Mr. Siegel first became involved with the scientific community when, in 2002, he filed a landmark case seeking a guardian for the alleged clone, “Baby Eve.” The case was widely credited for exposing Clonaid, the so-called “human cloning company” as a sham. This case, and the media attention which ensued, allowed Mr. Siegel to meet with scientists and policy experts to discuss the need for legal and policy advocates for the scientific community. This led to Mr. Siegel’s founding of the Genetics Policy Institute (today Regenerative Medicine Foundation) and his commitment to advocacy work on behalf of patients, doctors and researchers involved with the regenerative medicine community

In 2004, Mr. Siegel played a pivotal role in galvanizing a global movement that successfully lobbied the United Nations to reject a treaty that called for a prohibition of nuclear transfer, or therapeutic cloning.

As a recognized policy expert on stem cell research, regenerative medicine and cloning, Mr. Siegel works with the world’s leading stem cell researchers and advocates. He works with grassroots activists throughout the United States, raising public awareness and educating lawmakers, the media and public on stem cells and regenerative medicine.

Mr. Siegel is a frequent panelist and keynote speaker on the subject of stem cells, public policy, patient advocacy and the societal implications of longevity. Among his many presentations, he has spoken at the United Nations, the Salk Institute, the German National Academy of Science (The Leopoldina), and others. He has lectured at more than 40 colleges and universities around the globe.

Mr. Siegel frequently works with the media as a policy expert. His media appearances include interviews with CBS Evening News, the CBS Early Show, CNN, MSNBC, Fox and Friends, National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Wired News, The Scientist, New Scientist, The London Times, Le Monde, Pravda, The Peoples Daily and many other publications.

A native of Richmond, Virginia, he received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Miami (BA 1972, JD 1975). He is a member of the Florida Bar, since 1975.

Mr. Merchant is the founder of The Merchants Financial Group, Ltd. a privately held capital investment company founded in 1986, incorporated in 1990 and headquartered in Atlanta. The Merchants Financial Group, Ltd., concentrates its business model, on identifying and developing National and International business growth opportunities in multiple sectors including banking, commercial real estate development, hospitality, Assisted Living Facilities,, Multifamily housing, Industrial Warehouses, manufacturing, franchising and underwriting of traditional and alternative financial products. Mr. Merchant’s vast business experience with public and private companies spans over thirty-six years.

Mr. Merchant is the Chairman of his family’s projects and equities fund, a position he has successfully served in for thirty years. The Merchant family enterprise is a fourth- generation global operation that invests its own and syndicated capital with offices and business interests throughout the United States and Internationally. Many of these companies are operated by the family group members after development, investment or acquisition of the business operations. Through family management and internal capital resources, many of these companies have expanded operations to multiple global regions and throughout the United States. The key sectors of activity include healthcare projects such as biotech, MedTech, medical devices, nano technology, cell and gene therapy, artificial intelligence, as well as traditional healthcare facilities and state of the art GMP medical labs. Real estate related projects include private as well as public/private development of urban mixed-use real estate for hotels, restaurants, transportation hubs and retail space. Equity investments also include investments in agriculture, manufacturing, technology, Free Trade zones, Opportunity zones and Tax-free zones. Mr. Merchant has developed a selective network and partnered in complex business transactions with High Net Worth Individuals/ Family offices, Private Equity Funds, Fortune 500 companies, traditional hedge funds, alternative investment groups, strategic investors and businesses local to regions throughout the world. He has been instrumental in the growth of major franchise brands in multiple regions of the world through creative debt and equity capital structures.

As an active resident of Atlanta since 1981, Mr. Merchant served on the Atlanta Regional Commission Board for seven years starting and was a stakeholder member of Atlanta Vision 20/20 commencing in 1990. This expanded his knowledge of addressing and solving problems of governments and municipalities. Mr. Merchant, recognized for his effectiveness in Atlanta, thereafter, went on to serve for six years on President George W. Bush’s Advisory Board for Economic Development and the Small Business Sub-committee. Mr. Merchant has interacted with governments throughout the world at the highest levels and is a well-respected global businessman.

Mr. Merchant’s business interests include the development of technologies which can make a positive impact on people’s lives. He is a co-founder and Chairman of the Board of a preclinical biotech company BioCurity Pharmaceuticals Inc., located in Jupiter, FL. He guided the company through the process of licensing proprietary technology from the University of Central Florida Office of Research and Commercialization. He also assembled the team for capital raises, patent portfolio development and essential steps for early stage biotech companies to drive toward clinical trials. Mr. Merchant is also a co-founder of MerchantCass Advisors LLC, a boutique business advisory group which can perform interim operations support and investment banking expertise for growth companies. Mr. Merchant is well informed on the JOBS Act and capital distribution in the RIA and Broker-Dealer community. Mr. Merchant intends to expand his work with early stage companies by leading quality driven investment opportunities for the retail investor marketplace. He believes it is important to allow access to investment opportunities that to-date have been limited to other family offices, strategic investors, hedge funds and private equity funds. Making a commitment to economic growth for all is an impact investing commitment whose time has come.

Mr. Merchant operates daily and long-term strategic plans for businesses with a strong sense of organizational checks and balances for all corporate governance. His operational methods result in efficient and effective management to the companies he owns and advises. Coming from an international background both personally and through business, Mr. Merchant is also fluent in multiple languages. Through his extensive execution and management of global transactions and businesses, Mr. Merchant has an in-depth knowledge of business practices globally, providing Mr. Merchant the capacity, network, experience and knowledge to source and execute on business opportunities throughout the world.

In July 2019, Mr. Merchant was unanimously elected to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors to the Regenerative Medicine Foundation. In addition to this position he continues to serve as the financial team leader of the World Stem Cell Summit, one of the largest international conferences of its kind.

Mr. Merchant has been a United States Citizen since 1986. He is currently a resident of South Florida and often travels to his office headquarters in Atlanta. In his academic achievements, he obtained his B. Sc and BBA prior to attending Georgia State University. Mr. Merchant’s graduate level academic interests included but was not limited to, physics, math, economics and business with an emphasis on accounting and information systems technology while attending Georgia State University. Mr. Merchant is described by those who know him as humble yet proud, resolute yet ethical, logical, practical and rational yet spiritual. Mr. Merchant is grateful for his ability to give back philanthropically in multiple regions of the world, where he is known and respected in the communities of all whose lives he has touched.

Jerry Frenz brings more than 30 years of experience in accounting, budgeting and forecasting to the Genetics Policy Institute. Jerry has been a part of theRegenerative Medicine Foundation team since 2008, when he began serving as a financial consultant. In 2010, Jerry became the Chief Financial Officer and has recently expanded his role to include the duties of Chief Operating Officer.

Jerry’s experience includes accounting, budgeting, forecasting and strategic planning at a variety of diverse organizations, including large multi-billion dollar corporations, small corporations and nonprofit organizations.

As a CPA and auditor for a “Big 8” accounting firm, Jerry conducted international budget reviews for operations in Brazil, Australia, South Africa and throughout Europe. One of his projects included a $600 million acquisition. He moved to Florida in 1987, working for FPL Group in acquisitions and divestitures. In the early 1990s, he became the controller of a South Florida retail chain and was instrumental in taking the company public.

Over the past decade, Jerry has brought his expertise to the nonprofit sector. He has served as the CFO in three established and successful nonprofit organizations. He helped grow one organization from a $500,000 operation to a $5 million operation in eight years. Jerry has been a consultant for the Nonprofits First Agency Certification program, which promotes sound business practices in the areas of nonprofit governance, administration, board governance, human resources and financial management. He has provided training to more than 150 nonprofit organizations in South Florida on topics including financial management, budgeting, indirect cost analysis, and financial strategic planning.

In 2008, Jerry was nominated and became a finalist in the South Florida Business Journal CFO Awards. A member of Toastmasters International, Jerry has won several speaking awards.

Jerry earned his BBA in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Alan L. Jakimo advises companies in the life science and information technology sectors. These companies range in size from start-up to multinational. In life science, he advises companies along a spectrum that includes both pharmaceuticals and medical devices. In the information technology sector, he has been involved in many transactions lying in that sector’s intersection with life science and health care, with growing attention on the application to life science and health care of various types of artificial intelligence. From 2017 through 2022, he served as an investment banker; and prior to that, he spent three decades as a partner at Sidley Austin LLP and one of its predecessors, where his practice covered a range of transaction-oriented disciplines, including securities and venture capital finance, mergers and acquisitions, collaborative development of novel technologies, licensing and intellectual property, and pharmaceutical and health care regulation. He has authored and co-authored several articles relating to stem cell-based regenerative medicine and served as director of the Regenerative Medicine Foundation, where he has played various roles in connection with the annual World Stem Cell Summit. He also serves as an adjunct professor at the Deane School of Law at Hofstra University, where he teaches courses on health care and how law affects the discovery, development, and commercialization of regulated medical products.

Melissa King is a passionate advocate for patients of chronic illness and disease as well as the medical research that can help reduce their suffering. An expert at engaging multiple stakeholders and communicating effectively with varied audiences, she has been a champion for the California stem cell research program since before it formally existed. 

Melissa was previously Executive Director of Americans for Cures, where, for the three years leading up to November 2020 she led the effort to lay the groundwork for Prop 14 and build the patient advocacy coalition needed to get the state ballot initiative passed. In 2020, she was Head of Field Operations for California’s Proposition 14 campaign, which secured an additional $5.5 Billion in funds for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). 

Long before her work on Prop 14, Melissa served as a senior member of the successful 2004 campaign for California’s Proposition 71, which created the CIRM and the California stem cell program. She hired the first several key employees at CIRM to become the very first pioneers of the new state funding agency. 

Melissa played a central role in the formation and building of CIRM, the unique $3 billion research funding agency created by Prop 71. During the first seven years of CIRM’s operation, she worked hand-in-hand with agency Chair and its founding 29-member governing Board responsible for setting the strategic vision for the agency, as well as developing the processes and policies by which CIRM stil operates.  

Melissa guided CIRM’s Board through its first 1500+ hours of public meetings, the sale of the first bonds to fund the agency, as well as the development and awarding of the first billion dollars in grants, which included the Facilities Grant Program that leveraged $271 million of CIRM’s funds to attract $880 million in other support which directly contributed to $1 billion in scientific research facilities in California. 

Having worked on both campaigns to create and obtain funds for CIRM, Melissa is now focused on the vision of improved healthspan for all. She works to support the continued success of the research, ensuring that access and affordability of treatments is fully addressed, and the need for more diversity in science, medical research and clinical trials. She serves as a volunteer mentor for SHE CAN, mentoring a young woman scholar from Libera now attending college in the US. She is a board member at Summit for Stem Cell Foundation, serves as Chair of Regions for Wellesley College Friends of Art and is a member and past Chair of the Wellesley Business Leadership Council. 

Melissa has a B.A. from Wellesley College and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. 

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissajking1/