OCTANe connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology industry growth in Orange County.

What does it take to get ready for a deal? Join us on June 13 as our experts review the due diligence process, what investors are looking for and how to be prepared for a deal financially. We will also discuss:

•  Getting ready for transaction (Preparing and positioning for a deal) – From an Investment Bankers 
   perspective

• Getting ready for a transition (Closing and post-closing) - From a CPA's perspective

• Timing and Structure of a deal (equity vs. convertible notes, etc.)

Speakers:

Andre Guardi - Director, Moss Adams

Mr. Guardi is a Managing Director of Moss Adams Capital, LLC.  Through his greater than 20 years of investment banking experience, he has advised many successful growth and middle market companies in a variety of industries.  Mr. Guardi’s merger and acquisition work includes sell side, buy side, divestiture, management buyout as well as recapitalization mandates.  His capital raise transactions include institutional private equity and debt financings. His client mandates have involved high profile corporations such as: Berkshire Hathaway, Johnson Controls, Mitsui Chemicals, SoftBank, Dow Corning, Danaher and Best Buy, as well as numerous institutional private equity groups.

Prior to joining Moss Adams Capital, Mr. Guardi was a managing director with B. Riley & Co. a Los Angeles based, investment bank.  Earlier he held various positions including partner and managing director at Friend & Co. an Irvine, California based investment bank.

Kami Refa - Senior Manager, Moss Adams

Kami has been in public accounting since 1999, including six years with a global firm, providing assurance services to both public and privately-held companies. He has a variety of clients in the manufacturing and technology industries. Kami’s specific experience includes mergers and acquisitions, securities filings with the SEC, and evaluation of internal controls and financial reporting and closing systems. He is a member of Tech Coast Angels, SoCal Bio Council, serves on the OCTANe Technology Leadership Council and is a member of the California Society of CPA’s Accounting Education and Careers Committee.

Light appetizers and beverages will be provided.

OCTANe connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology industry growth in Orange County.

Join the OCTANe community and the CleanTech OC network at Chakra in Irvinech for Firsty on June 6. Network with over 200 people and meet members that focus on fueling innovation and promoting economic growth in the OC.

About Firsty -  

Firsty is an OCTANe Program that focuses on networking and relationship building. It brings together the Orange County technology ecosystem, consisting of executive leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, venture capitalists, academicians, and strategic advisors. Firsties are free to attend and open to everyone, so bring a friend or coworker. It is non-hosted, however appetizers and discounted drinks will be available. No RSVP necessary. Please check the OCTANe online calendar every month as locations will vary in 2013.

About CleanTech OC:

CleanTech OC is a trade association that seeks to promote economic growth and job creation in the Orange County clean technology industry. CleanTech OC consists of private companies, academic institutions, and local governmental entities that are engaged or interested in clean technology.

OCTANe connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology industry growth in Orange County.

From equity agreements to IP, startup entrepreneurs face a variety of legal issues when they launch a new venture. Join us for a breakfast briefing that covers legal issues that are most critical to startups. Topics to be discussed include: 

1.     Selecting the Right Structure and Observing Corporate Formalities

2.     Issuing Stock and Options

3.     Taking on Investors

4.     Selecting Your Board and Advisors

5.     Hiring Correctly and Employment Infrastructure

6.     Being Mindful of Employment and Wage and Hour Laws

7.     Protecting Your Intellectual Property

8.     Partnering with Other Companies

9.     Staying Out of Litigation

          10.  Exit Strategies 

Speakers: (Bio's coming soon!)

Parker Schweich

Corporate Partner

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

 

Gabrielle Wirth

Labor & Employment Partner

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

 

Kent Schmidt

Litigation Partner

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

 

Jason Wisniewski

Corporate Associate

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

 

Carol Calfa

Corporate Associate

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Continental breakfast will be served.

OCTANe connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology industry growth in Orange County.

Please join OCTANe and the Henry Samueli School of Engineering on June 27th for the second session of SBIR/STTR Grant Development Series. The topics that will be adressed at this program include:

1. Building the right team
2. Selecting the right granting agency
3. Developing a grant writing strategy

Speakers:

Kari Barnes - Senior Associate, Rutan & Tucker
Ms. Barnes is a senior associate in the firm’s Intellectual Property Section focused on patent prosecution and Intellectual Property associated transactional endeavors. Ms. Barnes is proficient in patent prosecution for a wide variety of technologies, including electronic devices, computer hardware and software, networking systems and protocols, green technologies, and mechanical devices, including medical devices. She also has experience with intellectual property strategic planning, intellectual property-related due diligence for mergers and acquisitions, freedom to operate opinions, and patent infringement and validity opinions.

Ms. Barnes currently advises a large international medical device company on its intellectual property strategy, including creating and maintaining a foreign and domestic patent portfolio; offensive and defensive opinions regarding infringement, freedom to operate, and patentability; as well as assessing the intellectual property assets of potential acquisitions. She has prosecuted a large number of patents protecting stents, catheters, catheter placement systems, needle safety devices, ultrasound devices, urological slings, and other implants and delivery systems.

Matthew Jenusaitis - President & CEO, OCTANe
Matthew Jenusaitis joined as the president and CEO of OCTANe in June 2009. Prior to OCTANE, Matthew spent 15 years at Boston Scientific, where he served in numerous executive marketing and general management positions. Matthew was also an executive in residence for the private equity firm Warburg Pincus. This led to Matthew assuming the role of president of ev3 Neurovascular, one of Warburg’s portfolio companies. Matthew sits on the boards of Avantis Medical in Sunnyvale, California; Creagh Medical in Galway, Ireland; NeuroInterventional Therapeutics in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Pulsar Vascular in San Jose, California. He also sits on the advisory boards of Cornell’s School of Biomedical Engineering, the University of California Bren School of Information and Computer Science, and the Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences. Matthew holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering, cum laude, from Cornell University, a Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Arizona State University, and a Master of Business Administration from University of California, Irvine.

William Tang - Associate Dean for Research, Henry Samueli School of Engineering, UCI
William C. Tang received his BS, MS, and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences from the University of California at Berkeley in 1980,1982, and 1990, respectively. His seminal thesis work on the electrostatic comb drive has become a crucial building block for many microactuator and microsensor research in the field.

Since his graduation, he continued his contribution to the MEMS field first in the automotive industry as a Research Senior at Ford Research Laboratory in Dearborn, Michigan, and as the Sensor Research Manager at Ford Microelectronics, Inc., in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In 1996, he joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, where he was the Supervisor of the MEMS Technology Group, leading the pursuit of MEMS technology for space applications. In July 1999, he assumed the responsibilities as a Program Manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. He took over the MEMS and Micro Power Generation programs, and established new programs in Nano Mechanical Array Signal Processors and Chip-Scale Atomic Clock.Since July 2002, Dr. Tang has been on faculty as a professor with the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of California, Irvine, with a joint appointment at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Between July 2003 and June 2005 and between July 1 and December 31, 2010, he was the Associate Chair for Undergraduate Education of the Biomedical Engineering Department. From July 2005 to June 2006, and from July 2009 to June 2010, he was appointed Interim and Acting Chair for the Department, respectively. Since March 2008, (except July through December 2010) he has been serving as the Associate Dean for Research in the Henry Samueli School of Engineering.

Breakfast and lunch will be served.

OCTANe connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology industry growth in Orange County.

OCTANe, California Healthcare Institute and the Rare Project invites you to the film screening: Fight to Live, a Barbara Kopple Film

June 20, 2013
5:00-8:00pm
Calit2, UC Irvine

Discussion: 

Mike Mussallem, Nicole Boice, Sharon Stevenson , Carla Mann Woods

Agenda:
5:00 - 5:45  Registration and Networking
5:45  Film Screening
7:15  Discussion

OCTANe connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology industry growth in Orange County.

Tax planning needs to start the day that you decide to start a business, and failure to adequately prepare on the front end could result in your paying 30-50% more in the end. 

This program will focus on maximizing your cash strategy while minimizing the amounts that you have to pay in taxes. We will cover recently enacted rules and hot buttons related to investments and transactions, as well as domestic, overseas, and capital repatriation strategies.

• New net investment income tax rules
• Qualified small business stock exclusion
• Considering low tax jurisdiction benefits
• Benefits and Myths of International Tax
• How international tax rules work

The program features the tax experts from the international law firm of K&L Gates. Their practice is a robust full market practice — cutting edge, complex and dynamic, simultaneously regional, national and international in scope. K&L Gates LLP comprises more than 2,000 lawyers who practice in 48 offices located on five continents.

Speakers:

• Steve Freeman
• Greg Hartker

Continental breakfast and parking will be provided. 

OCTANe connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology industry growth in Orange County.

If you're an entrepreneur looking to get funding or an investor looking to make your next big deal, come to the LaunchPad Open House to learn more about how we can help you. We will take a deep dive into the highly tested and effective LaunchPad process as well as open up the floor to Q&A.

TechSpace will also be giving tours of their brand new office space and are extending reduced rates to the OCTANe network for a limited time.

Agenda: If you would like more information please contact Marek Mandau at marek@octaneoc.org

There will be 3 different sessions you can attend. Each session will include lunch, a LaunchPad Overview and a TechSpace tour. Please register for one of the below times:

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

12:30 - 1:30 p.m.

1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

About LaunchPad

LaunchPad is OCTANe’s hand’s-on, pro-bono accelerator for start-up companies in the technology, life science, and clean tech industries. LaunchPad helps entrepreneurs turn ideas into successful businesses. OCTANe’s goal is to help new companies get started, help start-ups get funded, help funded companies grow, and help growing companies get to liquidity exits, and create new jobs. LaunchPad is one of the ways we get that done. With LaunchPad’s help, over 40 companies have raised more than $80 million in Seed and Series A investments. www.octaneoc.org/launchpad

About TechSpace Costa Mesa

TechSpace delivers flexible, on-demand, “alternative office space”, integrated technology and business services that give today’s small- to mid-sized businesses a powerful platform from which to operate. With multiple facilities across the United States, TechSpace serves both onsite and virtual clients with an innovative business solution that provides everything from advanced voice and data telecommunications and Tier 1 IT infrastructure to workstation furniture, mail room services, reception services and office supplies. Smartly designed modular workspace floor plans and innovative, modular office suites, combined with flexible, low-commitment agreements allow room for growth or downsizing as necessary without the high cost of moving. This formula preserves capital, keeps overhead to a minimum, and frees up companies to focus on their core competencies while more effectively managing their businesses. www.techspace.com

The LaunchPad SBDC hosted by OCTANe is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration and California State University Fullerton and extended to the public on a non-discriminatory basis. SBA and California State University Fullerton cannot endorse any products, opinions, or services of any external parties or activities.

OCTANe connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology industry growth in Orange County.

OCTANe connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology industry growth in Orange County.

Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center and OCTANe present:

Orange County Summit on Regenerative Medicine

Thursday, September 26

10:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. Sue and Bill Gross Hall Stem Cell Research Center tours

Gross Hall: A CIRM Institute
845 Health Sciences Road
Irvine, CA 92697

11:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Beckman Center registration, lunch, keynotes, presentations, panel, and reception

Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center of the
National Academies of Sciences and Engineering
100 Academy Dr.
Irvine, CA 92617

Regenerative medicine is the process of replacing or regenerating human cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function. This field holds the promise of regenerating damaged tissues and organs in the body by replacing damaged tissue and/or by stimulating the body's own repair mechanisms to heal previously irreparable tissues or organs.

The field of regenerative medicine will undoubtedly shape the future of healthcare. The research currently underway holds the keys to cure Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, to repair spinal cord injuries, to regenerate blood vessels in damaged retinas thereby restoring sight to the blind, and much, much more. These therapies that once seemed generations away, are now clearly within the sight of clinical application. The impact to healthcare and to our society at large is overwhelming.

California leads the nation in the field of stem cell research, largely driven by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s backing of proposition 71 allocating $3 Billion in state funding to stem cell research when much of the nation’s stem cell research was put on hold as a result of then President Bush’s restrictions on the use of federal funds. This allowed California research to continue and prosper.

There are many different types of stem cells, each with very different potential to treat disease. The so-called adult stem cells come from any organ. These are also called tissue stem cells. The pluripotent cells, which have the ability to form all cells in the body, can be either embryonic or induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. All stem cells, whether they are tissue stem cells or pluripotent cells, have the ability to divide and create an identical copy of themselves. This process is called self-renewal. The cells can also divide to form cells that go on to develop into mature tissue types such as liver, lungs, brain, or skin.

The opportunities associated with this dynamic field of research, once a distant dream, are now literally around the corner. The Orange County Summit on Regenerative Medicine will examine the global field of stem cell research and application, the legal and intellectual property issues impacting the technology application, and a deep dive into the specific research and applications currently underway at the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center at UC - Irvine and local ecosystem. 

Speakers:

Hans Keirstead, Ph.D. - Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology & Neurological Surgery, University of California – Irvine and Leader, California Stem Cell Inc.

An internationally known stem cell expert, Hans Keirstead has pioneered a number of efforts in the field. He led his team of researchers to successfully develop a stem cell-based treatment for paralyzed rats. This treatment marked the first such stem cell-based clinical trial ever approved by a regulatory body, worldwide. Dr. Keirstead also helped develop a therapy for the treatment of ulcerative collitis and rheumatoid arthritis, which has successfully met primary endpoints in Phase II clinical trials. He developed a stem cell-based therapy for the motor neuron diseases ALS and spinal muscular atrophy that will soon enter clinical testing in the US and Europe, and made headlines for creating a 3D retina derived from stem cells for the treatment of retinal diseases. More recently, he has taken on a stem cell-based project for late stage cancers, a technology that has met primary endpoints in Phase II clinical trials. The Canadian-born neuroscientist received his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. His Ph.D. thesis formed the basis of several worldwide patents, the formation of a company, and constituted the first demonstration of functional regeneration of the injured adult spinal cord. For his achievements he received the Cameron Award for the best Ph.D. thesis in Canada. In 2000, Dr. Keirstead joined the Reeve-Irvine Research Center at the University of California, Irvine. He then founded the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center, and is now Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology. Dr. Keirstead was awarded the Distinguished Award for Research, the UCI Academic Senate’s highest honor, as well as the UCI Innovation Award for innovative research leading to corporate and clinical development. Dr. Keirstead has testified at Federal and California Senate Hearings on several occasions, is an avid scientific correspondent for public education, is on the Editorial Board of several major journals, advised the California government on stem cell policy, was a Scientific Advisory Committee Member of the California Stem Cell Initiative that authored Proposition 71, which resulted in a US$3B stem cell fund, and maintains working relationships with several stem cell companies, venture capital groups, and government economic development offices worldwide. Dr. Keirstead is also Founder of several clinics and educational centers in Guinea, Africa, which focus on health and community development in rural Africa.

Ellen G. Feigal, M.D. - Senior Vice President of Research and Development, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)

Dr. Ellen G. Feigal is the Vice President, Research and Development at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). Prior to joining CIRM in January, 2011, Dr. Feigal was Executive Medical Director, Global Development, at Amgen, where her primary focus was in clinical development of therapeutics in hematology/oncology. She also led the scientific/clinical interface with patient advocacy organizations, formalized the company’s policy on expanded access to therapies for those with limited or no treatment options, and led the cross-functional teams to the company’s first collaborative research and development agreement with the National Cancer Institute. From 2007 until joining CIRM, Dr. Feigal was adjunct professor and founding Director of the American Course on Drug Development and Regulatory Sciences, UC San Francisco, School of Pharmacy. The course, developed under her leadership as a collaborative effort with the FDA, UCSF’s Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, its Center for Drug Development Sciences and the European Center of Pharmaceutical Medicine at the University of Basel, was launched in 2007. It is taught in Washington, D.C. with a separate parallel course in San Francisco.

Prior to joining Amgen in 2008, she worked in clinical research and drug development in positions at the Federal Government, non-profit and for-profit institutes and companies. She was Chief Medical Officer, Insys Therapeutics 2007-2008, Director of Medical Devices and Imaging at the Critical Path Institute, and Vice President of Clinical Sciences and Deputy Scientific Director at the Translational Genomics Research Institute from 2004 to 2007. She directed the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis from 2001 to 2004, served as Deputy Director from 1997 through 2001, and as senior investigator in the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program, NCI from 1992-1997. Dr. Feigal earned a BS in biology and a MS in molecular biology and biochemistry from the UC Irvine, and her MD from the UC Davis. She completed her residency in internal medicine at Stanford University, and her fellowship in hematology/oncology at the UC San Francisco. She was on the faculty at the UC San Francisco, and UC San Diego before joining the NCI.

Michael D. West, Ph.D. - CEO, BioTime, Inc.

Dr. West became Chief Executive Officer of BioTime, Inc. during October 2007, and has served on the Board of Directors since 2002. Prior to becoming CEO, Dr. West served as Chief Executive Officer, President, and Chief Scientific Officer of Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., a company engaged in developing human stem cell technology for use in regenerative medicine. Dr. West also founded Geron Corporation of Menlo Park, California, and from 1990 to 1998 he was a Director and Vice-President, where he initiated and managed programs in telomerase diagnostics, oligonucleotide-based telomerase inhibition as anti-tumor therapy, and the cloning and use of telomerase in telomerase-mediated therapy wherein telomerase is utilized to immortalize human cells. From 1995 to 1998 he organized and managed the research between Geron and its academic collaborators James Thomson and John Gearhart that led to the first isolation of human embryonic stem and human embryonic germ cells. Dr. West received a B.S. Degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1976, an M.S. Degree in Biology from Andrews University in 1982, and a Ph.D. from Baylor College of Medicine in 1989 concentrating on the biology of cellular aging.

Ping H Wang, M.D. - Director of UCIrvine Diabetes Center and Professor of Medicine, Biological Chemistry, Physiology & Biophysics, and Experimental Pathology, University of California - Irvine

Dr. Ping Wang’s lab seeks to develop new methods to prevent, treat, and eventually cure diabetes and its complications through hormonal signaling, programming and reprogramming of stem cells molecular mechanisms of diabetes and its complications.

Charles Limoli, Ph.D. - Professor of Radiation Oncology, University of California - Irvine

Dr. Limoli’s research program is focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms that underlie the mammalian stress response and how disruptions to this tightly regulated process lead to genomic instability and cancer. Central to his investigations is the identification of the mechanisms by which cells perpetuate genomic instability. Cells must retain a “memory” of past insult that is passed on to their progeny. Dr. Limoli recently expanded his research into the rapidly growing field of neural stem cell biology. His lab is now exploring how DNA damage and oxidative stress might drive the progression of normal multipotent cells in the CNS to brain tumor stem cells. The working hypothesis is that changes in redox state alter the capability of normal neural stem and precursor cells to ward off genomic instability. This hypothesis predicts that any stem cell versus their immediate progeny (i.e., precursor/progenitor cells) will be more resistant to undergoing genomic instability, and laboratory work has thus far supported this idea. The expectation is that redox sensitive pathways in somatic stem cells throughout the body will prove critical in carcinogenesis.

Maksim Plikus Ph.D. - Assistant Professor of Developmental & Cell Biology, University of California – Irvine

Dr. Plikus’ lab is interested in understanding the nature of stem cell regulatory networks and their role in regeneration. Instead of focusing on individual stem cells, his lab studies the activities of thousands of stem cells at the same time. To do so his laboratory is using the model of hair regeneration where all hair stem cells in the skin can be studied as a single network. Hair stem cells within the networks regenerate by forming patterns. Dr. Plikus is interested to understand the mechanism of this pattern-based regeneration and how stem cell coordination can be modulated to optimize current stem cell-based therapies. Dr. Plikus’ laboratory is also interested in understanding the natural limits of stem cell plasticity in response to injury. His laboratory is using the model of wound healing to study the phenomenon of adipose tissue regeneration in skin scars. Using this model, Dr. Plikus wants to learn about the mechanisms of embryonic-like regeneration in adult organs. Work in this direction aims to develop new anti-scarring therapeutic approaches for wound healing and other fibrotic conditions. Dr. Plikus received his Ph.D. degree in Pathology from the University of Southern California, where he worked with Dr. Cheng-Ming Chuong and carried out studies on the mechanism of hair stem cell regeneration. Later he joined Dr. George Cotsarelis at the University of Pennsylvania to work on the wound regeneration.

Frank LaFerla, Ph.D. - Chancellor’s Professor and Chair of Neurobiology & Behavior and Director of Institute for Memory Impairments & Neurological Disorders, University of California - Irvine

Dr. LaFerla’s lab is predominantly interested in elucidating the molecular basis underlying age-related disorders of the brain and skeletal muscle.  The major focus of our research is on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.  However, we also focus on inclusion body myositis (IBM), the most common age-related muscle disease, which shares some remarkable biochemical features with Alzheimer’s disease. Some of the major contributions from our lab include identification of role of presenilins in calcium signaling, development of first mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease with both plaques and tangles, development of  first mouse model of inclusion body myositis, elucidation of molecular relationship between Aß and tau pathologies, elucidation of role of intracellular Aß in neurodegeneration and memory loss, and evaluation of several drug candidates and translation to human clinical trials.

Mathew Blurton-Jones, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor of Neurobiology & Behavior, University of California - Irvine

Dr. Blurton-Jones previously showed that neural stem cell transplantation can improve learning and memory in a transgenic mouse model of advanced Alzheimer’s disease.   Blurton-Jones lab studies revealed that the stem cells helped promote recovery by elevating levels of a key protein, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). In collaboration with several stem cell and AD researchers we are now testing whether this approach can one day be translated to the clinic. In related studies, we are examining whether neural stem cell transplantation may also be used to treat cognitive dysfunction that occurs in other neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson disease and Dementia with Lewy Bodies. At the basic science level, the lab also uses stem cells to try to model neurodegenerative disease and understand the normal and pathological functions of disease-associated genes.  For example, the lab recently discovered that amyloid precursor protein, the protein that gives rise to beta-amyloid plaques in AD, actually serves an important role in the neural development.  By understanding the normal function of disease-associated genes, it can be better understood exactly what goes wrong in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Matt Blurton-Jones earned his Ph.D. in Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego in 2002.  His postdoctoral studies were pursued in the labs of Dr. Carl Cotman and Dr. Frank LaFerla at UC Irvine.  As a postdoctoral fellow and then Assistant Researcher, Dr. Blurton-Jones studied the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease (AD), transgenic modeling of neurodegeneration, and begun to examine the use of stem cells to treat AD. 

Lisa Flanagan, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor of Neurology, University of California – Irvine

Dr. Flanagan’s research program combines the fields of neural cell biology and bioengineering to address issues critical to the successful transplantation of neural stem cells (NSCs) for the repair of injured or diseased central nervous system (CNS) tissue. As such, her lab is investigating factors that affect the differentiation of NSCs into the three CNS lineages (neurons, astrocytes or oligodendrocytes) and exploring means to direct fate decisions of transplanted or endogenous cells for optimal repair and regeneration. Dr. Flanagan’s lab has taken two complementary approaches to these problems. In one, they are developing novel non-invasive methods to identify the fate potential of undifferentiated stem cells with the goal of isolating cells biased to a particular fate. In the other, they investigate the role of extracellular matrix cues in regulating the behavior of NSCs in order to generate instructive three-dimensional matrices for NSC transplantation. Their goal is to achieve greater control over the differentiation of transplanted or endogenous stem cells to unravel the contributions of each cell type to effective repair and potentially maximize their ability to provide functional recovery. These studies have clinical applications for the treatment of spinal cord injury, Alzheimer’s disease, and stroke.Dr. Flanagan received her B.S. in Zoology/Psychology from Duke University and her Ph.D. from the Neuroscience Program at the University of California, San Diego, where she worked in the field of Alzheimer’s disease in the lab of Dr. Tsunao Saitoh. She carried out postdoctoral studies at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in the laboratory of Dr. Paul Janmey and then became an Instructor in Medicine in a program headed by Dr. Thomas Stossel.

Weian Zhao, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California – Irvine

Dr. Zhao’s lab is focused on mesenchymal stem cell therapy, tumor targeting and detection, and point-of-care diagnostics for global health. We aim to understand the biological, therapeutic and detrimental functions of transplanted stem cells in vivo, which will eventually allow us to better utilize them to treat a variety of diseases including cancer and stroke. Furthermore, we are developing bioengineered tools including microfluidics, nanoparticles and aptamers to tackle unmet challenges in disease diagnosis and global health.  Weian Zhao completed his BSc and MSc degrees in Chemistry at Shandong University (China) where he studied polymer, surface and colloidal chemistry. Weian then obtained his PhD in Chemistry at McMaster University (Canada) in 2008 where he used functional nucleic acid aptamers and enzymes together with gold nanoparticles to construct biosensors for point-of-care applications. From 2008 to 2011, Weian was a Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and MIT where his research focused on mesenchymal stem cell biology, engineering and therapy.

Henry Klassen, M.D., Ph.D. - Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Director of the Stem Cell and Retinal Regeneration Program, University of California - Irvine

Dr. Klassen’s research has shown that CNS progenitor cells are to some extent immune privileged, are neuroprotective to host photoreceptors, and also provide local cell replacement, notably of rods. He is now in the process of showing how such cells can be derived from human tissue, expanded greatly in culture, tested for safety and efficacy, then transplanted to the diseased eye.Dr. Klassen’s laboratory is currently prioritizing the translational development of human retinal progenitor cells as a therapeutic agent for use in retinal degeneration, specifically targeting retinitis pigmentosa (RP) for initial clinical intervention.Henry Klassen received his MD and PhD degrees at the University of Pittsburgh, followed by internship at The Cambridge Hospital, Harvard Medical School and residency in ophthalmology at Yale Eye Center. He next completed a combined fellowship in London which included medical retina with Prof. Alan Bird at Moorfields Eye Hospital and research with Prof. Ray Lund at the Institute of Ophthalmology. After fellowship he was Director of Stem Cell Research at Children’s Hospital of Orange County, then moved to the Singapore Eye Research Institute.

Edwin Monuki, M.D., Ph.D - Associate Professor of Pathology Developmental and Cell Biology, and Biological Sciences, University of California – Irvine

The goals of the Monuki Laboratory are two-fold. The first goal is to understand how the brain develops. The second is use this understanding to make brain cells that might be useful for treating patients. One cell type of particular interest is the choroid plexus epithelial cell, which has significant untapped potential for treating neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease. The Monuki Laboratory focuses on the basic mechanisms underlying dorsal forebrain development, particularly those involving the cerebral cortex and choroid plexus. These studies include the use of stem cell cultures to model dorsal forebrain development and to generate choroid plexus epithelial cells for potential clinical applications. Dr. Monuki, a Southern California native, received his B.S. in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1984, then earned his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California San Diego in 1994. For his graduate studies, he worked on the development of myelinating glial cells with Greg Lemke at the Salk Institute. Dr. Monuki then moved to Boston for his residency training in Anatomic Pathology at the Massachusetts General Hospital, followed by a fellowship in Neuropathology at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital. He then became a staff neuropathologist at the Brigham and Children’s Hospitals and Instructor in Pathology at the Harvard Medical School while carrying out his postdoctoral research with Chris Walsh at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. As a postdoc, Dr. Monuki used mouse genetics to study cerebral cortex development, and he continued these studies when he started as an Assistant Professor at UCI in 2001. Dr. Monuki is board-certified in Anatomic Pathology and Neuropathology, and is a staff neuropathologist at the UCI Medical Center. Now an Associate Professor, Dr. Monuki also currently serves as Vice-Chair for Research for the Department of Pathology and is a standing member of the NIH Neurogenesis and Cell Fate study section. In his spare time, he plays the piano, chases his kids, and roots for the Lakers.

OCTANe connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology industry growth in Orange County.

Edward Snowden provided a clear example of what can happen, even for some of the most security conscious organizations like the NSA, when the insider threat is not taken seriously. Simply put, Snowden was able to collect, extract and disseminate highly classified national security information primarily based on the trust that was provided. Just as with many corporate employees, there is a high sense of trust in which access is granted to some of the company's most valued information assets- including intellectual property, legal and financial files. While the vast majority of employees are loyal and trustworthy, every company still needs to be capable of defending against the potential rogue employee or contractor who is highly motivated and has access to the "crown jewels."

Our panel of experienced specialist will discuss the leading practices that make them vulnerable to the insider threat and emerging solutions that provide proactive monitoring and detection of risky personnel.

Speaker:

• Glen E. Day - Ernst & Young America's Information Security Leader for Technology

More Speakers added soon!

Light appetizers and parking will be provided. 

OCTANe connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology industry growth in Orange County.

Join OCTANe and OCRA on September 5th for a night of networking in the Dave & Busters at the Irvine Spectrum. 

About OCRA - Orange County Regulatory Affairs

OCRA is a non-profit volunteer organization comprised of Regulatory Affairs professionals from the Southern California area who are interested in participating in educational programs and networking with one another. Our membership includes individuals who work in Life Sciences industries such as medical devices, pharmaceutical, biologics, IVD, dietary supplement, food, cosmetics, etc.

OCRA has over 800 members representing more than 225 companies in Orange County and surrounding areas. OCRA meetings provide an educational forum and a means for the regulatory community to network. Our focus is regulatory in nature, however our programs have also provided timely information for individuals involved in Engineering (software validation and product development), Marketing (advertising and labeling), Quality (Quality System Regulation), and other related fields. Although we are Orange County based, our meetings consistently draw participants from all over the West Coast region.Visit our website for more information:  http://www.ocra-dg.org/

OCTANe connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology industry growth in Orange County.

Join UK Trade & Investment as we navigate the UK market opportunity in medical technologies.

Discussion topics will include:

• NICE appraisals
• Regulation
  
• Funding avenues
• Understanding the new NHS

UK Trade & Investment is the Government department that helps UK-based companies succeed in the global economy and assists overseas companies to bring their high-quality investment to the UK.

http://gov.uk/world/usa

Speaker:

Dr. Adam M. Hill– UK Trade & Investment, MedTech Sector Specialist 

Adam is an experienced academic Clinician-Scientist having previously founded and led a successful research Centre at Imperial College London. Adam is uniquely both a qualified surgeon, with Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, and a qualified Mechanical Engineer, hence, his area of expertise is in the research and development of medical technologies. With in excess of 90 peer reviewed publications, Adam has been recognised by 8 awards by the academic community in the last 10 years.

Having served 7 years in the British Army, Adam has co-founded and held leadership positions within 3 start-up companies; a Social Care business, a Medical Education service provider, and a technology incubator and accelerator, before joining the Life Science Investment Organisation as a Healthcare and Medical Technology Specialist.

Areas of Expertise include:

• Research and Development in the UK;
• Health and Social Care Delivery in the UK;
• Clinical Medicine and Surgery;
• Imaging, Implantable, Worn, Assistive and Companion Technologies;
• Healthcare and Biomedical Education;
• Military Medical Technology.
  

For more information, Adam’s profile can be found at: www.linkedin.com/in/hillam

Light breakfast will be provided. 

OCTANe connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology industry growth in Orange County.

Speaker:

Molly B. Schmid, Ph.D. - TriTech SBDC
Molly B. Schmid, Ph.D. is Vice President of the Inland Empire network of the Tech Coast Angels and a member of the TCA Board of Directors. She has specific expertise in early stage biotechnology companies, stemming from her own roles in scientific management, project leadership, and business development in three biotechnology companies. Her career has been about equally split between academia and industry. Most recently, she was Professor and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences and Adjunct Professor at the Drucker School of Management in Claremont CA, where she taught courses in drug discovery and entrepreneurship, and chaired the intellectual property committee.

Light appetizers and beverages will be served.

OCTANe connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology industry growth in Orange County.

For most companies, occupancy costs are usually the highest cost line item after payroll.  Issues for consideration as you plan for your facilities may differ for start-ups and more mature companies. This panel of experts from the commercial real estate community will have an open dialogue which will provide valuable insight as to what is happening in the market, how real estate and facilities costs should be considered when budgeting for your operations and what landlords would view as imperative when entering into lease agreements.  

Speaker bios coming soon!

OCTANe connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology industry growth in Orange County.

This workshop is designed to help the SBIR or STTR applicant create a proposal for the Department of Defense in which the technical and program reviewers can readily understand why your proposal is responsive to the solicitation, why it is innovative and why it should be among the small number of proposals that are funded.

Speaker:

Molly B. Schmid, Ph.D. - TriTech SBDC
Molly B. Schmid, Ph.D. is Vice President of the Inland Empire network of the Tech Coast Angels and a member of the TCA Board of Directors. She has specific expertise in early stage biotechnology companies, stemming from her own roles in scientific management, project leadership, and business development in three biotechnology companies. Her career has been about equally split between academia and industry. Most recently, she was Professor and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences and Adjunct Professor at the Drucker School of Management in Claremont CA, where she taught courses in drug discovery and entrepreneurship, and chaired the intellectual property committee.

Light appetizers and beverages will be served.

Parking

Parking is available in the Engineering Parking Structure, which is located on the corner of East Peltason and Anteater Drive. Entrance into the Engineering Parking Structure is on Anteater Drive. Please visit http://www.parking.uci.edu/maps/imap.cfm to view a campus map for more information.

Parking permits are required 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and parking regulations are enforced. Short term parking permits may be purchased from the vending machine located on East Peltason Drive between Campus Drive and Pereira Drive. Long term parking permits can be purchased from the main parking office between 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Parking permits must be displayed in the windshield at all times. The automated kiosk in Lot 16 takes $1 and $5 bills and all coins except pennies. Parking is $2 per hour or $10 for all day.

OCTANe connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology industry growth in Orange County.

Susan Hollander - Partner, K&L Gates
Susan Hollander has more than 20 years of experience in all aspects of intellectual property law, including complex litigation in trademark and copyright infringement, unfair competition, trade dress and false advertising cases. She is particularly known for helping clients prevent the genericism and dilution of their brands and has been responsible for numerous reported trademark decisions, including precedent-setting jury verdicts. She has extensive experience practicing before the Patent and Trademark Office and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, as well as district and appellate courts throughout the United States. She has managed international and U.S. prosecution and maintenance of trademark applications and registrations for diverse industries, and handled comprehensive enforcement efforts in protecting and policing intellectual property rights. She also has extensive experience in overseeing trademark surveys on all issues relating to the defense of trademark rights and has negotiated numerous trademark settlement agreements and license agreements.

Lunch and parking will be provided. 

OCTANe connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology industry growth in Orange County.

Tom Speiss, Shareholder and Trademark Attorney at Stradling, will tell us how a possible negative could be turned into a real business postive.

Tom Speiss - Shareholder & Trademark Attorney, Stradling
Mr. Speiss is a news reporter who became a lawyer. His practice focuses on global brand management. He is lead outside intellectual property counsel for several companies, principally handling trademark prosecution, branding, copyright, licensing, advertising matters, and related litigation. Mr. Speiss further quarterbacks his clients’ remaining intellectual property and business needs, internally managing those relationships. Prior to attending law school, Mr. Speiss was a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, where he principally covered events in the cities of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. He uses the skills that he developed as a reporter, during his MBA work at USC, and as a lawyer to provide advice and guidance to his clients. Mr. Speiss' clients include a host of energetic and successful businesses such as ‘SC startups (Arthur) Dogswell, which is a leading purveyor of holistic pet food and pet treats, New Deal Studios, which has worked on such Oscar-winning films as "Hugo" and "Inception," and Carver Skateboards. He also represents professional athletes and entrepreneurs Rob Dyrdek and Randy Couture in their myriad intellectual property-related endeavors. While Mr. Speiss seeks non-litigation resolutions for his clients, he has about 15 years of experience in litigating intellectual property disputes.

Continental breakfast and parking will be provided. 

OCTANe connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology industry growth in Orange County.

At a time when many were predicting the demise of the newspaper industry, Eric Spitz and his partner, Aaron Kushner, acquired Freedom Communications, a newspaper holding company with 7 dailies including its flagship Orange County Register in July of 2012.

In this unique opportunity to understand the insights behind the newspaper industry and the ownership of the Orange County Register, Eric will discuss the reasons why an opportunistic entrepreneur would get into the newspaper industry.   He will review his first year at the helm of the Register in the context of his entrepreneurial roots.

Eric Spitz- Entrepreneur, President and co-Owner- Freedom Communications (Orange County Register)

Eric began his entrepreneurial career in 1997 when he launched Trakus with two young MIT engineers and served as its CEO for 7 years. Trakus pioneered the sports technology industry that has changed the way we enjoy sports on TV and in other media formats. He made the natural transition from sports media to restaurants when in 2004 he partnered with the former founder of Boston Market and launched UFood Grill, a chain of healthy quick-serve restaurants. He served as president and co-CEO from 2004-2008. Next, in late 2008 he joined 3 partners and re-launched the Narragansett Brewing Company, serving as the company’s CFO from 2008-2011. During his 17 years in Boston, Eric was deeply involved in the start-up scene around MIT, where he founded the technology companies Gazelle and Beerdog. He also served as mentor, investor, and served on the board of several others.

Light appetizers and parking will be provided.

OCTANe connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology industry growth in Orange County.

Join the OCTANe community at Tamarind of London for Firsty on October 3. Network with over 200 people and meet members of the organization that focuses on fueling innovation in the OC. 

OCTANe connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology industry growth in Orange County.

Companies are increasingly turning to the cloud to reduce costs, meet customer needs, and find value in on-demand access, external IT resources, streamlined implementations, scalability, and increased redundancy and sustainability. However, entering the cloud comes with risks, including those related to technological limitations, loss of control, security, service level agreements, and regulatory restrictions. Because of these risks, companies are faced with due diligence requests and audit demands to demonstrate how they're protecting customers' systems and records. 

Speakers:

Francis Tam - Parter, Moss Adams
Francis has practiced public accounting and consulting since 1994 including nine years with a large international firm. He has extensive experience providing information technology audit and internal control guidance to public and private companies. Francis’ expertise in technology consulting includes payment card industry security, IT governance, cost/benefit, IT planning, risk management, systems analysis, requirements definition and analysis, systems selection and configuration, policy development, project management and quality assurance, organizational analysis and development, and business process reengineering. In addition, Francis has participated and led many compliance audits, internal controls audits, external operational assessments, and financial audits. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the California Society of Certified Public Accountants, and the Information Systems Audit and Control Association. Francis has a BS in Computer Science and an MBA in Finance and Accounting, and is the winner of the 1992 AICPA Elijah Watt Sells Award with Highest Distinction in the Uniform CPA Examination.

Light appetizers and beverages will be provided.