Organization

Our Team

Don Lombardi, President, CEO and Founder, established the Intellectual Property Office at Children’s Hospital Boston and built it over 15 years to a highly successful technology transfer organization. His 16-person department generated tens of millions of dollars in license revenue based on six licensed medical products on the market and twelve more in clinical development. Under his leadership, the Intellectual Property Office instituted exemplary business practices for case and patent management, technology marketing, financial management, staff development, compliance and quality assurance. The plan for IPI grew out of pilot projects he conducted there to develop innovative practices to commercialize products for the pediatric market. Prior to his position at Children’s he founded the Chitin Company, Inc. to develop marine biopolymer applications, and later sold the company to Ducon, a Du Pont ConAgra joint venture. For both companies, he licensed technologies from academic institutions. Before his work in industry, Mr. Lombardi had an entrepreneurial career in education. After developing innovative science programs at MIT, he founded a nonprofit outdoor education center on a Boston Harbor Island that became a leading community resource for curriculum improvement and desegregation of the Boston Public Schools. He earned an MS in Life Sciences from MIT and a BA in Biophysics from Amherst College.

Ross Trimby, Chief Operating Officer
Ross Trimby has over 33 years marketing and sales management experience in the medical technology industry including VP Marketing Phillips Medical Systems, VP Sales and Marketing, Lifeline Systems, Inc., VP Sales and Marketing Acoustic Imaging, and Divisional Sales Manager for HP Medical Products group. In Phillips he directed the North American marketing activities for a $500 million medical imaging company and in Lifeline he managed sales growth of 75% annually for five years. As an officer in Lifeline he helped take a company public and as CEO for Health Data Resources he raised venture capital. As an angel investor, he is a member of LaunchPad angel group, and has invested in and helped to create 12 technology companies. He has worked with the Irish government to help them commercialize new healthcare technology and has chaired the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge. Mr. Trimby has both a BEng and MEng in Engineering Physics from Cornell and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Stephen P. Spielberg, MD, PhD. Principal Investigator
Stephen Spielberg, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator for IPI's Pediatric Pharmaceutical Reformulation Project, is professor of pediatrics and of pharmacology and toxicology at Dartmouth Medical School, where he also served as dean (2003-2007). His career in pediatric clinical pharmacology and human pharmacogenetics has included faculty and leadership positions at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; the Hospital for Sick Children (University of Toronto); Merck Research Laboratories; and as vice president for Pediatric Drug Development at Johnson & Johnson. He was chair of the Pediatric Task Force for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), represented the pharmaceutical industry on the FDA Pediatric Advisory Subcommittee and on pediatric legislative initiatives in the US and EU, and was the rapporteur for the Pediatric ICH Initiative, ICH E-11. He has served as editor or on the editorial board of numerous journals, is on the board of directors of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, chairs the Pediatric Pharmacology Unit Advisory Board for the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and was president of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (2006). He received an AB (Biology) from Princeton University, an MD and PhD (Pharmacology) from the University of Chicago, served a pediatric internship and residency at Children's Hospital, Boston, and a post-doctoral fellowship in human biochemical genetics at NICHD. He is the recipient of many awards for his contributions to pediatric therapeutics and adverse drug reaction research.

Brad Slaker, Engineering Manager
Brad Slaker has 19 years experience developing products for the Medical Device Industry, including program management positions at Zimmer Orthopedics and currently Boston Scientific. He has held positions in all phases of product development from Research & Development engineering to Manufacturing to Quality Compliance. He currently holds seven medical device patents. Brad is in the formative stages of developing a non-profit medical device company focused on developing and delivering product solutions to unmet and underserved pediatric health needs. Brad has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas.

Elizabeth Bird, MD, Pediatric Innovation Specialist
Dr. Bird is a pediatrician with a keen interest in health care innovation. She is a clinical instructor of pediatrics and emergency medicine at Brown University and an attending physician at the Hasbro Emergency Department. She recently completed a six-month internship at the Brown University technology transfer office, where she enjoyed learning about the business of bringing biomedical innovations to market. She is presently helping to lead a multidisciplinary collaboration aimed at re-envisioning and re-designing emergency department resuscitation bays. Dr. Bird received her MD from Yale University. She completed her residency training in Pediatrics at the University of Michigan Hospital in 2005, and spent the subsequent year as chief resident of Pediatrics. Her research interests include human factors engineering and health care design.

Board Of Directors

Don Lombardi, President, CEO and Founder

Stephen Spielberg, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator

Ross Trimby, COO

Ellen Baron, PhD
Dr. Baron brings more than 20 years of experience in healthcare investing principally in the biotechnology sector. She spent 20 years at Schering-Plough in Research and Development and Business Development prior to joining Oxford Bioscience as a partner. She is the Director of Braincells. Dr. Barron received a B.A. at Goucher College, a PhD in Microbiology from Georgetown University and was a post-doctoral at the Public Health Research Institute in New York.

Philip A. Cola
Mr. Cola is the Vice President for Research and Technology at University Hospitals Case Medical Center (UHCMC), of which Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital is a major component. Mr. Cola created one of the leading hospital based clinical trial sites in the country at UHCMC. He is a nationally recognized speaker and has published scholarly works on the responsible conduct of research and research administration and co authored peer reviewed articles in psychiatry and psychology. He has direct research experience at Case Western Reserve University under a National Institute of Mental Health Center Grant for the study of the psychopharmacology of schizophrenia. Mr. Cola received his Bachelors degree in Psychology and his Master's Degree in Experimental Psychology and Research Method and Design from Cleveland State University.

Christopher G. Dawes
Mr. Dawes is President and Chief Executive Officer of Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. As the 264 bed pediatric and obstetric teaching hospital for the Stanford University School of Medicine, the hospital is ranked in national surveys as one of America’s best. It is internationally known for innovations in education, research and patient care. Mr. Dawes has also held senior management positions at UCSF Stanford Health Care; Stanford Hospital and Clinics; Pacific Presbyterian Medical Center, San Francisco; and Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, San Jose. He serves as a board member and executive committee member of the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions, the California Children’s Hospital Association, the Santa Clara Family Health Plan, and the Joint Venture Board of Silicon Valley. Mr. Dawes earned a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration from San Diego State University and an MBA from McLaren School of Business at the University of San Francisco.

Randall L. O’Donnell, PhD
Dr. O'Donnell is President and CEO of Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics. Under his 14 year leadership, Children's Mercy has expanded from 193 to 314 beds on its main campus, has added a second hospital; outpatient specialty and urgent care services; a large primary care clinic; the area's only exclusive pediatric home health agency; and is sole owner of a Medicaid health maintenance organization with over 125,000 enrollees. Dr. O'Donnell was previously the CEO of Arkansas Children's Hospital. He was the first person in the nation to write his PhD dissertation on a topic related to the psychosocial care of hospitalized children. He received the President's Award from the Association for the Care of Children's Health. He was the first chairman of the Osmond Foundation Board which operates the Children's Miracle Network. He is a board member of the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI). Dr. O'Donnell received his Bachelor's degree in Economics from California Lutheran College and his PhD in Hospital and Health Administration from the University of Iowa.

Charles Homer, MD, MPH, CEO
Dr. Homer is a pediatrician with advanced training in epidemiology and the founder and CEO of NICHQ. He is associate Professor and Pediatrics and Public Health at Harvard University. He served as the Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Steering Committee. Dr. Homer received his MD from the University of Pennsylvania School of medicine and his MPH from the University of North Carolina of Public Health.

Senior Advisor

Jonathan J. Rosen, PhD
Dr. Rosen recently joined the faculty of the Boston University School of Management and is now serving as the executive director of their new Institute for Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization. He was the director of the CIMIT Office of Technology Implementation for seven Dr. Rosen has more than 30 years experience in the medical device industry, having held several senior management positions at the Johnson & Johnson Corporation and founded medical device companies in both the U.S. and in Europe.