Featured Speaker(s)

Our Distinguished Panelists

Elizabeth Dodson
www.homezada.com

Elizabeth Dodson is co-founder of HomeZada, an online home management solution. She brings 15+ years of experience in marketing, financial planning, sales, and partner management. Elizabeth is responsible for the business management, sales, marketing, and partner relationships for HomeZada.

Previously, Elizabeth was responsible for the development, growth and performance of a global partner programs for Meridian Systems, the leading construction project management software. Elizabeth managed the largest architects, engineering & construction related software, consulting and VAR firms worldwide. Elizabeth provided resources and support for these partners to sell, market, consult, and integrate applications, in addition to offering business expertise on behalf of Meridian.

Elizabeth holds an MBA from Loyola University in Baltimore, Maryland, and a BS in Business Administration from Stevenson University in Stevenson, Maryland.

Elise Bauer
Simply Recipes

Elise Bauer is the creator of the popular and award-winning food blog Simply Recipes. Ten years ago, after a twenty year career in technology marketing in Silicon Valley, Elise created Simply Recipes to keep a record of what she was learning from cooking with her parents. What started as a hobby a decade ago has grown to reach over 10 million site visitors a month (and close to 20 million page views per month), making it one of the most visited cooking websites in the world. Elise has both a B.S. and M.B.A from Stanford University. She started her career at the Boston Consulting Group in Boston, spent several years working for Apple in Cupertino, and has worked with numerous Internet start-ups over the years in positions of marketing and business development. She now works full time on Simply Recipes.

Dr. Judith Kjelstrom (aka Dr. Judy)
www.deb.ucdavis.edu/Entrepreneurship/entrepreneurship.html

Dr. Judith Kjelstrom (aka Dr. Judy) has a rich background in health science and biotechnology education and training, clinical laboratory science, microbiology and immunology and program administration.

She currently directs the UC Davis Biotechnology Program and the Advanced Degree Program for corporate employees. She is the co-director for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute-Integrating Medicine into Basic Science (IMBS) Graduate Training Program and the program coordinator, NIH T32 Graduate Training Program in Biomolecular Technology as well as the innovative Designated Emphasis in Biotechnology graduate program (www.deb.ucdavis.edu ). She is the co- lead for two graduate seminars: MCB/ECH 294: Current Program in Biotechnology and MIC 292: From Discovery to Product: An Introduction to Biotechnology at the Industrial Level. She co-authored a publication on the DEB graduate program in the October 2012 issue of the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology (commercialbiotechnology.com/index.php/jcb/article/view/521).

In addition to her involvement in graduate education, she has been a co-principle investigator for numerous National Science Foundation “Train-the Trainer” Summer Institutes in Biotechnology for high school and college teachers. She was the co-founder of the BioTechSYSTEM consortium for K-12 STEM education in the greater Sacramento Region. She is a co-investigator on the CIRM Creativity Grant with the UC Davis Institute of Regenerative Cures to offer research experiences for ten winners of the Teen Biotech Challenge. In 2012, she was selected as a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee as well as the Education Action Team for the Powerhouse Science Center to be located in downtown Sacramento. She is deeply committed to STEM education at all levels.

Maelene Wong

Maelene graduated from UC Berkeley in 2004 with a B.S. in Bioengineering. Following her time at the UCSF Cardiac Stem Cell Translational Laboratory, Maelene entered graduate school. In May 2013, Maelene graduated with a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, emphasis in Translational Research. Maelene has developed a novel process to generate replacement heart valves from animal-derived tissues which avoid the need for life-long medication and repeat surgeries associated with current prostheses. ViVita Technologies, Inc. was founded in July 2012 based on this technology and has the potential to revolutionize regenerative medicine by making off-the-shelf tissues and organs available for clinical applications. Maelene is co-founder, CEO, and CTO of ViVita.

Jeni Lee
http://istart.org/startup-idea/business/vivita-technologies-inc/12444

Jeni Lee obtained her BS in Bioengineering from UC Berkeley before enrolling in the Biomedical Engineering PhD program at UC Davis, with a Designated Emphasis in Biotechnology. Supported in part by an NIH T32 training grant, her research interests involve tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM); in particular, her PhD thesis focuses on creating stem cell-based, tissue-engineered cartilage. In advancing TERM, Jeni co-founded ViVita Technologies, Inc., a startup utilizing a novel process to render animal-derived tissues immune-compatible with humans for various applications. Jeni advocates for women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics through her work with the Association for Women in Science (AWIS). Her outreach efforts also include science workshops at the Sacramento Discovery Museum.