J. Melville Engle | Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Engle joined ThermoGenesis in April of 2009 as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Engle brings 27 years experience in leading both large and small companies through growth and, at times, stormy periods. Prior to joining the ThermoGenesis team, Mr. Engle served as Chief Executive Officer of Raydiance, Inc., a laser technology company. From 2002 to 2007, Mr. Engle was President and Chief Executive Officer of Dey L.P., a subsidiary of Merck KGaA. Mr. Engle was also Regional Director, North America with the Merck Generics Group. Dey L.P. is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development, manufacturing and marketing of prescription drug products for the treatment of respiratory diseases and related allergies. From 1996 to 2001, Mr. Engle served as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Anika Therapeutics, Inc.; from 1995 to 1996 as President and Chief Executive Officer of U.S. Medical Products, Inc. and from 1980 to 1995 in various management and executive roles with Allergan, Inc., including Managing Director (Canada) and CFO. Mr. Engle received his MBA (Finance) from USC and BS (Accounting) from the University of Colorado. The Napa Chamber of Commerce and State of California honored Mr. Engle as Napa’s “2007 Citizen of the Year” for his record of leadership/company success, community involvement and local volunteerism. He has three children and lives in Napa, CA.
Matthew T. Plavan | Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Plavan Joined ThermoGenesis in May of 2005 as Chief Financial Officer. In addition to his role of CFO, he was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in April 2009. Mr. Plavan brings 20 years of financial leadership, P&L responsibility and general management experience to the Company. Before joining the Company, Mr. Plavan served from 2002 to 2005 as Chief Financial Officer of StrionAir, Inc., an air purification product development and marketing company. Prior to that, Mr. Plavan was the Chief Financial Officer for a wireless device management Company, Reason Inc., from 2000 to 2002. During the preceding seven years, 1993 through 2000, Mr. Plavan served in a number of key financial and operating leadership roles within McKesson and McKesson-acquired companies, including most recently, Vice President of Finance for a $300 million ehealth division. Prior to that, Mr. Plavan was an audit manager in the Audit and Risk Advisory Services group of Ernst & Young LLP. Mr. Plavan earned his Bachelors Degree in Business Economics from The University of California at Santa Barbara, California. Mr. Plavan became a Certified Public Accountant in 1992.
Jorge Artiles | Vice President, Chief Quality and Regulatory Affairs Officer
Mr. Artiles joined ThermoGenesis in November of 2009 as Vice President Chief Quality and RA Officer. Mr. Artiles brings with him 27 years of quality and regulatory experience in the medical device industry. With expertise in process optimization, Quality System development and compliance, Mr. Artiles is a proven leader for product quality improvement. Prior to joining the ThermoGenesis team, from 2007 to 2009 Mr. Artiles served as Vice President of Quality Assurance, for Physio Control, a Division of Medtronic, a leading medical technology company. From 2005 to 2007, Mr. Artiles was with Cytyc Surgical Products, a company that engages in the design, development and sale of medical devices for women’s healthcare. Prior to that, Mr. Artiles served as Global VP of QA/RA for Teleflex Medical, Director of Quality Systems for Abbott Laboratories, Diagnostic Division and Quality Engineering Manager for Fenwal. Mr. Artiles holds a M.S. in Quality Assurance / Industrial Technology from San Jose State University, and a B.S. in Industrial Technology from San Jose State University.
Harold (Hal) Baker | Vice President of Commerical Operations
Mr. Baker joined ThermoGenesis in August of 2009 as Vice President of Sales. Mr. Baker brings with him more than two decades of global sales and marketing experience in the healthcare sectors, introducing new products, leading teams in the cord blood stem cell market, managing distributor relationships and building sales force organizations Prior to joining the ThermoGenesis team, from 2006 to 2009 Mr. Baker served as Vice President, Global Sales, for Hygenic Corporation, a global manufacturer and marketer of over the counter pain relievers, rehabilitation consumables and OEM specialty products for medical and dental markets. From 2001 to 2005, Mr. Baker was Senior Vice President, U.S. Commercial Operations and Senior Vice President, Global Sales with Pall Corporation, a $2 billion filtration and separation products manufacturer. From 1996 to 2000, he was Director, Global Marketing, for Gambro Healthcare, a provider of automated blood and stem cell collection technologies. Mr. Baker holds a B.A. in Political Science from Miami University of Ohio, and a Master’s in Political Science from Kent State University.
John Chapman, Ph.D | Vice President of Scientific Affairs & Business Development
Dr. Chapman serves as ThermoGenesis Corp's Vice President of Scientific Affairs and is responsible for directing the company's scientific strategy and life science initiatives in cell therapy and wound care. John Chapman, Ph.D is a seasoned leader of medical product Research and Development programs with 20 years of experience in integrating life sciences, chemistry and biomedical engineering to develop new products. Prior to joining ThermoGenesis Corp., Dr. Chapman was the Vice President of Research and Development at V.I. Technologies from 1999 to 2005. From 1983 to 1999, Dr. Chapman was with Baxter Healthcare Corporation in various scientific positions of product development with his last position being Scientific Director in the Fenwal Division. He holds a Ph.D. in Toxicology and has authored 22 issued U.S. patents and 32 scientific publications in the fields of chemistry, devices, biologics and blood processing.
Menachem (Moni) Shavit | Vice President of Engineering
Mr. Shavit joined ThermoGenesis in August 2008 as Vice President of Research & Development. He brings more than 20 years of experience in Research & Development to ThermoGenesis. Before joining the Company, Mr. Shavit worked at several medical companies, including Medivision, Medical Imaging, Ltd., Biogenics, Ltd., Stryker GI and most recently TRIG Medical, Inc. He holds an MS in electrical Engineering (Bio-Medical and Signal Processing) and a BS in Electrical Engineering (Bio-Medical and Signal Processing) from Polytechnic University of New York.
Board of Directors
Hubert E. Huckel, M.D. | Chairman
Dr. Huckel joined the Board of Directors in 1997. He is a founder of Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners and serves as its Chairman of the Board. In addition, he sits on the Board of Directors of Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Amarin Pharmaceuticals, plc and Valera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He was affiliated with the Hoechst Group (now Aventis) for nearly thirty years and, at the time of his retirement, was Executive Chairman of the Board of Hoechst-Roussel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Huckel received his M.D. degree from the University of Vienna, Austria, and is a member of the Rockefeller University Council.
J. Melville Engle | Director
Patrick J. McEnany | Director
Patrick J. McEnany is a founder and Chief Executive Officer of Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners, a drug development company formed in January 2002. From 1991 to April of 1997, Mr. McEnany was Chairman and President of Royce Laboratories, Inc., a Miami, Florida- based manufacturer of generic prescription drugs. Following the merger of Royce into Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Mr. McEnany served (1997-1998) as President of the wholly-owned Royce Laboratories subsidiary and Vice President of Corporate Development for Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He was Vice Chairman and Director of the National Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (1993-1997) and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Renal CarePartners, Inc., an operator of kidney dialysis centers, and the Jackson Memorial Hospital Foundation. Mr. McEnany sat on the Board of Directors of Med/Waste, Inc. His tenure was March 2000 to February 13, 2002, when the company filed for voluntary bankruptcy protection under federal bankruptcy laws.
Craig W. Moore | Director
Mr. Moore joined the ThermoGenesis Board of Directors in December of 2009. Mr. Moore brings with him more than three decades of healthcare experience. In addition, he sits on the Board of Directors of Nx Stage Medical Inc., a company with novel methods for the treatment of kidney failure patients at home and in medical facilities. Prior to joining the ThermoGenesis board, from 2002 to 2007 Mr. Moore served as Consultant, for Haemoscope Corporation, a privately held company that is a leader in the development of equipment and analysis strategies to provide improved hemostasis management. He was the Chairman and CEO of Everest Healthcare Service Corporation from 1995-2001, a $260 million provider of dialysis and contract services which included stem cell collection for hospitals and blood labs. Mr. Moore served on the Board of Biologic System Corp. ( NASDAQ:BLSC) FROM 1992-2006. Biologic was a designer and marketer of computerized electrodiagnostic equipment. In 2001, Mr. Moore was a founding member for a $12 million offshore insurance company, covering workers compensation, property and casualty insurance. Mr. Moore was a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy and holds a B.A. in Business from Adrian College. Mr. Moore was selected to attend and successfully completed The Institute for Management at Northwestern University in 1976.
Tiffany Olson | Director
Tiffany Olson was appointed to the Board of Directors on August 1, 2008. Mrs. Olson, a director at Community Hospital Network and Simon Youth Foundation, is the former President & CEO of Roche Diagnostics Corporation, where she led North American (U.S. & Canada) commercial operations with P&L responsibility for over $1 billion in revenue and 2,500 employees. Prior to her President & CEO position, she held several positions with Roche from 1997 until she resigned in May 2008. Before joining Roche Diagnostics, Mrs. Olson was the owner of Resource Consulting Services, a healthcare market research and new venture project management business. Among her accomplishments, she was instrumental in starting a non-profit association in the hearing-health industry, which provided market research spanning over 4,000 consumers. She also spent a number of years in leading positions with other healthcare providers. Mrs. Olson holds an MBA from the University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, Minnesota) and a BS in Business from the University of Minnesota, School of Management. Most recently she was recognized by the Indianapolis Business Journal, as being a 2007 “Influential Women” in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Mahendra Rao, M.D., Ph.D. | Director
Dr. Rao has been involved in stem cell research for more than a decade. At Invitrogen, he heads the company’s stem cell research and development program. He has held his current position with the company since January 2006. Before that, he was Stem Cell Section Chief and Senior Investigator at the National Institute on Aging’s Laboratory of Neuroscience and is currently a visiting professor. He has also held associate professor positions at both the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Utah Schools of Medicine, and at the National Center for Biological Science in India. Dr. Rao has served as Chairman of the FDA’s Cell and Gene Therapy Advisory Committee and is the founder of Q Therapeutics, a company working on the development of cellular therapy to treat multiple sclerosis. Dr. Rao has coauthored approximately 250 primary articles, reviews and editorials on different aspects of stem cell biology. He holds degrees from Bombay University in India and earned his Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology. He is also conducted post-doctorate studies at Case Western Reserve University and Caltech.