MAP Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Print page     Email page

Management

show all hide all

Timothy S. Nelson

President and Chief Executive Officer

Thomas A. Armer Ph.D.

Chief Scientific Officer

Scott W. Borland

Senior Director of CNS Programs and Technical Operations

Christopher Y. Chai

Chief Financial Officer

Charlene Andros Friedman

Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

Anastasios E. Gianakakos

Senior Vice President of Corporate and Business Development

Shashidhar H. Kori, M.D.

Vice President, Clinical Development

Paul S. Uster Ph.D.

Senior Director of Unit Dose Budesonide Program

Timothy S. Nelson

President and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Nelson joined MAP Pharmaceuticals as President and Chief Executive Officer in April 2005, bringing the company 20 years of experience in medical devices, drug delivery, pharmaceutical systems, and biotechnology. Prior to joining MAP Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Nelson served as Senior Vice President of Commercial and Business Development at DURECT Corporation, where he developed and implemented business strategy and market positioning for the company's lead product candidates. Before DURECT, Mr. Nelson held various senior management positions with Medtronic, a $5 billion medical device company. Most recently, he served as the company's business director, neurological division, Europe, Middle East and Africa, where he implemented growth initiatives for innovative therapies treating a variety of medical disorders. Mr. Nelson earned a master's degree in management with distinction from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota.

[to top]

Thomas A. Armer Ph.D.

Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Armer founded MAP Pharmaceuticals in 2003. Between 1998 and 2003, Dr. Armer served as Vice President of Pulmonary Delivery Systems and later as Chief Scientific Officer at Sheffield Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical company. During his time at Sheffield, Dr. Armer was instrumental in conceiving and developing the Unit Dose Budesonide (UDB) and Tempo™ inhaler product lines. From 1989 to 1998, Dr. Armer held a series of senior management and product development positions at the Novon Products Group, a division of Warner-Lambert, and Aeroquip Vickers Corporation, where he and his group developed the Tempo™ delivery system. Dr. Armer graduated from Tulane University with a Ph.D. in chemical engineering.

[to top]

Scott W. Borland

Senior Director of CNS Programs and Technical Operations

Mr. Borland brings more than 12 years of product development and operations experience to MAP. Prior to joining the company, he held several key management positions at Capnia Inc. and Aerogen Inc., including Vice President of Engineering and Senior Director, Engineering and Operations. In these roles, Mr. Borland was responsible for engineering and manufacturing of technology components and systems for aerosol-based pulmonary drug delivery and medical gas delivery products. Mr. Borland has held several other positions in the medical device, drug delivery, and computer hardware industries with Therics, Inc., Topaz Technologies, and Applied Magnetics and was previously a Visiting Scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Borland holds an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Arizona.

[to top]

Christopher Y. Chai

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Chai has spent over 15 years in the healthcare and banking industries and brings with him experience in finance, strategy and operations. Prior to joining the company, he held key management positions at CV Therapeutics, including Vice President for Treasury and Investor Relations. While at CV Therapeutics, Mr. Chai played a key role in capital raising transactions. In addition to raising capital, he contributed to the development of business strategy, executed strategic financial transactions and managed relations with the analyst and investor communities. Prior to CV Therapeutics, Mr. Chai was a healthcare investment banker at JP Morgan where he worked on capital raising, including initial public offerings, and M&A and advisory transactions for a range of healthcare clients. Mr. Chai received his Bachelors of Science degree in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from Cornell University.

[to top]

Charlene Andros Friedman

Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

Charlene A. Friedman joined MAP Pharmaceuticals as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary in July 2007. Ms. Friedman has more than 25 years of legal experience, including serving as General Counsel at several medical companies since 1996. Prior to joining MAP Pharmaceuticals, Ms. Friedman served as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of VNUS Medical Technologies, Inc., a medical device company, where she provided legal counsel on general corporate matters, SEC filings, direct-to-consumer advertising and other marketing materials, Sarbanes-Oxley matters and business development transactions. Prior to VNUS Medical Technologies, Ms. Friedman served as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for Aviron, a biopharmaceutical company, and R2 Technology, Inc., a medical device company. She also held the position of Vice President, Legal and Regulatory Affairs, General Counsel and Assistant Secretary at Collagen Aesthetics, Inc., a medical device company. Prior to joining Collagen, Ms. Friedman was in private practice for over 10 years. Ms. Friedman is a member of the California and Massachusetts state bars and holds a B.A. in Ancient Greek and Latin from Tufts University and a J.D. from the Northeastern University School of Law.

[to top]

Anastasios E. Gianakakos

Senior Vice President of Corporate and Business Development

Mr. Gianakakos brings to MAP Pharmaceuticals more than 12 years of experience and leadership in business development in the pharmaceutical sector. Mr. Gianakakos joined MAP Pharmaceuticals from Codexis Inc., a private company he helped spin-off from Maxygen in 2001. While at Codexis, Mr. Gianakakos held a variety of leadership positions, most recently Senior Vice President, Business Development and Head of Codexis' Pharmaceuticals Business Unit. Mr. Gianakakos played a key role in raising private financing, and helping grow the company's revenues and establish its operational and commercial infrastructure. Prior to Codexis, Mr. Gianakakos was Director of Business Development at Maxygen, where he led Maxygen's business development and commercial efforts in the pharmaceutical and fine chemical area and supported Maxygen's financing activities. Before joining Maxygen, Mr. Gianakakos worked as a Process Engineer at Merck & Co. providing technical support for Merck's biologics operations. Mr. Gianakakos received a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering and a B.Sc. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a M.Sc. in Biotechnology from Northwestern University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

[to top]

Shashidhar H. Kori, M.D.

Vice President, Clinical Development

Dr. Kori joined MAP Pharmaceuticals in July 2007, bringing the company more than 30 years of research and drug development experience in neurosciences. Prior to joining MAP Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Kori served as Senior Director of Clinical Development at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), where he oversaw the design and execution of clinical studies and coordinated responses to FDA for migraine and pain products in development. In addition, Dr. Kori served as liaison to the external scientific and medical community, including leading headache specialists, participated in the development of new chemical entities and managed market support for marketed products. Before joining GSK, Dr. Kori had 24 years of academic medicine experience at several U.S. medical centers, including Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University, Moffitt Cancer Center and Duke University, with extensive experience in clinical patient care, teaching, research and administration. He has also held several leadership positions in national professional organizations in neurology and pain management. Dr Kori received his undergraduate degree from St. Josephs College in Bangalore, India and he holds MBBS and M.D. degrees from Mysore University in India.

[to top]

Paul S. Uster Ph.D.

Senior Director of Unit Dose Budesonide Program

Dr. Uster brings more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical development field with a specific focus in the areas of novel technology and drug development and post market development. Prior to joining the company, he held key management positions at Peninsula Pharmaceuticals, Aerogen Inc., and SEQUUS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Such positions included Senior Director of Product Development, Pharmaceutics, Formulation Development, and Director of Medical Affairs. In these roles, Dr. Uster directed the commercial pharmaceutical development process and managed strategic partnerships, in addition to continuing his extensive work with drug and device development. Prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Uster was a Carnegie Fellow at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Uster holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of California, Davis and a B.A. in Biology from the University of California, San Diego.

[to top]