"The Promise of Stem Cells: Separating Hype from Reality" 

Stem cell research has contributed to advancements in drug discovery, treating cardiovascular diseases (heart and blood vessel repair), neurodegenerative disease such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Multiple Sclerosis, and neural injuries like spinal cord and head trauma.

Presented in association with the Atlanta Chapter of the MIT Enterprise Forum, join us for an evening to explore the basics of stem cells, including the difference between adult stem cells and human embryonic stem cells, and how each figures in stem cell research. Also part of the discussion will be how cloning and transgenics animal methodologies and platform technologies are leading to breakthroughs in biomedical and agricultural sciences.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>

Learn where breakthroughs in stem cell research are projected and how they could lead to entrepreneurial business opportunities.

The national panel presentation will be followed by a <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /?>
Seattle panel discussion and Q&A from the audience

The Atlanta panel includes Dr. Steven L. Stice, professor and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar of Animal Reproductive Physiology, Director of UGA Regenerative Bioscience Center. Joining him will be Mr. David A. Dodd, former president, chief executive officer and director, Serologicals Corporation, and Dr. Michelle C. LaPlaca, associate professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

The Seattle panel includes Alexandra Goho (moderator), a Seattle-based science writer; Dr. Paul Abrams, former President & CEO of NeoRx Corporation and CEPTYR; Dr. C. Anthony Blau, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology at the University of Washington School of Medicine; Dr. Emilie Clemmens, a Research Fellow at the Women's Bioethics Project; Dr. Theresa A. Deisher, Vice President, Research and Development at CellCyte Genetics; and Dr. Hannele Ruohola-Baker, Professor of Biochemistry and a Member of The Institute of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, UW.

About MIT Enterprise Forum of the Northwest
The MIT Enterprise Forum of the Northwest is a volunteer, non-profit organization that gives emerging technology-based companies the opportunity to present their strategies to panels of experts during a series of public forums. The Seattle chapter of the MIT Enterprise Forum is one of 24 worldwide chapters of the MIT Enterprise Forum, Inc. affiliated with the Alumni Association of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All Events are open to anyone interested in growing or enhancing a business.

Atlanta Panel

Mr. David Dodd (moderator)

David Dodd is former president, chief executive officer and director of Serologicals Corporation. Serologicals Corporation was recently acquired by bioscience company Millipore, for $1.4 billion. Prior to its purchase, Serologicals supplied major health care companies with specialty biological products and related technologies used in the research, development, and manufacture of life science products. The company's products, used in disciplines such as immunology, cardiology, oncology, hematology, and neurology, were also sold to research institutions throughout the world. Serologicals had approximately 1000 employees worldwide, and its shares were traded on the NASDAQ national stock market under the symbol SERO.

Dr. Steven L. Stice

Steven Stice is professor and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar of Animal Reproductive Physiology, Director of UGA Regenerative Bioscience Center, Athens, Georgia. Dr. Stice's research interests include cloning cattle and pigs for animal agriculture and biomedicine. His work also includes the study of human stem cells for drug discovery and treating cardiovascular diseases (heart and blood vessel repair) neurodegenerative disease such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Multiple Sclerosis and neural injuries like spinal cord as well as head trauma.

Dr. Michelle LaPlaca

Michelle LaPlaca is associate professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. LaPlaca's areas of research include traumatic brain and spinal cord injury, acute mechanisms of injury induced cell dysfunction and death, tissue engineering of the injured nervous system and clinical assessment of mild traumatic
brain injury.

Seattle Panel

Alexandra Goho (moderator)

Alexandra Goho is a freelance science and technology writer based in Seattle. She received her B.Sc. in Biology from McGill University and her M.S. in Science Journalism from Boston University. In addition to being a freelance writer, Goho has worked at Technology Review magazine, where she covered new developments in biotechnology and nanotechnology. She was also a staff writer at the weekly magazine Science News where she reported on a range of subjects including drug development, stem cell research, and biomaterials. As a freelancer, she has written for a variety of publications, among them New Scientist and Nature Biotechnology

Dr. Paul Abrams

Paul Abrams received his B.A. in Political Science and Economics, and then received doctorate degrees in Medicine and in Law from Yale University.  He was President & CEO of NeoRx Corporation and then CEPTYR, both biotechnology companies. He has been Chairman of Aptein, a biotechnology company sold to Cambridge Antibody LTD, and of Global Biosciences, a environmental remediation company.  He has also been on the Executive Committee of BIO, the industry trade organization.  He is inventor on 12 US patents, co-editor of two books on cancer, and author of more than 60 publications. 

Dr. C. Anthony Blau

Blau is a Professor in the Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle.  Originally from Ohio, Blau was drawn to Seattle because of its legacy as the birthplace of bone marrow transplantation, the first stem cell therapy.  He is best known for his work in developing methods for controlling the fate of transplanted cells. Co-Director of the UW's recently created Institute for Stem Cell and

Regenerative Medicine, Blau has served on multiple advisory panels for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and is Principal Investigator of an NIH funded "University of Washington/Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Exploratory Center for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research."

Dr. Emilie Clemmens

Emilie Clemmens is a Research Fellow at the Women's Bioethics Project, a Seattle-based think tank dedicated to advancing the perspectives of women in healthcare and the bioethical debates.  Emilie's background in science, as a bioengineer and human physiology researcher, grants her a unique perspective from which she approaches ethics in science and technology.  Her interest in increasing the participation of scientists in ethics and policy discussions led her to jointly develop the University of Washington's Forum on Science, Ethics, & Policy (www.fosep.org), and she was subsequently awarded the Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Fellowship at The National Academies in Washington, D.C.  Emilie has also published on the ethics of stem cells and cloning technologies and recently presented on the topic at a public forum at Seattle's ACT Theatre.

Dr. Hannele Ruohola-Baker

Hannele Ruohola-Baker is a Professor of Biochemistry and a Member of The Institute of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, at the University of Washington. She obtained her B.A. and M.Sc in Biochemistry from the University of  Helsinki, Ph.D. in Cell Biology from Yale/University of Helsinki and  did her postdoctoral training in USFC. Her research focuses on microRNAs, a group of molecules critical to stem cell function and differentiation in humans and other organisms.