Dr. Aris Persidis is President and co-founder of Biovista. He has also served as Senior Vice President at Upstate/Serologicals, Managing Director and President of RHeoGene, and Assistant Director-Medical School Technology Transfer Program - and Assistant Professor (Adjunct) at the Entrepreneurial Center of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania (1993-1997). Dr. Persidis is also a co-founder of Cellzome, in Heidelberg, Germany, and participated in the founding of Anadys, San Diego, CA. Dr. Persidis is a recipient of the Honeywell European Futurist Award (1986) and has published extensively on bio-business subjects. In 1997-2000 he authored the monthly "Industry Trends" column for the journal Nature Biotechnology. He has published more than 80 papers and book chapters, has lectured at Wharton, the Columbia Business School, George Washington University and the University of Auckland Business School, and is a frequent speaker at major international meetings. He also serves as an expert evaluator for the European Union and has served on the Business Development Committee of BIO. Dr. Persidis holds a First Class B.Sc. Degree in biological chemistry from Essex University, U.K. (1983-1986), and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Cambridge, U.K. (1986-1989), where he was also U.K. varsity ballroom dancing champion.