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Terry E.
Winters, Ph.D., Chairman |
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Dr. Winters is a Special Limited Partner of Valley Ventures (1999-present) and also a General Partner of Columbine Venture Funds (1984-present), both venture capital funds specializing in investments in the Southwest. Valley Ventures is based in Phoenix, Arizona and has over $75 million under management (www.valleyventures.com). Dr. Winters focuses on life science and health care investments and in addition to Vital Therapies, Inc. is currently a director of : Afferon Corp, AmpliMed, AzERx, and Epitan Ltd. He has formerly been a director of many private companies and several public companies, including CollaGenex Pharmaceuticals and Orthologic Corp.
From 1977 to 1983, Dr. Winters was with Diamond Shamrock Corp., and served as Vice President of DS Ventures, their venture capital subsidiary that invested in several life science companies, including Immunex Corp. From 1968-1977, he was with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co as a Research Chemist and then as Manager of Licensing. He holds a B.Sc. and PhD in chemistry from the University of Wales, U.K. and did a post-doctoral fellowship at UCLA. He was born in the UK and immigrated to the USA in 1967, becoming a US citizen in 1973.
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Randolph C. Steer, M.D., Ph.D., Member
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Dr. Steer has been an
independent pharmaceutical, biotechnology and
medical devices consultant since 1989. He has
a broad background in business development, medical
marketing, and regulatory and clinical affairs,
having served as a consultant to many corporations
in the United States and abroad. He has also
advised numerous venture capital firms, investment
banks and independent investors on the commercial
development of drugs, biologics, diagnostics
and medical devices.
Dr. Steer has served as Associate
Director of Medical Affairs at Marion Laboratories;
Medical Director at Ciba Consumer Pharmaceuticals
(Ciba-Geigy Corporation); Vice President, Senior
Vice President and Member of the Executive Committee
at Physicians World Communications Group; Chairman,
President and Chief Executive Officer of Advanced
Therapeutics Communications International, a
leading drug regulatory group; and Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer of Vicus.com, Inc. He
is a member of the Board of Directors of AmpliMed
Corporation, R and D Systems (Techne Corporation),
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, MSO Medical, and the
Advisory Board of BW Analytics.
Dr. Steer received his M.D. degree from the Mayo
Medical School and his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota
where he also completed an internship, residency
and subspecialty fellowship in clinical and chemical
pathology. He is an elected Fellow of the American
College of Clinical Pharmacology.
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J. Michael Millis, M.D., Member
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Dr. J. Michael Millis is Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Section of Transplantation at the University of Chicago. He graduated in 1985 with high honors from the University of Tennessee with his MD. Dr. Millis completed his Surgical Residency, Clinical and
Research Fellowship in Liver Transplantation at the University of California at Los Angeles. He currently serves on the medical staff at the University of Chicago Hospitals.
Dr. Millis’ clinical interests are in liver transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery, Dr. Millis' current research explores the application of cellular technology on patient care. Dr. Millis is investigating how hepatocyte transplantation, extracorporeal assist technology and stem cells can assist in the care of patients with liver disease or liver tumors.
Dr. Millis has been associated with Vital Therapies’ ELAD® (Extracorporeal Liver Assist
Device) since 1994, and he was an investigator on the Phase I clinical trial. He became the
chairman of the Vital Therapies Clinical Advisory Board in 2003 and chair of the China Clinical Advisory Board in 2004.
Dr. Millis currently serves or has served in the past on a variety of committees, such as the
AASLD Ethics Committee, the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, Studies of Pediatric Liver Transplantation Scientific Advisory Board and Publication and Research Committee, and the ROBI Liver Intestinal Subcommittee, for which he is the former chairman. Dr. Millis is also a MAC and Board Member for the ALF Illinois Chapter. He also serves on the Board of Director of Gift of Hope (the Organ procurement organization for Illinois) and the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Transplantation, Transplantation, and Liver Transplantation.
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Charles T. Liamos, Member
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Mr. Liamos is a partner of MedVenture Associates (MVA). He has more than 10 years experience in finance and operations leadership positions and over 11 years in the diabetes market, developing technologies, and growing businesses. Prior to joining MVA, he was President and CEO of Fovioptics, Inc., a medical device company that focused on blood glucose monitoring.
Mr. Liamos has also served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of TheraSense, Inc., and was a member of its Board of Directors. He joined TheraSense when it was a private company and was a key person involved with the company’s successful IPO and later the sale of TheraSense to Abbott Laboratories. When Abbott acquired TheraSense in 2004, Mr. Liamos was named Group Vice President of Business Operations for Abbott Diabetes Care, and served on the committee that integrated TheraSense into its new parent company.
Mr. Liamos has previously worked in operations management at LifeScan, a division of Johnson & Johnson. He began his career at General Electric. Mr. Liamos currently serves on the boards of Insulet Corporation, OptiScan Biomedical, and Sonoma Orthopedic Products, Inc. Mr. Liamos received a BS in Finance from the University of Vermont, Burlington and is a graduate of GE’s Financial Management Program.
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Ross A. Jaffe, M.D., Member
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Dr. Jaffe specializes in early-stage investing in medical devices. He brings significant clinical insight and venture capital experience to Versant’s investing efforts. Ross co-founded Versant Ventures in 1999 after spending nine years at Brentwood Venture Capital where, as a general partner, he led investments in medical devices, drug delivery, and healthcare information systems companies.
Dr. Jaffe is a board-certified internist, having completed his residency training in Internal Medicine/Primary Care at the University of California, San Francisco, where he remained a part-time attending physician until 1995. Before and during medical school, he was an Analyst for Lewin and Associates, a healthcare consulting firm, and a Research Associate at Dartmouth Medical School.
Dr. Jaffe has served as a director of St. Francis Medical Technologies (sold), Therasense (sold), Novacept (sold), Micro Interventional Systems (sold), Aradigm (public), Webster Laboratories (sold), Atrionix (sold), and Pro•Duct Health (sold). He currently serves on the boards of Ablation Frontiers, Acclarent, Calypso Medical Technologies, Insulet, NDO Surgical, and Vital Therapies. Ross earned his BA in Policy Studies from Dartmouth in 1980, his MD from Johns Hopkins in 1985, and his MBA from Stanford in 1990.
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