Executive Team
Jonathan G. Lasch, PhD : Director
Dr. Lasch brings more than 25 years of experience in science and technology development and evaluation in the fields of biomedical instruments and systems, biotechnology, chemistry, and materials science. Jon came to AMI from Convergent Ventures, an early stage venture investment and development company, where he served as managing director. He has also served as chairman of the board and CEO of ORFID Corporation, is a director of Encode Bio, Inc., and was the founding CEO and member of the board of directors of Neurion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., all Convergent Ventures portfolio companies. From 2002-2007, he served on the board of directors of Precision Dynamics Corporation, a privately held healthcare products company, and he currently serves on the board of directors of the Southern California Biomedical Council. Dr. Lasch has held leadership positions at Materia, a materials science company spun out of Caltech, where he served as founding President and CEO, and Cyrano Sciences, a Caltech spin-out based on chemical sensor technology. Previously, he served as vice president, technology development for The Scripps Research Institute, the largest not-for-profit biomedical research institute in the United States and was director of research, biotechnology, for PPG Industries. Since 2004, he has served on the faculty of the UCLA Anderson School of Management, in the FEMBA GAP program and for two years as the Director of the EMBA Field Study Program. He received his BS in Biological Science from the University of Texas at El Paso, and his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin.
Mac Chapman : Associate Director
Mr. Chapman has 40 years experience in technology and product development for the civil, military and commercial areas. He obtained his BS and MS degrees in Physics from Ohio University, and performed doctoral studies at UCLA. He joined Northrop Corporation’s Research Laboratory in 1959, where he was selected as Man of the Year. He joined TRW in 1966 where he held a number of positions in the space, defense and automotive businesses. His experience span includes technical design, functional management, program management and business development. His leadership resulted in numerous NASA and military awards, and the Chairman's Award for Innovation at TRW.
Cesar Blanco, PhD : Head of Engineering and Project Management
Dr. Blanco has more than 15 years of experience in bioscience research and research administration in the cellular biology of neuromuscular systems, image processing, motor control and neuroendocrinology. He received a BA in Biology and his PhD in Anatomy and Cell Biology from UCLA. While employed as a Staff Research Associate and Space Planner at UCLA, he was a key member of a UCLA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory team that developed an image analysis system for the measurement of enzyme activity in tissue sections. He was primarily responsible for the development of the biochemical techniques and coordinated the image processing software development. He returned to UCLA in 1987 to complete a PhD in Anatomy and Cell Biology. After completing a fellowship at the UCLA Brain Research Institute in 1995, he accepted a Faculty position in the Department of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy at USC. He was the Director of the Cellular Biokinesiology Laboratory where he led an NIH sponsored research team investigating the physiologic and cellular effects of anabolic steroids on respiratory motor control. He joined AMI-USC in 2003 as a Project Manager and Research Administrator. In December 2007, Dr. Blanco completed the UCLA Anderson School of Management’s Executive Program in General Management.
Dr. Blanco's current responsibilities include: the management and allocation of engineering and project management resources and the administrative oversight of AMI-USC’s Information Systems.
Susan Cooper : Senior Business Officer
Ms. Cooper brings a wealth of experience with operating an institute within the walls of a large and successful university. She is managing the Institute’s financial matters, and is also heading the Human Resources function and Purchasing Operations at AMI.
Ms. Cooper graduated with a BA from the California State University, Long Beach and has worked for the University of Southern California for over 26 years. She has worked in several departments; administrative, academic and research at USC, including University Payroll Services, Thornton School of Music, Rossier School of Education and the Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research in the Keck School of Medicine. She has served on the USC Staff Assembly. Her favorite sport is USC Football. She joined AMI in February 2000.
Nathalie Gosset : Manager of Marketing and Business Development
Ms. Gosset has 20 years experience in the development and commercialization of technology-based products (medical, oil and gas instrumentation, and telecom). The first 15 years of her career were in Engineering, starting from design, continuing onto the management of large engineering programs, and finishing with several start up companies requiring Engineering makeover (turnaround). Her previous job was Vice President of Engineering at Sabeus, Inc. Ms. Gosset has received several awards for professional excellence and innovative leadership. At Alcatel, she received an Outstanding Achiever Award and five Quality Cups (a prestigious recognition at Alcatel).
At AMI, Ms. Nathalie Gosset is responsible for Marketing and Business Development. She develops product specific strategic business strategies for each new invention sponsored by AMI. Ms. Nathalie Gosset is well connected to the medical and bioengineering community. She is a member of several medical advisory, board of directors, as well as venture firm review committees. She was elected the 2007 Northern America Representative of the international IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. She recently received the 2005 Outstanding IEEE-Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Chapter Award, a global recognition. She holds a BSEE from ISEP (Paris, France); MS in Telecommunications (University of Colorado, Boulder, CO); MBA (University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN)
Arman H. Nadershahi, JD, MS, MBS : Head of Legal Affairs and Intellectual Property
Mr. Nadershahi, a registered patent attorney, serves as Head of Legal Affairs and Intellectual Property at AMI. His expertise includes patent, trademark, and trade-secret protection and licensing; FDA and EU regulatory affairs; quality assurance; corporate compliance; competitive strategy and planning; and technology valuation and commercialization. Prior to joining AMI, Mr. Nadershahi practiced intellectual property law at Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear, LLP, where he focused on patent prosecution, licensing, and intellectual property litigation in the fields of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices.
Mr. Nadershahi graduated with honors from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a BA in Zoology and English Literature. He holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Minnesota Law School, a Master’s in Biological Science from the University of Minnesota, and an M.S. in Regulatory Science from the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy. Mr. Nadershahi is also currently pursuing an Executive MBA at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. He has obtained US and EU Regulatory Affairs Certification, and is a Certified Biomedical Auditor. Mr. Nadershahi is a member of the State Bar of California and is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Kam Leung : Manager of Regulatory Affairs
Dr. Kam Leung, RAC has extensive experience in the development of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, implementation of quality assurance systems and regulatory affairs, as well as business development. He was on P&G’s first pharmaceutical team, for Didronel. He started his medical device career by building the toxicology lab for Pharmaseal, AHS. The team performed USP Class VI testing and validated the LAL pyrogen test as a FDA study center. As project manager he pioneered the moist (decubitus) wound healing concept by introducing HydraGran and HydraPad. These were followed by the BioThotic (preventive) wheelchair cushion. He led three teams to Baxter Technical Awards: Koala Kair air mattress (with Ongpin Plastics), Pulsatile Antiembolism Pump (with Matsushita Electric Works) and hydrophilic coated Foley catheter (with Union Carbide). He was on the Baxter Quality Award team for Euromedical, Edward and Hyland Divisions. As Director of Business Development he introduced 75 blood collection machines throughout China. His team improved a blood fractionation plant to earn the first Chinese GMP certification. He also helped the SFDA-China to write the Blood Products Collection and Improvement Act 1997.
Dr. Leung’s Regulatory Affairs assignments included consent decree for a biopharmaceutical plant, Medical Device Reporting for a TNF injection device, build out of an IVD plant and Class 2 product recall. His 510(k) and PMAS introduced endoscopy scopes and software, Aortic Aneurysm devices, RF ablation systems and bone implants. He reconstituted the proton pump in the Q-10 segment of the mitochondrial membrane (Ph.D., Cornell, 1977) and proved the wobble hypothesis (A-I base pairing, Princeton). He is a certified ISO13485 auditor.
More About AMI
