helping to improve the lives of people with autism and those whose lives they touch
Management
Jan D’Alvise
President and CEO
Jan is a seasoned life science executive with more than 30 years of experience in diagnostics, medical devices, pharmaceuticals and drug discovery research tools.
Prior to joining Pediatric Bioscience, Jan was the CEO of Gish Biomedical, a cardiopulmonary medical device company in Orange County that she turned around and then sold it to the Sorin Group. Prior to Gish, Jan was the CEO of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, where she completed a successful acquisition by the Sanford-Burnham Institute in 2009. Prior to SKCC, Jan was also the Co-Founder, President/CEO/Chairman of NuGEN, Inc, and the Co-Founder and Executive VP/COO of Metrika Inc. Jan built both companies from technology concept through to successful regulatory approvals, product introduction and sustainable revenue growth. She has raised more than $80M through Venture Capital, and has completed dozens of strategic deals to fund both companies.
Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Jan was a VP of Drug Development at Syntex/Roche and Business Unit Director of their Pain and Inflammation business. She was VP of Commercial Operations at SYVA, (Syntex’s clinical diagnostics division), and began her career with Diagnostic Products Corporation (DPC), where over 10 years she held positions of increasing responsibility in marketing, business development, and global sales and distribution management, and was part of the senior team that took the company public.
Jan has a B.S. in Biochemistry from Michigan Technological University, and a M.B.A. from University of Michigan. She has completed post-graduate work at Stanford and Wharton Business Schools and has been a frequent guest lecturer at Stanford University on business planning and entrepreneurship. Jan has been on the board of several private companies and non-profits, and is currently on the board of Precision Through Imaging (PTI, Inc.) a San Diego medical device company, and Tech Coast Angels where she is also the Chair of their BioMed Track Screening Committee. Jan is an Entrepreneur in residence for the Springboard Entrepreneurship Program at San Diego CONNECT and a Member of Athena SD.
Judy Van de Water, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Advisor and Chair of the SAB
Dr. Van de Water is the lead researcher on the development of the Maternal Autoantibody test and is a co-inventor on the patent covering that technology licensed by Pediatric Bioscience. Dr. Van de Water joined the faculty in the Department of Internal Medicine at UC Davis in 1999 and the faculty of the M.I.N.D. Institute in 2000 when she began her research on the immunobiology of autism. Dr. Van de Water’s laboratory pursues research programs pertaining to autoimmune and clinical immune-based disorders including the biological aspects of autism spectrum disorders. The application of Dr. Van de Water’s immunopathology background has been instrumental in the dissection of the immune anomalies noted in some autism patients and the mothers of children with autism. Dr. Van de Water’s work is part of a comprehensive and multidiscipline analysis known as the Autism Phenome Project (APP). The goal of the APP is to bring together researchers from several disciplines providing the definitive environment in which to determine the biomedical characteristics of different types of autism.
Dr. Van de Water received a PhD in immunology from the UC Davis in 1988. In addition, Dr. Van de Water is currently the PI for the Immunological Susceptibility in Autism project as part of the NIEHS funded Center for Children’s Environmental Health, entitled “Environmental Factors in the Etiology of Autism”, investigating potential environmental risk factors contributing to the incidence and severity of childhood autism. To date, Dr. Van de Water has co-authored 30 papers, 2 book chapters, 9 reviews, and one opinion piece on autism spectrum disorders. She is currently serving on the editorial boards for the journals Autism Research and Brain, Behavior and Immunity. Dr. Van de Water holds a Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of California at Davis conferred in 1988.
Dr. Van de Water has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Pediatric Bioscience since inception and has chaired the SAB since late 2008.
Beverly Cormier
Chief Business Officer
Ms. Cormier has more than twenty years experience spanning the genomic, clinical diagnostics, and medical device industries. Prior to Pediatric Bioscience, Ms. Cormier was Vice President, Commercialization of Exagen Diagnostics, a specialty clinical laboratory services business focused on Gastroenterology and Rheumatology products. She began her career in sales at Dianon Systems, then moved to UroCor where she was national sales manager. She was then recruited to Prometheus as director of sales, marketing, and business development, playing a key role in setting up and executing the company’s commercial operations. After leaving Prometheus, Ms. Cormier founded Bioscience Business Solutions, an executive consulting firm that works with early and mid-stage private companies. The company provides a wide range of business services, from individual projects to full time contract positions.
She graduated Cum Laude from the University of Cincinnati with a BS degree in Health Sciences and did her graduate work at Miami University in Health Care. Ms. Cormier has written “A Guide to Raising Capital from the Private Sector” for Drug and Market Research Publications, served as a national speaker for IBC Life Sciences and the Forum for Women’s Entrepreneurs, and participated as a mentor for the Rady School of Management MBA program.
Mark Campion
Chief Financial Officer
Mark Campion is a senior financial executive with more than 25 years of experience in emerging, high growth and later stage companies, both public and private. In addition to being a serial CFO, Mr. Campion has also served on numerous Boards, including as Director and Audit Committee chair for a U.S. publicly held software company.
Prior to joining PedBio, Mr. Campion served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Pentadyne Power Corporation, a clean energy storage technology company, where his accomplishments included raising more than $30 million in new equity and debt financing. Prior to Pentadyne, Mr. Campion served as Chief Financial Officer and Board member of Silicon Valley based PolyFuel Inc., a world leader in the development of engineered membranes for fuel cells.
Mr. Campion is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley Walter A. Haas School of Business Administration and has completed the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration’s Advanced Executive Management Program.
Matt Friesen
Chief Operating Officer and co-Founder
Mr. Friesen is a principal and founder of the Hallmark Group, where he is responsible for capital programs and all company operations. Mr. Friesen has utilized his in-depth knowledge of public sector financing to facilitate and oversee the development of over $500 million of state funded projects in California. His combined knowledge of finance, programming and project management contributed to the turnaround and successful on-time opening of the 10th campus of the University of California system which was two years behind schedule when Hallmark Group was hired. Mr. Friesen is also the co-founder of Land Park Academy and Capitol Autism Services, site-based private schools and residential clinical care providers serving children with autism. Additionally Mr. Friesen is a founding board member of Hallmark Community Solutions, a non-profit development company specializing in the finance and construction of projects that serve people with special needs, including autism. Mr. Friesen is a co-Founder of Pediatric Bioscience and was one of the first investors in the company.