Richard S. Kollender
Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Kollender has more than 35 years of experience in the healthcare industry. Prior to joining Reaction Biology, he served as Strongbridge BioPharma’s President and Chief Financial Officer and was responsible for strengthening the company’s financial position and footprint as a successful rare disease organization until it was acquired by Xeris Biopharma, Inc., in October 2021. From 2003, he served first as a Principal and then as Partner of Quaker Partners Management, LP, a healthcare investment firm. In addition, from August 2016 through September 2018, he served as Chief Business Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Rapid Micro Biosystems, a Quaker Partners’ portfolio company, where he played a key role in the business expansion and adoption of the company’s Growth Direct™ System. Previously, he held positions in sales, marketing, and worldwide business development at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and served as investment manager at its corporate venture capital arm, S.R. One. He began his career as a Certified Public Accountant, initially with KPMG. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors for Restorative Therapies. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Rapid Micro Biosystems (NASDAQ: RPID) and as an adjunct faculty member at Lehigh University. He previously served on the Board of Directors of Strongbridge BioPharma, Insmed, NuPathe, Inc., and Celator Pharmaceuticals, Inc., in addition to several other privately held companies. He holds an MBA and a certificate degree in the graduate program in health administration and policy, both from the University of Chicago and a B.A. in accounting from Franklin and Marshall College.
Haiching Ma, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Ma joined Reaction Biology in 2001 as employee number one. He is the Chief Science Officer, where he developed and implemented the current Reaction Biology technology and service platforms. Dr. Ma is the Principal Investigator for multiple SBIR awards and an RO1 award from NIH all Reaction Biology totaling over $12 million, and which cover research topics including assay development for human kinome and epigenome targets, toxicity predictions, chemical microarray HTS and cell death prevention that reduce side effects from radiation therapies. Dr. Ma is serving as a national Steering Committee Member for the NIH National Cancer Institute’s Chemical Biology Consortium. He received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the Medical School of The University of Pennsylvania and continued his postdoc training there in the Institute for Medicine and Engineering.
Eric S. Bodle, PhD
Vice President, Global Scientific Operations
Dr. Bodle brings more than 16 years’ experience in the CRO industry. Dr. Bodle will help strengthen and develop the biochemistry organization’s processes and procedures allowing for continued growth while maintaining the highest quality science.
Prior to joining Reaction Biology, Dr. Bodle was the General Manager of Eurofins Agroscience Services, responsible for Eurofins’ largest environmental toxicology laboratory in the U.S. He also previously served as the Assistant Director of Analytical Chemistry and Formulation Sciences at WIL Research Laboratories.
Dr. Bodle holds a PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Akron and an MBA from the University of Maryland Smith School of Business.
Cheryl Davis, MLAS, rLATg
General Manager, US In Vivo
Cheryl brings over 15 years of experience in preclinical research and laboratory animal science. She began her career at the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, where she supported The Biological Testing Branch (BTB) of the Developmental Therapeutics Program (DTP), Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD), National Cancer Institute (NCI) by screening compounds for indications of in vivo preclinical efficacy, pharmacologic, and pharmacodynamic studies in support of drug development as well as contributing to the establishment of the NCI’s Patient-Derived Models Repository (PDMR), a critical resource for advancing personalized cancer treatments. Cheryl then went on to manage the scientific operations team at Champions Oncology, focusing on patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models to support drug discovery and development. Cheryl holds a BS in Veterinary and Biomedical Science from Penn State University and an MS in Laboratory Animal Science from Drexel University College of Medicine.
Sebastian Dempe, PhD
Managing Director, CEO of Reaction Biology Europe
Sebastian Dempe is biologist by training and received his doctorate degree from the German Cancer Research Center/ University of Heidelberg in 2010 where he was exploiting the capacity of parvovirus H1, currently tested in clinical studies, for the virotherapy of cancer using various preclinical research models. Starting his career in Business Development at ProQinase (2011-2014), he was later appointed as Executive Director Business Development of Crown Bioscience, Inc., leading the company’s European Business Development team until June 2019. Sebastian re-joined Reaction Biology as Managing Director, CEO of Reaction Biology Europe on July 01, 2019.
Andrew Khouri
Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategic Marketing
Andrew Khouri brings over 15 years of experience in strategy and finance across the life sciences industry. Before joining Reaction Biology, he was with Rapid Micro Biosystems, where he was responsible for corporate strategy and led multiple private and public financings. Prior to Rapid Micro, he was Vice President at Quaker Partners, a healthcare investment firm, where he focused on investments across the spectrum of the healthcare industry, including biopharmaceuticals, medtech, life science tools, and digital health companies. He began his career as a strategy consultant with Leerink Swann, advising global pharmaceutical companies on strategy development, commercial planning, and organizational restructurings. Andrew holds a BA in Biology from Harvard University.
Neena Marano
Chief of Staff to the CEO
Neena Marano is an experienced client services, human resources, and operations professional and has been with Reaction Biology since 2014. Throughout her time with the Company, she has supported a diverse number of business functions, including marketing, customer service, IT, HR, recruiting, and facilities management. She most recently served as Associate Director, Business Operations & HR, where she planned, directed, and coordinated company-wide operations, facilitated business improvements, and worked closely with the EC and senior leadership teams. She also led the full recruiting and onboarding process for new employees. Prior to this role, she served as Business Operations Manager, where she worked to improve processes, streamline operations, increase productivity, and manage/support various departments, including HR and Client Service. Neena was previously in the role of Systems Administrator, where she worked directly with the CIO to manage technical support operations, train employees, and manage all computer networks. She has held roles of increasing seniority in the Marketing and Client Service group, responsible for staffing, training, and managing the group, executing marketing campaigns, and acting as a client service representative. Neena holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Bard College and is currently pursuing a Master of Business degree at West Chester University.
Steven McElwaine
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. McElwaine brings more than 15 years of experience in the life sciences industry to his role at Reaction Biology. Prior to joining Reaction Biology, he served as Vice President, Corporate Controller of Strongbridge Biopharma, a publicly traded rare disease biotech company which was acquired by Xeris Biopharma Inc. in October 2021, where he was responsible for all aspects of finance and accounting for the company. Prior to joining Strongbridge Biopharma, Mr. McElwaine held a number of positions of increasing responsibility at Iroko Pharmaceuticals. He began his career as a Certified Public Accountant, with BDO. Mr. McElwaine holds a B.A in accounting from Holy Family University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Safnas F. AbdulSalam, PhD
Senior Director Biochemistry, R&D
Safnas F. AbdulSalam joined Reaction Biology in 2019 and manages assay development activities from special customer requests and from internal research projects. She holds a PhD degree in Chemistry from University of Cincinnati, and postdoctoral training in Indiana University School of Medicine, where she optimized and executed high throughput screening assays to identify small molecule glycogen synthase inhibitors as potential therapeutics for glycogen storage disorders.
Jan Ehlert, PhD
Head of Cellular Drug Discovery, Germany
Jan Erik Ehlert is cell biologist by training and has gained his PhD at the Research Center Borstel, Germany, in the field of chemokine biology in innate immunology. During his Postdoc studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, he extended his scientific focus on the relevance of angiogenesis in lung cancer. In the year 2001, Jan Ehlert joined ProQinase as group leader in the field of target identification and validation in cancer biology. Since 2010, he is member of the management team at ProQinase as Head of the Department of Cellular Drug Discovery. His team is specialized on cellular assay systems in oncology, cellular screening and 3D assay systems. Jan Ehlert is co-inventor in several patents on compound classes issued to treat kinase-related cancer diseases.
Ekaterina Kuznetsova, PhD
Vice President, Product Development, USA
Ekaterina Kuznetsova, PhD joined Reaction Biology in 2014 from Structure Genomic Foundation, with initial concentration on developing new assays and protein products for epigenetic targets, with all these years growing with Reaction Biology, she has lead the protein group and involving heavily in assay development both based on customer requests for special targets and internal R&D development plans. Under her leadership, Reaction Biology offers hundreds proteins for internal customer services and for customer researches, she made significant contributions in building Reaction Biology’s broad targets portfolios, and helped Reaction Biology to become one of the world leading CROs in drug discovery services for Epigenetic targets and the hot Ras pathways.
Cynthia Obodozie, DVM, PhD
Vice President, Operations
After completing her veterinary studies in Berlin, Germany, Cynthia wrote her doctoral thesis at the pharmaceutical company Bayer (formerly Schering AG, Berlin) in the preclinical oncology department in the field of antiestrogens and their anti-tumor effects on endometrial cancer. As a postdoc, Cynthia joined the research group of Prof. Augustin at the Tumor Biology Center, Freiburg, with a focus on tumor angiogenesis. Then she switched to ProQinase GmbH and worked as a senior scientist and later as a group leader in the in vivo pharmacology department. In the additional position as Head of Animal facility, she takes care of the concerns of the animals, the equipment, and the staff as well as the official regulations regarding animal studies. Since 2020, Cynthia Obodozie is Head of In Vivo Pharmacology responsible for the resorts Project Management and Animal Affairs.
Charles Schmidt, PhD
Director of Biophysics
Charles Schmidt, PhD joined RBC in 2021 as associate director of biophysics. He received his PhD in Biophysics from the University of Virginia with a background in protein structure determination by NMR and biophysical assay development. Following his graduate work, he held positions at Progenra, Inc. and LifeSensors, Inc., with a focus on SPR and TSA assay development and HTS centered on the ubiquitin-proteasome system.
Jamin Steffen, PhD
Associate Director of Biochemical Assay Services
Jamin Steffen joined RBC in 2022 and leads a team that performs target-specific assays to support customer projects. He received his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Arizona, and post-doctoral training as a Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA fellow from Thomas Jefferson University, studying structural and molecular effects of PARP inhibitors. Jamin has also worked with biotech start-up companies leading various cancer-related research projects.
Robert Torka, PhD
Director Scientific Office, Europe
Robert is a highly skilled and accomplished scientist with over 25 years of experience and a diverse background in academia, pharma industry, and business development. He has a deep expertise in drug discovery, oncology, biomarker identification, and preclinical development, having successfully led and managed various drug development programs and collaborations. His extensive experience in scientific innovation, combined with his business acumen, makes him a key player in advancing drug discovery and development for pharmaceutical industry. Robert has authored and co-authored numerous research papers, particularly focusing on the receptor tyrosine kinase and oncology-related topics. His research includes work on small molecule inhibitors for glioblastoma and breast cancer metastasis, as well as the mechanisms of drug resistance in cancer treatment. Within Reaction Biology Robert focuses on the development of customized assay services and provides strategic insights to pharmaceutical and biotech companies aiming to advance their drug discovery pipelines. He is trying to seamlessly translate complex scientific concepts into practical, scalable solutions for drug discovery.
Holger Weber, PhD
Head of In Vivo Pharmacology, Project Management & Internal Innovations
Holger Weber studied biology and obtained his Ph.D. at the Max-Planck Institute for Immunobiology in Freiburg, Germany. In 2001 he joined the research group of Prof. Augustin at the Tumor Biology Center, Freiburg. The scientific focus and interest during that time was the field of angiogenesis, first as a Post-Doc, later as a group leader. In 2007 he left basic research and started to work at ProQinase as a group leader in the Department of Cellular Drug Discovery. Since 2014, Holger Weber is Head of In Vivo Pharmacology responsible for the resorts Project Management and Internal Innovations.
Julian Wooltorton, PhD
Associate Director of In Vitro Safety
Julian Wooltorton joins us as the Associate Director of In Vitro Safety. He has a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of London, UK and Merck Sharp & Dohme Neuroscience Research Centre. He has over 20 years of research experience and joins us from Delaware State University. Julian is a member of the electrophysiology group; he will be the key scientist to manage customer projects related to ion channels and in vitro toxicity tests.
Jianghong Wu, PhD
Director Of Cell Biology
Jianghong Wu, PhD joined RBC in 2012 and leads a team that performs kinase cell-based target engagement assays and other cell-based customer services. Dr. Wu has extensive experience in cell biology, molecular biology, and drug screening studies, and has over 20 years of research experience. He holds a Ph.D. degree in immunology from Nagoya University, Japan and did postdoctoral studies at the University of Toronto, and Thomas Jefferson University.