Epitracker Team
Stephanie Venn-Watson, DVM, MPH
Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer
Stephanie is a serial entrepreneur who has successfully launched Epitracker, Seraphina Therapeutics,two clinical research programs within the Department of Defense and non-profit sector, and founded public health education programs in the community and at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Her novel approach to discovering therapeutic candidates for animals and humans has been featured on NPR’s Science Friday, CBS, BBC, National Geographic, Biocom’s Annual Dinner (2014), J&J Innovations: Powerful Ideas Series (2015), San Diego Venture Group's Hot Topic Series (2015) and Cool Companies (2017), LA BioMed Innovation Showcase (2016), and San Diego's Innovation Showcase (2017). She has over 60 peer-reviewed scientific publications and book chapters and is the lead inventor on over 40 issued and pending patents. For her entrepreneurial work in the health industry, Stephanie was awarded the Department of Human and Human Services Secretary's Award for Innovations in Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
Stephanie received her B.S. in Animal Physiology and Neuroscience from UC San Diego, D.V.M. from Tufts University, M.P.H. from Emory University, and was a National Research Council Associate with the Armed Forces Medical Intelligence Center. Stephanie has worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. She is an Albert Schweitzer Fellow for Life. |
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Eric Venn-Watson, MD, MBA
Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer
Eric brings significant experience in creating and growing early stage biotechnology companies. Prior to Epitracker, Eric founded a healthcare analytics company and a medical device company, was CMO of a pharmaceutical startup, SVP of a digital health company and worked as a business consultant. Eric is also a US Navy Veteran, having served 21 years as a military physician, with multiple leadership roles, as well as combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He serves in advisory roles for multiple startup companies, is a regular lecturer at the Rady School of Management, and supports entrepreneurship programs for military veterans in San Diego. He was awarded the 'Best Entrepreneur' in the Start up Company Category at the 2017 Veteran and Military Conference and Awards.
Eric attended the military medical school at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, received his general surgery and orthopedic surgery training at the Naval Medical Center San Diego, and completed his MBA at the UCSD, Rady School of Management.
Eric attended the military medical school at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, received his general surgery and orthopedic surgery training at the Naval Medical Center San Diego, and completed his MBA at the UCSD, Rady School of Management.
Greg Horowitt
Board of Directors
Greg Horowitt is a serial entrepreneur, investor, author, and innovation systems architect. He is a Managing Director of Jun Capital as well as a member of the Society of Kauffman Fellows. He is the Director of Innovation at the University of California, San Diego, and also serves as an adjunct lecturer at Stanford University. He has spent 25+ years working in startups, venture capital, and is one of the pioneers in the field of innovation ecosystems. He is the co-author of the bestselling book, The Rainforest: The Secret to Building the Next Silicon Valley and is a trusted advisor to such notable organizations as the US State Department, Aspen Institute, University of California, World Bank, and Inter-American Development Bank, in addition to his role as a Senior Fellow with the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils. Mr. Horowitt has worked in several executive and investment roles including a Berkshire Hathaway operating company, and continues his work today as an investor, advisor, and board member of multiple entrepreneurial startups.
Magda Marquet, PhD
Board of Directors
Magda is co-founder and co-CEO of ALMA Life Sciences LLC, an investment and consulting firm with a portfolio of twenty private investments. She is also the co-Chairman and co-Founder of Althea. She was co-President and CEO of Althea Technologies for ten years prior to the company’s acquisition by Ajinomoto. Dr. Marquet is also co-founder of Althea Dx, a spin-off of Althea Technologies focusing in personalized medicine, companion diagnostics development and pharmacogenomics. Dr. Marquet has three decades of experience in the biotechnology industry in the United States and Europe. Prior to starting Althea, she held management positions at Vical Inc., Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Protein Polymer Technologies, Syntro Corporation and Transgene. She currently serves as a Board member for Sente, Independa and Portable Genomics. She is also co-Chairman of the Advisory Board of MD Revolution. Dr. Marquet was Chairman of BIOCOM (2013-2014) and is Chair of the Board of Visitors of the UCSD Moores Cancer Center. She serves as a Director of the Economic Development Corporation (EDC- Executive Committee) and of the Kyoto Symposium Organization. She is also a member of the UCSD Biological Sciences Dean Leadership Council. Dr. Marquet holds a Ph.D in Biochemical Engineering from INSA/University of Toulouse, France. Dr. Marquet has received numerous awards throughout her career including the 2005 Regional Ernst&Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Life Sciences category, the Athena Pinnacle Award and the Exemplary Service Award from the San Diego Business Journal. She is the first woman inducted in the Connect Entrepreneur Hall of Fame (2016).
John Reiner, PhD
Medicinal Chemistry
John has 30 years of experience in drug development, including identifying a lead compound through structure-activity relationships, optimizing potency and target specificity and optimizing for bioavailability and other pharmacokinetic properties. John has also been involved in other aspects of drug discovery that utilize chemistry, including the synthesis of assay reagents, development of compound library platforms, and process chemistry for the scale-up of material for preclinical studies. John has been a Senior Research Scientist for Corvas International, Inc., Director of Medicinal Chemistry for Bethany Pharmaceuticals, and consultant for startup biotechnology companies.
John's formal training as a medicinal chemist includes earning a B.S. from Emory University, an M.A. and Ph.D. at Columbia University, and an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at Stanford University.
John's formal training as a medicinal chemist includes earning a B.S. from Emory University, an M.A. and Ph.D. at Columbia University, and an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at Stanford University.
Michael Berthelot, MBA
Finance
Michael founded Cito Capital Corporation in February 2003 following his retirement as Chief Executive Officer of TransTechnology Corporation, a New York Stock Exchange listed multinational manufacturer of industrial and aerospace equipment and components. Mr. Berthelot currently serves as a member of the board of directors and audit committee and chair of the compensation committee of Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. (NYSE:FDP), a Fortune 1000 Miami based consumer products company and as a member of the board of directors and the audit and compensation committees and chair of the governance committee of Pro-Dex Inc. (NASDAQ:PDEX) an Irvine, CA medical device manufacturer. Mr. Berthelot also serves on the boards of several private and not-for-profit organizations in San Diego County and is an adjunct professor at the University of California San Diego Rady School of Management. During Mr. Berthelot's twelve-year tenure as CEO of TransTechnology, the company completed ten acquisitions including fifteen different operations. As a result, revenues grew from $54 million in fiscal 1991 to a peak of $328 million in fiscal 2001. In association with these acquisitions, Mr. Berthelot led a one million share secondary issue of common stock and multiple rounds of senior and subordinated debt financing, including a syndicated $325 million senior and subordinated credit facility in 2000. From 2001 through 2003, Mr. Berthelot led the company's successful restructuring process, divesting fourteen operations in a difficult environment. The company's corporate governance practices achieved a ranking in the 98.3 percentile from Insitutional Shareholder Services in 2003. Mr. Berthelot considers the management team he developed and built at TransTechnology as his most valuable contribution to the company.
Randy Socol
Corporate Counsel
Randy is a partner at DLA Piper, LLC. Randy’s focus is on emerging companies in biotechnology and medical device sectors, and investors that finance and/or acquire these companies. Randy currently splits his time between DLA Piper's San Diego and Los Angeles offices and is the co-chair of the firm's US Emerging Growth and Venture Capital practice. Randy is also founding member of the firm's Corporate Venture Leadership Group.
Rose Thiessen
Intellectual Property Counsel
Rose is a partner at the San Diego office of Knobbe Martens LLP, where she represents individual and business clients in pharmaceutical and other life science technologies. Rose’s practice includes patent portfolio management and filing strategies in the U.S. and abroad, client counseling on issues related to licensing, infringement and trade secrets, and intellectual property due diligence in conjunction with financing, partnerships, acquisitions, and IPOs.
Faye Hunter, JD
Licensing
Faye's diverse skills have been accumulated over nearly 40 years of business and professional experience in the law and publishing, as well as in non-profit leadership roles. She has assisted founders, investors and managers in emerging growth companies, ranging from startup venture-backed to mature public companies. She has advised companies in a variety of industries, with a particular focus on biotechnology, pharmaceutical, specialty pharmaceutical, medical device and other life science industries. She also assisted her clients in developing and executing acquisition and licensing strategies, whether in connection with the initial in-licensing of technology, complex corporate alliance or partnering transactions or mergers & acquisitions. Hunter has expertise in corporate governance issues and frequently advises for-profit and non-profit boards of directors and management on these issues. She brings to her positions an ability to view the big-picture strategic issues while being able to work through the technical nitty gritty of legal and other essential issues.
Faye served on the Board of Trustees of The Salk Institute for Biological Studies and for the San Diego Public Library Foundation. Faye earned her undergraduate degree at Stanford and her JD at the University of San Diego School of Law.
Faye served on the Board of Trustees of The Salk Institute for Biological Studies and for the San Diego Public Library Foundation. Faye earned her undergraduate degree at Stanford and her JD at the University of San Diego School of Law.
Ed Dennis, PhD
Scientific Advisor
Ed is a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Pharmacology specializing in lipid research at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Immunology at The Scripps Research Institute and a Visiting Research Professor at the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris. Dr. Dennis is currently Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Lipid Research and on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Cellular Biochemistry. He has served as a Consultant, Scientific Advisor, and on Scientific Advisory Boards and Board of Directors for numerous pharmaceutical companies, including as a consultant for Novartis, Astrazeneca, and Du Pont Merk Pharmaceutical Company. Dr. Dennis has 375 peer-reviewed scientific publications and has received many awards, including the Avanti Award for Research in Lipid Biochemistry from the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Dr. Dennis is a gradate of Yale University (BA) and Harvard University (MA, PhD, Postdoctoral) and has honorary Doctorate degrees from Goethe University of Frankfurt (Germany) and the University of Lyon (France).
Dan Einhorn, MD
Clinical Advisor
Dan is medical director of the Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute, clinical professor of medicine (voluntary) at UC San Diego, president of Diabetes and Endocrine Associates, and associate editor of the Journal of Diabetes. He is a current trustee and past-president of the American College of Endocrinology (ACE), a founding member and current regent of the ACE Foundation, and past-president of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE). He received his BA at Yale (Summa cum Laude), his MD at Tufts (AOA) and his post-graduate training at Harvard. He has been in leadership at AACE and ACE for over 20 years during which time he has had the privilege of participating in writing many national guidelines, including those for diabetes, pre-diabetes, inpatient diabetes management, and obesity, as well as leading consensus conferences on insulin resistance, pre-diabetes, obesity, and glucose monitoring.. He has been on the teaching faculty of every AACE/ACE annual meeting since 1994, chairing the meeting in 2009. He continues to be a practicing physician who loves seeing patients and their families.