Christopher J. Bonar, V.M.D.
Christopher J. Bonar, V.M.D. has served on the Angiogenesis Foundation’s Board of Directors since its inception in 1994. He is a founding member and current Chairman of the Board. Dr. Bonar is co-founder and President of the Cleveland Aquarium. He holds the position of Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, and serves as both Consulting Veterinarian for the Cleveland Botanical Garden and as Consulting Veterinarian and Research Associate for the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.Since 1994, Chris has been Associate Zoo Veterinarian for the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Chris received his A.B. from Harvard College, his V.M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in 1991, and did his post-doctoral internship in Wildlife Medicine at the Wildlife Center of Virginia.
The Edge, HonD.Mus.
The Edge, born David Howell Evans, has served on the Angiogenesis Foundation’s board of directors since 2007. He is a guitarist with the Irish rock band U2, and is commonly described as one of the most influential guitarists of his generation. One of the principle songwriters of U2, The Edge has also written extensively for other projects, including movie scores (Captive, Gangs of New York, Golden Eye), for animated series (the Batman TV series), and for the stage (A Clockwork Orange by the Royal Shakespeare company 1990), and often works in collaboration with U2’s lead singer, Bono.The Edge has been active in politics and philanthropy since early in his musical career. In 2006, he and other members of U2 received Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award; in 2005, The Edge co-founded Music Rising, a charity initiative that provides musical instruments for the musicians, schools and churches of the Gulf Coast Region.
Nicole Firestone, M.B.A.
Nicole Firestone, M.B.A. has served on the board of directors of the Angiogenesis Foundation since 2002. She was a former partner with Corriente Advisors, LLC, a hedge fund based in Fort Worth, Texas with over $2.3 billion in net assets under management, as well as a former Principal at Goff Moore Strategic Partners, L.P. (GMSP), a company formed in 1998 to serve as a primary investment vehicle for Richard E. Rainwater.In addition to general investment analysis and fund management, Nicole’s expertise includes significant structuring experience involving the creation and negotiation of both debt and equity investments across a variety of complex capital structures. Prior to joining GMSP, Nicole worked at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in the investment banking division. Nicole holds a B.S. in Business from the University of Southern California, and earned her M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.
Gerald Gehr, M.D.
Gerald Gehr, M.D. has been involved with the Angiogenesis Foundation since 1995, first as a clinical advisor, and then as a Board member since 2002. He is Chief of Hematology Oncology at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Manchester, New Hampshire, has full-time clinical appointments at several New Hampshire hospitals, and serves as Medical Director of the Manchester VNA Hospice Program.Dr. Gehr is Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Dartmouth Medical School, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Professions. He has held teaching positions at Harvard University, Boston University, and Dartmouth Medical School, and served on the boards of numerous professional organizations. He is former President of the New Hampshire Division of the American Cancer Society and a delegate to the National Board, and is a past chairman and current member of the Veterans Administration National Field Advisory Committee for Oncology and the National Bone Marrow Transplant review board.
Dr. Gehr received his M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine, and completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Boston University Affiliated Hospitals, and Hematology and Oncology Fellowships at Boston City Hospital and Boston University Hospital. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Internal Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology, and is a member of the American Society of Hematology and American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Massachusetts Medical Society.
Louis Hook, M.B.A.
Louis Hook has served on the Board of Directors of the Angiogenesis Foundation since 1996. He is currently President of LCH Technology Partners, LLC, which provides IT and technology management consulting services to public, private and non-profit organizations. He has 19 years experience in communications technology and systems management, and had his own firm, Compton.Com.Partners, LLC, which provided communication technology consulting and project management services to public entities.Until his recent return to private consulting, Louis was Chief Information Officer of Los Angeles World Airports’ (LAWA) Information Technology Division, where he was responsible for overseeing all information, operations, telecommunications and security systems for LAWA. He also previously worked in the public sector for the University of California, Los Angeles for 15 years, most recently as Director of the Communications Technology Services Division, which was comprised of 70,000 customer telecommunications, network connectivity and Internet Service Provider businesses.
Louis was Chief Information Officer and Chief Financial Officer for the UCLA Facilities Management Division. Louis has a B.A. from Occidental College in liberal arts with a concentration in Economics and a M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.
Shawna R. Cornelius Li, D.V.M.
Shawna Cornelius Li has been involved with the Angiogenesis Foundation since its inception in 1994, and became a Board member in 1997. As its Executive Director from 1994-1999, Shawna wrote the Foundation’s initial application for– and secured– its federal tax-exempt status, and developed all scientific and communications materials during the Foundation’s start-up phase. She also coordinated the Foundation’s debut at the NATO institute for Advanced Studies Conference on Angiogenesis, held in Europe in June 1995.Shawna holds the position of Associate Veterinarian at the Norton Animal Hospital, Norton Massachusetts. In collaboration with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, and Tufts University School of Medicine, she has conducted published research into the role of angiogenic cytokines in feline malignancies. Shawna has received a number of honors and awards for her work, including the Academic Excellence Award, Radiology Award in Ultrasound, and Phi Zeta Award from Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine.
Shawna received her D.V.M. with honors from Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, and her A.B. cum laude from Harvard College. She is a Licensed Veterinarian in Massachusetts, a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, and a member of the American Animal Hospital Association.
Vincent W. Li, M.D., M.B.A.
Dr. Vincent W. Li is the Chief Operating Officer and Scientific Director of the Angiogenesis Foundation. He has been involved in the field of angiogenesis since 1998, and has been on the Board since its inception in 1994. Dr. Li conducted his bachelor’s thesis with Harvard Professor Howard Green, a pioneer of epidermal and fibroblast biology, and performed his doctoral dissertation on growth factors and tumor angiogenesis as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellow in the research laboratory of angiogenesis pioneer Dr. Judah Folkman.He currently serves as Medical Director of the Angiogenesis and Wound Healing Center in the Department of Dermatology at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School. His honors include the Paul Dudley White Award, the MIT-Japan Science and Technology Prize, First Place Award in the Scientific and Clinical poster competition at the American Academy of Dermatology annual meeting, and the highest recognition (Daland Award) from the New England Cancer Society. Dr. Li received his bachelor’s degree magna cum laude, from Harvard College, his M.D. cum laude from Harvard Medical School and M.I.T.’s Health Sciences & Technology Division, and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
He was also the Fiske Scholar at Cambridge University, England. He completed his clinical training in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and in dermatology through the Harvard Program. Dr. Li is an active member of the American Academy of Dermatology, American Society for Clinical Oncology, Wound Healing Society, and has a leadership role on the national Wound Healing Cooperative Group (WHCG). He publishes and lectures internationally.
William W. Li, M.D.
William W. Li is Chief Executive Officer, President, Medical Director, and Co-founder of the Angiogenesis Foundation. Will trained in the lab of Dr. Judah Folkman, pioneer of the angiogenesis field, and has been actively engaged in angiogenesis research and clinical development for 30 years. Under Will’s leadership, the Foundation has developed a unique social enterprise model based on value creating collaborations with leading medical academic centers, biopharmaceutical and medical device companies, and government agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.As President, Will has testified and presented before congressional and other government panels on the impact of angiogenesis in healthcare, and lectures around the world on angiogenesis-related topics in front of clinical, government, and industrial audiences. He is actively engaged in global efforts to advance the applications of angiogenesis-based therapeutics across diverse medical fields, including oncology/hematology, cardiology, ophthalmology, vascular surgery, dermatology, wound care, and regenerative medicine. He has been published in Science, The New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, Nature Reviews and other leading peer-reviewed medical journals. Will’s TED talk on angiogenesis has received more than 5 million views.
Will received his A.B. with honors from Harvard College, and his M.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pennsylvania. He completed his internship, residency, and fellowship training in General Internal Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Will has held appointments on the clinical faculties of Harvard Medical School, Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, and Dartmouth Medical School. He serves as advisor and consultant to leading global public and private companies.
Quentin Andrews Parker
Quentin Andrews Parker has been a board member of the Angiogenesis Foundation since 1996. Quentin has more than 20 years of work and volunteer experience related to the advancement of higher education, as well as social- and healthcare-related causes. Her expertise includes annual giving and major gifts as well as strategic planning, board development, and volunteer management.She has worked both on staff and as a consultant with prestigious educational institutions such as Radcliffe College and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, as well as with national organizations focused on healthcare, social services, and the arts.
She is a member of the board of Women in Development of Greater Boston, and served on the boards of the Massachusetts Chapter of the NSFRE, now the AFP, and the Hospice at Home/Friends of Hospice until its dissolution in 2003. Quentin graduated from Bryn Mawr College with a degree in English Literature.
Dan Rutz, M.P.H.
Dan Rutz has served on the Board of Directors of the Angiogenesis Foundation since 2002. He is a Risk Communications Specialist and Public Health Analyst for The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Ga., where he is engaged in planning (preparation and response) for public health emergencies, including emerging infectious diseases and bio-terrorism threats. Dan also works on the World Health Organization (WHO) initiative to establish, develop, and test an international standard for outbreak risk communication.Through the U.S. State Department Dan works with journalists, clinicians, and academics on communicating avian and pandemic influenza preparedness in countries (including Egypt, Chile, Nigeria and Indonesia) affected or threatened by avian influenza or a greater pandemic. He is also engaged in advancing U.S. health security activities with bordering countries (Mexico and Canada) and other U.S. Allies (United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, and Japan) under the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) and the Global Health Security Initiative (GHSI).
Through CDC agreements and permanent deployments he is engaged in public health planning in China and other countries. Prior to joining the CDC, Dan served as Managing Editor and on-air Sr. Medical Correspondent for the CNN domestic and international television and radio networks for 18 years.
SPECIAL ADVISORS
Peter Gabriel
Peter co-founded the group Genesis in 1966 and the band went on to make 7 albums. He left Genesis in 1975 and has since made 11 solo albums. His film soundtrack works include Birdy (1984), The Last Temptation of Christ (1989) and Rabbit Proof Fence (2002).In 1980 Peter conceived of, and founded WOMAD (World of Music Arts and Dance), which has presented over 150 festivals in over 40 countries.
Peter’s Human Rights works include, the coordination of and participation in the Human Rights Now! Tour, in 1988 with Amnesty International. In 1989 he conceived of, and co-founded Witness.org, giving cameras and computers to human rights activists. Witness has won many awards and in 2008 launched the Hub, providing a platform for human rights video from all over the world.
In 2000 Peter co-founded and conceived of the Elders.org with Richard Branson, which Nelson Mandela launched in 2007.
Peter’s business interests have been in the field of music, media and technology. In 1987 he founded the Real World Group of companies. In 1999, he co-founded OD2, which became the leading European platform provider for the distribution of on-line music. In 2005 Peter and others purchased Solid State Logic, the world’s leading manufacturer of mixing consoles for music recording, broadcast and post-production, and in 2011 became majority shareholder. He also co-founded thefilter.com and We7.com, and is currently developing several projects, including a visual language for the internet, and the first social network for the dead.
Amongst awards Peter has received, are the Man of Peace Award, presented by the Nobel Peace Laureates, the ‘Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ and also the Quadriga Award. Lifetime achievement awards include BT’s Digital Music Pioneer Award, and he has received Grammy awards for his music and video work.
Photo by York Tillyer
Scott S. Hamilton
Scott Hamilton is an Olympic gold medalist figure skater and highly-regarded television commentator. He won four consecutive U.S. championships (1981–1984), four consecutive World Championships (1981–1984) and a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics. He has been awarded numerous other skating honors, including being the first solo male figure skater to be awarded the Jacques Favart Award (1988). In 1990 he was inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame. His “signature move” in exhibition routines was a backflip, a feat that few other figure skaters could perform.Hamilton has been a skating commentator for CBS and NBC television for many years, He was the host of the FOX television program “Skating with Celebrities.” He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Special Olympics International.
Scott participates in a wide variety of charitable events, beginning with his own foundation, the Scott Hamilton C.A.R.E.S. Initiative (Cancer Alliance for Research, Education and Survivorship) at the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Center in Cleveland, Ohio, and Provision Healthcare Foundation in Knoxville, Tennessee. CARES includes offshoots, The Fourth Angel Network and his web site Chemocare.com and Radcare.org. He is a tireless supporter of Target House at St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee and LiveBeyond and Best Buddies, both of Nashville, Tennessee. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Monroe Carrell’s Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, Special Olympics International and Provision Healthcare Foundation. When not commentating, speaking or supporting his favorite charities, Scott can be found on the golf course and enjoys spending time with his wife and two sons outside Nashville, Tennessee.
Sir Roger Moore, KBE
Sir Roger Moore is an internationally celebrated actor and humanitarian. Roger Moore holds an enduring place in the history of cinema, through his portrayal of James Bond from 1972-1985, the longest of all the actors to have played agent 007.Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and Cambridge Arts Theatre Company, Roger Moore was commissioned in 1945 into National Service where he became Captain, He began his acting career on stage in the West End then Broadway, then in Hollywood with MGM then Warner Brothers. Notable roles include his work in the television series “Ivanhoe”, “The Alaskans”, and “Maverick.” His breakout role was as Simon Templar in the most successful television series of that time, “The Saint” followed by the hugely successful role as Lord Brett Sinclair in The Persuaders, with Tony Curtis as co-star. Moore made his Bond debut in 1972 in Live and Let Die and continued for a total of seven productions. In addition to work in film, and TV, he has voiced a number of animated characters. Audiences have also enjoyed Sir Roger’s performances in “The Play What I Wrote” and an “Evening With…”. Sir Roger has written a handful of books, among them “My Word is My Bond”, “Bond on Bond” and “Last Man Standing.”
For over 25 years Sir Roger has worked with UNICEF, appointed as Special Ambassador in 1991 and as Goodwill Ambassador in 1999. He has traveled the world extensively, accompanied by his wife Lady Kristina, speaking and advocating for causes close to his heart. Queen Elizabeth II recognized Roger Moore’s charitable contributions in 1999 by awarding him the CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire), and again in 2003 when she awarded him a Knighthood.
Recent years have seen Sir Roger concentrating on his UNICEF work while continuing to work in film, TV and on stage, when time allows. Continuing to use his influence to spur positive change, Roger is also an ardent activist for cancer research and animal rights.
Cindy Crawford
Cindy Crawford is known to the world as one of the original supermodels who defined that pivotal moment when fashion models became stars in their own right.Crawford studied chemical engineering as a scholarship student at Northwestern University before her modeling career took her to New York. Since then she has graced over 1,000 magazine covers worldwide, including Vogue, Elle, W, Bazaar, Cosmopolitan and Allure.
Cindy used her fame as a springboard to launch a groundbreaking career that has spanned over three decades and resulted in an exceedingly successful and trusted brand representing beauty, fashion, fitness and home. Beyond her modeling career, she hosted a successful MTV show “House of Style”, starred in and produced best-selling exercise videos, created and developed a successful skincare line called Meaningful Beauty as well as a furniture brand called Cindy Crawford Home which combined have grossed over 3 billion dollars in sales.
Cindy has also utilized her success to help raise money and awareness for issues close to her heart. She’s a passionate supporter of cancer charities, having lost her brother Jeff to leukemia when she was 9 years old. As part of her healing, her mother organized a dance marathon to help raise money for the Leukemia Foundation of America. At a young age, Cindy saw how empowering it was to get involved and give back. This has inspired her devotion to help make the world a better place.
The other charities she supports include the American Family Children’s Hospital, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the University of Wisconsin Foundation, and the Little Star Foundation.