Director of The Year Honorees

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Peter Thompson, M.D.

Peter Thompson, M.D., is a General Partner of OrbiMed, with over 30 years of industry experience. He held executive positions at Becton-Dickinson and Chiron, co-founded and was CEO of Trubion Pharmaceuticals, co-founded Corvus Pharmaceuticals, Cleave Biosciences, Silverback Therapeutics, Edgewise Therapeutics, Terremoto Biosciences and serves as a Director on several public and private company boards. Dr. Thompson is an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awardee, an Affiliate Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Washington, an inventor on numerous patents and a board-certified internist and oncologist. He was on staff at the National Cancer Institute following his internal medicine training at Yale University.

ENHANCEMENT OF ECONOMIC VALUE

Susan Snow

Susan Snow is an experienced Board member and Executive.  She currently sits on two boards recently registered on NASDAQ: CELZ (a leading commercial stage biotechnology company focused on a regenerative approach to immunotherapy, urology, neurology, and orthopedics) and NEOV (a solar inverter manufacturer).  In each capacity, Ms. Snow is the Audit Chair, and member of Nominations/Governance and Compensation committees.

Most recently, Ms. Snow was Senior Vice President of Operations for Redhorse Corporation, a company that provides professional services to the highest echelons of the US Government.  Ms. Snow managed nearly all support services within the Company.  As with prior corporate positions, she led Human Resources, Talent Acquisition, IT administration, Finance & Accounting, Operations, and Contracting.  In addition, Ms. Snow oversaw the Enterprise Architecture as a corporate strategy for the entire corporate group.

Ms. Snow’s experience spans public accounting, defense & aerospace, consumer product manufacturing, and clean-tech. In her various roles she has proved her mettle in taking challenged companies through difficult operational and financial turnarounds, resulting in the profitable sales of many of these corporations. The initiatives she has successfully addressed in these roles include: senior management turnover, navigating the evolving and complicated Defense Contracting process, implementing critical strategic planning, as well as thorough financial and operational turnarounds.

Ms. Snow has served as Chief Restructuring Officer of privately held companies where she has implemented successful corporate turnarounds, and has co-managed the restructuring of hundreds of  millions in debt for her clients. In many situations, Ms. Snow has served as the Chief Financial Officer and/or Chief Operating Officer as she guided those entities from relatively flat performance to strong financial results, enabling the owners to ultimately realize optimal valuations when they execute exit strategies.

Ms. Snow is an expert in Corporate Governance extending from the Board Room, through the Executive Suites, to all Stakeholders.  For her courageous and strategic work as a board member of various corporations, Ms. Snow has been recognized and presented with the prestigious Director of the Year award by the Corporate Directors Forum.  As an active director of numerous public, private and non-profit corporate Boards, she most often serves on Audit, Nominating, and/or Governance committees.  Ms. Snow’s strategic guidance in the Board room continues to build on the foundation of a career steeped in excellent planning and execution.

Ms. Snow holds a Bachelor of Music, a Master of Music and a Master of Science.  Having been trained as a classical musician, Ms. Snow began her adult life as a skilled pianist before gaining a graduate accounting degree.  Though an unusual path from Music to Business, Ms. Snow relies on that artistic background every day of her business life.  Indeed, that diversity is what helped distinguish Ms. Snow early on from her peers.  Ms. Snow began her professional business career and earned her CPA at KPMG in Boston, where she spent 4 years in the Tax Department before leaving for a variety of executive leadership roles in private industry.

And, to keep her wits and balance in her life, Ms. Snow is an ardent cyclist, hiker, and lover of California wines.

COMPANIES IN TRANSITION

Vickie L. Capps

Vickie Capps is known for her strong skill set consisting of executive leadership and mentoring, public company governance, strategic business development, corporate transitions and restructurings and capital markets and investor relations.

Vickie is currently a member of the board of directors and the audit committee chair of each of the following public companies, all within the healthcare and life sciences industries: NuVasive, Inc., Otonomy, Inc., Janux Therapeutics, Inc., Amedisys, Inc. and Silverback Therapeutics, Inc. She is also a member of the Senior Advisory Board of Consonance Capital Partners, a healthcare focused private equity firm, and serves on the board of directors of the San Diego State University Research Foundation. Vickie previously served on the boards of several other public and private companies, including Synthorx, Inc. (Acquired by Sanofi in 2020), Enclara Pharmacia (acquired by Humana in January 2020), Connecture, Inc. (taken private by Francisco Partners in 2018), RF Surgical Systems, Inc. (acquired by Medtronic in 2015), and SenoRx (acquired by C.R. Bard in 2010).

Vickie Capps has had a distinguished career in finance and executive leadership. After receiving her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration/Accounting, Vickie began her career with Ernst & Young LLP and served 10 years as an audit and accounting professional. Her subsequent experience included CFO positions at several public and private companies. Most recently, Vickie served as the CFO of DJO Global, Inc. (“DJO”), a global orthopedic device company, from 2002 to 2013. During her tenure, DJO grew annual revenues from approximately $180 million to over $1 billion. DJO’s share price was approximately $3 when Vickie joined in 2002, and the Company was sold to Blackstone Private Equity in 2007 for over $50 per share.

Vickie is a Certified Public Accountant and was recognized as CFO of the Year Honoree by the San Diego Business Journal in 2009 and 2010.

EMERGING BOARD LEADER

Sheila Gujrathi, M.D.

Sheila Gujrathi, M.D. is a biotech entrepreneur, physician executive, translational scientist and drug developer.  Dr. Gujrathi currently serves on multiple boards, is a venture advisor at OrbiMed, and advises multiple start-up companies in the biotech industry.  She serves as executive chair of the board of directors of Ventyx Biosciences, Inc. chair of ADARx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. chair of ImmPACT Bio, Inc. and director of Janux Therapeutics, Inc. She previously served as chair of the board of directors of Turning Point Therapeutics, Inc. (acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb, Inc.) and on the board of directors at Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. (acquired by Amgen Inc.) and Ambrx, Inc. (acquired by a consortium of investors).

Dr. Gujrathi is the co-founder and former CEO of Gossamer Bio, Inc., which is discovering and developing a clinical and research pipeline of novel therapeutics for immunology, inflammation, and oncology. Prior to Gossamer Bio, Dr. Gujrathi served as chief medical officer of Receptos, Inc. (acquired by Celgene Corp.). At Receptos, she built the development, regulatory and quality organizations and led the advancement of the pipeline, including Zeposia®, which is approved for multiple sclerosis and for ulcerative colitis. Previously, she was vice president of the global clinical development group in immunology at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Inc. (BMS), where she led late-stage clinical development and supported numerous global regulatory filings and approvals for Orencia® and Nulojix®. She was also responsible for development of other assets in the BMS immunology clinical pipeline and advised the strategies for discovery, early development, and external business development within the immunoscience franchise. Before that, Dr. Gujrathi held roles in the immunology, tissue growth and repair clinical development groups at Genentech, Inc. where she worked on Ocrevus®, Rituxan®, Xolair®, and a number of other programs across all stages of development and served as the Avastin® franchise team leader. Earlier in her career, she was a management consultant in McKinsey & Company’s healthcare practice.

Dr. Gujrathi received both her M.D. in the accelerated Honors Program in Medical Education and her B.S. in biomedical engineering with highest distinction from Northwestern University. She completed her internal medicine internship and residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and additional fellowship training in allergy and immunology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Stanford University.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE- NOT-FOR-PROFIT

Todd R. Schultz

Since 1989, Todd Schultz has worked in non-profit administration, leading marketing departments for three opera companies (The Atlanta Opera, San Diego Opera and L.A. Opera at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion) and fundraising programs for two theatres (The Old Globe in San Diego and McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, California) and for the San Diego Symphony.

As President & CEO of La Jolla Music Society, Schultz oversees a year-round performing arts schedule that includes classical, jazz, dance, Latin and other genres, as well as SummerFest, an internationally renowned chamber music festival each August. In addition to its concert season and extensive education and community programs, LJMS owns and operates the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center in downtown La Jolla, which is home for the majority of LJMS performances and available for corporate and non-profit rentals.

Schultz believes strongly in the value of the arts in society and the role that non-profit organizations can have in serving the community and artists alike. With a focus on performing arts management, he has overseen capital and endowment campaigns, overhauled subscription and annual fund programs and led major revenue-growth at each of the companies where he has worked.

At Kansas State University, he received a B.A. with a dual major in journalism and mass communication and modern languages, specializing in advertising and German. At Justus-Liebig University in Gießen, West Germany, he studied German literature, languages and music. At California State University, Long Beach, he received certification in planned giving (CSPG).

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

David L. Barker, PhD

Dr. David L. Barker currently serves on the Boards of Directors of AmideBio and Singular Genomics Systems (NASDAC: OMIC), and is Board Member and Chairman at Bionano Genomics (NASDAC: BNGO).  He is a scientific advisor to Luna DNA.  He was Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Illumina, Inc., from 2000 to 2007, and on the Illumina scientific advisory board through 2015.  He was previously on the Boards of NextBio, which was acquired by Illumina in 2013, ProteinSimple, which was acquired by Bio-Techne in 2014, Zephyrus Biosciences, Inc., acquired by Bio-Techne in 2016, IntegenX, acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2018, Integrated Diagnostics, acquired by Biodesix in 2018, and Aspen Neuroscience.

Dr. Barker served from 1998 to 2000 as Vice President and Chief Science Advisor at Amersham Biosciences, now part of General Electric.  From 1988 to 1998, Dr. Barker held senior positions, including Vice President of Research and Business Development, at Molecular Dynamics, Inc., until the acquisition of Molecular Dynamics by Amersham.

In his academic career, Dr. Barker conducted interdisciplinary research in neurobiology as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School, Assistant Professor at the University of Oregon and Associate Professor at Oregon State University.  Dr. Barker holds a BS with honors in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology and a PhD in Biochemistry from Brandeis University.

COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD

Joseph Panetta

Joseph Panetta is President and CEO and a member of the Board of Directors of Biocom California, the state’s largest and most-experienced leader and advocate for the life science industry.  Biocom CA works on behalf of over 1,600 members to drive public policy, build an enviable network of industry leaders, create access to capital development, introduce cutting-edge STEM education programs, and create robust value-driven purchasing programs.  Mr. Panetta works with an experienced professional staff of 70, with offices located in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Washington, D.C, and Tokyo. Together with a very engaged Board of Directors and Board of Governors, he leads initiatives that help members produce novel solutions that improve the human condition.

Mr. Panetta is co-founder of the Biocom Political Action Committee; the Biocom Institute for education and workforce development; and the California Biotechnology Foundation, a joint initiative to inform legislators and the media about the life science industry in the state, of which he is Chairman.  Since 2014, Mr. Panetta has been a member of the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee, which serves as the governing and oversight board for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) and is responsible for providing grant funding under the $5.5 billion California Stem Cell Initiative.

Mr. Panetta holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from LeMoyne College, and a Master of Public Health degree in industrial and environmental health from the University of Pittsburgh.   Mr. Panetta brings a depth of experience to his role, having worked in the life science industry at companies including Dow AgroSciences, Mycogen, Shearing AG, and Pennwalt Corp.  He also served as a senior policy analyst at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C.  Mr. Panetta joined Biocom in 1999.