TECHNOLOGY SHOWCASE FORUM

Early-Stage Life Sciences Technology Conference III:

March 21, 2007, 1:00-7:00 pm
The Conference Center at Harvard Medical School
77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston , MA

The Early-Stage Life Sciences Technology Conference is an opportunity for research institutions and recently formed Massachusetts companies to present their life sciences technologies to an audience of angel investors, venture capitalists and corporate investors.

Agenda:

1:00 PM - 1:30 PM Registration and Dessert Bar
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM Welcome and Keynote Speaker
2:30 PM - 3:45 PM Company presentations - Session One
3:45 PM - 4:00 PM Coffee Break
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Company presentations - Session Two
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM Networking Reception and Poster Session

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Norman Letvin, MD, Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School; Chief of the Division of Viral Pathogenesis at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; and Director of the Non-Human Primate Research Program at the NIH Vaccine Research Center.

Keynote Speaker: John Primeau, Executive Director & Head of Infection Chemistry, Infection Discovery, Cancer & Infection Research Area at AstraZeneca R&D Boston.

Presenters and exhibitors include:

Cytonome: novel sorter of cells for new bone marrow transplant treatments
Eutropics Pharmaceuticals: novel agents for the treatment of cancer
Fission Pharmaceuticals: cell-based drug screen by expressing PDEs enzymes in fission yeast
Harvard University: novel ear plug that protects against hearing loss
IGAN: protase treatment of IgA nephrothy
Immunotrex Biologics: novel therapy against sepsis
MIT: engineering liver tissues for ADME/Tox screening of drug candidates
Reflectance Medical: non-invasive monitoring systems of clinical distress and trauma
Syndexa Pharmaceuticals: drugs for the treatment metabolic diseases
The Boston Retinal Implant Project: an implantable prosthesis for the blind
Translational Therapeutics: novel approaches of cancer chemotherapeutics
UMass Lowell: "Smart Bandage" for accelerated healing of wounds and burns
UMass Boston: contrast microscope with a low power laser
UMass Medical School: Novel therapeutics for pain and inflammation
UMass Medical School: development of antithrombotic drugs

Dr. Norman Letvin's Bio:

Dr. Letvin has pioneered the use of nonhuman primates in HIV vaccine design, demonstrating that the biology of SHIV/SIV infection in macaques is a vital model for elucidating HIV infection and transmission in humans. Dr. Letvin defined the role of CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) in controlling HIV replication and is currently working to develop vaccination strategies that protect against HIV by targeting CTL. These strategies include using DNA and live vector vaccines that elicit CTL responses in nonhuman primates and humans. Dr. Letvin has also documented how lentiviruses are able to escape from CTL by mutation. Noting the limitations of this strategy, Dr. Letvin and his colleagues are attempting to design vaccines that account for this mutability.

Dr. Letvin received his B.A. summa cum laude from Harvard University in 1971. He went on to receive his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1975 followed by his fellowship in Immunology in 1980. Dr. Letvin interned at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and completed his residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. He began his career at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in 1981 and soon became Chairman of the Division of Immunology at the New England Regional Primate Research Center at Harvard. Dr. Letvin started working at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in 1994 as Chief of Viral Pathogenesis and took the position of Director of Non-Human Primate Studies at the NIH Vaccine Research Center in 1999. Dr. Letvin has served on the Research Advisory Council for the Office of AIDS Research at the NIH; the AIDS Research Advisory Council at the NIAID; the AIDS Vaccine Research Working Group for the NIAID and the NIH; and the HIV Vaccine Development Resource Group for the NIH. Dr. Letvin serves as a reviewing editor for the journal, Science, and as vaccine editor for the journal, AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses.

John Primeau's Bio:

John Primeau has worked in Drug Discovery for a little over 22 years. After obtaining a Ph.D at the University of Waterloo and postdoctoral training at the University of Virginia, he moved into the pharmaceutical industry to do drug discovery. He began his career as a medicinal chemist at Wyeth and advanced into discovery line leadership after leading drug discovery and development teams. Drawn by the outstanding talent already in place, the company's commitment to antibacterial science and the ready access to the talent in the Boston area, he joined AstraZeneca R&D Boston in 2000 to focus on the pursuit of new and essential antibacterial agents.

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