Insight from experts who understand the power of academic research

Ultimately, the future of the UVA-Coulter Partnership rests on the quality of our Oversight Committee.

The UVA-Coulter Translational Partnership is extremely fortunate in having secured the active participation of a diverse group of outstanding individuals—senior scientists and clinicians, serial entrepreneurs, and industry leaders—who are deeply engaged in the Coulter process and are generous contributors of time, resources and expertise.

  • Peter Caravan, Coulter Oversight Committee

    The Coulter Oversight Committee selects projects for funding and helps steer the direction of the UVA- Coulter Translational Partnership.

     

  • Keren Ziv, Coulter Oversight Committee

    Oversight Committee members provide advice and insight and share their extensive relationship of industry contacts. Thanks to their experience, they are perceptive critics of our teams' work, able to see potential that might be hidden from less seasoned observers.

  • John Lazo, Coulter Committee

    The insight and experience of the Oversight Committee is critical both to the success of the program and the progress of the individual projects we fund.

     

UVA-Coulter Oversight Committee

  • Heidi Gillenwater, M.D.

    Heidi Gillenwater, M.D.

    Senior Medical Director, Juno Therapeutics (a subsidiary of Celgene)

    At Juno Therapeutics, Dr. Gillenwater is developing a suite of immunotherapy treatments for cancer. Prior to joining Juno, she was medical director at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Amgen, and a faculty member in hematology/oncology at UVA.

  • Bruce Littlefield, Ph.D.

    Bruce Littlefield, Ph.D.

    Distinguished Scientist and Head, Translational Medicine, Global Oncology, Eisai Inc.

    With a career straddling the academia/industry interface, Dr. Littlefield’s main research activities have been in natural product-based cancer drug discovery, development and translational research, including initiating and leading preclinical efforts at Eisai that resulted in FDA approval of eribulin (Halaven®) for certain patients with advanced breast cancer and liposarcoma. A key current research focus is exploring the biological intersection between cancer therapy and the host immune system.

  • John Lazo, Ph.D.

    John Lazo, Ph.D.

    Harrison Distinguished Professor and associate director for basic science, UVA Cancer Center

    Dr. Lazo's primary research interests are in molecular pharmacology and drug discovery with a special interest in drugs for cancer. He holds eight U.S. patents and cofounded three pharmaceutical companies.

     

  • Doug Levinson, Ph.D.

    Doug Levinson, Ph.D.

    Serial Entrepreneur and Founder of Lake Street Enterprises

    Through Lake Street, Dr. Levinson funds life sciences companies based on translational science and technology and founded Cytrellis Biosystems, a clinical stage medical device company developing minimally invasive instruments for aesthetic medical applications.

  • Sharon Presnell, Ph.D.

    Sharon Presnell, Ph.D.

    President, Amnion Foundation

    Before Amnion Foundation, an organization dedicated to developing a national, public stem cell bank, Dr. Presnell was simultaneously president of Samara Sciences and CSO of Organovo Holdings,

  • Michael Straightiff, M.B.A.

    Michael Straightiff, M.B.A.

    executive director, UVA Licensing and Ventures Group (LVG)

    At UVA LVG, Mr. Straightiff is responsible for the technology transfer and commercialization of all UVA-owned intellectual property. LVG provides supports more than 50 active startups launched from discoveries at UVA,

  • Kate Taylor, Ph.D.

    Kate Taylor, Ph.D.

    Global Innovation Program Manager, Boston Scientific

    Dr. Taylor is the global innovation program manager at Boston Scientific, a leading developer and manufacturer of medical devices used in interventional medical specialties. Before coming to Boston Scientific, she worked for a variety of drug delivery and medical device companies including Medtronic.

  • Keren Ziv, Ph.D.

    Keren Ziv, Ph.D.

    Head of Strategic Innovation, LevitasBio

    Dr. Ziv is head of strategic innovation at LevitasBio, which is applying its novel magnetic levitation technology for cellular analysis across a wide range of applications. Before that, she was chief scientific officer at CytoMag, which is developing microfluidic systems for rapid cell isolation, recovery, and analysis.