Leadership
Board of Managers
Cate Spears, CEO & Founder, CGT Global
Cate Spears is passionate about business, company culture, and fueling regenerative medicine and translational research. Her work is aimed at positively impacting the lives of millions by accelerating the cure and prevention of significant medical conditions at life-changing speed. Armed with only $9,000 and a vision, Ms. Spears founded CGT Global in 2010. Since then, the company has expanded nationally and internationally opening multiple facilities, cutting-edge laboratories and stem cell collection centers, with a proven record of supporting clinical trials and accelerating R&D. CGT Global isolates primary cells and stem cells from human blood-derived products using highly developed protocols. CGT Global has increased cellular recovery in the collection of bone marrow, peripheral blood, and cord blood products for researchers. These innovations support Ms. Spears’s goal of directly impacting and improving patient care. Ms. Spears is the recipient of many notable awards including the Distinguished Service Award from California State University, Sacramento, two awards from the Sacramento Business Journal including Women Who Mean Business and 40 Under 40, and, her company was recognized as one of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S. from Inc. 500. Ms. Spears serves on the Board for Valley Vision, and University of California, Davis Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. She is also an active member of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine and Vistage, a worldwide peer-to-peer membership for CEOs.
Dr. Gregory Graves
Dr. Gregory M Graves has been on the staff of Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento for nearly four decades in the Department of Surgery specializing in surgical oncology, and has been the Medical Director of the Sutter Valley Oncology Service Line since 2010.
Dr. Graves has served as Chairman of the Department of Surgery and has been a member of the resident teaching staff at University California, Davis for over 25 years where he is also a clinical professor of surgery.
Dr. Graves is the Medical Director at CGT Global overseeing medical operations, donor care protocols and he performs bone marrow aspirations.
He received his medical degree and graduated with honors from Rush Medical College of Rush University in Chicago, Illinois. He completed his surgical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and also at the Royal Marsden Cancer Center in London, England. He has lectured in China, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and the U.S.
Dr. Graves has previously served on the boards of the Sacramento Symphony and the Sacramento Theater and is currently working with the University Development Foundation to bring a new university to the greater Sacramento area.
Dr. Graves is married to Jeannine K Graves, RN, MPH, MBS who is a past president of the State of California Board of registered nurses. He enjoys traveling, reading, gardening, and most importantly spending time with his family.
Dr. Pamela Marrone
In 2006 Dr. Pamela Marrone founded Marrone Bio Innovations (MBI) to discover and develop effective and environmentally-responsible, biologically-based products for pest management and plant health. In August 2013 under her leadership, MBI was listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange raising net proceeds of $56.4 million. As Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Pamela has received many awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions in biopesticides by BioAg World, the “Sustie” award by the Ecological Farming Association for her leadership in sustainable agriculture, and the Agrow’s “Best Manager with Strategic Vision” for her career-long leadership in biopesticides. She is an alumni-elected Trustee of Cornell University, Treasurer of the Association for Women in Science, Board member of the Foundation for Food and Ag Research and is past-Treasurer of the Organic Farming Research Foundation. She is on the UC Davis Ag and Environmental Sciences Dean’s Advisory Council and served for many years on the Cornell University College of Ag and Life Sciences Dean’s Advisory Council.
For many years she was on the Sutter Davis Hospital and Sutter Health’s Sac-Sierra region boards. Prior to starting up MBI, she started and ran AgraQuest and Entotech, a Novo Nordisk subsidiary, both dedicated to bio-based solutions for agriculture. She has a BS from Cornell University and a PhD from North Carolina State University, both in Entomology.