Bill
Andrews, Ph.D.
President and CEO
Bill
Andrews has worked in the biotech industry
for 28 years, focusing the last 15 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, 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 35 US issued
telomerase patents.
Terry
McAfee
Vice President of Finance
Terry McAfee
leads the finance and administrative
functions of Sierra Sciences. He is
responsible for financial and government
reporting, financial planning and budgeting,
and human resources. Mr. McAfee is a
financial and business planning professional
who has held financial leadership roles with
Porsche Cars North America, Bank of America
and Swift Newspapers. He has also advised a
diverse array of clients in manufacturing,
e-commerce and services. Mr. McAfee is a
Nevada Certified Public Accountant and an
active board member of the Reno Chapter of
the Institute of Management Accountants.
Laura
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 and is the Director
of Cell Biology. 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.
Richard
Offerdahl
Chairman of the Board & COO
Richard
Offerdahl was granted a BSEE in 1965. Until
1981, he worked in the computer industry. In
1981, he co-founded Zycad Corporation
serving as its President until 1986. Zycad's
1984 IPO raised $30 million. While he was
President of Zycad, sales rose to $25
million per year. In 1987, he purchased
majority interest in Digi International (DGII),
a maker of computer serial cards and ports
for connecting peripherals to networks, and
became its first outside Director. While Mr.
Offerdahl was associated with DGII, sales
rose from $3 million to $160 million per
year. He is also a Director of several
private companies.
Pierluigi Zappacosta
Vice President of Business Development
Pierluigi
Zappacosta was granted an MS in Computer
Science from Stanford in 1978. In 1981, he
co-founded Logitech, the leading maker of
mice and other personal interface products
that enable people to work, play and
communicate in the digital world and over a
period of 17 years filled various roles
including President & CEO. He was
instrumental in taking the company public in
Switzerland in 1988 and on NASDAQ in 1997,
raising a total of $60 million. By the time
Mr. Zappacosta left in 1998, sales of
Logitech had risen to over $400 million per
year. He is also a Director of a number of
private companies.