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Mr. James R. McNab, Jr., MBA, Executive Chairman
Mr McNab was appointed Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of First String Research in 2009. He is also Chairman and a founder of Curis Inc (NASDAQ: CRIS), a drug discovery company focused on developmental biology and with ongoing collaborations with Johnson & Johnson, Genentech, Wyeth, and Procter & Gamble. Mr. McNab is also Chairman and founder of eNOS Pharmaceuticals, a development stage company working on treatments for cardiovascular and Alzheimer's diseases. Previously, Mr. McNab founded two medical device companies, Sontra Medical based on technology licensed from MIT, and Parker Medical Associates which was later sold to Smith and Nephew. Mr. McNab was a Phi Beta Kappa Economics and History graduate of Davidson College and earned his MBA at the University of North Carolina. He served in the US Army as a Force Planning Analyst in the Office of the Chief of Staff for General William Westmoreland.
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Dr. Gautam Ghatnekar, DVM (India), Ph.D., President & Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Ghatnekar was appointed the CEO of FirstString in December 2008. Prior to that he served as the President and Chief Scientific Officer. Prior to FirstString, Dr. Ghatnekar worked as a Research and Development Manager at a biotech company for over 4 years working on preclinical and early clinical aspects of technology development. He is a veterinarian with over 10 years experience in small animal medicine and surgery. After building a successful veterinary practice he chose to seek new challenges, graduating from North Carolina State University with a Ph.D. in comparative biomedical sciences in 2004. During his doctoral studies at NC State University Dr Ghatnekar won various awards including the Teratology Society Marie W. Taubeneck award for excellence in research and leadership and an American Heart Association Fellowship. Dr. Ghatnekar is a member of various prestigious national and international scientific societies including the Wound Healing Society and the Association for Advancement of Wound Care.
His post-doctoral work led to the discovery of the wound healing potential of a novel class of peptide(s) bioengineered by the Gourdie laboratory at MUSC. In June 2005, Dr Ghatnekar co-founded FirstString Research, Inc. to explore the scientific and commercial potential of this exciting technology.
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Mr. Tuan A. Elstrom, VP Business Development
Mr. Elstrom is a business development professional with over a decade of experience working in the life sciences industry. He started his career as a scientist at Abbott Diagnostics conducting research, technology due diligence, and market assessments relating to the next generation diabetes products and advanced diagnostic detection technologies. Mr. Elstrom was a member of an Abbott team that designed and developed the Sof-Tact, the first integrated virtually painless glucometer. In 1998, Mr. Elstrom joined Sontra Medical as Director of Business Develoment where he assisted the Chairman in transitioning the company from an early stage into a publicly traded product development company. In addition to negotiating technology licensing opportunities, he contributed to the development and commercialization of SonoPrep, a non-invasive ultrasound-mediated skin permeation device with applications in continuous glucose monitoring and transdermal delivery of peptides such as insulin. Most recently Mr. Elstrom served as a consultant for early stage venture capital funded life sciences companies providing services in intellectual property management. Mr. Elstrom has co-authored 11 U. S. patents and numerous patent applications in the field of medical diagnostics, medical devices, drug delivery technology, and business method inventions. Mr. Elstrom received a Bachelor of Science in aero-astronautics (avionics) from MIT.
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David T. Rovee, PhD, Chairman - Scientific Advisory Board
Dr. Rovee began his career at Johnson & Johnson as a research scientist and assumed management responsibilities over the course of his employment. He was Vice President of Research and Development for the J&J Patient Care Company and a member of the Management Board. Subsequently he formed a consulting company providing services to the pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology industries. He was a founding board member of the Association for Advanced Wound Care (AAWC), and from 1992 to 2007 was the editor for the medical journal, Wounds – A Compendium of Clinical Research and Practice. Dr. Rovee was president and chief operating officer for Organogenesis Inc. responsible for managing the company's development, clinical studies, regulatory approvals, and production of the first living skin product (Apligraf®) to be introduced into the U.S. market. He served on the boards of Organogenesis Inc., Specialized Health Products Inc., and currently is an outside director and member of the advisory board for Xylos Corporation and for Aalnex Inc. He chairs the scientific advisory board for FirstString Research.
Throughout his career Dr. Rovee's interests and activities have remained focused on bringing improved technical approaches to commercial reality in the areas of dermatology, skin care, wound treatment and surgery.
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Carl Ehmann, MD
Dr. Carl Ehmann graduated with his undergraduate and medical degrees from the State University of NY at Buffalo. After internship, he joined the US Public Health Service (Indian Health) in Alaska practicing general medicine. He completed his residency in dermatology at the University of Washington (Seattle) and then served as President of the East Range Multispecialty Clinic in northern Minnesota.
Carl joined pharmaceutical research as Director of Clinical Research for Hoffmann-La Roche. He then joined Bristol Myers as Vice President R& D (Dermatology). Subsequently he was appointed Executive V.P. for Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products. He later became President of Reynolds Technology and finally joined Reckitt and Coleman as Global Head of R&D.
During his career Carl has served on many Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Boards. He has been a member of several technology transfer and investment groups including presently as a board member for MUSC Foundation for Research Development.
During his career, Carl has been an Assistant/Associate Clinical Professor at SUNY at Buffalo, Univ. or Minn., NYU, Univ. of Penn., and Wake Forest Medical Schools. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, N.Y. Academy of Medicine and American Academy of Dermatology.
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Michael L. Sabolinski, MD
Michael L. Sabolinski, M.D. is a Chief Medical and Scientific Advisor of FoxKiser, Washington, DC.
FoxKiser employs a multidisciplinary approach that integrates medicine, science, law, and government
affairs to enhance the value of medical products and health care businesses. Dr. Sabolinski previously
served as Chief Medical Officer of NitroMed, Inc., Lexington, MA where he was responsible for
Clinical Research, Regulatory Affairs, Medical Affairs, and Quality Assurance. He supervised the team
that was successful in gaining FDA approval for the Company’s lead compound BiDil®, the first drug
approved by FDA with the specific indication for the treatment of heart failure in black patients. Dr.
Sabolinski has more than 20 years of experience in clinical research and medical products development.
He joined NitroMed in 2002 after completing a distinguished decade long career with Organogenesis,
Inc. where he held several positions including President and Chief Executive Officer, Head of Clinical
Research, Regulatory Affairs and Corporate Development. During his tenure, he successfully managed
the team that secured two FDA approvals of a living skin substitute, pioneering the path for stem cell
products and other cell therapies. In addition, he was instrumental in developing a partnership with
Novartis Pharmaceuticals to globally market the Company's leading skin product. Prior to his years at
Organogenesis, Dr. Sabolinski was Therapeutic Area Head of Cardiovascular and Consumer/OTC
products at Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Corporation. He earned his M.D. from the State University of New
York at Buffalo and a M.S. in Biochemistry from New York University Graduate School of Arts and
Sciences. Dr. Sabolinski worked at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York where his research
included evaluating enzyme replacement therapy for Gaucher's Disease. At New York University, he
conducted research in immunobiology developing diagnostic procedures and treatments for autoimmune
skin diseases and also in experimental hematology developing treatments for anemia.
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