Board of Directors
Donald M. Gleklen
Private Investor
Mr. Donald Gleklen is a strategic business advisor and private investor with extensive experience as a senior corporate executive, commercial banker, investment banker and lawyer. He is the retired Chairman and CEO of InteliHealth, a leading Internet company, (a joint venture of Johns Hopkins Health System and Aetna US Healthcare), providing healthcare information to consumers. Mr. Gleklen is a Director and Member of the Executive Committee of Firstrust Bank, a $3 billion bank headquartered in Pennsylvania and is on the Investment Committee of Murex Investments I, an SBA approved New Markets Venture Capital Fund. He serves on the Board of Trustees of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the oldest medical honorary society in the United States.
Prior experience includes executive management positions at MEDIQ, Inc, Industrial Valley Bank and Rea Brothers Limited, a London based merchant bank. Mr. Gleklen has a B.A.- Economics from Cornell University and a J.D. from Columbia University.
Barbara S. Schilberg
Managing Director and CEO, BioAdvance
Ms. Schilberg has more than 20 years experience in life sciences. Under her leadership as CEO, BioAdvance has invested $14 million in 25 seed-stage companies and 13 pre-seed projects focusing in areas including Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity and infectious diseases. The portfolio companies have gone on to raise more than $900 million in additional funding and six have been sold. Ms. Schilberg’s industry experience includes senior management positions at Cephalon, Incara Pharmaceuticals, Advanced Medicine (now Theravance) and Locus Discovery, Inc.
Before joining the industry, Ms Schilberg represented biopharmaceutical companies and universities as a partner with Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. She received a J.D. from the University of Virginia.
Chad Souvignier, Ph.D.
Managing Partner, Research Corporation Technologies
Dr. Chad Souvignier joined Research Corporation Technologies (RCT) in 2003, where he is currently a Managing Director and leads RCT’s therapeutic team. Present board memberships include Esperance Pharmaceuticals, CaloSyn Pharma Inc. and Jenrin Discovery. Dr. Souvignier has also spent time in operational roles in RCT’s portfolio companies, including serving as President and COO of Aeson Therapeutics, where he oversaw the acquisition of Aeson by Hollis Eden Pharmaceuticals. Prior to RCT, Dr. Souvignier was with Guilford Pharmaceuticals where he held a variety of roles, including participating in project teams that were responsible for filing INDs and initiating clinical trials for oncology and pain products.
Additionally, he established Guilford’s international department by setting up several regional partnerships and leading the distribution and launch of Gliadel Wafer in EX-US markets. Dr. Souvignier has an M.B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Arizona.
Russell O. Vernon
President, Commerce Capital Markets, Inc.
Russ Vernon is the President of Commerce Capital Markets, Inc. He has had a distinguished career in public and private sectors. Prior to joining Commerce Capital Mr. Vernon was Chief Operating Officer of Barrett Associates, a Legg Mason Asset Management subsidiary; CEO of VCE Capital; and Director of Investment Operations at Warburg Pincus Asset Management. In these roles Mr. Vernon has been directly responsible for building a state-of-the-art infrastructure to support all client, business, product development and growth needs and he served on numerous management and operating committees. Mr. Vernon has also served as a Senior Manager at Deloitte & Touche where his consulting practice focused on management, M&A, financial service and due diligence engagements and issues.
Early in his career, he was a Vice President of Citibank, NA. Mr. Vernon has a Bachelor of Science from the United States Military Academy at West Point; a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University; and a Master of Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College.