Management

Nick Colangelo

President & CEO

Nick joined Aastrom in 2013 with more than twenty years of executive management and corporate development experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including nearly a decade with Eli Lilly and Company. Most recently, Nick was President and Chief Executive Officer of Promedior, Inc.  During his career, he has held a variety of executive positions of increasing responsibility in product development, pharmaceutical operations, sales and marketing, and corporate development.  He has extensive experience in the acquisition, development and commercialization of therapies to treat fibrovascular, metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.  During his tenure at Eli Lilly and Company, Nick held positions as Director of Strategy and Business Development for Lilly’s Diabetes Product Group and also served as a founding Managing Director of Lilly Ventures. Nick received his B.S.B.A. in Accounting, Magna Cum Laude, from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a J.D. degree, with Honors, from the Duke University School of Law.

Ronnda L. Bartel, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer

Ronnda joined Aastrom in 2006 and is responsible for the scientific direction of the company, including research, development and technical operations.  She has more than 20 years of research and product development experience and most recently was executive director, biological research at MicroIslet and vice president, scientific development at StemCells Inc.  Earlier in her career, she was senior principal scientist and director of research at Advanced Tissue Sciences and was involved in the development and approval of some of the first cell-based products approved by the FDA. She has also worked as senior director, science and technology at SRS Capital, LLC evaluating life science investments and has held positions in clinical development, drug delivery, business development and manufacturing. Ronnda holds a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Kansas, has completed postdoctoral work at the University of Michigan and received a BA in chemistry and biology from Tabor College.

Daniel Orlando

Chief Business Officer

Dan joined Aastrom in August of 2012 and is responsible for commercialization strategies and business development.  He has more than 20 years of commercial product preparation and launch experience including leadership roles in sales, marketing and most recently as a vice president of business development for North and South America at Takeda Pharmaceuticals.  As an early employee at Takeda North America, he served as the original brand director for Actos, which became the #1 branded anti-diabetic agent in the U.S.  Dan’s initial pharmaceutical experience came in progressively expanding roles in sales and marketing at Abbott Laboratories.  Dan holds an MBA from Florida Atlantic University and a BA in Economics with Honors from the University of Florida.

Brian D. Gibson

Vice President, Finance

Brian joined Aastrom in July 2010 and brings more than 11 years of finance and accounting experience to Aastrom. Prior to joining Aastrom, Brian was a senior manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers where his skills were applied in multiple industries, including life sciences and healthcare. Brian holds a BA in accounting with high honor from the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University and is a certified public accountant.

 

 

David Recker, MD

Acting Chief Medical Officer

David Recker has more than 20 years of experience in drug development most recently at Takeda Global Research and Development where he served as Senior Vice President for Clinical Science.  Dr. Recker has had responsibility for multiple development programs in a variety of therapeutic areas in his career which have resulted in many successful regulatory filings throughout the world.  He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians as well as a Fellow of the American College of Rheumatology.  He holds an M.D. with Distinction form the University of Michigan where he did his internship and residency and was Chief Resident in Internal Medicine.  He did his fellowship in training at the National Institutes of Health.