Entrepreneurship Advisory Council

Christopher Booker is a partner with Frist Cressey Ventures (FCV), a Nashville-based healthcare venture firm.  He joined FCV in 2016 and is responsible for acquisition, divestitures and providing unique value to the fund’s partnerships as a member of the fund’s Investment Committee.  Mr. Booker leads the firm’s investment team and has served on the Board of Directors of numerous healthcare companies.  He is a current director of FCV’s portfolio companies Valify, Monogram Health, Seven Springs Orthopaedics, Regroup Therapy and 180 Health Partners.  In addition to his responsibilities at FCV, he is also a member of the Board of Directors for WhoUWith Ministries and Woodland Street Partners. 
 
Prior to joining FCV, Mr. Booker was a partner at XMi Holdings, Inc. managing its investment funds and President of XMi Capital where he participated in over 50 transactions.  While at XMi Holdings, he was CFO and served as a director to healthcare services firm Criterion Holdings Corporation, Inc. Criterion grew from 3 employees to nearly 600 before being acquired in 2016. Mr. Booker graduated from Vanderbilt University with a B.S. in Engineering and Economics.  He resides in Nashville, TN with his wife, Katherine, and children, Ella and Jackson. 

Katie Gambill was the youngest of a small group of principals who purchased Equitable Securities from American Express in 1972. When Equitable Securities was sold to SunTrust in 1998, she was President of Equitable Securities and its second-largest shareholder.At Equitable, she was Chief Investment Officer with primary responsibility for the direct investment of the firm's capital in both public and private emerging growth companies, including both healthcare and financial services businesses.
From 1972 to 1998 Katie had primary responsibility for building and leading Equitable's equity business. When the company was acquired from American Express in 1972, revenues acquired were over 90 percent corporate and municipal bond sales and underwriting. When the company was ultimately sold to SunTrust in 1998, revenues were over 90 percent from the equity business. In addition to her position as President, Katie was a member of the Executive Committee and a member of the Board of Directors of Equitable Securities. She was Chairman of the Investment Policy Committee governing all research recommendations and investment banking underwriting commitments; the Founding Managing Director and member of the Board of Directors of Equitable Asset Management, a mutual fund management company; and member of the Board of Directors of Equitable Trust Company. Combined assets under management were over $1 billion at the time of the sale to SunTrust. After the sale to SunTrust, Katie became President and a member of the Board of Directors of the newly formed SunTrust Equitable Securities. She remained with SunTrust Equitable Securities until co-founding Council Capital in 2000.
Katie is on the Board of Directors of Council Capital portfolio companies Lancope and Reach Health and is a member of the Executive Council of the Harvard School of Public Health. She was previously a member of the board of Council Capital portfolio companies Advanced Academics, Benefit Informatics, iKobo, NotifyMD and Senior Whole Health. Katie received her BA cum laude in Economics from Vanderbilt University in 1968 and her Chartered Financial Analyst (C.F.A.) designation in 1976.

Amr El-Husseini is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lodestone Advisory Group, a boutique management consulting and venture capital firm centered around business innovation and transformation, growth and acceleration, entrepreneurial ecosystem development, venture capital, international business and cross-border transactions, market-entry strategy, business and corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and business turnarounds. Throughout his career, Amr has been involved in investments and business transactions in 20+ countries covering sectors such as financial services, technology, healthcare, real estate, telecom, energy, education, and infrastructure. 
Prior to founding Lodestone, Amr was Senior Executive Manager and Head of International Development at QIB, an international banking group with operations across four continents. Amr oversaw the bank’s international operations and strategic investments (M&A, Ventures and Integrations), as well as the bank’s international network stretching from the UK to Malaysia, where he led a number of successful turnaround and transformation assignments. Amr’s role with QIB also included the development and execution of the bank’s international expansion strategy, where he led market entry initiatives into European, Asian, and GCC countries, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, the UK, France, Turkey, Lebanon, China, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt and Sudan. He also led and successfully negotiated agreements with governments and multinational corporations for the development of international business enterprises. 
Before QIB, Amr served as a Project Manager at Path Solutions, where he led large scale consulting projects for global and regional clients in areas of strategy, international expansion, technology transformation, product development, fund management, treasury, e-commerce, and risk management. He also held various banking and consulting roles with international groups including Fransabank, Ernst & Young, HSBC and Audi Bank.
Since 2015, Amr has been a board member at the International Business Council of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, an advisory board member to the Tennessee World Affairs Council, an investor and mentor for a number of start-ups, a mentor at Vanderbilt University’s innovation center (the Wond’ry), and has served on the selection/investment committees for a number of local and international accelerators. Recently, Amr also served a two-year term as a board member for an international bank, and was selected to Leadership Connect’s inaugural cohort. 
Amr is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s General Management Program. He also received an MBA from the University of Wales and a B.S. in Finance and Accounting from RHU, where he was presented with the Lifetime Alumni Achievement Award. 

Mr. Dunbar has extensive healthcare and life sciences operating experience, and has served as a Director or CEO with private and public companies in Diagnostics, Specialty Pharma, Cell Therapy, and Biologics, two where he led initial public offerings (IPOs).
George is Managing Partner of The Dunbar Group, LLC founded in 2011 to provide advisory services to the life sciences, recognizing that many venture capital or founder funded companies needed short term or interim industry expertise in order to be capital efficient. Since 2001 he has partnered with investors to mentor and focus management on creating market value and liquidity events for shareholders. His collaborative team includes the spectrum of industry experience including commercial and social media, quality assurance, regulatory, clinical/ manufacturing operations, and international partnering.
His most recent assignment was CEO with ISTO Biologics, a private equity funded orthobiologics company with the roll-up vision initially combining George's prior company, ISTO Technologies with Arteriocyte Medical Systems, and Progenicare.
Prior to joining Isto Technologies, Mr. Dunbar served as a Venture Partner with Arboretum Ventures, a leading healthcare venture capital group, and was a Director of four portfolio companies, two as Executive Chairman.
He has also held senior leadership positions with Ares-Serono, now Merck-Serono, and Amersham International, now GE Healthcare.
Earlier, George has served with companies including Stem Cells, Inc. and CytoTherapeutics, Aastrom ( now Vericel) ; and also DepoTech, Epic Therapeutics, LJL Biosystems, Metra Biosystems, Metrika, Molecular Probes, Quantum Dot, Sonus Pharmaceuticals, and Quidel. He began his career with Motorola’s Communications Division.
Mr. Dunbar is currently an independent Director with Capricor Therapeutics, a public cell therapy technology company, and Progenitor Life Sciences, a private next- gen stem cell and immunotherapy development company.
He has degrees in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from Auburn University, and serves on the Harbert College of Business MBA Advisory Board. He is member of the Entrepreneurial Advisory Council with Vanderbilt University’s Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization.
George and his spouse, Betsy live in Franklin, Tennessee and have two daughters; one is a US Navy JAG Officer on assignment with STRATCOM, and her sister, a writer and professional pastry chef living in San Jose, California. They have three grandchildren.
 

Jim has more than 33 years of device, diagnostic, drug, and biologics experience. He is currently CEO of Relay Life Science. Most recently he served as COO for BioMimetic Therapeutics for 12  years; leading growth from four to 100 employees. He has broad experience in commercial operations, supply chain management, product development, tech transfer, quality, regulatory, IT, and facilities management for drug, device, biologics, combination products, and bulk drug products. His experience spans early stage research through all phases of development, product launch, and routine commercial operations. Jim is also head of the LifeScienceTN Mentor program and a member of NueCura, an angel investment network in Brentwood, TN.

Glenn Perdue is the managing member of Kraft Analytics, LLC which provides valuation, forensics, and transaction advisory services.  Glenn began his professional career in the venture capital industry and later became the president of a technology company. He has experience with business transactions involving equity investments, debt financing, licensing, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, buy‐outs, joint ventures, financial distress and bankruptcy. Glenn's valuation experience includes the valuation of businesses, equity interests, intellectual property, and other intangible assets for transactional, managerial, compliance, accounting, tax, and litigation purposes.  His forensic experience includes work with attorneys related to business valuation, transactional disputes, intellectual property, economic damage analysis (lost profits, unjust enrichment/disgorgement, reasonable royalty, loss/diminution of value, etc.) licensing, antitrust, insurance recovery, and investigative analysis.   
Glenn has been retained as an expert witness in over 100 cases.  Industry experience includes work in information technology, life sciences, healthcare, media/entertainment, manufacturing and a variety of service industries.  Glenn holds an undergraduate degree in finance, and MBA (Vanderbilt '95) and professional credentials as a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA), Master Analyst in Financial Forensics (MAFF), and Certified Licensing Professional (CLP).

Barbara Cannon serves as Chief Operating Officer of NuSirt Sciences Inc., d/b/a NuSirt Biopharma.  NuSirt Biopharma has developed a breakthrough platform technology that combines natural compounds with various pharmaceutical agents.  Areas of focus include diabetes, dyslipidemia, obesity and NASH (Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis); the later garnering Fast Track Status with the FDA. IP Portfolio includes 15 US issued or allowed, with broad international coverage. 
Ms. Cannon brings extensive R&D experience to NuSirt Biopharma.  She was responsible for the start-up of ClinTrials Research, one of the early Contract Research Organizations (CROs), providing outsourced clinical research services to the pharmaceutical industry.  She was responsible for the initiation of Phase II-IV research activities and participated in the company’s IPO (NASDAQ: CCRO).  Her role as CEO and Board Director at Celeris (NASDAQ: CRSC) focused on supporting complex medical device, biological products thru FDA approval. 
Ms. Cannon has assisted numerous companies in the evaluation of their technology, business application, regulatory strategy and fund raising.
Ms. Cannon currently serves on several business and healthcare services boards including Nashville Capital Network, the Blakeford, a CCRC and Virsys 12.
She holds a MBA from Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management and a BS from California State University, Sacramento.  
 

Jim Stefansic is the Director of Corporate Development at Cumberland Emerging Technologies (CET). His responsibilities include sourcing, evaluating, and negotiating for new biopharmaceutical product and technology opportunities, in addition to contributing to the management and expansion of CET's university collaborations.
An accomplished healthcare entrepreneur, Dr. Stefansic has years of experience launching and growing numerous healthcare technology businesses.  Dr. Stefansic was previously Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Pathfinder Therapeutics, Inc., where he helped bring two industry-leading image-guided surgical products to market. He was instrumental in raising more than $17 million in venture capital and SBIR funding to support Pathfinder’s growth, as well as in the eventual sale of the company to Analogic (NASDAQ: ALOG). Dr. Stefansic was involved in every facet of the business, from investor road shows, R&D, clinical trials and regulatory approval to business development, financial management, pricing and commercialization.  He currently serves as a Director at Raiven Healthcare, an artificial intelligence healthcare company he co-founded in 2015.
His experience also includes serving as the Director of Commercialization at Launch Tennessee, where he led the statewide SBIR program and assisted numerous technology businesses in their growth and development. He was also a Research Professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging techniques in image-guided neurosurgery, and was critical in the initiation of this technology within the Vanderbilt Vision Research Center. He has authored or co-authored more than a dozen peer reviewed scientific articles.
Dr. Stefansic received his BS degree in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and his MS and PhD from Vanderbilt University. His MBA is from Belmont University, where Dr. Stefansic was named the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year in 2011 and currently serves as an Adjunct Instructor of Business.