Mr. Palay is a founder or early stage investor in genomics and stem cell-based companies. He was a founder and chairman of NimbleGen Systems, Inc., a molecular biology tools company, serving as its CEO prior to its sale to Roche for $272.5 million in August 2007. Mr. Palay is a founder and principal of Tactics II Ventures, LP and Tactics II Stem Cell Ventures, LP. Since 1991, Mr. Palay has served as the Chairman of Tactics II Group, a merchant banking and investment partnership with significant investment activity in next-generation biotechnology companies. From 1986 until 1991, Mr. Palay was Vice President, Acquisitions for Sam Zell’s Equity Group, where his focus was on acquiring distressed assets. Prior to joining Mr. Zell’s organization, Mr. Palay practiced law at Rudnick & Wolfe in Chicago. Mr. Palay earned a JD from Northwestern University and an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a BA.

Dr. Palay is a founder or early stage investor in genomics and stem cell-based companies. He was a founder and vice-chairman of NimbleGen Systems, Inc., a molecular biology tools company, serving as its COO prior to its sale to Roche for $272.5 million in 2007. Dr. Palay is a founder and principal in Tactics II Ventures, LP and Tactics II Stem Cell Ventures, LP. Dr. Palay is a principal of Tactics II Group, a merchant banking and investment partnership with significant investment activity in next-generation biotechnology companies. In addition, he is currently the Foley and Lardner-Bascom Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he has been on the faculty since 1980. Prior to joining the University of Wisconsin faculty, he was a Research Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC. Dr. Palay earned a PhD and a JD from the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated summa cum laude from Tufts University with a BA.

Michael Falk serves as general counsel for the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), the patent management and licensing organization for UW-Madison. In his role as general counsel, Falk oversees WARF’s legal and intellectual property professionals and is part of WARF’s executive management team. He also serves on the foundation’s investment risk committee. Before joining WARF, Falk practiced as a patent litigator with Foley & Lardner’s Madison office. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University as well as a JD, and an MBA and an MS in microbiology from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

For the past 20 years, Dr. January has been a leading international authority in the field of cardiac arrhythmias, including long QT syndrome. Dr. January’s work has had significant industry and regulatory impact, and he has consulted to multiple large and small pharmaceutical companies. He was one of the first scientists to stably express hERG potassium channels in a human cell system (HEK293 cells), and these cells are now distributed world-wide for use in drug toxicity screening. His work helped to identify drugs that caused high-affinity hERG potassium channel block, and his studies helped lead to the withdrawal of several QT interval prolonging drugs from the marketplace. Screening of new drugs and lead compounds for this hERG “liability” is now a broadly established technology required by regulatory agencies worldwide. Dr. January’s technology is the basis for CDI’s hERG screening program. Dr. January holds an MD and PhD  in Physiology and Biophysics from the University of Iowa. He is a practicing cardiologist and is a Professor in the Department of Medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Medicine and Public Health.

Mr. Hunt is the Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Manpower Inc., a world leader in the employment services industry. In this role, he serves as the company’s chief legal officer and is responsible for Manpower’s overall legal plan and structure, as well as corporate governance and securities law compliance. Prior to joining Manpower, Mr. Hunt was engaged in the private practice of law, with a principal focus on corporate and business law, including corporate governance, securities regulation, and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Hunt was admitted to practice law in 1976. He graduated with distinction from the Duke University Law School where he served as editor of the Duke Law Journal. He received his undergraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Mr. Lynch is in charge of the venture capital practice of Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, an AmLaw 200 law firm based in the Midwest. Mr. Lynch has over 15 years experience advising high-growth companies on strategic, financing, and operational matters from start-up through sale or initial public offerings. Mr. Lynch earned a BSBA in Finance and Economics from Creighton University and a JD from the University of Iowa, where he received the Order of the Coif distinction.

Dr. Rose is a PhD biologist, seasoned biotechnology executive, and serial entrepreneur. He is President of Rose Ventures, Inc., a firm that provides consulting and direction in the life science research products space, and manages a portfolio of public and private equity investments. Dr. Rose is a Director of NABsys, Inc. and a Member of Tactics II SC Management LLC. Highlights from his 20+ year career in the genomics research products business include serving as CEO of NimbleGen Systems, Inc., a microarray products company, from 2003 through its acquisition by Roche in 2007; co-founding and growing Genetic MicroSystems, a microarray instrumentation company that was sold to Affymetrix in 2000; and directing the PCR business for Perkin-Elmer and Applied Biosystems during its most dynamic growth phase in the 1990s. He received his BA from Cornell University and his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In 1998, Dr. Thomson’s isolation of human embryonic stem cells created a new field of study and changed how people think of treating diseases. In addition to his roles at CDI, Dr. Thomson is the Director of Regenerative Biology at the Morgridge Institute for Research and the John D. MacArthur Professor of Anatomy at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He is a member of The National Academy of Sciences. His seminal work on stem cell isolation received many awards, including Science Magazine’s “Breakthrough of the Year” in 1999, and he was the cover feature in TIME Magazine’s “America's Best in Science and Medicine” in 2001. In November 2007, Dr. Thomson published another groundbreaking paper describing how differentiated cells can be reprogrammed into a pluripotent state. This isolation of human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells was listed among the most significant scientific advances of 2007 in Science, Nature, TIME, NBC News, USA Today, The Independent, and Wired Magazine, and Dr. Thomson was named one of TIME Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” this same year. Dr. Thomson has published over 100 scientific, peer-reviewed papers and been an inventor on 11 issued patents. Dr. Thomson received his VMD and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.

Mike Van Handel is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at ManpowerGroup. He is responsible for ManpowerGroup's worldwide finance, accounting and IT functions, as well as managing the company's investor relations. He joined the company in 1989, and he has been Chief Financial Officer since 1998. Prior to ManpowerGroup, Mike began his career in the Audit Division of Arthur Andersen in 1982.

Mike has been recognized by Institutional Investor magazine with the prestigious America's Best CFO for Business and Professional Services award every year since 2005. He was also recognized as CFO of the Year by the Greater Milwaukee Business Journal in 2008 and Distinguished Alumnus of the Year by the Marquette University College of Business Administration and Graduate School of Management in 2011.

Mike graduated with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Accounting from Marquette University and holds an MBA in Banking and Finance from the University of Wisconsin.

Mike is on the Board of BMO Financial Corporation, serving on their Audit Committee and Risk Oversight Committee. In addition, Mike is a member of the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra and the College of Business Administration Dean's Council of Excellence at Marquette University.