As Executive Director of Biocom’s Los Angeles office, Dina Lozofsky leads Biocom’s programming and benefits efforts in the growing LA life science industry and helps raise awareness surrounding the regional cluster’s many research accomplishments. Biocom works on behalf of over 1000 members to drive public policy, build an enviable network of industry leaders, create access to capital, introduce cutting-edge workforce development and STEM education programs, and create robust value-driven purchasing programs. Lozofsky’s experience includes leadership roles in academia, startups and established companies as well as board member seats at the LA Venture Association (LAVA), the LA Bioscience Hub, and the City of Los Angeles Workforce Development Board. She holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering from MIT, an MBA from USC’s Marshall School of Business and is a registered Patent Agent.

J. Kim McNutt is currently in his 5th year as Dean of the College of Extended & International Education at Cal State Dominguez Hills. McNutt leads the work of 45 academic and professional staff. The self-support college generates nearly $17M annually in tuition, delivering a portfolio of 50 online and classroom based education and training programs. He has launched several new programs at CSUDH including, Marketing with Social Media, and a master’s degree in Cyber Security. He has expanded South Bay access to education opening a new satellite classroom location in Redondo Beach offering professional development training programs. His college is also leading the way as the first CSU to offer alternative credentials and digital badges to students.

McNutt has held myriad academic leadership positions over the last 25 years. His career encompasses working for both public and private universities in San Antonio, Dallas, Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Area, and his hometown, Las Cruces, New Mexico. (Go Aggies!)

McNutt is a first generation college graduate. This drives his passion to expand access to underserved populations, including adult, returning and non-traditional students.

David Meyer is Professor Emeritus at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He has served as LA BioMed’s President and CEO since 2009. Prior positions in research administration include serving as EVP Research at the House Ear Institute (2008-09) and as Vice President for Research and Scientific Affairs at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (2004-2007). He has had an active and productive career in research, first at the University of Basel, Switzerland as an Instructor (1973-79), then at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg Germany (1979-1987), followed by appointment as Professor of Biological Chemistry at the UCLA School of Medicine (1987-2005). Aside from teaching and research, Meyer served as Associate Dean for Basic Science and then as Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Studies at UCLA. Meyer’s research into the molecular mechanism of membrane biogenesis and secretion has resulted in numerous peer-reviewed publications and reviews, including articles in Nature, Cell, and The Journal of Cell Biology. Meyer is a native of Los Angeles, having graduated from Los Angeles High School and earning both his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees at UCLA.

Peter M. Moglia is Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. He has served as Chief Investment Officer since January 2009 and assumed the role of Co-Chief Executive Officer on April 23, 2018. A 20-year Alexandria veteran, Moglia is a respected leader with extensive industry and market knowledge.

He jointly leads the company in his role as co-CEO, and as Chief Investment Officer Moglia oversees the company’s strategic growth through a focus on acquisitions and dispositions, development and redevelopment, leasing, and joint ventures. He also concurrently leads Alexandria’s real estate finance team, which provides critical support across a range of underwriting, due diligence, and financing activities.

Previously, Moglia served in many important capacities of increasing scope and responsibility, including managing the company’s Seattle asset base and operations from April 2003 through December 2008, during which time the region doubled its revenue.

Prior to joining Alexandria, Moglia served as an Analyst for Lennar Partners, Inc., a diversified real estate company, where his responsibilities included underwriting and structuring direct and joint venture real estate investments.  Moglia began his real estate career in the Management Advisory Services group within the E&Y Kenneth Leventhal Real Estate Group, a subsidiary of Ernst & Young LLP, where he spent six years providing valuation, feasibility, financial modeling, and other analytical services to a number of real estate developers, financial institutions, pension funds, and government agencies.

Moglia received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.

David A. Piacquad joined Amgen in 2010 and was named senior vice president, Business Development, in March 2014. He is responsible for business development across Amgen and leads the organization that combines the previously separate Corporate Development and External Research & Development groups. Prior to this role, Piacquad served as vice president, Strategy & Corporate Development, responsible for mergers and acquisitions, inbound and outbound Licensing, Amgen Ventures and Corporate Alliance Management.Prior to Amgen, Piacquad was senior vice president, Business Development & Licensing at Schering-Plough Corporation. Before joining Schering-Plough, Piacquad spent more than 20 years at Johnson & Johnson, where he held a series of leadership roles in finance and business development. Piacquad holds a BA degree from Colgate University and an MBA from the Wharton School.

Sheldon M. Schuster became the second president of Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) on July 15, 2003, succeeding founding president Henry “Hank” Riggs.

During Schuster’s tenure as president, KGI has expanded both its academic programs and financial resources. Schuster’s research focused on finding new targets for synthesizing mechanism-based inhibitors of disease-related enzymes by studying the relationship between the structure and function of ATP synthase and asparagine synthetase. Schuster also examined the role of mycoplasmal infections in the progression of malignant tumors. His research has been published in the journal Biochemistry. He also has written commentaries that appeared in the journal Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education.

Schuster has been active in professional organizations such as the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) and the Council for Biotechnology Centers. He currently is a features editor of the journal Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education and a member of its editorial board. In 2007, the American Association for the Advancement of Science elected Schuster as an AAAS Fellow, an honor given by members to their peers who have made significant contributions in areas such as research, teaching, and technology.

After completing his doctorate, Schuster joined the Institute for Enzyme Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1976, he became an assistant professor of chemistry and life sciences at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, where he subsequently rose to the rank of professor of chemistry and biological sciences. In 1989, Schuster moved to the University of Florida in Gainesville, where he became a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, interim assistant vice president for research and graduate education, and director of the Biotechnology Program before relocating to Southern California.

Rohit Shukla founded Larta Institute in 1993. He serves as its CEO.  Under his direction, with a mission to accelerate innovations that “feed, fuel and heal the world,” Larta has become the largest commercialization acceleration program in the country, and one of its oldest.  It has established national-scale programs in the life sciences (with the National Institutes of Health – NIH – since 2004 and the National Science Foundation, NSF, since 2008), food and agriculture (USDA, since 2008) and Cleantech and Energy (the Department of Energy, DOE, since 2017).  These programs guide and counsel hundreds of entrepreneurs receiving government funding for their innovations, and enable them to connect, partners, investors and customers using Larta’s well-established network-centric methodology.  Larta also has worked with several countries overseas, which it has advised over the years. Over 3000 companies have participated in Larta’s national and global-scale commercialization and education programs since 2004.

Shukla has served as an advisor to the OECD on science-based small business IP frameworks, and as an external advisor to federal and state governments in the U.S.,and has helped to influence policy on incentives and initiatives focused on biotech-led entrepreneurship.

He has a Master’s in Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge, U.K. and a Master’s in Communications Arts and Sciences from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles.  He developed and taught the first course in Startup Management for the MBA program at the Graziadio School at Pepperdine University Los Angeles,  and has led several short courses on innovation and management in Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Finland, Malaysia and Japan.  He developed Larta’s Global Bridge™ programs for entrepreneurs in Israel, UAE, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Russia, Korea, Japan, Canada, Colombia and Brazil.

He speaks to audiences around the world on subjects ranging from commercialization and innovation to globalization and entrepreneurship.

Caleb Smith joined Salem Partners in 2007 and is focused on sourcing, evaluating and structuring transactions in the healthcare & life sciences sectors. While at Salem, he has been directly involved with companies such as Exemplar Pharma (sold to Allergan), Femasys (private), Neos Therapeutics (Nasdaq: NEOS), OncoNano Medicine (private), Sebacia (private) and ZS Pharma (sold to AstraZeneca). Before joining Salem, Smith was a director at Harvey & Company, a leading merchant banking firm based in Newport Beach. Prior to Harvey & Company, he was a consultant with Public Health Foundation Enterprises and performed clinical research at Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center. Mr. Smith graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the University of Southern California.

Brad Spellberg is Chief Medical Officer at the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California (LAC+USC) Medical Center, and Medical Director of Biosciences for Los Angeles County.  He is also a Professor of Clinical Medicine and Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs at the Keck School of Medicine at USC.  After graduating from UC Berkeley, he received his MD from UCLA, where he won the prestigious Stafford Warren award for the top academic performance in his graduating class.  Spellberg completed his Residency in Internal Medicine and subspecialty fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

Spellberg’s NIH-funded research interests focus on vaccines and immunotherapies to combat antibiotic-resistant pathogens.  He has also co-founded 3 biotechnology start up companies, which have resulted in 3 molecules that are in active clinical development (phase I-III clinical trials).  Finally,  Spellberg has worked extensively to combat the problem of antibiotic resistance.  He has testified before Congress on this matter, has had numerous radio and TV appearances, and was featured in the documentary movie, Resistance.  Finally, Spellberg is the author of Rising Plague, which he wrote to inform the public about the crisis of antibiotic resistant infections.

Dr. Susan Windham-Bannister is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in biopharma innovation, market access and market optimization strategies. She has been recognized by the Boston Globe as one of the “10 Most Influential Women in Biotech,” by Boston Magazine as one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Boston” and is the incoming President of the National Board of Directors of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS). Windham-Bannister is Managing Partner of Biomedical Innovation Advisors LLC, which she founded with Dr. Harvey Lodish, co-founder of Genzyme, and member of the Whitehead Institute, MIT. She also serves as the President and CEO of Biomedical Growth Strategies, LLC.

From 2008-2015 Windham-Bannister served as President and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC), an independent authority charged with administering a $1-billion Life Sciences investment fund created by Governor Deval Patrick. She is the first African American in the U.S. to lead a life sciences-focused innovation fund of this scale. The MLSC invests to catalyze innovation in all sectors of the Massachusetts life sciences community – biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, medical diagnostics and bioinformatics/analytics.

Since completing her tenure as President and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Initiative, Windham-Bannister has been an advisor to other city, state and regional life sciences initiatives in the U.S. and abroad.

Windham-Bannister has co-authored two books: Competitive Strategy for Health Care Organizations, and Medicaid and Other Experiments in State Health Policy. She also has written numerous articles on competition in today’s health care marketplace and is a frequent speaker at national and international life sciences conferences.

Windham-Bannister received a B.A. from Wellesley College, a Doctorate in Health Policy and Management from the Florence Heller School at Brandeis University, and a Doctor of Science from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (honoris causa). She completed her doctoral work at the Heller School under a fellowship from the Ford Foundation and was also a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School. Windham-Bannister also served as a Fellow in the Center for Science and Policy (CSAP) at Cambridge University, Cambridge, England.

Since 2003, Willie Zuniga has been the President of Grifols Biologicals LLC, a biopharmaceutical company located in Los Angeles, California. Within his role, Zuniga is responsible for overseeing more than 900 employees working in Manufacturing, Quality, Facilities, Finance, and Compliance Training operations. He has served on the City of Los Angeles Workforce Investment Board working with the Mayor and the City Council to develop strategic initiatives, encourage regional training investments, and coordinate development efforts in the area. He continues to be a champion for Education and Workforce development in the County of Los Angeles supporting career pathways at local universities and colleges; the GO East LA, cradle to career program; youth empowerment efforts that promote STEM and post-secondary education; industry alliance boards to share trends and guide curriculum; and collaborations to create certificate programs promoting greater employment opportunities and keep the talent in the area. Zuniga’s career has spanned nearly 40 years in the bioscience industry. Today, he remains focused and committed to saving lives with the products manufactured by the dedicated employees of Grifols.