Home | Our Team
Progenesis Staff
|
Richard M. Niles, Ph.D. | Download CV Dr. Niles is President and a founding member of Progenesis. He is also Professor and Chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology at the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, Marshall University, Huntington, WV, where he also serves as the Senior Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education. Dr. Niles has served on and Chaired many grant review panels for the NIH, DoD Breast Cancer Research Program, DoD Prostate Cancer Research Program and the American Institute for Cancer Research. He is currently the Principal Investigator of a $9.2 million Center of Biomedical Research Excellence grant from the NIH. Prior to coming to Marshall University in 1992, he was Professor of Biochemistry at Boston University School of Medicine. His broad training and experience in Plant Pathology, Microbiology, and Biochemistry, together with his administrative experience, has helped shaped the strategic development plans for Progenesis. |
|
Hongwei Yu, Ph.D. | Download CV Dr. Yu is Vice-President, Chief Science Officer and a founding member of Progenesis. He is also Professor of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, Marshall University. He has an active research program to study the genetic regulation of bacterial biofilms and polysaccharide biosynthesis. More information about Dr. Yu’s research program can be found at Marshall Biomedical Sciences. Dr. Yu has received funding from NIH, NASA, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and several Biotech companies. Dr. Yu and his former postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Qiu Dongru have two pending patents on the use of Pseudomonas to produce alginate. Dr. Yu has authored 21 peer-reviewed papers in research journals. He received his B.Sc. degree in Aquaculture from Ocean University of China in 1983, M.Sc. in Microbiology from University of Alberta in 1990, Ph.D. in Molecular Pathogenesis from University of Calgary in 1994, followed by several years of postdoctoral training in Bacterial Molecular Genetics at the University of Michigan prior to coming to Marshall University. |
|
Kristy Dillon Kristy is Lab Manager and Chief R&D Technician for Progenesis. She is a West Virginia native, and graduated from Marshall University in 2005 with a Bachelor's degree in Biological Science. Between 2005-2008, Kristy worked for Marshall University as a Research Technician/Lab Manager at the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. She has experience in bacterial as well as mammalian cell culture, animal models, and accounting/grant compliance issues. |
Advisory Board
William Costerton, Ph.D. | Dr. Costerton is internationally recognized for his scientific contributions regarding microbial biofilms. Bacterial alginate produced by Pseudomonas species is one type of biofilm. He has held many prestigious positions both in Canada and the U.S. He is currently Director of the Center for Biofilms at the University of Southern California. Dr. Costerton has published over 600 papers and has received a number of awards for his scientific contributions.
Lake Polan III | Mr. Polan is a resident of Huntington, WV. He graduated from Columbia College in New York City in 1969 with an AB degree in Political Science. Mr. Polan is President and CEO of Allied Realty Company and several other related companies, developers of commercial and industrial real estate in West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky. He is the founder and CEO of Allied Logistics, a family of companies located in the Mid-Atlantic region providing global logistics solutions. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Huntington Area Development Council and a director of the Huntington Area Chamber of Commerce.
Mary Lake Polan, M.D., Ph.D. | Dr. Polan received her Ph.D. and MD degrees from Yale University. She was Chair of the Dept of Ob/Gyn at Stanford University School of Medicine until 2005. She is currently on leave as a Visiting Professor, Dept. of Ob/Gyn at Columbia University School of Medicine. Dr. Polan had been a member of many government health and research committees. She has 149 peer-review publications and is currently on the Board Directors at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.
Gardiner Smith | Mr. Smith has served in senior management roles in leading biopharmaceutical and life sciences start-up companies for over a decade. He was Senior Vice President of Business Development and Licensing at Aspreva Pharmaceuticals, where he had global responsibility for transactions, with staff in the US, Canada and England. Previously, he was Chief Business Officer at Memory Pharmaceuticals, helping to secure a number of major corporate alliances, and helping to take the company public in 2004. He also held the position of Executive Director of Business Development at Human Genome Sciences, and prior to that Director of International Licensing at GlaxoSmithKline. Mr. Smith began his career at Glaxo in 1987, moving through positions in chemistry, patents and transactional law. Currently he is President of Paragon-IP located in Charleston, WV.