MaryAnn Guerra, Executive Director, Life Sciences Prize Group

MaryAnn brings more than 25 years of experience in business, health, cancer technology and genomics research management to the X PRIZE Foundation, where she will oversee the Archon X PRIZE for Genomics and development and management of new prizes that are created in the Life Sciences area.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Ms. Guerra served as President of TGen Accelerators, LLC and Chief Business Officer at TGen. Ms. Guerra is well experienced in creating novel programs to accelerate the transfer of technology from the lab into useful products and new business opportunities thus enabling TGen to quickly advance its research agenda. Ms. Guerra has spent the past 20 years managing and operating successful and progressive health, science and technology businesses, as well as interacting with private, public and academic institutions. Ms. Guerra is an expert at business development and strategic planning initiatives that create organizations poised to deliver clinical and research outcomes. Her knowledge and experience in the field provides for effective leadership when responding to and creating specialized services that reflect the unique and distinct requirements needed across the health and technology arenas.

Ms. Guerra served as Executive Vice President of the Matthews Media Group, where she was responsible for developing and implementing a strategic business plan that expanded and enhanced services and extended relationships with the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Ms. Guerra has also held various senior level positions at the National Institutes of Health, including: Deputy Director of Management at the NCI; Executive Officer of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; and Chief of the Technology Transfer and Intramural Management Branch at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.

As the Deputy Director for Management, National Cancer Institute (NCI), Ms. Guerra oversaw all the business operations of an organization with an annual budget in excess of $4 billion in appropriated funds and a staff of over 5,000. Ms. Guerra has received numerous awards for her work, including the Business Journal’s “Power People” award, the Girl Scouts “Women of the Future World Award,” and Vice President Gore’s National Partnership for Reinventing Government Hammer Award for the NIH IntraMall.

Ms. Guerra holds an undergraduate degree from The Ohio State University and an MBA from George Washington University in Science, Innovation and Technology.

Larry Kedes, Senior Advisor, Archon X PRIZE for Genomics

Dr. Kedes is founder and past Director of the University of Southern California Institute for Genetic Medicine and the William M. Keck Professor and Chair of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and a Professor of Medicine at the USC Keck School of Medicine.
Before joining USC, Dr. Kedes was a member of the faculty of the Stanford University School of Medicine (1970 to 1989) as Assistant, Associate and full Professor of Medicine. During 1976-1977, he was a fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and worked at the Imperial Cancer Research Foundation laboratories in London, England. From 1974 to 1982 he was an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Dr. Kedes’s research interests have used molecular biology and molecular genetic technologies to study the differentiation of organisms and cells. Most recently his work has focused on the molecular genetics of gene expression in skeletal and heart muscle cells and the development of DNA delivery methods and other insights into regeneration and modification of these cells for potential therapeutic applications.

Marc Hodosh, Senior Advisor, Archon X PRIZE for Genomics

Marc Hodosh is President of TEDMED, a conference he is re-launching in the fall of 2009, in partnership with TED founder, Richard Wurman.

Previously Marc led the Archon X PRIZE for Genomics a $10 million competition to inspire rapid and cost effective genome sequencing technology; which followed the highly successful $10 million Ansari Space X PRIZE.

He has been a consultant to inventor Dean Kamen at DEKA Research & Development and is also Chairman of Dean's FIRST Robotics competition in Boston, inspiring thousands of high school students to pursue careers in science & technology.

Additionally, Marc founded and sold, ID One, which specialized in facial recognition technology for the U.S. military and intelligence communities. Just prior, he led business development at Viisage Technology, a publicly traded, biometric and secure ID company.

Marc's first business endeavors began by inventing and importing a variety of consumer products from Asia, with distribution through Bed Bath & Beyond, QVC television, Toys-R-Us, and others. These products were acquired by the industry's leader and continue to sell successfully at major retail outlets, worldwide.