Board of Directors
MaryAnn Guerra, M.B.A.
Chairman of the Board
Ms. Guerra is currently the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of BioAccel™. Ms Guerra brings more than 25 years of experience in business, health, cancer technology and genomics research management to BioAccel™, and is also serving as the Chairman of the Board. Prior to joining BioAccel™, Ms. Guerra served as President of TGen Accelerators, LLC and Chief Business Officer at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen). Ms. Guerra is well experienced in creating novel programs to accelerate the transfer of technology from the lab into useful products and new business opportunities. Ms. Guerra has spent much of her career managing and operating successful and progressive health, science and technology businesses. She is an expert at business development and strategic planning initiatives that create organizations poised to deliver clinical and research outcomes. Ms. Guerra has also held various senior level positions at the National Institutes of Health, including: Deputy Director of Management at the NCI; Executive Officer of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; and Chief of the Technology Transfer and Intramural Management Branch at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. As the Deputy Director for Management, National Cancer Institute (NCI), Ms. Guerra oversaw all the business operations of an organization with an annual budget in excess of $4 billion in appropriated funds and a staff of over 5,000.
Denise D. Resnik
Treasurer and Secretary
Denise, a native Phoenician, is the founder and president of the strategic marketing and public relations agency, Denise Resnik & Associates. The agency was founded in 1986 and has been serving clients in a variety of fields including health care, real estate, economic development, education, hospitality and entertainment.
Denise Resnik is also the co-founder and board development chair of the Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center (SARRC). She is the mother of an 18-year-old son with autism and served as SARRC's board chairman from 1997-2007. Today, SARRC is an internationally recognized nonprofit organization dedicated to autism research, education and community outreach and the support of individuals with autism and their families throughout their lifetimes. The 18,000 square-foot Campus for Exceptional Children and 10,000 square-foot Vocational & Life Skills Academy are state-of-the-art clinical centers that serve as national models for similar research and resource facilities. Her agency has provided significant in-kind support to SARRC and other non-profits since its inception.
Denise is a board member of Whispering Hope Ranch Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing a camp and retreat facility for children with chronic illnesses and physical and developmental challenges. In addition, she serves as a board member of BioAccel, the Urban Land Institute (Arizona District Council), Nature Conservancy, Phoenix Community Alliance and the Arizona Community Foundation.
Her list of accomplishments includes the 2009 National Jae Davis Community Service Award by the Organization for Autism Research; 2008 Valley Leadership Woman of the Year; 2008 Golden Heart of Business Volunteer Executive of the Year; 2008 Kappa Kappa Gamma National Alumnae Achievement Award; 2007 Human Relations Award recipient by the Arizona Chapter of the American Jewish Committee; 2007 Evening of Champions Award recipient by the Autism Society of America; named one of L'Oreal's 2006 Women of Worth; 2005 Golden Heart of Business recipient by Arizona Woman magazine; 2001 Athena Award recipient by the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce; 2001 Small Businessperson of the Year by the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce; 2001 World of Well-Being recipient by the Arizona Cactus-Pine Girl Scout Council; and 1998 Arts Advocate of the Year by the Business Volunteers for the Arts of Phoenix.
Denise graduated from Arizona State University cum laude and received her bachelor's degree in business.
Patrick Soon-Shiong, M.D.
Dr. Soon-Shiong holds a degree in Medicine from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, and a Master of Science from the University of British Columbia. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Dr. Soon-Shiong performed the world's first encapsulated islet transplant in a diabetic patient. He developed the first FDA approved protein nanoparticle delivery technology for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer and this drug is being developed for lung, melanoma, gastric and pancreatic cancer. He is a co-inventor of over 50 issued U.S. patents, has published more than 100 scientific papers, and founder of 2 publicly traded pharmaceutical companies, American Pharma Partners and Abraxis Bioscience.
Dr. Soon-Shiong's research has been recognized by national and international awards such as the Association for Academic Surgery Award for Research, the American College of Surgeons Schering Scholar, the Royal College Physicians and Surgeons Research Award, the Peter Kiewit Distinguished Membership in Medicine Award, and the International J.W. Hyatt Award for Service to Mankind. Dr. Soon-Shiong received the 2006 Gilda Club Award for the advancement of cancer medicine and is a recipient of a 2007 Ellis Island Medal of Honor as well as the St. Mary Medical Center Life Achievement Award in 2007 and the St. John's Health Center Caritas Award in 2007. In 2008 he received the Medical Visionary Award from the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network for his work in pancreatic cancer.
Dr. Soon-Shiong currently serves on the Board of Directors for the National Institute of Transplantation as well as the Technology Council for the new Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence at Northwestern University which is part of the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) five-year initiative for nanotechnology in cancer research. He also serves on two advisory boards for the RAND Corporation, the RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy and the RAND Health Board of Advisors. Dr. Soon-Shiong recently joined the Board of Trustees for the Saint John's Health Center in Los Angeles, California and the Advisory Board of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA. He also recently joined the Advisory Board for the Institute for Technology Advancement (ITA) at UCLA School of Engineering & Applied Science, as well as the Board of Councilors of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.
In 2009 he was appointed to the President's Council at RAND Corporation, Chairman of the Steering Committee of Life Sciences of the X-Prize Foundation and Founding Board member to Dossia Foundation.
