Management And Board of Directors
Mark S. Miller – Co-founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Miller, a business executive and entrepreneur with extensive corporate experience, has held executive management positions at, and served in a consultancy capacity with a number of top Fortune 500 companies. He is the co-founder of BirchBioMed, the co-founder and Board Chairman of The Carlisle Group, Inc., a full service marketing and publishing company, Board Chairman of Trivest-Global Holdings Ltd., and publisher of InsideOut Media, Inc. A former executive with Ford Motor Company, Mr. Miller was part of the Ford executive team assigned to the reorganization and rejuvenation of Jaguar Cars, where he served as Vice President of Corporate and Public Affairs. He also has held executive and management positions with Ford Aerospace, Ford Motor Company, and Pepsi-Cola of Central Virginia. A national, award-winning print and broadcast journalist, Mr. Miller has held editorial and senior management positions with The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Hearst Newspapers, Gannett Newspapers, Public Radio (“WBJC”) and WJZ-TV. Twice nominated by his editors for the Pulitzer Prize, Mr. Miller is the recipient of The Paul Myhre Award for journalistic excellence and The New York State Bar Association Media Award. Mr. Miller was Director of Public and Governmental Affairs for the Maryland State College and University System and Professor of Journalism at Towson University. He is the author of numerous articles, including several published in The Johns Hopkins Alcohol Research Report, The Journal of The Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing, In Brief (journal of The Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health), The Associated Press and Reuters. Mr. Miller is an honors graduate of The University of Virginia, a cum laude graduate of the University’s College of Arts & Sciences, and a graduate of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business: Executive Strategic Marketing Program.
Jonathan W. Bourne, MS, PhD
– Chief Science Officer
Dr. Bourne specializes in translational biophysics and is an avid inventor in the field. He is a graduate of Cornell University’s Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences (Weill-Cornell), with an MS in Clinical Investigation and a PhD in Physiology, Biophysics, and Systems Biology. He was recognized as the Weill-Cornell Distinguished Student for his graduating class. He has co-authored eight published manuscripts, including first authorship of several peer-reviewed articles on collagen biomechanics and collagen enzymatic degradation (e.g., glycation cross-linking induced mechanical–enzymatic cleavage of microscale tendon fibers; collagen peptide simulated bending after applied axial deformation). He also holds eight patents, with another two issuing by the end of 2021, and maintains an adjunct research faculty appointment with the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, NY. Prior to joining BirchBioMed, he led biology and biophysics research at Serometrix, LLC in Pittsford, NY, where he was part of the team that successfully patented new methods of allosteric inhibition of PCSK9 for lipid lowering, coordinated IP strategy, and led scientific diligence for two separate out-licensing transactions. He has also volunteered with several community organizations, including the Monroe County Dept. of Public Health Medical Reserve Corps, the Boy Scouts of America: Seneca Waterways Council, and Love the Children of Rochester.
Susan Elliott – Co-founder, Chief Marketing Officer, and Director
Ms. Elliott is an entrepreneur with extensive marketing and sales experience that includes executive and senior management positions with some of the world’s top corporations. Founder of Elliott, Clark Communications, she has developed strategic communications and orchestrated product launches for many prominent companies, including Nissan, The Nissan Foundation, Infiniti, Toyota, Chrysler, BMW, Mitsubishi, Honda, Jaguar North America, The Canadian International Auto Show and Green Living Enterprises. Ms. Elliott was a trusted advisor to C-Suite executives on marketing strategy/implementation, product placement and media relations. Ms. Elliott was also in charge of establishing and directing the Canadian operations for public relations firm Bob Thomas & Associates; served as Vice President, Business Development/PR for Chiat/Day/Mojo Advertising; was in charge of merchandising for Mazda Canada Inc. (handling the company’s marketing, advertising, public relations and sales promotion activities); and served as Senior Account Management for British Leyland/Jaguar, Burmah Castrol and Starword Communications. A long-time member of the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada (“AJAC”), Ms. Elliott was awarded the group’s highest honor, the Tony Sloga Award. Ms. Elliott is also a member of the board of Trivest Global Holdings Ltd. Ms. Elliott attended Ryerson College in Toronto, where she studied Business Management, Marketing and Advertising.
Jon S. Verbeck CPA – Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Verbeck is an entrepreneurial minded business executive and leader, combining strong financial and operational management experience with strategy development and capital formation experience in startup, family-owned, and private equity backed companies. Mr. Verbeck has successfully led companies through transitions including startup to profitable high growth, family owned to private equity backed, turnaround to financial viability, and unregulated to regulated and has advised many early stage companies on financial and deal structure matters. Mr. Verbeck has significant transaction experience including raising startup capital from both private and professional investors, obtaining growth financing, securing credit facilities, leading mergers & acquisitions, and in creating exits for investors.
Mr. Verbeck is the Founder and Managing Director of Verbeck Associates, LLC, a boutique business advisory firm. He has served as Chief Financial Officer of multiple companies with responsibility for all aspects of the business including strategy development, sales management, purchasing, production operations, IT, administration and finance. Mr. Verbeck began his career at KPMG, working on both the audit and tax staff and has also held multiple financial management and CFO positions throughout his career. Mr. Verbeck holds a BS in Accounting from Syracuse University and is a Certified Public Accountant, licensed by the State of New York. He is a member of the New York Society of Certified Public Accountants, and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Jon is also an avid skier and an Ironman Triathlete
Teresa Bair, Esq. – Director
- Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of Kura Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: KURA) . Teresa joins BirchBioMed Board of Directors with more than 25 years of combined in-house and law firm experience with drug development.
Charles N. Ellis, M.D. – Director
- William B. Taylor Professor of Dermatology, University of Michigan Medical School
- Chief, Dermatology Service/Dermatology Residency Site Director, Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System’
- Director Emeritus, Service Excellence Department, University of Michigan Health System
Joseph Sardano – Director
- Co-founder, Chairman & CEO of Sensus Healthcare (Nasdaq:SRTS) since 2010
- More than 30 years of experience in medical technology, including senior positions at Xoft, Siemens Medical Systems, CTI Molecular Imaging, GE Medical Systems
SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD
Charles N. Ellis, M.D. – Director
- William B. Taylor Professor of Dermatology, University of Michigan Medical School
- Chief, Dermatology Service/Dermatology Residency Site Director, Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System
- Director Emeritus, Service Excellence Department, University of Michigan Health System
Dr. Aziz Ghahary, Ph.D.
Dr. Ghahary is a co-inventor of FS1/FS2. A Professor in UBC’s Department of Surgery, Dr. Ghahary is also Director of the Burn and Wound Healing Research Group at Vancouver General Hospital. Dr. Ghahary has published more than 160 peer-reviewed articles in eminent, internationally recognized journals and has extensive experience in the field of wound healing and dermal fibroproliferative disorders. He has previously identified a keratinocyte releasable anti-fibrogenic factor for dermal fibroblasts for a protein identified as “stratifin” (a sigma isoform of the 14-3-3 family proteins). He later showed two isoforms of 14-3-3 (eta and gamma) specifically present in the synovial fluid of the patients with rheumatic arthritis. Dr. Ghahary is the lead inventor on patent application “14-3-3 Proteins as Biomarkers for Arthritis” originally filed (UILO File # 06-117) in 2007. UBC licensed that technology to a spin-off company, Augurex Life Science Co., in 2007 and filed a PCT /CA2007000817 thereafter. Among 85 different technologies submitted to the BC Innovation Competition, this project ranked #1 and later received CIHR POP Phase 2 funding (equivalent to NIH funding in the U.S.). This product is now on the market in the U.S. and recently received Health Canada market approval for sale in Canada.
Dr. Reza Jalili, MD Ph.D.
Dr. Reza Jalili is a co-inventor of the autoimmune therapy technology licensed by Birch. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, at UBC. Dr. Jalili obtained his M.D. at Tehran University of Medical Sciences and his Ph.D. in Experimental Medicine from UBC before completing his Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Department of Surgery. Dr. Jalili’s work focuses on finding novel treatments that can repair chronic wounds efficiently, while also reducing side effects in injured individuals. To do so, part of his research is centered on identifying which wound types heal easily and which cell types are involved in the wound healing process. In addition, Dr. Jalili also studies transplantation immunology: specifically, how to prevent graft rejection after transplantations. Dr. Jalili is currently investigating ways to suppress the immune system with few side effects so that graft rejection does not occur. Dr. Jalili is currently working with Dr. Aziz Ghahary to use IDO expressing dermal fibroblasts to prevent the progression of Alopecia Areata, an autoimmune disease. In his earlier work Dr. Jalili was a lead investigator on strategies to induce tolerance following islet transplantation in mice with naturally occurring Type 1 Diabetes. While a Ph.D. student in Dr. Ghahary’s lab, he discovered a novel cell-based therapy to increase the survival rate of regulatory immune T-cells and prevent graft rejections following transplantation. His work has been published in several leading journals, including “Diabetes”, which is a top journal in the field.
Mark S. Nestor, MD, PhD
- Director of the Center for Clinical and Cosmetic Research
- Industry board member and director for over 50 different organizations and agencies such as the FDA, and academic institutions (U of Miami)
- Author on more than 65 publications and 600 invited presentations
Anthony Papp, MD, PhD, FRCSC – Plastic Surgeon
Dr. Papp is a plastic surgeon and Clinical Professor of Surgery at UBC, with specific responsibility for the Spinal Cord Injury Wound Clinic and Complex Wound Clinic. As a director for the BC Professional Firefighters’ Burn Unit at Vancouver General Hospital, he leads the Provincial Burn Program with responsibilities in teaching and research in addition to his clinical patient care. Dr. Papp completed his initial medical training in Finland, graduating from the University of Kuopio, Finland, and later specializing first in general surgery and plastic surgery. Dr. Papp was active staff in the Department of Plastic Surgery in Kuopio University Hospital, where he oversaw a national burn center for 10 years. He also acted as the Head of Plastic Surgery there before he relocated to Vancouver in 2007. Dr. Papp has also worked in Abu Dhabi as a senior consultant in Sheikh Khalifa Medical City Hospital, and served as a visiting professor in Winnipeg and Kuwait City. Dr. Papp has 40 original publications in international scientific journals, 75 international conference abstracts, 15 other publications and has written 19 book chapters. He is a world-renowned lecturer and serves as a reviewer/editor for several international scientific journals.
Scott Rineer, MD, MPH FACEP FAAEM
- Medical degree from the prestigious Uniformed Services University School of Medicine (USUHS), F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine
- Multiple awards, including Bruce Jackson Awardee, Flight Surgeon of the Year (Naval Reserve), and Chief Naval Air Forces Reserve, Flight Surgeon of the Year