Management
William J. Rutter, CEO
Dr. Rutter is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Synergenics LLC, which provides strategic science and business advice to concept-stage biotechnology startup companies. Dr. Rutter also serves as Chairman Emeritus of Chiron, the company he co-founded in 1981. As Chairman of the Board and the executive committee from Chiron's inception until 1999, Dr. Rutter was involved directly in management of virtually all activities of the company, especially in operations. He had direct responsibilities of Research and Development, Vaccines, Diagnostics, Strategic Planning, Business Development and Legal; he negotiated all major deals. Dr. Rutter also serves on the board of trustees of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. A member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he has published more than 380 scientific articles and holds more than 20 patents and patent applications. Dr. Rutter served as director of the Hormone Research Institute at the University of California, San Francisco, (UCSF) from 1983 to 1989 and chairman of the university's department of biochemistry and biophysics from 1979 to 1982. During his tenure at UCSF, Dr. Rutter and his lab made key contributions to the emerging discipline of biotechnology, including work on the development of recombinant DNA technology and genetic engineering.
Stephen S. Halasz, Vice President and General Counsel
Mr. Halasz has over twenty years’ experience in complex business transactions. He is responsible for legal matters pertaining to all Synergenics portfolio companies. Previously, he practiced law with a large Denver law firm from 1984 until 1999, where he handled numerous joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buy-outs, securities offerings, licensing transactions, and international commercial transactions. He has experience in many industries, including the life sciences, telecommunications, computer software and hardware, and cable television. In 2000, Mr. Halasz joined a private investment group as general counsel and partner to pursue opportunities in telecommunications and media. Mr. Halasz also co-founded a manufacturer of consumer opto/electronic devices, and served as CEO of that entity while it was successfully reorganized in 2003 - 2005. Mr. Halasz received his J.D. degree from Yale Law School.
Susan Vandegrift, Vice President, Finance
Ms. Vandegrift has over 20 years of finance and administrative experience. At Synergenics she has set up and directed the financial and administrative operations of over 10 affiliated start-up companies, many with international operations. Prior to Synergenics, Ms. Vandegrift handled the financial affairs of Brightmail, Inc, a technology start-up, including operational finance, planning, risk management, tax and treasury. Ms. Vandegrift spent over 8 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a member of the audit group. Ms. Vandegrift holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Fairfield University.
Jimmy Z. Zhang, Vice President, Business Development
Dr. Zhang is responsible for the business development of Synergenics, LLC and its portfolio companies. Before joining Synergenics, Dr. Zhang was a consultant at McKinsey & Company traveling and working in China, US and Germany. He was a registered patent agent in the Palo Alto office of Morrison & Foerster, and a project manager of Prostate Cancer Genomics program at Chiron Corporation. Dr. Zhang received his Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, where he worked closely with two Nobel Laureates; and MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management, where he was elected as the treasurer of MIT Graduate Student Council. Dr. Zhang published in Cell, Nature, Neuron, and Journal of Biological Chemistry, and holds multiple patents.
Jeremy T. Blitzer, Vice-President, Business Development
Dr. Blitzer has a number of responsibilities at Synergenics, LLC and its portfolio companies. Currently, he is responsible for business development activities for Synamem Corporation, and assists in the business development of Picobella, LLC and strategic planning of Pathologica, LLC. Before joining Synergenics, LLC, Dr. Blitzer was the Acting Associate Director of Biology and Business Development for Synamem Corporation. He obtained his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees at the Stanford University School of Medicine, and an A.B. in Chemistry at Duke University.
Gábor Bartha, Director, Information Sciences
Dr. Bartha has been the Director of Information Sciences at Synergenics,
LLC since 1994 with responsibility for the information systems and providing bioinformatics
consulting services to the affiliated start-up companies. He also successfully implemented major computing and telecommunications infrastructure improvement projects. Prior to Synergenics, Dr. Bartha worked for 7 years at Incyte Genomics in a wide range of scientific and management roles. His projects included gene expression data analysis, microarray database production, and the development of a state-of-the-art basecaller and gene information software product. Dr. Bartha received his Ph.D. in computational biology from the University of Southern California and an A.B. in physics from Harvard University.
