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Friday 10AM
Lance Block
Chair for the Governors Commission on Disabilities
Mr. Block is a civil trial lawyer and has been a member of the Florida Bar since 1984. His statewide civil trial practice is based in Tallahassee and consists of catastrophic personal injury cases, including automobile crashworthiness and collisions, product liability, medical negligence, and the abuse or neglect of children and persons with disabilities. He has represented hundreds of clients with brain and spinal cord injuries, orthopedic and neurological injuries, trauma-induced mental pain and suffering, as well as survivor grief and other emotional responses due to the wrongful death of loved ones.
Mr. Block is “AV” rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been honored by numerous legal publications, including The Best Lawyers in America, Florida Trend Magazine’s Legal Elite, the Florida Consumer Guidebook’s Law and Leading Attorneys, Florida Super Lawyers Magazine, and the Lawdragon 500 Leading Attorneys in America. In 2005, he was recognized by the National Law Journal’s Verdict Search for obtaining one of the largest jury verdicts in the nation—$30.6 million.
Mr. Block is a member of the Governor’s Task Force on Autism. He has served as president of the Arc of Palm Beach County and was the founding board chair of the Potentials School, a charter school for children with severe developmental disabilities in Riviera Beach, Florida. From 1995 to 1996, Mr. Block served as a trustee for the Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities Foundation.
Mr. Block is a past president of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers. In 2003, he was the recipient of the academy’s Jon Krupnick Award for Perseverance for his 10-year fight for justice in the courts and the Florida Legislature on behalf of a profoundly developmentally disabled woman who was abused while living in a group home.
Mr. Block obtained his juris doctorate and Bachelor of Arts degrees from Florida State University.
Friday 12PM
Stem Cell Therapy: Facts & Fictions About Treating Neurological Disorders in Children
Dennis A. Steindler, Ph.D.
The Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute
Joseph J. Bagnor/Shands Professor of Medical Research
Program in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
The University of Florida
Dr. Steindler received his doctorate in Anatomy and neurosciences from the University of California, San Francisco. After postdoctoral studies at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Germany, Dr. Steindler began his studies of brain development and injury as an Assistant Professor of Anatomy at Michigan State University. He is currently the Executive Director of the McKnight Brain Institute of the University of Florida, and the Joseph J. Bagnor/Shands Professor of Medical Research, a member of the Program in Adult Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine of the University of Florida College of Medicine, and an advisor to the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). He also serves on the scientific advisory board for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. Besides directing a large developmental neurobiology group, and teaching medical school neuroscience, Dr. Steindler has been studying the growth and transplantation of brain and stem cells for over 25 years. He is also responsible for reviewing manuscripts and grants for a variety of journals and funding agencies, including formerly chairing a brain repair and stem cell-related review panel at the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke in the National Institutes of Health, and he retains a position on the editorial boards of the following journals: The Journal of Neuroscience, GLIA, Experimental Neurology, and Brain Research. His recent papers in the international journals of medicine and science, The Lancet, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, set forth plans for the use of stem cells and regenerative medicine for a variety of neurological diseases, including Parkinson’s Disease and cancer. In addition to his academic duties, Dr. Steindler is the founder or co-founder of several regenerative medicine biotechnology companies, including: RegenMed, Inc., Neuropoetix, AngioPoetix, and OncoPoetix, involved in developing and commercializing cell and molecular therapies for neurological and blood-related disorders, and cancer.
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