In addition to full-time professionals, we have a strong network of relationships with leading academics and industry experts to provide a team that is eminently qualified in all dimensions.

 

Sara Fisher Ellison, Ph.D.

 

Dr. Ellison has held a number of positions that have allowed her to focus on teaching and research, recently focusing on the Pharmaceutical industry. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Economics Department, where she teaches industrial organization at the graduate level and econometrics at both the graduate and undergraduate level. Her recent research has been in the field of industrial organization, and she has focused work primarily on the Pharmaceutical industry and e-commerce.

 

Dr. Ellison has been awarded research grants from the National Science Foundation, as well as the prestigious Hoover National Fellowship (1999) and Institute for Advanced Study Fellowship (2003). In addition to actively publishing papers in top economics journals, Dr. Ellison serves as a referee for multiple top general interest economics journals and all leading industrial organization journals, and is an associate editor for two of them.

 

Ph.D., Economics, MIT; M.A., Cambridge University; B.S., Math and Statistics, Purdue University

 

Steve Eyl

 

Mr. Eyl recently joined Colorado based Heska Corporation (NASDAQ: HSKA), a leading diagnostic instrument and service provider to the animal health industry, as Executive Vice President focusing on commercial operations.

 

Prior to Heska, Mr. Eyl served as President and COO of privately held, Carlsbad, CA-based Sound Technologies from 2000 to its successful sale to VCA-Antech (NASDAQ: WOOF) in 2004. During that time the medical device company, which specializes in animal health diagnostics, grew from $5 million in revenue to $23 million. Upon the completion of the sale, Mr. Eyl continued as President of the newly formed Medical Technologies Division of VCA and drove the growth of the division to $70 million in revenue with customers in over 25 countries. Earlier positions in his career included various management positions with Toshiba Medical Systems and Cerner Corporation.

 

Mr. Eyl earned a BS in Business Administration from Indiana University where he was also a member of their NCAA National Championship basketball team in 1987.

 

Mr. Eyl has been active in the San Diego area as an Entrepreneur in Residence with the Connect Springboard program and has served on advisory panels for San Diego State’s Entrepreneurial Management Center.

 

BS, Business Administration, University of Indiana

 

Randolph C. Steer, M.D., Ph.D.

 

Dr. Steer has served as an independent pharmaceutical and biotechnology consultant since 1989. He has a broad background in business development, medical marketing, and regulatory and clinical affairs, having consulted to multiple national and international corporations. In addition, he has advised numerous venture capital firms and investment banks on the development of drugs, biologics, diagnostics, and medical devices.

 

Dr. Steer has served as Associate Director of Medical Affairs at Marion Laboratories; Medical Director at Ciba Consumer Pharmaceutical; Senior Vice President at the Physicians World Communications Group; Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Advanced Therapeutics Communications International, a leading drug regulatory group serving the United States, Europe, and Japan; and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Vicus.com, Inc. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Techne Corporation (Nasdaq:TECH) and BioCryst Pharmaceutical (Nasdaq:BCRX). Dr. Steer is also a Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology and the American College of Nutrition.

 

Ph.D., Residency and subspecialty fellowship in Clinical and Chemical Pathology, University of Minnesota; M.D., Mayo Medical School, B.A., University of Minnesota

 

Seiji Steimetz, Ph.D.

 

Dr. Steimetz has held a number of executive positions in industry, and recently returned to academia to focus on teaching and research. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the California State University, Long Beach Economics Department, where he teaches econometrics, mathematical economics, and transportation economics at both the undergraduate and graduate level. His recent research has been in the field of transportation economics and applied econometrics.

 

Dr. Steimetz has been awarded research grants from the METRANS Transportation Center (2007), as well as the University of California Transportation Center (2004). In addition to publishing papers in top transportation economics journals, Dr. Steimetz serves as a referee for Transportmetrica, a special interest economics journal.

 

Ph.D., Economics, University of California, Irvine; B.S., M.A., Economics, San Jose State University

 

Shawn Sugarman, MBA

 

Mr. Sugarman is a 27-year executive who has served in numerous CEO roles. He is currently President of Pellisari, LLC, a start-up consumer electronic company making Italian design audio equipment.

 

Mr. Sugarman was recently CEO of Evolution Fresh a California based fresh juice business acquired in November 2011 by Starbucks. In this role, Sugarman secured private equity financing to install and successfully commercialize the first large-scale high pressure processed juice facility in the US. Prior roles include CEO of Sonance, a leader in custom whole-home audio solutions; President of Odwalla, Inc, a super-premium juice and smoothie company; and President of Minute Maid Canada, a division of The Coca-Cola Company whjere Sugarman spent the first 19 years of his career with The Coca-Cola Company in various financial and general management positions.

 

MBA, University of Texas; BA, Economics, Principia College

 

Joe Sullivan, MBA

 

Mr. Sullivan has been active in the San Diego technology community for more than twenty years as a private investor and strategic advisor to entrepreneurial companies.

 

In 1980 Mr. Sullivan was a founding principal of Flextronics (NASDAQ:FLEX), a leading electronic manufacturing services company headquartered in Silicon Valley. He retired as CEO in 1993 when the company had reached $200 million in revenue, with 1,000 employees in the U.S. and Asia. Today Flextronics operates on four continents with approximately 150,000 employees and annual revenues in the range of $24 billion. Prior to Flextronics, Mr. Sullivan was a marketing executive with Seagram Wine Company.

 

Mr. Sullivan, a San Diego native, earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School after serving as an engineering officer in the US Navy. He is a graduate of San Diego State University where he served on the Board of Advisors for the Entrepreneurial Management Center.

 

Mr. Sullivan is a resident of Del Mar. He is past president of the Del Mar Foundation and a former board member of the Del Mar Television Foundation. He was a leader in fundraising campaigns for the Del Mar Library, the Powerhouse Community Center and Del Mar Shores Community Park.

 

MBA, Harvard University; BS, Business Administration, San Diego State University