Dr. William Tucker
Exec. Director, Innovation Alliances and Services, University of California Office of the President

Dr. Tucker was born in the UK and educated in Australia.  He holds a B. Sc. (Hons) and a Ph. D. in Microbiology from the University of Queensland.  He also holds an MBA degree from St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California.  Dr. Tucker held post-doctoral research fellowships at Stanford University (with Prof. Stanley Cohen) and at the Research School of Biological Sciences at the Australian National University in Canberra Australia.  He also holds an MBA degree from St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California.

Dr. Tucker’s scientific career focused on agricultural biotechnology, first as a research scientist, and then in technology management and business development through a ten year tenure with Advanced Genetic Sciences, and then its successor organization, DNA Plant Technology.  He then joined Applera Corporation (Applied Biosystems in Foster City, CA) where his was part of the team that licensed PCR technology for commercial applications.  With Applera, Dr. Tucker then joined the business development team at agricultural genomics unit of Celera Genomics where he sought out agricultural applications of molecular marker technology, high throughput sequencing, and related genomics platforms.  He continued these activities with Paradigm Genetics (based in North Carolina) when Paradigm acquired the plant-related part of Celera’s agricultural genomics business.

In 2003, Dr. Tucker joined the Office of Technology Transfer at the University of California, Office of the President, in Oakland CA.  In 2004, Dr. Tucker became the Executive Director, Research Administration and Technology Transfer.  In 2010 following a reorganization of the Office of Research and Graduate Studies, his office was renamed Innovation Alliances and Services to reflect a broader role in supporting and enhancing interactions with industry to help move technology from the laboratory to the marketplace.

Ronald W. Lennox D.PHIL.
Partner, CHL Medical Partners

Ron invests in the biotechnology and molecular diagnostic sectors. He has served on the boards of eighteen companies including General Surgical Innovations, Inc. (acquired by Tyco International Corp.), GeneOhm Sciences, Inc. (acquired by Becton Dickinson), Protometrix, Inc. (acquired by Invitrogen Corp.), and Applied Molecular Evolution Inc. (acquired by Eli Lilly). He was founding CEO of Protometrix, Inc. as well as of CGI Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Prior to the founding of CHL Medical Partners, Ron was a general partner at Hancock Venture Partners (now HarbourVest Partners) where he invested in sixteen healthcare companies, ten of which had successful IPOs.

Ron graduated from the University of Glasgow with a B.Sc. in Molecular Biology, Oxford University where he received a D.Phil. in Cell Biology and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
 

Heather M. Snyder, Ph.D.
Senior Associate Director, Medical & Scientific Relations, Alzheimer's Association

Dr. Snyder is the Senior Associate Director, Medical and Scientific Relations, at the Alzheimer’s Association. She oversees the Association's International Research Grant Program, the mechanism through which the Association funds research applications. In addition to ensuring the smooth review of applications and distribution of awards to successful applicants, she is responsible for the dissemination of results and ongoing investigations to a wide range of audiences.

Dr. Snyder oversees the Association’s participation in the Everyday Technology in Alzheimer’s Care initiative, which is a joint effort with Intel that brings together technology researchers who are working to improve quality of life for people affected by Alzheimer's and their caregivers.

She also manages a collaborative project with the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health to develop a Common Alzheimer’s Disease Research Ontology (CADRO) to enable the integration and comparative analysis of Alzheimer’s research portfolios from public and private organizations in the U.S. and abroad.

Dr. Snyder received her Ph.D. from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and her B.A. in Biology and Religious Studies from The University of Virginia. Since graduating from Stritch, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Neurobiology Program at Children’s Memorial Research Center, affiliated with Northwestern University, in Chicago. During this time, she received a training fellowship from the National Institutes of Health, published papers related to mechanisms of neuronal toxicity in neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer's disease, and presented topics related to areas of research in both national and international venues.