Board of Trustees
Robin L. Smith, MD, President and Chairman of the Board
Robin L. Smith, M.D., MBA, is a business leader, entrepreneur, medical doctor and philanthropist. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University and her M.D. degree from the Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Smith holds an MBA degree from the Wharton School of Business and completed the Stanford University Directors Program. In 2019, Dr. Smith received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Thomas Jefferson Medical College. She is a trailblazer in the fields of regenerative medicine and predictive analytics and has focused on turnarounds, M&A and disruptive innovations driving interest and growth.
Dr. Smith is the founder, president and chairman of the board of the Cura Foundation and Stem for Life having served since 2008. She was also vice president and director of the Vatican’s Science and Faith (STOQ) Foundation from 2015 to 2022. Dr. Smith is a member of the board of overseers of the New York University Langone Medical Center, and a board member of the Alliance for Cell Therapy Now and OPA Health, is active in the NFL Alumni Association’s Regenerative Medicine and Cell Therapy initiative and is a member of the medical advisory committee at NFL Alumni Health. Dr. Smith had previously served as a member of the executive board of trustees of Sanford Health, Sanford Health’s International Board and the board of trustees of the New York University Langone Medical Center. She was also chairman of the board of directors of the New York University Hospital for Joint Diseases and served on the board of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) Foundation.
Dr. Robin Smith has also extensively served on public companies’ boards and board committees. She is currently on the boards of directors of Celularity Inc (NASDAQ: CELU), a Celgene spin-out focused on cancer and regenerative medicine, the SPAC Western Acquisition Ventures Corp. (NASDAQ: WAVS), as well as the private companies Spiritus Therapeutics and Vcinity Inc. and is managing partner of BRM Holdings.
Dr. Smith co-authored “Cells Are the New Cure” (2017) and “The Healing Cell: How the Greatest Revolution in Medical History Is Changing Your Life” (2013). She was appointed as clinical associate professor at the Department of Medicine, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in 2017. She has also been widely recognized for her leadership in health care and as a female entrepreneur.
Steven G. Martin
Mr. Martin is the Managing Member and a founder of Aspire Capital Fund, LLC a Chicago-based investment fund started in 2010 which has invested over $250 million in small emerging growth companies. Aspire Capital is focused on investing in life science companies and promoting early stage clinical development of cellular therapies and regenerative medicine. Mr. Martin has thirty years of legal and financing experience and has funded or committed to fund over $1.5 billion in investments. During his career, Mr. Martin has invested in hundreds of development-stage companies and many emerging cell therapy companies catalyzing their growth.
In 1999, Mr. Martin also founded Fusion Capital, a private investment fund which over ten years funded small emerging growth companies with a focus on life science companies. Prior to Fusion Capital, Mr. Martin was a partner at the Chicago law firm of Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP. As an attorney, Mr. Martin represented institutional investors and companies in highly complex financings as well as venture capital and private equity transactions.
Mr. Martin received his Juris Doctor degree with honors from Northwestern University School of Law. Mr. Martin graduated with high honors from the University of Michigan with a Bachelors of Business Administration, concentrating in finance.