Company

Board and Advisors

Jeffrey F. O'Donnell
Chairman of the Board

Jeffrey F. O’Donnell has extensive experience in the Healthcare industry, merging a solid, traditional corporate background with emerging growth company experience.  He has led five successful start-ups, four of which went public and one which sold to a multi-national healthcare company during his tenure.  He has raised in excess of five hundred million dollars in equity and debt capital in both the private and public markets.

In 2009 he joined BioStar Ventures, a venture capital partnership created by physicians and medical business leaders to invest primarily in early stage medical devices.  He is currently a Managing Director and its Venture Partner.

In 2007, Mr. O’Donnell started Embrella Cardiovascular and was named Chairman and CEO in 2009. Embrella was sold in 2011 to Edwards Lifesciences LLC.  Prior to Embrella, he started Photomedex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PHMD), a Dermatology device and treatment company in 2000.  Jeff served as President and CEO from 2000-2009.  From 1995–2000, Mr. O’Donnell was President and COO and then CEO of Cardiovascular Dynamics, focused in Interventional Cardiology.  During that time, the company went from a start-up to a one hundred and fifty million dollar initial public offering and a strategic alliance with Medtronic.  The company is now part of Endologix where Mr. O’Donnell remains a Director.

Earlier in his career, Jeff was President & CEO of Kensey Nash Corporation and held career-building positions at Guidant, Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific.

Adele C. Oliva
Partner, Quaker Partners

Adele Oliva joined Quaker Partners (www.quakerbio.com) as Partner in June 2007.  Previously Adele was a Partner at Apax Partners which she joined in 1997 following her selection as a Ewing Marion Kauffman Fellow in Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship.  At Apax, she co-led the Healthcare Group in the U.S. with a focus on specialty pharmaceuticals and medical devices/products.  Prior to Apax, she held positions in marketing and business development with Baxter Healthcare in the company’s Cardiovascular and I.V. Systems divisions.  Adele’s experience also includes positions with Ogilvy & Mather, where she was employed in the firm’s office in Hungary, and with CoreStates Financial Corp., where she worked as a commercial lending officer and senior financial analyst.  In addition to EKR Therapeutics, her experience as a Board member includes Prometheus Labs, SkinMedica, Esprit Pharma, Alliance Healthcare Solutions, ESP Pharma., and Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals.  Adele is a graduate of Saint Joseph’s University and earned an M.B.A. in Marketing from Cornell University, where she was awarded a Fried Fellowship.

Al Altomari
Director

Al Altomari is an industry expert with more than 25 years of executive leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry, with a focus on the development and successful commercialization of specialty pharmaceutical products, in particular in dermatology and women’s health.  Mr. Altomari was the Chief Executive Officer of Barrier Therapeutics, a specialty dermatology company, which he helped spin out from Johnson & Johnson in 2002.  He was with the company at inception and led the sale of the company to Steifel Laboratories in 2008. Mr. Altomari served at Johnson & Johnson from 1982 to 2003, where he most recently served as General Manager of the Ortho Neutrogena prescription drug development group, where he successfully led the integration of Ortho Dermatological and Neutrogena Professional.  Mr. Altomari serves as President and CEO of Agile Therapeutics, Inc. and Director of DUSA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Mr. Altomari received his B.S. degree with a dual major in Finance and Accounting from Drexel University and an M.B.A. from Rider University.

Brian M. Gallagher, Ph.D.
Director

Dr. Brian Gallagher was founding CEO and President of Magen BioSciences, an R&D stage, science-driven dermatology company, from 2006-2009. He executed a successful sale of the company to PPD, Inc., in 2009. Previously, Dr. Gallagher was founding CEO, President and Chairman of CollaGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on providing innovative medical therapies for targeted disease classes in high-potential markets, such as the dental and dermatology markets. Dr. Gallagher served as President and Chief Executive Officer of CollaGenex from April 1994 until his retirement in December 2003, and as a member of the Board of Directors until 2006. From 1988 until joining CollaGenex, Dr. Gallagher was employed by Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and its predecessor, Squibb Corporation, in various executive positions, including strategic planning, worldwide product and business development, and marketing. Dr. Gallagher was the vice president and general manager of Squibb Diagnostics, the in vivo imaging pharmaceutical division where he was responsible for drug development, including filing new drug applications with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory authorities worldwide. Prior, Dr. Gallagher served for 10 years with the EI DuPont de Nemours & Co. in a variety of pharmaceutical research, development, marketing, and business management positions.

Frank McCaney 
Director

Frank McCaney is the founder of NB Therapeutics. Mr. McCaney has over 20 years experience in the medical industry, principally in diagnostics and medical devices. Prior to NB Therapeutics, he was the Sr. VP of Business Development at Viasys Healthcare (NYSE: VAS), where he was responsible for M&A and technology assessment and played a significant role in Investor Relations. Mr. McCaney had a key role in spinning Viasys Healthcare out of Thermo Electron, where he was VP of Global Marketing for Thermo Biomedical, a loosely affiliated group of health care companies with revenues close to $1 Billion. Previously, Mr. McCaney held positions in management, sales and R&D at a number of health care companies including Baxter and Boehringer Mannheim. McCaney serves on the Board of Directors of Corpak MedSystems, Inc. and Omnipacs, LLC. He has an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and a M.S. Eq. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology as well.

Marcus Schabacker, MD, Ph.D.
Director

Dr. Schabacker is currently VP Global R&D, Medical Products for Baxter Healthcare Corporation.  He was previously Chief Scientific Officer at Convatec and oversaw Global Research and Development, Regulatory Affairs, Quality and Medical Communications. Previously Dr. Schabacker held a similar role at B. Braun Medical, where he created a Clinical research department and a Medical Scientific Department and instituted Worldwide Guidelines for Clinical Research. Prior to B. Braun, Dr. Schabacker was a consultant to Drägerwerk AG in South Africa.  He has also worked as an Advisor to the Venture Capital community.

Dr. Schabacker was trained as a physician from the Medical University of Lŭbeck, Germany where he also received his Ph.D. in Anesthesiology. He practiced medicine in South Africa at Mafikeng General Hospital and served as the Medical Head for Disaster Planning for the Northwest Province.

Zev S. Scherl
Director

Zev Scherl is a General Partner of Commerce Health Ventures and NewSpring Capital, with significant experience in principal investing, corporate management and finance, focused exclusively in the life sciences and health care industries. Prior to CHV, Mr. Scherl worked with Pequot Ventures, which managed venture funds in excess of $1 billion, within Pequot Capital, which managed approximately $8 billion. Within Pequot Ventures, he originated and successfully executed investments in emerging life sciences and health care companies, whose technologies include (but are not limited to) computational genomics, diabetes and orthopedics, and served on many corporate boards. Previously, he was a member of the health care investment team of Behrman Capital, a private equity investment firm managing over $700 million, where he originated, executed and actively managed health care investments, emphasizing leveraged buyouts.

Before entering private equity in 1997, Mr. Scherl served as Senior Director, Strategic Planning, for Value Health, the largest independent pharmacy and mental health benefit management company, where he structured multi-year contracts with leading pharmaceutical companies and executed key growth initiatives, prior to its successful sale to Columbia HCA. He also served as U.S. Manager, Pricing Policy at Merck & Co., and prior to that was in the investment banking group at Lehman Brothers. Mr. Scherl is currently a board member for AppTec Laboratory Services, Scandius BioMedical, Inc., EKR Therapeutics, and Immune Control, Inc. Mr. Scherl received a BA with honors in economics from Duke University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Alex Stenzler
Consultant

Alex Stenzler is the founding principal of 12th Man Technologies, Inc., a private Research and Development concern in Garden Grove, CA.  Previously, he was the Vice President of Advanced Technologies for VIASYS Respiratory Care Inc, a subsidiary of VIASYS Healthcare Corporation (NYSE-VAS) where he has worked since 1991. Mr. Stenzler has more than thirty years of clinical and commercial experience in pulmonary medicine. He started his career in the medical field as an Air Force aeromedical evacuation specialist during the Vietnam War and migrated into respiratory medicine as a Respiratory Therapist. Prior to joining VIASYS Respiratory Care, he was President of a respiratory research and development firm in New York and had directed Pulmonary Physiology Laboratories and Respiratory Care Departments in New York and Florida.

Mr. Stenzler has been the principal investigator for two NIH studies and has served on the steering committees for randomized controlled trials in High Frequency Ventilation, Inhaled Nitric Oxide and Liquid Ventilation. Much of the research efforts that he has lead have been targeted at reducing the mortality and morbidity of premature infants and young children. Mr. Stenzler has also held several academic appointments, including Assistant Professor at the State University of New York at Stonybrook and twelve years in the Graduate School of Adelphi University. He did his undergraduate work at Queens College (City University of New York), has published numerous papers and abstracts and has been an invited speaker at many national and international congresses. He also holds more than a dozen US patents for various technologies.

Bary Sugarman, BS Engr
Consultant

Barry Sugarman is President of Diverstech, a product development and regulatory affairs company. Mr. Sugarman is a former pharmaceutical manufacturing CEO with 29 years experience in pharmaceutical product development, manufacturing, management, and regulatory affairs. Mr. Sugarman has significant expertise working with Nitric Oxide production, SOPs and government approvals.  He received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering from California State University at Northridge.

Michael Harrington, Esq.
Corporate Counsel

Michael S. Harrington, a partner with Fox Rothschild LLP.  Named as one of the leading corporate attorneys in Pennsylvania by Chambers USA, Mr. Harrington concentrates his practice on representing early and growth stage technology, life science and clean tech companies in: corporate finance, private equity, mergers, acquisitions, venture capital, securities, technology law, leveraging intellectual property, taxation, general corporate matters.

Mr. Harrington lectures frequently on private equity, venture capital, and other issues pertinent to emerging growth companies. Since 2002, he has served as a guest lecturer on emerging business topics at Villanova University School of Law. In 2010, Michael was appointed to the board of directors of the Greater Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies (PACT), having established himself as one of this region’s leading technology, life sciences and clean tech company attorneys. Michael also serves on the Council's Strategic Advisory Board. In 2009, Michael was appointed to the board of directors of the Chester County Keystone Innovation Zone (KIZ). Mr. Harrington received his B.A., Niagara University, 1991 (summa cum laude) and earned his J.D. and LL.M. in Taxation from Villanova University School of Law.  He is admitted to the Pennsylvania and New Jersey bars.