August 13, 2003
The Translational Genomics Research Institute recently filled two key management posts by appointing Elizabeth F. Montemayor as Chief Financial Officer and Dr. Ron G. King as Director of Technology Transfer."TGen continues to attract exceptional talent to the state of Arizona," said Dr. Jeffrey Trent, TGen President and Scientific Director. "We now have two more key individuals on board TGen's management team who will play crucial roles in accomplishing TGen's mission of improving human health."
Montemayor, formerly Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
of the Cancer Therapy and Research Center in San Antonio, has more
than a decade's experience as a financial executive with an
independent research organization.
Elizabeth F. Montemayor
TGen Chief Financial Officer
Montemayor's experience in obtaining federal research grants and her familiarity with complex research makes her an important addition to TGen, said Trent. Montemayor compiled an annual budget of $56 million and managed federal grants of $22.8 million while at CTRC.
"TGen is fortunate to bring on board a financial expert like Elizabeth. She has worked extensively with researchers in both clinical and academic environments and brings her firsthand knowledge of the regulatory requirements of the grants process," said Richard Love, TGen Chief Operating Officer.
In addition to her Vice President role at the Cancer Therapy and Research Center, Montemayor also served as Director of Administration for the Center's partner, the San Antonio Cancer Institute. In ten years at the Center, she served first as Controller of the CTRC Research Foundation and then as Chief Financial Officer of the Center itself before becoming Vice President. She is a licensed CPA and has a bachelor's in accounting from the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Montemayor said she looks forward to assisting the development of TGen and particularly its expanding contribution to Arizona.
"TGen has the responsibility to take the resources provided by the local community and use them wisely in becoming a stable and long-term presence in the state. I welcome that responsibility," Montemayor said.
As Director of the Office of Technology Transfer, King looks to build bridges between TGen research laboratories and the private sector for the benefit of public health. King carries out this mission by assisting in the transfer of TGen-developed technologies to the private sector for further development and facilitating the exchange of research resources between TGen and outside scientific centers.
Dr. Ron King
TGen Director of Technology Transfer
The Office of Technology Transfer uses a variety of mechanisms to assist TGen's research effort in achieving its technology transfer goals, including:
Evaluation, patenting, and licensing of TGen employee inventions. Negotiation of material transfer agreements and other legal documents, enabling the sharing of research resources between TGen scientists and the private sector. This sharing may range from obtaining a single, critical reagent to establishing formal research collaborations. Facilitation of cooperative research agreements between TGen laboratories and the private sector. King also will work with key groups within Arizona, including the Arizona Technology Enterprises at Arizona State University headed by Peter Slate, to facilitate commercialization of TGen technology.
King, who was the founding Director of the Technology Transfer Office at the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health, has the rare combination of the scientific, legal and business expertise necessary to guide TGen in complex technology transfer issues, Trent said.
"Ron King is known nationally as a leader in the complex issues of technology transfer. He gives TGen researchers the ability to move from scientific achievements to products and services benefiting patients," said Trent.
King spent 14 years at the National Institutes of Health, the last nine at the Human Genome Research Institute.
King said a major challenge in technology transfer is combining the complexities of science, business and the law in appropriate ways to develop the institute's mission of advancing health.
"I'm a matchmaker. In the context of collaboration, I bring together the different parties, with their unique perspectives, and guide them through the process," King said. King earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of California, Riverside. He won a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Biochemistry with Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Laboratories and then joined the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the NIH as a senior staff fellow. His research focused on gene regulation and expression.
King has co-authored 17 scientific publications and been invited to give presentations at numerous conferences, including a talk on new gene technologies at the "Science in Our Lives" symposium offered by the Institute for Advanced Studies in Immunology and Aging.
His numerous awards and honors include four NIH Director's Awards, an Award of Merit and a NIH Outstanding Manager Award.
King also is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Health Administration and Policy in the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. Most recently, Phoenix Mayor Skip Rimsza appointed him to the Greater Phoenix Economic Council.
About TGen
The mission of the Translational Genomics Research Institute
(TGen) is to make and translate genomic discoveries into advances
in human health. "Translational research" is a relatively new field
employing innovative advances arising from the Human Genome Project
to apply to the development of diagnostics, prognostics and
therapies for cancer, neurologic disorders, diabetes and other
complex diseases.
