Dr. McGuire is the CEO of BioMendics and is responsible for the company’s research and development and the clinical development of its lead small molecule liquid crystal drug formulation. Dr. McGuire has a degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Toledo and a doctorate in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Kent State University’s School of Biomedical Sciences. She is focused on pharmacology and the development of small molecule liquid crystals and natural products for wound care, skin disorders, metabolic and inflammatory diseases. She has over 15 years of experience in the drug development field with a broad background in designing new pharmaceuticals, drug formulations and clinical trials. She previously worked on anticancer drugs targeting prostate, bladder and ovarian cancers and worked with the Mayo Clinic to test this new therapy in polycystic kidney and liver disease. As a graduate student and post-doctoral fellow, she was involved in the chemical characterization and mechanism of action studies for a series of anticancer, antibacterial, and antiviral agents.

Marc’s a veteran dealmaker, Founder/Managing Partner of early-stage investor Blue Mesa Partners, author of “The Soul of the Deal” (the EQ of M&A), and Co-Founder of Within3 (digital collaboration software for pharma and life sciences; sold to Insight Partners). His BA is from Yale, and his JD from Boston University.

Mr. Kessel is President and CEO of Cleveland Clinic Canada. He also serves as a Director at Heart and Stroke Foundation Ontario since 2010. Mr. Kessel was co-founder and vice-president of business development and finance for the Center for Partnership Medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital/Trio Health in Chicago. Mr. Kessel was finance manager and interim finance director for Cardinal Health Medical Products and Services and co-founder and chief financial operations officer for Ignition State Group, LLC, a Web strategy, and development firm based in Chicago.

Mrs. Rich Fine is currently a partner at Howard & O’Brien Executive Search. She was previously the top financial analyst at Merrill Lynch and a managing director in Equity Research covering the publishing, information, for-profit education, advertising, and online industries. Mrs. Rich Fine has recently been named to the board of Ideastream, and also serves on the boards of the Chautauqua Foundation, the Cleveland International Film Festival, The Cleveland Museum of Art, College Now, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), and Urban Community School.

Dr. Summers is Professor Emeritus of the Northeast Ohio Medical University where he served as Chairman of the Department of Urology for more than 20 years. Dr. Summers has several patents and over 250 scientific publications and provides clinical insight into the drug design process and continues to be active in medical research.