Lisa Ann Conte '81, T'85

President and CEO, Shaman Pharmaceuticals

Founder of a company that develops drugs from tropical plants used by native healers, Conte has raised $27 million in equity from private sources. The first drug, a remedy against a respiratory viral disease, is expected to be on the market by 1996. And a herpes drug has just gone into clinical trials. Conte, a biochem major and Tuck M.B.A., got the idea for the company by marrying three experiences: a 1985 trip to Tanzania, her work in business development at Eli Lilly, and a stint at a venturecapital firm that funds high-tech health-care companies. Conte's concern for biodiversity is reflected in a nonprofit organization that she started: Healing Forest Conservancy, which up to this point has been supported primarily by Shaman Pharmaceuticals.

The rainforestmakes drugsfor Conte.