BOARD OF DIRECTORS


Debra Guerin Beresini
Director

Debra Guerin Beresini is a co-founder and Managing Director of International Venture Fund (IVF). IVF is a Silicon Valley based venture fund focused on seed and early stage emerging growth investment opportunities in the geographic areas of Hawaii, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, as well as Silicon Valley. Ms. Guerin Beresini has served as CEO of Invencor, Inc, manager of IVF, since its inception in April 1997. Ms. Guerin Beresini previously held senior positions at the seed/technology-transfer venture firm of AR&D Corp., at the venture leasing arm of Ford/US Leasing, as a venture investor at Technology Funding, and as Senior Vice President and Manager of the National Division at Silicon Valley Bank. Ms. Guerin Beresini specializes in life science companies, including TheraTx (IPO in 1994, acquired by Vencor for $550 million in 1997), Systemix (acquired by Sandoz) and Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (IPO in 2006, LSE). Ms. Guerin Beresini speaks at various national conferences on venture capital and technology transfer. She presently sits on the Board of AssistGuide, Inc., San Ramon, CA; the non-profit Hawaii Venture Capital Association and HiBEAM, a Hawaii based business accelerator. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the Wayne Brown Institute located in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Richard Z. Opara, M.D.
Director

Dr. Richard Opara has extensive international management experience in healthcare, telecommunications and property with business interests in Europe and Australia. He also serves as Nonexecutive Chairman of Avantogen, Ltd. (ACU:ASX). He was founding Executive Chairman of Alpha Healthcare Limited, an ASX listed healthcare company with broad interests in private hospitals, primary care, pathology and radiology, and was previously the Vice President and largest private shareholder of Elektrim SA, one of Europe’s largest telecommunications and power companies. Dr. Opara has a strong working knowledge of public company management in addition to his background as a medical practitioner and medical administrator with hands-on experience in both the public and private sectors.

D. Elliot Parks, Ph.D.
Director and CEO

Dr. Elliot Parks is CEO of Hawaii Biotech Inc., and brings to the company over 25 years expeience in academic research, biomedical product development, executive management, and life science investing. He has served on a number of boards of private companies, nonprofit medical and research institutions, and governmental bodies. Dr. Parks is a Managing Director at Hamilton BioVentures, has broad experience and personal knowledge of best practices in corporate governance, and brings this background to the HBI Board. Currently he serves on several boards including Transcept Pharmaceuticals, HiBEAM, the Hawaii Science and Technology Council, and BIOCOM.

Robert Robinson, Ph.D.
Director

Robert Robinson is a Professor of Entrepreneurship and Management at the University of Hawaii, College of Business. From 1991 to 2001, Dr. Robinson was on the faculty of the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in Boston, Massachusetts. In 2001, Dr. Robinson was a visiting professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. In 2002, Dr. Robinson founded UH Angels, a Hawaii-based angel investor network which invests in technology startup firms. He is on the board of the Hawaii Venture Capital Association, the Hawaii Life Sciences Council, and ClearFuels. In 2007, Robert co-founded Kolohala Ventures, a Honolulu-based private equity firm and fund manager. Dr. Robinson consults actively to industry, and has served on the boards of several start-up companies.

Richard L. Sherman, J.D.
Director and Senior Vice President, Business Development and General Counsel

Richard Sherman has twenty-five years of experience as a licensing executive, attorney, consultant, and venture capitalist in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. As a licensing executive and Deputy General Counsel in a thirteen year career at SmithKline-Beckman Corporation, Mr. Sherman participated as counsel and negotiator in hundreds of international and domestic transactions; including hostile and friendly acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, limited partnerships, research and development collaborations, venture capital investments, joint marketing relationships, distribution arrangements, and licensing transactions. Mr. Sherman also founded QED Technologies, Inc., a consulting firm that provides science-based companies with experienced advice and counsel in developing and implementing strategies to maximize their business and technology assets. QED's clients include pharmaceutical, biotechnological, chemical, diagnostic and medical device firms; universities and independent research centers; investment groups and funds. QED was purchased by The Omnicom Group, Inc., a NYSE listed firm.