Dr. Duke is a biotechnology executive, inventor, biomedical researcher and serial entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience in building, financing and managing start-up biotechnology companies based on inventions made in Colorado’s non-profit research institutions.

Dr. Duke is currently founder and chief scientific officer of the Colorado Institute for Drug, Device and Diagnostic Development (CID4). Dr. Duke is a co-scientific founder and former chief executive officer of GlobeImmune (NASD: GBIM) and was involved in the formation and/or management of Newellink, ApopLogic Pharmaceuticals, Sierra Neuropharmaceuticals, MenoGeniX, PeptiVir and Aurora Oncology. These Colorado-based companies have raised more than $200 million in financing and have multiple products in phase I and II clinical trials. Dr. Duke has more than 30 years of experience in biomedical research and is a tenured faculty member in the Department of Medicine at the University of Colorado Denver. He has more than 70 research publications and his work on apoptosis was recognized as the cover article of “Scientific American”. He is a graduate of McGill University (B.Sc. and M.Sc.) and the University of Colorado (Ph.D.).

Debra Duke is the president of MenoGeniX, which she co-founded in 2010. She has 30 years of business experience in the biotechnology and energy industries.

Debra has been involved in all aspects of the organization from filing the worldwide patents, raising equity financing and follow-on financings to fund the clinical trial, staffing to extensive business development activities and operations. Most importantly, a strong team of clinicians, researchers, business development, legal and finance experts have been assembled to continue to progress MenoGeniX’s development plans to potentially provide an approved therapy to treat hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms. Prior to MenoGeniX, Debra was president of Duke Medical Research Group LLC, a consulting firm she established to provide third-party independent research to the financial investment industry with clients primarily focused on healthcare. In addition, Debra has served in several leadership, fundraising and marketing roles of various professional, civil and charitable organizations. She earned her bachelor’s degree in labor and industrial relations from McGill University.

Dr. Woody Emlen is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of California (San Diego) School of Medicine.

Dr. Emlen was professor of medicine and immunology at the University of Washington and University of Colorado Health Sciences Center for almost 20 years, where his practice was in internal medicine and rheumatology (arthritis) and his research focused on inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. In the late 1990s, Dr. Emlen left academic medicine to pursue a career in biotechnology, serving as vice president of scientific affairs for Palo Alto-based InterMune Pharmaceuticals. In 2004, he co-founded his own Denver-based biotechnology company, Taligen Therapeutics, serving as chief operating officer until the company’s acquisition by Alexxion in 2011. Dr. Emlen is currently retired from medicine, but serves on the boards of several early-stage biotechnology companies.

Dr. Richard Fort began his career in the space shuttle program at Kennedy Space Center, where he worked for Martin Marietta, Lockheed and NASA in the areas of organizational development, leadership and total quality management.

He continued his career in the telecommunications industry with Time Warner Cable, then moved into the world of education when he bought a Sylvan Learning Center franchise. In 1995, Dr. Fort founded Education Sales Management (ESM), which quickly grew into the premier enrollment center for Sylvan franchises across the nation. ESM branched into higher education and became the leading provider of student enrollment services in the areas of college admissions and student retention. In 16 years, ESM worked with over 1,000 learning centers, college campuses and online programs, grew to 800 employees, and was acquired by the Xerox Corporation in 2011. Today, Dr. Fort runs The Fort Knocks Company, an investment management company focused on the life sciences and clean tech energy sectors. He advises start-ups and entrepreneurs, and sits on several boards of directors. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology at Louisiana State University, a Master of Science in experimental psychology from Northeast Louisiana University, and his doctorate in organizational psychology from Walden University.

Dr. Gladys Monroy is a patent attorney specializing in the life sciences, and has practiced patent law since 1986. She recently retired from her position as senior partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP, where she was a founder of the Patent Law Group that she chaired for nine years.

Dr. Monroy received her bachelor’s degree from Hunter College, doctorate from New York University and law degree from the University of South Florida. Dr. Monroy was a post-doctoral fellow at Einstein College of Medicine and an assistant professor at New York Medical College. She has received many awards and recognitions, including being listed in “Best Lawyers in America” and “Who's Who Legal” and receiving a top rating in “Chambers USA” the 2012 Chambers USA Women in Law Award of Intellectual Property Lawyer of the Year. Additionally, Dr. Monroy served as president of the Silicon Valley Intellectual Property Law Association and on the board of the Intellectual Property Committee of the State Bar. Currently, along with her position as co-chair of the Bay Area Region for American ​Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science, Dr. Monroy serves on the boards of the Multiple Myeloma Institute, Cancer Commons and Rare Science Inc.

Doug Farrar is a co-founder of MenoGeniX, and has over 30 years of biotech industry experience. Doug spent 18 of those 30 years with Amgen, starting as a process development engineer in 1987 when the company had 250 employees.

Prior to Amgen, Doug worked for Monsanto in their biotech animal health division, and after Amgen worked as senior vice president of operations for Insmed, and later as chief technical officer of Coherus. Throughout his career, Doug has successfully worked with numerous corporate partners in the U.S., Europe and Japan. He has extensive experience in process development, clinical manufacturing and commercial manufacturing. His previous responsibilities include cell-line development, cell banking, fermentation/cell culture, purification, fill/finish, lyophilization, outsourced manufacturing, engineering and logistic operations. Farrar has been involved in filing 16 Investigational New Drug (IND) Applications and two Biological License Applications (BLAs). Doug has worked with dozens of products developed by recombinant DNA technology in microbial, yeast and mammalian cells manufactured in-house or at contract manufacturing facilities, and has built a process development pilot plant and multi-product clinical manufacturing plant from the ground up, as well as expanded, renovated and retooled commercial manufacturing facilities with hundreds of kilograms to multi-metric ton output capabilities. Doug has hosted numerous US FDA, European and Health Canada prior approval and periodic inspections, and has been involved in many Pre-IND, EOP2, Pre-BLA, Post-Approval Change, Type C, and similar meetings with the FDA, MHRA, EMEA, and other regulatory agencies. Doug received a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from the University of Missouri, Rolla (now known as Missouri University of Science and Technology) in 1986.

As a partner at Wilson Sonsini, Brent Fassett's practice focuses on the representation of emerging growth companies and the investors that support them with a particular focus on life sciences and health care companies.

Brent has counseled clients from incorporation through their initial public offerings and day-to-day existence as public companies. Mr. Fassett has received many awards and recognitions, including being listed in “Chambers and Partners USA”, “IPO Lawyer Yearbook”, and “Who's Who Legal”. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1991 and doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School in 1994.

Drs. Frans W.G. Trouwen is the CEO and Founder of Liberi Group. His company is specialized in working with biotech companies on Business Development and Strategy for over 18 years. With team members in The Netherlands and Denmark, they work on Investment projects, M&A, co-development and licensing. Over the last years, the team has secured many deals for its clients. The network of Investment and Strategic Pharma companies of Liberi Group is spread all over Europe, the US and Asia as well as South America and Russia/The Middle East. Frans Trouwen served as the CEO of Valletta Health B.V. , a Dermatology spin out of the Academic University Amsterdam for over 10 years. Frans serves on several Boards.