Sam Milstein, Ph.D. – Director & Chairman 

 

Sam J. Milstein has been in the healthcare industry in various capacities for over 40 years. He has extensive experience in every aspect of the drug discovery and development process and has served as a consultant to the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, Wall Street, and venture capital communities. He has founded several companies. He is the Founder and CEO of Mortar & Pestle Consulting.

 

Dr. Milstein was the Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Science Officer, and Chairman of Fulcrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Previously, he was the President and Chief Science Officer at Emisphere Technologies, Inc.. Dr. Milstein was an Adjunct Professor of Biochemistry at New York University. Dr. Milstein is on the Board of Directors of the Regenerative Medicine Foundation. Dr. Milstein holds numerous patents on Physico-Chemical Mechanisms for drug delivery. He holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from New York University, an M.Sc. in Physical Chemistry from the University of New Brunswick, and majored in Chemistry from the City College of New York.

 

 

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Stephen Griffin, PhD. – Director & President 

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Stephen Griffin, PhD., has served as our Chief Technology Officer since January 2014. Stephen Griffin is a scientist, researcher and a recognized expert on medical device design and development. For the past 24 years, his research interest has focused on device design and development, with a specific focus on neurological and vascular devices.

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Dr. Griffin has held various R&D positions at senior technical, leadership and management levels, including as a VP in charge of R&D of Covidien from 2010 to 2013.  He holds a PhD in Materials Science from the University of Limerick. Stephen was appointed to the Board in January 2019

 

 

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Paul A. Brooke – Non-Executive Director

 

Paul A. Brooke joined the Cerus Board in November 2016. He has over 30 years’ experience in life science analysis, investing and management. He is chairman at Caelum Biosciences and was co-founder, managing director and managing partner at venBio, a strategic pharmaceutical investment platform, including a venture fund and a hedge fund.

 

He has also served as the global head of healthcare research and strategy, managing director and as a senior advisor at Morgan Stanley. He has been a founding member and managing director of PMSV Holdings LLC since 1993, managing investments in real estate, healthcare and global opportunities. Mr Brooke holds an M.A. degree from Columbia University where he was a William Mitchell Fellow and a B.A. degree, cum laude, from Columbia College.

 

 

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Franklin Berger – Non-Executive Director

 

Franklin Berger has served as a member of our Board since September 2010. Mr. Berger is a consultant to biotechnology industry participants, including major biopharmaceutical firms, mid-capitalization biotechnology companies, specialist asset managers and venture capital companies, providing business development, strategic advisory, financing, partnering, and royalty acquisition advice. Mr. Berger is also a biotechnology industry analyst with over 25 years of experience in capital markets and financial analysis.

 

Mr. Berger worked at Sectoral Asset Management as a founder of the small-cap focused NEMO Fund from 2007 through June 2008. From May 1998 to March 2003, he served at J.P. Morgan Securities, most recently as Managing Director, Equity Research and Senior Biotechnology Analyst. Previously, Mr. Berger served in similar capacities at Salomon Smith Barney and Josephthal & Co. Mr. Berger also serves on the boards of directors of BELLUS Health, Inc., Immune Design Corp., ESSA Pharma Inc., and Proteostasis Therapeutics, Inc., each of which is a public biotechnology company. Mr. Berger previously served as a member of the board of directors of BioTime, Inc. and Seattle Genetics, Inc., each of which was a public company during Mr. Berger’s service as a director. Mr. Berger received a B.A. in International Relations and an M.A. in International Economics both from Johns Hopkins University and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.

 

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John T Kilcoyne – Non-Executive Director

 

John Kilcoyne joined in September 2018, and brings more than 30 years of experience in the medical device

market to the Cerus Endovascular Board. Mr. Kilcoyne is currently the CEO of JenaValve. Prior to his role at JenaValve, Mr. Kilcoyne was Chief Executive Officer of ReVision Optics. Prior to ReVision Optics, he served as chief executive officer and chairman of Micrus Endovascular, which he took public and then successfully led for six years until its sale to Johnson & Johnson in 2010.

 

From 2002 to 2004, he served as president and chief executive officer of medical device company Solace Therapeutics. Prior to Solace, he served as the president and chief executive officer of Endonetics, Inc. until its acquisition by Medtronic in 2001. Mr. Kilcoyne received his B.S. from Cornell University.

 

 

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David Jennings – Company Secretary & Chief Financial Officer

 

David Jennings has served as our Chief Financial Officer and Secretary since July of 2016.  Prior to joining Cerus, Mr. Jennings served as CFO for Dysis Medical Limited from April 2013 to July 2016.  Between 2008 and 2013 Mr. Jennings worked as a portfolio financial officer and consultant for a number of technology and medical technology businesses, raising both equity and debt capital and managing growth companies through to exit.

 

Mr. Jennings is a qualified Chartered Accountant with 30 years’ experience across a number of industrial sectors. He has served 8 years as CFO for Tissue Science Laboratories from December 1999 to May 2008, taking the company from early stage, through a number of private financing rounds, completing an IPO onto the AIM market and seeing the Company through to successful trade sale to Covidien.  Mr. Jennings has career equity, debt and exit financings of over $150 million. Mr. Jennings has a BA (hons) degree, majoring in History, from Lancaster University in the UK.

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