Board of Directors

Michael Moore, PhD, DSc
Chairman

Dr. Moore was most recently Chief Executive Officer and Director of PIramed Ltd, a UK-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule drugs targeting members of the PI3 kinase super-family. The company was recently acquired by Roche. He is also Associate Professor at the Brunel Institute of Cancer Genetics and Pharmacogenomics, a post he has held since 1997. Prior to joining PIramed, he held several progressive positions at Xenova Group plc (1988-2003), including Chief Scientific Officer and Research Director. He also acted as Chairman for Phogen (2001-2003), a joint venture between Xenova and Marie Curie Cancer Care. Dr. Moore received a tenured Cancer Research Campaign Special Appointment (1980), was named Honorary Reader in Immunology and Oncology by the University of Manchester Medical School (1986), and was Editor-in-chief for the British Journal of Cancer (1983). Dr. Moore received his PhD (Faculty of Pure Science) and DSc (Faculty of Medicine) from Nottingham University and has more than 150 scientific publications.

Michael J. Berendt , PhD

Dr. Berendt is the President and CEO of Aegera Therapeutics. Prior to joining Aegera, he served as managing director of Research Corporation Technologies (RCT), a US-based technology investment and management company, and AEA Investors Inc., where he focused on growth equity investments in life sciences companies. Previously Dr. Berendt was Senior Vice President of Research for the Pharmaceutical Division of Bayer Corporation. He is currently a director of Waters Corporation and has served on the board of directors of numerous other life sciences companies. Dr. Berendt received a doctoral degree in medical microbiology and immunology from Hahnemann University.

John Dietrich , PhD

Dr. Dietrich joined Ventrus Biosciences in April 2007, where he currently serves as Vice President, Clinical Operations. From 2000 to 2007, Dr. Dietrich was Vice President of Research and Development at VIVUS, Inc., prior to which he was Vice President of Research and Development at Cellegy Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Dietrich served as Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Allelix Biopharmaceuticals between 1991 and 1999. In this position, he was responsible for all aspects of drug discovery and development. Before joining Allelix, he held management positions at Chemex and Revlon Health Care. Dr. Dietrich received his PhD in pharmacology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Luc Marengère, PhD

Dr. Marengère is a Managing General Partner of VenGrowth Capital Partners Inc., and has successfully led the management of the VenGrowth Advanced Life Sciences Fund including the implementation of the investment strategy. Dr. Marengère possesses extensive sector-specific transactional experience and is experienced at providing companies with strategic input on financing and partnerships. Prior to joining VenGrowth, he was Partner and Co-President of the Advisory Board at CDP Capital - Technology Ventures (formerly CDP Sofinov), and an Investment Manager at MDS Capital Corp. He has also served on the Board of Directors of several biotechnology companies. Dr. Marengère holds a Ph.D. in Medical Biophysics and Molecular Genetics from the University of Toronto.

Niclas Stiernholm, PhD

Dr. Stiernholm's primary responsibilities at TTI include the company's strategic direction, executing business development plans and ensuring that the company's scientific programs continue to advance in good time. Dr. Stiernholm joined TTI from YM BioSciences where he acted as Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer. While there, he played a significant role in the success of their Initial Public Offering (IPO) in 2002. Dr. Stiernholm began his industry career as a member of Allelix Biopharmaceuticals' business development office. He currently serves on several scientific and corporate boards of directors, including YM BioSciences, the Ontario Genomics Institute and AIM Therapeutics. He received his Ph.D. in immunology from the University of Toronto, where he also completed his postdoctoral training.

Ela Borenstein, BSc, MSc, MBA

Ms. Borenstein has 20 years of management, entrepreneurial and consulting experience in the Biopharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining BDC, she was Chief Operating Officer, V.P. of Regulatory Affairs and Product Strategy and V.P. of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs for biotech companies as well as Senior Vice President of Scientific Affairs for a public pharmaceutical company. Ela's diversified background includes senior management responsibilities in drug and medical device development , key involvement in product acquisition and M&A activities including a business development role and building multi-disciplinary teams involved in all aspects of research and product development. Ela holds a B.Sc., Chemistry Honours from University of Western Ontario; an M.Sc., in Pharmacology from University of Toronto and an M.B.A. in Bio-Industries from UQAM.

Michael J. Gresser, Ph.D.

Mike Gresser received his Ph.D in Biochemistry in 1976 and after postdoctoral studies at the Molecular Biology Institute at UCLA he joined the Department of Chemistry at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. In 1988 Mike joined the Merck Frosst Center for Therapeutic Research in Kirkland, Quebec as Director of Biochemistry. Over the next twelve years Mike progressed to Executive Director of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and his team worked on a variety of small molecule drug discovery programs, resulting in the introduction of numerous molecules into clinical trials. Two of these molecules, Singulair and Vioxx, became products. In 2000 Mike joined Amgen Inc. in Thousand Oaks, California, as Vice President Research for Inflammation, where re remained until April, 2006. Mike's team at Amgen worked on many molecular targets, introducing numerous small molecules, human antibodies, and other proteins into development. Currently Mike serves as CSO of Oxford BioTherapeutics, and is also Visiting Scholar at the Molecular Biology Institute at UCLA.

Michael Cross, Ph.D.

Dr. Cross is Vice President, Investments at GrowthWorks Capital in Toronto. Michael Joined GrowthWorks Capital in 2009 after the acquisition of CMDF from Jovian Capital. At Jovian, Michael was Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager. Previous to Jovian, Michael had lead operational responsibilities as COO of a public oncology company where he helped bring an anticancer product into worldwide pivotal clinical trials. In addition, Dr. Cross was Managing Director of a contract manufacturing organization that he helped build and provide liquidity to its shareholders. From 1996 to 2003, Dr. Cross held a variety of senior positions at MDS and MDS Capital Corp. Before joining MDS, Dr. Cross spent seven years with the Department of National Defence, including serving as a Post-Doctoral Fellow with the Trauma and Physiology Group, Defence Research Agency in Toronto. Dr. Cross received both his Masters in Business Administration and his Doctorate in Philosophy from the University of Toronto.