Our Boards

Board of Directors

Augie Nieto, Chairman At the age of 19, Augie bought the marketing rights to the Lifecycle exercise bike. Then in 1980, he co-founded Lifecycle, Inc., and over the next 20 years, the company, now called Life Fitness, Inc., repeatedly multiplied in size under his leadership and grew to be the largest commercial manufacturer of fitness equipment in the world. Augie also serves as chairman of Octane Fitness, and as an operating advisor to North Castle Partners. He is on the boards of several companies, including Grand Expeditions and Quest Software. The Orange County, California, native earned a degree in economics with an emphasis in financial accounting from Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California. In March 2005, Augie was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Drawing strength from his family, friends and a flood of supportive e-mails, Augie maintains a positive attitude and continues to lead an active life.

Stan Appel, M.D. Dr. Appel is The Peggy and Gary Edwards Distinguished Endowed Chair for the Treatment and Research of ALS, Department of Neurology, Neurological Institute, The Methodist Hospital as well as a Professor of Neurology at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Physiology at Baylor College of Medicine. He was previously Chair of the Department of Neurology at Baylor College of Medicine as well as Chief of Neurology and the James B. Duke Professor of Medicine at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Appel is a native of Massachusetts and received his Bachelor Degree at Harvard University and his Medical Degree from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is the Director of the MDA/ALS Research and Clinical Center at the Methodist Neurological Institute, and past Director of the National Institute of Aging Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. He has received a number of awards for his accomplishments in Neurology and Biochemistry, including the Gold Medal Award in 1997 from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons; the Sheila Essey Award in 2003 from the American Academy of Neurology, has been elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2003, was awarded the Baylor College of Medicine Alumni Association’s “Distinguished Faculty Award” in 2004, the MDA’s Wings Over Wall Street Diamond Award in 2004, the Texas Neurological Society Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 and the Forbes Norris Award for “compassion and love for humanity in research and treatment in patients with ALS” from the International Alliance of ALS/MND Associations in 2005.

Alexander Cappello is the Chairman and CEO of the Cappello Group, Inc., a boutique merchant banking company. He has over twenty years experience in all aspects of corporate finance, investment banking, merchant banking and venture capital both in the U.S. and overseas. He has acquired control and been the financial advisor to numerous public and private companies in transactions ranging from $10 million to $20 billion. Mr. Cappello is currently, or was previously, a member of the numerous boards of directors ranging from large corporations to academic and research institutes. The following is only a partial list of Mr. Cappello’s board membership; YPO International, USC Board of Trustees, RAND Corporation, Inter-Tel (NASDAQ), Geothermal Resources International (AMEX; Chairman), CytRx Corporation (NASDAQ), Advanced Biotherapy, Inc. (OTC; Chairman), Australian Cancer Technology Limited (ASX – Sydney Australia), Catholic Big Brothers of Los Angeles (Chairman, 2002), Getty Institute and The Joffrey Foundation. Cappello received a Bachelor of Science degree, with honors, from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California in 1977, including recognition as an "Order of the Palm" scholar. He was later awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Goodwin College in Stanford, Connecticut. Mr. Cappello has been a guest lecturer at the USC, UCLA and Harvard Business Schools as well as numerous YPO, WPO, YEO and CEO International Universities. He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, FORBES, Dow Jones, the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times. He is also a contributing author to the recently published book, The New Investor Relations (Bloomberg PRESS). A California-native, Mr. Cappello has lived in Bakersfield, Los Angeles, New York, London and Geneva, Switzerland.

Steve Fowler, Board Member Emeritus was diagnosed with ALS in 1997. An accomplished musician and composer, he was, at the time of his diagnosis, orchestrating and playing music for major motion pictures including The Lion King, A League of Their Own, Face Off, The Mask, and many others. He has served as musical director for the Grammy winning Brian Setzer Orchestra, published two ballets, many jazz tunes, a book of flute music, and his original poetry. Within months of his diagnosis with ALS, Steve became unable to play the flute and saxophone, but has started his third solo CD in collaboration with his younger brother, Ed. Without the ability for musical expression, Steve has redirected his creative energies toward studying and theorizing around the etiology of ALS. Steve has been a key activist and powerful advocate for patients becoming involved in the research and development of concrete therapies to treat ALS.

James Allen Heywood Faced with his 29 year old brother Stephen's diagnosis of ALS in 1998, Jamie founded ALS TDI, the world’s first non-profit biotechnology company, and applied his engineering and management skills to dramatically accelerate ALS research. ALS TDI broke new ground on many fronts and has become widely recognized as one of the most promising and innovative research organizations. Under Jamie’s leadership, ALS TDI implemented an industrialized therapeutic validation process and built one of the world’s leading ALS drug discovery programs. ALS TDI was the first organization to run an open research program, posting in real time the results of its studies for patients, doctors, and the research community. It also pioneered a new model for engaging patients and families in fund raising and actively involving them in ALS research. Over 100 families have joined with Jamie, Stephen and the Heywood’s to fund these innovative efforts. ALS TDI has raised tens of millions of dollars through its philanthropic, corporate, and government programs, culminating in the historic discovery partnership in 2007 with Augie’s Quest and the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Jamie is the Chairman and co-founder of PatientsLikeMe the worlds leading patient information website with in depth information on treatments, symptoms, and real world information on managing life changing diseases. An MIT Engineer, he is an active investor and advisor to startups and companies and non profits working improve the way in which biomedical research is conducted. Jamie’s work has been profiled in the New Yorker, 60 Minutes, Pulitzer Prize winner Jonathan Wiener’s book, His Brothers Keeper, and in the Sundance award winning documentary So Much So Fast.

John Heywood, Ph.D., Sc.D. is the Sun Jae Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Sloan Automotive Lab at MIT. He has made major contributions to the fields of transportation, energy and air pollution, and consults to both industry and the government on technical and policy issues. His book, Internal Engine Fundamentals, is regarded as the definitive work in the field. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1998, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Professor Heywood has an honorary Doctor of Technology degree from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, and an honorary Doctor of Science degree from City University in London.

George Hughes founded Hughes and Associates attorneys in 1996. From 1974 to 1996 he was a partner at Palmer & Dodge where he chaired the Family Owned Business Practice. George is a director of numerous corporations and public charities and teaches a graduate course on strategies for managing the family owned business at the Harvard Extension School. George is summa cum laude graduate of Yale where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and served as a clerk for a justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Jennifer Huntington has been active in public education at the high school level for 27 years. For the last 13 of those, she was principal of Watertown High School, and then Newton North High School before announcing her retirement in 2007. In addition to being one of the earliest board members of ALS TDI, she has served on the boards of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, the Appalachian Mountain Club, the Northern Forest Center and the Newton Schools Foundation. Jennifer was also an elected member of the Newton School Committee for six years.

Spiros Jamas, Sc.D. Spiros is the former President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that utilizes proprietary chemistry to transform existing drugs, natural products and peptides to small molecule drugs. He received both his Doctor of Science Degree in Biotechnology in 1987 and a Master of Science in Food Science and Technology in 1983 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Science with Honors in Chemical Engineering from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, Manchester, England in 1981. Dr. Jamas serves on the Boards of Directors of a few private biotechnology companies and the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council.

Keith Melanson is a Senior Managing Director at Bear Stearns. Keith deals with fixed income portfolios for banks and insurance companies and also covers corporate cash portfolios for several fortune 500 companies. He has been involved in over 3 billion in mortgage and agency transactions in the past five years. Previously, Keith worked at Griffin, Kubik, Stephens & Thompson Investment Bank. He began his career at Monarch Capital Corporation as a marketing Director of Variable Annuity and Life products, after working as a Corporate cash management analyst. Keith graduated with a BS in Finance and Investments from Babson College.

Leslie Michelson brings strong leadership and more than 20 years of healthcare experience. Mr. Michelson has served as a founder, CEO, investor, advisor and/or director for a portfolio of entrepreneurial healthcare, technology and real estate companies. After practicing law in Washington, D.C., Leslie served as Special Assistant to the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the Carter Administration. He then joined a private equity investment firm focused on healthcare and real estate investments. In 1988, he founded and became Chairman and CEO of Value Health Services, one of the first and most profitable disease management companies. He the co-founded and Chairman and co-CEO of Protocare, a provider of clinical trial site and disease management services to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. In 1999, Mr. Michelson co-founded are served as CEO of Acurian, which recruits patients and physicians for clinical trials. Mr. Michelson serves on the Board of Directors, and is the Audit Committee Chair, of Catellus, a $3 billion NYSE industrial REIT and is a member of the Board of Directors for Nastech, a NASDAQ-traded biotechnology company focused on innovative drug discovery technology. Mr. Michelson received a B.A. from the John Hopkins University and a J.D. from Yale Law School. He and his wife, Beth, have two daughters and reside in Los Angeles.

Rob Rodin Rob Rodin is the Chairman and CEO of RDN Group; strategic advisors focused on corporate transitions, customer interface, sales and marketing, distribution and supply chain management. (Customers include: GM, GE, US Navy, Avnet, Siemens, Simon and Schuster). Additionally, he serves as Vice Chairman, Executive Director and Chairman of the Investment Committee of CommerceNet which researches and funds open platform, interoperable business services to advance commerce. Mr. Rodin served for over 10 years as CEO and President of Marshall Industries (NYSE: MI) a global, industrial, electronics distributor and supply chain management company with over $2 billion in sales. Information Week Magazine highlighted Marshall Industries as the "World's Number One Company in the Use of Technology", and CIO Magazine recognized Mr. Rodin as one of the "Top 100 Leaders for the New Millennium". UCLA presented Mr. Rodin with the "Information Systems Award for System Leadership" and the University of Connecticut presented him with the "Distinguished Alumni Award" and elected him to the "University Hall of Fame". Mr. Rodin's best selling book, "Free, Perfect and Now: Connecting to the Three Insatiable Customer Demands", chronicles the radical transformation of Marshall Industries. The changes he led have been taught as case studies at Harvard Business School, Columbia University, USC, MIT, and Stanford University. Mr. Rodin’s Board activities include: the Board of Directors of Napster (NAPS)(formally Roxio) as Chairman of the Compensation Committee and a Member of the Audit Committee, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of CommerceNet, Board Member / Director of supplyFX, Board Member /Director and Member of the Governance and Nominating Committee of SM&A (NASDQ: WINS), Director of Inter-tel (NASDAQ: INTL), Advisory Board of LASEC (Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission) Advisory Board of Electronics Supply & Manufacturing Magazine (CMP Publications) ,on the planning committee for Harvard and Stanford Presidents Seminars (YPO) and on University of Connecticut's School of Business Board of Advisors (Executive Council and Strategic Development Committee) as well as several private company advisory boards. Mr. Rodin formerly served on the Advisory Board of Distribution at USC, the Board of Directors of RosettaNet, as a Trustee of the W. Edwards Deming Institute, and President of NEDA’s (National Electronic Distribution Association) Education Foundation.

David Searls, Ph.D. has degrees in Philosophy, Life Sciences, Developmental Biology, and Computer and Information Science. With the advent of the genome project, he was recruited to the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, where he spent four years as a Research Associate Professor of Genetics, with a secondary appointment in Computer and Information Science. In 1995 he joined GlaxoSmithKline, where he is Senior Vice President of Bioinformatics, with responsibility for a transnational department of some 90 scientists and engineers providing state-of-the-art support to a wide variety of genome initiatives.

John Sutherland , born and raised in the Boston area, is a nationally recognized leader in the marketing and broadcast management field. While earning his undergraduate degree in Communications at Ithaca College, Sutherland also attended Cornell University where he did graduate level study in marketing and held a senior management position at the university’s commercial radio station. For over 20 years he has overseen large-market radio station operations for multi-format clusters in the Boston and San Francisco metropolitan markets. Sutherland’s experience includes many mergers and acquisitions, combining cultures and working with venture capital where he has delivered extraordinary stakeholder returns. His work has also included sports marketing, building the flagship property for the NHL’s San Jose Sharks radio network. Sutherland currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Blanchard Press, Inc. in Boston. The firm specializes in the marketing, design and print production needs of Boston’s top law firms and radio stations, as well as corporate clients nationwide. The company under his leadership has devoted major resources to the fight against ALS and has a deep commitment to philanthropy. He lives in Sudbury, Massachusetts, with his wife Ellen who is currently afflicted with ALS, and their two children Jennifer and Jack.