Get to Know PharmaJet

Melissa Malhame

Vice President, Business Development

Ms. Malhame has over 25 years of experience in business development, strategic sales, and marketing for major global vaccine providers such as Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, Dynavax and Merck. She has supported global health investments in new vaccine candidates and expanded access to existing vaccines, working with the WHO, UNICEF and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Previously she was head of Market Shaping at Gavi, where she managed $1 billion of annual vaccine funding, and was accountable for ensuring the supply of vaccines at affordable prices, setting long-term access strategies, and leading Alliance relationships with the vaccine industry. Melissa has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics & International Affairs from Lafayette College, and an MBA from Cornell University.

Laurence Marton, M.D.

Chair

Dr. Marton serves as a consultant to industry and to nonprofit, governmental, and academic institutions. In the nonprofit sector, Dr. Marton serves on the Board of Trustees of the American Association for Cancer Research Foundation and on the Board of Directors of Cancer Commons and the Bay Area American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science.  In the for-profit sector, he serves on the Board of Directors of TOMA Biosciences, RenovoRx, and Microsonic Systems, and is on the Advisory Boards of Gem Pharmaceuticals and Silicom Ventures. He also serves as Chair of the Personalized Medicine World Conference.

Before moving from academia to industry, Dr. Marton was Dean of the University of Wisconsin Medical School and previously Chaired the Department of Laboratory Medicine at UCSF, where he was a Professor in the Departments of Laboratory Medicine and Neurological Surgery.  He is a leading expert in the fields of cell growth and drug development.  His research has resulted in more than 195 original publications, 60 scientific reviews and chapters, four books, and numerous patents.

Dr. Marton received his MD from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and his BA from Yeshiva University.

Cornelia L. Dekker, M.D.

Medical Director, Stanford-LPCH Vaccine Program and Professor of Pediatrics (Infections Diseases), Stanford University School of Medicine. Vaccine development, clinical research and vaccine safety are core elements of Corry’s 32-year career. The first two decades were spent with Wellcome Research Labs, Lederle Biologicals and finally a nine-year term with Chiron Corporation, where she served as Medical Director, then VP, Clinical Research and Medical Affairs for the Vaccine Division. Corry then blended her vaccine experience with an academic position at Stanford University School of Medicine in 1999 where she does applied research in vaccines through NIH-sponsored vaccine clinical trials and conducted vaccine safety research funded by CDC.

Dr. Dekker received her BS and MD from Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and residency and specialization in Pediatric Infectious Disease at Duke University Medical Center.

Paul Mendelman, M.D.

As a physician/scientist Paul has researched and published extensively on the role antibiotic resistance mechanisms play in infectious disease, particularly with Haemophilus influenza. As a pediatrician, his contributions include vaccine safety, efficacy, effectiveness and immunogenicity studies in influenza, hepatitis B, Haemophilus type B, pneumococcal conjugate and other vaccines. While serving as VP Clinical Research at Aviron, then VP and Group Leader, Clinical Development at MedImmune, Paul was integral to the clinical and commercial development of the intranasal influenza vaccine FluMist. He currently serves as Chief Medical Officer and Executive VP of LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biologic drug development company focused on respiratory and gastrointestinal indications utilizing a proprietary virus-like particle (VLP) technology.

Dr. Mendelman received his BS and MD from The Ohio State University, and is board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Infectious Diseases.

Ron Lowy

Executive Chairman

Mr. Lowy was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in early 2013 and Executive Chairman in 2020. He serves on the boards and as an advisor to several medical device, education and information technology companies. Ron previously served as the President and CEO of the Biosciences division of Thermo Fisher Scientific. Prior to that he was President of Global Connectivity Solutions for ADC Telecommunications. He also served as President and Chief Operating Officer at the KRONE Group. Ron spent the first 15 years of his career in operations, technology and general management positions at GE Healthcare. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Hampshire and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin.

Chris Cappello

President and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Cappello was appointed Chief Operating Officer in 2018, and President and Chief Executive Officer in 2020. In this position, he is responsible for running all facets of the business.

Mr. Cappello has over 15 years of direct management experience in medical device development and sales, and has spent his career managing the successful design, development, clearance and launch of both reusable and high volume disposable medical devices. Previously Chris drove the development of disruptive medical device technologies at companies such as AlloSource and Applied Medical. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado State University and his Project Management Professional certification.

Heather Callender-Potters

Vice Chairman and Chief Business Development Officer

One of the co-founders and active in the management of PharmaJet, Heather has 23 years of private equity fund management and international investment experience across multiple jurisdictions, managing individual investments and financial investment consortiums.  She has a BA in International Management from Claremont McKenna College and an MBA from Wharton, the University of Pennsylvania.

Tony Allard

Mr. Allard is President of Hearthstone Investments.  He holds a BA and LLB from the University of Alberta.

Spike Buckley

Mr. Buckley has a background as a commercial real estate developer, with investments spanning the US and Canada. He is an active angel investor in high- tech and bio-tech companies, which includes medical devices and tools that aid in drug delivery and diagnostic activities. Spike is an active board participant in the Colorado Veterinary Medical Foundation, Alameda Corridor Business Improvement District and CryptoMill Technologies. He holds a BA in Economics from the University of Colorado.

Kim Duncan

Mr. Duncan is Principal of Kulik Investments, a private investment fund focused on equity investments in promising healthcare technologies, including RUSH Foundation, Curemark, SEEK and others. Formerly Kim was with Goldman Sachs and Nomura, and he holds a BS in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Yale University.

Kevin Lorenz

Mr. Lorenz is Chief Investment Officer, Senior Vice President, Treasury and Private Investments at the Katz Group, where he works directly with the principal to oversee the design, implementation and monitoring of the overall investment strategy for public and private passive investments. Previously he was Director, Ultra High Net Worth (UHNW) Private Client Business at Credit Suisse Securities, LLC and Director, UHNW Management Group at UBS Financial Services. Kevin holds a JD from George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School, an MBA from Benedictine University, and a BS in Economics from Illinois State University.

Marie Mazur, PhD

Dr. Mazur is a global business executive with 30+ years of experience growing revenue and profits for major vaccine and pharmaceutical companies. Since 2006, Marie held executive roles at the influenza vaccine company, Seqirus (part of CSL Limited), most recently as Vice President, Pandemic Response Solutions where she had global commercial responsibility for pandemic and pre-pandemic contracts. Previously she held successive global commercial leadership positions at GlaxoSmithKline Biologics, 3M Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi Pasteur. Marie holds a doctorate in Pharmacy and master’s degree in Regulatory Affairs from Paris (France) University of Pharmacy, and an International Executive Degree in Business Administration from INSEAD (IEP).

Markus Pedriks

Mr. Pedriks is an investor, as well as a professional private equity fund manager. He is skilled in operational leadership and entrepreneurial activities, in Europe and North America, in health, media, telecommunications, entertainment and real estate.  He holds a BA in Economics from McGill University and an MBA from IMD, Lausanne.

Cody Smith

Mr. Smith is a private investor and a former Partner of Goldman, Sachs & Co, having spent 23 years advising on mergers and acquisitions in a variety of industries. He holds a BA in Management Engineering from Claremont McKenna College, a BS and MS in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Rodney Smith

Mr. Smith is a private investor and advisor to private equity, venture capital and entrepreneurs across healthcare, medical devices, instrument services and environmental monitoring. Previously he held several division President roles at Thermo Fisher Scientific. He also served as Chief Financial Officer for Krone Group, and as a consultant for Anderson Consulting (now Accenture). Rodney has over 20 years of experience in distributor leadership and driving strategic growth in the APAC and EMEA regions. He holds a BS and M.Eng. in Operations Research & Industrial Engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.