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Kirk Westbrook of International Venture Fund/Invencor will be on the investor panel that will help evaluate the company pitches at the 23rd Annual Investors Choice® Venture Capital Conference in Salt Lake City.

D. Kirk B. Westbrook is a co-founder and Managing Director of International Venture Fund (IVF). IVF is a Silicon Valley based venture fund focused on seed and early stage emerging growth investment opportunities in the geographic areas of Hawaii, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, as well as Silicon Valley. Mr. Westbrook is also the President and Chief Financial Officer of invencor, inc., which manages IVF and also assumed management of an existing seed fund associated with incubators in the State of Arizona in 1997, the Arizona Technology Venture Fund (ATVF). ATVF was fully liquidated in 2005. Mr. Westbrook has or previously has held board seats on four of IVF’s portfolio companies.

Mr. Westbrook has been involved with finance for approximately 20 years. In 1989, he accepted a position with Silicon Valley Bank, a nationally recognized debt and equity provider which specializes in serving early stage, pre-profit technology companies, most of which are venture backed. While at Silicon Valley, Mr. Westbrook worked in all of the lending areas of the Bank, as well as managed an extensive portfolio for several years in the Bank’s workout group. His last position was as Vice President in the Bank's National Division, then one of the fastest growing divisions within the Bank, where he actively developed client and venture capital relationships in Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin. He departed his post in April 1997 to form invencor, inc. In addition to his management and investment activity with IVF, Mr. Westbrook has also been involved with venture conferences in the states of Arizona, Hawaii, Illinois, Texas and Utah and is on the board of the non-profit Hawaii Venture Capital Association and a member of the executive committee of HiBEAM, a Hawaii based business accelerator. Mr. Westbrook is a graduate of San Jose State University.

Spencer Tall of Allegis Capital, LLC will be on the investor panel that will help evaluate the company pitches at the 23rd Annual Investors Choice® Venture Capital Conference in Salt Lake City.

Spencer Tall serves as a Managing Director with Allegis Capital. Prior to Allegis Capital, Mr. Tall was co-founder and General Partner with APV Technology Partners for three funds over 10 years. In addition, Mr. Tall is a co-founder of Asia Pacific Ventures, LLC, a consulting and advisory services firm where over a 13-year period he assisted more than 50 technology companies in their Asia expansion plans. This included technology licensing, fund raising, distribution arrangements, etc. Mr. Tall has acted as a strategic advisor to many large global companies including Motorola, Sony, Fujitsu, Samsung, Canon, TDK, and Dacom. Prior to founding APV, Mr. Tall oversaw US sales operations for Marubun Corporation, a Japan based billion dollar components trading company. He also worked as a sales manager for GRE America, a Japanese contract manufacturing company.

Mr. Tall currently serves on the boards of AvaLAN Wireless, Collinear Corporation and IMVU. Prior investments include E.piphany, Web TV (acquired by MSFT), One Touch Systems (acquired by Hughes Satellite), Netcell Corporation, Locality (acquired by e2Grow), and North Systems. Mr. Tall works very closely with Brigham Young University, sitting on several advisory committees, business plan competition boards, and serving as a student mentor for the past 10 years. He has a Bachelors of Science Degree in Political Science and Japanese from Brigham Young University.

Todd Stevens of Wasatch Venture Fund will be on the investor panel that will help evaluate the company pitches at the 23rd Annual Investors Choice® Venture Capital Conference in Salt Lake City.

Mr. Stevens is the Founder and Managing Director of Wasatch Venture Fund as well as the Manager of the Zions Bank Venture Capital Department.   He has been working in venture capital investor since the inception of Wasatch Venture Fund in 1994.  Prior to founding Wasatch, Mr. Stevens worked as a consultant, Treasurer of a Utah based publicly traded company and as a real estate development executive. He has raised capital and invested over $500 million in private and public companies. He received his B.S. degree in Accounting and Management from the University of Utah, cum laude. He also received a M.B.A degree from Harvard University graduating with honors. 

Todd sits on the boards of ZARS, Forum, First Choice, Ingeo,  Drive Safety, CopperKey, NetDocuments, O'Currance and Vortex.

Todd is married and the father of five children. He is active in professional, community and church service of which he is active in the following professional and non-profit organizations: Chairman, Board of Trustees, New Century High School (Governor Appointment), Utah Technology Alliance, Capital Formation Task Force Chairman, MountainWest Venture Group, President, Utah Information Technology Association, Executive Committee & Capital Committee, Chairman of 2003 Arizona Venture Capital Conference,Former Co-Chair of Utah Silicon Valley Alliance, Venture Capital Committee, Former President of University of Utah Business Alumni Association, Former Trustee & Treasurer of Family Support Center (United Way Agency), Member of Harvard Club of Utah, Member of National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), Member of National Small Business Investment Companies (NASBIC).

Decker Rolph of Highway 12 Ventures will be on the investor panel that will help evaluate the company pitches at the 23rd Annual Investors Choice® Venture Capital Conference in Salt Lake City.

Decker Rolph is an Associate at Highway 12 Ventures in Boise, Idaho.  Before this, he was the VP of Business Development at Working Today and the Business and Financial Consultant to the CFO at Waterfront Media.  He also worked as a Summer Associate at Pacific Community Ventures. 

Decker comes from a diverse private sector background including time with the Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund Strategies Group and Cayuga Venture Fund, as well as time serving in a marketing capacity with Jamex, as the President of the Institute for Information Sciences, Inc. Additionally, Decker was a member of both the National Amateur Triathalon team and the National Rowing Team. He holds a BA in Visual Arts from Brown University and a MBA at the University of Michigan Business School.

Elliot Parks of Hamilton BioVentures will be on the investor panel that will help evaluate the company pitches at the 23rd Annual Investors Choice® Venture Capital Conference in Salt Lake City.

Dr. Elliot Parks is a fund manager with over 25 years of intimate knowledge and professional experience in biotechnology start-ups, large pharmaceutical companies, and academic research institutions. His corporate and institutional venture capital successes have leveraged his experience commercializing biomedical products in pharmaceutical and biotechnology setting. He serves on the TransOral Board of Directors.

Prior to joining Hamilton, Dr. Parks was Managing Director of Ventana Capital Management, raising and managing two venture funds and successfully overseeing the firm’s life science practice. While at Ventana, he served on several boards of directors and, among the accomplishments, led the recapitalization and venture syndication of Idun Pharmaceuticals, a San Diego biopharmaceutical company recently acquired by Pfizer for close to $300 million.

Dr. Parks served as President and CEO of Myelos Neurosciences Corp, a biopharmaceutical company developing a new family of therapeutics from neurotrophic factors. He led Myelos from a virtual company, to the identification of the lead compound, and into Phase 2 clinical trials in diabetic patients suffering neurologic complications. Dr. Parks raised multiple rounds of venture financing, earning Myelos’nomination by the San Diego Venture Group, as Venture-Funded Company of the Year.

Dr. Parks was Director of the Johnson & Johnson Biotechnology Center, managing the sourcing, and evaluating new technology and developing these technologies into a variety of diagnostic, pharmaceutical, and device products for several J&J operating companies. He oversaw product development to regulatory approval of eight biomedical products during his ten-year tenure.

Dr. Parks came to San Diego in 1974 and engaged in academic research in cell and molecular biology at The Scripps Research Institute, for more than a decade, as a research staff member and served as Director of Operations for the Institute.
Dr. Parks received his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University Of Washington School Of Medicine, in Seattle and worked under the office of the Surgeon General of the Army at Letterman Army Institute of Research focused on epidemiology and human virology.

Dave Moon of EsNet Ltd. will be on the investor panel that will help evaluate the company pitches at the 23rd Annual Investors Choice® Venture Capital Conference in Salt Lake City.

David Moon is a general partner of EsNet, Ltd., an investment partnership located in Provo, Utah. Mr. Moon’s experience includes a broad range of roles in technology, computer science, and corporate management. After graduating from Brigham Young University in Computer Science, he worked as a software engineer for WordPerfect Corporation, helping design and develop key features in the company’s desktop applications products. He served as the Chief Technology Officer and Sr. Vice President of Development at WordPerfect prior to its merger with Novell.

After leaving Novell, Mr. Moon served as the Chief Information Officer for the State of Utah. As a member of Governor Michael O. Leavitt’s cabinet and senior advisory staff, he was responsible for overseeing and coordinating all information services and technology initiatives for state government. Mr. Moon currently serves on a number of private corporate boards, including MyFamily.com, SenForce, NxLight, and DriveSafety. He also serves on a number of non-profit boards, including the Utah Information Technologies Association, the Ouelessebougou Utah Alliance, a humanitarian organization doing work in West Africa, and the National Genealogical Society.

Mr. Moon lives in Alpine, Utah, with his wife and seven children. Music, skiing, family history, chess set collecting, and humanitarian work are among his passions.

Shane Johnson of Hamilton BioVentures will be on the investor panel that will help evaluate the company pitches at the 23rd Annual Investors Choice® Venture Capital Conference in Salt Lake City.

Dr. Shane Johnson, Principal, has over 8 years of experience in biotechnology strategy consulting and management. He served as a Consultant to Hamilton BioVentures I, helping to evaluate a number of investment opportunities including the fund’s investments in Ceregene and TransOral Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining Hamilton II, Dr. Johnson worked as an Engagement Manager in the Life Science Practice at L.E.K. Consulting, an international strategy consulting firm.

Prior to consulting, Dr. Johnson was the Director of Strategic Planning at Bionomix (now Eidogen-Sertanty), a computational chemistry and bioinformatics company, and before that he held the same title at Arbor Vita Corporation, a development-stage immune therapeutics company.

Dr. Johnson is on the Board of Directors of Fritsche Capital Group, a private and independent investment bank, where he also serves as Chairman of the Life Science Practice.

With an active interest in international health, Dr. Johnson has done considerable volunteer work in areas such as Latin America and Papua New Guinea. Dr. Johnson received a B.A. in Studio Art and a B.S. in Neuroscience (with honors) from Brown University, and was awarded an M.D. from the Stanford University School of Medicine. He is also a Fulbright Scholar.

Ron Heinz of the Canopy Group will be on the investor panel that will help evaluate the company pitches at the 23rd Annual Investors Choice® Venture Capital Conference in Salt Lake City.

As Managing Director, Ron Heinz oversees corporate investments and strategic direction for Canopy Ventures. With more than two decades in the technology business, Mr. Heinz was the CEO of Helius, Inc. a Canopy portfolio company prior to assuming his current role. From 2000 to 2003, Ron was the CEO of Phobos Corporation, a Utah-based technology company that was acquired by SonicWALL of Sunnyvale, California (SNWL). Post-merger, he served as Chief Operating Officer and Sr. Vice President at SonicWALL Prior to Phobos, Mr. Heinz spent 12 years at Novell Inc., serving as a Corporate Officer and Sr. Vice President his last 4 years. Prior to Novell, Mr. Heinz was employed at Xerox. He received a Bachelor of Science in finance from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and an MBA in finance from American University. He has also participated in postgraduate work at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Debra Guerin Beresini of International Venture Fund/invencor will be on the investor panel that will help evaluate the company pitches at the 23rd Annual Investors Choice® Venture Capital Conference in Salt Lake City.

Debra R. Guerin Beresini is a co-founder and Managing Director of International Venture Fund (IVF). IVF is a Silicon Valley based venture fund focused on seed and early stage emerging growth investment opportunities in the geographic areas of Hawaii, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, as well as Silicon Valley. Ms. Guerin Beresini has served as CEO of invencor, inc, manager of IVF, since its inception in April 1997.

Ms. Guerin Beresini previously held senior positions at the seed/technology-transfer venture firm of AR&D Corp., at the venture leasing arm of Ford/US Leasing, as a venture investor at Technology Funding, and as Senior Vice President and Manager of the National Division at Silicon Valley Bank. Ms. Guerin Beresini specializes in life science companies, including TheraTx (IPO in 1994, acquired by Vencor for $550 million in 1997), Systemix (acquired by Sandoz) and Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (IPO in 2006, LSE). Ms. Guerin Beresini was on the board of Napo until its recent IPO. Ms. Guerin Beresini speaks at various national conferences on venture capital and technology transfer. She presently sits on the Board of AssistGuide, Inc., San Ramon, CA; the non-profit Hawaii Venture Capital Association and HiBEAM, a Hawaii based business accelerator. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the Wayne Brown Institute located in Salt Lake City, Utah. She graduated summa cum laude from Dominican University and has a certificate in Global Bio from UC Berkeley.