David N. Allen
Associate Vice President for Technology Transfer
University of Colorado
David N. Allen came to the University of Colorado in February 2002 to manage the CU Technology Transfer Office (TTO). As AVP he has responsibility for intellectual property (IP) and technology licensing matters across the three CU campuses. In the past seven years TTO has received 1,500 invention disclosures, executed 250 exclusive licenses and options, secured $128M in licensing revenue and related fees, and spent $24.5M on operations. Over the last seven years TTO has fostered the creation of 69 start-up companies by licensing CU IP which has become the foundation of these companies. TTO has a staff of 20 and has two offices located at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus. Previous to Colorado, Dr. Allen was the AVP for Technology Partnerships at the Ohio State University. Before coming to Ohio State in 1997, Dr. Allen was AVP for Technology and Economic Development at Ohio University in Athens. Previous to Ohio University he was a Professor at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park. During the 1981 to 1991 period he held positions first in the College of Liberal Arts and then in the Smeal College of Business Administration where he taught entrepreneurship and was director of an entrepreneurship research center. While at Penn State he was a consultant to a seed venture capital firm. He earned a Ph.D. from Indiana University, Bloomington in Political Economy in 1980. His PhD advisor, Elinor Ostrom, was a co-recipient of the 2010 Nobel Prize for Economics.
Holli Riebel
President and CEO
Colorado BioScience Association
Holli is currently the President and CEO of the Colorado BioScience Association. Previously, Holli had worked as an economic developer for over 22 years. Most recently she was the Vice President of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation spanning 2003 thru 2010. She managed the coordination of over 60 metro Denver communities in the nine-county region in their economic development efforts helping to locate companies to the region. She also staffed the Colorado Space Coalition and developed the Colorado Climate and Prosperity program. In 2009, she was awarded the Colorado Economic Developer of the Year by the Economic Development Council of Colorado. Before working at the Metro Denver EDC, she was the Vice President of the Jefferson Economic Council for seven years, a countywide economic development organization. She worked in several other economic development capacities including, working under Governor Roy Romer as the Front Range Business Development Representative for the Colorado Office of Economic Development, the Director of the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Development Group, and the Small Business Development Center Director/ ED Specialist for the Columbia River Economic Development Corp in Vancouver, Washington. Holli received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business from the University of Colorado. She is also certified as an Economic Development Finance Professional by the National Development Council. .
Ralph E. (Chris) Christoffersen, Ph.D.
Partner
Morgenthaler Ventures
Chris Christoffersen joined Morgenthaler Ventures in 2001. Previously, he was the President and CEO of Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals, a Morgenthaler portfolio biotechnology company with a mission to commercialize the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of ribozymes for use as human therapeutics. He currently serves on seven corporate boards, and achieved successful exits with Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Avidia Biosciences, Morphotek, Orexigen and FoldRx. He also served as the Senior Vice President of Research at SmithKline Beecham, Vice President of Discovery Research at The Upjohn Company, and President of Colorado State University. Dr. Christoffersen received an honorary doctor of law degree from Cornell College in 1983, the “Outstanding Research of the Year” Award from the International Society of Quantum Biology in 1981, the “W. E. Upjohn Award” for contributions in biotechnology in 1988, and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003 from the Colorado Biosciences Association. He earned a B.S. in Chemistry and Mathematics and Honorary J.D. from Cornell College, and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Indiana University.
Terry Opgenorth, Ph.D.
Executive Director
NeoTREX®, CSU Ventures, Inc.
Terry Opgenorth serves part-time as Executive Director for NeoTREX(R) the enterprise arm of Colorado State University's Cancer Supercluster. He joined CSU Ventures in 2007 after retiring from Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, IL. His last position at Abbott was as Divisional Vice President of Metabolic Disease Research, Antiviral Research and Target-Lead Discovery Research for Abbott's Global Pharmaceutical Research and Development division. At Abbott he championed a number of biotech collaborations, and led teams that advanced a number of drug candidates to clinical development status: several are ongoing and atrasentan is in Phase 3 clinical studies for chronic kidney disease. Terry is also on the Board of Directors for Keystone Symposia, KromaTiD, and VetDC, and serves on Scientific Advisory Boards for Keystone Symposia and Euroscreen, SA. He is a founder and CSO of VetDC and CEO of Vidasym. He holds a BA in Biology from Calvin College, and MS and PhD degrees in Physiology from University of Illinois-Urbana.
The Honorable Edward J. Tauer
Mayor
City of Aurora
Ed Tauer has served as mayor of Aurora, Colorado since 2003 and is Chair of the Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority. Mayor Tauer has a solid vision for Aurora. One that focuses on strong economic development and job creation, and ensuring Aurora is a full service city where one can grow up, raise a family and retire. As mayor, he has made it a priority to seek out opportunities to serve as a leader in regional cooperation and partnerships. He also has been involved in shaping the city’s water policies and strategic planning efforts. Mayor Tauer holds a master’s in Business Administration from the University of Colorado and a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado State University. He worked as a marketing and product development professional in the software and telecommunications industry for 15 years before becoming mayor.