Ready for a rapid, radical reboot of the global innovation system for a truly free and open 21st century knowledge economy?
The Open Science Summit is an attempt to gather all stakeholders who want to liberate our scientific and technological commons and enable a new era of decentralized, distributed innovation to solve humanity's greatest challenges.
Bio
Beth Anne Baber
Beth Anne Baber is currently the CEO and co-founder of the The Nicholas Conor Institute and has more than 20 years of academic experience in molecular biology, neurobiology and physiology, cell biology, developmental biology, cancer biology, and signal transduction. Her current research focuses on the understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in DNA damage repair following treatment with radiation and chemotherapeutic agents. Her work in DNA damage signaling has led to publications in major scientific journals, including Nature and Science. The National Institute of Health, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Beckman Laser Institute funded her research initiatives at the Salk Institute.
Baber received her Ph.D. in Macromolecular Cellular Structure and Chemistry from The Scripps Research Institute. She is the 2007 DLA Piper-Athena FlexMBA Scholarship recipient and received her M.B.A. from the University of California-San Diego Rady School of Management in August 2009.
Craig Benson
Craig and Charlotte Benson of Austin, Texas established the Beyond Batten Disease Foundation (BBDF) in August 2008 after their five-year-old daughter, Christiane, was diagnosed with Batten disease: a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disorder for which there is no treatment or cure. The mission of the BBDF is to eradicate the disease. The Foundation is working to accomplish this goal through identifying and funding research, and by developing a comprehensive carrier screening test to detect the gene mutations for Batten disease and 450 other devastating genetic diseases that affect children. (For more information, please visit www.beyondbatten.org.)
Craig Benson brings an entrepreneurial perspective to the BBDF through his experience in the biotechnology industry and business. Since 2002, he has served as President and CEO of Rules-Based Medicine, Inc., which is a leader in the development and commercialization of life-sciences research and diagnostic biomarker products and services. From 2000 to 2004, he served as Chairman of the Board of Directors for Equity Resource Partners, LLC, a private investment company. From 1987 to 2000 he held various senior executive management positions with Service Corporation International (NYSE:SRV), including President of their international holding company and President of their private equity investment company. Mr. Benson has served on the board of directors of numerous publicly held companies as well as worked with many non-profit organizations. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University in 1984.
Scott Johnson
Scott Johnson, who has been living with multiple sclerosis for 34 years, is using his acumen as a business consultant and serial entrepreneur to reform a system for medical research and drug development that has failed to produce new patient treatments for millions living with chronic and debilitating diseases.
Featured in Fortune (September 2006) as a "lifesaving shakeup in the world of medical research," Johnson's big idea has since delivered on that promise by (1) proving that basic science can be accelerated and (2) creating connections between academic scientists and those who commercially develop drugs. This will mean the faster development and delivery of patient treatments and cures.
Disease of the brain and spinal cord in which gradual, patchy destruction of the myelin sheath of nerve fibres causes interruption or disordered transmission of nerve impulses. Its early symptoms may include limb weakness or trembling, visual problems, sensory disturbances, unsteady walking, and defective bladder control, which come and go irregularly. Attacks grow more severe, and some symptoms become permanent, sometimes with eventual complete paralysis. Average survival from onset is about 25 years, but a rare acute form progresses over months. The cause remains uncertain and treatment unsatisfactory. Corticosteroids may ease symptoms. MS may be due to a delayed immune response that attacks the myelin sheaths; suggested causes include various common viruses. Dietary causes have also been suggested.
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