Terry Winters, Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Winters received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Wales. He is a partner with Valley Ventures and was a founding general partner in Columbine Venture Fund. Dr. Winters has specialized in creating medical device and pharmaceutical companies based on university sourced technology. He has formerly been a director of many private companies and three public companies: CollaGenex Pharmaceuticals, Orthologic Corp. and Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals.Robert A. Ashley, MA (Oxon), Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Ashley's career in the pharmaceutical industry extends over 26 years. Mr. Ashley is responsible for the management and integration of VTI's regulatory and clinical strategy worldwide. He was formerly Chairman, President and CEO of AmpliMed Corp, a privately-owned cancer drug development company. His career experience also includes positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Amersham and CollaGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He has a Masters Degree in Biochemistry from Oxford University, is the author of several scientific papers and is the inventor of several issued and pending patents.Aron Stern, B.S., M.B.A., Chief Financial Officer, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer
Mr. Stern received a B.S. degree in Economics and Business Administration and an M.B.A. in Finance and Marketing from the University of California – Berkeley. Mr. Stern has over 20 years of experience in capital formation, acquisitions, financial strategy and financial and operational management in growth-stage high technology and biotechnology companies. He previously held positions at Apple Computer and Isis Pharmaceuticals, and for 9 years was CFO at Protein Polymer Technologies Inc. and 4-D Neuroimaging, and for 3 years at VitaGen.Kameron Maxwell, Ph.D., Executive Vice President of Manufacturing Operations
Dr. Maxwell received his Ph.D. in Immunology from University of Utah in Salt Lake City and has been involved with the clinical development of drugs and for over 20 years . He previously held positions at Genta Inc. and Baxter Travenol's Hyland Division in Costa Mesa, California. Dr. Maxwell was also founder and president of Americal Pharmaceuticals Incorporated. At VTI, he is responsible for operations of CMC and clinical development.Jan P. Barker, R.N., F.N.P, M.S., Executive Vice President, Marketing and Business Development
Ms. Barker received a BS, from the University of San Francisco and an MS from the University California, Davis/Stanford University. She is currently a Special Limited Partner with MedVenture Associates and was a founding general partner in the Crucible Group, a participant in the funding of Vital Therapies, and has founded, worked, invested and participated on the Board of Directors with private and public corporations in the healthcare systems, technology and medical device industries, including Healthy Communities, Sleep Solutions, Inc. (Private), IPCM, The Hospitalist Company (IPO 2007 – Nasdaq: IPCM), PointShare, Networks for Healthcare, Alere Medical, Incorporated (Aquired), Mullikin Medical Centers (Aquired), MedPartners (IPO 1998, Acquired).John Brotherton, Ph.D., Vice President, Manufacturing and Development
Dr. Brotherton received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, San Diego. His expertise includes the design of hollow fiber bioreactors for support of mammalian cell growth. Dr. Brotherton held product development positions with Vitagen for six years. He was also an engineer at the Space Systems Division of General Dynamics. Dr. Brotherton has been involved with the design, development and testing of the ELAD® System, focusing on bioreactor and bedside system design and function at Vitagen and VTI.Dar He, M.D., Vice President, International Operations,
Chief Operating Officer, Vital Therapies (Beijing), Co.
Ltd.
Dar He is an M.D. from Shanghai First Medical
University, P.R. China, where he did clinical research in
liver pathology. His postdoctoral fellowship work at
University of California Davis involved cancer therapy, and
at Baylor College of Medicine Department of Pathology he
studied liver disease and developing clones from human
primary hepatocytes. Dr. He has been involved in research
and development and the manufacturing of ELAD through all
clinical testing and was the fourth employee of
Hepatix/Vitagen starting in 1991. He is an expert in
nurturing and growing the cell line and preparing the ELAD
cartridges for release and the use of ELAD in the clinical
setting.
Shapour Aslani, Ph.D., Vice President, Quality Control and Quality Assurance
Dr. Aslani received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Houston. His prior experience includes quality control and production management positions in companies both in the U.S. and Iran. He held positions with VitaGen for 7 years, responsible for manufacturing QC and maintaining cGMP compliance.Alan Donald, M.S., M.B.A., R.A.C., Vice President, Regulatory Affairs
Mr. Donald attended Harvard University and Claremont McKenna College, receiving a bachelors degree in biology/physiology. He obtained a Masterss degree in biochemistry/cell biology from San Diego State University, and an executive MBA from the University of California. He is certified by the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society. Mr. Donald has over 30 years of FDA and international regulatory/clinical experience in biomedical products including drugs, biologics, in vitro diagnostics, nutraceuticals, combination products, and medical devices across a wide diversity of therapeutic areas. He is a professor in the Master of Science in Regulatory Affairs program at San Diego State University.China Management