Erkki Ruoslahti

Dr. Ruoslahti is a Distinguished Professor and former president of Sanford-Burnham Institute for Medical Research and a founder of the Center for Nanomedicine at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He is a pioneer in the field of cell adhesion and now studies specific vascular addresses in directing drugs to sites of disease. Dr. Ruoslahti is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Medicine. His scientific awards include the Canadian Gairdner International Award and the Japan Prize. On the entrepreneurial side, Dr. Ruoslahti is an inventor of about 150 patents and a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. He has founded several biotech companies and served on the board of directors of two publicly traded companies.