Tom Petzinger, founder, chairman, president and CEO
In addition to leading LaunchCyte, Tom is executive vice president of business development and public affairs for Knopp Neurosciences, one of LaunchCyte’s portfolio companies. Tom is a director on the board of all six of LaunchCyte’s portfolio companies. Prior to founding LaunchCyte, Tom spent 22 years at The Wall Street Journal, where he served as Washington economics editor, deputy Washington bureau chief, millennium editor, and weekly columnist. Tom received his B.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University, where he was a Richter International Scholar.
Babs Carryer, co-founder, director
Most recently, Babs was president and CEO of RemComm, Inc., a provider of radio-based emergency communications and data transfer even in the absence of the internet, cellular service and commercial power. Babs is president of Carryer Consulting, which provides strategic marketing and business planning services to companies and organizations in technology and life sciences. Babs has a Masters in Management from Carnegie Mellon University, and teaches Entrepreneurship there at the Don Jones Center for Entrepreneurship in the Tepper School of Business and at the Heinz School in the Masters of Information Systems (MISM, Masters of Entertainment Industry Management (MEIM), and the Masters of Medical Management (MMM) programs. Babs also teaches new technology commercialization at the University of Pittsburgh’s Offices of Enterprise Development and Technology Management.
Gregory T. Hebrank, M.D., M.B.A., director
Greg is the founder and executive vice president of corporate operations and finance of Knopp Neurosciences, one of LaunchCyte’s portfolio companies. Greg is a successful longtime investor in public and private biotech equities and was the co-founder of and partner in a successful clinical obstetrics and gynecologic practice in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Greg earned a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Vanderbilt University, an M.D. from Tulane University School of Medicine, and completed his residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Magee-Women’s Hospital, a part of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He completed his M.B.A. at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business.
Michael Turpin, director
Mike is the CEO of the Northeast region for UnitedHealthcare, and is responsible for servicing UnitedHealthcare's and Oxford Health Plans’ commercial customers. Having spent 23 years with Marsh (U.S. and European) and Mercer Health & Benefits (Mercer H&B), a health and benefits consulting firm, where he was responsible for employee benefit strategy, operational leadership and business process management across the globe, Mike offers a unique view of how the partnership between government, providers, employers, consumers and insurers must work in order to achieve cost-effective, high quality health care. Mike is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College, where he played baseball and majored in literature.
Robert Unkovic, director
Rob helped LaunchCyte raise its initial round of funding in 2000. Rob is a partner of BPU Investment Management, Inc., a full-service investment firm providing comprehensive products, services and solutions to both individuals and corporate clients. With 20 years of experience in the securities industry, Rob oversees the development and growth of BPU’s Capital Market Group. His group is involved in funding of early stage technology companies, mergers and acquisitions of mid-market companies, and advising health care related organizations on their debt market transactions. Rob has a B.S. from The Ohio State University.
