Paul Sekhri

Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer
Paul Sekhri is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Cerimon Pharmaceuticals. Prior to founding Cerimon, Mr. Sekhri was President and Chief Business Officer of ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Nasdaq-listed oncology company based in Cambridge, MA. In 2002 Mr. Sekhri joined the Sprout Group, the venture affiliate of Credit Suisse First Boston in New York, where he was a Partner for healthcare technology investments. Prior to joining Sprout, Mr. Sekhri spent four years at Novartis, most recently as Senior Vice President and Head of Global Search and Evaluation, Business Development and Licensing for Novartis Pharma AG. At Novartis, he was responsible for the creation of Novartis Pharmaceuticals’ Disease Area Strategy, as well as establishing a dedicated function focused on the identification and evaluation of new opportunities for the company. Prior to this, Mr. Sekhri set up a new department, Early Commercial Development, in order to ensure the differential competitive advantage of Novartis’ pipeline. Mr. Sekhri completed graduate work in neuroscience at the University of Maryland School of Medicine where he also received his BS in Zoology.

Mr. Sekhri is currently a member of the Board of Directors for ARYx Therapeutics, a San Francisco-based pharmaceutical company where he is the Chairman of the Compensation Committee and also serves as a member of the Audit Committee. He is also on the Board of Directors of A.P.T. Pharmaceuticals, based in Burlingame, CA and is on the Board of Directors of the Cancer Research Institute, a non-profit world leader in the funding of basic research in cancer and immunology in New York. Additionally he sits on the Board of Directors of the International Health Organization in Boston. He is a member of the Advisory Board for The BioExec Institute, Inc., in Cambridge, MA and an advisor to the Brookings Global Health Financing Initiative, based in Washington D.C. Mr. Sekhri is a Venture Partner with MPM Capital, one of the largest Venture Capital firms devoted to the life sciences.

James H. Welch

Chief Financial Officer
James H. Welch became Chief Financial Officer in June 2006. Prior, Mr. Welch was Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary for Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He joined Rigel in May 1999 as Vice President, Finance and Administration and was named Chief Financial Officer in October 2001. Prior to joining Rigel, Mr. Welch served as an independent consultant at various companies from June 1998 to May 1999. From February 1997 to June 1998, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Biocircuits Corporation, a manufacturer of medical diagnostic equipment, and from June 1992 to February 1997, he served as Corporate Controller of Biocircuits. Previously, Mr. Welch held various positions at NeXT Computer, Inc., most recently as Division Controller. Mr. Welch holds a B.A. in business administration from Whitworth College and an MBA from Washington State University.

Daniel Levitt, MD, PhD

Executive Vice President of Research and Development
Daniel Levitt joined Cerimon as its Executive Vice President, Research and Development in January 2007. Dr. Levitt has over 20 years of experience leading research and development programs at both biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Before joining Cerimon, Dr. Levitt served as Dynavax Technologies’ Chief Medical Officer and Head of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs. Prior, Dr. Levitt was Chief Operating Officer and Head of Research and Development at Affymax, Inc., where he oversaw all research, development, and commercialization operations. Dr. Levitt also spent six years at Protein Design Labs, Inc. (PDL), completing his tenure as President of R&D from 2000 to 2002. Prior to PDL, Dr. Levitt held senior management positions at Geron Corporation, where he served as Vice President, Drug Discovery and Development, and Chief Medical Officer at Sandoz Pharma Ltd., where he most recently served as Worldwide Head, Oncology Drug Research and Development, and at Hoffmann-LaRoche, where he served as Director of Clinical Oncology and Immunology.

Dr. Levitt graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brandeis University. He earned both his medical degree and his post-doctorate degree in Biology from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. He completed a residency in Pediatrics at Yale-New Haven Hospital, and a fellowship in Immunology at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. Dr. Levitt was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Immunology at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and was a founding member of the Guthrie Research Institute.

Matthew J. Meyer

General Counsel and Vice President of Business Development and Licensing
Matthew Meyer joined Cerimon in January 2008 as its General Counsel and Vice President of Business Development and Licensing.  Mr. Meyer has considerable experience in the areas of commercial law, business development, marketing and licensing with large pharmaceutical, medical device and early stage companies in the US and Europe.  Before joining Cerimon, Mr. Meyer held senior management positions at Draeger Medical Systems, a global medical device company, most recently serving as Vice President and General Counsel.  Prior to Draeger, Mr. Meyer held several positions of increasing responsibility at Novartis Pharma AG in Basel, Switzerland, including serving as Head of Global Marketing Channel Innovations.  While at Novartis, he also coordinated and implemented strategic commercial, marketing, research and development initiatives for the Arthritis, Bone, GI and Urology (ABGU) global marketing franchise.  Previously, Mr. Meyer spent four years as Vice President, Global Business Development and Legal Affairs at Allscripts LLC and five years as a commercial attorney at Pfizer Inc in New York.  Mr. Meyer graduated cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University.  He earned his Juris Doctor degree from Villanova University School of Law.

Ayse Kocak

Vice President of Marketing
Ayse Kocak joined Cerimon in December 2006 as its Vice President, Marketing. Ms. Kocak has 13 years of experience in senior marketing positions at Pfizer, most recently serving as Marketing Director for Pfizer's Geodon U.S. Psychosis Team. Ms. Kocak was also Marketing Director for Pfizer's Inspra U.S. Team and led the U.S. launch of Inspra for the treatment of patients who develop heart failure following a heart attack. Previously, Ms. Kocak served in multiple managerial positions in new product development, marketing, and sales at Pfizer and its various subsidiaries including Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Middle East. In these markets, she worked on the commercial development of multiple Pfizer new product candidates as well as managing marketing and sales activities for a variety of Pfizer’s blockbuster drugs, including Viagra, Norvasc, Lipitor, and Glucotrol XL. Ms. Kocak holds a BA in economics from Bosphorous University, Istanbul, and an executive management certificate from INSEAD, France.

Joseph Parks

Vice President, Project Management
Joseph Parks joined Cerimon in September 2005 as its Vice President, Project Management. Mr. Parks holds a Master of Science degree in Business Management and completed undergraduate studies in Biology and Chemistry. He has over 18 years of experience in the pharmaceutical/health care industry. Mr. Parks began his diverse career as an analytical chemist and moved to leadership roles in Clinical Development, Regulatory Affairs, and Project Management. His experience includes providing project strategy, direction, cross-functional team, and development operations leadership for mid- to late-stage clinical programs and alliance based partnerships; clinical trial management/monitoring & clinical quality assurance auditing; extensive experience with CRO selection, partnering, and management within the industry; participation in NDA filings including applications from Pfizer Inc. & Bayer Pharmaceutical Inc. Prior to joining Cerimon, Mr. Parks was Vice President of Project Management for Clinimetrics, a global CRO.

Scott Geyer

Vice President of Technical Operations
Scott Geyer joined Cerimon in April 2007 as its Vice President, Technical Operations. Mr Geyer has over 26 years of experience in biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing. He joined Cerimon from Xencor, Inc, where he held the position of Vice President, Technical Operations. Prior to Xencor, Mr. Geyer was Vice President, Manufacturing and Process Development at BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.; Senior Vice President, Product Development at Onyx Pharmaceuticals; and Vice President, Technical Development at Protein Design Labs, Inc. Mr. Geyer worked for nine years at the Ares-Serono Group where he held several positions including Executive Director, Process Development. Before that he was a Scientist, Biological Process Sciences at Smith Kline Beckman. He holds a Masters of Science degree in veterinary microbiology from Texas A&M University and a Bachelor of Science degree in microbiology from the University of Southwestern Louisiana.