Raymond J. Tesi, MD

Chairman

Dr. Tesi has been Chairman since the formation of the Company in September 2015.  Since December 2016, Dr. Tesi has been a Director of Savant HWP, an addiction medicine company.  From November 2011 to May 2015, Dr. Tesi was CEO, President and Acting Chief Medical Officer of FPRT Bio Inc., a development-stage biotech company formed to develop XPro1595 for the treatment of neurodegenerative disease and other inflammatory diseases.  From November 2010 to October 2011, Dr. Tesi was Chief Medical Officer of Adienne SRL, an emerging biotech company in Bergamo, Italy focused on products to treat patients with hematologic malignancy.  From June 2007 to September 2010, Dr. Tesi was CEO and President of Coronado Biosciences, a company he founded. Dr. Tesi received his MD degree from Washington University School of Medicine in 1982. Dr. Tesi has been a licensed physician since 1982 and Fellow of the American College of Surgery since 1991. 

Dr. Tesi’s significant experience with our licensed technology and his experience as a transplant surgeon, entrepreneur, investor and director of start-up biopharmaceutical companies were instrumental in his selection as a member of the Board of Directors.

J. Kelly Ganjei

Mr. Ganjei has been a director since September, 2016]. He is Chief Executive Officer of Cognate BioServices, Inc., a position he has held since 2011. Mr. Ganjei has over 20 years of experience within the life science, venture capital and IT sectors and has lead companies through various stages of development ranging from virtual start-up to mid-cap restart, exponential growth and public exit. Prior to joining Cognate, Mr. Ganjei was Principal at an SBA venture capital firm where he instrumental in supporting deal flow with a specific focus on regenerative medicine, immunotherapy and cell therapy investment opportunities. While in this role, he was the key driver of several other strategic deals for various portfolio companies. Previously, Mr. Ganjei was Chief Executive Officer of Remegenix, Inc., a company he co-founded, and Vice President of Business Development at TissueGene, Inc., where he was instrumental in closing several funding tranches and was responsible for developing the global informatics infrastructure for the company and its affiliates. He also served as Product Marketing Manager for LabVantage, where he was the key technical sales and marketing lead for that firm’s life science software product offering globally and was responsible for the design of all life science product initiatives. He began his career at the National Institutes of Health.  Mr. Ganjei has published numerous scientific, peer-reviewed papers and has been a speaker and presenter at various business forums.  Mr. Ganjei received his B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Maryland College Park in 1995.

Scott Juda

Mr. Juda has been a director since March 2018. Mr. Juda is Manager and co-founder of Fossick Capital, a technology-focused hedge fund.  Mr. Juda co-founded The Juda Group, Inc., an institutional capital markets focused broker-dealer division of CCM, where he served as Chief Executive Officer from 2012 to 2016.  Before that, Mr. Juda was at SMH Capital from 2002 to 2011, serving as a Managing Director in the Investment Banking Group and Chief Operating Officer of The Juda Group subsidiary. From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Juda was an institutional sales-trader for Sutro & Co.  From 1997 to 2000, Mr. Juda practiced corporate and securities law at Buchalter Nemer LLP.  Mr. Juda received his bachelor degree from the University of Southern California and his juris doctor from the University of Pepperdine School Of Law. Mr. Juda is a member of the State Bar of California.

Timothy Schroeder

Mr. Schroeder has been a director since December, 2016  Mr. Schroeder has more than 35 years of clinical and academic industry experience in global drug and device development programs. He is CEO of CTI Clinical Trial and Consulting Services, a multi-national research firm with locations in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. The firm has supported more than 100 drug and device approvals, and works on behalf of approximately 120 global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Prior to founding CTI, Mr. Schroeder was a faculty member of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He previously served as Executive Vice President of Clinical Development at SangStat Medical Corporation, a firm he co-founded. Mr. Schroeder is a board member for more than a dozen corporate and non-profit organizations. He was named as EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2015 and was recognized as Top Leader by the Enquirer Media in 2016.

Edgardo (Ed) Baracchini

Edgardo (Ed) Baracchini, has been one of the Company’s directors since July 2019. He is also current a member of the board of directors of 4D Pharma PLC. Prior to providing biotech consulting services since September 2018, Ed was chief business officer of Xencor, Inc., biopharmaceutical company focused on autominnue diseases, asthma and cancer, from 2010 to 2018. From 2002 to 2009, Ed was associated with Metabasis Therapeutics, initially as vice president of business development, and later as SVP of business development. Ed holds over 25 years of experience in structuring and negotiating research and development partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, and licensing agreements. He has personally, negotiated more than 80 business transactions with multinational and Asian pharmaceutical firms, biotechnology companies, and prominent universities, leading to transactions valued in excess of $5.3 billion. Significant experience in alliance management, strategic planning, and IR/PR. Additionally, have been a key member of executive teams that have raised over $850 million in private and public financing, and that have successfully completed two IPOs. Ed received his MBA from the University of California, Irvine, his PhD in molecular and cell biology from the University of Texas at Dallas, and his B.S. in microbiology from the University of Notre Dame.

Marcia Allen

Ms. Allen is the CEO and founder of Allen & Associates. For the past twenty years she has been devoted to venture capital and corporate finance representing both investors and companies, primarily in the small to mid-cap arena. Her focus has been on building asset value through acquisition and internal growth funded by institutional investment groups. In this capacity, Ms. Allen was a Managing Director of Elite Capital, Inc., a Southern California Venture Capital Firm. She has also served as principal at Allen/Brenner, Inc., an Orange County based money and cash management firm. Ms. Allen was responsible for building its portfolio under management to approximately $1.0 billion at which time she divested the client base to a major Wall Street investment banking firm. During these years Ms. Allen was a founder and served as CFO and Director of The Movie Group, (AMX) the originating company which is today Lionsgate Entertainment (NYSE). She has more than 25 years with mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and CFO and CEO experience. Ms. Allen was a Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Development Officer for W.R. Grace & Co. (NYSE) and was part of the founding group of Ruby Tuesday, Inc., (NYSE) a national restaurant chain. She relocated to join Taco Bell, Inc. as the Company's Chief Financial Officer where she structured and facilitated the acquisition of Taco Bell, Inc. by PepsiCo, Inc. Her expertise in the corporate world comes from both the operational sector and investment arena, which gives her unique insight and advantage. Ms. Allen received a Bachelors, Finance and Accounting from Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee in finance and accounting. She has been a speaker for Strategic Research Institute, Inc. magazine, the National Restaurant Association, the California Restaurant Association, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Los Angeles Venture Association (LAVA). She is active in numerous civic and political organizations and sits on the Board of Directors of several public and private companies and philanthropic organizations. She currently serves as the chairperson of the Audit Committee and as an independent director of Ark Restaurants Corp. (NASDAQ), an owner and operator of 20 restaurants and bars, 21 fast food concepts, and catering operations primarily in New York City; Florida; Washington, DC; and Las Vegas, NV.