Although stem cell technology has been the focus of much public debate recently, in reality there is a substantial commercialization activity in this field. This seminar with discuss some of the opportunities, issues, approaches and status of stem cell therapy. Examples of the use of adult stem cells in orthopaedics and cardiology will be drawn from Dr. Fink’s experience at Osiris Therapeutics and other cell therapy companies.

Dr. Fink’s career in biotechnology and biomedical product development spans over 30 years as a researcher, consultant, entrepreneur and officer of several start-up biotech companies. He first worked at Battelle in Columbus, Ohio where he conducted and managed research on over 100 projects over a 12-year period. In 1986 he founded his own biomedical consulting business, Bio-Integration Inc. He then founded and served as President of CollaTek, Inc. to develop technology for manufacturing collagen-based medical implants. Dr. Fink then became the second employee of Osiris Therapeutics, one of the first stem cell companies. He subsequently became Osiris’ Vice President for International Technology Development and was responsible for a major corporate partnership with Novartis Pharma, Basel, Switzerland. Dr. Fink then joined Chondros, Inc., a start-up cell therapy company in Baltimore, as its President and first employee. He is currently Vice President for R&D of Cell Targeting, LLC, a cell therapy start-up in Cleveland, Ohio. As Biotech Entrepreneur in Residence, Dr. Fink advises early-stage incubator companies and is an instructor for UMBC’s ACTiVATE program, an entrepreneurship training program for women.

Dr. Fink was trained in chemical engineering at the University of Cincinnati (BSChE) and the University of Michigan (PhD), and he was a post-doctoral fellow in biochemistry at Purdue University. He is an Adjunct Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at UMBC. He has authored 40 scientific papers and book chapters, and he has been awarded 22 US patents.