For Patients

ABOUT US

LEADERSHIP

Wa’el Hashad joined Longeveron in the role of CEO on March 1, 2023, bringing with him more than 35 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.

Prior to joining Longeveron, Mr. Hashad was the President and CEO of Avanir Pharmaceuticals where he led all aspects of the company’s commercial initiatives and the product development pipeline. Avanir was fully integrated into Otsuka on December 22, 2022. In his career before Avanir, Mr. Hashad was the Chief Commercial Officer of Seres Therapeutics, where he spearheaded both strategy and development of various therapeutic types, including several microbiome-based therapies. Mr. Hashad is an accomplished leader, who has held senior leadership positions at Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Company.

He has launched several successful brands in the U.S. and worldwide markets. His therapeutic expertise includes cardiovascular, neuroscience, endocrine and inflammatory diseases. He is passionate about innovation and advancing science. Mr. Hashad holds a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from Cairo University and a Master of Business Administration from University of Akron in Ohio

Kwan-Hong Chris Min joined Longeveron in 2022 leading the global clinical development and regulatory strategy for Longeveron’s investigational products. On April 1, 2023, he began serving in the capacity of a consultant. Dr. Min, a board-certified neurologist, brings to Longeveron over a decade of pharma and biotech clinical development experience. Most recently, Dr. Min served as VP and Head of Medical & Clinical Development at Enterin Inc. Prior to Enterin, he held positions at Cerevel as Head of Clinical Pharmacology, and at BlueRock Therapeutics as Senior Medical Director of Neurology, where he championed the clinical development process for pluripotent stem cell-derived dopaminergic neurons to treat Parkinson’s Disease. Dr. Min spent nearly 8 years in early clinical development at Merck Research Laboratories where he led the team that conducted a pivotal 375-subject Phase 1 safety study that led to FDA approval of Bridion®, a drug indicated for the reversal of neuromuscular blockade induced by rocuronium or vecuronium, typically during surgery. 

Prior to his industry experience, Dr. Min served as a research clinician, faculty member, and attending physician at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Harlem Hospital. Dr. Min earned an M.D. from the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from The Rockefeller University and a A.B. in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard University. 

Dr. Hare co-founded Longeveron in 2014 and serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Chief Science Officer. Dr. Hare is a double board-certified cardiologist (Cardiology and Advanced Heart Failure and Transplantation) and is the founding director of the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine. He has obtained in excess of $25 Million in funding from the National Institutes of Health over the past 15 years to support basic research of cell therapy strategies. He is also a recipient of the Paul Beeson Physician Faculty Scholar in Aging Research Award, and is an elected member of the American Association of Physicians, The American Society for Clinical Investigation, and is an elected Fellow of the American Heart Association. Dr. Hare has also served in numerous leadership roles at the American Heart Association and at the Center for Scientific Review of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Hare is also a co-founder of Vestion, Inc., and Heart Genomics, LLC, companies that hold cardio-related intellectual property. He received a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, and his MD from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and completed fellowships at Johns Hopkins and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and was a Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School. 

Ms. Locklear joined Longeveron in the role of CFO on July 31, 2023. Before Longeveron, Lisa served as the Senior Vice President and CFO for Avanir Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Otsuka. During her time at Avanir, Ms. Locklear was instrumental in enhancing the financial and technology-related processes, systems, and people during a period of rapid growth. Prior to Avanir, she held senior financial roles at GSN Games, CoreLogic, Ingram Micro, the Walt Disney Company, and Price Waterhouse (now PwC), with assignments in Paris and London.

Ms. Locklear has been recognized by the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association with the Luminary Award, an honor that underscores her dedication to fostering the growth of other women’s careers and her unwavering commitment to the healthcare industry.

In addition to her professional career, Ms. Locklear serves on several philanthropic boards. She currently chairs the Board of Governors for the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and serves on the boards of the Pacific Marine Mammal Center and the Orange County United Way, and is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).

Ms. Locklear holds a B.S. in plant science from the University of California, Davis, and an MBA from the University of California, Irvine. She is a licensed CPA (inactive) and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the California Society of CPAs, and Financial Executives International.

Dr. Agafonova joined Longeveron in the role of CMO on July 1, 2023. Before Longeveron, she served as Clinical Development Lead, Senior Medical Director, and Product Development Chair at Otsuka Pharmaceuticals. Previously, she was the Clinical Development Lead and Senior Medical Director at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Dr. Agafonova previously held several senior leadership positions in clinical development and pharmacovigilance at Ardea Bioscience, Biogen, Amgen, and Genzyme Corporation.

Dr. Agafonova has extensive experience in therapeutic areas such as autoimmune, hematology, neuroscience, and oncology. Her cross-therapeutic expertise in drug development helped to bring several products to the U.S. and EU markets.

Prior to her industry experience, Dr. Agafonova served as a physician at the Ukrainian Research Institute of Oncology and Radiology.

Dr. Agafonova earned an M.D. from the Ukrainian National Medical University and completed her internal medicine residency at Kharkov State University Hospital in Ukraine.

James Clavijo joined Longeveron in 2019. He has over 25 years of experience in executive, finance and accounting activities, including experience as a Chief Financial Officer for several pharmaceutical, healthcare, medical device and manufacturing companies. Mr. Clavijo’s experience has included building, leading and advising companies with strategic plans for pharmaceutical commercialization and manufacturing, negotiating licensing and drug development agreements, as well as advising companies with complex restructurings, mergers and acquisitions, capital market transactions, and system implementations. During 2018, Mr. Clavijo served as the Chief Financial Officer for Aeterna Zentaris (NASDAQ: AEZS). Prior to this, Mr. Clavijo served for two years as the Chief Financial Officer for Tri-source Pharma, a pharmaceutical company focused on procuring pharmaceutical products facing supply issues and supplying pharmaceutical products to veterinary markets. Since 2009, Mr. Clavijo, has also served as founder and principal of Barcelona Capital Partners, a consulting firm that provided Chief Financial Officer services, that includes the preparation of regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Previously, Mr. Clavijo served for five years as the Chief Accounting Officer at Soligenix (NASDAQ: SNGX), a public biopharmaceutical company. In addition, Mr. Clavijo worked for Deloitte & Touche and was an Officer in the U.S. Army, serving for 13 years in active and reserve duty. Mr. Clavijo was licensed as a CPA in Florida from 2000-2011. He was licensed in Florida as a real estate/business agent since 2013-2021. Mr. Clavijo received a BA in Chemistry (PreMed) from the University of Florida, a BA in Accounting from the University of Nebraska, and a Masters in Accounting from Florida International University. 

Paul Lehr (General Counsel and Secretary) joined Longeveron in 2016 and serves as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. Over the past 20 years, Mr. Lehr has held senior legal and executive positions in corporate, non-profit, and research settings. Mr. Lehr started his legal career as a law clerk for a United States Federal Judge and thereafter practiced law at a leading Miami law firm for 5 years, with experience in healthcare and business. Thereafter, Mr. Lehr focused his efforts in the cardiac rehabilitation field as President and General Counsel of a non-profit research foundation and for-profit cardiac rehabilitation program. With the research serving as the foundation of the for-profit arm of the cardiac rehabilitation program, Mr. Lehr negotiated a master franchise agreement with a leading Indian healthcare operator with 100+ facilities across India and the Middle East, then co-lead negotiations with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to successfully secure CMS reimbursement of their intensive cardiac rehabilitation program. Mr. Lehr has also served since 2011 as CEO and co-founder of HeartGenomics, a biotech firm based on intellectual property Mr. Lehr licensed from the UM Miller School of Medicine. Mr. Lehr earned his B.A. from Brown University, and his J.D. with honors from University of Florida College of Law. 

Lisa McClain-Moss joined Longeveron in 2017. She has more than 20 years of experience in the cell and gene therapy space including GMP cleanroom operations. During this time she was involved in the development, manufacturing and scale up of biopharmaceutical products including viral vectors such as vaccinia and retroviruses, H5N1 influenza seed stock for the WHO as well as seed stocks for multiple strains of influenza, rAAV, monoclonal antibodies and cell and tissue expansion and banking. From September 2007 to August 2017 she served as the Director of Manufacturing at Cognate Bioservices. While at Cognate she led manufacturing operations in a GMP environment as well as implementation of new client processes from technology transfer to finished final product. From March 1999 to August 2007, she served at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital starting with the production of vectors for clinical trials to Therapeutics Production Section Head providing oversight for GMP operations. From 1993 to 1999 she was a microbiologist at C. E. Kord Animal Diagnostic Laboratory providing diagnostic testing for multiple animal species. Lisa McClain-Moss received her BS in Biology/Microbiology from Tennessee Technological University.

Jerome Bailey joined Longeveron in 2022 from Checkmate Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Regeneron), where he served as senior director of program management. Mr. Bailey brings to the company more than 30 years of operational leadership and program management experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, overseeing clinical trials from Phase 1 through Phase 4 across several therapeutic areas.

As the senior director of program management at Checkmate Pharmaceuticals Mr. Bailey led cross-functional project teams driving multiple oncology programs from candidate selection through clinical development. Before Checkmate Pharmaceuticals, he held roles of increasing responsibility at Parexel, where he led multiple global development programs across several therapeutic areas, including in oncology, hematology, pulmonary, and pediatric rare diseases. He also facilitated the product submission strategy across several major global markets for schizophrenia and hypertension. Prior to Parexel, Mr. Bailey held senior management roles at Applied Clinical Intelligence, Theorem Clinical Research, BDH Clinical Research, Covance, and Eli Lilly. Mr. Bailey began his career as a clinical researcher at Ayerst Laboratories, and later at Hoffman La Roche. Mr. Bailey holds a bachelor’s degree in the biological sciences from Rutgers University.

Ms. Ryu joined Longeveron in the role of Corporate Controller in February 2024. Before Longeveron, she served as Corporate Controller and Principal Accounting Officer at Sesen Bio, now Carisma Therapeutics. During her time at Sesen Bio, Ms. Ryu led all financial and accounting functions for the publicly traded company and played a key role in the successful merger of the company.

Prior to Sesen Bio, she held several financial leadership positions at Fi holdings, Acrotech Biopharma, and Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, now Assertio Holdings.

Ms. Ryu has 20 years of experience in corporate accounting, financial reporting, shared services, controls and compliance, and planning and budgeting in the biotech and pharma industries.

Ms. Ryu holds a B.S. in Economics and Business Administration from Sogang University in South Korea, and an MBA from the University of California, Irvine. She is a licensed CPA and is a CMA, member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and Institute of Management Accountants.

Brian G Rash, PhD is a stem cell biologist and neuroscientist with broad expertise in cell type characterization, drug development, and neurodevelopmental disorders.  He received his PhD from the University of Chicago in 2007, with a dissertation on early brain development focusing on how the dorsal and ventral brain regions are specified through morphogen signaling systems.  He then studied as a post-doctoral fellow and early faculty member at Yale University, working with both mouse and monkey models of stem cell biology, where he elucidated key mechanisms of brain morphogenesis.

For the past few years, Brian has driven iPSC technology, organoid research, and drug development at Herophilus, a biotech in the San Francisco Bay Area, discovering a novel small molecule that has disease-modifying potential for Rett syndrome.  Through biomarker and assay development and thorough research of the mechanism of action of this hit molecule, Brian successfully brought this compound to pre-IND studies; with luck, this compound may go on to provide hope for thousands of young patients and their families.  Brian is passionate about therapeutic development and utilizes rigorous scientific methods to gain a greater understanding of biological processes that can be harnessed to improve patients’ lives. 

Mrs. Andrews has over 20 years of experience as an accounting and legal executive, including 6 years in public accounting and 8 years in the biotechnology industry. She served as Corporate Controller in the healthcare industry for the last 2 years. Prior to that Mrs. Andrews served as financial consultant in home health care, surgical physician services and biotechnology during a 5-year sabbatical while completing her law degree and passing the Florida bar exam. Prior to her sabbatical, Mrs. Andrews served as a Senior Director and Controller for 7 years at Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation, a gene therapy company with primary indications in ophthalmology. Before going into industry, Mrs. Andrews served as a Senior Auditor for a public accounting firm for 6 years, specializing in governmental entities and entities with significant grant expenditures. Mrs. Andrews is driven by a passion to help others and by innovation. Working with a team in bio tech with opportunities to impact the lives of others, fulfills that passion. Outside of the office, she has been elected as a Director of the Eighth Judicial Circuit Bar Association and a member of the Florida Institute of CPAs Women in Leadership Committee. Mrs. Andrews also volunteers as a Guardian Ad Litem in the Eighth Judicial Circuit where she advocates for children who cannot speak for themselves in the Courtroom. Mrs. Andrews earned her B.S. in Accounting from the University of Florida, her MBA with an Accounting concentration from Saint Leo University, and her J.D. from Florida A&M University College of Law. She is a Florida license Certified Public Accountant and Attorney.

Anthony Oliva, Ph.D. has been with Longeveron since 2015. Dr. Oliva has over 20 years of basic and clinical research experience, has deep experience in regulatory affairs, and has been integral in leading Longeveron’s grant application and grant funding process. Prior to joining Longeveron, he held a faculty appointment at Florida International University. Dr. Oliva earned his B.A. in Biological Sciences from the University of Chicago, and his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Baylor College of Medicine. He did his post-doctoral research at Oregon Health & Science University.

Dan Gincel Ph.D. joined Longeveron as a senior VP in 2021 to lead the Strategic Collaborations & Scientific Affairs division. Dr. Gincel has over 20 years leadership and experience of overseeing development and commercialization of regenerative medicines, including cell therapies, as well as establishing public-private collaborations and corporate partnerships. Previously, he served as Vice President of University Partnerships and a member of the Executive Leadership team at the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), where he oversaw programs to accelerate the commercialization of technologies from federal, state, and private Maryland research institutions. Additionally, he served as Executive Director at the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund (MSCRF), where he managed $150+ million in stem cell research funding. During his tenure, he helped create and support more than 55 technology startup companies with over $120 million of follow-on funding and numerous successful exits. Dr. Gincel received both his Ph.D. (2003) and his B.Sc. (1996) from Ben-Gurion University in Israel and his postdoctoral training at the Johns Hopkins University. 

Kevin N. Ramdas, M.D., M.P.H. joined Longeveron in November 2019 to lead the Clinical Trials Division and was an integral leader in closing out our Phase 1 clinical trials and initiating our Phase 2 clinical trials while working with the team to file an IPO. Longeveron was publicly listed on the NASDAQ in February 2021. Dr. Ramdas has over a decade of experience in clinical research and operations. Dr. Ramdas spent the previous six years at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine in the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute as well as the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery. Dr. Ramdas earned his Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Social Sciences with a Minor in Biological Sciences at The Florida State University, his M.D. from the American University of Antigua/Windsor School of Medicine and his M.P.H. in disease prevention and health promotion from the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine.

REPLAY AVAILABLE FROM OUR KOL EVENT

Click here to replay our KOL event, which was held on August 16, 2023,  featuring Sunjay Kaushal, MD, PhD and Ram Kumar Subramanyan, MD, PhD, discussing the potential for Medicinal Signaling Cells (MSCs), such as those making up Longeveron’s Lomecel-B™ injection, to improve the outcome for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) patients.

Click Here to Watch the Replay