Management Team
Jim Callaway, PhD, President, Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Callaway has over 25 years of drug development experience, with the last 13 years focused on neurological diseases such as dystonia, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s disease at Elan Pharmaceuticals. Jim has led teams as large as 200-plus scientists to deliver Investigational New Drug Applications and New Drug Applications/Biologics Applications, as well as being the lead accountable person in the design, construction, validation, and FDA approval of a biologics manufacturing plant.
Lars Ekman, MD, PhD, Executive Chairman & Co-founder
Dr. Ekman has more than 28 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry and is the co-founder of Cebix Incorporated. Lars recently held the positions of Executive Vice President and President of Research and Development at Elan Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining Elan, Lars served as Executive Vice President, Research and Development at Schwarz Pharma AG. His industry career started at Pharmacia, now Pfizer, where he held a variety of senior scientific and clinical roles. Over the past 10 years, Lars has delivered 6 NDA’s. Lars is a board certified surgeon with a PhD in experimental biology. He obtained his PhD and MD from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Lars currently serves on the Board of Directors at Elan Pharmaceuticals, InterMune, Protox Inc, Ocera Therapeutics and Amarin Corp plc.
John Wahren, MD, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer & Executive Board Member
Dr. Wahren is Emeritus Professor of Clinical Physiology at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, from where he received his MD and PhD John is co-founder of Cebix Incorporated and also is its Chief Scientific Officer and a member of the Board of Directors. During 1973 to 2002 he was active at the Karolinska Institute and Karolinska University Hospital with a scientific focus on diabetes and metabolic disorders. John did post-graduate training at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Harvard University in 1976 and was visiting professor at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland in 1984. His bibliography includes approximately 400 articles in peer-reviewed journals and text books. John has been a member and chairman of the Nobel Assembly and Nobel Committee, Karolinska Institute during 1976 to 2002. He has been editor and associate editor of several scientific journals in the diabetes field and from 1987 to 1989 he was Medical Director of Kabi Vitrum Nutrition AB, Stockholm.
Howard L. Foyt, MD, PhD, FACP. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer
Howard Foyt, MD, PhD, FACP, has served as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Cebix, Inc. since April 2011. Dr. Foyt previously was Vice President, Clinical Development at Metabasis Therapeutics, which he joined from Pfizer Global Research & Development where he served as Senior Director, Medical & Development Sciences and Therapy Area Site Head -- Diabetes & Obesity. He began his industry career over fifteen years ago at Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Research, Ann Arbor, MI where he was Director, Clinical Research, Endocrine and Metabolism prior to the acquisition of the company by Pfizer. Prior to joining Parke-Davis, Dr. Foyt was an Assistant Professor and Medical Director, University Diabetes Center at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX. He earned his medical degree in 1985 from Baylor College of Medicine where he also earned a PhD in Cell Biology. Dr. Foyt completed his residency in internal medicine at Baylor and an endocrinology fellowship at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health.
Sheri Barrack, PhD, Senior Vice President Pharmaceutical Development
Dr. Barrack has over 20 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry and has contributed to the approval of 9 NDAs/BLAs and numerous INDs. Prior to joining Cebix, Sheri was Vice President of Biopharmaceutical Development at Elan and managed manufacturing, formulation, analytical, clinical trial material distribution, and preparation of the Quality section of regulatory submissions. Sheri received her PhD from the University of California, Riverside in organic chemistry.
Michelle Mazzoni, PhD, RAC (US, CA, EU), Vice President of Regulatory Affairs & Quality
Dr. Mazzoni has 13 years of drug development experience at small pharmaceutical companies directing preclinical, regulatory affairs, and quality activities including four Investigational New Drug Applications and a Clinical Trial Application to Health Canada. Michelle holds a PhD in bioengineering from the University of California, San Diego, where she also obtained a professional certificate in Regulatory Affairs for the Biomedical Industry.
Mark Daniels, Clinical Trial Manager
Mark Daniels has more than 13 years of pharmaceutical industry experience. Prior to joining Cebix, Mark has managed all phases of global clinical development studies with a strong emphasis on neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease at Elan Pharmaceuticals and Multiple Sclerosis and Oncology at Biogen Idec. He obtained his Bachelor’s of Sciences degree in Psychobiology from the University of California, at Los Angeles.
Derek Kelaita, MBA, Sr. Director Corporate Development
Mr. Kelaita has over a decade of experience working in public and private biopharmaceutical companies negotiating and executing licensing transactions and strategic collaborations. He previously served as senior director corporate development for Novalar Pharmaceuticals, where he led all transactions related to OraVerse and including the company’s successful acquisition by Septodont. Derek began his career in biopharmaceuticals with Corvas International, followed by Dendreon Corporation and Nventa Corporation. He received an M.B.A. from the University of San Diego and a B.A. from University of California, Berkeley.
John Snyder, CPA, Sr. Director of Finance and Controller
John has over 22 years of diverse accounting and finance experience and, for the past 10 years, has been involved in the life science and technology sectors while at Sequel Pharmaceuticals, NovaCardia, Cabrellis Pharmaceuticals and Archimedes Technology Group. He graduated cum laude from the University of Arizona with a B.S. degree in Finance and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the California Society of CPA’s (CalCPA).
John E. Crawford, Financial Advisor
John Crawford provides financial guidance and strategic insight to Cebix. He has been an executive officer and director for more than ten life sciences firms over the past 30 years. Heading the financial function in these firms, he has completed two IPOs, four merger and acquisition transactions and more than a dozen strategic partnerships in transactions totaling over $1 billion. Since 2006 he has been chief financial officer of Phenomix Corporation and three other San Diego-based biotechnology firms which were acquired by larger firms during his tenure: NovaCardia, Inc., (acquired by Merck); Cabrellis Pharmaceutical Corporation (Pharmion); and Conforma. He holds a B.S. in mathematical sciences from Stanford University and an M.B.A. in finance from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. Mr. Crawford serves on the Board of Directors of the Clearity Foundation for ovarian cancer.
