Management
Dr. Fox is an experienced entrepreneur and scientist. She was founder, President and Chief Scientific Officer of Recovery Pharmaceuticals, a company developing and marketing medications for the treatment of addiction. Prior to founding Recovery Pharmaceuticals in 1998, she was Vice President, Immunology at ImmuLogic Pharmaceutical Corp. She joined ImmuLogic in 1993, having served on the faculty of the University Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, as Associate Professor of Medicine with tenure in the Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Dept. of Medicine. Dr. Fox received her BA in Chemistry from Bryn Mawr College and her Ph.D. in Chemistry from MIT. Dr. Fox trained as a post-doc in cellular immunology at the NIH.
Dr. Bhol has strong background in preclinical pharmacology and toxicology, including developing anti-inflammatory products. Prior to joining Avaxia, Dr. Bhol was Technical Director of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Toxikon Corporation and moved many products to clinical trials. Before joining Toxikon, Dr. Bhol led the anti-inflammatory research at Nucryst Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Bhol's career also includes: being a faculty member at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine; and working as a Research Scientist in pharmacology at Organon India. Dr. Bhol received his Ph.D. in Parasite Immunology from University of Kalyani, India, and did post-doctoral fellowship at SIU school of Medicine, Illinois, and at Harvard Medical School.
David Dlesk is an entrepreneurial life sciences senior executive with experience in general management, new business development, product development, manufacturing and sales. He has held corporate officer positions with two public biotech companies, including Biogen, where as Vice President of Operations he helped launch Avonex which has grown to be a $2 billion drug. He served as the President of Terumo Medical Corporation, the $200 million North American operating division of Terumo Corporation. He has served as CEO in four start-ups, including Recovery Pharmaceuticals, where he worked with Dr. Fox. Mr. Dlesk spent the first 13 years of his career with Baxter Healthcare Corporation, leaving as Director of Venture Technology. Mr. Dlesk received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Industrial Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. Harris is a Principal of Middleburg Consultants, Inc., a pharmaceutical consulting firm. His experience in drug development spans two decades. He previously served as Chief Medical Officer of Napo Pharmaceuticals where he headed its Phase 3 program in HIV-associated program, and Ocera Therapeutics, where he managed late-stage programs in Crohn's disease, hepatic encephalopathy, and irritable bowel syndrome. He was appointed Interim Chief Medical Officer of Tranzyme Pharmaceuticals in 2011. During his tenure at Napo, Dr. Harris piloted the first two-stage adaptive pivotal trial through the FDA Special Protocol Assessment process, which culminated in NDA filing in 2011. He has managed multicenter trials in gastrointestinal disease indications, including orphan disease indications, in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. He is concurrently Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at Georgetown University School of Medicine, where he maintains an academic medical practice.
Dr. Harris is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School. He undertook his post-graduate medical training at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Yale University School of Medicine and holds an M.S. in population health and administrative medicine from the University of Wisconsin Schools of Medicine. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and American Gastroenterological Association. He has served on the faculties of the Medical College of Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, where he was Clinical Professor and Head of the Division of Gastroenterology. Dr. Harris has been a member of the International Advisory Panel of the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders and President of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) in Wisconsin. He also serves on the scientific advisory panel for the Institute for One World Health, a non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention and treatment of pediatric diarrhea in third world nations. He is a recipient of the CCFA Premier Physician Award. He currently serves as an ad hoc member of the FDA GI Division Advisory Committee.
Dr. Hartman is a scientist and senior executive with over twenty years of experience successfully leading pharmaceutical research and development in multiple therapeutic areas. Before joining Avaxia, she was employed by AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals as Vice President of Projects for Infectious Diseases in Innovative Medicines. Dr. Hartman previously held a variety of senior positions at AstraZeneca including Vice President of Respiratory & Inflammation Research and Vice President of Lead Generation DECS, a global science and technology group supporting early stage projects across all disease areas. Dr. Hartman began her career in the pharmaceutical industry at Hoffmann-La Roche in Basel, Switzerland, spending seven years in the Neuroscience Department before joining the Metabolic Disease Group in Nutley, NJ. Dr. Hartman received her A.B. in Molecular Biology from Princeton University and Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Physiology from Yale University.
Mr. Rivard is a business development and legal professional with over 20 years of experience in the biotechnology industry in both early stage and publicly traded companies, including 15 years in senior management. Previously, he served as Vice President, Corporate Development, at VaxDesign Corporation; Vice President, Corporate Development, at Galenea Corp.; Vice President, Business Development, at Synta Corporation; and Vice President, Strategic Development, at ArQule, Inc. where he also served as Vice President, Legal, and General Counsel. Mr. Rivard career has also included positions of Associate Counsel, Intellectual Property at the University of Massachusetts and as Corporate Attorney at Palmer and Dodge. Mr. Rivard earned a Juris Doctor degree at UCLA School of Law and a BA in biochemistry at Bowdoin College.