Board of Directors
Garheng Kong, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., General Partner - Chairman
Dr. Garheng Kong joined Intersouth Partners in 2000 and has board involvement with most of Intersouth's life science companies, including his role as Chairman of the Board of Directors for Cempra Pharmaceuticals Inc. Dr. Kong has full-cycle investing experience, successfully sourcing, syndicating, managing and exiting investments. He also served as interim CEO for two Intersouth portfolio companies. Prior to Intersouth, he worked at GlaxoWellcome and McKinsey & Company. He received his M.D., Ph.D., in Biomedical Engineering, and M.B.A. from Duke University graduating at the top of his medical and business school classes. He also holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Stanford University. He is active in the community and currently serves on the board of directors of the North Carolina Medical Device Organization, the SEBIO organization, the Corporate Chaplains of America and has served on the Duke University Medical Center Institutional Review Board. Dr. Kong is a current member of the faculty at the Duke School of Business as a Senior Scholar.
Geeta Vemuri, Ph.D.
Dr. Geeta Vemuri joined Quaker BioVentures in 2003 and serves as a Partner. Previously, she was an Associate at Toucan Capital, where she was responsible for investments in seed-stage and start-up biotechnology opportunities. She also participated in raising capital and helped start several portfolio companies. Prior to Toucan, Dr. Vemuri was an Associate Equity Analyst at Salomon Smith Barney and First Union Securities where she focused on specialty pharmaceuticals and healthcare sectors, respectively. Earlier in her career, Dr. Vemuri was a research scientist at the Wistar Institute and postdoctoral fellow at Thomas Jefferson University. She has also participated on the Boards of Cellatope and Protez Pharmaceuticals, and now currently serves on the Boards of Arginetix, Argolyn, Immune Control, and has Board observer responsibilities at Optherion, Regado Biosciences, Tengion and Tranzyme Pharma. Dr. Vemuri also serves on the Advisory Board of Fox Chase Cancer Center's Innovation Fund, the Advisory Committee of the Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator, Board of Directors of Southeast BIO, and the Advisory Committee of BioAdvance Greenhouse. She earned her M.S. degree from Central University in India; her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Indian Institute of Sciences; and her M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
I. Wistar Morris III, B.A., M.B.A.
I. Wistar Morris of Villanova, Pennsylvania, is a Director of Boenning & Scattergood, an Investment Securities firm. Previously, he served as Senior Investment Consultant for Pennsylvania Trust Company, and as President and Chairman of Morris Investment Management Company, Inc. He chaired the Investment and Finance committees as a Trustee of the Presbyterian Medical Center. He has been on the boards of 19 public and private companies. Morris received a bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.
Dov A. Goldstein, M.D., M.B.A.
Dr. Goldstein serves as a Partner of Aisling Capital. Previously, Dr. Goldstein was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Vicuron Pharmaceuticals until its acquisition by Pfizer for $1.9 billion. While at Vicuron Pharmaceuticals, he raised over $250 million dollars in an IPO, PIPE, follow-on and block trade transactions. He led the valuation and finance due diligence for the merger with Biosearch Italia (Nuovo mercato: BIO.MI), the first U.S. and Italian public to public company merger. He also ran the investor relations and press relations efforts for the company. Prior to Vicuron, Dr. Goldstein was Director of Venture Analysis at HealthCare Ventures. Dr. Goldstein currently serves as a director of ADMA Biologics, Inc. and BioRelix, Inc. He received his M.D. from Yale School of Medicine and completed an internship in the Department of Medicine at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital. He also earned an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and received his B.S. with honors from Stanford University.
Michael L. Corrado, M.D., FIDSA
Dr. Michael L. Corrado has over two decades of experience in anti-infective research and product development. He currently serves as the Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Regulatory Officer at INC Research, a contract research organization (CRO) providing clinical and regulatory services to the pharmaceutical industry, where he provides anti-infective expertise. Previously he was President and CEO at Advanced Biologics, another clinical services CRO, that also offered an infectious disease focus. Prior to founding Advanced Biologics, Dr. Corrado held several research and regulatory affairs management positions including at Merck, where he was Director of the anti-infective group, and at Johnson and Johnson where he was Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. During his tenure at those two companies he was responsible for a number of anti-infective approvals including Levaquin�, Primaxin�, Floxin� and Mefoxin�. Before joining the pharmaceutical industry Dr. Corrado held an academic position at SUNY Downstate Medical School where he was Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. He is an author on numerous peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Corrado earned his M.D. at Meharry Medical College in Nashville and his B.S. at the University of Pittsburgh.
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Prabhavathi Fernandes, Ph.D., President and CEO
See management team list for her biography.
Board Observers
P. Sherrill Neff, J.D., Quaker BioVentures
Devang Kantesaria, M.D., Devon Park Bioventures
James Rosen, M.B.A., M.S.P.H., Intersouth Partners
Andrew Schiff, M.D., M.B.A., Aisling Capital
Terry Woodward, Ph.D., M.B.A., Ontario Teachers Pension Plan
Garheng Kong, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., General Partner - Chairman
Dr. Garheng Kong joined Intersouth Partners in 2000 and has board involvement with most of Intersouth's life science companies, including his role as Chairman of the Board of Directors for Cempra Pharmaceuticals Inc. Dr. Kong has full-cycle investing experience, successfully sourcing, syndicating, managing and exiting investments. He also served as interim CEO for two Intersouth portfolio companies. Prior to Intersouth, he worked at GlaxoWellcome and McKinsey & Company. He received his M.D., Ph.D., in Biomedical Engineering, and M.B.A. from Duke University graduating at the top of his medical and business school classes. He also holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Stanford University. He is active in the community and currently serves on the board of directors of the North Carolina Medical Device Organization, the SEBIO organization, the Corporate Chaplains of America and has served on the Duke University Medical Center Institutional Review Board. Dr. Kong is a current member of the faculty at the Duke School of Business as a Senior Scholar.
Geeta Vemuri, Ph.D.
Dr. Geeta Vemuri joined Quaker BioVentures in 2003 and serves as a Partner. Previously, she was an Associate at Toucan Capital, where she was responsible for investments in seed-stage and start-up biotechnology opportunities. She also participated in raising capital and helped start several portfolio companies. Prior to Toucan, Dr. Vemuri was an Associate Equity Analyst at Salomon Smith Barney and First Union Securities where she focused on specialty pharmaceuticals and healthcare sectors, respectively. Earlier in her career, Dr. Vemuri was a research scientist at the Wistar Institute and postdoctoral fellow at Thomas Jefferson University. She has also participated on the Boards of Cellatope and Protez Pharmaceuticals, and now currently serves on the Boards of Arginetix, Argolyn, Immune Control, and has Board observer responsibilities at Optherion, Regado Biosciences, Tengion and Tranzyme Pharma. Dr. Vemuri also serves on the Advisory Board of Fox Chase Cancer Center's Innovation Fund, the Advisory Committee of the Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator, Board of Directors of Southeast BIO, and the Advisory Committee of BioAdvance Greenhouse. She earned her M.S. degree from Central University in India; her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Indian Institute of Sciences; and her M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
I. Wistar Morris III, B.A., M.B.A.
I. Wistar Morris of Villanova, Pennsylvania, is a Director of Boenning & Scattergood, an Investment Securities firm. Previously, he served as Senior Investment Consultant for Pennsylvania Trust Company, and as President and Chairman of Morris Investment Management Company, Inc. He chaired the Investment and Finance committees as a Trustee of the Presbyterian Medical Center. He has been on the boards of 19 public and private companies. Morris received a bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.
Dov A. Goldstein, M.D., M.B.A.
Dr. Goldstein serves as a Partner of Aisling Capital. Previously, Dr. Goldstein was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Vicuron Pharmaceuticals until its acquisition by Pfizer for $1.9 billion. While at Vicuron Pharmaceuticals, he raised over $250 million dollars in an IPO, PIPE, follow-on and block trade transactions. He led the valuation and finance due diligence for the merger with Biosearch Italia (Nuovo mercato: BIO.MI), the first U.S. and Italian public to public company merger. He also ran the investor relations and press relations efforts for the company. Prior to Vicuron, Dr. Goldstein was Director of Venture Analysis at HealthCare Ventures. Dr. Goldstein currently serves as a director of ADMA Biologics, Inc. and BioRelix, Inc. He received his M.D. from Yale School of Medicine and completed an internship in the Department of Medicine at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital. He also earned an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and received his B.S. with honors from Stanford University.
John H. Johnson
John H. Johnson has more than two decades of biopharmaceutical and healthcare industry experience. John H. Johnson was appointed senior vice president and president of the oncology business unit, Eli Lilly and Company, effective November 1, 2009. Prior to this appointment, he had served as chief executive officer of ImClone Systems since August 2007 and was also a member of ImClone's board of directors until the company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lilly in November 2008. Previously, he served as company group chairman of Johnson and Johnson's Worldwide Biopharmaceuticals unit and was responsible for the biotechnology, immunology and oncology commercial businesses, including Centocor, Ortho Biotech Products and the Worldwide Strategic Marketing Group. Mr. Johnson began his career at Pfizer and then joined Johnson and Johnson in 2000 to help lead the Company into the anti-infectives market. He left Johnson and Johnson in 2000 to join Parkstone Medical Information systems as president and CEO, returning in 2002 as worldwide vice president, CNS/Psychiatry. He was then appointed president of Ortho Biotech Products and subsequently became responsible for Ortho Biotech Canada until he was named company group chairman in 2005. Mr. Johnson earned a B.S. degree from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania.
Michael L. Corrado, M.D., FIDSA
Dr. Michael L. Corrado has over two decades of experience in anti-infective research and product development. He currently serves as the Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Regulatory Officer at INC Research, a contract research organization (CRO) providing clinical and regulatory services to the pharmaceutical industry, where he provides anti-infective expertise. Previously he was President and CEO at Advanced Biologics, another clinical services CRO, that also offered an infectious disease focus. Prior to founding Advanced Biologics, Dr. Corrado held several research and regulatory affairs management positions including at Merck, where he was Director of the anti-infective group, and at Johnson and Johnson where he was Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. During his tenure at those two companies he was responsible for a number of anti-infective approvals including Levaquin�, Primaxin�, Floxin� and Mefoxin�. Before joining the pharmaceutical industry Dr. Corrado held an academic position at SUNY Downstate Medical School where he was Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. He is an author on numerous peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Corrado earned his M.D. at Meharry Medical College in Nashville and his B.S. at the University of Pittsburgh.
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Prabhavathi Fernandes, Ph.D., President and CEO
See management team list for her biography.
Board Observers
P. Sherrill Neff, J.D., Quaker BioVentures
Devang Kantesaria, M.D., Devon Park Bioventures
James Rosen, M.B.A., M.S.P.H., Intersouth Partners
Andrew Schiff, M.D., M.B.A., Aisling Capital
Terry Woodward, Ph.D., M.B.A., Ontario Teachers Pension Plan