Deborah Rathjen, B.Sc. (Hons), Ph.D., MAICD, FTSE, is the previous chief executive officer and managing director at Bionomics Limited (“Bionomics”). Dr. Rathjen joined Bionomics in 2000 from Peptech Limited (“Peptech”), where she was general manager of business development and licensing. She was a co-inventor of Peptech’s TNF technology and leader of the company’s successful defense of its key TNF patents against a legal challenge by BASF.

Dr. Rathjen has significant experience in company building and financing, mergers and acquisitions, therapeutic product research and development, business development, licensing and commercialization. Dr. Rathjen has been recognized internationally with awards and honors including the 2004 AusBiotech President’s Medal, 2006 Flinders University Distinguished Alumni Award, 2009 BioSingapore Asia Pacific Biotechnology Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, 2009 Regional Finalist Ernst & Young – Entrepreneur of the Year and 2014 Woman Executive of the Year BioPharm Industry Awards. In 2015 Dr. Rathjen was included in the top 50 most influential Australian businesswomen by The Australian.

Dr. Rathjen received her Doctor of Philosophy degree in immunology from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and her Bachelor of Science degree in immunology from Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia.

Caroline Dircks, Ph.D., spent 13 years at Bristol Myers Squibb (“BMS”) in research and development (“R&D”) operations. Dr. Dircks’s most recent role was as head of regional R&D operations and schedule management, having responsibility across the BMS portfolio covering discovery to life cycle management. Prior to this position, Dr. Dircks was responsible for the management of the specialty portfolio including cardiovascular, immunoscience, virology, fibrotic disease and genetically defined diseases. She has also been involved with managing multiple licensing, partnering and acquisition opportunities.

Prior to joining BMS, Dr. Dircks spent eight years at Vion Pharmaceuticals, starting as a research scientist in molecular and microbiology and ending her tenure as the director of quality control, analytical and bio-analytical development and manufacturing where she was responsible for all pre-clinical and clinical analytical development for biologics and small molecules as well as analysis of clinical samples and all operational logistics to support clinical PK/PD.

Dr. Dircks has been published in multiple peer-reviewed journals, including Cancer Gene Therapy, Journal of Infectious Diseases and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and as an inventor on two patents from her work on the anti-cancer technology T.A.P.E.T. (Tumor Amplified Protein Expression Therapy).

Dr. Dircks earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in biochemistry from Clark University and her Doctor of Philosophy degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Massachusetts Medical School and completed her post-doctoral work at Yale University. While at Yale, Dr. Clairmont helped to establish the Connecticut chapter for the Association for Women in Science and served as the organization’s president from 2001-2003.

Christine Antalik has more than 25 years of experience in accounting and finance including several high-profile, executive-level roles as chief financial officer. Over the course of her illustrious career, Ms. Antalik has closed over $800 million in deal transactions through initial public offerings, private and venture equity financings, debt financings, recapitalizations, research grants and mergers and acquisitions. With four consecutive exits over eleven years, she has an impeccable track record of starting, building, growing and improving the profitability, performance and value of companies, while positioning them for the next level of growth or exit.

Ms. Antalik is the managing member of Founders Bridge Advisors, LLC, a business advisory firm located in Connecticut. Previously, Antalik served as chief financial officer of Aeromics, Inc. since October 2016, she also served as chief financial officer of SurgiQuest, Inc. where she led the $265 million acquisition of SurgiQuest, Inc. by CONMED Corporation after filing the company’s public S-1 statement. Ms. Antalik closed a $108 million initial public offering as the vice president of finance and controller at HigherOne, Inc., a financial technology company. Prior to HigherOne, Ms. Antalik served as controller for Tangoe, Inc., a software service company. As chief financial officer and treasurer of Hematech, LLC, Ms. Antalik formed a joint venture with a key services provider to mitigate business risk and ultimately steered the company to a successful exit, being acquired by Kirin Brewery Company, Limited. She also previously served as controller and senior manager of litigation support and business valuation for Centerprise Advisors, Inc. (currently Marcum, LLP), a national consulting and accounting advisory firm, where she provided expert witness reports in economic damages cases, business valuations and forensic accounting services. Ms. Antalik earned her Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Western New England College, Springfield, Mass.

Dr. Mei Mei Tian is a vice president and the head of external research at Bioasis Technologies, Inc. Dr. Tian has more than 10 years of experience working on melanotransferrin-related research in both academia and biotech. At the University of British Columbia, she investigated the role of melanotransferrin in melanoma malignancy, as well as mechanisms involved in melanotransferrin uptake in cells.

Since joining the Bioasis team in 2012, she has been a significant contributor in the early development and continued expansion of our proprietary blood-brain barrier technology, xB3. With her oncology and neurology background, she is a committed and driven individual with a passion for the success of our platform.
Dr. Tian received her Doctor of Philosophy degree in microbiology and immunology from the University of British Columbia.