Team

LEADERSHIP

NANCY J. KOCH, JD

Chief Executive Officer

Ms. Koch is a veteran biotech and pharmaceutical industry attorney with experience in the commercial, philanthropic and government sectors. She held executive roles at the Moore Foundation, Novartis, and Chiron, and she advised the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. She earned her JD at the University of Chicago School of Law and her BS at Cornell University.

MATTHEW LEWIN, MD, PhD

President, Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Lewin is a recognized expert in expedition and field medicine, with emergency medicine board certification and a PhD in the field of neurophysiology. He is an elected fellow of the California Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians, a National fellow of the Explorers Club, a member of the Board of the North American Society of Toxinology, and serves on the WHO’s Snakebite Envenoming Working Group Antidotes Committee. He earned his MD and PhD at the University of Texas/MD Anderson Cancer Center Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (Distinguished Alumnus award, 2020) and his BSc degree at the University of California, Berkeley.

REBECCA CARTER, PhD

Chief Development Officer

Dr. Carter, an expert in developing drugs and devices for use in austere environments, joined Ophirex after retiring from the U.S. military as a Lieutenant Colonel. In her career with the U.S. government, she was most recently Director of Medical Modernization for the Headquarters of the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command and was Lead Representative to the U.S. FDA and the U.S. Special Operations Command Biomedical Research Group. She earned her PhD at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center and her undergraduate degree at the United States Air Force Academy.

TIMOTHY PLATTS-MILLS, MD, MSc

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Platts-Mills is an emergency physician and clinical researcher with extensive experience designing and leading the conduct of clinical trials. His research has been funded by the U.S. Office of Research Integrity, the National Institute of Justice, and the National Institutes of Health. He is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians and a Senior Associate Editor for Annals of Emergency Medicine. He earned his MD at the University of California, Los Angeles, his Master of Science in Clinical Research at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, and his undergraduate degree at Harvard University.

LESLIE BOYER, MD

SVP, Translational Science

Dr. Boyer is a medical toxinologist and pediatrician with extensive experience studying and treating snake and scorpion venom injury, including design, conduct and analysis of pivotal trials of antivenom for pit viper, elapid and scorpion envenoming. Her research has been funded by the U.S. FDA’s Office of Orphan Products Development, the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, the State of Arizona, Therapeutic Antibodies Inc., Instituto Bioclon SA de CV, Rare Disease Therapeutics, Inc, and the Arizona Biomedical Research Commission. Dr. Boyer earned her MD from Harvard Medical School and her BS from the University of Arizona.

STEPHEN P. SAMUEL, MBBS, MSc PhD

SVP, India Clinical Research & Medical Affairs; Senior Consultant

Dr. Samuel is a noted snakebite researcher and a practicing clinician who is registered with the Indian Medical Council and the General Medical Council, UK. As a visiting physician-scientist with collaborator hospitals in India, he has actively participated in snakebite mitigation and awareness programs among students and vulnerable communities. Dr. Samuel earned his MBBS from PSG Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, India, and his MSc and PhD from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland (Distinguished Alumnus Award, 2015).

KATHLEEN DOTSON, CPA

SVP, Finance; Controller

Ms. Dotson is a seasoned finance leader with extensive experience in the biotech and technology industries. Before joining Ophirex, she held roles as Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller at Aqua Metals, Inc. (AQMS) and Corporate Controller at Diadexus (DDXS) and Transcept Pharmaceuticals (TSPT). She began her career at KPMG, serving in both U.S. and international offices over the course of a decade with the firm. Ms. Dotson earned her BS at the University of California, Berkeley.

SALLY STEPHENS, MBA

SVP, Commercial, Global Access and Communications

Ms. Stephens has more than 35 years of strategy, business development and commercial experience in pharmaceuticals and health care delivery in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors. Prior to joining Ophirex, she was Chief Business Officer at Medicines360. Earlier, she held executive roles at Novartis and Chiron. Ms. Stephens earned her MBA at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and her BS in chemical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.

MARK PETERSEN, JD

VP; General Counsel; Corporate Secretary

Mr. Petersen, an experienced litigator and mediator, has handled legal matters in the pharmaceutical and energy industries and has been a partner with Farella Braun + Martel LLP in San Francisco for more than 40 years. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Mr. Petersen was a nuclear engineer on submarines in the U.S. Navy. He received his JD from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, and his BS from the U.S. Naval Academy.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Hans Bishop — Director

Mr. Bishop has more than 30 years of experience in the biotech industry and is the president, founder, and board co-chair of Altos Labs, a biotechnology company focused on cellular rejuvenation programming to restore cell health and resilience, with the goal of reversing disease to transform medicine. He previously served as CEO of GRAIL, a healthcare company working on early detection of cancer, acquired by Illumina. In 2013, he co-founded the oncology immunotherapy company Juno Therapeutics and, as CEO, led Juno through the initiation of multiple clinical trials and rapid organizational growth, which attracted its $11 billion acquisition by Celgene just five years later. Earlier in his career, Mr. Bishop served as an Executive in Residence at Warburg Pincus and held executive positions at Dendreon, Inc., Bayer Healthcare, and Chiron Corporation. He holds a BA in chemistry from Brunel University in London.

Timothy Garnett — Chair

Dr. Timothy Garnett, a UK-trained physician (MBBS, FRCOG, FFPM), recently retired from serving as Chief Medical Officer of Eli Lilly and Company, a position he held for 13 years of his more than 20 years with the company. Dr. Garnett's 30-year pharma career focused on clinical development and included leading Lilly’s Global Patient Safety prior to becoming the company’s Chief Medical Officer. He also practiced obstetrics and gynecology for eight years, along with conducting clinical research, before joining the pharmaceutical industry.

Jerry Harrison — Director

Mr. Harrison, Ophirex's co-founder, is a world-famous musician, known for his success as a member of the bands Talking Heads and Modern Lovers, along with his work as a music and film producer. He is also an experienced tech investor, producer, and entrepreneur, whose notable successes include MicroUnity, VenEarth, Garageband/iLike, and RedCrow™ Inc. He holds a Doctor of Fine Arts (Honorary) from the Rhode Island School of Design and a BA from Harvard College.

Nancy Koch — Director

Ms. Koch, Ophirex's CEO, is a veteran biotech and pharmaceutical industry attorney with experience in the commercial, philanthropic and government sectors. She held executive roles at the Moore Foundation, Novartis, and Chiron, and she advised the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. She earned her JD at the University of Chicago School of Law and her BS at Cornell University.

Curt LaBelle — Director

Dr. LaBelle has been investing in and working with healthcare companies for two decades. As the Founding Partner and Chair of Global Health Funds, Dr. LaBelle oversees the private investments portfolio, delivering life-changing therapeutics and diagnostics worldwide for conditions such as cholera, cataract-induced blindness, snakebites, tuberculosis, HIV, and postpartum hemorrhage. He has served on the Boards of Directors of Sirion Therapeutics, Eyenovia, KAI Pharmaceuticals, Alydia, and other notable companies. Dr. LaBelle holds a dual MD/MBA degree from Columbia University.

Matthew Lewin — Director

Dr. Lewin — Ophirex's founder, President, and Chief Scientific Officer — is a recognized expert in expedition and field medicine, with emergency medicine board certification and a PhD in the field of neurophysiology. He is an elected fellow of the California Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians, a National fellow of the Explorers Club, a member of the Board of the North American Society of Toxinology, and serves on the WHO’s Snakebite Envenoming Working Group Antidotes Committee. He earned his MD and PhD at the University of Texas/MD Anderson Cancer Center Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (Distinguished Alumnus award, 2020) and his BSc degree at the University of California, Berkeley.

Derrick Rossi — Director

Dr. Rossi is a stem cell scientist and serial biotech entrepreneur. His accomplishments at the forefront of regenerative medicine and biotechnology, particularly the development of modified-mRNA reprogramming, have led to recognition by Time magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the world (2011) and one of the top ten medical breakthroughs (2010). The first company Dr. Rossi founded, Moderna, rose to global prominence in 2020 when it developed a COVID-19 vaccine now deployed around the world. Currently, Dr. Rossi is CEO of Convelo Therapeutics, a company developing remyelination therapeutics for patients suffering from demyelination diseases such as multiple sclerosis. He is co-founder of Stelexis Therapeutics, targeting the stem cell origin of cancer; Magenta Therapeutics, focused on transforming transplantation medicine; and Intellia Therapeutics, developing CRISPR/Cas9-based therapeutics. Prior to founding Moderna, Dr. Rossi was an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard University and an investigator at Boston Children’s Hospital, where he led a team working on stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. Dr. Rossi earned his his PhD from the University of Helsinki and his MSc and BSc from the University of Toronto.