Keynotes

John M. Capek, Ph.D., is executive vice president, Medical Products, Abbott, and serves as head of Abbott's vascular, diabetes care, spine and animal health businesses. Capek was appointed to his current position in July 2007. Previously, he served as senior vice president, Abbott, and president, Abbott Vascular, with responsibility for the company's global vascular business. He was vice president, Cardiac Therapies, Abbott Vascular, upon Abbott's April 2006 acquisition of Guidant.

Capek served in various management roles at Guidant, including president, Guidant Vascular Intervention, and vice president and general manager of Bioabsorbable Vascular Solutions. He also served as vice president and general manager of Guidant Germany and vice president, Marketing, Guidant Cardiac Rhythm Management Group. Before joining Guidant, Capek was manager of New Product Technology at Eli Lilly & Company.

Capek holds a bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering, a master's degree in Biomedical Engineering, a master's degree in Electrical Engineering, a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, and a master's degree in Business Administration from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Jay D. Keasling is a Professor of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering at UC Berkeley and the Director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Physical Biosciences Division. In addition, Dr. Keasling is a Co-Founder and the head of the Scientific Advisory Board at Amyris Biotechnologies, Inc., based in Emeryville, CA.

Dr. Keasling's pioneering research in the field of synthetic biology is poised to help millions of people fight global health threats by greatly reducing the cost of drug production. The partnership between Dr. Keasling's lab, Amyris Biotechnologies, and the Institute for OneWorld Health, in conjunction with a major grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is creating low-cost anti-malarial medicines for the developing world. In addition to its direct application in developing affordable malaria drugs, Dr. Keasling's work holds promise for finding low-cost treatments for other major diseases, as well as better alternative sources of energy. Dr. Keasling was named Discover Magazine's ‘Scientist of the Year' in 2006.

Dr. Keasling holds a master's degree and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan. He also holds a bachelor's degree in Chemistry and Biology from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.