Management and Board

Michael Herr, Chief Executive Officer, Director

Michael Herr is an experienced CEO and proven team leader. He was most recently a Director at the Science Center where he was responsible for product development in a high profile portfolio company at the Science Center. As a Director, he also identified, evaluated, and helped commercialize promising technologies by assembling teams of experts to formulate strategy and execute development plans. Prior to joining the Science Center, Mr. Herr was founder and CEO of IntuiTouch, Inc., a hand-held breast cancer scanner company that won second place overall in the 2005 Wharton Business Plan Competition. Mr. Herr was the Director of Business and Technology Development for Boekel MicroHybe, LLC., a start-up company developing an proprietary DNA microarray technology. Prior to joining Boekel, he was a senior engineer with Exponent, Inc., a company focused on solving complex technical problems with teams of elite experts. Mr. Herr graduated from the University of Rochester in 1998, where he earned his B.S. degree in microbiology with a focus on biomedical engineering (magna cum laude & phi beta kappa). He earned his Master’s degree in mechanical engineering with a concentration in Entrepreneurship and Product Development in 1999.


Mitchell Glass, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Director

Dr. Glass was previously Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of the Science Center where he was responsible for identifying, evaluating, and commercializing promising technologies. Prior to joining the Science Center, Dr. Glass was President and Director of geneRx+, a privately held research-stage gene therapy company that included alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency as its primary target. From 1997 to 2002, Dr. Glass was Chief Medical Officer for AtheroGenics, Inc. He also served as Vice President and Director of Cardiopulmonary Clinical Research, Development and Medical Affairs at SmithKline Beecham where through 1996 he supervised the company’s development portfolio in cardiovascular, pulmonary metabolic, and renal diseases. Prior to that, Dr. Glass developed the Pulmonary Therapeutics division of ICI Pharmaceuticals (which later became Zeneca) in Wilmington, Delaware. Dr. Glass was an Attending Physician in Pulmonary Medicine and Critical Care at Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia from 1985 to 1987. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology in 1973 and his M.D. degree in 1977, both at the University of Chicago.


Jeffrey Rollins, Chairman of the Board of Directors

Mr. Rollins has been involved in early stage investing, value investing, and management. He co-founded Market Grove Partners, a firm focused on investing in and assisting small cap and early stage companies. He was also a Partner and Managing Director of C2 Partners a private equity fund focused on small cap value companies. Prior to Market Grove, Jeff held leadership positions in Brandywine Center Management a firm which developed in excess of $170MM of retail real estate and Rollins Environmental Services (NYSE REN) one of the nations leaders in Hazardous Waste Management. Mr. Rollins also holds the following additional board positions: Dover Motorsports Inc. (NYSE-DVD) (audit committee), Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment Inc. (NYSE-DDE)(audit committee), Fine Stationary Solutions (Comp and audit committees), SUNRx and Delaware Sterling Bank (Chair of Trust Committee). He is also a Trustee of Holderness School, and holds an MBA from Duke University where he is on the Board of Visitors.


J. Michael Bowman, Director

Mr. Bowman is Chairman of the Board and CEO of the Delaware Technology Park Inc, a collaboration of the State of Delaware, the University of Delaware and high technology industries such as advanced materials, life sciences and information technology. He is a board member and advisor to several technology based companies and non profit academic and economic development organizations in the Delaware region. Mr. Bowman is currently Vice President and Board member of the Association of University Research Parks and member of Council on Competitiveness. He was formerly a Vice President & General Manager for DuPont Advanced Materials and Systems, a one billion-dollar global business unit with 2500 employees. Prior to that, Mr. Bowman held various professional and managerial roles in research, marketing and manufacturing at DuPont. Mr. Bowman holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from University of Cincinnati, and has taken MBA business/financial courses at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University.


Andrew Jefferson, JD, Director

Andy Jefferson is President and Chief Operating Officer of the Fort Hill Company in Wilmington, Delaware, the global leader in follow-through management technology and know-how. Mr. Jefferson is an accomplished executive with a career spanning both operational and legal roles. He has significant line management expertise, and is experienced in strategic planning, sales and marketing, productivity, and technology development in large and small corporate environments. Mr. Jefferson is also a co-author of The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning: How to Turn Training and Development into Business Results (San Francisco: Pfeiffer, 2006). Prior to joining Fort Hill Company, Mr. Jefferson was the Chief Executive Officer of Vital Home Services. Mr. Jefferson also served as the Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of AmeriStar Technologies, Inc., a technology firm ranked one of the countries leading network integration and systems solutions providers. Mr. Jefferson is admitted to the Bar of the State of Delaware, and spent the early part of his career as an attorney focused on corporate and complex transactions. He is a graduate of the University of Delaware and graduated Phi Kappa Phi with honors from the Widener University School of Law, where he currently serves on the school’s Board of Overseers.


Eric Kmiec, Ph.D, Co-Founder, Director

Dr. Eric Kmiec is widely renowned for his work in the field of DNA repair and recombination. In 1993, he and his research team invented a technique known as gene repair – an approach that has revolutionized the field of gene therapy. His specially engineered molecules can specifically alter a single base in the gene of interest. Dr. Kmiec’s current research is directed toward the molecular mechanism of targeted gene repair in yeast and human cells and in the development of treatments for Huntington’s Disease and Sickle Cell Anemia. Gene repair techniques are also being used to alter plant genomes and thereby enhance crop production. Dr. Kmiec now heads the Laboratory of Genetic Medicine and Genomics at the University of Delaware. Dr. Kmiec received his doctorate from the University of Florida, and his the author of over 120 peer-reviewed publications and has written numerous review articles on the subjects of DNA and Gene Repair. He has been the editor of books on gene targeting and holds many of the basal patents in the area of oligonucleotide-mediated gene alteration.


Hetal Parekh-Olmedo, Co-Founder

Ms. Parekh-Olmedo is a Research Associate at the University of Delaware/Delaware Biotechnology Institute, prior to which she was a researcher at Thomas Jefferson University in the field of DNA repair. Ms. Parekh-Olmedo has extensive experience with the gene editing technology including overseeing and managing all the projects carried out in the Kmiec laboratory. She interacts extensively with outside collaborators, and facilitates scientific and technological development with internal and external collaborations. In addition, Ms. Parekh-Olmedo holds numerous patents relating to oligotherapy, and is the co-author of numerous publications on targeted gene alteration. Ms. Parekh-Olmedo also serves as a Scientific Advisor to Tapestry Pharmaceuticals.