Stephen L. Cartt – Chief Executive Officer
Stephen L. Cartt joined Asterias in February 2016 as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Cartt served as Chief Operating Officer of Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc., from February 2012 until August 2014, when the company was acquired by Mallinckrodt plc. Mr. Cartt served as Chief Operating Officer of the Autoimmune and Rare Diseases Business Unit of Mallinckrodt plc on an interim basis following the merger with Questcor from August 2014 until October 2014. Mr. Cartt joined Questcor as Executive Vice President, Corporate Development, during March 2005. He was later appointed Chief Business Officer before being appointed Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Cartt was a private consultant from August 2002 until March 2005. From March 2000 through August 2002, Mr. Cartt was the Senior Director of Strategic Marketing for Elan Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that, Mr. Cartt held a variety of R&D and Commercial positions at ALZA Corporation during the period July 1985 to March 2000. Mr. Cartt holds a B.S. degree from the University of California at Davis in Biochemistry, and an M.B.A. from Santa Clara University.
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Jane Lebkowski, Ph. D. – President of R&D and Chief Scientific Officer
Jane S. Lebkowski, Ph.D., is our President of R&D and Chief Scientific Officer and joined Asterias in March 2013 after a thirteen year career at Geron where she served as Senior Vice President, Cell Therapies from 2004 to 2011, and also as Chief Scientific Officer from 2009 to 2011. From August 1999 until January 2004, Dr. Lebkowski served as Vice President of Cell Therapies, and from April 1998 until August 1999, she served as Senior Director, Cell and Gene Therapies at Geron. Dr. Lebkowski managed research and development of Geron’s immunotherapy products for cancer treatment and its hES based products for regenerative medicine. Prior to joining Geron, she spent more than ten years at Applied Immune Sciences and then at Rhone Poulenc Rorer, which acquired Applied Immune Sciences in 1995, advancing from research scientist to Vice President of Research and Development. Dr. Lebkowski has co-authored numerous scientific publications. Dr. Lebkowski holds a B.S. in Chemistry and Biology from Syracuse University, and a Ph.D. from Princeton University.
Russell Skibsted – Chief Financial Officer
Russell Skibsted joined as Chief Financial Officer in March 2016. He is a seasoned executive with over 25 years of experience in finance, acquisitions, partnering, marketing and operations with companies ranging from start-ups to a Fortune 5. He has over 14 years CFO experience for life science technology companies, with more than 10 years in public life science companies. Previously he served as Chief Financial Officer at Proove Biosciences, Inc., Aeolus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, and Hana Biosciences, Inc. Prior to Hana, he was Partner and Chief Financial Officer of Asset Management Company, where he oversaw the financial and administrative functions, public and private portfolios, and aviation operations. He also managed the Johnson family office and the Franklin & Catherine Johnson Foundation. Russell has a degree in Economics from Claremont McKenna College and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
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Katharine Spink, Ph.D. – Chief Operating Officer
Katharine Spink, Ph.D. became our Chief Operating Officer in April 2013. Dr. Spink previously served as Senior Vice President of Alliance Management and Cell Therapy Program Operations at Geron Corporation, where she was employed in roles of increasing responsibility within R&D and business development from 2003 through 2011. Prior to joining Geron, Dr. Spink was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, advising clients in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical device industries on matters relating to R&D strategy, business development, and marketing. Dr. Spink graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Biochemistry from Rice University, and received her Ph.D. in Cancer Biology from Stanford University.
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Edward D. Wirth, III, M.D., Ph.D. – Chief Medical Officer
Edward D. Wirth, III, M.D., Ph.D., is our Chief Medical Officer and joined Asterias in March 2013 after serving as Chief Science Officer at InVivo Therapeutics Corporation from 2011 to 2012. From 2004 to 2011, Dr. Wirth served as Medical Director for Regenerative Medicine at Geron Corporation, where he led the world’s first clinical trial of a hES cell-derived product, GRNOPC1 in patients with subacute spinal cord injuries. Dr. Wirth held academic appointments at Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center and at the University of Chicago from 2002 to 2004, and was a member of the faculty of the University of Florida from 1996 to 2002. Dr. Wirth received his Ph.D. and M.D. from the University of Florida in 1992 and 1994, respectively.
Ryan Chavez – Executive Vice President of Finance and General Counsel
Ryan Chavez joined Asterias in July 2016 as Executive Vice President of Finance and General Counsel. Prior to joining Asterias, Ryan was Vice President and General Counsel of Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals’ Autoimmune and Rare Diseases Business, a position he held following Mallinckrodt’s merger with Questcor Pharmaceuticals in August 2014. Before joining Mallinckrodt, Ryan served as Associate General Counsel for Questcor. Prior to joining Questcor in October 2012, Ryan held corporate attorney positions at the law firms Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth and Rutan & Tucker, LLP. Previously, Ryan served in various financial roles with General Electric Co. Ryan earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Chapman Law School and his B.A., with honors and distinction, from Stanford University.
Nate Beyor
Nate Beyor, Ph.D. – Vice President of Corporate Development
Nate Beyor, Ph.D., is Vice President of Corporate Development and joined in June 2015. Previously, Dr. Beyor was an Associate Principal at McKinsey & Company, where he was a leader in the operations practice for pharmaceutical and medical products clients, working directly with senior leaders across a range of functions including strategy, commercial, operations, and R&D. Prior to McKinsey, he worked in multiple life science startups ranging from consulting services to medical devices. Dr. Beyor received a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 2008, where he developed microfluidic devices for pathogen detection, and he graduated from Yale University in 2001 earning a B.S. with distinction in Applied Physics and Biology.
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Casey Case, Ph.D. – Senior Vice President of Research and Nonclinical Development
Casey Case, Ph.D., is Senior Vice President of Research and Nonclinical Development. Previously, Dr. Case was executive vice president of research at SanBio Inc., developing cell therapies for stroke and neurodegenerative conditions. Prior to SanBio, Dr. Case was vice-president of research and development at Sangamo Biosciences, director of cell biology at Tularik, and director of transcription research at OSI Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Case has a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of California at Davis, did postdoctoral research at UCLA and has over 40 issued patents.
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Craig Halberstadt – Vice President of Product Development
Craig Halberstadt, Ph.D., joined Vice President of Product Development in 2015. Previously, Dr. Halberstadt was vice president of process development and technical operations at Organovo, Inc. developing processes for the growth of cells to support the creation of 3D bioprinted tissues. Prior to Organovo, Dr. Halberstadt was senior director of process development at Tengion for the development of autologous tissues, director of surgical research at the Carolinas Medical Center overseeing tissue engineering and clinical cell transplantation programs, director of tissue engineering at Desmos, Inc. and director of product development and manager of pilot manufacturing at Advanced Tissue Sciences. Dr. Halberstadt has a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of Michigan, is widely published in cell transplantation, and has 12 issued patents.
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Madelyn Marino – Vice President, Quality
Madelyn Marino joined as Vice President, Quality in June 2013. Ms. Marino has over 30 years’ experience with biopharmaceuticals serving most recently as an independent consultant providing strategic quality guidance to development stage biopharmaceutical companies in the U.S. Prior to consulting, she held positions of increasing responsibility at Cutter Laboratories, Genentech, Cortech, Amgen, Onyx, Raven and Geron. In these roles, she has transitioned from the analytical laboratory to head of Quality where she has successfully established and maintained quality systems supporting GXP activities including analytical development, quality control testing and all facets of quality assurance with both start-up and manufacturing facilities. Ms. Marino graduated from Mills College with a BA in Biology.
Rudy Vasquez – Vice President of Manufacturing
Rudy Vasquez joined Asterias in July 2015 as Vice President of Manufacturing after serving as Vice President of Technical Operations at Berg LLC. While at Berg, Mr. Vasquez led development efforts and successfully started up clinical manufacturing operations for an oncology drug product. Previously, Mr. Vasquez was Senior Director of Contract Manufacturing at FibroGen and also a Global Operations Leader at Amgen where he led multiple Operations teams for both clinical and commercial products. Mr. Vasquez also served as Director of Manufacturing at MedImmune where he led activities resulting in the licensure of MedImmune’s first commercial manufacturing facility. Mr. Vasquez has over 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including seventeen years at Baxter Healthcare in various Operations roles. Mr. Vasquez received a B.S. Degree in Biological Sciences from the University of California at Davis.