Dean E. Cress, PhD, a RheoGene co-founder, has extensive experience in broad areas of molecular biology and has managed scientific programs ranging from ecdysone receptor gene regulation mechanisms to transgenic crops for insect resistance, agricultural chemical mode of action and protein bioseparations. He was Vice President of Research for RheoGene LLC and Biotechnology Research Manager at Rohm and Haas Company where he led the gene regulation research programs. Dr. Cress was at Rohm and Haas Company from 1985 to 2003, and part of the RheoGene LLC joint venture from its inception in 1999. From 1979 to 1985 he was a plant molecular biologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, Maryland, working on plant viroids and gene transfer in plants. Dr. Cress received his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Tennessee and did his postdoctoral work with Prof. Karl Lark at the University of Utah.