ADVISORY BOARD
Biographies
Carlos Simón, M.D. Ph.D.
Susan Fisher, Ph.D.
Irina Klimanskaya, Ph.D.
Jerome F. Strauss III, M.D., Ph.D.
Carlos Simón, M.D. Ph.D. Chairman, Scientific and Medical Advisory Board
As cofounder and chairman of the Scientific and Medical Advisory Board, Carlos Simón M.D., Ph.D., brings expertise in stem cell research, medical feedback and clinical information to StemLifeLine. Dr. Simón is the youngest professor at the University of Valencia, where he teaches obstetrics and gynecology. He is also the scientific director of the Valencian Infertility Institute (IVI), the head of the Stem Cell Bank for the Prince Felipe Research Centre (a non-profit organization devoted to stem cell derivation and research), and the scientific coordinator for the Regenerative Medicine Program of the Prince Felipe Research Centre, all located in Valencia, Spain.
Dr. Simón’s group at the Prince Felipe Research Centre and StemLifeLine cofounders Dr. Genbacev and Dr. Krtolica, collaborated to produce the first two embryonic stem cell lines in Spain, Valencia 1 and 2 (VAL1 and VAL2). Dr. Simón is an internationally recognized physician and speaker, and his extraordinary level of world-wide collaboration keeps him at the scientific forefront of regenerative medicine techniques.
Dr. Simón has held teaching posts at Stanford University and has published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers and 11 books. He received an M.D. and a Ph.D. from Valencia University, Valencia, Spain.
Susan Fisher, Ph.D. Member, Scientific and Medical Advisory Board
Susan Fisher, Ph.D., and member of the Scientific Advisory Board, brings more than 30 years of scientific research and knowledge-sharing to StemLifeLine. Her current positions at the University of California, San Francisco include professor for the Departments of Cell & Tissue Biology, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, and Anatomy; faculty director for the Biomolecular Resource Center; and acting director for the Human Embryonic Stem Cell Program.
Dr. Fisher has published more than 130 articles in peer-reviewed and industry publications and plays an integral role in 10 ongoing research projects. The majority of her research has been focused on how the health of a pregnant woman affects the embryo and its gestation.
Dr. Fisher holds a Ph.D. in anatomy from the University of Lexington, Kentucky and a bachelor’s of arts from Hope College, Michigan.
Irina Klimanskaya, Ph.D. Member Scientific and Medical Advisory Board
Irina Klimanskaya Ph.D., joined StemLifeLine’s Scientific and Medical Advisory Board as an expert in numerous aspects of the study of human embryonic stem cell derivation and differentiation. Dr.Klimanskaya currently is the director of Stem Cell Biology for Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., located in Worcester, Massachusetts. She has worked with thought leaders and key physicians internationally and worked with Douglas Melton, Ph.D., to establish 17 human embryonic stem cell lines at Harvard University’s Howard Hughes Medical Institution.
Dr. Klimanskaya holds a Ph.D. in cell biology from the National Cardiology Research Center, Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow, Russia and a master’s of from the Moscow State University, Russia. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in 1992 at the University of California, San Francisco, where her studies focused on cell adhesion.
Jerome F. Strauss III, M.D., Ph.D. Member, Scientific and Medial Advisory Board
A member of StemLifeLine’s Scientific and Medical Advisory Board, Jerome F. Strauss III, M.D., Ph.D., is an expert in women’s reproductive medicine and fertility. He is currently the dean of the School of Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), and executive vice president for Medical Affairs for the VCU Health System. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and the Society for Gynecologic Investigation, and serves on the editorial boards of leading journals in the fields of reproductive medicine and endocrinology, and is a member of the board of reviewing editors of Science.
Prior to becoming dean of the VCU School of Medicine in 2005, Dr. Strauss held various appointments at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine. He holds an M.D., and a Ph.D., in molecular biology both from the University of Pennsylvania, and a bachelor’s of arts degree from Brown University.
