Kate Gunning, CEO & Founder
Kate Gunning is focused on strategic market development and technology commercialization for the Lifesciences, Healthcare and Clean technology sectors. Kate’s expertise is evaluating and developing market opportunities in the US for emerging Lifescience and Healthtech companies and their inventive technologies.
Kate’s career includes a wide range of Lifescience and Medtech expertise. Through the course of her career she has led a process engineering team for one of the world’s top five genome sequencing facilities, the Joint Genome Institute in California. At ThermoFisher, Kate provided leadership and technical expertise in new and existing system development projects.
With an expansive network both in the US and internationally, she is frequently tapped for advice and guidance on the development of the Biotech and Cleantech industries in Ireland and overseas. Kate serves as a mentor with several Silicon Valley based accelerators including UC Berkeley’s Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology and BioExel, Ireland’s first Medtech accelerator based in Galway, Ireland.
More recently Kate joined J. Anthonypillai to launch Focus Academy, to provide a vibrant space, together with in-depth business, market, and product development programming to both US and international emerging companies
A Dublin native and Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) alum, Kate’s career began in Nuclear Medicine and Clinical Pathology. She serves as a volunteer with The Last Mile, advising and mentoring innovators and tech training centers based in the Californian Prison system and mentors young STEM graduates in career development.
Andrew Broderick, Senior Consultant
Andrew’s research interests focus specifically on the transformation of consumer health through innovation, technology and strategy. Andrew currently serves as research center director at the Public Health Institute to advance digital health practices and policies and works with the San Francisco Tech Council to support and advance its work to promote digital inclusion for older adults and people with disabilities.
Andrew’s extensive research experience includes the evaluation and assessment of digital health solutions for underserved populations, leading user experience research, and conducting focus groups and interviews with key opinion leaders across the healthcare continuum. Current project roles include co-PI on the evaluation of the California pilot for an electronic registry for Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment forms.
Previously Andrew has served as Research Director at the Health Technology Center in San Francisco and more than ten years at SRI International. There he led research projects on new business opportunity searches, conducted technology and market assessments in health care and the life sciences, and supported strategic planning efforts on a broad range of emerging technologies.
Andrew holds a Master of Arts in Economics and Geography from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, and an MBA from San Francisco State University.
Daniel Rafferty, Senior Consultant / Patent Agent
Daniel Rafferty, PH.D, passed away on April 8th, 2021. Taken too soon.
A long time collaborator, advisor and friend.
We miss you dearly.
Rest In Peace.
Daniel Rafferty was a Ph.D. scientist with over 14 years of experience in parenteral and intranasal liquid protein formulation. Daniel translated his postdoctoral experience in drug delivery systems for HIV prophylaxis into industry at Pfizer, Sanofi-Pasteur and MedImmune. He had experience in the research and development of vaccine adjutants delivering CMC development/IND submissions to regulatory authorities.
Daniel joined Stanford’s SPARK medical research translation program as a product development and IP mentor. His work included working with research groups to select candidate molecules for commercialization and determine their IP freedom to operate.
As a Business Development Manager at two southern state universities in the technology transfer office, Daniel employed his previous experience at the office as well as engaging in marketing to venture capital, start-up formation and founder mentoring.
Daniel received an NIAID Challenge Grant for Pandemic Influenza Research and has served as a European Commission Research Directorate and EUREKA Eurostars Grant Proposal Evaluator since 2003.
Daniel was also a registered Patent Agent and enjoys working on IP development and forward planning with clients. He held degrees from Queen’s University Belfast and University College Dublin, gaining a Ph.D. in Immunochemistry from Dublin.