Board of Directors
Nelson M. Sims
Lead Director since December 2009; Director since February 2006
Mr. Sims most recently served as the President and CEO of Novavax, Inc., an international health and life science company. From 1973 through 2001, Mr. Sims served in various executive positions in sales, marketing, business development, and general management of Eli Lilly and Company, a pharmaceutical company, including Executive Director of Alliance Management, Vice President, Sales and Marketing of Hybritech, Inc. (acquired by Eli Lilly) and President of Eli Lilly Canada. Mr. Sims received a Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy from Southwestern Oklahoma State University, and completed the Tuck Executive Program at the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. In addition to serving as a board member of companies where he also led the executive management team, Mr. Sims has other significant board experience serving both public and private companies, including MDS, Inc., ATS Automation Tooling Systems, Inc. and Novavax, Inc. Mr. Sims’s qualifications to sit on the Directors include his significant contributions at global life sciences companies. Mr. Sims was Chairman of the Board from 2007 through 2009.
Ronald M. Cresswell, PhD
Director since October 2010
Dr. Cresswell retired in 1999 from Warner-Lambert Company where he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer. He formerly served as Vice President and Chairman, Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Research; COO of Laporte Industries; and at Burroughs Wellcome, where he held a broad range of research and development positions, culminating in being the main board member for global research and development. He earned B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in applied chemistry at the University of Glasgow. He completed post-doctoral work in the field of nucleoprotein chemistry at Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York and is a graduate of the Harvard Advanced Management Program. Dr. Cresswell is actively involved with the University of Michigan as a member of the Pharmacy Advancement Steering Committee for the College of Pharmacy. He has also served on the Board of Directors of Albachem Ltd., Allergan, Inc., CuraGen Corporation, Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. and Vasogen Inc. Dr. Cresswell’s qualifications to sit on the Board include his significant contributions at global pharmaceutical companies.
Timothy M. Mayleben
Director since June 2005
Mr. Mayleben has served as Aastrom’s President and CEO since December 2009. Mr. Mayleben previously served as an advisor to life science and healthcare companies through his advisory and investment firm, ElMa Advisors and as the President, COO and a Director of NightHawk Radiology Holdings, Inc. Mr. Mayleben was formerly the COO of Esperion Therapeutics which later became a division of Pfizer Global Research & Development. He joined Esperion in late 1998 as CFO. While at Esperion, Mr. Mayleben led the raising of more than $200 million in venture capital and institutional equity funding and later negotiated the acquisition of Esperion by Pfizer. Mr. Mayleben holds an MBA, with distinction, from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a BBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. He is on the Advisory Board for the Wolverine Venture Fund and serves as a director for several private life science companies. Mr. Mayleben’s qualifications to sit on the Board include his years of experience in the life sciences industry, including over a decade of experience as an executive officer, and his deep understanding of the Company’s historical and current business strategies, objectives and product candidates.
Alan L. Rubino
Director since September 2005
Mr. Rubino has served as CEO and President of New American Therapeutics, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company since October 2010. Previously, Mr. Rubino served as the CEO and President of Akrimax Pharmaceuticals, LLC and as President and COO of Pharmos Corporation. Mr. Rubino has continued to expand upon a highly successful and distinguished career that included Hoffmann-LaRoche, Inc. where he was a member of the U.S. Executive and Operating Committees and a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) corporate officer. During his Roche tenure, he held key executive positions in marketing, sales, business operations, supply chain and human resource management, and was assigned executive committee roles in marketing, project management, and globalization. Mr. Rubino also held senior executive positions at PDI, Inc. and Cardinal Health. He holds a BA in economics from Rutgers University with a minor in biology/chemistry and completed post-graduate educational programs at the University of Lausanne and Harvard Business School. Additionally, he serves on the Board of Rutgers University School of Business and the Lerner Center for Pharmaceutical Studies. Mr. Rubino’s qualifications to sit on the Board include his leadership roles in the life sciences industry in a wide range of positions, including positions focused on sales and marketing and SEC matters.
Harold C. Urschel, Jr., M.D.
Director since October 2009
Dr. Urschel has served as the Chair of Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgical Research, Education & Clinical Excellence at Baylor University Medical Center since 2002. He has taught extensively as Professor of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and has been a Visiting Professor at medical centers in the U.S. and abroad. He is an honorary member of the Thoracic Surgery faculty of the University of Toronto and Harvard Medical School and has been President of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, American College of Chest Physicians, International Academy of Chest Physicians, Southern Thoracic Surgical Association and Texas Surgical Society. Dr. Urschel received a BA from Princeton University and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School; he trained in cardiac surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. He has served as Chief of Experimental Surgery for the U.S. Navy, Consultant to the Atomic Energy Commission, NASA, and the Surgeon General of the U.S. Air Force. As Chairman of the Residency Review Committee for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, he established standards for training heart surgeons in the U.S. and on the American Board of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery. A Founding Member of the U.S. Heart Surgeons, he has been recognized as one of the nation’s 100 best cardiac surgeons. He has been awarded Honorary Degrees as a Doctor of Law (Pikeville College) and a Doctor of Science (Ohio State University). Dr. Urschel’s qualifications to sit on the Board include his significant contributions to the medical field and academia.
Robert L. Zerbe, M.D.
Director since January 2006
Dr. Zerbe is the CEO of QUATRx Pharmaceuticals Company, a venture-backed drug development company which he co-founded in 2000. Prior to his role at QUATRx, he held senior executive management positions with major pharmaceutical companies including Eli Lilly and Pfizer. During his tenure at Eli Lilly, his clinical research and development positions included Managing Director, Lilly Research Center U.K., and Vice President of Clinical Investigation and Regulatory Affairs. He joined Parke Davis in 1993 becoming Senior Vice President of Worldwide Clinical Research and Development. In this capacity, he led the clinical development programs for key products including Lipitor® and Neurontin®. Dr. Zerbe received his M.D. from the Indiana University School of Medicine and has completed post-doctoral work in internal medicine, endocrinology and neuroendocrinology at Indiana University and the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Zerbe currently serves on the boards of directors of one other public company, Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and two private companies, Metabolex, Inc. and Edgemont Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Zerbe’s qualifications to sit on the Board include his management positions at major pharmaceutical companies including the experience he gleaned in his clinic development roles.