Cellastra Inc. is headquartered in San Francisco, California at :   655 Montgomery Street 5th Floor, Suite 540 San Francisco, CA 94111   Phone: 415-837-3201 ;  Fax: 415-837-3204     Cellastra aims to be a Global leader in Stem Cell Therapeutics, Pharmacogenomics and related applications for Regenerative Medicine and Drug Discovery platforms.   MANAGEMENT TEAM   Neerja Sethi, PhD, Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer, is the Founder-CEO of Astragen LLC , a company focused on Biotech and Pharma Solutions. She has over 12 years experience in molecular biotechnology research and over 5 years experience in technology development, business development, developing global alliances, consultancy, as a faculty and clinical trials training. Neerja is also an Internet Entrepreneur , having successfully founded and managed online publication MedicineandBiotech.com , a popular, growing online portal on Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, Medicine and Green tech. Neerja Sethi is also the Founder of Your Helix!  - a dynamic, innovative, Professional/Social Networking site for Global technology professionals. Neerja Sethi received her PhD at University of Virginia, Charlottesville and her scientific training as a postdoctoral fellow at Duke University Medical Center. She has worked as a scientist in both US and European Institutes. She developed successful research programs as Research Scientist in the Faculty series in the Departments of Medicine and Stomatology at University of California San Francisco Medical Center and at the Swiss Tropical Institute, Basel, Switzerland.  Her research has been focused on development of therapeutics in the fields of Oncology and Virology and on applying Functional Genomics in different aspects of therapeutic development. She has a number of awards, grants and peer-reviewed publications to her credit. She is an inventor with a patent application in a Gene Therapy technology targeted against specific cancers. She also holds a position as an Adjunct Assistant Professor with California School of Podiatric Medicine. She was one of the initiators and organizers of the 2005 Joint Swedish-Californian Stem Cells Symposium in support of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine. neerja.sethi@cellastra.com       Professor Outi  Leena Hovatta, MD, PhD, Co-Founder and Scientific Advisor, is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Karolinska Institute, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Sweden and also serves as the current Director of Stem Cells Research at REGEA, Institute for Regenerative Medicine in Tampere, Finland. Dr. Hovatta is a world-renowned leading expert in developing technologies for cultivating human embryonic stem cell lines. She has extensive experience in developing organ cultures since 1970's. She has been active in developing clinical in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment since 1986, and ovarian tissue and oocyte cryopreservation and culture of ovarian follicles and oocytes since 1995. In the laboratory of the IVF Unit of the hospital, her team has derived 20 Embryonic Stem cell lines since March 2002, paying particular attention to the quality aspects. Dr. Hovatta is the lead member of the inter-disciplinary program on characterization, growth and differentiation of human embryonic stem cells at the Karolinska University Hospital. Her team has wide collaborations within Sweden and internationally. Dr. Hovatta’s record includes 97 publications, the majority of which are classified in the field of Clinical Medicine, with 1,944 total citations to date.       Kent  Persson, PhD, Co-Founder and Board Member, is an experienced cell- and molecular biologist with over 12 years research expertise in the field. He was a senior scientist in the Gene Expression Division for the global corporation Bio-Rad Laboratories 2001-2004 in Hercules, CA. At Bio-Rad Laboratories he was responsible for developing gene expression technologies for the domestic and international research market. He marketed Bio-Rad's Gene expression products iTaq and iScript to domestic and international customers, especially in China and South Korea. He provided technical training and problem solving expertise in Genetic Analysis for Bio-Rad's Gene Expression products. In 2004, he was also a Scientific consultant for Astragen LLC a San Francisco based biotech company. Astragen LLC was instrumental in developing and arranging the 2005 Stem Cell Symposium –A Swedish-Californian Joint Venture, in April of 2005. Dr. Persson received his PhD at Umeå University, Sweden in Molecular Biology. He did his postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California San Francisco focusing on gene expression related research. Dr. Persson is well published in peer-reviewed journals and has contributed to many successful product releases from Bio-Rad Laboratories.       Karl L Mettinger, MD, PhD, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board, is a biotech industry veteran and executive with more than 20 years experience from the biomedical industry. He is based in the Bay Area and since 2005 serves as the Chief Medical Officer of Oncolytics Biotech Inc. He was medical director of hematology and became deputy general manager of the cardiovascular business unit of Kabi (Pharmacia), Sweden, 1985-89, medical director/ executive director at IVAX, Miami, 1989-2000, and chief medical officer/ senior vice president at SuperGen, Dublin, California, 2000-2005.  Dr. Mettinger received his MD from University of Lund, Sweden and PhD in the field of Hematology from the Karolinska Institute/Hospital, Stockholm, where he was a physician/associate professor 1974-89. He is board certified in Clinical Neurology and was Co-Founder/ President of the Swedish Stroke Society. He is an inventor of several patents, author of numerous scientific publications/reports and author/editor of several books in the field of biotechnology/medicine. Dr. Mettinger has also served on the board of a number of cultural and civic organizations including University of Miami School of Music, Bass Museum of Arts, and is a current board member of Oakland East Bay Symphony. He is also a board member of United Nations Association, USA, East Bay Chapter. His biography is included in several editions of Marquis Who is Who. karl.mettinger@cellastra.com         Bruno Gagnon, MSc, BPharm,  Director of Operations and Corporate Affairs, has been Director of Clinical and Business Operations at Chiron (Novartis)  for 6 years. Bruno Gagnon is a visionary leader with strong operational accomplishments, organizational and business skills. He has over 12 years experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry. He managed a large division at Chiron focused on therapeutics development in oncology, cardiovascular, infectious diseases and immunology. Bruno provides management and leadership for project team operations and project execution to develop globally new drug candidates from the pre-IND stage to marketing approval and/or to develop marketed drug for new indications.  Accountable for the following global functional areas:   Outsourcing and Contracts, Clinical Supplies, Supply Chain Management, Clinical Systems, SOPs & Training. Bruno also has considerable experience in in-licensing deals and due-diligence processes for effective business development. Bruno Gagnon also serves on the Advisory Council of the MBA program in Pharmaceutical Business at USP in Philadelphia.