Senior Leadership team.
Alex Pastuszak, MD, PhD
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
Alex is an urologist, scientist, and serial entrepreneur, bringing over 15 years of experience in healthcare and biotechnology to Paterna. He received his BS from Yale University and his MD and PhD from the University of California, San Francisco. Alex completed his residency and fellowship training in urology and male reproductive medicine and surgery at Baylor College of Medicine, and started his career as an academic physician-scientist, transitioning more heavily into startups and growth companies over the last decade. Alex’s clinical and NIH-funded basic research focus as faculty at the University of Utah is in men’s sexual and reproductive health, and his entrepreneurial work has encompassed healthcare technology, diagnostics, medical devices, clinical research, and medical innovation. Alex has had founding and executive operational roles at multiple companies, with several exits to date, most recently at Vault Health, where he served as Chief Medical & Scientific Officer. In his spare time, he enjoys endurance cycling, skiing, good wine, and spending time with his wife and two boys.
Danny Mitchell
Danny has been building businesses for 20 years, both at top-tier investment banks and startups. Previously, he was the Chief Executive Officer at CircleUp, a consumer data analytics platform that was acquired in 2023. Prior to CircleUp, Danny was Chief Financial Officer and Head of Operations at Chargeback, a Saas FinTech company, where he led its acquisition by Sift. Further back, Danny was Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer at Red Cedar Investment Management and a Vice President at Goldman Sachs. He received a combined Bachelor of Science and Arts in Accounting and Economics from Bucknell University. Originally from New York, Danny has lived in Salt Lake City for ten years. In his spare time, he enjoys skiing, golfing, mountain biking, and camping with his family.
Meredith Vadis
Chief Operating Officer
Meredith Vadis is a transformative leader with a history of building high-performing organizations. She provides fractional executive, operational, and administrative leadership to small and mid-sized companies, including Paterna Bio. Previously, Meredith was President of Vault Workforce Screening, a nationwide employment screening solutions provider, where she successfully modernized and sold the company in less than two years. During the first year of the pandemic, she created, built, and ran Minnesota’s COVID-19 statewide public testing system. Later, at Vault Health, she led the governmental COVID testing and vaccination partnerships with more than a dozen states. Meredith was also Regional Administrator (Chief Executive Officer) for one of the largest U.S. regional governing bodies, which oversees mass transit, wastewater utilities, regional economic development and urban land planning.
Meredith holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and Political Science from Marquette University and a Master’s in Public Policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. She began her career leading communications on electoral campaigns and running federal offices for a Member of Congress.
With a proven track record in both the public and private sectors, she leverages her multi-sector experience, clear communication, accountability, and collaborative leadership to help organizations minimize risk and maximize operational capacity and efficiency. Meredith turns the unknown and uncertainty into tangible action, empowering companies to achieve extraordinary outcomes.
Brad Cairns, PhD
Co-founder and Chief of Scientific Advisors
Brad received his BS in Chemistry from Lewis and Clark College, his PhD in Cell Biology from Stanford University, and conducted his postdoctoral training in genetics at Harvard Medical School. He is the Chief Academic Officer at Huntsman Cancer Institute, and also Professor and Chair of the Department of Oncological Sciences – both at University of Utah School of Medicine – where he holds the Jon M. Huntsman Presidential Endowed Chair in Cancer Research. His scientific work focuses on understanding how chromatin structure and remodeling regulates gene expression, and his lab has provided multiple insights into how chromatin structure is established and remodeled to control gene expression and development in the germline and early embryos, including in the setting of spermatogenesis. Brad is an Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and is a co-founder of Paterna Biosciences Inc., where he serves as Chair of Scientific Advisors. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017 and to the Royal Society in 2023.
Dan Feehan
Director of Business Development
Dan Feehan is a seasoned leader in healthcare, the military, and national security. Currently, he provides fractional executive, operational, and administrative leadership to small and mid-sized companies, including Paterna Bio. Previously, Dan was Chief Operating Officer of Workforce Screening at Vault Workforce Screening. He also served as a U.S. Army Captain and as a senior executive at the Department of Defense, overseeing a $600M program. A White House Fellow and middle school teacher with Teach For America, Dan holds a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School, and a Bachelor’s in Science of Foreign Service from Georgetown University.
Hollie Chan
Hollie Chan holds an M.B.A. in Management and Finance from Tulane University and a B.S. in Marketing and Communications from Louisiana State University. With a diverse background that spans roles such as contracts negotiator at Lockheed Martin, business owner, and executive-level support at healthcare startups, she brings a wealth of experience to her endeavors. Hollie has collaborated with executive teams to streamline communications, optimize workflows, and foster interdepartmental collaboration. Her meticulous attention to detail and exceptional organizational skills enable her to excel in roles requiring precise execution and strategic thinking.
Recognized for her adept problem-solving ability, she navigates ambiguous circumstances with ease, consistently delivering tangible results. Residing in Gulf Breeze, Florida, she enjoys tennis, beach outings, boating, and spending quality time with her husband and three boys.
Jessica Kelley
Fractional Chief Marketing Officer
Jessica Kelley holds an M.B.A. in Marketing Management from the University of St. Thomas and a B.S. in Business Finance from the University of Minnesota. She brings over 20 years of marketing expertise in healthcare, including digital health, men’s and women’s health medical devices, and healthcare software services in diverse environments ranging in size from a $200 billion corporation to start-ups. Jessica is passionate about effective marketing, having witnessed its power to help change people’s lives. When Jessica talks marketing, you can expect a blend of metrics-driven strategy and execution with a laser-focus on acquiring and retaining customers.
Grega Wodarcyk, PhD
Regulatory Affairs
Greta is a scientist and biotech executive with expertise bridging product development, preclinical/toxicology, CMC, and clinical operations with a record of successful regulatory filings and clinical operational efficiency. Currently, Greta is a Co-Founder and Principal of CatalystBio, a Global Life Sciences Advisory Firm dedicated to moving first-in-class, first-in kind technologies off the bench and into the clinic. Greta also serves as the COO and Co-Founder of BioSynthera, INC which is developing the next generation of therapeutics for clotting/bleeding disorders. Prior to co-founding CatalystBio and BioSynthera, Greta was the Sr. Director of Clinical Operations and Program Development at COUR Pharmaceuticals, where she oversaw COUR’s platform product development and pipeline and led the company’s IND and clinical operations efforts. During her tenure at COUR, Greta opened four INDs and built out COUR’s internal clinical operations capabilities for executing early phase studies. Before joining COUR, Greta was a post-doc at Northwestern University, where she worked in novel chemoprevention drug development and led several multi-disciplinary, translational research projects. Her peer-reviewed publications appeared in top-tier scientific journals such as Nature Biomedical Engineering and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Greta obtained her doctorate in biological sciences at Northwestern University, where she focused on the nanoscale epigenetic structure-function relationship of chromatin in cancer cell chemoevasion and the development of strategies to physiochemically target chromatin structure as a means of increasing chemotherapeutic efficacy. She received a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry and a Bachelor of Arts in music from St. Olaf College.
Michael Boyne, PhD
Regulatory Affairs
Michael is an accomplished scientific professional and an unabashed drug developer, having served as a regulator, consultant, and executive in biotech for over 15 years. Currently, Michael is a Co-Founder and Principal of CatalystBio, a Global Life Sciences Advisory Firm dedicated to moving first-in-class, first-in kind technologies off the bench and into the clinic. Michael also serves as the CEO and Co-Founder of BioSynthera, INC which is developing the next generation of therapeutics for clotting/bleeding disorders. Prior to founding CatalystBio and BioSynthera, he was most recently the VP of Product Development and Analytics at COUR, where he led the growth of a five-person virtual company to a 50-person operating company and built out manufacturing, quality, research and development, program management, and regulatory functions. He also led both internal and external diligence teams. Before joining COUR, he was a Senior Consultant at BioTechLogic, advising pharmaceutical manufacturers on drug development and CMC strategy, including drafting, reviewing, and authoring CTDs for regulatory submissions. Prior to consulting, he was a Research Chemist in the Division of Pharmaceutical Analysis at the US Food and Drug Administration, where he established a laboratory developing on applying modern analytical technologies to evaluate and regulate complex therapeutics (generics, biologics, and NCE’s). Michael has authored nearly 50 peer-reviewed publications and is an internationally recognized speaker on applying modern analytical technologies to drug development. He was the chair of the 15th Symposium on the Practical Applications of Mass Spectrometry in the Biotechnology Industry and a founding member of the CASSS meeting on Cell and Gene Therapies. He currently serves on the Executive Advisory Board for Northwestern’s Chemistry of Life Process Institute and is the Treasurer of the Gower Foundation. Michael was a postdoctoral scholar at Washington University Medical School in Saint Louis, where he was an American Cancer Society/Canary Foundation Fellow in Early Detection. Michael has a BA in Chemistry from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
The Staff.
Xichen Nie, PhD
Scientific Manager
Xichen holds a BS in life sciences from Sun Yat-sen University in China and a PhD in oncological sciences from the University of Utah. Her graduate work, under the mentorship of Drs. Bradley Cairns and Jingtao Guo, focused on human male reproductive biology. She specializes in single-cell genomics, germline stem cell biology, and testicular development. Currently serving as Scientific Manager at Paterna, Xichen leads a team dedicated to developing cutting-edge technologies for human in vitro spermatogenesis. In her spare time, she enjoys fitness, gardening, and spending time with her family.
Joey Casalini, PhD
Product Development Manager/Senior Scientist
Joey holds a BA/BS from The Evergreen State College in Washington and PhD in biochemistry from the University of Utah. Prior to graduate school, Joey spent 6 years in biotech working on drug discovery and clinical device development at Presage Biosciences, a startup in Seattle, WA where his work directly contributed to the development and clinical advancement of anti-cancer drugs, the launching of multiple clinical trials with a novel device and 5 publications. Joey’s PhD work focused on novel macrophage-tumor cell interactions, demonstrating that pro-tumorigenic macrophages directly transfer dysfunctional mitochondria to breast cancer cells, which induce proliferative signaling cascades, promoting tumorigenesis in vitro and in vivo. As a Senior Scientist at Paterna, Joey is developing methodology to promote in vitro spermatogenesis. In his spare time Joey loves to cook, play music and thumb through his record collection.
Gabriela Cosma, PhD
Gabriela graduated with a BA in Biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania. She then focused for three years on CD8+ T cell expansion and maturation during chronic infections as a research associate in a human immunology lab at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and then went on to earn her PhD in Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis from Thomas Jefferson University. For her PhD work, she studied the effects of antigen presentation in pox virus infections on the development of CD8+ T cells. As a senior scientist at Paterna, she is excited to use her cell biology expertise for finding ways of expanding and differentiating spermatogonial stem cells in vitro. In her spare time, she enjoys visiting all the national parks within driving distance of Salt Lake City, playing chess, and spending time with her husband and two girls.
Bingqian Guo, PhD
Bingqian (Bing) brings more than 10 years research experience in biology in both academia and industry to Paterna. Prior to joining Paterna she worked at the Contract Research Organization WuXi AppTec as a project leader on early-stage hit discovery projects, and established WuXi’s Fragment-Based Drug Discovery (FBDD) platform at the company’s Shanghai site. Bingqian earned a BS from the University of Science & Technology of China (USTC) and her PhD from Dartmouth College. She was then a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School and a Scientist II at the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, painting, and hiking with her family.
David Kircher, PhD
Senior Scientist
David earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Utah and a PhD in Oncological Sciences from the Huntsman Cancer Institute. His academic research focused on mechanisms of melanoma metastasis using both in vitro and in vivo models. Following his academic work, David transitioned to the pharmaceutical industry, where he served as a preclinical scientist and R&D lead in oncology drug development. Currently, as a Senior Scientist at Paterna, he is focused on helping the scientific team promote in vitro spermatogenesis. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, particularly works on science and history, and participates in sports such as volleyball, pickleball, grappling, and snowboarding. He is married with two daughters and enjoys supporting them at their soccer games.
Alek Peterlin, PhD
Senior Scientist
Alek earned a BS in biochemistry and biological sciences from the University of Denver. After graduating, he worked for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory as a biochemist co-developing their cell-free metabolite synthesis platform. He then went on to obtain an MS in Clinical Investigation with an emphasis in urologic oncology and a PhD in Integrative Physiology from the University of Utah. During his PhD, Alek applied molecular biology, electrophysiology, and lipid mass spectrometry techniques to characterize the role of mitochondrial phospholipids in energy expenditure and tissue function. As a Senior Scientist at Paterna, Alek is working with the R&D team to co-develop the in vitro spermatogenesis pipeline. In his free time, Alek enjoys reading, climbing, and traveling with his family.
Igal Sterin, PhD
Senior Scientist
Igal holds a BS from the University of British Columbia and a PhD in neurobiology from the University of Utah. Trained as a cellular and molecular biologist, Igal worked on engineering immune cells for adoptive immunotherapy as a research technician and developed novel tools to study the extracellular matrix of the brain in his graduate work. At Paterna, Igal brings his expertise to isolating and differentiating spermatids. In his spare time, Igal enjoys hiking, skiing, reading, and spending time with his growing family.
Nika Belova
Research Scientist
Nika holds a BS from the University of Utah in biochemistry, with a specialty in physics. At Huntsman Cancer Center she took on projects relating to pancreatic and lung adenocarcinoma, and was an author on several papers, exploring the effects of HNF4A mutations on cancers, as well as acting as lab manager. She put her 3D organoid culture skills to use in helping develop a novel pipeline using patient biopsies to screen a large number of drugs with the goal of finding new biomarkers and improving prognostics for cancer patients. She also helped develop an RNA extraction system for 3D cell culture at scale. As Research Scientist at Paterna, she uses her cell culture skills to help solve male infertility. When she’s not in the lab, she spends as much time as possible outdoors and helps host runs for a number of run clubs in addition to skiing, biking, climbing, and camping.
Graham Hickey, PhD
Graham earned his BS in Biology from Guilford College and a PhD in Oncological Sciences from the University of Utah, under the mentorship of Dr. Bradley Cairns. During his PhD studies, Graham applied genomics and bioinformatics approaches to uncover how key developmental genes are regulated in embryos. Currently Graham serves as Bioinformatician for Paterna Biosciences. In this capacity, Graham applies his breadth of bioinformatic and molecular biology experience to produce and analyze single-cell RNA-seq datasets. Outside of work, Graham enjoys spending time with his wife, mountain and road biking, snowboarding, and exploring all of the outdoors that Utah has to offer.
Varshinee Devanand, MS
Research Associate
Varshinee graduated with a B.Tech in Biotechnology from PSG College of Technology, India. During her undergraduate work she focused on projects in molecular biology and genetic engineering. Varshinee has also worked with the CRISPR/Cas9 system to induce beneficial mutations in genes involved in Beta-thalassemia. She completed her MS in Biotechnology at Northeastern University, Boston. During her graduate studies she interned with ThermoFisher and worked on data collection from bioreactors with varying conditions to validate and compare different Raman spectroscopy-based instruments. As a Lab Associate at Paterna, she works under Bingqian to test and optimize various conditions to promote growth of spermatogonial stem cells in vitro. In her spare time, she enjoys practicing Indian Classical dance and reading books.
Jaikin Patel, MD and MBA Candidate
Research Intern
Jaikin is currently a third-year MD/MBA dual-degree candidate at Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska. He received his BS in Biochemistry from UCLA. Jaikin recently completed his first two years of medical school before moving to Salt Lake City to work as a Research Intern for Paterna. He is concurrently finishing up the MBA portion of his degree online through Creighton. In his free time, he enjoys exploring Utah, golfing, watching football, and spending time with his 2-year-old golden retriever, Maggie.
Board of Directors.
Alex Pastuszak, MD, PhD
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
Alex is an urologist, scientist, and serial entrepreneur, bringing over 15 years of experience in healthcare and biotechnology to Paterna. He received his BS from Yale University and his MD and PhD from the University of California, San Francisco. Alex completed his residency and fellowship training in urology and male reproductive medicine and surgery at Baylor College of Medicine, and started his career as an academic physician-scientist, transitioning more heavily into startups and growth companies over the last decade. Alex’s clinical and NIH-funded basic research focus as faculty at the University of Utah is in men’s sexual and reproductive health, and his entrepreneurial work has encompassed healthcare technology, diagnostics, medical devices, clinical research, and medical innovation. Alex has had founding and executive operational roles at multiple companies, with several exits to date, most recently at Vault Health, where he served as Chief Medical & Scientific Officer. In his spare time, he enjoys endurance cycling, skiing, good wine, and spending time with his wife and two boys.
Jim Hotaling, MD, MS, FECSM
Co-founder and Chairman
Jim is a urologist, serial entrepreneur, scientist and Director of Men’s Health at the University of Utah. He received his BA from Dartmouth, his MD from Duke and his MS in clinical epidemiology from the University of Washington. Jim completed a fellowship in male infertility at The University of Illinois at Chicago and joined the faculty at University of Utah. He built the reproductive urology program at RMANJ, which was acquired by IVIRMA, the largest IVF clinic in the world. Jim has founded five companies, exited two, holds 8 patents, has over 250 publications in the men’s health and male infertility space and has served as the president of the Society for Male Reproductive Urology. He has worked with Drs Guo, Cairns, Nie and Pastuszak for over a decade and developed the idea for Paterna after having to tell many patients that they could not have biological children. In his spare time he enjoys road and mountain biking, ski mountaineering, climbing and time with his wife and two boys.
Ryan Morley
Board Director
Ryan is a partner at SpringTide with experience driving innovation within health systems and in startup environments. Prior to SpringTide, Ryan helped pioneer population health models within the University of Utah Health delivery and payer arms. Ryan was the CFO of a digital health platform, TruClinic, and led its acquisition by InTouch Health, which was subsequently acquired by Teladoc. Ryan also served as the National Deputy Finance Director for Senator Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign.
Ryan earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Brigham Young University and an MBA from the Wharton School.
He is also a board director at OpenLoop, Troomi, and IgniteData. He is a board observer at Aegle Health Partners and Okadoc.
Cynthia Tsai
Independent Board Member
Cynthia Tsai has more than 30 years of experience in global biotechnology and medical technology. She spent 16 years on Wall Street as a Vice President with Merrill Lynch and Kidder Peabody (1982-1995). Since 2016, she has been the CEO of Tana Systems, a global software and IT company based in the U.S. and India, leading a team of 50 engineers in the U.S. and 500 engineers in India. She is also the Chief Executive Officer of Healthquest, a global biotechnology and medical technologies advisory firm. Past roles include CEO of HealthExpo and General Partner in MassTech Ventures, an equity fund focused on technology development at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She currently serves on the Board of Selectors for the Jefferson Foundation Awards, the Prix Galien Foundation, Certus Critical Care Inc., Vita Nav TitinKM and Ethan Allen. She earned a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Missouri.
Tony Pellicer
Antonio Pellicer obtained his medical degree from the University of Valencia in 1980 and specialized in Obstetrics and Gynecology, with subspecialty training in Reproductive Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine (USA) and at the University of Mainz (Germany). In 1990, Tony founded the “Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad” (“IVI”), expanding to numerous locations in Spain and internationally. He is also the President of the IVI Foundation for the Study of Reproduction and Director of the IVI Team. He has been a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology since 1999 and Dean of the Valencia University Medical School, Spain, from 2006 to 2012. He was also Head of Service of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at La Fe University Hospital from 2009 to 2016, and since 2020 has held the position of CEO at IVIRMA Global. Tony is a member of the Executive Board of ESHRE (European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology) and the International Federation of Fertility Societies, and is a member of the National Commission of Human Assisted Reproduction. He is extraordinarily well published, has been Co-Editor and Editor-in-Chief of the journal “Fertility & Sterility” since 2011 and is on the editorial boards of several scientific societies. Tony has also received many awards for his contributions to reproductive medicine.
Carlos Blanes
Carlos obtained his degree in industrial engineering in 2000 and his MBA in 2016 from Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). From 2000-2006 he worked as a consultant for Deloitte, but since then has built his career as an executive with broad experience in management. Since 2020 Carlos has served as Deputy CEO at IVI-RMA. He joined IVI and has participated in its growth since 2006, being promoted to progressively larger roles over the last 15 years. In 2017, Carlos helped consummate IVI’s merger with RMANJ, with IVIRMA Global becoming the world leader in Reproductive Medicine with the largest global fertility network. He served as IVIRMA Global’s Chief of Staff from 2018 to 2020, when he was promoted to Deputy CEO.
Francisco Jiménez
Francisco has a broad experience in broad in General Management, Strategy, Transformation, Corporate Finance and M&A, working for companies owned by PE funds and / or institutional investors, as well as listed companies.
He started his career as consultant in PwC, and worked in different companies across industries – such as Uralita, Levantina and Planasa – mainly as CFSO, until he joined Igenomix, in early 2020, where he served as CFO & Strategy Director. He actively participated in the successful exit of EQT, in summer 2022, when the company was acquired by Vitrolife, where he joined the Executive Team of the combined company as SVP Strategy and Corporate Development. Since summer 2022, he has been working in different roles of the new IVF-clinics group formed by KKR. He currently leads the integration of acquisitions as well as the transformation initiatives.
Francisco education includes an MSc in Industrial Engineering double degree from Universidad Politecnica de Valencia (UPV) and Cranfield University, an MBA from Instituto de Empresa, and a Senior Executive Programme from London Business School.
Claire Smith
Board Observer
Claire is a partner at SpringTide and has spent her career focused at the intersection of healthcare, life sciences, and business. Prior to SpringTide, she was an investor at Meridian Street Capital, where she focused on seed-stage health tech, and Anterra Capital, where she focused on the intersection of biotech and agriculture while launching several animal health startups. Previously, she served as the Chief of Staff at Crestovo, a microbiome therapeutics startup acquired by Finch Therapeutics. She began her career at ClearView Healthcare Partners, a boutique life sciences consultancy, where she advised pharma and biotech clients on a variety of growth strategy topics. Claire holds bachelor’s degrees in biological engineering and management science from MIT. She is on the board of Leash Labs and serves as a board observer at IgniteData as well.
Gabi Tellez
Board Observer
Gabi is a Managing Director at The Utah Innovation Fund. She also serves as the Director of Innovation & Commercialization at the Utah System of Higher Education, promoting statewide economic development initiatives. Before her current role, Gabi was an Investment Analyst at Intermountain Ventures, where she contributed to various strategic investments in healthcare. She also held positions at Leavitt Partners, Keck Medicine of USC, and Discovery Genomics, Inc., gaining valuable experience in healthcare systems engineering and project management. Gabi holds a strong background in healthcare and research, and her diverse experiences and dedication to innovation make her a valuable asset to the Utah Innovation Fund team.
Advisors.
Don Conrad, PhD
Don Conrad, PhD, is Associate Professor and Chief of Genetics of the Oregon National Primate Research Center at Oregon Health Sciences University, with over 15 years experience in developing statistical and experimental methods for genome analysis. Don received his AB in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Dartmouth in 1999 and his PhD in Human Genetics from the University of Chicago in 2007. He completed his postdoctoral training at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the UK in 2010. Don then joined the faculty at Washington University in St. Louis where he ran a research group in the Department of Genetics, and was subsequently recruited as Chief of Genetics at the newly established Division of Genetics at the Primate Center at OHSU. Don’s lab has a special interest in testis biology and has investigated genes in testicular germ cells, purifying testicular cell populations, mapping functional elements of germ cell genomics, characterized testis pathology and investigated the role of the immune system in regulation of spermatogenesis.
Ki Aston, PhD
Ki Aston received his PhD from Utah State University, with his dissertation focusing on factors associated with somatic cell nuclear transfer efficiency and nuclear reprogramming. He was involved in bovine nuclear transfer and was part of the first group to successfully clone an equine species. Upon completion of his graduate training, Ki joined the Andrology and IVF lab at the University of Utah as a postdoctoral fellow, and in 2011 he joined the faculty. Ki is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine. In addition to his clinical work as the Andrology and IVF Lab Director, he maintains an active research program focused on identifying genetic and epigenetic factors associated with male infertility, and is co-founder of two international consortia to study the genetics of male infertility, The Genetics of Male Infertility Initiative (GEMINI) and the International Male Infertility Consortium (IMIGC). In his free time, Ki loves spending time outdoors with his wife and four children pursuing activities including mountain biking, fly fishing, backpacking and skiing.
Doug Carrell, PhD
Doug received his BS in Zoology and MS in Cellular & Developmental Biology from Brigham Young University, and his PhD in Physiology from the University of Utah in 1996, where he subsequently joined the faculty. Doug has been a Professor in the departments of Surgery (Urology), Human Genetics, and Obstetrics & Gynecology, and has served as the Director and Principal Investigator of the University of Utah In Vitro Fertilization and Andrology Laboratories. He currently serves as Andrology Lab Director of the Center for Reproductive Medicine & Advanced Reproductive Technologies in Minnesota. Doug is widely published on in vitro fertilization and the genetic aspects of infertility. He also serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Andrology and sits on the editorial board of numerous other journals. As an entrepreneur, Doug was Founder and CEO of Specialized Biotechnology Services, and is a Cofounder of Episona.
David Bearss, PhD
David is an experienced entrepreneur and drug developer, having over 20 years of drug discovery and development experience that spans the last 20 years. He has discovered 15 compounds that have moved forward in clinical development. David received his BS in Human Biology in 1994 from Brigham Young University and his PhD in Cell & Molecular Biology from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 1999. David joined the faculty of the University of Arizona in 2000 and subsequently went on to numerous founding, executive, and board roles at Montigen Pharmaceuticals, Salarius Pharmaceuticals, Tetragene, Wasatch Scientific, Tolero Pharmaceuticals, Xenter, BioLexis Therapeutics, and Halia Therapeutics, among others. David was the founder and CEO of Tolero Pharmaceuticals, which he led through its acquisition by Sumitomo DaiNippon Pharma in 2017. He stayed on after the acquisition as CEO of Tolero and as Global head of Research and CSO of SDP Oncology. David is also faculty at the University of Utah, Co-Director of the Center for Investigational Therapeutics at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, and Senior Managing Director of the U2TAH Therapeutics Accelerator. He has published over 80 manuscripts and book chapters, has over 50 patents, and has won numerous awards for his achievements.
Amy Divaraniya, PhD
Amy Divaraniya, PhD is the Founder and CEO of Oova, a women’s health company. She has more than 10 years of experience as a data scientist and has both led and published original research in the areas of personal genomics and biomarker discovery. Her understanding of biology and being able to apply complex analyses have led to innovative projects in the healthcare space. In 2017, Dr. Divaraniya chose to pivot her career as a data scientist and devote herself to improving women’s healthcare. After facing her own struggles with conceiving her son, Dr. Divaraniya decided to build a solution to help women experiencing difficulty getting pregnant. Today, she and her team have built the first at-home test, Oova, that measures multiple hormones through urine samples and provides personalized results and insights on a woman’s fertility. Oova has resonated with many women and clinicians and has now been adopted by over 100 clinics and hospitals across the country.
Kyle Orwig, PhD
Co-founder and Scientific Advisor
Kyle received his BS in Biology and BA in Chemistry from Whitworth College and his PhD in Biochemistry & Biophysics and Animal Sciences from Oregon State University. His postdoctoral training was at Kansas University Medical Center and then University of Pennsylvania where he started his life’s work on stem cells, gametogenesis and fertility. He is a Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh where his lab has pioneered methods for testicular stem cell and testicular tissue transplantation to treat male infertility. He is the founding director of the UPMC Fertility Preservation Program and the UPMC Magee Center for Reproduction and Transplantation (CRT) that is committed to translating lab bench discoveries into clinical practice. CRT provides fertility preservation and fertility restoration services to patients in Western Pennsylvania and through a coordinated network of more than 40 sites around the US. His team is committed to improving access to fertility care for all people and working toward a future where every person who wants to have a biologically related child can do so.
Jingtao Guo, PhD
Co-founder and Bioinformatics Consultant
Jingtao is a professor and investigator at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China. He received his BS from Peking University, and his PhD from University of Utah under the mentorship of Dr. Brad Cairns. He completed his postdoctoral training with Drs Brad Cairns and Doug Carrell, and was subsequently appointed as an Assistant Professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine. Jingtao has worked with Brad, Jim, and Xichen on human germline stem cells and testis development for a decade. In late 2021, after living in Utah for almost 10 years, Jingtao and his family moved back to Beijing, where he leads a ~20 member research group and continues his research on human reproduction and testis biology. In his spare time, he enjoys reading books, listening to music, hiking and traveling with his family.
Equal Employment Opportunity:
Paterna Biosciences is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Every qualified applicant will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, national origin, sexual orientation, genetic information, disability, age, ancestry, military service, protected veteran status, or other groups as protected by law.
Overcoming male infertility.
Our moral and ethical statement: The founders and leadership of Paterna Biosciences recognize that work with stem cells is considered controversial by some. We can restore fertility using the patient’s own stem cells.
Our position is that we can solve genetic disorders that cause male infertility and beyond. That is our sole focus. We completely reject and will not pursue this work to enable modifications of heritable social traits. We view that as immoral and will have no part in it.
Disclaimer
THIS PRESENTATION IS FOR DISCUSSION AND GENERAL INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. IT TAKES NO ACCOUNT OF ANY SPECIFIC INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE, FINANCIAL SITUATION, OR SUITABILITY FOR THE PARTICULAR NEED OF ANY SPECIFIC PERSON WHO MAY RECEIVE THIS PRESENTATION, AND SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN AS ADVICE ON THE MERITS OF ANY INVESTMENT DECISION. THE VIEWS EXPRESSED HEREIN REPRESENT THE OPINIONS OF Paterna. any
financial projections included in the INFORMATION have been compiled by paterna and are based on assumptions supplied by paterna which have not been verified by an outside accountants. therefore, any financial projections are limited to presenting in the form of forecast information the assumptions of paterna and do not include any evaluation of the support for the assumptions underlying the forecast. the financial projections are based upon information available to paterna as of the date of the particular COMPILATION, are subject to material uncertainties, and should not be viewed as a prediction or an assurance of ACTUAL FUTURE performance; hence, no investment decision should be made based solely on any projections included in the information. any financial projections contained herein will depend upon future events, INCLUDING a wide variety of significant business, economic and competitive risks, many of which will be beyond Paterna’s control and accordingly, no assurance can be given that paterna’s assumptions will prove true, that its projected results will be achieved, or that variations between the projections and actual future results will not be material.
THIS MATERIAL DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR A SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY ANY SECURITies DESCRIBED HEREIN IN ANY JURISDICTION TO OR FROM ANY PERSON, NOR DOES IT CONSTITUTE FINANCIAL PROMOTION, INVESTMENT ADVICE OR AN INDUCEMENT OR AN INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN ANY PRODUCT, OFFERING OR INVESTMENT. THIS MATERIAL IS INFORMATIONAL ONLY AND SHOULD NOT BE USED AS THE BASIS FOR ANY INVESTMENT DECISION, NOR SHOULD IT BE RELIED UPON FOR LEGAL, ACCOUNTING OR TAX ADVICE OR INVESTMENT RECOMMENDATIONS OR FOR ANY OTHER PURPOSE. NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY IS MADE THAT PATERNA’s INVESTMENT PROCESSES OR INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES WILL OR ARE LIKELY TO BE ACHIEVED OR SUCCESSFUL OR THAT PATERNA’s INVESTMENT WILL MAKE ANY PROFIT OR WILL NOT SUSTAIN LOSSES. PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS.
NO AGREEMENT, COMMITMENT OR UNDERSTANDING EXISTS OR SHALL BE DEEMED TO EXIST BETWEEN OR AMONG PATERNA AND ANY OTHER PARTY OR PARTIES BY VIRTUE OF PATERNA FURNISHING THIS PRESENTATION OR ANY PARTY RECEIVING THIS PRESENTATION. PATERNA HAS NOT SOUGHT OR OBTAINED CONSENT FROM ANY THIRD PARTY TO USE ANY STATEMENTS OR INFORMATION INDICATED HEREIN AS HAVING BEEN OBTAINED OR DERIVED FROM STATEMENTS MADE OR PUBLISHED BY THIRD PARTIES. ANY SUCH STATEMENTS OR INFORMATION SHOULD NOT BE VIEWED AS INDICATING THE SUPPORT OF SUCH THIRD PARTY FOR THE VIEWS EXPRESSED HEREIN. NO WARRANTY IS MADE THAT DATA OR INFORMATION, WHETHER DERIVED OR OBTAINED FROM FILINGS MADE WITH THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION OR FROM ANY THIRD PARTY, ARE ACCURATE OR COMPLETE. EXCEPT FOR THE HISTORICAL INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN, THE MATTERS ADDRESSED IN THIS PRESENTATION ARE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS, WHICH CAN BE IDENTIFIED by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “will,” “seek,” “should,” “Expect,” “Anticipate,” “project,” “projection,” “pro-forma,” “attempt,” “target,” “develop,” “estimate,” “intend,” “Working to,” “working toward,” “continue,” or “believe” or the negatives thereof or other VARIATIONS thereon or comparable terminology. YOU SHOULD BE AWARE THAT PROJECTIONS AND FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS INVOLVE CERTAIN RISKS AND ARE INHERENTLY UNCERTAIN AND ACTUAL RESULTS MAY DIFFER FROM THE PROJECTIONS AND OTHER FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS CONTAINED HEREIN DUE TO REASONS THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE FORESEEABLE. NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY IS MADE AS TO THE ACCURACY OR REASONABLENESS OF THE ASSUMPTIONS UNDERLYING THE PROJECTIONS AND OTHER FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS CONTAINED HEREIN.
ALL AMOUNTS, MARKET VALUE INFORMATION AND ESTIMATES INCLUDED IN THIS MATERIAL HAVE BEEN OBTAINED FROM OUTSIDE SOURCES THAT PATERNA BELIEVES TO BE RELIABLE OR REPRESENT THE REASONABLE JUDGMENT OF PATERNA AS OF THE DATE OF THIS MATERIAL. NO REPRESENTATION, WARRANTY OR UNDERTAKING, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IS GIVEN AS TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE INFORMATION OR VIEWS CONTAINED HEREIN. PROJECTIONS, MARKET OUTLOOKS, ASSUMPTIONS OR ESTIMATES IN THIS MATERIAL ARE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS, ARE BASED UPON CERTAIN ASSUMPTIONS, AND ARE SUBJECT TO A VARIETY OF RISKS AND CHANGES, INCLUDING RISKS AND CHANGES AFFECTING INDUSTRIES GENERALLY AND THE COMPANY SPECIFICALLY.
PATERNA RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHANGE OR MODIFY ANY OF ITS OPINIONS EXPRESSED HEREIN AT ANY TIME AS IT DEEMS APPROPRIATE. PATERNA DISCLAIMS ANY OBLIGATION TO UPDATE THE INFORMATION OR VIEWS CONTAINED HEREIN.