine learning technology. He is dedicated to building a digital research tool that can benefit the scientific community as a whole by speaking to researchers and incorporating their needs into BenchSci.
Maurice believes that the current research process can be greatly complemented by the recent advance in machine learning technology. He is dedicated to building a digital research tool that can benefit the scientific community as a whole by speaking to researchers and incorporating their needs into BenchSci.
Mr. Hong has over 16 years of experience in high-tech product development and high-tech start-up successes and leadership.
Prior to joining AMI-USC, Winn was a senior technology strategist for the Institute for Technology Advancement (ITA) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) focusing on biotechnology, alternative fuel, medical device, and internet, media, and related software technologies.
Winn began his career as a researcher at the NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 1996 to 1999 where he was involved in the design, fabrication, and testing of sensors for military, medical, commercial, and space exploration applications.
Mr. Hong was co-founder and COO of Sega.com, Inc. and Sega.com, Ltd. (publicly traded on the HKSE) and has been involved in company formation, funding, and management since then: companies include alternative fuel, green chemicals, medical devices, and material sciences and held various executive level positions in each of these companies.
From June 2005 to December 2007, Winn worked as a principal for Convergent Ventures, LLC, a venture capital firm that invests seed capital, management, and operational in early-stage life science and technology investment opportunities in Southern California.
Mr. Hong obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA in 1993 and 1996, respectively. He graduated from the University of Chicago with a Master of Business Administration degree in 2005.
Prior to joining AMI-USC, Winn was a senior technology strategist for the Institute for Technology Advancement (ITA) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) focusing on biotechnology, alternative fuel, medical device, and internet, media, and related software technologies.
Winn began his career as a researcher at the NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 1996 to 1999 where he was involved in the design, fabrication, and testing of sensors for military, medical, commercial, and space exploration applications.
Mr. Hong was co-founder and COO of Sega.com, Inc. and Sega.com, Ltd. (publicly traded on the HKSE) and has been involved in company formation, funding, and management since then: companies include alternative fuel, green chemicals, medical devices, and material sciences and held various executive level positions in each of these companies.
From June 2005 to December 2007, Winn worked as a principal for Convergent Ventures, LLC, a venture capital firm that invests seed capital, management, and operational in early-stage life science and technology investment opportunities in Southern California.
Mr. Hong obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA in 1993 and 1996, respectively. He graduated from the University of Chicago with a Master of Business Administration degree in 2005.
Dr. Wang cofounded Belite Bio in 2016 as R&D Director and President of Belite Bio ’s US subsidiary. Belite Bio is a clinical stage company for treatment of macular degeneration, and Dr. Wang is currently serving as Chief Operating Officer at Belite Bio. She is experienced in drug discovery specifically in preclinical and early clinical development. Over her career, Dr. Wang has led discovery programs that advanced investigational medicines into clinical development in different therapeutic areas, including oncology and ophthalmology drug development. Dr. Wang received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, a PhD in Biological Sciences from National Taiwan University, and her MBA degree from University of California, San Diego. She was a research fellow at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI).
Translational Research
Dr. Jerry Lee is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine and Chemical Engineering & Material Sciences at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine and Viterbi School of Engineering. As the Chief Science and Innovation Officer for the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine of USC, he provides leadership, guidance, vision, and development of research capabilities for executing the Institute’s research projects and will be responsible for planning, implementing, and evaluating scientific direction, projects, and funding to sustain high-impact programs in support of a bold vision to transform cancer research in the 21st century.
Prior to joining USC, Dr. Lee served for more than a decade as a Health Sciences Director within the National Cancer Institute’s Office of the Director. Through direct support and use of public-public/public-private partnerships, he deployed programs focused on the integration of advanced technologies, trans-disciplinary approaches, infrastructures, and standards, to accelerate the creation of publicly available, broadly accessible, multi-dimensional data, knowledge, and tools to empower the entire cancer research continuum for patient benefit.
In 2016, Dr. Lee was assigned to Office of the Vice President to serve as the Deputy Director for Cancer Research and Technology for the White House Cancer Moonshot Task Force. A few key efforts he helped coordinate include the Applied Proteogenomics Organizational Learning and Outcomes (APOLLO) Network, international collaborations to share molecular characterization datasets, the Blood Profiling Atlas in Cancer pilot, as well as co-chairing an interagency group focused on cancer data and technology policy issues.
Dr. Lee’s research involves elucidating the interplay between biophysical and biochemical drivers of age-related diseases and has co-authored over thirty papers, five book chapters, and one book. He is a member of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Research Advisory Council, the National Academies Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy’s Innovation Policy Forum, and the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute’s Board of Trustees. Dr. Lee earned his B.S. degree in biomedical engineering and Ph.D. in chemical and biomolecular engineering from Johns Hopkins University.
Prior to joining USC, Dr. Lee served for more than a decade as a Health Sciences Director within the National Cancer Institute’s Office of the Director. Through direct support and use of public-public/public-private partnerships, he deployed programs focused on the integration of advanced technologies, trans-disciplinary approaches, infrastructures, and standards, to accelerate the creation of publicly available, broadly accessible, multi-dimensional data, knowledge, and tools to empower the entire cancer research continuum for patient benefit.
In 2016, Dr. Lee was assigned to Office of the Vice President to serve as the Deputy Director for Cancer Research and Technology for the White House Cancer Moonshot Task Force. A few key efforts he helped coordinate include the Applied Proteogenomics Organizational Learning and Outcomes (APOLLO) Network, international collaborations to share molecular characterization datasets, the Blood Profiling Atlas in Cancer pilot, as well as co-chairing an interagency group focused on cancer data and technology policy issues.
Dr. Lee’s research involves elucidating the interplay between biophysical and biochemical drivers of age-related diseases and has co-authored over thirty papers, five book chapters, and one book. He is a member of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Research Advisory Council, the National Academies Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy’s Innovation Policy Forum, and the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute’s Board of Trustees. Dr. Lee earned his B.S. degree in biomedical engineering and Ph.D. in chemical and biomolecular engineering from Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Ching-Ling (Ellen) Lien is an associate professor at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California. Dr. Lien received her Ph.D. at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas under the mentorship of Dr. Eric Olson and did her postdoctoral training at Children’s Hospital, Boston and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Lien’s research interest is to understand the molecular mechanisms of heart regeneration in animals, such as zebrafish that regenerate naturally. She will apply the knowledge from studying zebrafish heart regeneration to design therapeutic strategies for heart diseases. Furthermore, her laboratory has been collaborating with researchers at Viterbi School of Engineering of USC to develop research devices for studying cardiovascular and developmental biology. Her research on zebrafish heart development and regeneration has been continuously funded by NIH (NHLBI) and American Heart Association.
Dr. Ron Broide holds a graduate degree in Pharmacology and undergraduate degrees in Biology/Psychology, all from the University of California, Irvine. He is currently a Director of Neurotoxin Research at Allergan Pharmaceuticals. In that role, Dr. Broide studies the mechanism of action for one of the most potent bacterial toxins known to man, botulinum neurotoxin (BOTOX). He leads a group that helps develop and advance the next generation of neurotoxin molecules for treating various unmet medical conditions. In addition, Dr. Broide is an accomplished musician, avid gardener and father to three children.
Trends in Biotech/Pharma
Allergan (retired 2019): Director of Global Pharmaceutical Technology/Biologics (GPT Biologics) analytical method development, validation and transfer supporting late Phase 3, commercial and post-commercial products, including Abicipar, BOTOX® and related products. Designed, equipped and hired new staff for a state of the art cell-based potency assay (CBPA) and an analytical laboratory with capabilities for performance of all commonly used methods for pharmaceutical testing (HPLC, Mass Spectromety, Immunoassays, and all general chemical assays)-4 years
Previous roles at Allergan (13 years):
Prior to Allergan: 8 years in other Biotechnology/Pharmaceutical industries (ISIS Pharmaceuticals, CoCensys, California Biotechnology, Inc. (subsequently SCIOS) and 4 years in academia, where I applied my leadership and technical expertise in molecular and cell biology to the identification, validation, cloning and development of cell lines for use in screening of small molecules targeting receptors and ion channels involved in neuropathic/inflammatory pain and in numerous other basic research projects.
Previous roles at Allergan (13 years):
- Sr. Manager in the Biologics Development department, with responsibility for management of analytical activities of several major CMOs and CROs as the CMC representative for age related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME) from Phase 2 through commercialization, as well as participation in CMC teams for multiple other products.
- Management of the Molecular, Cell Biology and Critical Reagent production groups within the R&D department, with responsibility for development and pre-validation of CBPAs for DS and DP release, including BOTOX®, and other toxin related CBPAs and critical reagent production. I also managed the immuno-assay/biological characterization group responsible for development of numerous ELISAs, WBs and molecular biology assays for quantification and characterization of numerous DS, DP and cell banks.
Prior to Allergan: 8 years in other Biotechnology/Pharmaceutical industries (ISIS Pharmaceuticals, CoCensys, California Biotechnology, Inc. (subsequently SCIOS) and 4 years in academia, where I applied my leadership and technical expertise in molecular and cell biology to the identification, validation, cloning and development of cell lines for use in screening of small molecules targeting receptors and ion channels involved in neuropathic/inflammatory pain and in numerous other basic research projects.
Dr. Yang is the CEO/founder of KURA Care LLC, an empathetic health AI company. Their mission is to “Bridge Cure and Care”. His enthusiasm for data analysis and artificial intelligence can be traced back to his Ph.D day 15 years ago and all the way through the time in Qualcomm.
KURA Care LLC is a San Diego, California, USA based health AI end-to-end solution provider. KURA makes behavior change happen using both inside and outside clinic health information through data aggregation, real time risk assessment, and education. They provide strong analytics and value delivery products for heart failure rehabilitation, sepsis early warning, Length of Stay (LoS), and re-admission prediction. Their products have been used by multiple medical centers in Taiwan and US. Management team is composed by Qualcomm and IBM Watson Health former managers, and 2 full time Medical Doctors (M.D.).
KURA Care LLC is a San Diego, California, USA based health AI end-to-end solution provider. KURA makes behavior change happen using both inside and outside clinic health information through data aggregation, real time risk assessment, and education. They provide strong analytics and value delivery products for heart failure rehabilitation, sepsis early warning, Length of Stay (LoS), and re-admission prediction. Their products have been used by multiple medical centers in Taiwan and US. Management team is composed by Qualcomm and IBM Watson Health former managers, and 2 full time Medical Doctors (M.D.).
Dr. Jo Shen is an international pharmaceutical executive with more than 45 years of experience in the industry, including 8 years at Monsanto and 14 years at Syntex, at various senior leadership positions for Plant Management, Technical Operations and QA. At Monsanto, she was with the synthetic fiber and silicon waver business. At Syntex, she was involved in the pharmaceutical dosage form manufacturing for new drug development and commercialization. In 1997, she co-founded ScinoPharm and served as the President and CEO, Board member until her retirement in 2014. ScinoPharm is a leading process R&D and API manufacturing service provider to the global pharmaceutical industry. The company went public in 2011, is still one of the pharma companies in Taiwan with the highest market capitalization as well as sustaining growth on revenue and profitability. Currently, in addition to be a Venture Partner of Vivo Capitals, she also sits on the board of a number of industrial associations as well as biotech/pharma companies in Taiwan. In 2015, she cofounded the “Biotech Industry Academy” under TBIO, offering professional training programs custom designed for the biotech industry in Taiwan.
Dr. Shen holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Lehigh University, M.S. in Chemistry from University of Iowa and B.S. of Chemical Engineering from National Taiwan University. Experienced in leading global operations and strategic initiatives, Dr. Shen is the recipient of the “Women in Industry” award from the YWCA in California.
Dr. Shen holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Lehigh University, M.S. in Chemistry from University of Iowa and B.S. of Chemical Engineering from National Taiwan University. Experienced in leading global operations and strategic initiatives, Dr. Shen is the recipient of the “Women in Industry” award from the YWCA in California.
Beyond the Bench: Non-research career in biotech (Panel Session)
Jimmy Tai is a Data Scientist at Twist Bioscience with over 10+ years bench experience in molecular and cell biology. In 2018, he made a transition from bench to a Data Scientist, where he is now working on analytics to provide business decisions and production insights for stakeholders. Right after his Ph.D., he began his career as a research scientist at Applied StemCell and later became the leader of the molecular biology team. Before converting to the data scientist position at Twist, he was a production scientist, where he developed vector production pipeline and led the team to support gene manufacturing. Prior to his Ph.D., Jimmy Tai had no idea, within years, he would have a transition from lab bench to data science
Dr. Ragan Robertson is currently involved in the marketing, patenting, and licensing of UCLA’s extensive life science technology portfolio. With over 10 years of technology transfer experience, he brings some of the industry’s best practices to UCLA TDG to help UCLA become a world-wide leader in licensing and entrepreneurism. Previously, he worked at Columbia Technology Ventures (CTV), the technology transfer office for Columbia University in New York City. There, he was part of the operations team and led a variety of projects including organizing licensee compliance, improving the patent decision process, and programming an internal website for management reporting. Prior to this work, he was one of the first Fellows at CTV, helping shape their successful, and widely cloned, internship program. He received his doctorate from Columbia University in Biological Sciences studying the biophysical properties of several DNA repair proteins at the single-molecule level under the mentorship of Dr. Eric Greene.
Jeff Hsu is a regulatory affairs professional with 6 years experience in pharma and medical device industries. He is currently a Senior Regulatory Affairs Specialist at MicroVention, Inc, Terumo. In his role, he is responsible for class III medical device registration in China market for multiple neurovascular product lines, and strategically submitted products for Innovative Medical Device Application (Fast Track), which could shorten the product-to-market time for 12 to 18 months. Before MicroVention, Jeff was at Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. for 5 years where he helped to build in-house regulatory operations, filed multiple INDs (oncology and pain management) and one NDA submission. He also participated in due diligence and regulatory tech transfer for acquired or out-licensing products.
Jeff graduated from Tunghai University in Taiwan and earn his master’s degree in Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Graduate Certificate Program in Regulatory and Clinical Affairs in USC.
Jeff graduated from Tunghai University in Taiwan and earn his master’s degree in Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Graduate Certificate Program in Regulatory and Clinical Affairs in USC.
Research Opportunities in Academia and Industry (Panel discussion)
Steven (Chi-Lin) Lee PhD is a Manager in Research Department of CSL Behring. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from National Taiwan University and his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California (USC). After two-year postdoctoral research at the Keck School of Medicine, LAC-USC Medical Center in Dr. Kovacs laboratory, he joined Calimmune Inc., a clinical-stage gene therapy company, as a research scientist. In 2017, CSL Behring acquired Calimmuine and added the gene therapy preclinical asset to its disease pipeline. In 2018, he begins serving as a Manager in Research Department in CSL Behring.
He has more than ten-year vector development, vector production, and cell lines generation experiences. His major responsibilities included working on improve the vector platform technologies and developing a lentiviral vector production system. His effort will significantly lower the cost of vectors production — and ultimately, the cost of cell and gene therapy. As a Manager in the CSL Behring, he also contributes to the progression of preclinical projects, establishment of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and staffing management.
Having a passion in Chemistry, Molecular Biology, Engineering, and wanting to make an enduring impact on human’s healthcare, He enrolled in Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University after graduating from Taipei Jian Guo High School. After finished his military service, he decided to study abroad in order to broaden his vision and cultivate himself through the international experience. He came to the US where he obtained Master of Science in Material Science & Engineering from University of Southern California in 2006 and Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical Engineering from University of Southern California in 2012. He got the 1st place in 2007 USC Chemical Engineering PhD candidate screening exam and one of his research projects won the 2nd place presentation award from ISPE (International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering). He has published several peer-reviewed journals during his academia journey. After that he starts the research career in industrial, he has involved himself in several projects for IND submission of FDA in USA and EMA in Europe.
CSL Behring is a biopharmaceutical company, manufacturing plasma-derived and recombinant therapeutic products, headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. CSL Behring is a member of the CSL Group of companies. Parent company CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) is headquartered in Parkville, Australia.
As part of a global alignment, the CSL Behring brand was established in 2007. Previously known as ZLB Behring, the company's history dates back to 1904.
He has more than ten-year vector development, vector production, and cell lines generation experiences. His major responsibilities included working on improve the vector platform technologies and developing a lentiviral vector production system. His effort will significantly lower the cost of vectors production — and ultimately, the cost of cell and gene therapy. As a Manager in the CSL Behring, he also contributes to the progression of preclinical projects, establishment of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and staffing management.
Having a passion in Chemistry, Molecular Biology, Engineering, and wanting to make an enduring impact on human’s healthcare, He enrolled in Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University after graduating from Taipei Jian Guo High School. After finished his military service, he decided to study abroad in order to broaden his vision and cultivate himself through the international experience. He came to the US where he obtained Master of Science in Material Science & Engineering from University of Southern California in 2006 and Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical Engineering from University of Southern California in 2012. He got the 1st place in 2007 USC Chemical Engineering PhD candidate screening exam and one of his research projects won the 2nd place presentation award from ISPE (International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering). He has published several peer-reviewed journals during his academia journey. After that he starts the research career in industrial, he has involved himself in several projects for IND submission of FDA in USA and EMA in Europe.
CSL Behring is a biopharmaceutical company, manufacturing plasma-derived and recombinant therapeutic products, headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. CSL Behring is a member of the CSL Group of companies. Parent company CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) is headquartered in Parkville, Australia.
As part of a global alignment, the CSL Behring brand was established in 2007. Previously known as ZLB Behring, the company's history dates back to 1904.
Chia-Hong Tsai received my B.S. in Life Science at National Taiwan University, and PhD in Plant Biology at Michigan State University, giving me the technical background in microbial genetics and plant and microbial metabolism, especially the enzymes responsible for lipid biosynthesis and storage. Since then I have been working at Amyris, a leading company in the industrial biotech sector producing sustainable ingredients across a number of markets, including specialty and performance chemicals, flavors and fragrances, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals. My role as a technical lead is to lead a team of scientists to reconstruct microbial hosts, using synthetic biology and system biology approaches, to convert sugars into high-value hydrocarbon compounds. I work closely with our process engineers to scale up the production in very large-scale fermenter (200,000 L), and with the business team on international regulatory affairs. Projects I have worked on include biofuels, terpenoid drugs, sweeteners, and vitamins.
Dr. Ben Hung-Ping Shih received his Bachelor of Science degree from National Taiwan University; and he earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Oregon State University. He received postdoctoral training Pediatric Diabetes Research Center at UC San Diego. In 2015, Ben Joined City of Hope as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Translational Research and Cellular Therapeutics. The goal of his laboratory's research is to understand the molecular mechanisms of how cells interact with environmental factors to regulate the formation and function of the various types of cells in the pancreas - most notably, the insulin-producing β-cells, which in diabetes are non-functional. His laboratory uses both cell-based and genetic approaches in mice and human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs).
Dr. Michael Kuchinskas earned his B.S. in Biochemistry from Cal State Fullerton where he spent two years engineering enzymes for required for starch production in plants. He went onto earn his PhD from UC Irvine elucidating the structure and function of heme containing proteins with Tom Poulos. He went on to UC San Diego to post doc with Susan Taylor and focused on engineering protein kinases. From there Michael took his passion to engineer enzymes to the field of producing sustainable chemicals. He spent six years Genomatica, a San Diego based leader in producing bio-based chemicals via fermentation, where he discovered and improved novel enzymes needed to create the world’s first bio-based butanediol. Michael then went onto Boston based Ginkgo Bioworks, where he has been for the past 3 years, to establish their protein engineering platform. Ginkgo Bioworks is a leader in using synthetic biology to develop organisms for the production of a wide range of specialty molecules. Michael is also heavily involved with the Business Development team at Ginkgo working to help customers understand the vast opportunities that synthetic biology can unlock.
Diamond Sponsor Presentation
Christina Yang, Ph.D., CQA, RAC
Sr. Vice President of Quality, Regulatory Affairs & Compliance
BioLegend, Inc.
Dr. Yang joined the BioLegend, Inc. in January of 2019 as the Sr. Vice President, Quality, Regulatory Affairs and Compliance. Prior to this, she served as Sr. Vice President, Quality and Regulatory Affairs in Vyaire Medical, Inc. since 2017. Before that, Dr. Yang was the Vice President, Global Regulatory Affairs in Beckman Coulter; affiliate of Danaher Corp. since 2013. Dr. Yang brings over thirty years of experience in R&D, Operations, Quality Systems, Regulatory Affairs, Clinical Affairs, Quality Engineering, and Quality Control. Previously, Dr. Yang served as Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Quality of Hologic/Gen-Probe from 2007 until 2013. From 1995 to 2007, Dr. Yang was the Vice President, Quality and Regulatory Affairs of Focus Diagnostics, owned by Quest Diagnostics, consisting of laboratory services, clinical trial and In Vitro Diagnostic manufacturing units with focus on infectious disease. Immediately prior, Dr. Yang held a variety of management positions in R&D, quality systems, diagnostic operations, and technical manufacturing. From 1987 to 1995, Dr. Yang served in quality control, biochemistry and allergy, and organic chemistry management positions at Diagnostic Products Corporation in Los Angeles.
She has a B.S. in Biology from National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan and a Ph.D in Zoology with focus on Molecular Biology from Iowa State University, Iowa.
Dr. Yang is a Regulatory Affairs Certified (RAC), an ISO9000 certified lead auditor and a Certified Quality Auditor (CQA). Dr. Yang has been very active in various events including mentoring young leaders and serves as the speaker in numerous international Quality and Regulatory Conferences. In 2015 and 2016, she was the chief instructor for cGMP and quality audit training hosted by CFDA (now NMPA) in Beijing.
Sr. Vice President of Quality, Regulatory Affairs & Compliance
BioLegend, Inc.
Dr. Yang joined the BioLegend, Inc. in January of 2019 as the Sr. Vice President, Quality, Regulatory Affairs and Compliance. Prior to this, she served as Sr. Vice President, Quality and Regulatory Affairs in Vyaire Medical, Inc. since 2017. Before that, Dr. Yang was the Vice President, Global Regulatory Affairs in Beckman Coulter; affiliate of Danaher Corp. since 2013. Dr. Yang brings over thirty years of experience in R&D, Operations, Quality Systems, Regulatory Affairs, Clinical Affairs, Quality Engineering, and Quality Control. Previously, Dr. Yang served as Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Quality of Hologic/Gen-Probe from 2007 until 2013. From 1995 to 2007, Dr. Yang was the Vice President, Quality and Regulatory Affairs of Focus Diagnostics, owned by Quest Diagnostics, consisting of laboratory services, clinical trial and In Vitro Diagnostic manufacturing units with focus on infectious disease. Immediately prior, Dr. Yang held a variety of management positions in R&D, quality systems, diagnostic operations, and technical manufacturing. From 1987 to 1995, Dr. Yang served in quality control, biochemistry and allergy, and organic chemistry management positions at Diagnostic Products Corporation in Los Angeles.
She has a B.S. in Biology from National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan and a Ph.D in Zoology with focus on Molecular Biology from Iowa State University, Iowa.
Dr. Yang is a Regulatory Affairs Certified (RAC), an ISO9000 certified lead auditor and a Certified Quality Auditor (CQA). Dr. Yang has been very active in various events including mentoring young leaders and serves as the speaker in numerous international Quality and Regulatory Conferences. In 2015 and 2016, she was the chief instructor for cGMP and quality audit training hosted by CFDA (now NMPA) in Beijing.
Haiyang (David) Wei, Ph.D.
Senior Product Manger, Eurofins Discovery
Haiyang (David) Wei is senior product manager of Eurofins Discovery. He has many years of experience specializing in ion channel drug discovery and in vitro safety pharmacology working in both pharmaceutical and CRO environments. David has an extensive publications record and has been Invited speaker and chairperson to numerous national and international conferences.
Senior Product Manger, Eurofins Discovery
Haiyang (David) Wei is senior product manager of Eurofins Discovery. He has many years of experience specializing in ion channel drug discovery and in vitro safety pharmacology working in both pharmaceutical and CRO environments. David has an extensive publications record and has been Invited speaker and chairperson to numerous national and international conferences.