Leading Organizers
Sino-American Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Professionals Association ( SABPA)
San Diego Chinese American Association (SDCAA)
Co-organizers
The American Chemical Society, San Diego Section ( ACS-SD)
UCSD Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Services ( UCSD TTIPS)
Organizing Committee:
Robin Allgren, M.D., Ph.D, Breakthrough Bio Developmen
Hui Cai, Ph.D., MBA, Wuxi Apptec
Xiangming Fang, M.D., Ph.D., eBioCenter
Gen-Sheng Feng, Ph.D., UCSD
Ming Guo, Ph.D., Ascentage Pharma
David Jiang, Ph.D., MBA, BIOCOM, CONNECT
Hua Jin, M.D., UCSD
Hui Li, Ph.D., Pfizer
Li-Ming Liang, M.S., MBA, SABPA
Yahu A. Liu, Ph.D., GNF
Shuyan Lu, M.S., Pfizer
Mao Mao, Ph.D. Pfizer
Feng Tian, Ph.D.
Tao Wu, Ph.D., GNF
Qiang Xu, Ph.D., AltheaDx Inc.
Mingzhu Zhang, Ph.D., Medicilon
Peter Zhu, M.S., MBA, Pfizer
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Robin Allgren, M.D., Ph.D., MBA, Founder & President, Breakthrough Bio Development, LLC
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Dr. Allgren has over 18 years of biotechnology product development experience, spanning drugs, biologics, medical devices, diagnostics and cellular therapies. She has successfully executed product development activities and interfaced with FDA at all stages of development – from IND through NDA filing – and has contributed to multiple FDA product approvals. Dr Allgren currently is founder and president of Breakthrough Bio Development, LLC, an independent product development consulting firm, specializing in clinical development and regulatory affairs for innovative investigational life sciences products. Previously, Dr Allgren served as Senior Vice President of Development at Ansata, Inc., leading the company’s clinical research, regulatory affairs, preclinical toxicology and project management efforts. Prior to that, she held leadership positions at Innercool, SkyePharma and Scios. Dr. Allgren received her M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford Medical School and has an M.B.A. in Health Services Management from Golden Gate University. She is also Co-Chair of Athena’s Entrepreneurs Affinity Group.
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Hui Cai, Ph.D., MBA, Vice President of Business Development, WuXi AppTec
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Dr. Hui Cai is Vice President of Business Development at WuXi AppTec, one of the world's most reputable providers of comprehensive and integrated pharmaceutical R&D services with 4200 employees, and FDA/EXMA inspected facilities in US and China. She brought to WX with a broad portfolio of expertise in strategic planning, business development, and portfolio management as President of Inflexion BioPartners and Vice President of Corporate Development at HUYA Bioscience. Prior to that, Dr. Cai spent ten years at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development, co-leading multiple small molecule drug discovery programs. She is a co-author and coinventor to over 40 scientific publications and issued or pending patents.
Dr. Cai was appointed by the Mayor of San Diego, in 2002, and has served as a Commissioner at City of San Diego Science and Technology Commission. She is Chairman of Board at Sino-American Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Professionals Association, and 2009 Chair of the San Diego Section of the American Chemical Society.
Dr. Cai received her BS and MS in Chemistry from Peking University, PhD from The Scripps Research Institute, and MBA from UCSD Rady School of Management as a DLA Piper - Athena FlexMBA Scholar.
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Xiangming Fang, M.D., Ph.D., Co-Founder, Senior Vice President & Chief Scientific Officer, eBioCenter Corporation
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Dr. Fang is the current President of SABPA, San Diego Chapter. She has served as BOD of SABPA for 7 years.
Dr. Fang is Co-Founder, Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at eBioCenter Corporation (www.ebiocenter.com), an internet-based company providing marketing and information services in the fields of biopharma and life sciences. Dr. Fang has 26 years of experience in biomedical research and product development, including 16 years of biotech industry experience and 10 years of management experience. She has strong scientific background with integrated knowledge in medicine, molecular and cell biology, protein chemistry and immunology. Previously as the Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at GenWay Biotech, she is responsible for new technology and product development and production, as well as customer support and partnership coordination. Prior to GenWay, Dr. Fang served at GenStar Therapeutics, initially as the Director of the Cancer Program and the Director of Preclinical Studies, then as Vice President, Hemophilia and Vector Development. Dr. Fang obtained her M.D. degree from Zhejiang University Medical School and Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Alabama. She completed her postdoctoral studies at the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center.
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Geng-Sheng Feng, Ph.D., Professor, UCSD
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Dr. Gen-Sheng Feng earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Indiana University Bloomington in 1990. He received postdoctoral training in the area of signal transduction at the Hospital for Sick Children and Mount Sinai Hospital , Toronto , Canada . In 1994, he was appointed as an assistant professor in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Indiana University School of Medicine in 1994, and was promoted to associate professor in 1999. Dr. Feng was recruited to Burnham Institute for Medical Research ( www.burnham.org ) in 2000 as an associate professor and was promoted to professor in 2005. In 2009 Dr. Feng joined UCSD and became a professor in the Section of Molecular Biology. His research focuses on understanding the molecular basis for obesity/leptin resistance and diabetes, and also the molecular mechanism for control of stem cell self-renewal versus differentiation, the most fundamental issue in stem cell biology. Dr. Feng was a recipient of a career development award from the American Diabetes Foundation, and his laboratory has been well funded by the National Institutes of Health, American Cancer Society and American Heart Association. Dr. Feng is currently a member of editorial boards for Molecular and Cellular Biology and Journal of Biological Chemistry. The work accomplished by his group has been published in Science, Nature Medicine, PNAS, JEM, MCB, JBC and other prestigious journals. Their most recent data point to a new direction for development of therapeutic drugs for obesity and type 2 diabetes.
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Ming Guo, Ph.D., Co-Founder & Chairman, Ascentage Pharma
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Dr. Ming Guo is a co-founder of Ascentage Pharma (established in June 2009), a spin-off NCE drug R&D company from Ascenta (Shanghai) R&D Center (a wholly owned subsidiary of Ascenta Therapeutics). Dr. Guo had played a pivotal role in establishment of Ascenta (Shanghai) R&D Center in summer 2005 as one of the first global NCE R&D organizations in China, and assumed its General Manager role later. Dr. Guo has also been Vice President of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Manufacturing at Ascenta since March 2005, in charge of all CMC activities as well as working on corporate management and business development. Before Ascenta, Dr. Guo worked at Pfizer for 9 years, leading many aspects of drug development activities in CMC areas, both in-house and outsourced, with technical leadership as well as project management leadership. One of the project teams Dr. Guo lead was a Pfizer project team award recipient in early 2005. Before Pfizer, Dr. Guo worked at Monsanto and ABC Laboratories for 6 years. He had established the pharmaceutical CRO business line for ABC labs during early 1990’s. Academically, Dr. Guo taught at the UCSD Extension about NCE drug development for 2002-2004 and is currently an adjunct faculty member at Peking University, China. Dr. Guo has many publications and patents as well as been invited as presenting speaker or panelist at many international professional and business conferences. As a co-founder, Dr. Guo was the first Chairman of the Board and currently serves as a Director of SABPA (www.sabpa.org). He is also a member of BayHelix Group (www.bayhelix.org) and other professional organizations. Dr. Guo was a “Special Contribution Award” recipient from the SFDA in December 2009. Dr. Guo received his Ph.D. degree from University of California at San Diego (UCSD) and his M.S. degree from the Institute of Materia Medica, (IMM), Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS).
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David Jiang, Ph.D., MBA, Senior Advisor, Corporate Development, BIOCOM; Strategic Marketing and Finance Domain Expert, CONNECT
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Dr. Jiang is a strategic planning and business development executive with broad industry expertise in pharmaceutical, diagnostics, and life sciences research tool companies. He is currently a Senior Advisor of Corporate Development at BIOCOM and a Strategic Marketing and Finance Domain Expert at CONNECT. In his previous role as a Senior Manager of Strategic Planning at Gen-Probe, he led a team that helped Gen-Probe complete its first major acquisition in Europe. Prior to Gen-Probe, Dr. Jiang was an Associate Analyst at Bear Stearns covering life science research tool companies. He also worked as the Associate Director of Asia Pacific Commercial Operations at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, leading the strategic planning effort of its $1.3 billion business.
Dr. Jiang earned General Securities NYSE & NASD Series 7, 63, 86, and 87 licenses. He served as the Executive Council Member of the Sino-American Pharmaceutical Professionals Association in the Greater Philadelphia Region and was also the Director of the Atlanta Biotech Network Consulting Project Teams.
Dr. Jiang is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and graduated with honors in Chemistry from Grinnell College, prior to earning his Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Medicine from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In addition, Dr. Jiang holds an M.B.A. with national honors from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Hua Jin, M.D., Associate Clinic Professor of Psychiatry, UCSD
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Dr. Hua Jin is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and medical director of MCCE program in the division of geropsychiatry. In addition, Dr. Jin is the President of San Diego Chinese American Association. Dr. Jin has extensive experience in psychiatry research and clinical trials, and has published over 30 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He is a consultant on international clinical trials for Stanley Medical Research Foundation.
Dr. Jin received his medical degree from Shanghai Medical University and completed his psychiatry residency training at both the Shanghai Mental Health Center and in the department of psychiatry at UCSD. He has been on the faculty of the UCSD Department of Psychiatry and staff psychiatrist at VA San Diego Healthcare System since he graduated from his residency training in 2001.
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Hui Li, Ph.D., Senior Principle Scientist, Pfizer
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Dr. Hui Li is a senior principal scientist at Pfizer Global Research & Development, La Jolla Laboratories. Over the past 11 years, he has led research efforts in multiple disease areas including anti-viral, diabetes oncology and ophthalmology. He is a co-inventor of Filibuvir (PF-00868554), a Hepatitis C Virus polymerase inhibitor currently in phase II clinical trial. Dr. Li obtained his B.S degree from Peking University and Ph.D in organic chemistry from University of California, San Diego. There he worked under the guidance of Professor K. C. Nicolaou on new synthetic technology development and the total synthesis of glycopeptide antibiotic Vancomycin.
Dr. Li is a founding member of the Sino-American Biomedical & Pharmaceutical Association (SABPA) in 2002 and is currently the vice chairman of SABPA board. He also served as SABPA (San Diego) president from 2006 to 2008 and established the Alliance of Chinese-American Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Associations with other organizations across the US.
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Li-Ming Liang, M.S., MBA, Chair of External Relations, SABPA
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Li-Ming is a corporate development professional with experience in management consulting, strategic market assessment and planning, and business development in biotech industry. Li-Ming currently is vice president and External Relations Chair of Sino-American Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Professional Association (SABPA). She has been active in SABPA since early 2009 and served in the Sponsorship & Fundraising, Entrepreneurs Club, and External Relations Committees. She received SABPA’s Outstanding Leadership Award in 2009. Li-Ming is also an active member of Athena San Diego and serves at Athena’s Associates Affinity Group Committee.
Li-Ming earned a B.S. and a M.S. degree in Life Sciences from National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan and her M.S. degree in Natural Resources Stewardship from Colorado State University. She also holds an MBA in Strategic Management from University of Denver.
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Yahu A. Liu, Ph.D., Investigator, GNF
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Dr. Yahu (Yahua) A. Liu is an investigator at Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation. Yahu previously worked in medicinal chemistry teams at ChemBridge (San Diego, CA), Vertex (San Diego, CA), and Pharmacia/Pfizer (Kalamazoo, MI). Prior to coming to the states for his enrollment in a PhD program in bioorganic chemistry, he had worked as a process chemist at the Chinese Institute of Standards and Technology (Beijing, China) and as a chemical engineer at Wuhuan Corporation (Beijing, China). Yahu has made instrumental contribution to one of the ChemBridge/GTx’s preclinical candidates (cancer therapy). His major contribution to organic chemistry includes his work on the total synthesis of a unique indole alkaloid and his discovery of two novel rearrangement reactions. Yahu has co-authored 40 scientific research papers, 12 patents and 20 national/international meeting presentations and received SBTSC Scientific and Technological Achievement award twice.
Yahu is currently a VP and Chair of Social Events Committee of Sino-American Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Professional Association (SABPA). He has been active in SABPA since 2003 and has been in several committees of SABPA, including being a Co-Chair of Education and Career Development Committee and a Co-Chair of Social Events Committee. Yahu has been awarded SABPA Achievement Award (2008) and SABPA Team Recognition Award twice (2006 and 2009).
Yahu got his early chemistry education at Shanxi Teacher’s College (Shanxi Province, China) and obtained a degree of Master of Engineering in Organic Synthesis from Beijing Institute of Light Industry (Beijing, China). He received his Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry from Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, OH) with the late Professor Lawrence M. Sayre.
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Shuyan Lu, M.S., Senior Scientist, Pfizer
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Shuyan Lu is a Senior Scientist at Pfizer Global Research & Development, La Jolla Laboratories. She supported genetic toxicity screening and then led the genetox group after she joined Pfizer in 2001. Recently her main research focus is to understand the mechanism for drug induced organ toxicity especially the involvement of lysosome. She also worked with various projects as a safety representative. Shuyan Lu obtained her M.D. from Beijing Medical University and M.S. from University of California, Riverside. Shuyan Lu has been the secretary for SABPA since 2003 and she is involved in various event planning and coordination..
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Mao Mao, Ph.D., Research Fellow, Pfizer
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Dr. Mao Mao is Research Fellow leading biomarker discovery and development effort at Pfizer Oncology Research. He is also President of Asian Cancer Research Group, Inc., an independent not-for-profit organization jointly established by Eli Lilly, Merck and Pfizer. He was Director of Molecular Profiling & Pharmacogenomics at Merck Research Laboratories. He worked on biomarker discovery and coordinating extensive collaborations with academic institutions to promote personalized cancer therapy in Asia Pacific region. During his early years with Rosetta/Merck, he made significant contributions to the Ink Jet DNA microarray technology development and subsequent applications. The breast cancer prognosis test for the 70 genes identified from the study with his colleagues at Rosetta and the Netherlands Cancer Institute became the world’s first In Vitro Diagnostic Multivariate Index Assay (IVDMIA) to acquire market clearance from the US FDA in 2007. Prior to Rosetta, he was Associate Professor at Shanghai Second Medical University. As one of the founding members of the National Human Genome Center in Shanghai, he established the first high-throughput DNA sequencing facility and pioneered genome research in China. He was the principal investigator of two National Key Programs of the 9th Five Year Plan in China. He did his doctoral research in studying the mechanism of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) differentiation therapy at Shanghai Institute of Hematology with Professors Zhu Chen and Zhenyi Wang. He is an inventor of more than ten patent applications and published 40+ articles in the peer-reviewed journals including Nature.
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Feng Tian, Ph.D.
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Dr. Feng Tian is a board member of SABPA and SDCAA, and the past president of SDCAA, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization which focuses on promoting volunteerism and fostering leadership among its members. He is a patent agent registered to practice before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO). Currently he is working with clients to prepare, file, and prosecute patent applications. Prior to that, he was a scientific investigator and project leader in Metabasis Therapeutics and worked on various drug discovery projects. Dr. Tian received both his BS and MS degrees in chemistry from Peking University, and his PhD in organic chemistry from Michigan State University.
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Tao Wu, Ph.D., Institute Fellow, GNF
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Dr. Tao Wu is an Institute Fellow at Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF). He worked on antimalarial drug discovery after joining GNF in 2006. He is a key member of a team that discovered a very promising preclinical candidate. His recent research focus is finding effective oral treatments for type-1 diabetes. Prior to coming to the states for his enrollment in a PhD program in organic chemistry, he had worked in Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry studying radical cyclization reactions.
Dr. Wu is co-chair of the Social Events Committee of the Sino-American Biomedical & Pharmaceutical Professionals Association (SABPA). Since 2006, he has been actively involved in several committees of SABPA, including Education and Career Development Committee and Social Events Committee. Dr. Wu is a recipient of SABPA Team Recognition Award in 2009.
Dr. Wu obtained his M.S. degree from Dalian University of Technology. He received his Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry from Iowa State University where he conducted total synthesis of indole alkaloids under the supervision of professor George Kraus.
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Qiang Xu, Ph.D., Director, AltheaDx Inc.
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Qiang is currently the Director at AltheaDx Inc, where he is managing R&D, informatics and biomarker development programs. Before AltheaDx, Qiang has many years of genetic testing and data analysis experience from R&D positions of increasing responsibility within the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, including Novartis, Genentech and Chiron. Qiang obtained his BS degree from Peking University and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles.
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Mingzhu Zhang, Ph.D., Director of Business Development, Medicilon
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Dr. Mingzhu Zhang holds a Ph.D. degree in organic chemistry from Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (SIOC) and was a post-doctoral fellow in the Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and then Vanderbilt University. She has over three years postdoctoral experiences, one year CRO, and over seven years experience in pharmaceutical industry including DuPont Pharmaceuticals and Neurocrine Biosciences. Her broad background includes: medicinal chemistry (CNS and oncology), custom synthesis, peptide chemistry, nucleoside and nucleotide chemistry. In addition, Dr. Zhang is the Chair of San Diego SABPA Sponsorship & Fundraising Committee and the chair of San Diego ACS Career development Committee.
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Peter Zhu, Ph.D., MBA, Senior Scientist, Pfizer
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Peter Zhu is a senior scientist at Pfizer Global Research & Development, La Jolla Laboratories. He has been a Medicinal Chemist for more than ten years. He conducted chemistry outsourcing business for Pfizer La Jolla and Nagoya chemists in 2007. He received the Pfizer Individual Performance Award twice and the Pfizer La Jolla's 2009 Team Award (VegF Device team). Prior to entering Biopharma industry, he was the branch manager of EAS International Transportation Corporation (Shanghai, China) and was responsible for marketing, sales and customer service. He received his MS in Organic Chemistry from University of San Francisco and MBA from the Rady School of Management, UCSD.
Peter has been a SABPA volunteer for six years. He was the chair of the Social Event Committee (2004 to 2009), and the founder/chair of SABPA’s Entrepreneur Committee (2008 to May 2010). He received SABPA’s Team Recognition Award in 2006, Achievement Award in 2008 and Leadership Award in 2009. Currently he is the Executive VP and a board member of SABPA.
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