RENALYTIX - Key Persons
Dr. Freedman is the John Felts Distinguished Professor and Chief of the Nephrology Section at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Concomitantly he serves as the Chief Medical Officer of Health Systems Management, Inc. overseeing the Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Emory School of Medicine Outpatient Dialysis Programs. Dr. Freedman chaired the NIDDK Family Investigation in Nephropathy and Diabetes (FIND) Consortium and is PI of the NIDDK APOL1 Long-Term Kidney Transplant Outcomes (APOLLO) Coordinating Center. His work on familial clustering of ESKD in African Americans paved the way for the identification of major nephropathy risk variants. His team now works on functional, clinical, and translational aspects of apolipoprotein L1 gene (APOL1)-associated kidney disease. He has continually been funded by the NIH since 1995 and published more than 600 peer-reviewed manuscripts and editorials.
Dr. Freedman earned his medical degree from Downstate Medical Center, the State University of New York, in 1984. He completed his training in internal medicine at the Eastern Virginia Graduate School of Medicine and his nephrology fellowship at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Remuneration Committee
- Non - Executive Director
Catherine Coste was appointed to the Company's Board of Directors in June 2023. Ms. Coste retired from Deloitte and Touche LLP ("Deloitte") in 2020, where she was a Senior Partner, and served as one of Deloitte's Life Sciences industry executive leaders. She spent 32 years in both corporate and professional services positions leading global finance, internal audit, and operations teams. During her career at Deloitte, Ms. Coste was directly involved with over 30 life science corporations, the majority of which were large-cap and medium-cap public corporations. She also serves as a Director at both Minerva Surgical, Inc., where she is Chair of the Audit Committee and a Member of the Compensation Committee, and Biomerica, Inc., where she is Chair of the Audit Committee, and serves on both the Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Ms. Coste's experience includes, but is not limited to, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, corporate risk analysis and management, cyber risk assessment, fraud prevention, IT systems analysis and upgrades, internal controls, and corporate governance. She is a Certified Public Accountant, who earned her B.A. in business administration, accounting, from California State University, Hayward.
Chair of the Audit Committee, Member of the Remuneration Committee
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Nomination Committee
- Chairman of the Remuneration Committee
- Non - Executive Chairman
- Member of Our Board of Directors
Christopher Mills has served as a member of our board of directors since our inception. Mr. Mills founded Harwood Capital Management in 2011, a successor from its former parent company J.O. Hambro Capital Management, which he co-founded in 1993. He is chief executive officer and investment manager of North Atlantic Smaller Companies Investment Trust plc and chairman and chief executive officer of Harwood Capital Management Ltd. Prior to that, Mr. Mills was a Director of Invesco MIM, where he was head of North American Investments and Venture Capital, and of Samuel Montagu International. Mr. Mills currently serves on the board of a number of public companies, including EKF Diagnostics plc, Sureserve Group plc, Augean plc and MJ Gleeson plc. Mr. Mills received a B.A. in Business Studies from Guildhall University.
Dr. Eugene E. Wright Jr holds appointments as Consulting Associate in the Department of Medicine at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Wright has an undergraduate BSE in Electrical Engineering from Princeton University and a medical degree from Duke University School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Duke University Hospital in 1981. Dr. Wright has over 40 years of clinical experience as a private practitioner, academic clinician and educator, medical administrator, a rural physician in southeastern NC, and a volunteer physician. He currently works with the Charlotte AHEC in Performance Improvement. Dr. Wright serves and has served on several advisory and editorial boards, which include Clinical Diabetes, Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics, and as a content reviewer for UpToDate. Dr. Wright has served on the Planning Committee for the Clinical Conference of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) since 2009. He has served as the inaugural chair of the ADA Primary Care Interest Group and as a member of the ADA/AHA Know Diabetes by Heart Science Advisory Group. Dr. Wright has published several articles on diabetes diagnosis, treatment, and management, and has given presentations at national and international meetings on new treatments and technology for diabetes.
Job Titles:
- Chief
- Registrar
- Joint Broker
- Nominated Advisor
Job Titles:
- Member of the Remuneration Committee
- Non - Executive Director
- Member of the Audit Committee, Member of Nomination Committee
Erik Lium, Ph.D. has served as a member of our board of directors since November 2018. Since March 2014, Dr. Lium has served in various roles at Mount Sinai, where he is currently the president of Mount Sinai Innovation Partners, and the executive vice president and chief commercial innovation officer of the Mount Sinai Health System. Dr. Lium represents Mount Sinai on several private company boards and previously served as a member of the investment review committee for the Accelerate NY Seed Fund. Dr. Lium also serves as chairman of the board of managers of Kantaro. Prior to joining Mount Sinai, Dr. Lium served as the assistant vice chancellor of Innovation, Technology & Alliances at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), the UCSF principal investigator for the Bay Area National Science Foundation I-Corps node, and assistant vice chancellor of Research. Dr. Lium served as president of LabVelocity Inc. prior to its acquisition in 2004. He pursued postdoctoral research at UCSF in the laboratory of J. Michael Bishop, M.D., earned a Ph.D. from the Integrated Program in Cellular, Molecular and Biophysical Studies at Columbia University in the laboratory of Dr. Saul J. Silverstein, and holds a B.S. in Biology from Gonzaga University.
Member of the Audit Committee, Member of Nomination Committee
Job Titles:
- Professor of Public Health Sciences
Dr. Kramer is a Professor of Public Health Sciences and Medicine within the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at Loyola University Chicago. She is also a practicing nephrologist at the Edward Hines Jr VA hospital and is the Associate Director of Research for the Medicine Service Line and the Founding Director of the Hines VA Serwa Research Center on Aging. Dr. Kramer's research focuses on the intersection of chronic kidney disease, nutrition, and cardiovascular disease. In addition to her research, she is a patient advocate and is a past President of the National Kidney Foundation and a current member of the Board of Directors of the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois and the National Kidney Foundation.
Howard Doran served as our Chief Business Officer from September 2023 - April 2024. He has now assumed the role of President, with responsibility for global sales and marketing. Prior to joining Renalytix, he was President and Chief Executive Officer at LipoScience, where he stayed until its successful acquisition by LabCorp. Mr. Doran also served as President and Chief Operating Officer at Constitution Medical, Inc. and President of Hologic's global diagnostics business. Earlier in his career, he was on the management team of Cytyc Corporation, holding a number of senior commercial roles, including physician sales and marketing, managed care, and laboratory sales and marketing. Mr. Doran received his B.S. degree in Management from West Chester University of Pennsylvania.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Co - Founder
- Member of the EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP Team
- CEO Elise Wilfinger 2023 - 02 - 27T14
James McCullough has served as our co-founder and Chief Executive Officer since our inception. Mr. McCullough has leadership experience building emerging technology companies in both the public and private sectors with specific expertise in the life-sciences industry. From 2008 to 2014, he served as chief executive officer of Exosome Diagnostics Inc., a venture backed personalized medicine company developing non-invasive liquid biopsy diagnostics in cancer that was acquired by Bio-Techne Corporation in 2018. Since 2014, Mr. McCullough has also served as a managing partner of Renwick Capital, LLC, a management consulting firm specializing in assisting emerging healthcare technology companies with strategic planning and business execution. He received his B.A. from Boston University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Job Titles:
- Fellow of the American College of Physicians
Javier Morales, MD, FACP, FACE, is vice president and principal clinical trials investigator at Advanced Internal Medicine Group in East Hills, New York. He is also an associate clinical professor of medicine for the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hofstra University, in Hempstead, New York. He earned his medical degree at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School in Newark, New Jersey. Dr. Morales completed a residency in internal medicine at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, New York, and North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, New York, where he was chief medical resident from 1998 to 1999. He is certified as a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine.
Dr. Morales is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and American College of Endocrinology, and a member of the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the National Hispanic Medical Association, and the Interamerican College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Morales currently serves as a member of the Diabetes Oversight Committee and the Obesity Medicine Subcommittee for the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. He is involved in the training of medical students, medical residents, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. Dr. Morales is active in clinical research, having served as investigator on several key clinical trials, has published numerous articles in major peer-reviewed journals, and is a frequent lecturer at many national and international continuing medical education forums. He is a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Cardiology & Current Research.
Job Titles:
- Interim Chief Financial Officer
- Interim CFO Elise Wilfinger 2024 - 06 - 23T19
Joel R. Jung joined Renalytix as interim Chief Financial Officer in May 2024. From 2008 - 2020, he also served as CFO for various life sciences, biotech, and diagnostic companies, including Celera Corporation, Agraquest, Inc., BioNano Genomics, and Counsyl, Inc. Most recently, he was Chief Financial Officer at Minerva Surgical, a commercial-stage medical device company. He received his BS in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University and his MBA in Finance from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
Job Titles:
- Chief Medical Officer of the National Kidney Foundation
Dr. Joseph Vassalotti is the Chief Medical Officer of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) and Clinical Professor of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology, at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He received his medical degree with Distinction in Research from the SUNY Stony Brook School of Medicine and completed an Internal Medicine Residency and Nephrology Fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. At NKF, his major focus is implementation of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines in chronic kidney disease (CKD), including the NKF's Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDOQI), particularly through guidance of the NKF's primary care initiative, called CKD intercept.
Job Titles:
- Executive
- Executive Chairman
Julian Baines rejoined the executive team at EKF Diagnostics Holdings plc ("EKF") as Executive Chairman on a short term basis as announced in early February 2023. Julian is also currently Non-Executive Chairman of Verici Dx plc. Julian has significant experience in the life science industry. He has over 20 years' experience as CEO of EKF and BBI Holdings plc. Before joining EKF, he undertook a management buyout at BBI in 2000, a flotation on AIM in 2004 and was responsible for selling the business to Alere Inc. (now part of Abbott Laboratories) in 2008 for c. £85 million. Whilst CEO at EKF he successfully completed a number of fund raisings, acquisitions and subsequent integration of businesses in seven countries. He oversaw the spin out of businesses from EKF including Renalytix plc which listed on Nasdaq in 2020. In 2016 he was awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire) for services to the life sciences industry. Julian has previously held the position of Non-Executive Chairman of Renalytix Plc between 2018 and 2020.
Job Titles:
- Elise Wilfinger 2023 - 11 - 13T17
Michael J. Donovan, Ph.D., M.D. has served as our Chief Medical Officer since our inception. Since November 2011, Donovan has also served as a Professor of Experimental Pathology and Director of the Biorepository and Pathology core at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. In addition to an academic career at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital, Dr. Donovan has over 20 years' experience in the biotechnology industry, serving in various senior management roles at Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Incyte Pharmaceuticals. He most recently served as Chief Clinical Officer of Vigilant Biosciences, Inc., Chief Medical Officer of MetaStat, Inc. and Chief Medical Officer of Exosome Diagnostics, Inc. Dr. Donovan received a B.S. in Zoology, an M.S. in Endocrinology and a Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental Biology from Rutgers University. He received his M.D. from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
Job Titles:
- Chief of the Diabetes Division at the University of Texas Health Science Center
Ralph A. DeFronzo, MD, is Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Diabetes Division at the University of Texas Health Science Center and the Deputy Director of the Texas Diabetes Institute, San Antonio, Texas. His major interests focus on the pathogenesis and treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus and the central role of insulin resistance in the metabolic-cardiovascular cluster of disorders known collectively as the Insulin Resistance Syndrome. For his work in this area, Dr. DeFronzo has received many national and international awards including the Banting Award from the ADA (2008), and the Claude Bernard Award from the EASD (2008). These represent the highest scientific achievement awards given by the American and European Diabetes Associations, respectively. Dr. DeFronzo also has received the Hamm International Prize (2017), and most recently The Prince Mahidol Award (2023) which recognizes a person worldwide in medicine and science who has made major discoveries leading to advances in global health. With more than 800 articles published in peer-reviewed medical journals, Dr. DeFronzo is a distinguished clinician, teacher, and investigator who has been an invited speaker at major national and international conferences on diabetes mellitus.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Remuneration Committee
- Non - Executive Director
- Member / Chairperson
- Member of the Audit Committee, Chair of the Remuneration Committee
Robert Naylor has 29 years' experience in capital markets, specialising in both the life sciences and investment companies sectors. Robert is currently CEO and Co-Founder of Intuitive Investments Group plc, a London Stock Exchange Specialist Funds Segment investment company providing investors with exposure to fast growing technology and life sciences businesses. Robert is also Non-Executive Director of NIOX Group PLC, a company dedicated to improving asthma diagnosis and management, and PRS REIT plc, a FTSE 250 closed-ended real estate investment company which invests in high-quality, new build, family homes in the private rented sector.
Previously, Robert was Chairman of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited, a FTSE 250 company, which was subject to a recommended cash offer by a newly-formed company indirectly wholly-owned by investment funds advised by affiliates of Blackstone Inc. Robert was Chairman of Round Hill Music Royalty Fund Limited and oversaw its sale to a company directly owned by Alchemy Copyrights, LLC, trading as Concord. Earlier in his career Robert held various positions within JP Morgan Asset Management Limited, Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited and Cenkos Securities plc. Robert is a qualified chartered accountant, having started his career with Ernst & Young in 1996.
Member of the Audit Committee, Chair of the Remuneration Committee
Job Titles:
- Chartered Accountant
- Company Secretary
Salim Hamir is a Chartered Accountant with extensive leadership experience across public, private, and charitable organizations. He has held pivotal roles at companies such as EKF Diagnostics Holdings, Poolbeg Pharma, Renalytix, Verici Dx, and Trellus Health. As an accomplished CFO, Finance Director, and Company Secretary, Salim brings hands-on expertise in M&A, fundraising, public listings, EIS/VCT, taxation, IFRS reporting, spin-outs, investor relations, restructurings, and corporate governance. His operational involvement has been instrumental in driving the strategic growth and success of companies he has been involved.
Dr. Brunton works in a group practice in rural Winnsboro, South Carolina and holds the faculty rank of Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Touro University in Vallejo, California. He is also executive director of the Primary Care Metabolic Group (PCMG), a national primary care collaboration of over 10,000 primary care clinicians. He also serves as Editor-in Chief of the ADA's primary care journal, Clinical Diabetes. He has over 175 publications in primary care and specialty journals and is a frequent speaker at national and international medical meetings.
Dr. Brunton earned his medical degree at Monash University Medical School in Melbourne, Australia and completed his residency in family practice at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center in California. He is a board-certified family physician and is also a certified diabetes care and education specialist.