Gerry McDougall, Board Chairman
PwC Partner, LLP Principal, Health Care Advisory Partner
Mr. McDougall is Principal Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers Health Sciences Practice, where he provides services to academic medical centers, bioscience companies, pharmaceutical companies, research universities, colleges, health systems, and other research organizations. His practice provides a broad range of research business and compliance services, including strategic and business planning, financial analysis, research compliance, clinical research operations improvement, and information systems implementation services. In addition, his practice provides support services to the entire research continuum, from grant- funded basic science research, to translational research and clinical trials, including a dedicated group focusing on Clinical Research Consulting services and Global oncology.
Walter M. Capone
GeneCentric Therapeutics, Chief Business Officer
Mr. Capone is a dynamic, accomplished, results-driven, global biotech/pharmaceutical leader with a twenty-year track record of accelerating breakthrough science, drug development and commercialization across the immunology, oncology and infectious disease therapeutic areas. In his senior executive roles in organizations ranging from seed-funded start-ups to leading, global biotech and pharma companies, Mr. Capone consistently established and led high performing teams to drive innovative product development, deliver entity-wide strategic and operational effectiveness, and achieve transformative corporate and business development results.
Neil Smiley
LOOPBACK Analytics, Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Smiley is the founder and CEO of Loopback Analytics. Smiley started Loopback Analytics in 2009, after serving for 12 years as the founder and CEO of Phytel, a provider-led population health improvement company acquired by IBM Watson. Mr. Smiley started his professional career in management consulting with Accenture and later as a partner with EY, working with Fortune 1000 clients in the manufacturing, high tech, oil and gas, and transportation industries. Smiley serves as President of the Charles H. Hood Foundation, supporting child health research with leading institutions across New England and the Board of the Dartmouth Hood Museum of Art. In 2013, Smiley was one of four finalists nominated for the Tech Titans Award for Emerging Technology Innovation in Dallas, and selected as one of the top 25 most influential persons in health care by the Dallas Business Journal. He serves as an active investor and mentor with Health Wildcatters, a health technology accelerator based in Dallas, working with emerging health care startups. Mr. Smiley holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Dartmouth College.
Steve Coffey
Covera Ventures, Managing Director
Mr. Coffey is a managing director of Covera Ventures and has more than 20 years of investment experience with companies at all stages of development. Steve leads the Firm’s investments in Alert Logic, CoreTrace, Hubspan, Innography, and Zumobi. Steve was a director or actively involved in such companies as Airspan (NASDAQ: AIRN), iTKO (acquired by CA), Metreos (acquired by Cisco), SiGe (acquired by Skyworks), SNAPin (acquired by Nuance), and Softricity (acquired by Microsoft). Mr. Coffey was previously president and managing director of Hunt Ventures and established the Austin office in 1999. Prior to Hunt Ventures, he was vice president of Hunt Financial Corporation, where he evaluated and managed investments in public equities, private equity and venture capital partnerships, and direct investments in both early stage technology companies and buyouts. Earlier in his career, he worked as an associate at Davis Venture Partners, a private venture capital firm where he worked with both early and later-stage portfolio companies. He previously worked at EDS Corporation and Arthur Andersen, LLP. Steve has a BS from Oklahoma State University and an MBA with honors from The University of Texas.
R. Ripley Martin
Philips Ventures, Lead – Corporate Venture Capital
Mr. Martin is responsible for leading Philips Ventures, Philips’ corporate venture capital, accelerator and external innovation efforts. He leads a global team of investment and innovation professionals who run a dedicated digital health investment fund and support business-sponsored collaboration investments across themes of radiology & precision medicine, patient telemetry, and ambulatory care.
Prior to Philips, he spent six years with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) where he was a Principal in the firm’s Healthcare, Industrial Goods and Strategy practices. Mr. Martin earned his MBA with high distinction from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, and his BA in Economics from Colby College. He lives in the greater Boston area with his wife and two children.
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/ripleymartin
Craig Leslie
Co-Founder: Carson Leslie Foundation (CLF)
The Beck Group, Project Executive AT&T North TXr
Directs $80M Construction Portfolio, GBC Deacon Board Chairman, Covenant School Board, University of Nebraska Bachelor of Science Construction, College School of Engineering
Annette Leslie
Co-Founder: Carson Leslie Foundation (CLF)
Founder: #cureMEdullo.org
Chief Mission Officer (Ex. Officio)
On a quest to honor Carson’s last whispered wish, Annette sought solutions to the horrific problem that brain cancer is the deadliest disease of our nation’s children. She pursued trailblazers, influencers, principals and mentors for advice and guidance in the space known only to her through her son’s valiant fight for life. The void Carson experienced during his battle is her guiding force and includes three pillars: childhood brain cancer RESEARCH, leading to cures AWARENESS that brain cancer is the deadliest disease of our Nation’s children and ENCOURAGEMENT of teens in the battle.
RESEARCH
A few months after Carson’s death, Annette was invited to serve on the $3 Billion Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Advisory Council on Childhood Cancer (ACCC). CPRIT was created in the wake of a statewide referendum in 2007 where Texas voters approved $3 billion in bonds to fund cancer research.
Within the first few months of her service on CPRIT’s ACCC, Leslie worked with CPRIT’s 1st Chief Scientific Officer, Nobel Laureate, Dr. Alfred Gilman who launched “Carson Leslie Research Grants for Pediatric Brain Cancers,” a $3.2M CPRIT/CLF collaboration.
“We named CPRIT’s conference room after Carson to honor his memory and to inspire us with a tangible reminder of the courage and hopefulness he showed in his fight against cancer. CPRIT has made childhood cancer a priority. Our increased grant support is intended to accelerate progress for prevention and research of pediatric and adolescent cancers, and to help Texas become a global leader in childhood cancer research.”
— Wayne Roberts, CEO – CPRIT
When Annette began her ACCC service, barely 3% of CPRIT’s funds were invested in childhood cancer. Today 12% of CPRIT’s budget is invested in childhood cancer, proportionally triple what the federal government invests in childhood cancer research.
November 2019, Texas voters approved a ballot measure to extend CPRIT and doubling the bond dollars making CPRIT the largest funder of cancer research outside of the Federal government. CLF’s Board of Directors unleashed their influential networks and celebrated CPRIT’s continued success! CPRIT:
– Largest state research investment in the history of the United States.
– Second largest cancer research and prevention program in the world.
– Made childhood cancer an institutional priority!
“Annette Leslie was invited to join CPRIT’s Advisory Council on Childhood Cancers. Through her advocacy, CPRIT has expanded its role in pediatric cancer, including a $3.2 million program to fund research directed at less toxic treatments for childhood brain cancer.”
— Tom Luce and James Huffines
CLF and CPRIT launched and host Researchers RoundUp (RR), together rounding up Texas’ childhood cancer investigators to discuss, identify and encourage collaboration. Each year RR begins with a working dinner on January 12, the day Carson took his last breath; it seems fitting to honor Carson’s last whispered wish to “help the next kid.” Because of RR, a Texas Childhood Cancer Coalition is being formalized!
AWARENESS
Annette works closely with Congressman Michael McCaul (TX) who lost his best friend to cancer in the fourth grade. When Representative McCaul became an elected official, he took the pain of the death of his buddy to the Hill and launched the Congressional Childhood Cancer Caucus (CCCC). In 2010, after receiving a copy of Carson’s book, Carry Me, Congressman McCaul called Annette and invited her to speak at the inaugural CCCC in his DC home.
“The McCaul’s living room packed with dignitaries, congressional Members, Senators, and leaders of pediatric oncology organizations. Since that inaugural gathering, under the steadfast leadership of Texas Congressman McCaul, our nation has four new laws benefiting the overall state of childhood cancer.” – Annette Leslie
CLF is the Founder and Host of the GOLDEN TOAST, a much-anticipated bipartisan celebration of the childhood cancer community attracting Senators, Congressional Members, childhood cancer survivors and a wide variety of childhood cancer organizations. Together, we celebrate the accomplishments of our unstoppable, collaborative GLOBAL movement benefitting the overall state of childhood cancer.
The GOLDEN TOAST is held each September on the eve of the Congressional Childhood Cancer Caucus Summit and CureFest – together, we have passed laws that address the deadliest disease of our Nation’s children while bringing awareness and action to the devastation of a child with cancer.
ENCOURAGEMENT
CLF built Carson’s Corner at Children’s Health Dallas, it’s a little corner of Children’s-Health for teen cancer patients to gather. Carson wrote in his book Carry Me, “I felt deserted and lonely…” everyone needs a little encouragement to keep up the fight.
Carson loved everything Under Armour and when he was diagnosed, he had no toothbrush, it was freezing in the hospital room, and we were scared. So, we launched an Under Armour Backpack Project (UA-BP), and give Under Armour backpacks to newly diagnosed teen patients with a wide variety of items tucked inside for extended hospital stays. UA-BP has been WIDLY popular, so with the generous support and partnership of the Jordan Spieth Family Foundation (JSFF), together we expanded our UA-BP to other institutions throughout Texas who care for teen cancer patients.