Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors
Dr. Farr was most recently the Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Zogenix, Inc. until May of 2022 upon the sale of Zogenix to UCB Pharma. Previously, Dr. Farr held positions of increasing responsibility at Aradigm Corporation from 1995 to 2006, serving most recently as Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer. From 1986 to 1994, Dr. Farr was a tenured professor at the Welsh School of Pharmacy, Cardiff University, UK, concentrating in the areas of biopharmaceutics. Dr. Farr is a Director on the Board of SteadyMed (NASDAQ: STDY) and two private companies, Oscillari, LLC, and Flow Pharma, Inc. He is author/co-author of more than 180 scientific publications and patents and retains his academic interests as adjunct Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Chief Operating Officer
Ms. Foster is a seasoned MedTech leader with more than 34 years of experience at Medtronic. She held positions of increasing responsibility across functional, regional, and general management roles. Most recently as VP of Customer Experience at Diabetes, VP of the Cardiac and Vascular businesses in Europe, Middle East & Africa, and General Manager of Pain Therapies and Targeted Drug Delivery business in Neuromodulation. She has a reputation as a strategic thought leader with strong business acumen who drives a customer focused, performance-driven culture, and leads business model innovation and change. Julie’s broad base of experience includes general management, global marketing, commercial operations, channel optimization, navigating complex regulatory and reimbursement requirements, and building diverse, high performing teams.
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Shafer’s more than 25 years of technical and leadership experience in R&D, strategy, and business development spans medical device, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Prior to joining Cerebral Therapeutics, Dr. Shafer served in R&D leadership positions at start-up, mid-size, and large global pharmaceutical companies. In addition, she spent over 10 years in the medical device industry. While at Medtronic, Dr. Shafer held various roles in drug-device combination product development, neuromodulation research, management, and business development. Dr. Shafer’s foundational research and leadership resulted in seminal publications regarding mechanistic, proof of concept, and clinical evidence for a portfolio of translational and clinical research programs to advance brain targeted drug delivery. Dr. Shafer began her career at 3M in the Pharmaceutical and Drug Delivery Division and holds a B.S. in Genetics and Cell Biology and a Ph.D. in Neuroimmunology.
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Anthony has more than 18 years of start-up CFO experience, primarily in life sciences, focused on fund raising, strategy, M&A and organizational growth. Prior to Cerebral Therapeutics his life science CFO engagements included InCarda Therapeutics, Viz.ai, Relievant Medsystems, Medicalis (acquired by Siemens) and Stentor (acquired by Philips). Other CFO engagements included Touch of Modern, Brandcast, Solaicx (acquired by MEMC) and Quellan (acquired by Intersil). Mr. Anthony’s career foundation was established at Intel finance spanning 22 years across Intel Capital, M&A and Controllership. Mr. Anthony holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Vice President of Clinical Development
Mr. Distad comes to Cerebral Therapeutics with over 24 years’ experience in medical device and combination product clinical development. He has been responsible for the development and management of over 40 IDE studies from protocol development through final submission to regulatory authorities and focused on Class III devices and drug-device combination products in the therapeutic areas of movement disorders and epilepsy. Prior to joining Cerebral Therapeutics, Mr. Distad’s experience included Global Program Management at Medtronic in the Cardiac Rhythm Management and Neuromodulation Divisions, start-up and early commercial orthopedic companies, as well as leadership roles at two large Clinical Research Organizations within their Global Medical Device and Combination Product Divisions. In addition, Mr. Distad has served in advisory positions for Medical Technology Angel Funding groups, International Medical Device and Combination Product Regulatory Panels and Therapeutic Advisory Panels.
Senior Director of Pharmaceutical Development
Mr. Zanon’s responsibilities include oversight of preformulation, formulation development, analytical development, and preclinical toxicology studies including bioanalytical development and analysis. He holds degrees in biochemistry from Northern Michigan University and has over 20 years of broad experience in pharmaceutical development. His key areas of expertise include solubility; salt and form selection; solution, suspension and solid oral dosage formulations; direct compression; extrusion/spheronization; modified-release microparticulate coatings; and preclinical study design. Prior to joining Cerebral Therapeutics in early 2020, his experience in pharmaceutical development was accumulated through positions of increasing responsibility while with G.D. Searle, Pharmacia Corporation, Amgen, and Upsher-Smith.
Senior Director of Quality and Device Development
Mr. Skinner brings more than 20 years of medical device product development to the organization with a proven track record from product inception to commercialization. He previously developed catheter and stimulation leads for cardiac arrythmias, neuromodulation, arterial disease and atrial fibrillation. At Cerebral Therapeutics he is responsible for device development and quality systems. Prior to joining Cerebral Therapeutics, Mr. Skinner held various research and development positions at Guidant (Boston Scientific), Apnex Medical and Medtronic. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and is a certified Master Black Belt in Design for Six Sigma.
Senior Director of Pharmaceutical Development
Mr. Zanon’s responsibilities include oversight of preformulation, formulation development, analytical development, and preclinical toxicology studies including bioanalytical development and analysis. He holds degrees in biochemistry from Northern Michigan University and has over 20 years of broad experience in pharmaceutical development. His key areas of expertise include solubility; salt and form selection; solution, suspension and solid oral dosage formulations; direct compression; extrusion/spheronization; modified-release microparticulate coatings; and preclinical study design. Prior to joining Cerebral Therapeutics in early 2020, his experience in pharmaceutical development was accumulated through positions of increasing responsibility while with G.D. Searle, Pharmacia Corporation, Amgen, and Upsher-Smith.
Senior Pharmaceutical Scientist
Dr. Boyd's responsibilities include supporting search and evaluation, nonclinical development strategy, ideation and execution of research studies to advance nonclinical therapy development. Prior to joining Cerebral Therapeutics, she held research positions at Northern Biomedical Research Inc. conducting direct to CNS drug delivery nonclinical studies and at the Michigan State University In Vivo Facility conducting efficacy and early safety testing studies. Dr. Boyd holds a B.S. in Neuroscience from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.