William E. Rhodes
Former Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy & Development, Becton, Dickinson & Co.; Worldwide President, BD Biosciences
William (Bill) Rhodes is the president of BD Biosciences Cell Analysis, a leading supplier of flow cytometry instruments and reagents for life sciences research and cell-based clinical diagnostics. Mr. Rhodes previously served as BD’s vice president of Business Development and Strategic Investments at their corporate offices, where he had worldwide responsibility for business development activities. He also managed BD Ventures L.L.C., a corporate venture capital fund operated by BD. The fund focuses on investments in seed and early stage medical device, cell therapy and diagnostics companies.
Rhodes has more than 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry, and has held senior business development positions in J&J and Pfizer, before joining Becton Dickinson in late 1998. From 1983 until 1993 he was the president of The William-James Co., a biomedical business consulting firm specializing in M&A activities and technology due diligence in the biotechnology industry.
He holds a Master of Science degree in International Business from Seton Hall University, and served on their faculty in the W. Paul Stillman School of Business as an adjunct professor, teaching graduate courses in the management of technological innovation and mergers and acquisitions. Rhodes also holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University, and is the author of 10 U.S. patents and numerous articles in the field of biomedical product development and investing.
Ed Heslop
Managing Director, Schwartz Heslin Group
Ed Heslop has more than 30 years of entrepreneurial experience in agriculture, biotech and “green tech”. He serves as managing director at Schwartz Heslin Group, where he joined in October 2011 as Senior Vice President. Ed has played a lead role in establishing many new businesses, commercializing technology, and launching new products and services from inception to sale. Most recently he was Chairman and CEO of a business he helped conceptualize in 2004, Environmental Credit Corp. (ECC), which creates and trades carbon credits. Prior to ECC, Mr. Heslop was a co-founder in 1993 and served as President and Chief Executive Officer of AnAerobics/Ecovation, an enterprise that developed and marketed innovative, organic wastewater treatment technology. Not long ago, the business was sold to Ecolab. In 1989, he co-founded and served as Director of Operations for Paracelsian, a company founded on technology licensed from Cornell University and the University of Rochester. He raised the venture capital to launch this biotech business focused on drug discovery based on detecting environmental carcinogens in water and soil. In 1992, he took the company public. Earlier in his career, for the better part of a decade, Ed owned and actively managed two dairy farm businesses. Ed is a graduate of Cornell University with a Master of Science in Production Economics and Finance, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Finance and Management. He serves as an Advisory Board Member to Cornell University’s Charles Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. In addition, he is a Founding Board Member of the Executive Council for the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise at Cornell.
Eli Bienstock, Esq.
Visiting Assistant Clinical Professor of Law, Entrepreneurship Law Clinic, Cornell Law School
Eli Bienstock is a Visiting Assistant Clinical Professor of Law in the Entrepreneurship Law Clinic at Cornell Law School and the Assistant Director of the Blassberg-Rice Center for Entrepreneurship Law. In these roles, he helps deliver pro bono legal services to entrepreneurs across the Ithaca and Cornell community, supports clients through key stages of the startup lifecycle, and trains law students to step into the day-to-day responsibilities of practicing attorneys.
Outside the clinic, Eli is the Founder of Launch a Business (LAB), where he helps founders build strong early foundations by offering startup essentials under one roof, including legal services, branding, and website development. Previously, Eli practiced at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP as a corporate associate doing Mergers & Acquisitions and Fund Formations, advising on sophisticated transactions and fund-related matters.
Eli earned his J.D. from Cornell Law School and his M.B.A. from the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business (’20). He graduated from Cornell University summa cum laude with Distinction in Research in Communication (’17) . He is admitted to practice in New York. A former member of the Cornell Varsity Wrestling Team, Eli remains active in the sport as a volunteer coach.
Gregory Frykman, MD
Regulatory Advisor
Gregory Frykman, MD is a pharmaceutical and biotechnology policy analyst formerly of the Stanford Washington Research Group and the FDA. Dr. Frykman co-founded Framework Therapeutics, LLC, a pharmaceutical company focusing on the development and commercialization of sodium aluminosilicate, in 2003. He received his medical degree and did his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Southern California Medical Center. Dr. Frykman completed a combined fellowship in Hematology and Medical Oncology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and furthered his grounding in pharmaceutical product development as a recipient of the Cancer Research Training Award at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Following the training award, Dr. Frykman served as a Medical Officer in the Division of Oncology Drug Products, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, FDA. He later joined the Washington Research Group, a team of policy analysts focusing on regulatory and policy issues affecting pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.