Lynnor Stevenson (Chief Executive Officer) is a successful entrepreneur with thirty years experience in the formation and growth of bioscience companies based on university research.  Lynnor most recently has been a Managing Partner of Alta Biomedical Group, a consulting firm that handles projects in the commercialization of innovative technology. She has engaged in building and leading ten start-up companies, of which six now are public companies. She was founding CEO for 5 years and a director for 18 years of Heska Corporation, an animal health company that develops drugs, vaccines and diagnostics including for parasites. She was a member of the early-stage teams for Creative BioMolecules (now Curis), AP Pharma, Agen and Univax (now Nabi). In addition to business and R&D experience relating to drugs, vaccines and diagnostics, she has experience in drug development at several companies including the submission of several IND (Investigational New Drug) applications to the FDA. She received B.Sc.Hon. and B.Ed. degrees from Melbourne University and a Ph.D in Biochemistry from Monash University, Australia.

David Peyton (Chief Scientific Officer) is a Professor of Chemistry at Portland State University, where he has been since 1987. He has carried out research in areas ranging from NMR methods development to biological chemistry, and has been working on infectious disease and malaria drug action for over 15 years.  His work on parasites began in 1992 with NMR-based studies of antimalarial drug action. David obtained his BS from Abilene Christian University, his Ph.D from University of California, Santa Barbara and did postdoctoral work at Cornell University Medical College and University of California at Davis.

Sandra Shotwell (Chief Operations Officer) has over 20 years experience in early stage technology commercialization. She has done biotech and pharmaceutical licensing deals for  Stanford, OHSU and the National Institutes of Health, where she founded and led the technology licensing program. Sandra most recently has been a Managing Partner of Alta Biomedical Group, a consulting firm that handles projects in the commercialization of innovative technology.  She also is nationally recognized as an authority on the role of intellectual property in the development of neglected diseases.  Sandra did her undergraduate work at Princeton University, earned a Ph.D. in Biology from the California Institute of Technology, and did postdoctoral research at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Steven Burgess (Senior Chemist) has over a decade of industry experience in medicinal chemistry.  Steven worked at Maybridge Chemical Company for 11 years as a Synthetic Organic Chemist and a Team Leader.  Steven obtained his BS from University of Bristol in the U.K., and his Ph.D. from Portland State University, where he worked with David Peyton designing and developing novel antimalarial compounds.

The company has recruited a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) that includes researchers in the fields of Organic Chemistry, Pharmacokinetics & Pharmacology, Toxicology – including Mutagenesis, Drug CNS Activity, and Parasitology. Dr. Peyton is Chair of the SAB. Other members include:

• Dr. Donald Krogstad, Professor or Tropical Medicine, Tulane University.  Dr. Krogstad will provide expertise on chloroquine resistance and drug development.
• Dr. Dennis Koop, Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology, OHSU. Dr. Koop will provide expertise on pharmacokinetics, pharmacology, and metabolism. He adds expertise in medicinal chemistry, with a special emphasis in P450-mediated metabolism. Dr. Koop is in charge of the OHSU Bioanalytical Shared Resource, which will be used for some of the pharmacokinetics and metabolism studies.
• Dr. Michael Riscoe, Director, Experimental Chemotherapy Laboratory, VA Medical Center. Dr. Riscoe will provide expertise on parasitology. He has a long track record in malaria and antimalarial drug development.
• Dr. Robert Strongin, Professor of Organic Chemistry, PSU. Dr. Strongin will provide advice on organic syntheses, in particular conjugation chemistry.
• Dr. Mitchell Turker, Professor, Molecular & Medical Genetics, OHSU. Dr. Turker will provide expertise on pathology, mutagenesis, and carcinogenesis. Dr. Turker will be providing access to his laboratory for toxicity/mutagenesis screening, and serve as a collaborator on this project.
• Dr. Aaron Janowsky, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, OHSU & Research Career Scientist, VA Medical Center. Dr. Janowsky will provide expertise and guidance in both CNS activity (testing & minimization) and cytotoxicity evaluations. Dr. Janowksy will provide access to his laboratory for evaluating possible CNS activity of the drug candidates