Advanced Life Science

• President and CEO     Takashi Nishihira
• Director                    Satomi Sato
• Director                    Nobby Yoshida
• Director                    Keiko Yamakawa
• Director                    Hirotsugu Tanaka
• Director                    Nobuhiro Kaetsu

1. Research on diseases caused by telomere shortening and the development of solutions.
2. Research, planning and development for the purpose of industrializing biotechnology.
3. Research for age curing products and the sale of related products.
4. Wholesale, retail and import sales of cosmetics.
5. Product planning and development for cosmetics.
6. The manufacture, sale, import, export and distribution of health food products.
7. Consulting services related to each of the aforementioned items.
8. All activities accompanying each of the aforementioned items.

Bill Andrews, Ph.D.  (President & CEO）

Dr. Andrews has worked in the biotech industry for 30 years, focusing the last 18 years on finding ways to extend human lifespan through the intervention of telomere shortening in human cells.
Dr. Andrews earned his Ph.D. in Molecular and Population Genetics at the University of Georgia in 1981. He was a Senior Scientist at Armos Corporation and Codon Corporation, Director of Molecular Biology at Codon and at Geron Corporation, and Director of Technology Development at EOS Biosciences.
While Director of Molecular Biology at Geron Corporation from 1992 to 1997, Dr. Andrews was one of the principal discoverers of both the RNA and protein components of human telomerase and was awarded 2nd place as "National Inventor of the Year" in 1997 for this work. He is presently a named inventor on 43 US issued telomerase patents.
Dr. Andrews is an avid runner and enjoys participating in ultramarathons in his spare time. His ultimate goal is to run a 7 minute mile at the age of 130.

Laura A. Briggs, Ph.D.
(Vice President of Research and Discovery）

Laura Briggs received her B.S. degree in Nutrition in 1993 and her Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Health in 2000 from the University of Nevada, Reno. After a one-year post-doctoral position at UNR she joined Sierra Sciences in 2001. In addition to coordinating research and development at Sierra Sciences, Dr. Briggs is also currently serving as the biology Lab Coordinator for Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) and has collaborated on research projects at the V.A. Medical Center in Reno, Nevada.

Lancer Brown, M.S.  (Program Director of Screening）

Lancer Brown received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biotechnology in 2003 from the University of Nevada, Reno and was one of three students in the inaugural advanced BS/MS Biotechnology Program. He distinguished himself by being the first student to complete the program. Lancer came to Sierra Sciences as an intern while completing his degree. Following graduation, he joined Sierra Sciences full-time where he has proven to have remarkable ability to engineer genes and DNA. He has recently been promoted to program director of screening.

Hamid Mohammadpour, Ph.D.

Dr. Mohammadpour has been a senior scientist at Sierra Sciences for over a decade, and currently heads the Cell Biology department, where he oversees the cell culture fundamental to the company's screening efforts. In addition to tissue and cell culture, he also specializes in protein chemistry and molecular biology. For over twenty years, Dr. Mohammadpour has been a researcher at several Universities and biotech companies. He has a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln and worked for the University of Nebraska Medical center. Prior to completing his Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology, he was a researcher at the University of Nevada School of Medicine.

Lonnie Klaich  (Vice President of Finance & Administration）

Lonnie Klaich leads the finance and administrative functions of Sierra Sciences. He is responsible for financial and government reporting, financial planning, budgeting, and human resources. Mr. Klaich is a financial and business planning professional who has held financial leadership roles in the health care industry for twenty-five years. These have ranged from Insurance company, to Hospital, to the largest Neurosurgery Group in Northern Nevada. He has also served time with the gaming industry and freight & logistics industry. Lonnie is graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno with Bachelors of Science degree focusing on Accounting & Finance.

Bryant Villeponteau, Ph.D.

While working with Dr. Andrews at Geron, Dr. Villeponteau shared the 1997 2nd place Inventor of the Year Award. Dr. Villeponteau is also an internationally recognized expert in the aging process caused by oxidative stress. Dr. Villeponteau served as President of Healthspan Sciences.

Federico Gaeta, Ph.D.

Dr. Gaeta identified the first potent, small molecule, inhibitors of human telomerase. He is the sole inventor of universal therapeutic cancer vaccine technologies based on telomerase, currently being evaluated in human clinical trials. Dr. Gaeta is an experienced executive with major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the area of new drug discovery and development.

Judith Campisi, Ph.D.

Dr. Campisi is a leading authority on telomerase, cellular senescence and the cell cycle.

Joel Hedgpeth, Ph.D.

Joel Hedgpeth founded Codon Corporation, a biotechnology company that was acquired by Schering, AG in 1990. He served as Vice President of Basic Research at Berlex Biosciences (a US subsidiary of Schering, AG) until 1993. Dr. Hedgpeth was acting Chief Scientific Officer of Epoch Biosciences (NASDQ; EBIO) until 2002. Dr. Hedgpeth received his degree with Herbert W. Boyer (founder of Genentech) at the University of California, San Francisco and after postdoctoral work at the University of Geneva, was a visiting professor at the Pasteur Institute (Paris) and a Research Fellow at the Howard Hughes Institute, UCSF.

Judith Campisi, Ph.D.

Jerry W. Shay, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chairman
  Department of Cell Biology
  Associate Director Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center
  UT Southwestern, Dallas, Texas.

Woodring 'Woody' Wright, Ph.D., Professor of Cell Biology UT Southwestern, Dallas, Texas.
http://www.swmed.edu/home_pages/cellbio/shay-wright/