Executive Officers

Sandra Shpilberg, 45
Chief Executive Officer and Director

A serial entrepreneur, biotech executive and active investor, with M&A experience, Sandra Shpilberg brings deep operational experience in the healthcare sector. In 2015, Shpilberg founded Seeker Health®, a breakthrough patient finding platform. The company grew rapidly to serve 60+ biopharmaceutical companies with clinical trial enrollment. In 2018, EVERSANA®, a large life sciences services conglomerate, acquired Seeker Health for an undisclosed sum. Morgan Stanley recognized Seeker Health as a Healthcare Innovator in its 2019 report “Incubators of Innovation: The Role of Private Companies in Healthcare.” Prior to Seeker Health, Shpilberg held executive roles at biopharmaceutical companies. She served as Vice President of Commercial Development and Strategic Marketing for Nora Therapeutics from 2014 to 2015, and as Executive Director of Product Development from 2010 to 2014 and Senior Director of Marketing from 2005 to 2010 at BioMarin Pharmaceutical (Nasdaq: BMRN) where she led commercial launches, including NAGLAZYME®, which received FDA approval in May 2005, and KUVAN®. She led the Product Development team for PALINZIQ®, and advanced its clinical development from Phase 2 to Phase 3. PALINZIQ® was eventually approved in 2018. Shpilberg’s innovative spirit is captured in the book A Rare Breed, about BioMarin’s history. Shpilberg also held roles at Genentech, acquired by Roche (OTCMKTS: RHHBY) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) working on REMICADE®, a blockbuster drug with multiple indications. Prior to these healthcare experiences, Shpilberg worked at Citigroup (NYSE: C) as a Financial Controller and at JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) as an Audit Analyst. Medical Marketing & Media named Shpilberg a Top 40 Healthcare Transformer. She’s the author of New Startup Mindset: Ten Mindset Shifts to Build the Company of Your Dreams. She holds an MBA in Marketing and Entrepreneurial Management from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mark Joing, 49
Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Secretary, and Director

Mark Joing is the Founder & CEO at Mojo Trials, a startup life sciences service provider delivering virtual site monitoring in clinical trials. His 25+ year career in biopharma includes executive roles leading clinical operations and project management departments at Vyne Therapeutics from 2016 to 2020 (formerly Menlo Therapeutics, which completed an IPO of $137 million in 2018, Nasdaq: VYNE), Nora Therapeutics from 2010 to 2015, and ARCA Biopharma from 2004 to 2009 (formerly Nuvelo, Nasdaq: ABIO), as well as earlier supply chain and engineering roles at 3M Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: MMM), and Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABBV). At ARCA/Nuvelo, he was awarded the inaugural George Rathmann Award for corporate impact. He has extensive experience in biopharma due diligence, including licensing and M&A in the United States, Europe, and Japan. He earned his MBA at Stanford as an Arjay Miller Scholar (top 10%), which included time as a consultant with McKinsey & Company’s Healthcare team. He graduated at the top of his class with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University.

Board of Directors

Timothy Zanni, 60
Chairman of the Board, Director

Timothy Zanni joined KPMG LLP in 1988 and served in several leadership positions until his retirement in September 2020, including most recently as Global Head of the Technology, Media, and Telco industry. Previously, he was Managing Partner of the Silicon Valley office from 2009 to 2016. Mr. Zanni was also a partner in KPMG’s National Office where he became a leader in technical accounting, auditing, and SEC reporting regulations. His primary focus has been in the life sciences, consumer products, and technology industries. Mr. Zanni received his B.B.A. degree with a concentration in Accounting from the University of Notre Dame. Mr. Zanni’s extensive finance, accounting, and IPO expertise, as well as his executive, business development, and talent management experience, will bring important and valuable skills to our board of directors.

Anthony Japour, 61
Director

Dr. Anthony Japour has been a biotech and pharmaceutical executive for the last 25 years with due diligence experience and a talent for building entrepreneurial organizations in startup and established biopharmaceutical companies through the growth phase. Japour began his career as an MD, trained at Harvard Medical School with subspecialty training in Infectious Diseases; he rose to the rank of Assistant Professor of Medicine, and was awarded the prestigious American Foundation for AIDS Scholar award, followed by a NIH-NIAID K-11 Physician Scientist Award and NIH RO1. From 1996 to 2002, Japour moved to the pharmaceutical industry at Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) in antiviral drug development where he was on the leadership team for the Phase I-III development team for KALETRA®, a blockbuster drug for HIV infection as well as other HIV drug combinations. Japour performed due diligence of the Triangle Pharmaceuticals antiviral portfolio on behalf of Abbott and prior to the Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) acquisition of Triangle Pharmaceuticals. Later, Japour oversaw multiple therapeutic areas including HIV, Transplant, Pain, and RSV in Marketed Product Development. In 2002 and 2019, Japour was recommended by his colleagues to be nominated to serve as Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Over the years, Japour has consulted and been a thought leader for many pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, advising governmental and non-governmental entities and has worked closely with numerous Contract Research Laboratories including two publicly held CROs, PPD (Nasdaq: PPDI) and ICON (Nasdaq: ICLR) where he recently worked full-time from 2016 to 2020. Japour currently serves on the board of Cocrystal Pharma, Inc., (Nasdaq: COCP) and previously served on the board of Opko Healthcare (Nasdaq: OPK). Japour is also currently CEO of iTolerance, and recently served as CEO of AdvancedDx Biological Laboratories, USA. a Next Generation Sequencing company. He holds a B.S from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and M.D. from Northwestern University Medical School.

Barbara Nelsen, 59
Director

A molecular biologist who shifted to industry early in her career, Barbara Nelsen has been actively engaged in biotechnology’s rapid growth as a bench scientist, lab head, business development manager, angel investor and founder of a thriving life sciences consulting business. Over the past 30 years Dr. Nelsen has acquired deep experience in due diligence, strategic planning, partnership strategies, market expansion and commercialization planning across the life sciences industry, and has developed an extensive network across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. In 2010, she founded Nelsen Biomedical (NBM), a boutique life sciences strategy consulting firm with offices in Minneapolis and Cambridge. The firm leverages an extensive network of scientists and subject-matter experts, industry leaders, and investors with a small internal team to provide a diverse array of high-impact services. NBM has partnered with over forty firms and educational institutions, including start-ups (e.g., microbiome therapeutics company Rebiotix, acquired by Ferring Pharmaceuticals), global conglomerates (e.g., Kawasaki Heavy Industries OTCMKTS: KWHIY), investors, research institutions, well-respected Family Foundations and new life science innovation hub initiatives (e.g., Destination Medical Center, Rochester MN; University of Oslo). Prior to founding Nelsen Biomedical, Dr. Nelsen served as the Associate Director, Office for Technology Commercialization at the University of Minnesota from 2006 to 2009. Earlier in her career Dr. Nelsen held both business and research roles at biopharmaceutical companies. She was the Associate Director of Business Development at MGI Pharma, acquired by Eisai (OTCMKTS: ESALY) from 1995 to 1999 and the Director of Cancer Therapeutics and Diagnostics at the Austin Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia from 1992 to 1994. An active angel investor with a passion to foster new companies, Dr. Nelsen currently serves on the boards of: Anatomic Corporation, a research tools start-up company; Discovery Capital, the University of Minnesota’s venture fund; University Enterprise Labs, a start-up accelerator for life science and healthcare companies; and Regenerative Medicine Minnesota, a state initiative to fund research and business growth in regenerative medicine. Dr. Nelsen holds a Ph.D. in molecular biology from Brandeis University and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas.