Advisory Board Members

Jason Alter, Ph.D.
Vice President of Marketing for Aureon Laboratories

Dr. Alter graduated from Alfred University with a B.A. in Biology and History. Subsequently he earned a M.S. degree in Microbiology from Texas A&M University and his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Binghamton University. Dr. Alter did a postdoctoral fellowship at Schering Plough Pharmaceuticals examining the cellular location of fibronectin and collagen 01 (IV) messenger RNAs during intimal lesion development in a balloon angioplasty model of vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation.  Dr. Alter has worked in a number of marketing roles for both traditional and non-traditional life science companies (e.g. IBM). Dr. Alter joined IBM's newly-formed Life Sciences Division as a Marketing Manager and was responsible for many of the initial outbound marketing activities of this business unit. Subsequently, as Manager of Program Marketing, he and his team were responsible for all outbound marketing for the IBM Healthcare and Life Sciences team.

John D. Haley, Ph.D.
Senior Research Director, Translational Research OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Dr. Haley has over thirty years of experience in biochemical research in the fields of endocrinology, oncology, signal transduction and pharmacology, in which he has published over 50 manuscripts.  Dr. Haley obtained B.Sc. cum laude in Chemistry from Tufts University, Medford, MA and a Ph. D. in Molecular Endocrinology from the Howard Florey Institute for Experimental Physiology and Medicine, Melbourne University, Australia.  He served as a Research Fellow at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (London) and at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (London). He currently holds the position of Senior Research Director, Translational Research at OSI Pharmaceuticals, and his group is focused on drug target pathway identification, validation and biomarker discovery through a scientific understanding of epithelial-mesenchymal transition and cancer recurrence.

Joseph Scaduto, M.S.,  M.B.A.
Assistant Director of Business Development Center for Biotechnology (CFB), State University of New York at Stony Brook

Mr. Scaduto is the founding Executive Director of the Long Island Life Sciences Initiative (LILSI). He has accumulated almost 10 years of experience providing business development expertise, strategic planning services and technology commercialization guidance to emerging and expanding bioscience companies on Long Island and throughout New York State. Mr. Scaduto is primarily responsible for corporate outreach, industry relations and government affairs activities on behalf of the CFB. He leads efforts to plan and execute the annual Life Sciences Industry Summit, while administering several programs meant to facilitate industry-academic interactions, technology transfer and new company formation, including BioPartnering Meetings, BioStrategy Sessions and the Technology Commercialization Clinic (TCC).  Mr. Scaduto serves on the Tenant Selection and Review Committee of the Long Island High Technology Incubator (UHTI), the Stony Brook University Software Incubator, and the Stony Brook University Incubator at Calverton.  Prior to joining the CFB, Mr. Scaduto held a variety of laboratory research and technology management positions at Stony Brook University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Binghamton University, Mount Sinai Graduate School of Biological Sciences, BioLife Solutions, Inc. and The Collaborative Group, Ltd.

Daniel B. Yarosh, PhD 
Senior Vice President, Basic Science Research Estee Lauder

Dr. Yarosh, is Senior Vice President, Basic Science Research, and is responsible for worldwide basic research of the Estee Lauder companies. Until 2008, he was President and Chairman of the Board, AGI Dermatics, located in Freeport, Long Island, New York. Dr. Yarosh received his BA degree in Biology from Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1976, and his Doctorate in Molecular Biology from the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, Arizona, in 1978. He served as a National Science Foundation Fellow at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, and then a Staff Fellow and Cancer Expert at the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. In 1985, Dr. Yarosh founded AGI Dermatics, with an emphasis on the commercial application of DNA repair. He is the inventor of Dimericine® (T4N5 liposome lotion), which is a liposomal DNA repair enzyme for the prevention of skin cancer. AGI Dermatics is also an ingredient supplier to many major worldwide cosmetic and personal care companies. In 2006 the company launched its own Remergent® brand of skincare products, including sunscreens and prescription drugs. In 2008, AGI Dermatics was acquired by Estee Lauder Inc. Dr. Yarosh is the author of more than 100 scientific papers and two dozen patents, and serves on the Board of the Photomedicine Society. His book The New Science of Perfect Skin, about skincare technology in the cosmetic marketplace, was published by Random House in May 2008.