Vapogenix Leadership
Management and Key Personnel
Allen Burton, M.D. – Scientific Founder and Co-Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board
Phillip Phan, M.D. – Scientific Founder and Co-Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board
Danguole Altman – President, CEO, and Director
Heather Giles, Ph.D. – Chief Scientific Officer
Terry B. Farmer, Ph.D. – Director of CMC and Analytical Services
Board of Directors
Danguole Altman – President, CEO and Director
George Davitt, J.D. – Director and Senior Advisor to the McCall MacBain Foundation
Chris Jorgenson – Managing Director of Pamoja Capital
Scientific Advisory Board
Allen Burton, M.D. – Scientific Founder and Co-Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board
Phillip Phan, M.D. – Scientific Founder and Co-Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board
Patrick Dougherty, Ph.D. – Professor in the Department of Pain Medicine at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Duncan Haynes, Ph.D. – Professor Emeritus of the University of Miami School of Medicine and President of Pharma-Logic Discovery.
Peter Lacouture, Ph.D. – Executive Director of Scientific and Medical Affairs at Magidom Discovery
Business Advisory Board
David Anderson – Chairman of the Board, Plx Pharma, Inc. and Nanospectra Biosciences, Inc.
Bette Schultz – President of Business & Licensing Strategies, LLC
William Altman – President and CEO of CoreInnova, Inc.
Allen Burton, MD
Dr. Allen Burton is a Scientific Founder of Vapogenix and Co-Chair of the Company’s Scientific Advisory Board. He is a national authority on pain management. Dr. Burton is Professor and Chair of the Department of Pain Medicine at M.D. Anderson and also serves as the President of the Texas Pain Society. Dr. Burton holds a B.S. from the University of Notre Dame, an M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine and served as anesthesiology resident and Chief Resident at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School.
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Phillip Phan, MD
Dr. Phillip Phan is also a Scientific Founder of Vapogenix and Co-Chair of the Company’s Scientific Advisory Board with Dr. Burton. He is on the faculty of Baylor College of Medicine, serving as Director of Neuromodulation and Pain Management and Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery. Prior to joining Baylor in 2009, he was on the faculty of M.D. Anderson as an Assistant Professor of Pain Medicine and Director of Interventional Pain Management. He has extensive experience with pain product innovation and holds several patents for pain products through M.D. Anderson. Dr. Phan has spent four years in laboratory research involving ischemic and traumatic stroke and pain models. Dr. Phan holds a B.S. in Biochemistry and Philosophy from Rice University and an M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine. He completed his internship at the University of Utah, residency at Baylor College of Medicine, and fellowship at M.D. Anderson, where he was Chief Fellow in Pain Medicine.
Danguole Altman
Ms. Altman founded Vapogenix with Drs. Burton and Phan and serves the Company as President and CEO as well as Director. Ms. Altman brings more than 20 years of health care experience, most recently as an entrepreneur working with early stage companies. She was previously President and CEO of FemPartners, a venture-backed women’s health care services firm that she cofounded and grew to more than $70 million in practice revenues. Ms. Altman was previously employed as a consultant with McKinsey & Co. She obtained her B.A. in Economics from Harvard University, followed by an MBA at Yale School of Management. She serves on the Board of FemPartners, the Advisory Board of the Women Business Leaders of the U.S. Health Care Industry Foundation, and the boards of several not-for-profit organizations. In 2008, she was honored as one of Houston’s Women on the Move by Texas Executive Women.
Heather Giles, Ph.D.
Heather Giles, Ph.D. joined Vapogenix in 2009 as Chief Scientific Officer. Dr Giles brings 25 years of drug discovery and development experience in many therapeutic areas, including pain and inflammation, and she has held international leadership positions in large and small pharmaceutical companies. Most recently (2001-2008), she was Vice President, Strategic Planning, at Encysive Pharmaceuticals in Houston Texas, where she was a member of the senior management team, managed the R&D portfolio, and led all phases of U.S. and European drug development of the company’s lead product Thelin. Previously, she spent over 18 years at GlaxoSmithKline R&D, most recently as Global Disease Strategy Director for Asthma, and previously as Head of Receptor Pharmacology. Dr. Giles holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and a B.Sc, Biology First Class from the University of London. She has an extensive scientific publication record and currently serves as an editor for the British Journal of Pharmacology and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Houston.
Terry B. Farmer, Ph.D.
Terry B. Farmer, Ph.D. joined Vapogenix in April 2010 as Director of CMC and Analytical Services. Dr. Farmer was previously Director of Analytical Services at Encysive Pharmaceuticals where she led the teams responsible for analytical and bioanalytical chemistry from drug discovery through to the market. She brings substantial analytical chemistry and CMC experience to Vapogenix, including extensive experience in preparing regulatory submissions and managing CMC vendors. She is responsible for developing and implementing the CMC development path and managing in-house research. Dr. Farmer holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Texas Heath Science Center and a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Tulsa.
George Davitt, J.D.
Mr. Davitt is Director and Senior Advisor to the McCall MacBain Foundation. He also advises the management of Pamoja Capital SA, the private investment company of McCall MacBain. Previously, Mr. Davitt was a Partner and member of the Executive Committee of Goodwin Procter LLP, one of the leading law firms in the United States with more than 800 lawyers. Prior to joining Goodwin Procter, at which he advised Trader Classified Media, Mr. Davitt was the Managing Partner at Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault LLP in Boston and had been an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York. George Davitt served as a law clerk to the Honorable W.G.C. Howland, Chief Justice of Ontario, and is a member of the bars of Massachusetts, New York and Ontario. He holds law degrees from the University of Toronto and Oxford University (first class honors).
Chris Jorgenson
Mr. Jorgensen is Managing Director of Pamoja Capital, where he is responsible for the private equity strategy of the Company, while also being involved in the activities of the McCall MacBain Foundation. From 1999 to 2006, Mr. Jorgensen was Vice President of Strategic Investments at Trader Classified Media, where he completed more than 40 transactions in 21 countries totaling more than $3 billion. During that period, he also served as a Board member and Director of a number of the company’s subsidiaries. He previously worked as an Associate in the Mergers and Acquisitions department of Credit Suisse First Boston in New York, London and Sydney and holds a degree in Public Policy and International Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. Mr. Jorgensen completed postgraduate study in Chinese language at the Stanford Center in Taipei, is fluent in English, German, French and Spanish, and has a good working knowledge of Chinese and Japanese.
Patrick Dougherty, Ph.D.
Dr. Dougherty has served as a Consultant to the Company since its inception. Dr. Dougherty is Professor in the Department of Pain Medicine at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and is a prominent authority on efficacy models for testing various types of pain response. Much of the seminal work underlying the Company’s technology was performed under his supervision at M.D. Anderson. Dr. Dougherty holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Science from the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Science and a B.A. in Biology from the University of Dallas. Prior to joining M.D. Anderson, Dr. Dougherty held various academic appointments with the Department of Neurosurgery and Neuroscience at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Duncan Haynes, Ph.D.
Dr. Haynes has served as a Consultant to the Company since late 2008. Dr. Haynes is Professor Emeritus of the University of Miami School of Medicine as well as President of Pharma-Logic Discovery. Dr. Haynes’ career has focused on innovative drug delivery methods. As a faculty member, he licensed the rights to many of his inventions into a firm which he founded, growing the firm to more than $45 million in revenue and successfully selling it to a major pharmaceutical company. Dr. Haynes holds a B.S. in Chemistry and Physics from Butler University and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his postdoctoral work in Biophysics at the Max Planck Institute in Gottingen, Germany.
Peter Lacouture, Ph.D.
Dr. Lacouture is Executive Director of Scientific and Medical Affairs at Magidom Discovery, which he cofounded in 2001. Magidom is a boutique strategy and tactical operations firm focused on regulatory and clinical aspects of pain management and analgesic discovery and development. Dr. Lacouture has deep industry, academic and regulatory expertise in pain medicine, frequently serving as a speaker at academic conferences. Prior to founding Magidom Discovery, Dr. Lacouture spent 13 years in the pharmaceutical industry, most recently as Senior Director of Clinical Research in the Medical Department at Purdue Pharmaceuticals. He has served on the faculties of Harvard Medical School, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and the Brown University School of Medicine. Dr. Lacouture holds an A.B. in Chemistry from the College of the Holy Cross and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy. He completed his postdoctoral work as a Research Fellow in Pathology at Harvard Medical School.
David Anderson
Mr. Anderson has over 20 years of experience as an executive, advisor and investor in the life sciences industry and served for eight years as the Chief Operations Officer and a Director of Tanox, Inc. He is the former CEO and Chairman of the Board of MithraGen, a cancer vaccine company, and is currently Chairman of the Board of both Nanospectra Biosciences, Inc., a company developing life science applications for nanoshells (a new class of materials), and PLx Pharma, Inc., a company focused on reducing the side effects of NSAIDs. He is also on the Board of Halsa Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining Tanox in 1987, Mr. Anderson was engaged in the private practice of law with a focus in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, financing transactions and intellectual property licensing. Mr. Anderson holds a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center and a B.S. in Chemistry from Texas A&I University.
Bette Schultz
Ms. Schultz is a pharmaceutical executive with extensive operational and deal making experience. Ms. Schultz founded Business & Licensing Strategies, LLC and as President she advises health care companies and government agencies on licensing and co-promotion deals, pharmaceutical life cycle management, marketing and business operations. Previously, Ms. Schultz served as Vice President at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., heading Business Development and Licensing and a primary care Business Unit. Her BD&L responsibilities included in-licensing, out-licensing, co-promotion and divestitures for the U.S. pharmaceutical organization, as well as supporting and representing U.S. views for global licensing initiatives. During her tenure, she and her team completed numerous deals that contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to current income, added close to $1 billion in value and strengthened the pipeline. In her role as Business Unit head, she had P&L responsibility for a group of products with sales exceeding $900 million in 2007. Additional responsibilities included Life Cycle Management for all primary care products. Prior to Novartis, Ms. Schultz held various Business Development and Marketing positions at Schering-Plough Corporation. She began her pharmaceutical career at Eli Lilly & Co. Ms. Schultz holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Sc.B. in Biology from Brown University.
William Altman
Mr. Altman is a health care entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in building, buying and managing growth companies as a private equity investor, consultant, Board member, and President/Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Altman cofounded three firms, two of which grew to more than $70 million in revenues. He has also served on the boards of six growth companies, including a publicly traded firm with a market capitalization of $1.5 billion and 7,000 employees before it was successfully sold. Mr. Altman is currently President and CEO of CorInnova, Inc., a medical device company developing proprietary cardiac support and assist devices for the treatment of chronic heart failure. Mr. Altman also cofounded FemPartners, a health care services firm providing management services and facility development joint ventures in women’s health care. A Rhodes Scholar, Mr. Altman earned an MBA from Harvard Business School, an M.A. from Oxford University, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, summa cum laude, from Texas A&M University.