Dr. Libby Handel

Dr. Libby Handel is the Director of Biotechnology Programs at Palm Beach State College. She is presently charged with directing a new Biotechnology program to meet current and future workforce needs of our emerging bioscience community.  She received her Ph.D. in Experimental Pathology at the University of Colorado and M.S. degree in Neuroscience from the University of Illinois.  Her research focused on mechanisms of gene transcription and cancer and specifically involved in investigating antiprogestins for the treatment of breast cancer and discovering novel signaling pathways for steroid hormones. She is currently Chair of the Town of Jupiter Economic Advisory Board for Bioscience and is an active member of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County Life Science Steering Committee.  She has worked as an Industry Agreement Specialist in Corporate Sponsored Research and Licensing at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and served as an independent biotechnology consultant to early stage companies.

Libby is a mother of three and a co-founder of The Pink Purse, a non-profit organization devoted to inspiring women to make a difference in their community.

 Dr. Alexandra Gorgevska

Dr. Alexandra Gorgevska is a Professor of Biotechnology at Palm Beach State College. She received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Department of Chemistry at Wayne State University specializing in DNA-protein cross-links. Her research involved investigating and discovering novel mechanisms and structures of formalin cross-link formation between DNA and proteins that form as a result of the fixation process during biopsy preservation. She has worked as a research technician in the Vascular Research Laboratory at William Beaumont Hospital and a research fellow at the University of Michigan in the Physiology Department.

She was a post-doctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health in the National Institute on Aging, where she investigated the mechanisms of premature aging disorders, primarily that of Werner's Syndrome. She is presently involved with developing and expanding a biotechnology curriculum to meet the needs of the emerging bioscience community.

Dr. Silvio Arango-Jaramillo DVM, MS, Ph.D.

Dr. Silvio Arango-Jaramillo is currently serving as professor and Chairman of Palm Beach State College's Eissey campus Department of Sciences. As a former full time faculty member of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, The Johns Hopkins University, School of Publlic Health and the School of Medicine, Dr. Silvio's research included work on experimental HIV/AIDS vaccines, and immunological resistance to HIV-1 in vitro.

While serving as professor and Chairman of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine at the University of Valle, Cali, Colombia, Dr. Silvio was involved in the epidemiological survelillance of the rabies virus in bats, dogs and humans by immunofluorescence, Seller's stain of neurons, and mice intracerebral inoculation. Additionally, Dr. Silvio was also involved in studies of dengue virus and dengue hemorrhagic virus with inhibition haemaglutination test.

Dr. Tod Fairbanks

Dr. Tod Fairbanks is a 38-year veteran of the healthcare industry. He began his career as a medical technologist/supervisor/clinical instructor at the Medical Center Hospital of Vermont/UVM, Burlington, Vermont and then moved to an Assistant/Associate Professor position in Laboratory Sciences at the University of Illinois at the Medical Center, Chicago. He received his Ph.D. in Immunology from Rush University, Chicago and subsequently moved to Abbott Diagnostics at Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago where he worked on new worldwide diagnostic products. From Abbott, Dr. Fairbanks moved into the pharmaceutical industry including Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pharmacia, where he worked for the last 17 years in global marketing, research, competitive intelligence, global new product development, global marketing, corporate development (M&A) and finally, licensing. The licensing position included evaluations of several hundred biotech and university partnering opportunities per year. Most of his pharmaceutical experience involves oncology and pharmacogenomics. Dr. Fairbanks also has a Master of Science degree in botany (cell biology of algae) and Master of Education degree in foundations of education.

Currently, Dr. Fairbanks provides consulting services on drug development/licensing/investing as well as the interface of drug and diagnostic products. He serves on the Town of Jupiter Economic Advisory Board, which reviews applicants for funding from the Economic Development Fund.

Dr. Becky Mercer

Dr. Becky A. Mercer earned her Ph.D. in Metabolic Sciences from the Department of Molecular Medicine at Columbia University in New York.  During her graduate studies she investigated the cellular and genetic mechanisms involved in pulmonary emphysema, using animal models and human lung tissue analyses.  She completed post-doctoral training in the Department of Cancer Biology at Scripps Florida, where she was a part of an interdisciplinary team that identified a novel protein component involved in cAMP-activated gene transcription.  Prior to her postdoctoral position, Dr. Mercer served as an Editor at the Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI).  She holds a Certificate in Project Management from Florida Atlantic University.  Dr. Mercer is currently an associate scientific project manager and scientific writer in the Lead Identification (High Throughput Screening) group at Scripps Florida.  Dr. Mercer is also a Director at Ocean Ridge Biosciences (ORB), a Palm Beach Gardens-based biotechnology company specializing in gene expression, protein profiling, and RNA sequencing services, as well as preparation of biofluids such as serum, plasma, and amniotic fluid for molecular analysis.  Dr. Mercer manages ORB's affiliate company DocuCheck Editors, a scientific grant writing and editing company, and has published extensively in peer-reviewed scientific journals on mechanisms of tobacco-related lung diseases.