Thomas B. Okarma, Ph.D., M.D., received both his Ph.D. and M.D. from Stanford University. He was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Geron Corporation in July 1999, having served as Vice President of Research and Development since May 1998. Geron, a leading biotechnology company, focuses on human aging and works to develop novel therapeutics for the many manifestations of aging through breakthroughs in the basic genetic mechanism of cell aging and immortalization. The company’s technology centers largely on the genetic clock of cell aging, the telomere, and the key that is believed to rewind the clock of cell aging, telomerase. Geron’s proprietary technology platform has many applications in medicine, from age-related diseases to cancer. Before joining Geron, Dr. Okarma was a senior vice president at Rhone-Poulenc Rorer. In 1995, RPR acquired Applied Immune Sciences, Inc., which Dr. Okarma founded in 1985 and where he served as chairman and chief executive officer. By the time of its acquisition by RPR, AIS was in advanced-cell-therapy human clinical trials in cancer and bone marrow transplantation and in early-gene-therapy human trials in breast cancer. Before founding AIS, Dr. Okarma was a member of the faculty of the Stanford University School of Medicine. He is the author of more than 50 publications on cell and gene therapy and an inventor with numerous patents in the field.