Dr. Cynthia Lander, PhD: Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

 

Dr. Alyssa Panitch, PhD: Founding Scientist

 

Dalton Einhorn, MBA: Chief Operating Officer

 

Andrew D. Luber, Pharm.D.: VP Clinical Pharmacology

 

Caryn Peterson: Executive Vice President, Regulatory and Development Operations

 

Neal Murakami, CPA: Vice President and Controller

 

Dr. Cynthia Lander, PhD: Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Cynthia Lander, PhD, is a successful entrepreneur who has created, invested in and advised a variety of innovative start-up companies in the biotechnology, diagnostics and medical device industries. Cynthia has over 25 years of research and leadership experience and is currently Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the inflammation and fibrosis therapeutics company, Moerae Matrix, which she co-founded. She is also fulfilling the CEO role for Moerae spin-off VasoPrep Surgical, a medical device entity focused on improving outcomes in vascular graft surgeries.  Prior to creating her own companies and advising others, Cynthia was a partner in the venture incubator Nascent Enterprises, with 26 companies created to date and 12 exit transactions. She also ran her own consulting practice, Cynapse Consulting, advising major pharmaceutical and biotechnology company clients. She has been Senior Vice President at Publicis Groupe, responsible for business development and brand strategy for biopharmaceutical clients.  Cynthia received her PhD in Neuroscience from Yale University (Neurogen Fellow), where she made several discoveries that were subsequently outlicensed for use in research and drug development. She conducted post-doctoral research at Rockefeller University as a Revson Fellow.  Life sciences represents Cynthia’s second career. Previously, she was a classical musician trained at The Juilliard School (keyboard performance), and she still takes every opportunity possible to play the compositions of Debussy, Liszt, Franck and Bach. In addition to her PhD, Cynthia has a BS in Psychology from New York University.

 

Dr. Alyssa Panitch, PhD: Founding Scientist. Dr. Panitch is the Leslie A. Geddes Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering and the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs at Purdue University. In addition, she serves as the Director of Deliberate Innovation for Faculty in Life Sciences and Medical Technologies in the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship at Purdue. Dr. Panitch has been federally funded since 2002 including NIH, NSF, and DOD funding. She has over 75 publications in peer-reviewed journals and over 60 invited talks based on her work. She is on the editorial advisory board for Biomacromolecules and for Biomatter, is an associate editor for Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering, and is a past regular member of the Biomaterials and Biointerfaces Study Section. She was the founder and CSO of a start-up company, AzERx (Arizona Engineered Therapeutics). AzERx completed a Phase I and Phase II STTR that advanced the Company to acquisition by Orthologic, Inc in 2006 in a deal then valued at $7M (currently “Capstone Therapeutics”). Dr. Panitch is a founder and scientific advisory board member of Symic Biomedical, Inc. a venture-funded company commercializing a platform technology developed in the Panitch laboratory. She co-founded Moerae Matrix, Inc., on technology developed in her laboratory at Purdue University. Dr. Panitch received her BS from Smith College in biochemistry, BA and PhD from U Mass Amherst in chemical engineering and polymer science, and did post-doctoral work in biomedical engineering at the University of Zurich

 

Dalton Einhorn, MBA: Chief Operating Officer.  Dalton Einhorn has more than 20 years of experience in biopharmaceutical start-ups, life sciences venture capital, pharmaceutical commercial operations and investment banking. Most recently he has had several entrepreneurial roles including as a co-founder of an early-stage oncology therapeutics company and as an advisor to several emergent medical device and biotherapeutics companies. Prior to that, he was a venture capital investor for Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation and Latterell Venture Partners, and was an investor in Genocea Biosciences, Astute Medical and PowerVision, Inc., and a board member of ViaCyte, Inc. Prior to his venture capital career, Mr. Einhorn held a number of branded products marketing and global new product commercialization roles at Roche, Daiichi-Sankyo and Novo Nordisk, and he has an extensive background in valuation, forecasting and business modeling, as well as business development. He began his career in the Mergers and Acquisitions group of CS First Boston (now Credit Suisse). Mr. Einhorn has a B.A. from Drew University and an MBA from Yale University.

 

Andrew D. Luber, Pharm.D.: VP Clinical Pharmacology. Dr. Luber is a clinical pharmacist/pharmacologist with over 20 years of experience in drug development and clinical research. As Executive Director of Research for both Pacific Oaks Medical Group and Tower ID Research in Los Angeles, CA, Dr. Luber was a clinical investigator in more than 70 clinical trials, including 4 Phase 1a/b studies. Dr. Luber has authored textbook chapters and numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and on-line resources in the area of HIV Pharmacology and Pharmacokinetics and helped to develop the American Academy of HIV Medicine’s (AAHIVM) Self-Directed Study Guide by authoring the Pharmacology and Pharmacokinetic sections. In addition, he was a core faculty member that worked to develop The Viral Hepatitis Mid-Level Provider Certification Program for the American Association for Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). Dr. Luber has worked with many different pharmaceutical companies as an investigator, speakers’ bureau, steering committee and advisory board member, as well as serving as a clinical consultant to both large and early stage pharmaceutical companies.  Dr Luber received his B.S. Pharm and Pharm.D. from Temple University School of Pharmacy, Philadelphia PA. He completed his residency in both pharmacy practice and infectious diseases, as well his research fellowship in infectious diseases pharmacotherapy, at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Pharmacy, San Francisco, California.

 

Caryn Peterson: Executive Vice President, Regulatory and Development Operations. In 2010, Ms. Peterson joined Moerae Matrix, Inc. as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs to oversee development of the Company’s drug portfolio from IND-enabling studies into the clinic. Ms. Peterson has over 30 years of pharmaceutical industry experience, including research and development, regulatory affairs, and operations. She has extensive experience in the area of global regulatory affairs for small molecules, peptide therapeutics, and biologics. Ms. Peterson co-founded the consulting firm DSC Associates (“DSC”) in 2004, to provide consulting services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, focusing on preclinical, regulatory and clinical strategies designed to streamline product development. Prior to founding DSC, she served on FeRx Incorporated’s Executive Management Team as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs responsible for development and subsequent execution of the global nonclinical, clinical and regulatory strategies for the lead compound and platform technology. Prior to FeRx, Ms. Peterson held senior managerial positions at Amylin Pharmaceuticals in Pharmaceutical Development and Regulatory Affairs. Ms. Peterson was involved in the early discovery program and subsequent clinical development of pramlintide (Symlin®), a peptide drug for Type 1 diabetes.

 

Neal Murakami, CPA: Vice President and Controller. Mr. Murakami joined Moerae Matrix in 2010 where he directs accounting and finance functions for the company. Mr. Murakami has over 25 years of accounting, finance and audit experience within the life sciences and technology industries ranging from established companies to start-up organizations. Prior to joining Moerae Matrix, Mr. Murakami led the accounting departments of Tethys Biosciences and Guava Technologies. Mr. Murakami holds a B.S. in Business Administration (Accounting emphasis) from California State University, Hayward.