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Patricia P. McDougall, Indiana University
Dr. Patricia McDougall is the Associate Dean of Faculty and Research and the William L. Haeberle Professor of Entrepreneurship at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. Her path breaking research on born global firms pioneered the growing field of international entrepreneurship. She and her co-author, Benjamin Oviatt, were presented the JIBS Decade Award for their 1994 article on the early internationalization of new ventures. The award is given to the article that has had the most significant impact on international business research during the past decade.
She is a 21st Century Entrepreneurship Research Fellow, the former Chair of the Academy of Management’s Entrepreneurship Division, and is a current or former member of nine editorial boards. Dr. McDougall has been awarded both Indiana University’s Teaching Excellence Recognition Award and the Kelley School’s Full Professor Research Excellence Award. In a survey published in the Journal of Management she was identified as the third most published author in entrepreneurship. She received her Ph.D. in strategy from the University of South Carolina.
Dr. McDougall has been an active developer and presenter of executive programs for companies such as Bosch, Boston Scientific, The Coca-Cola Company, Delta AirLines, Duke Energy, Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Kimball International, Lockheed Martin, Scientific Atlanta, and USG. She has consulted on strategy with units of The Coca-Cola Company in Germany, the Netherlands, Indonesia, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Guatemala, Costa Rica and the United States. In addition, she has assisted numerous entrepreneurial firms and several not-for-profit organizations such as The Carter Presidential Center in their strategic planning process.
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Marian Jones, University of Glasgow
Marian Jones’ research and teaching career that began in Kwekwe Technical College in Zimbabwe, extended to appointments in Strathclyde International Business Unit, and the University of Glasgow and includes numerous international engagements. Her research on the internationalisation of high technology small firms has been widely published in internationally recognized journals such as the Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Business Venturing and Journal of International Marketing, and has won awards such as the Hans B. Thorelli Award for contribution to theory. Among her publishing credits include her role as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of International Entrepreneurship.
She has developed strong links throughout the academic community in the United Kingdom and abroad, and has acted as external or public examiner of doctoral theses for London Business School, the University of Manchester, Turku School of Economics and Business Administration, and Helsinki University of Science and Technology. She has been invited to contribute to colloquia and plenary sessions on international entrepreneurship at Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University; Penn State University; Charleston, USA; the University of Vaasa, Finland; and similar events at Turku, Finland; Quebec City, Canada; Munich, Germany; and Chiang Mai, Thailand. She is contributing to collaborative research, with Turku School of Economics and Business Administration, and is an international advisor on collaborative projects between the latter university and Lappeenranta University of Technology.
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Alberto Onetti, Insubria State University
As Alumni of the Almo Collegio Borromeo, Alberto Onetti graduated with honors at University of Pavia in 1994. He holds a Ph.d in Corporate Strategy from the Parthenope University in Naples and a Master in International Finance from University of Pavia. Currently he teaches Business Innovation Management, International Management, and Corporate Strategy at the Faculty of Economics of the Insubria State University, where he is Head of the Research Centre for Health Care Management and Innovation (CrESIT). He has been visiting professor at the College of Business-San Francisco State University (SFU). He is co-chair at the AMCIS international conference (2008) for the track "sustainable information systems". He is Author of an extensive list of conference contributions, books and publications in the fields of research.
Qualifications and awards:
-Director of Research Centre for Innovation and Life Science Management
-Associate Professor at Insubria State University
-Master in International Finance (MIF), Consorzio Pavese Studi Post-Universitari with University of Pavia and Almo Collegio Borromeo
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Antonella Zucchella, University of Pavia
Antonella Zucchella is full professor of Marketing and Innovation Management at Pavia University, Italy, and Director of the Business Research Department there. She is author of four books and more than thirty articles, ranging from entrepreneurship to international marketing and management.
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Lisa Conte, Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Lisa Conte is the CEO of Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In 2001, Conte founded Napo Pharmaceuticals, a private pharmaceutical company focused primarily on the development and commercialization of a late stage product that treats the symptoms of multiple gastro-intestinal diseases. She has also facilitated plans to create innovative partnerships to provide for the potential availability of this product in resource-constrained settings. Conte also founded Shaman Pharmaceuticals, a natural product pharmaceutical company, having raised over $200 million in the endeavor. From 1987 to 1989 Conte was a vice president at Technology Funding, a venture capital firm where she was responsible for the analysis and management of health care industry investments. She conducted risk and strategy audits for start-up health care companies at Strategic Decisions Group, a management consulting firm, 1985-1987. She is the recipient of several entrepreneurship awards, including the 1994 E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and has sat on several industry boards. Conte earned her master’s in physiology/pharmacology at the University of California at San Diego and her MBA at the Amos Tuck School, Dartmouth College.
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Elizabeth Robinson, NicOx
Dr. Elizabeth Robinson is a co-founder of NicOx SA – a leading French/Italian biotech company, created in 1996, specialised in nitric oxide-donating drugs. She previously held the position of Executive Vice President, Corporate Development for NicOx SA and is currently a member of the Board of Directors and President of NicOx Srl. Dr Robinson served as a venture consultant for Sofinnova Partners, Paris France from 2005-2008, and for Biocatalyst International from 2005-2007. She is member of the Fulbright Commission in Italy and Chairman of the Board of Layline Genomics. Dr. Robinson has broad experience in the development and licensing of innovative pharmaceutical compounds. Dr. Robinson is a founding Board member and shareholder of Relivia Srl, an Italian Company specialized in dermatology. She has served as Director, Product Development, at Recordati Italy (1990-1996); Consultant, Technology Development, at Techint Engineering Company (1988-1990); Vice President, New Technology Ventures Europe, at Genzyme (1985-1988); Visiting Scientist at MIT (1984-1987); Instructor at MIT (1983) and Post Doctorate Research Associate at MIT (1982-1984). Dr. Robinson graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Wellesley College in 1977, received her M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1979 and her Ph.D. in biotechnology from MIT in 1982. Dr. Robinson is also a member of the Italian Buisness Angels and the First Generation group in Italy.
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Francesco Sinigaglia, BioXell
Francesco Sinigagliahas served as chief executive officer since BioXell’s inception in 2002. Previously, Dr. Sinigaglia had been with Roche for 20 years, the first 10 years based in Basel, Switzerland, where he directed various research projects and contributed to the discovery of several drug candidates. In 1992 he founded and became the Scientific Director of Roche Milano Ricerche, a Roche Institute focusing on chronic inflammatory diseases. Dr. Sinigaglia conducted post-doctoral studies in pharmacology and immunology at the University of Milan, UniversityCollege, London and at the Basel Institute of Immunology. He received his medical degree from the University of Padova. He has authored over 100 publications in leading scientific journals including Nature, Science and Cell, on a range of topics in immunology, molecular medicine and drug discovery. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Okairos Ag (CH) and Assobiotec (the Italian bioindustry association) and is an elected member of EMBO (the European Molecular Biology Organization), of the National Italian Committee for Biotechnology and Life Science and of the ad-hoc advisory group of the European Commission for bio-based product.
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Maurizio Guidi, Eli Lilly Italia
Maurizio Guidi was appointed Director Corporate Affairs, Eli Lilly Italy, in June 2007. In his current role he is responsible for Pricing, Reimbursement and Access, New Product Planning, Governmental Affairs, Regional Affairs and Communication.
Maurizio joined Eli Lilly in 1988 as a sales representative. He has held a variety of roles in the company, in the areas of sales, marketing, change management and Corporate Affairs. In 1991 he was named Endocrine Product Manager and in 1994 he transferred to the US for a period in sales and marketing Stateside. On his return to Italy, in 1996 Maurizio took the position of Team Leader Olanzapine. In 1998 he was named Endocrine Sales Manager and in the same year Strategic Capabilities Development Projects Leader, responsible for leading an affiliate-wide change program. In 2000 Maurizio was named Lilly Italy Neuroscience Business Unit Director, a role he held until his appointment to his current role in 2007. Maurizio graduated in Chemistry from the University of Pisa and has a Master in Epidemiology of Health Care Services from the University of Tor Vergata, and regularly collaborates with teaching institutions.
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Charles Versaggi, OsteoCorp, Inc.
Charles S. Versaggi, Ph.D., is the founder, President and CEO of OsteoCorp Inc., an emerging specialty pharmaceutical company focused on becoming a leading developer and marketer of proprietary drugs to prevent and treat osteoporosis, skeletal fractures and other bone disorders. Additionally, he is president of Versaggi Biocommunications®, a marketing consultancy specializing in corporate and marketing communications for the global life-science industry. He also serves as cochairman of the board for the Foundation for Accelerated Vascular Research, a non-profit organization that funds vital research aimed at preventing death and disability from vascular disease. Previously he served as Director of Bioindustrial Account Services for Regis McKenna Inc., a marketing consultancy that helped launch Genentech and Apple Inc., among other technology leaders. He was a science journalist for The Milwaukee Journal and a Mass Media Science Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and taught science journalism at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). Dr. Versaggi earned his doctorate in biological sciences from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and holds an M.A. and B.A. in biology from San Francisco State University.
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Maurizio Petit Bon, Kreos Capital
Maurizio is a founding partner of Kreos and has a particular focus on continental Europe as well as Life Science financings. Maurizio has more than 20 years of experience in technology-based businesses. Prior to Kreos, he was Managing Partner of PMA Europe, a consultancy firm which assisted venture capital firms and corporate clients in evaluating investment opportunities in technology companies. Maurizio has also been principal consultant at the European head office of Stanford Reasearch Institute, one of the world’s largest technology research and consulting organisations. His career in industry encompasses managerial posts at Xerox, DEC and Emerson Electric. Maurizio holds an MBA from INSEAD and a Master’s degree in Engineering from the University of Rome.
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Alberto Trombetta, Finlombarda
Trombetta is an Investment Manager of Finlombarda Gestioni SGR, the venture capital arm of Finlombarda, the financial services organization of the Lombardy Region government. In particular, Trombetta is responsible for the management of the early stage fund of funds and co-investment fund NEXT. Prior to his joining Finlombarda, Trombetta was in charge of the venture capital investments of Cofiri, an Italian financial services firm now part of Unicredit group. His activity was mainly focussed on investments in technology sectors such as IT, new materials, biotecnology and environment related technologies. Previously, Trombetta gained extensive management consulting experience while working for A.T. Kearney, KPMG and LogicaCMG in London as well as direct technology expertise through academic research in Biophysics at King’s College London. Trombetta holds a Ph.D. in Biophysics from King’s College London and a Physics degree from Pavia University.
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Roberto Gradnik, Assobiotec
Roberto Gradnik, aged 53, assumed the responsibility as Managing Director of the Italian branch of Serono in April 1999 and then he was appointed Regional Vice President of Hellas-Italy-Turkey Region. Since January 2007 he was appointed Senior Executive Vice President Europe Merck Serono International. Since July 2004 is President of Assobiotec, the National Association for the Development of Biotechnology, set up in October 1986 within the Italian Federation of the Chemical Industry (Federchimica). Gradnik got a degree as Medical Doctor at University of Milan, and afterward a specialization in Cardiology and Internal Medicine. He worked as researcher in Istituto Mario Negri in Milan and also at Milan University. In 1987 he entered in Bracco as Head of Clinical Studies. The following year he assumed the responsibility of Medical Director in Knoll Farmaceutici where in 1993 he was appointed as Vice President of the Cardiovascular Unit moving to the Headquarters in Ludwigshafen (Germany). Since 1996 he leaded as General Manager the Italian branch of Knoll.
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Stefano Milani, Blossom Associati
After his degree in Business Administration at the University of Pavia and his studies at the SDA Bocconi, Stefano becomes Financial Controller of a Telecom Italia Group Company and receive later the CFO responsibility in Geac Italy, the Italian Branch of a Public Canadian Multinational Company.
In 1999 he joins the Strategy Practice of Deloitte Consulting where he has worked with a broad spectrum of Italian and foreign clients, analysing financial statements, business plans, budgets, procedures and processes, performing due diligence related to mergers and acquisitions and providing accounting advice. Rapidly he becomes responsible for the Life Science Industry in Italy where he has developed the first Italian Biotech Report presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Since June 2004 he is CEO of Blossom Associati, a Financial and Strategic Advisor involved in M&A and post M&A projects activities, whose data and analysis rapidly became the gold standard for the Italian biotechnology community. In 2005 he has established the Blossom & Company Center for Bioentrepreneurs an independent private managerial skills and fund network within Blossom Associati whose primary purpose is to develop to help our clients grow and create extraordinary value. Contract Professor at the University of Pavia in Innovation Management, he has conducted a number of national and international conferences related to the Italian Biotechnology Industry trend and competitiveness.
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