Dinesh Patel, a managing director and founding partner of vSpring Capital, is considered by many to be the father of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals in the Mountain West region. Founder, chairman and CEO of Ashni Naturaceuticals, a company focused on development and marketing of naturaceutical products, Patel has served as chairman and CEO of TheraTech, a biotechnology company which he took public and sold for $350 million to Watson Pharmaceuticals. He also served as CEO and co-founder of Salus Therapeutics, a biotech firm developing nucleic acid-based therapeutics, which was sold to Genta for $30 million.

Recently selected as the first Utah recipient of the prestigious Ellis Island Medal, Dr. Patel has been the recipient of numerous other awards including the Utah Asian Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Business Award, U.S. Small Business Administration’s Business Achiever Award, the Utah Scientific Technology and Development Pioneer of Progress Award, the Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology, Utah Engineering Experiment Station Pathfinder Award and the Mountain West Venture Group’s “Entrepreneur of the Year” award. He serves on various non-profit boards.

Dr. Patel received his bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy at Gujarat University in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. He went on to receive his master’s degree from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and his Ph.D. in Physical Pharmacy from the University of Michigan.

Utah Technology Council’s “Hall of Fame” celebration begins with a networking reception at 6:00 p.m., followed by dinner starting at 7:00 p.m. For information on sponsorships and tables, contact Mark Lehnhof at (801) 568-3500 or mark@utahtechcouncil.org. Proceeds will help foster the growth of Utah’s technology community.