Robert R. Bonczek, MBA, JD
President & CFO
Mr. Bonczek has been instrumental in helping companies through IPOs, secondary equity offerings, private placements, transactional advice for M&As, strategic planning, and collaboration agreements. He has served as President, Director, CFO and General Counsel of b3 bio, Inc.; CFO, General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer of Trimeris, Inc.; and Chief Counsel and Global Director of Safety, Health and Environment, Dupont.
Mr. Bonczek is founding partner, Director and President of Aspen Tree Capital. He also serves on the boards of several other life science-related companies including NeurOp, Inc., Senex Biotechnology, Upstream Therapeutics, Inc., Deep Blue Medical Advances, Inc., Track X Technology, Cellective Biotherapy, Inc., and Istari Oncology, Inc. He also serves on advisory boards for several companies, including Valence Advantage Life Sciences Fund, and Centre Partners. Mr. Bonczek received an AB in chemistry and a JD degree from the University of North Carolina. He also holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Bud Nelson, PhD, JD
Scientific Advisor to Technology Review Committee
Dr. Nelson is focused on building an innovative, technology-based culture around life sciences in North Carolina through his previous roles as Chief Development Officer for MedBlue Incubator, Co-Managing Director of the Hamner Institutes’ Biosciences Accelerator and Executive Director for Technology Development at the Hamner Institutes. Moreover, Dr. Nelson is an inventor on several patents and published patent applications.
He is currently a member of the management team at a life science-related software company and previously held senior leadership roles at several life science companies, including biotech and medical device start-ups. Dr. Nelson has more than 20 years’ experience with intellectual property matters and has served as IP counsel for several companies. He holds a JD degree and master’s and PhD degrees, with a concentration in immunology and microbiology, from the University of Buffalo. He also has bachelor’s degrees in medical technology and biology.