George Church
Science Advisor
George Church is Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Center for Computational Genetics.
He has co-authored research on 3D-software & RNA structure with Sung-Hou Kim. His PhD from Harvard in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology with Wally Gilbert included the first direct genomic sequencing method in 1984. He helped initiate the Human Genome Project as a Research Scientist at newly-formed Biogen Inc. and a Monsanto Life Sciences Research Fellow at UCSF. He invented the broadly-applied concepts of molecular multiplexing and tags, homologous recombination methods, and array DNA synthesizers. Technology transfer of automated sequencing & software to Genome Therapeutics Corp. resulted in the first commercial genome sequence (the human pathogen, H. pylori, 1994).
Dr. Church has served in advisory roles for 12 journals, 5 granting agencies and 22 biotech companies. Current research focuses on integrating biosystems-modeling with personal genomics & synthetic biology. He holds degrees from Duke University in Chemistry and Zoology.
Esther Dyson
Management Advisor
Esther Dyson is actively involved in improving the world's health, both as an investor and as the publisher on the Internet of her own genome and health records, as part of George Church's Personal Genome Project. She believes fiercely in the power of information to affect people's behavior and to improve the quality of health care. She brings to her work insights from economics, information technology, management practice and practical psychology. As an investor, she was an early investor in and board member of Medscape, now part of WebMD. She was also an investor in Medstory, now part of Microsoft. Currently, she is an investor in and sits on the board of 23andMe. She is also an investor in PatientsLikeMe, Medicalgorithmics, Ovusoft and Resilient. She has written two monographs on electronic records and health information liquidity, and ran the 2005 Personal Health Information workshop co-sponsored by New York's New School University.
Charles Cella
Legal Advisor
Charles Cella co-founded GTC Law Group and is a recognized thought leader and leading practitioner in the patent and licensing fields. He provides patent strategy, licensing and technology-transaction services to a broad range of clients, from industry leading software companies to single-inventor startups. Prior to GTC, Charles founded and was CEO of BountyQuest, an Internet marketplace for information relevant to the strength, validity or applicability of patents and for which he recruited investments from Jeff Bezos and Tim O'Reilly, among others. Previously, Charles was the first patent attorney at Foley Hoag LLP, where he grew the practice to twenty-five people and advised high-tech and biotech firms of all sizes on building IP portfolios and negotiating technology transactions. Charles holds a A.B. in Physics from Princeton University and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Charles McVinney
Community Advisor
Charles McVinney is principal of McVinney & Company, an organizational development and executive consulting company.
Chuck is an educator, facilitator, and consultant who has specialized for over 20 years in the creative process, the improvement of interpersonal dynamics (team development), and the crafting of excellent learning events for organizations. He is especially known for his work with emerging and merging organizations; helping entrepreneurs and CEO's create cultures and work environments where values that support sustainability and creativity are deeply held and applied. His many clients include Digital Equipment Corporation, Bolt Beranek and Newman, LMA, Inc, Singapore Institute of Management in the early 1990's, Cilk Arts and others too numerous to mention.
In addition to numerous articles, Chuck was co-author of a Battelle Press book about creativity, teams, and technical project management, Engineering Management: People and Projects (1995).
He enjoys skiing, hiking, reading, music, and pursuing his photography projects. He continues his work as a professional photographer, and has shown his work in Boston galleries.