Core Team
Marc Hurlbert, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade
Marc Hurlbert, PH.D. joined Avon in 2004 and currently serves as the executive director of the global breast cancer programs of the Avon Foundation for Women and the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade. The Crusade, which has programs in 60 countries, raises and awards more than $50 million to breast cancer philanthropy annually. Dr. Hurlbert is responsible for developing the Crusade’s overall strategy and vision, setting funding guidelines, implementing programs and monitoring the progress of grant recipients. Since the Crusade launched in 1992, Avon breast cancer programs have raised and awarded $780 million to support research and advancing access to care, regardless of a person’s ability to pay; educated 100 million women on breast health care; and linked millions of women to mammography screening, and if needed, to treatment
Dr. Hurlbert was elected by his peers in the industry to serve as the Chairman of the Board of the Health Research Alliance (2010-2011) and the International Cancer Research Partnership (2013-2015). The HRA is an alliance of 60 nonprofit organizations that collectively award $1.5 billion in annual health research grants to 5,500 research investigators. The ICRP are cancer-specific funders and includes nonprofit, governmental and other funders of cancer research
He also serves as Chairman of the Cancer Committee for Columbia University-New York Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Hurlbert received his undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of Kansas and his Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He completed his training with a postdoctoral fellowship at New York University Medical Center, Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine. Dr. Hurlbert then started his career in the nonprofit sector at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) International
Executive Director, Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade
Marc Hurlbert, PH.D. joined Avon in 2004 and currently serves as the executive director of the global breast cancer programs of the Avon Foundation for Women and the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade. The Crusade, which has programs in 60 countries, raises and awards more than $50 million to breast cancer philanthropy annually. Dr. Hurlbert is responsible for developing the Crusade’s overall strategy and vision, setting funding guidelines, implementing programs and monitoring the progress of grant recipients. Since the Crusade launched in 1992, Avon breast cancer programs have raised and awarded $780 million to support research and advancing access to care, regardless of a person’s ability to pay; educated 100 million women on breast health care; and linked millions of women to mammography screening, and if needed, to treatment
Dr. Hurlbert was elected by his peers in the industry to serve as the Chairman of the Board of the Health Research Alliance (2010-2011) and the International Cancer Research Partnership (2013-2015). The HRA is an alliance of 60 nonprofit organizations that collectively award $1.5 billion in annual health research grants to 5,500 research investigators. The ICRP are cancer-specific funders and includes nonprofit, governmental and other funders of cancer research
He also serves as Chairman of the Cancer Committee for Columbia University-New York Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Hurlbert received his undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of Kansas and his Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He completed his training with a postdoctoral fellowship at New York University Medical Center, Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine. Dr. Hurlbert then started his career in the nonprofit sector at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) International
Carolyn Angeleri Ricci
Manager, Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade
Carolyn Ricci manages the programs of the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade. In this role Carolyn oversees the grant application, decision and administration processes, and serves as staff liaison to all breast cancer program applicants and grantees funded through the Avon Foundation for Women. Carolyn implements the Foundation’s program strategy for its breast cancer grants portfolio, totaling more than $30 million in annual grants. She develops and implements communication strategy for Crusade activities, informational and education tools for applicants and beneficiaries, and impact documents for media outreach and communication
The Avon Breast Cancer Crusade was launched in 1992 as a small pioneering program in the U.K. Avon in the U.S. adopted the Crusade the following year. Since that time, Avon philanthropy has raised and donated more than $910 million to breast cancer programs around the world, supporting cutting-edge research to find a cure for or prevent breast cancer as well as programs that enable all patients to access quality care
Manager, Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade
Carolyn Ricci manages the programs of the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade. In this role Carolyn oversees the grant application, decision and administration processes, and serves as staff liaison to all breast cancer program applicants and grantees funded through the Avon Foundation for Women. Carolyn implements the Foundation’s program strategy for its breast cancer grants portfolio, totaling more than $30 million in annual grants. She develops and implements communication strategy for Crusade activities, informational and education tools for applicants and beneficiaries, and impact documents for media outreach and communication
The Avon Breast Cancer Crusade was launched in 1992 as a small pioneering program in the U.K. Avon in the U.S. adopted the Crusade the following year. Since that time, Avon philanthropy has raised and donated more than $910 million to breast cancer programs around the world, supporting cutting-edge research to find a cure for or prevent breast cancer as well as programs that enable all patients to access quality care
Thomas M. Stackhouse, Ph.D.
Associate Director for the Technology Transfer Center (TTC) at the NIH National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Dr. Stackhouse is the Associate Director for the Technology Transfer Center (TTC) at the National Cancer Institute, NIH. In this position, Dr. Stackhouse oversees the patent portfolio and marketing activities for the National Cancer Institute, including its Frederick Maryland campus and the newly formed Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNL)
In addition, Dr. Stackhouse leads the TTC staff by coordinating intellectual property parameters and guidelines for several key NCI initiatives including NCI’s Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer and the NCI Chemical Biology Consortium. Dr. Stackhouse works closely with state and local economic development groups to foster new partnerships which facilitate the use of NCI technologies and expertise to advance the pubic health and stimulate the nation’s economies. Dr. Stackhouse is Vice Chair of the Education and Training Committee of the Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) and an elected member the Executive Board of the FLC
Prior to joining the NCI-Technology Transfer staff in 1996, Dr. Stackhouse received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of California, Davis. Dr. Stackhouse spent several years as a Developmental Scientist for a major pharmaceutical company and later was part of the research team who discovered the VHL tumor suppressor gene. Dr. Stackhouse has received several awards including the National Institutes of Health Award of Merit for his outstanding management of the NCI-Frederick Technology Transfer Office and the FLC Mid-Atlantic Technology Transfer Representative of the Year
Associate Director for the Technology Transfer Center (TTC) at the NIH National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Dr. Stackhouse is the Associate Director for the Technology Transfer Center (TTC) at the National Cancer Institute, NIH. In this position, Dr. Stackhouse oversees the patent portfolio and marketing activities for the National Cancer Institute, including its Frederick Maryland campus and the newly formed Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNL)
In addition, Dr. Stackhouse leads the TTC staff by coordinating intellectual property parameters and guidelines for several key NCI initiatives including NCI’s Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer and the NCI Chemical Biology Consortium. Dr. Stackhouse works closely with state and local economic development groups to foster new partnerships which facilitate the use of NCI technologies and expertise to advance the pubic health and stimulate the nation’s economies. Dr. Stackhouse is Vice Chair of the Education and Training Committee of the Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) and an elected member the Executive Board of the FLC
Prior to joining the NCI-Technology Transfer staff in 1996, Dr. Stackhouse received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of California, Davis. Dr. Stackhouse spent several years as a Developmental Scientist for a major pharmaceutical company and later was part of the research team who discovered the VHL tumor suppressor gene. Dr. Stackhouse has received several awards including the National Institutes of Health Award of Merit for his outstanding management of the NCI-Frederick Technology Transfer Office and the FLC Mid-Atlantic Technology Transfer Representative of the Year
Rose Santangelo Freel, Ph.D.
Technology Transfer Specialist, the Technology Transfer Center (TTC) at the NIH National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Rose Santangelo Freel is a Technology Transfer Specialist in the NCI Technology Transfer Center under the Cancer Research Training Award. In her position, she negotiates agreements such as Collaboration Agreements, Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs), Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs) and Confidential Disclosure Agreements (CDAs) for intramural scientists. She also handles some of the marketing activities around the technologies developed within the NCI Intramural program including developing marketing materials, performing marketing campaigns and developing overall market strategies. Prior to her position at NCI, she was an intern at the Office of Technology Transfer at Emory University as she concurrently completed her Ph.D. in Chemistry. During this time, she also served as Co-Chair of the Emerging Leaders Network (ELN) within Georgia Bio where she oversaw and maintained the active Programs team, coordinated and presented on behalf of ELN at Georgia Universities, and assisted in organizing other ELN events as needed. For her efforts, she received an award from Georgia Bio for Distinguished Service to the Community in 2012
Technology Transfer Specialist, the Technology Transfer Center (TTC) at the NIH National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Rose Santangelo Freel is a Technology Transfer Specialist in the NCI Technology Transfer Center under the Cancer Research Training Award. In her position, she negotiates agreements such as Collaboration Agreements, Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs), Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs) and Confidential Disclosure Agreements (CDAs) for intramural scientists. She also handles some of the marketing activities around the technologies developed within the NCI Intramural program including developing marketing materials, performing marketing campaigns and developing overall market strategies. Prior to her position at NCI, she was an intern at the Office of Technology Transfer at Emory University as she concurrently completed her Ph.D. in Chemistry. During this time, she also served as Co-Chair of the Emerging Leaders Network (ELN) within Georgia Bio where she oversaw and maintained the active Programs team, coordinated and presented on behalf of ELN at Georgia Universities, and assisted in organizing other ELN events as needed. For her efforts, she received an award from Georgia Bio for Distinguished Service to the Community in 2012
Rosemarie Truman
Founder and CEO, The Center for Advancing Innovation, INC.
Rosemarie has over 20 years of experience in driving growth for clients, having created over $21 billion in new profits for clients that launched over 100 new products/services/solutions. Her experience spans strategy consulting, investment banking, and entrepreneurship. Rosemarie has provided strategy consulting services for over 110 clients in over 15 countries and 24 states. Having started her career at Goldman Sachs as an analyst, to this day, Rosemarie's core competencies are in complex due diligence and portfolio strategy, creating sustainable growth breakthrough strategies for clients and transformation
Currently, Ms. Truman is founder and CEO of a global public-private partnership whose mission is to accelerate and increase the volume of technology transfer, translational research and commercialization. Her firm, The Center for Advancing Innovation, has been working with the Avon Foundation on Portfolio Strategy and also has Partnership Intermediary agreements with the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and six other research institutes within the NIH. Recently her team completed a portfolio analysis effort of over 4,000 NCI inventions. With AF and NCI, her firm is serving as managing director of a first-of-a-kind national business plan and startup Challenge for select breast cancer focused inventions
Prior to launching her own firm, Rosemarie served as the global leader of IBM and PRTM's Innovation and R&D strategy practice; the VP and head of global strategy at Marsh & McLennan; leader in Oracle's Advanced Technology Group and also led eBusiness Strategy while at Ernst & Young. At IBM, Rosemarie also led internal transformation efforts in the Emerging Business Opportunity area to create models that drive sustainable "growth breakthroughs." Finally, Rosemarie has spearheaded the development of several trade secret models, frameworks and to select and nurture sustainable growth opportunities; one model is for the Life Sciences industry called "Industry Leading R&D Performance"
Founder and CEO, The Center for Advancing Innovation, INC.
Rosemarie has over 20 years of experience in driving growth for clients, having created over $21 billion in new profits for clients that launched over 100 new products/services/solutions. Her experience spans strategy consulting, investment banking, and entrepreneurship. Rosemarie has provided strategy consulting services for over 110 clients in over 15 countries and 24 states. Having started her career at Goldman Sachs as an analyst, to this day, Rosemarie's core competencies are in complex due diligence and portfolio strategy, creating sustainable growth breakthrough strategies for clients and transformation
Currently, Ms. Truman is founder and CEO of a global public-private partnership whose mission is to accelerate and increase the volume of technology transfer, translational research and commercialization. Her firm, The Center for Advancing Innovation, has been working with the Avon Foundation on Portfolio Strategy and also has Partnership Intermediary agreements with the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and six other research institutes within the NIH. Recently her team completed a portfolio analysis effort of over 4,000 NCI inventions. With AF and NCI, her firm is serving as managing director of a first-of-a-kind national business plan and startup Challenge for select breast cancer focused inventions
Prior to launching her own firm, Rosemarie served as the global leader of IBM and PRTM's Innovation and R&D strategy practice; the VP and head of global strategy at Marsh & McLennan; leader in Oracle's Advanced Technology Group and also led eBusiness Strategy while at Ernst & Young. At IBM, Rosemarie also led internal transformation efforts in the Emerging Business Opportunity area to create models that drive sustainable "growth breakthroughs." Finally, Rosemarie has spearheaded the development of several trade secret models, frameworks and to select and nurture sustainable growth opportunities; one model is for the Life Sciences industry called "Industry Leading R&D Performance"
Jonathan Lui
Managing Consultant, The Center for Advancing Innovation, INC.
Jonathan has worked on a variety of portfolio strategy, operational optimization and business strategy engagements. When a problem is labeled "impossible," he's charged with solving it, which he has done with grace and poise. He has worked with the following client efforts: Novartis, Glaxo Smith Kline and several others. For example, he led an engagement to assess one large pharma's suite of clinical trials; identified ways to make them more successful and also generated financial models to illustrate the value of pursuing recommendations. Jonathan has also been the lead due diligence consultant on a portfolio strategy engagement for an infectious disease drug, device and diagnostic company, where the team identified a large exist as well as a bootstrap strategy to mitigate risk for potential investors
Managing Consultant, The Center for Advancing Innovation, INC.
Jonathan has worked on a variety of portfolio strategy, operational optimization and business strategy engagements. When a problem is labeled "impossible," he's charged with solving it, which he has done with grace and poise. He has worked with the following client efforts: Novartis, Glaxo Smith Kline and several others. For example, he led an engagement to assess one large pharma's suite of clinical trials; identified ways to make them more successful and also generated financial models to illustrate the value of pursuing recommendations. Jonathan has also been the lead due diligence consultant on a portfolio strategy engagement for an infectious disease drug, device and diagnostic company, where the team identified a large exist as well as a bootstrap strategy to mitigate risk for potential investors
Youhong Wang, Ph.D.
Strategy Consultant, The Center for Advancing Innovation, INC.
Youhong Wang is a strategy consultant for The Center for Advancing Innovation. Currently, she is working on an engagement for the NIH and NCI, where she has led the assessment of 800+ inventions, and also led strategic assessments of economic burden, incidence rates, prevalence rates, market size/growth, etc. using a variety of databases and complex algorithms. She also performed “deep dives" for NCI technologies tailored to align with the strategic priority of several pharmaceutical companies, prepared deliverables, and presented to the interested parties. Prior to working with the Center, Youhong worked at the NIH and has extensive experience in bench research and protocol design
Youhong got her M.D. degree in P.R. China. She then obtained a Ph.D. in Tumor Biology from Georgetown University Lombardi Cancer Center, Washington DC, for her investigation of the PI3K signaling pathway in breast cancer. As a postdoctoral IRTA fellow at the NIH, she focused on the GPCR/ELMO pathway mechanism in chemotaxis and metastasis of cervical cancers. Youhong’s interests include traveling, cooking, reading, rock-climbing, and swimming
Strategy Consultant, The Center for Advancing Innovation, INC.
Youhong Wang is a strategy consultant for The Center for Advancing Innovation. Currently, she is working on an engagement for the NIH and NCI, where she has led the assessment of 800+ inventions, and also led strategic assessments of economic burden, incidence rates, prevalence rates, market size/growth, etc. using a variety of databases and complex algorithms. She also performed “deep dives" for NCI technologies tailored to align with the strategic priority of several pharmaceutical companies, prepared deliverables, and presented to the interested parties. Prior to working with the Center, Youhong worked at the NIH and has extensive experience in bench research and protocol design
Youhong got her M.D. degree in P.R. China. She then obtained a Ph.D. in Tumor Biology from Georgetown University Lombardi Cancer Center, Washington DC, for her investigation of the PI3K signaling pathway in breast cancer. As a postdoctoral IRTA fellow at the NIH, she focused on the GPCR/ELMO pathway mechanism in chemotaxis and metastasis of cervical cancers. Youhong’s interests include traveling, cooking, reading, rock-climbing, and swimming
Ravi Bhairavabhotla, Ph.D.
Strategy Consultant, The Center for Advancing Innovation, INC.
Ravi is a strategy consultant for The Center for Advancing Innovation. At the Center, Ravi has taken the lead on performing due diligence on 800+ inventions across 70 different indications. His due diligence efforts are still ongoing and are critical in understanding medical/scientific attractiveness, operational feasibility, market viability and many other factors that could aid/prevent an invention from being commercialized
Ravi obtained his doctorate in tumor immunology, where he worked closely with clinicians, to develop and conduct research for better understanding the immune scenario of cervical cancer patients. He initiated challenging projects and won numerous accolades including the G.P. Talwar young scientist award. Ravi was elected to Spearhead a “first of a kind” students newsletter for Indian Immunology society. As a graduate student his team successfully led India’s 1st Graduate Students Meet (GSM) – scientific conference organized by the students for the students (still ongoing). Intrigued by the absence of novel markers of Tregs his current postdoctoral research at NIAID/NIH is focused on identification of novel biomarkers for this subset of human T cells
Strategy Consultant, The Center for Advancing Innovation, INC.
Ravi is a strategy consultant for The Center for Advancing Innovation. At the Center, Ravi has taken the lead on performing due diligence on 800+ inventions across 70 different indications. His due diligence efforts are still ongoing and are critical in understanding medical/scientific attractiveness, operational feasibility, market viability and many other factors that could aid/prevent an invention from being commercialized
Ravi obtained his doctorate in tumor immunology, where he worked closely with clinicians, to develop and conduct research for better understanding the immune scenario of cervical cancer patients. He initiated challenging projects and won numerous accolades including the G.P. Talwar young scientist award. Ravi was elected to Spearhead a “first of a kind” students newsletter for Indian Immunology society. As a graduate student his team successfully led India’s 1st Graduate Students Meet (GSM) – scientific conference organized by the students for the students (still ongoing). Intrigued by the absence of novel markers of Tregs his current postdoctoral research at NIAID/NIH is focused on identification of novel biomarkers for this subset of human T cells
Julien Senac, Ph.D.
Strategy Consultant, The Center for Advancing Innovation, INC.
Julien has worked on a variety of engagements with CAI, including but not limited to: a portfolio assessment and billion dollar growth strategy. At the Center, Julien has led a team to conduct due diligence on a broad inventions portfolio, which included oncology, gene therapy, and AIDs technologies. The team identified the most commercially viable inventions that also address areas of economic burden
Julien received his Ph.D. in Molecular and Human Genetics from Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX) for his work on the development of adenovirus as oncolytic agents. Upon receiving his Ph.D., Julien joined NIH as a postdoctoral fellow to develop gene and cell therapies for the metabolic diseases
Strategy Consultant, The Center for Advancing Innovation, INC.
Julien has worked on a variety of engagements with CAI, including but not limited to: a portfolio assessment and billion dollar growth strategy. At the Center, Julien has led a team to conduct due diligence on a broad inventions portfolio, which included oncology, gene therapy, and AIDs technologies. The team identified the most commercially viable inventions that also address areas of economic burden
Julien received his Ph.D. in Molecular and Human Genetics from Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, TX) for his work on the development of adenovirus as oncolytic agents. Upon receiving his Ph.D., Julien joined NIH as a postdoctoral fellow to develop gene and cell therapies for the metabolic diseases