Leadership

Mike has 30+ years experience in the life science industry.  He was co-founder and CEO of CD Diagnostics, which developed an immunoassay (Synovasure) that has become the gold standard for diagnosing Periprosthetic Joint Infection.  He was a VP at OrthAlign, a start-up medical device company that manufactures intelligent instruments for total joint replacements.  He also served as interim President and member of the Board of Directors at Orthoforge, Inc.

Kiernan Seth has over 25 years of experience in both private and public biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, with expertise in regulatory affairs, R&D, and product commercialization. He has held senior roles at BMS, Pfizer, Merck, and most recently served as Chief Commercial Officer Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, where he led launches in rare disease oncology and cardiology. Dr. Seth holds a Ph.D. in Cardiovascular Physiology from Meharry Medical College, completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School, and earned an MBA from St. Joseph’s University along with a Finance Certificate from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Will Houston has served as Chief Financial Officer, Advisor and Board Member on multiple life science companies. He specializes in a financial structure and plan, strategic planning, overseeing capital raises, general business development and the commercialization process. He holds degrees from Duke University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Andreas Bader is a seasoned biotech executive with a proven record of achievement in building early stage life science companies, raising capital, overseeing growth and R&D strategies, securing non-dilutive grant funding and overseeing clinical trials. He was CSO at Triumvera Immunologics, Inc., a company the developed T cell therapies, CEO/Co-Founder at Orros Biotherapeutics and Scientific Co-Founder at Mirna Therapeutics, Inc. He began his career as the Scientific Lead for microRNA therapeutics at Asuragen, Inc. Dr. Bader received his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Innsbruck, Austria and completed his Post-Doctoral training at the Scripps Research Institute.

Claudine Bruck is an accomplished life science executive with over 40 years experience in the life science arena. She was VP of Pharma R&D at GSK, where she began her career in 1985. She retired from GSK in 2015 and began an entrepreneurial journey that would lead to serving on multiple Boards of life science companies, providing executive leadership to life science start-ups and teaching at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School Institute of Translational Medicine & Therapeutics (ITMAT). Dr. Bruck Completed her PhD in Biochemistry/Virology at the University of Brussels and was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Harvard Medical School Dept. of Pathology. She was also an Assistant Professor at Tufts Medical School.

Alex Shaw is the CEO at Archimedic, a medical device design firm with integrated regulatory and go-to-market capabilities. Prior to Archimedic, he was CEO at Prolifagen for 3 years and co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at Nuventa Pharma Sciences for 15 years. Nuventa was acquired in 2021. He received his BS in Chemistry/Biology from Duke and his PhD in Biochemistry from Washington State University. Alex is a member of Robin Hood Ventures.

Dave is a successful biopharmaceutical executive with over 30 years of experience as a senior executive in the life science industry. He was a COO at Nitric Bio, President & CEO of Ralexar Therapeutics, CCO at Ellman and VP of Sales & Marketing at Collagenex. He also severed as a member of the Board of Directors at CD Diagnostics and Ellman International. He received his BS from Rutgers University and his MBA from the the J.L. Kellog Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Mike has over 30 years experience in the life science industry. He was co-founder and CEO of CD Diagnostics, which developed an immunoassay to diagnose infection in total joint replacements. This assay (Synovasure) has become the gold standard for diagnosing Periprosthetic Joint Infection. He was a VP at OrthAlign, a start-up medical device company that manufactures intelligent instruments for total joint replacements. He also served as interim President and member of the Board of Directors at Orthoforge, Inc.

Dr. Morrisey has conducted extensive research in microRNA. He runs a laboratory that utilizes a broad array of cutting-edge techniques to advance scientific understanding of microRNA and it’s role in the regeneration of human tissue. He and his lab are leaders at interrogating the molecular pathways that govern cardiopulmonary development and the regeneration process. He has led several NIH research projects. He has mentored more than 36 post-doctoral and pre-doctoral students during his career.

Dr. Herman Howard C. Herrmann, MD, the John W. Bryfogle Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Professor of Medicine in Surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine, serves as the Health System Director for Interventional Cardiology and Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Medical School and completed his clinical training at Massachusetts General Hospital before joining the Penn faculty. Dr. Herrmann has authored or coauthored more than 400 articles on numerous topics in cardiology. His current research focuses on transcatheter device therapies for valvular and structural heart disease. He is a past President of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American College of Cardiology, was the first recipient of Penn’s Louis Duhring Outstanding Clinical Specialist Award, and recently received the Master Designation of the Society for Cardiac Angiography and Intervention. Dr. Herrmann has appeared for more than 15 years in Philadelphia Magazine’s Top Docs, Best Doctors in America, and the Castle-Connelly Guide to America’s Top Doctors.

Dr. Burdick Jason A. Burdick, PhD is the Bowman Endowed Professor in the BioFrontiers Institute and Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. Dr. Burdick’s research involves the design of new biomaterials that can be processed through fabrication methodologies to meet the needs of medicine, ranging from translational therapeutics to tissue models. Jason currently has over 330 peer-reviewed publications and he is on the editorial boards of Biofabrication, Advanced Healthcare Materials, Advanced NanoBiomed Research, International Journal of Bioprinting, and npj Biomedical Innovations. He has been recognized through numerous awards such as a Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering, an American Heart Association Established Investigator Award, and the Clemson Award for Basic Science through the Society for Biomaterials. Jason has also been elected as a Member of the National Academy of Medicine, a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, to the International College of Fellows of Biomaterials Science and Engineering, and an International Fellow of The Canadian Academy of Engineering. He has founded several companies to translate the technology from his laboratory into clinical therapeutics.

Dr. Gorman has over 35 years experience in cardiovascular research and clinical advancement. His background is in engineering, cardiothoracic surgery, and general surgery. His research has been focused on the field of structural heart disease with an emphasis on post-infarction left ventricular remodeling, valvular heart disease, cardiovascular imaging, cardiovascular device development, and novel biomaterials. His research helped in the development of several novel therapeutic devices, including the saddle-shaped mitral valve replacement and the ŌNŌ retrieval catheter. Dr. Gorman graduated the United States Naval Academy in 1981, received his BS in Chemical Engineering from the NJ Institute of Technology and University of PA and his MD from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He completed his Post-Graduate Internship, Residency in Cardiothoracic Surgery and Post-Doctorate research at the University of PA from 1989 through 1999. He help academic appointments at the Perlman School of Medicine at the University of PA from 1989 through 2024.

José Oberholzer, MD, MHCM, FACS is the founder and president of Cell Trans, Inc and the founding scientist of Sigilon Therapeutics. Dr. Oberholzer holds the position of Chief of HPB and Transplant Surgery at the University Hospital of Zurich. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Surgery and Medicine at the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System. He is founding member of the Clinical Robotic Surgical Association, and pioneered robotic surgery. He has extensive experience in clinical and experimental islet transplantation, abdominal organ transplantation, as well as advanced hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery. Dr. Oberholzer has performed over 1,000 transplant surgeries, published over 250 peer-reviewed journal articles and is a frequent presenter at national and international medical symposiums. He has been actively involved in medical innovation and collaboration. Dr. Oberholzer is the Founder and Coordinator of the Chicago Diabetes Project, an international initiative focused on a functional cure for diabetes.

Dr. Vujak-Novakovic is a University Professor, the highest academic rank at Columbia University and the first ever engineer at Columbia to receive this distinction. The focus of her lab is on engineering functional human tissues for use in regenerative medicine and in patient-specific “organs-on-a-chip” for studies of human pathophysiology. She is well published and highly cited (425 journal articles, h=131), and has had over 150 trainees. Her lab has launched four biotech companies. She is serving on the Council of the NIBIB, the HHMI Scientific Review Board, and on numerous editorial and scientific advisory boards. She was inducted into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame, received the Clemson Award of the Biomaterials Society, Pritzker Award of the Biomedical Engineering Society, Shu Chien Award of the AIChE, Pierre Galletti award of the AIMBE, and was elected Fellow of several professional societies. She was decorated by the Order of Karadjordje Star – Serbia’s highest honor, and elected to the Academia Europaea, Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Medicine, National Academy of Inventors, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the International Academy for Medical and Biological Engineering.