 |
|
 |
 |
John W. McCarter, Jr. - Chairman
Mr. McCarter is the President of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. The museum is an
international leader in environmental conservation, evolutionary biology, paleontology, and anthropology.
Previously, Mr. McCarter was Senior Vice President of Booz, Allen & Hamilton, where he consulted with
several leading companies active in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and nutrition. Earlier, he served as
President of DeKalb Corporation and DeKalb-Pfizer Genetics and as Budget Director of the State of Illinois.
Mr. McCarter received an M.B.A. from Harvard University, attended the London School of Economics, and
graduated from Princeton University. He serves on the boards of W.W. Grainger, Janus Funds, the University of
Chicago, the Encyclopedia of Life, and WTTW Chicago Public Television where he is the former Chairman.
He is also a member of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution and the Board of Governors of
The Argonne National Laboratory. He is a Fellow of The American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Mr. McCarter is the father
of Dr. McCarter and has been involved with Divergence since its formation.
|
|
|
 |
Stanford J. Goldblatt - Board Member
Mr. Goldblatt is a partner in Winston & Strawn LLP's corporate department and has served as head of its private
equity practice. Mr. Goldblatt previously practiced with another Chicago law firm for nearly 20 years and served as
head of its corporate transactions group. He concentrates in leveraged equity investments and venture capital fund
transactions, as well as other corporate transactional matters. Mr. Goldblatt is active in numerous professional
and civic activities. He is a director of MacLean-Fogg Company and Sigma International, Inc. and a member of the
Advisory Board of Frontenac IX Private Capital Limited Partnership. In addition, Mr. Goldblatt is a member of
the board of trustees (retired) of The University of Chicago and a life trustee of The University of Chicago Hospitals;
a trustee of the Cancer Research Foundation; and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago and the Economic Club of
Chicago. Mr. Goldblatt received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 1960 and an LL.M., magna cum laude,
from Harvard University in 1963.
|
|
|
 |
James P. McCarter, M.D., Ph.D. - Founder, President, and Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. McCarter is an expert in the application of genomics to parasitic disease, leading both industry and
academic initiatives to reduce diseases of humans, animals, and plants caused by nematode worms. He founded
Divergence in 1998 to apply new genomics technology to the discovery of effective and ecologically sound
strategies for parasite control. A full-time employee of Divergence since 2002, Dr. McCarter leads scientific
discovery and development within the Company. Dr. McCarter is also an Adjunct Instructor in Genetics at
Washington University School of Medicine's Genome Center (GC) in St. Louis, continuing work he initiated in
1998 as the Merck Fellow of the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation working with GC Director Dr. Robert Waterston.
At the GC, Dr. McCarter has led the world's largest effort devoted to the sequencing of genes from parasitic
nematodes, generating over 500,000 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from 32 species with funding from the
National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. He is a co-author of over 50 scientific
papers and reviews. Dr. McCarter completed his medical and doctoral training at Washington University,
receiving the Victor Hamburger Prize in developmental biology for his research on the model nematode C.
elegans. Previously, he graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University, receiving the Cannon Award in
biology. Dr. McCarter is the recipient of the 2003 Innovation Award from the Academy of Science of St. Louis,
a member of the 2002 class of Henry Crown Fellows of the Aspen Institute, and a 2002 selection for the St.
Louis Business Journal's 40-Under-40 list of business leaders. He is the founder of Washington University's
Young Scientist outreach program and serves on the University's National Research Advisory Council. In 2008,
he joined the board of the Academy of Science of St. Louis.
Related Links:
Genome Center
Young Scientist Outreach Program
|
|
|
 |
Ronald L. Meeusen, Ph.D. - Board Member
Dr. Meeusen is a founder and managing partner of the MidPoint Food & Ag Fund, a venture fund focused on high
technology opportunities in the food and agribusiness sectors. He has over 25 years experience leading R&D
divisions in multinational food and ag companies, bringing new technologies to market. Dr. Meeusen conducted
the world's first field trials of genetically engineered insect resistant crops in 1986 and served on the
Congressional Office of Technology Assessment's advisory committee for regulation of engineered products. He
led the development and commercialization of insect resistant corn hybrids currently sold by Syngenta, Dow
Chemical and Pioneer, novel trans-fat free vegetable oils sold by Mycogen Seeds, and a range of traditionally
developed vegetable products sold by Seminis Seeds. In 2004-5 he wrote the ag strategy for the State of
Indiana, and in 2006 founded ImmuneWorks, LLC, a biopharmaceutical startup. Also in 2006 Dr. Meeusen, with
Andrew Ziolkowski, formed Cultivian Ventures (formerly IN Partners) to raise the MidPoint Food & Ag Fund. Dr. Meeusen has a Ph.D. in plant
cell physiology from U.C. Berkeley, is a pilot and avid (if erratic) skeet shooter.
|
|
|
 |
Ilya B. Nykin - Board Member
Mr. Nykin has more than 20 years of experience with science and technology
ventures as both an entrepreneur and investor. He is a founder and managing
director of Prolog Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on life science
investing. In addition to Divergence, his past and present Prolog portfolio
boards include Attune (chairman), Brand New Brands (chairman), Corazonas,
and several other companies. Before Prolog, Mr. Nykin co-founded Metaphase,
a technology incubator emphasizing health related opportunities. He was
responsible for operations and fundraising activities and co-founded
several Metaphase spinouts, such as BioPolymerix (antimicrobial materials)
and Metaphase Ophthalmic (eye care diagnostics), both successfully
acquired. Mr. Nykin started his entrepreneurial career as a founder of Ivy
Technologies, a healthcare informatics startup. He played a key role in
developing the company's business strategy and was its general manager and
board member from inception until its acquisition by a pharmaceutical
subsidiary of Nestlé. Mr. Nykin studied at MGPI in Moscow, Leningrad (St.
Petersburg) University, and Odessa University, and holds a master's degree
in applied mathematics.
|
|
|
 |
Derek K. Rapp - Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Rapp joined Divergence in January 2001 after more than twelve years
with the Monsanto Company in St. Louis. At Divergence, he has
responsibility for strategic planning, financing, business operations, and
the formation of alliances. At Monsanto, Mr. Rapp served as Director of
Mergers & Acquisitions; Director of Investor Relations; Director of
Commercial Partnership & Alliances for the Ceregen business unit; and
Director of Strategic Planning within the agricultural group. He led
several major acquisitions and licensing transactions in the plant
biotechnology area and the completion of a $2 billion divestiture program.
He has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania with
concentrations in Finance and Corporate Management, and he has a B.A. from
Brown University with concentrations in Economics and German. He also has
investment banking experience, having worked for two years for Lazard
Frères & Co. in New York. Mr. Rapp is the founder of the non-profit
organization St. Louis Cares, Chairman of the Board of the Greater St.
Louis Community Foundation, and a board member of the Missouri
Biotechnology Industry Association, the St. Louis Regional Chamber and
Growth Association (RCGA), and John Burroughs School. He is a member of the
Board of Directors, the Lay Review Committee, and the Research Development
Committee (which he chairs) of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
International.
|
|
|
 |
Mark W. Wong - Board Member
Mr. Wong is President and Chief Executive Officer of Agrivida. Formerly, he was CEO, Operations
and founder of Emergent Genetics, Inc. Mr. Wong is also a Partner of Big Stone Partners, a private
venture-investment and management-advisory firm that specializes in the agricultural and biotechnology
sectors. His activities in these areas include participation in founding and management of over a dozen
companies in agriculture and biotechnology such as Anawah, a plant biotech company, Agracetus, a plant
biotechnology research company; Agrigenetics, a seed and biotechnology company; Industrial Labs, a food
and nutriceutical testing company; FMC Corporation; Seed Testing of America, a seed health testing company;
and Sierra Nursery Sales, a nursery products company. Mr. Wong specializes in technology integration and
commercialization and has almost 30 years of experience in agribusiness, 20 of them as a general manager.
His experience includes operations management, technology assessment, business acquisition and divestiture,
and international business. He is Chairman of Seed Testing of America, Inc. and Chairman of Industrial
Laboratories, Inc. Mr. Wong holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University, and a M.B.A. from The
Wharton School of Finance. He is based in Boulder, Colorado.
|
|
|
|
 |
