KGI Discovery (Winter 2014)

On January 9, Biocon founder and managing director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw joined President Schuster at KGI for the official kickoff of the Biocon KGI Certificate Program in Biosciences. Offered in Bangalore, the 16-week course is the flagship program of Biocon Academy—a center for advanced

learning in applied biosciences. In addition to technical sessions and classroom assignments from KGI and Academy faculty, students will get hands-on experience at various facilities of Biocon. The academy received more than 220 applications from all across India after admissions opened on November 11, 2013. Following a rigorous selection process, 30 students were chosen to be part of the inaugural class. They include a mix of experienced professionals as well as recent engineering and science graduates.

“Biocon Academy aims to bring world-class training programs for biotech students in India through cus-tomized programs like the Biocon KGI Certificate Program in Biosciences and make them employable,” said Mazumdar-Shaw, who is well-known for having started Biocon, India’s largest biotech company, in the garage of her house in Bangalore more than 35 years ago.

After meeting with KGI students and faculty on campus, Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw was the guest of honor at a dinner at President Schuster’s Claremont home. The kick-off dinner featured a virtual ribbon-cutting, remarks by KGI trustees Dan Bradbury and Karen Bernstein, and a live demonstration of the remote learning platform used in the program. Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw and President Schuster also answered questions from the first co-hort of students via a live webcast. On the following page, Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw talks about why she started Biocon Academy and where the real opportunities in biotech will be in the next decade.

DISCOVERY WINTER 2014

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Fellowship Dinner

AC Profile

KGI is dedicated to education and research aimed at translating into practice, for the benefit of society, the power and potential of the life sciences.

School oƒApplied Life Sciences | 1997School oƒ Pharmacy | 2013Minerva Schools at KGI | 2013

Biocon, India’s leading biotech company, and KGI team up to produce a new generation of industry-ready talent

‘Academics’ Redefined

10Research @ KGI

KGI Winter 2014.indd 1 2/12/14 9:25 PM

2 / KGI - Winter Newsletter 2014

BOARD of TRUSTEESBIOCON

1. When did you first develop the idea for Biocon Academy? What was the catalyst?

It is something that we’ve been thinking about for several years now. The talent pool in India has been shrinking, not growing, in terms of industry-ready talent. This talent shortage has led to attrition as Biocon and companies like it are forced to dip into the same talent pool over and over again. So, we viewed it as a question of corporate social responsibility. We need to meet the demand for industry-ready talent.

2. Can you talk in a little bit more depth about the gaps in training that exist now, both in India and internationally? Where have we fallen short?

Every year in India about 50,000 students graduate with degrees in the life sciences, but only about five-10 percent of them find jobs inside the sector. Most graduate with some basic theoretical knowledge of the biotech sector, but there are big gaps in their knowledge and understanding of industrial biotech. For example, they may have learned how drugs are developed in a theory class, but have no understanding of the regulatory aspects of drug development. They may have been taught how products are manufactured but have no idea of GMP. So what happens is that we (Biocon and other biotechs) spend almost a year training these young graduates to acquire industry-specific skills. We can only use their skills in a meaningful, value-added way a year or two after they’ve been hired. That’s why we wanted to create Biocon Academy, to give these bright young graduates a very formal education that will allow them be industry-ready. Initially, our goal is to train 100 students but over time we’d like to increase that number to at least 500 a year. We hope that eventually every large biotech company will start creating this type of academy within their own organizations.

Left to right: Biocon and KGI Trustee Dan Bradbury, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and KGI President Shelly Schuster

President Schuster and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw take questions from students in Bangalore via webcast

Q&A with Biocon Founder and Chair Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw



BOARD of TRUSTEESBIOCON

1. When did you first develop the idea for Biocon Academy? What was the catalyst?

It is something that we’ve been thinking about for several years now. The talent pool in India has been shrinking, not growing, in terms of industry-ready talent. This talent shortage has led to attrition as Biocon and companies like it are forced to dip into the same talent pool over and over again. So, we viewed it as a question of corporate social responsibility. We need to meet the demand for industry-ready talent.

2. Can you talk in a little bit more depth about the gaps in training that exist now, both in India and internationally? Where have we fallen short?

Every year in India about 50,000 students graduate with degrees in the life sciences, but only about five-10 percent of them find jobs inside the sector. Most graduate with some basic theoretical knowledge of the biotech sector, but there are big gaps in their knowledge and understanding of industrial biotech. For example, they may have learned how drugs are developed in a theory class, but have no understanding of the regulatory aspects of drug development. They may have been taught how products are manufactured but have no idea of GMP. So what happens is that we (Biocon and other biotechs) spend almost a year training these young graduates to acquire industry-specific skills. We can only use their skills in a meaningful, value-added way a year or two after they’ve been hired. That’s why we wanted to create Biocon Academy, to give these bright young graduates a very formal education that will allow them be industry-ready. Initially, our goal is to train 100 students but over time we’d like to increase that number to at least 500 a year. We hope that eventually every large biotech company will start creating this type of academy within their own organizations.

Left to right: Biocon and KGI Trustee Dan Bradbury, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and KGI President Shelly Schuster

President Schuster and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw take questions from students in Bangalore via webcast

Q&A with Biocon Founder and Chair Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw


KGI - Winter Newsletter 2014 / 3

BIOCON

3. Why is KGI the right partner to collaborate with Biocon in this new endeavor?

Originally, our approach was to develop the curriculum ourselves. But then I real-ized that in KGI we have an institution that actually works closely with industry to un-derstand what it needs. KGI has developed a curriculum that’s tailor-made to meet the needs of the U.S biopharma sector, which is the most successful in the world. So why should we reinvent the wheel? What is in-teresting, I think, is that with Biocon Acad-emy we are taking a pioneering approach to developing talent. In the U.S., the biophar-ma sector relies on KGI to supply the tal-ent. In India, we need to form a partnership with KGI to help this Academy develop the talent. It’s a slightly different model, one in which industry learns to work closely with academia, learns how academia functions, and learns to respect what academia does for industry, rather than the traditional customer-vendor model.

4. Speaking as someone whose company employs thousands of professionals, what is the one personal quality other than technical training that is vital to succeed in today’s life science industries? What distinguishes a competent employee from an exceptional one?

It’s really about problem-solving. At KGI, you have lots of good infrastructure and an excellent curriculum, but the oppor-tunities to work closely with companies on projects that solve real problems (through internships and Team Masters Projects) is what makes it the most valuable learning experience. That’s what we’re hoping this program at Biocon Academy will deliver. At the end of the day, we hope that stu-dents will leave with hands-on experience of real problem solving and, ultimately, that is what will make them very sought-after employees that industry wants to hire. SEE BIOCON ON NEXT PAGE

Left to right: Pancham Parikh, Ankit Lodha, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Sonali Talele, Pankit Shah and Naren Vinayak

Left to right: Dr. Sudathi Jeereddi, KGI trustee Karen Bernstein, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, KGI Trustee Dr. Jeereddi Prasad, President Schuster



5. Looking back at your own career, what turned out to be the “best” mistake you ever made?

To develop a product in the biopharmaceutical sector is not easy. When I was building my own career, I didn’t know where to start or where to look for answers. But in the last 10 years there has been a dramatic change in the way you access information, in the way you evolve strategy and look at problem-solving. In the decades when I built Biocon, I didn’t have access to the Internet, for example. I actually had little access to technology in every way—whether it was in terms of research technology, or manufacturing technology, or information about what was happening in the rest of the world. Today, Biocon is 35 years old. During the first 15 or 20 years we may have made many mistakes and reinvented the wheel in many cases, but we also learned a lot and built a solid foundation along the way.

6. Looking ahead, where do you think the real opportunities will be in biotech in the next decade or two?

Today, it’s not just about therapeutics; it’s about diagnostics; it’s about personalized medicine; it’s about genomics and using informatics in a very smart way to differentiate patient populations or therapeutic groups. It’s about how strategic you can be in your thinking in terms of taking a product quickly to market. In the healthcare sector today, there’s a mandate that states: give us a justification of why we should pay a certain amount for this drug, and then maybe we’ll include it in our formulary. Access and affordability are the two pillars of the healthcare ecosystem. So it’s not just about developing a drug but finding an economic model for that drug. That’s why it’s so important that students have the business skills to work out what are these economic models for any pharmaceutical product—whether it’s a therapy, diagnostic product, or any other type of intervention. It’s these marketing and economic models that evolve over time that make (biopharma) a very exciting, innovative kind of space.

BIOCON

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw looks on as KGI trustees Dan Bradbury and Karen Bernstein cut a virtual ribbon to officially launch Biocon Academy

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and President Schuster with Biocon Academy faculty (left to right) Chris Shen, Jennifer Ton, Anastasia Levitin, Eddie Crab, KiriLynn Svay Hedberg



5. Looking back at your own career, what turned out to be the “best” mistake you ever made?

To develop a product in the biopharmaceutical sector is not easy. When I was building my own career, I didn’t know where to start or where to look for answers. But in the last 10 years there has been a dramatic change in the way you access information, in the way you evolve strategy and look at problem-solving. In the decades when I built Biocon, I didn’t have access to the Internet, for example. I actually had little access to technology in every way—whether it was in terms of research technology, or manufacturing technology, or information about what was happening in the rest of the world. Today, Biocon is 35 years old. During the first 15 or 20 years we may have made many mistakes and reinvented the wheel in many cases, but we also learned a lot and built a solid foundation along the way.

6. Looking ahead, where do you think the real opportunities will be in biotech in the next decade or two?

Today, it’s not just about therapeutics; it’s about diagnostics; it’s about personalized medicine; it’s about genomics and using informatics in a very smart way to differentiate patient populations or therapeutic groups. It’s about how strategic you can be in your thinking in terms of taking a product quickly to market. In the healthcare sector today, there’s a mandate that states: give us a justification of why we should pay a certain amount for this drug, and then maybe we’ll include it in our formulary. Access and affordability are the two pillars of the healthcare ecosystem. So it’s not just about developing a drug but finding an economic model for that drug. That’s why it’s so important that students have the business skills to work out what are these economic models for any pharmaceutical product—whether it’s a therapy, diagnostic product, or any other type of intervention. It’s these marketing and economic models that evolve over time that make (biopharma) a very exciting, innovative kind of space.

BIOCON

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw looks on as KGI trustees Dan Bradbury and Karen Bernstein cut a virtual ribbon to officially launch Biocon Academy

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and President Schuster with Biocon Academy faculty (left to right) Chris Shen, Jennifer Ton, Anastasia Levitin, Eddie Crab, KiriLynn Svay Hedberg



Being a young institution, KGI may be a little light on tradition. But it does have a few, and chief among them are the

Simon Ramo Distinguished Lecture Series and the annual Fellowship Dinner. This year, for the first time, the two events were combined, with the dinner’s featured event being the talk by 2014 Simon Ramo Distinguished Lecturer George Savage, co-founder and chief medical officer of Proteus Digital Health. The dinner, which was held on February 5 at the Sheraton Fairplex Conference Center in Pomona, also honored Dr. Ramo’s 100th birthday.

A pioneer in science, business and technology, Dr. Ramo was the founder of two Fortune 500 companies. TRW Inc., which grew out of the Ramo-Wooldridge Corp., put together the complex systems required to construct the first American

intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Dr. Ramo, who is sometimes referred to as the father of ICBM, started the company with a Caltech classmate, Dean Wooldridge, in 1953. The second company, Bunker Ramo was a manufacturer of military electronics devices and digital computers, and a supplier of video display terminals to the financial industry. In 1971, the company introduced the first version of the National Association of Securities Dealers’ Automated Quotations system, NASDAQ.

Dr. Ramo, who holds a B.S. from the University of Utah and PhDs in physics and engineering from Caltech, is a founding member of the National Academy of Engineering. He also chaired the President’s Committee on Science and Technology under President Ford.

Dinner also honors Dr. Ramo’s contributions to KGI, 100th Birthday

6th Annual Fellowship Dinner Hosts the Simon Ramo Lecture Series

As part of your estate planning, please consider a gift to Keck Graduate Institute.This gift will give you the opportunity to communicate your values and your dreams for the kind of future you hope your children and grand-children will inherit. At the same time, you will be helping to assure our financial future so we can continue for generations to come. For further information, please contact Karen Schneider, vice president of advancement at (909) 607-0139 or [email protected]

FELLOWSHIP DINNER

SEE RAMO ON PAGE 11



FELLOWSHIP DINNER

1. KGI students with 2014 Simon Ramo Distinguished Lecturer George Savage (center), President Sheldon Schuster (far left) and Dr. Jim Osborne (far right)

2. Shant Donoyan, KGI Trustee Dennis Fenton, Michael Hull, Kekoa Iobst

3. Jordan Myint, Gayle Riggs, KGI Founding President Hank Riggs, Mirza Ahmed

4. Left to right: Xiaoling Wang, Pranav Kumar, Sean Howard, KGI Trustee Arthur Riggs, Manesa Chandra, Chunyue Weng

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FELLOWSHIP DINNER

1. KGI students with 2014 Simon Ramo Distinguished Lecturer George Savage (center), President Sheldon Schuster (far left) and Dr. Jim Osborne (far right)

2. Shant Donoyan, KGI Trustee Dennis Fenton, Michael Hull, Kekoa Iobst

3. Jordan Myint, Gayle Riggs, KGI Founding President Hank Riggs, Mirza Ahmed

4. Left to right: Xiaoling Wang, Pranav Kumar, Sean Howard, KGI Trustee Arthur Riggs, Manesa Chandra, Chunyue Weng

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A lan Mendelson, founder and general partner at Axiom Venture Partners, is quick to point out that he’s only had

two jobs in his career. In his present job at the Hartford, Connecticut-based Axiom, he and his partners have more than $200 mil-lion in capital under management, with in-vestments in two main industry areas: high technology— which includes communica-tions, software, internet infrastructure and information technology, and biotechnology.

Mendelson got that job when he half-jok-ingly suggested to Ted Kelly, then president and COO of the global insurance giant Lib-erty Mutual, that Kelly put $50 million in a venture fund under his management. A year or so later, Kelly called his bluff and Axiom was born.

He got his first job at Aetna Life & Ca-sualty in Hartford, Connecticut, soon after graduating with a degree in economics from Trinity College. Mendelson’s original plan was to work there for a year and then go on to law school at the University of Pennsylva-nia, where he’d already been accepted.

But fast forward a week and he finds him-self firmly ensconced in Aetna’s bond invest-ment department working in private place-ments, which involves raising capital via the sale of securities to a relatively small number of select investors, such as large banks, mutual funds, insurance com-panies and pension funds.

“Here I was flying around the country in-terviewing CEOs and making multimillion dollar loans,” Mendelson says, “something I never thought I’d be doing at that point in my career.”

Fast forward another 23 years and Men-delson’s career highlights at Aetna included working with more than $3 billion of private placement debt financings with estimated

combined losses of under $10 million; build-ing the company’s $135 million venture capital portfolio of direct and partnership in-vestments; and a $65 million portfolio of di-rect investment that generated approximately $265 million of proceeds.

Mendelson says his longevity at Aetna has taught him that long-term career planning isn’t all it’s cracked up to be—from both an

employee and an employer’s perspective.“One thing I’ve learned from my own ex-

perience is that when you hire someone you shouldn’t waste time thinking about wheth-er they’ll take the job and, if so, how long they’ll stay. The chances are they don’t know themselves,” he explains.

Mendelson’s career also included serv-ing as president and CEO of Aetna, Jacobs, and Ramo —a joint venture which included Manhattan-based financier Eli Jacobs and longtime KGI supporter Simon Ramo. It was Ramo who introduced Mendelson to KGI and recommended him for the Advisory Council.

“I thought it sounded like an exciting op-portunity and from working with (biotech-related investments) I knew there was a real need for people in biotech who had both a science and a business background,” Men-delson says.

When he first became a member in 1999, the advisory council had only about half a dozen members and KGI was in its infancy—still a few years from graduating its first class (2002). “I think in the beginning, for the first several years, the AC was more involved in shaping curriculum and faculty policy, but as the school has grown we spend more of our time on fundraising, helping students develop professionally and gain access to industry,” Mendelson says.

One thing that hasn’t changed, he adds, is the quality of the students: “The students at KGI have always been incredibly bright and motivated,” he says. “I think as the MBS has gained acceptance as a good alternative

to a traditional business school, we’ve also seen the student body become more diverse.”

After 13 years of service, one might wonder if Men-delson ever feels he’s done enough for KGI. “Not re-ally, I think it’s been a two-

way street,” he says. “Over the years, I’ve en-joyed helping the students. I’ve met a couple of useful business contacts, myself, and even more importantly gotten to spend time with wonderful people who are interested in the same things I’m interested in.” (You can’t beat that, can you?)

The Advisory Council’s longest-standing member reflects on changes that he’s seen at KGI over the years

BOARD of TRUSTEESADVISORY COUNCIL PROFILE: ALAN MENDELSON

One thing I’ve learned from my own experience is that when you hire someone you shouldn’t waste time thinking

about whether they’ll take the job and, if so, how long they’ll stay. The chances are they don’t know themselves.



R ecruitment efforts for the KGI School of Pharmacy (SoP) are continuing at a brisk pace. Students from Texas to Oregon have been interviewed for a place in the inaugural class scheduled to be admitted in fall 2014. To date, eighty-six percent of the candidates extended an offer have accepted.

“I am extremely pleased with the quality of students who have interviewed for the PharmD program,” SoP Director of Ad-missions Marcia Parker said. “They are bright, articulate and excited about the future of pharmacy. It is clear that these students will be leaders in the field and bring the sort of compassion and dedication that we expect of this highly regarded profession.”

KGI admissions staff responds to every inquiry from prospective students and thoroughly consider the merits of each applica-tion. Selected candidates are then invited to KGI for a full day of interviews, assessments and presentations. At the end of the day, each candidate is asked about their experience at interview day. Below are a few quotes from the surveys:

“KGI has the right vision for the future of pharmacy.” - Anonymous “I loved how friendly everyone is.” - Anonymous“I expected today to be full of tension and nerves. But as I sit here, I realize that I have not felt this comfortable around people

that I recently met. It is amazing how the staff fostered an accommodating and friendly vibe today. Thank you.” – Anonymous SoP faculty and staff have hosted four candidate interview days to date, and several more are scheduled throughout the spring

semester. Applications will be accepted until the class has reached its enrollment limit of 80.

School of Pharmacy welcomes highly qualified applicants to campus on interview days

SCHOOLS UPDATE

News from Minerva Schools at KGI

Deans of the Minerva CollegesThe Minvera Schools at KGI (MSKGI) has now appointed all four Deans of the Minerva

Colleges: Dr. Eric Bonabeau, dean of the College of Computational Sciences; Dr. Diane Halp-ern, dean of the College of Social Sciences; Dr. Daniel Levitin, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities; and Dr. James Sterling, interim dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Direc-tor of Labs. These deans will serve as the inaugural faculty for 2014-2015. Each of the deans is developing a year-long cornerstone course, which they will personally teach to the founding class (beginning in September 2014).

AccreditationA Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) committee visited Minerva in San Francisco this past December as part of the

review of the KGI structural change application. The committee had a positive recommendation, and, in January, MSKGI submitted two additional proposals to WASC, requesting permission to award a Bachelor of Science degree in computational sciences and a Bachelor of Arts degree in arts and humanities.

Media MattersFrom September 17, 2013, through the end of the year, it is estimated that global press coverage of MSKGI resulted in nearly 500 mil-

lion media impressions (unique visitors per month + circulation in traditional and online publications). In December of last year Minerva was featured on a segment about “college re-imagined” on NBC’s “The Today Show,” which has an audience of more than 5.6 million viewers. International press coverage also increased dramatically during this time. Coverage in Brazil has been particularly impressive with 29 stories in major news outlets. Also notable was an interview on CNN in Spanish that reached 29 million households, both in Spanish-speaking Latin America and in Hispanic households in the U.S. In addition, there were seven stories on MSKGI in China and 10 stories in India in key newspapers and online outlets.



R ecruitment efforts for the KGI School of Pharmacy (SoP) are continuing at a brisk pace. Students from Texas to Oregon have been interviewed for a place in the inaugural class scheduled to be admitted in fall 2014. To date, eighty-six percent of the candidates extended an offer have accepted.

“I am extremely pleased with the quality of students who have interviewed for the PharmD program,” SoP Director of Ad-missions Marcia Parker said. “They are bright, articulate and excited about the future of pharmacy. It is clear that these students will be leaders in the field and bring the sort of compassion and dedication that we expect of this highly regarded profession.”

KGI admissions staff responds to every inquiry from prospective students and thoroughly consider the merits of each applica-tion. Selected candidates are then invited to KGI for a full day of interviews, assessments and presentations. At the end of the day, each candidate is asked about their experience at interview day. Below are a few quotes from the surveys:

“KGI has the right vision for the future of pharmacy.” - Anonymous “I loved how friendly everyone is.” - Anonymous“I expected today to be full of tension and nerves. But as I sit here, I realize that I have not felt this comfortable around people

that I recently met. It is amazing how the staff fostered an accommodating and friendly vibe today. Thank you.” – Anonymous SoP faculty and staff have hosted four candidate interview days to date, and several more are scheduled throughout the spring

semester. Applications will be accepted until the class has reached its enrollment limit of 80.

School of Pharmacy welcomes highly qualified applicants to campus on interview days

SCHOOLS UPDATE

News from Minerva Schools at KGI

Deans of the Minerva CollegesThe Minvera Schools at KGI (MSKGI) has now appointed all four Deans of the Minerva

Colleges: Dr. Eric Bonabeau, dean of the College of Computational Sciences; Dr. Diane Halp-ern, dean of the College of Social Sciences; Dr. Daniel Levitin, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities; and Dr. James Sterling, interim dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Direc-tor of Labs. These deans will serve as the inaugural faculty for 2014-2015. Each of the deans is developing a year-long cornerstone course, which they will personally teach to the founding class (beginning in September 2014).

AccreditationA Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) committee visited Minerva in San Francisco this past December as part of the

review of the KGI structural change application. The committee had a positive recommendation, and, in January, MSKGI submitted two additional proposals to WASC, requesting permission to award a Bachelor of Science degree in computational sciences and a Bachelor of Arts degree in arts and humanities.

Media MattersFrom September 17, 2013, through the end of the year, it is estimated that global press coverage of MSKGI resulted in nearly 500 mil-

lion media impressions (unique visitors per month + circulation in traditional and online publications). In December of last year Minerva was featured on a segment about “college re-imagined” on NBC’s “The Today Show,” which has an audience of more than 5.6 million viewers. International press coverage also increased dramatically during this time. Coverage in Brazil has been particularly impressive with 29 stories in major news outlets. Also notable was an interview on CNN in Spanish that reached 29 million households, both in Spanish-speaking Latin America and in Hispanic households in the U.S. In addition, there were seven stories on MSKGI in China and 10 stories in India in key newspapers and online outlets.



The KGI community recently lost a be-loved member of its community with the death of Laura Kubec, the Institute’s

director of sponsored research services. Lau-ra died on October 25, 2013, after a long and courageous fight against cancer.

Laura joined KGI in 2005 from Claremont Graduate University (CGU). In her role as di-rector of sponsored research services, she was responsible for identifying funding opportu-nities, preparing grant proposals, working with post-award sponsored research staff to facilitate smooth transitions from pre-award to post-award, among numerous other du-ties—all of which she performed with humor, grace and almost super-human efficiency, ac-cording to KGI President Sheldon Schuster and others who worked with her.

“There is no doubt that she played an in-tegral part in helping to grow and enhance KGI’s research activities, drawing on her long experience in sponsored research in the cor-porate and university worlds, and her unique expertise in both pre-award and post-award grants administration,” President Schuster said. “Laura was also a constant source of encouragement and calm in a world of dead-lines. She was a friend upon whom we all de-pended, and her dedication and hard work inspired us as well.”

Previously, Laura was a senior financial analyst at Hamilton Sundstrand and a senior

program administrator and financial analyst at Corning OCA. While she began her tenure at KGI as a grants administrator, Laura was soon promoted to director of sponsored re-search services.

Greg Dewey, former KGI vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty, remem-bers Laura as one of the best hires of his ca-reer. “Laura Kubec was one of the most won-derful employees whom I have ever hired,” he said. “She was smart, energetic and very loyal. She also was very flexible and had a great sense of humor. She had a hard job—getting faculty to obey rules and to get things in on time—that she did with grace.”

As KGI’s director of research, Angelika Niemz worked with Laura on an almost daily basis and says Laura’s death represents both a personal and professional loss to her and the entire KGI community.

“An institution is worth only as much as the people within it, and we were extremely lucky to have Laura be part of KGI, not just as someone who does her job and gets it done well, but as someone who contributes in so many other ways to our community, and just as a great person and a great friend,” Niemz said.

A memorial service for Laura was held on KGI’s campus on November 18, 2013.

KGI MournsBOARD of TRUSTEESIN MEMORIAM

Laura Kubec devoted time each year to organizing KGI’s holiday charitable giving drive. This past year, staffers

Shannon Braun, Lindsay Janssen and Dea Marcano followed in her footsteps by organizing a drive for Shoes that Fit. This was the third year in a row that the drive benefited the Claremont-based organization which provides shoes for area schoolchildren in need. Thanks to the efforts of the KGI community, 51 children received shoes.

Laura was also a constant source of encouragement and calm in a world of deadlines. She was a friend upon whom we all depended,

and her dedication and hard work inspired us as well.

the Loss of Friend and Colleague Laura Kubec



Vivek Gupta, PhD, says he has “seen the agony of my family members struggling with insulin injections” and hopes that the inno-vations in drug delivery he is working on will not only offer therapeutic benefits following a drug’s administration, but also provide a sustained and controlled release, resulting in reduced dosing frequency.

“This approach will result in improved dose adherence and patient compliance with the therapeutic regimen,” says Gupta, who joined KGI this past July as an assistant pro-fessor of biopharmaceutical sciences in KGI’s new School of Pharmacy.

In his KGI laboratory, Gupta and his re-search group are currently concentrating on new therapies for both diabetes and pulmo-nary disorders.

A recent article appearing in the Journal of Controlled Release, an official publication of the Controlled Release Society, spotlights Gupta’s research. In its findings, Gupta and his co-authors demonstrate the feasibility of a capsule-like device which could orally de-liver salmon calcitonin, a drug used for post-menopausal osteoporosis, which otherwise must be injected and has lost its therapeu-tic appeal despite its tremendous potential. When in the intestine, these devices release small drug-loaded discs, which have the ca-pability to adhere to the intestinal wall and to release the drug into the bloodstream.

“This has the potential to revolutionize the current treatment modalities for several life-threatening diseases, including Type 2 di-abetes, by eliminating the need for needles to administer medications, including insulin,” he explains.

Gupta hopes to develop a buccal (cheek cavity) microneedle-based insulin delivery device for improving compliance among both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes patients, especially teenagers, who can have trouble sticking to a routine. The device will be made of biodegradable polymers, and can be inserted into the lining of the cheeks with minimal force, taking advantage of the rich blood vessel supply for systemic delivery of anti-diabetic therapy.

Gupta is also developing a nanoparticle-based, noninvasive inhalation therapy for respiratory disorders such as pulmonary arterial hypertension (increased pressure in the pulmonary arteries) and idiopathic pul-monary fibrosis—a disease in which tissue in the lungs becomes thick, stiff or scarred over time. Thus far, the effectiveness of the therapies has been limited by their ability to reach the deep lung regions.

“In addition to these disease areas,” he says, “we are also interested in develop-ing nanotechnology-based therapeutic in-terventions for infectious diseases, and in investigating novel targets to provide lo-calized and individualized therapy for rare diseases.”

A native of India, Gupta received his un-dergraduate degree in biopharmaceutical sciences from Jamia Hamdard in New Delhi in 2003, and his PhD in pharmaceutical sci-ences, with a specialization in pharmaceu-tics, from Texas Tech University in 2010. While a research assistant at the Depart-

ment of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC), he focused on developing novel inhalable therapies for pulmonary arterial hypertension and other respiratory disor-ders. Gupta did his postdoctoral research at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in the Department of Chemical Engineering, where he conducted research in pharma-ceutics and drug delivery systems, including oral delivery of peptides and transdermal delivery of siRNA and other therapeutic agents using cell-penetrating peptides.

For Gupta, whose hours outside of work are spent with his wife exploring new sights and anticipating the birth of their first child, the research path he initially chose based on a professor’s recommendation has proven to be one in which he believes he will be able to make a difference to the many peo-ple who experience difficulties with conven-tional therapeutics.

“I want to translate my work into a real-world solution,” says Gupta.

Vivek Gupta Goes in Search of Painless and Innovative Drug Delivery

Research at KGI

RESEARCH



Vivek Gupta, PhD, says he has “seen the agony of my family members struggling with insulin injections” and hopes that the inno-vations in drug delivery he is working on will not only offer therapeutic benefits following a drug’s administration, but also provide a sustained and controlled release, resulting in reduced dosing frequency.

“This approach will result in improved dose adherence and patient compliance with the therapeutic regimen,” says Gupta, who joined KGI this past July as an assistant pro-fessor of biopharmaceutical sciences in KGI’s new School of Pharmacy.

In his KGI laboratory, Gupta and his re-search group are currently concentrating on new therapies for both diabetes and pulmo-nary disorders.

A recent article appearing in the Journal of Controlled Release, an official publication of the Controlled Release Society, spotlights Gupta’s research. In its findings, Gupta and his co-authors demonstrate the feasibility of a capsule-like device which could orally de-liver salmon calcitonin, a drug used for post-menopausal osteoporosis, which otherwise must be injected and has lost its therapeu-tic appeal despite its tremendous potential. When in the intestine, these devices release small drug-loaded discs, which have the ca-pability to adhere to the intestinal wall and to release the drug into the bloodstream.

“This has the potential to revolutionize the current treatment modalities for several life-threatening diseases, including Type 2 di-abetes, by eliminating the need for needles to administer medications, including insulin,” he explains.

Gupta hopes to develop a buccal (cheek cavity) microneedle-based insulin delivery device for improving compliance among both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes patients, especially teenagers, who can have trouble sticking to a routine. The device will be made of biodegradable polymers, and can be inserted into the lining of the cheeks with minimal force, taking advantage of the rich blood vessel supply for systemic delivery of anti-diabetic therapy.

Gupta is also developing a nanoparticle-based, noninvasive inhalation therapy for respiratory disorders such as pulmonary arterial hypertension (increased pressure in the pulmonary arteries) and idiopathic pul-monary fibrosis—a disease in which tissue in the lungs becomes thick, stiff or scarred over time. Thus far, the effectiveness of the therapies has been limited by their ability to reach the deep lung regions.

“In addition to these disease areas,” he says, “we are also interested in develop-ing nanotechnology-based therapeutic in-terventions for infectious diseases, and in investigating novel targets to provide lo-calized and individualized therapy for rare diseases.”

A native of India, Gupta received his un-dergraduate degree in biopharmaceutical sciences from Jamia Hamdard in New Delhi in 2003, and his PhD in pharmaceutical sci-ences, with a specialization in pharmaceu-tics, from Texas Tech University in 2010. While a research assistant at the Depart-

ment of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC), he focused on developing novel inhalable therapies for pulmonary arterial hypertension and other respiratory disor-ders. Gupta did his postdoctoral research at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in the Department of Chemical Engineering, where he conducted research in pharma-ceutics and drug delivery systems, including oral delivery of peptides and transdermal delivery of siRNA and other therapeutic agents using cell-penetrating peptides.

For Gupta, whose hours outside of work are spent with his wife exploring new sights and anticipating the birth of their first child, the research path he initially chose based on a professor’s recommendation has proven to be one in which he believes he will be able to make a difference to the many peo-ple who experience difficulties with conven-tional therapeutics.

“I want to translate my work into a real-world solution,” says Gupta.

Vivek Gupta Goes in Search of Painless and Innovative Drug Delivery

Research at KGI

RESEARCH



UPCOMING KGI EVENtSFebruary 26 | San FranciscoFounders Lunch and Networking Event at Genentech Featured Topic: Biosimilars

February 28 | KGI campusRare Disease Day at KGI

March 5 | Thousand Oaks3rd Annual Alumni Event at Amgen

May 7 | KGI CampusTeam Master’s Projects (TMP) Presentation Day

May 17 | KGI campus2014 Commencement

June 13 | NYC2nd Annual Founders Lunch at IBM Client Center

June 14 | NYCRegional Alumni Event with KGI President Shelly Schuster

July 2014

Regional Mixers to be announced

He served as a member of the Advisory Council to the Secretary of State on Science and Foreign Affairs, the National Science Board, the Council of Scholars in the Library of Congress and the White House Council on Energy. Dr. Ramo has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Delmer S. Fahrney Medal (1978), the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1983), and the first INCOSE Pioneer Award (1997), among many others. In 2007, the Space Foundation awarded Dr. Ramo its highest honor, the General James E. Hill Lifetime Space Achievement Award.

In the past, Dr. Ramo served as a senior advisor to KGI, and he and his late wife Virginia were early benefactors, contributing generously to the Annual Fund and the W. M. Keck Foundation Challenge grant. The $20 million grant, awarded by the W. M. Keck Foundation in 2004, challenged KGI to raise $30 million in seven years to garner a total of $50 million in private support.

Endowed gifts from the Ramos and W. M. Keck Foundation also support The Simon Ramo Distinguished Lecture Series, which showcases achievements in the life sciences by some of the world’s top researchers and industry leaders. Previous speakers have included Jose Ignacio Santos, James Greenwood, J. Craig Venter, Donald Kennedy, Leroy Hood, Maxine Singer, Dr. Bruce Alberts and P. Roy Vagelos.

“Simon Ramo was one of a handful of individuals—leaders in the life sciences—who saw the value and potential of KGI from its inception. His generous support and counsel have been instrumental in the success of our highly innovative educational model,” said President Schuster. “He has been a true friend to KGI and for that we are extremely grateful.”

BOARD of TRUSTEESCURRENT EVENTS

SAVE THE DATECommencement 2014May 17 – Keck Graduate Institute, east lawn

Featuring commencement speaker former U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey

RAMO FROM PAGE 5



535 Watson Drive • Claremont, California 91711 www.kgi.edu

DISCOVERY

Even though second-semester classes didn’t resume until January 21, many KGI students came back to campus early for TMP work week (January 13-17). Team Master’s Projects (the infamous TMPs) are capstone projects in which teams of three to six students work as consultants to solve real-world problems for leading life science companies. This year’s TMPs include mapping rare diseases to identify opportunities for Pfizer and analyzing optimal supply chain models for Amgen. “It’s always fun to see students when they return from their winter break. They seem so refreshed and ready to solve the world’s problems or, at least, their TMP challenges,” said Craig Adams, director of the TMP program.

Left to right: Srishti Goel, Michelle Plummer, Sean Reimer, Alison Blaschke


KGI Discovery (Winter 2014)

Documents

Transcript of KGI Discovery (Winter 2014)