Managing Principal, Knightsbridge

Chairman of the Board and President, The Stem for Life Foundation

Dr. Robin L. Smith is a global thought leader in the regenerative medicine industry, one of the fastest growing segments of modern-day medicine. She received her M.D. from Yale University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business. During her tenure as CEO of the NeoStem family of companies which she led from 2006 to 2015, she pioneered the company’s innovative business model, combining proprietary cell therapy development with a successful contract development and manufacturing organization.. Dr. Smith raised over $200 million, completing six acquisitions and one divestiture while the company won an array of industry awards and business recognition including a #1 ranking in the Tri-State region (for two years in a row), and #11 nationally, on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™, and Frost & Sullivan’s North American Cell Therapeutics Technology Innovation Leadership Award.
In 2008, Dr. Smith founded The Stem for Life Foundation (SFLF), a nonpartisan, 501(c)3 educational organization devoted to fostering global awareness of the potential for regenerative medicine to treat and cure a range of deadly diseases and debilitating medical conditions, as opposed to merely treating their symptoms. In 2010, in order to bring the charity’s mission to a global audience, Dr. Smith forged a historic, first-of-its-kind partnership with The Vatican. As part of this relationship, The Vatican and SFLF collaborate to create high-profile initiatives that help catalyze interest and development of cellular therapies that could ultimately reduce human suffering on a global scale. In 2016 Pope Francis awarded Dr Smith Dame Commander with Star Pontifical Equestrian Order of Saint Gregory the Great April 2016. Dr Smith has served as Chairman of the Board and President of the Stem for life Foundation since its inception and is expanding its mission further under the Cura brand to bring resources to fund cell therapy clinical trials and assist in accelerating enrollment and completion.
Dr. Smith maintains a regular column on these topics for The Huffington Post. In June 2016, she was awarded the Women of Power and Influence Award from the National Organization of Women (NOW) and is the 2014 winner of the Brava Award, which recognizes top women business leaders in the Greater New York area. She was also a finalist for the 2014 EY Entrepreneur of The Year award for the New York area, recognizing entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and success in the areas of innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.
In addition, Dr. Smith has extensive experience serving in executive and board level capacities for various medical enterprises and healthcare-based entities. She currently is Chairman of the Board of Directors of MYnd Analytics (MYAN.OB (formerly CNS Response), serves on the Board of Directors of Rockwell Medical (NASDAQ: RMTI), Prolung DX and Bioxcel Corporation, the advisory board of Hooper Holmes (NYSE:HH) and is co-chairman of the Life Sci advisory board on gender diversity. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the STOQ Foundation in Rome, Director of the Sanford International Board and the Board of Overseers at the NYU Langone Medical Center in NYC. She previously served on the Board of Trustees of the NYU Langone Medical Center and is a past Chairman of the Board of Directors for the New York University Hospital for Joint Diseases. Signal Genetics (NASDAQ: SGNL).
As a business leader, entrepreneur, doctor and philanthropist, Dr. Smith is uniquely positioned to lead the global healthcare industry into the cellular future, where the cells of our bodies will stand as the foundation for a wide array of cures.
Partner, Domain Associates

Nicole joined Domain in 1999 and became a partner in 2004.With extensive experience in both public and private investing, Nicole’s current board memberships include Achillion Pharmaceuticals; Celtaxsys, Inc.; Cotera, Inc.; Esperion Therapeutics; Marinus Pharmaceuticals and VentiRx Pharmaceuticals. Past board memberships include Calixa Therapeutics (sold to Cubist Pharmaceuticals); Celator Pharmaceuticals (sold to Jazz Pharmaceuticals); Cerexa (sold to Forest Laboratories); Durata Therapeutics (sold to Actavis plc); Eunoe and Onyx Pharmaceuticals.In addition to investment responsibilities, Nicole is involved with the liquidation/distribution strategies for the public companies in Domain’s venture capital portfolios. For more than a decade, Nicole was responsible for Domain Public Equity Partners L.P., a fund focused on private investments in public companies.
Previous to Domain, Nicole was senior vice president at Rothschild Asset Management, Inc. where she had responsibility for the U.S. public market investments of International Biotechnology Trust plc and Biotechnology Investments Limited.
Previous to Rothschild, Nicole served as the director of corporate communications and investor relations at Cephalon, a publicly traded biotechnology company. Prior to Cephalon, Nicole spent 12 years at Eastman Kodak, where she held a number of positions including corporate development, where she was involved in the development and management of Kodak’s venture capital activities. She received her B.A. in mathematics and her MBA in finance from University of Rochester.
President and CEO, Dimension Therapeutics

CEO, BioIndustry Association (BIA)

Former President and CMO of Furiex Pharmaceuticals Independent Board Director and Biopharma Consultant

Dr. June Almenoff is an accomplished executive with close to 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, who brings extensive knowledge of clinical development, translational medicine and business development. Dr. Almenoff recently served as President, Principal Executive Officer and Chief Medical Officer of Furiex Pharmaceuticals. During her 4 year tenure, the company’s valuation increased ~10-fold, culminating in its acquisition by Forest Labs/Actavis plc for ~$1.2B in 2014. Furiex’s lead product, eluxadoline (Viberzi TM), a novel gastrointestinal drug, received FDA approval in 2015. Prior to joining Furiex, Dr. Almenoff was at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), where she held positions of increasing responsibility. During her 12 years at GSK, she was a Vice President in the Clinical Safety organization, chaired a PhRMA-FDA working group and worked in the area of scientific licensing. Dr. Almenoff led the development of pioneering systems for minimizing risk in drug development; these have been widely implemented by pharmaceutical companies and regulatory agencies.
Dr. Almenoff is currently an independent biopharma consultant and Board Director: She is the Executive Chair of RDD Pharma and a member of the Boards of Ohr Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: OHRP), Tigenix NV (Euronext: TIG) and Valanbio. She also serves on the investment advisory board of the Harrington Discovery Institute (University Hospitals, Cleveland) and the advisory boards of Redhill Biopharma (Nasdaq: RDHL) and numerous private companies.
Dr. Almenoff received her B.A. cum laude from Smith College and graduated with AOA honors from the M.D.-Ph.D. program at the Icahn (Mt. Sinai) School of Medicine. She completed post-graduate medical training at Stanford University Medical Center (Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases) and served on the faculty of Duke University School of Medicine. She is an adjunct Professor at Duke and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.
SVP and CFO, Theravance Biopharma

Non-Executive Director, Discuva

President & Chief Executive Officer

Ms. Palmieri was appointed President and CEO in January 2015. She joined Vermillion as Chief Operating Officer in October 2014. Ms. Palmieri brings to Vermillion more than 30 years of experience in the diagnostic laboratory industry, serving in numerous sales, operations, and executive leadership positions for both laboratory service and consulting organizations.Prior to Vermillion, Valerie was CEO/President of MOMENTUM Consulting. Prior to MOMENTUM, Ms. Palmieri served as CEO/President of two healthcare start-ups that resulted in a successful exit for one and won her recognition as one of the “Top 10 Entrepreneurs of Springboard Enterprises” for the other. She also spent six years as National Vice President of Anatomic Pathology Operations with LabCorp, the successor company to DIANON Systems where she served as Senior Vice President of Operations. She was a key leader in the sale of DIANON to LabCorp in 2003.
Ms. Palmieri holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Technology from Western Connecticut State University.
Partner, Thompson Hine LLP

CEO, Demy-Colton Life Science Advisors

Managing Partner, SV Life Sciences

President, Springboard Enterprises

Independent Strategy Consultant
