HemoShear is dedicated to developing new medicines to improve the lives of patients with liver and metabolic diseases. We are leveraging proprietary human biological and computational systems to accelerate the discovery of innovative therapies that change the course of disease.
HemoShear is more than our science and platform. We are a team of dedicated, innovative, and enthusiastic professionals that are passionate about our mission. Our people make the company, and our purpose provides the inspiration. Our values foster an environment in which we ask the tough questions and work collaboratively with urgency to discover breakthrough drugs to improve lives.
Dr. Wamhoff, selected as one of the PharmaVOICE 100 most inspiring people in the industry, is co-founder of HemoShear and served as head of innovation and chief operating officer before being appointed as CEO. He co-invented HemoShear’s REVEAL-TXTM platform, which enabled the company to launch proprietary drug discovery programs in several rare diseases. HemoShear’s development of human models of the vascular system and liver diseases was achieved in part by Dr. Wamhoff’s role in securing significant NIH Small Business Innovation Research funding from five NIH institutes. His passion and scientific vision have fueled the formation of productive partnerships with Takeda and Horizon. As a former associate professor at the University of Virginia, he co-founded multiple medical device and therapeutics companies. He has authored or co-authored 70 papers and has been issued 18 patents. Dr. Wamhoff obtained a B.S. in biology with a minor in business administration from Rhodes College, where he was the 2011 Distinguished Alumnus; he received his Ph.D. in medical physiology from the University of Missouri.
After practicing 20 years as a pediatrician, Dr. Patrick Horn has spent more than two decades leading successful clinical programs for large and small biotech companies. Most recently, he served as chief medical officer for Albireo Pharma, where he led the team that achieved accelerated marketing approvals in the US and Europe for BylvayTM in progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC). He also designed and initiated pivotal clinical development programs in biliary atresia and Alagille syndrome. Prior to Albireo, he led clinical development programs in hereditary angioedema, homocystinuria, and infectious disease. Dr. Horn has formal training and extensive experience in clinical pharmacology. He received his MD and PhD from the University of Chicago and completed a pediatric residency at Boston Children’s Hospital. Prior to transitioning to industry, Dr. Horn was a practicing pediatrician at major academic institutions in Chicago.
Dr. Brian A. Johns joined HemoShear following a prolific 20-year career with GSK, where he co-invented Tivicay® (dolutegravir), one of the most widely prescribed antivirals on the market for HIV, currently being used by millions of patients worldwide. Dr. Johns is also co-inventor of the long acting injectable integrase inhibitor cabotegravir, currently under FDA review as a monthly HIV treatment. Dr. Johns spent the past four years working closely with Professor David Margolis as co-director of the UNC HIV Cure Center and Qura Therapeutics, a biotech partnership between ViiV Healthcare and UNC with the mission to find a cure for HIV. Along with his extensive experience from early discovery though phase 2 clinical development, Dr. Johns has authored or co-authored 50 peer reviewed journal articles and is an inventor on approximately 70 patent applications. He received a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Wayne State University and was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Virginia.
Mr. Innes brings more than 20 years of healthcare investment banking and corporate finance experience to HemoShear. He has completed more than 40 transactions in healthcare and the life sciences, including strategic partnerships, mergers & acquisitions and capital raises. His capital raising transactions have included venture capital, private and public equity, senior/subordinated debt and royalty monetizations. In 2016, Mr. Innes formed Pilot Health Advisors to provide advisory services to corporate and institutional clients in the life sciences. Prior to PHA, Mr. Innes served as Managing Director in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group at Morgan Joseph TriArtisan, LLC. Earlier in his career, he was a member of the Healthcare Investment Banking groups at Wachovia Securities (now Wells Fargo Securities) and Raymond James & Associates. Mr. Innes earned a BSE in civil engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia.
Prior to joining HemoShear, Mr. Holsinger was Chief Financial Officer of education technology company Cricket Media, where he led the company through a public offering and ultimately returned to private status. Previously Mr. Holsinger held CFO and VP Finance positions with MCT, a cellular telecommunications provider in Russia and Central Asia; the Baltimore Stallions, a franchise in the Canadian Football League; and the Baltimore Orioles. Mr. Holsinger began his career with Arthur Andersen in Washington, DC and received his B.S. degree in accounting and management information systems from the University of Virginia.
Dr. Hayes has more than 25 years of experience in research and development of innovative therapeutics for rare diseases and cancer. Through 2015, he was Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Pharmacovigilance at Synageva Biopharma prior to their acquisition by Alexion Pharmaceuticals, where he led efforts to support the approval of Kanuma for lysosomal acid lipase deficiency, and provided strategic regulatory leadership for additional rare disease pipeline products. Prior to Synageva, Dr. Hayes was Group Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Genzyme, where over 11 years he led the regulatory function for oncology and biosurgery as well as CMC regulatory organization for all therapies. Prior to joining industry, Dr. Hayes served at FDA for over 9 years at the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, where he conducted independent research in cytokine biology and managed the review of numerous recombinant proteins. Dr. Hayes received a B.S. from Davidson College and holds a Ph.D. in immunology and experimental pathology from the University of Florida.
Mavis Waller is a clinical research professional with 34 years of biopharmaceutical and contract research organization experience. She joins HemoShear to provide expertise, strategy and oversight to the company’s clinical trial program. She has managed complex global studies involving up to 35 countries and 500 sites. Ms. Waller has held various positions within data management, clinical monitoring and project management. Prior to joining HemoShear, she served as a member of a governance team at Syneos Health directing a large portfolio of rare disease studies. On the portfolio, she was also responsible for directing a team that achieved a challenging milestone of first patient enrolled three months from protocol finalization. In addition to rare diseases, Ms. Waller has been involved in a range of therapeutic areas including gastrointestinal diseases, oncology and vaccines. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia.
Dr. Emile J. Velthuisen joined HemoShear following 16 years in the pharmaceutical industry spanning Bayer Pharmaceutics, GSK, and ViiV Healthcare. He has extensive experience in medicinal chemistry, drug discovery, sustained-release parenteral drug delivery, and designing IND-enabling strategies. Emile is a co-inventor on approximately 30 patent applications and has a proven track record of delivering novel molecules in the development of new medicines, including five clinical candidates and two FTIH studies. He received his Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of California, Irvine and was a postdoctoral fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Dr. Simmers brings over 17 years of scientific expertise developing tools and in vitro organ systems for the HemoShear technology. During this time, he co-developed novel systems of the human vasculature, liver, and tumor microenvironment. Dr. Simmers held various roles within the organization, including leading commercial scientific studies, developing new technologies, overseeing laboratory operations and managing HemoShear’s intellectual property portfolio. He authored several scientific publications and was issued multiple patents related to in vitro human organ systems. Dr. Simmers earned a B.S. and Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
Dr Sartori has a 35+ year career including serving as a global VP/EVP and/or Chief Human Resources Officer for major firms such as CIBA-Corning, Novartis, Bausch & Lomb, PAREXEL and Covance. He also has wide ranging experience serving as a VP for Organization Development, and Advisor to the CEO and Board for developing companies, from pre-clinical stage to commercial, and across pharma, biotech, diagnostics and medical devices. Before joining HemoShear, Paul served as VP for Cavion which was acquired by Jazz in 2019. Paul has extensive experience with the building of executive teams, as well as in executive recruiting both as an independent executive recruiter and managing senior searches for his firms. His corporate experience includes marketing, communications, HR and government and public affairs. Paul has a BA from Northeastern University, and earned a MA in Teaching History, a PhD in Education and an MBA from the University of Virginia. He currently serves on the Advisory Board for the Children's Hospital at UVA.
Dr. Gould served as President and CEO of Fulcrum Therapeutics, Inc., a privately financed drug discovery and development company with a focus on genetically defined diseases, from its founding in 2016 until retirement in 2021. Prior to Fulcrum, Dr. Gould was President and CEO of Epizyme, Inc., where he led the company through a successful public offering. From November 2006 to March 2010, Dr. Gould served as Director of Novel Therapeutics at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Previously, Dr. Gould was Vice President, Licensing and External Research at Merck Research Laboratories, where he held a variety of leadership positions during his 23-year tenure. Dr. Gould received a B.A. in chemistry from Spring Arbor College, a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Iowa, and completed postdoctoral studies at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Gould also serves on the boards of Fulcrum, Turnstone Biologics and Spring Arbor University.
Mr. Brooks is the Managing Director of Healthcare Capital LLC, which specializes in advising innovative, early-stage life sciences companies. Mr. Brooks is on the board of a number of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, including Thermalin Diabetes (chair), Noxilizer, Hygieia, College Diabetes Network (chair) and Suffolk University. Mr. Brooks is the former CEO and President of NeuroBo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NRBO) and the former President and CEO of the Joslin Diabetes Center. Mr. Brooks has co-founded seven life sciences companies and was a co-founder of Prism Venture Partners, a $1.25B venture capital firm. Prior to that, Mr. Brooks was a senior executive at Pfizer and Arthur Andersen. He holds an M.S. in Business Administration and a B.B.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He is a Certified Public Accountant.
Dr. Friedman is a Managing Director and Senior Analyst for the Averill Strategy at Suvretta Capital Management, LLC. Prior to joining Suvretta Capital, Dr. Friedman was a Healthcare Analyst at Scopia Capital Management where he focused on biotechnology/specialty pharmaceutical companies and led the healthcare capital markets efforts. Prior to Scopia, Dr. Friedman worked in biotechnology equity research at Morgan Stanley. Dr. Friedman earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Duke University, received an MD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, performed general surgery residency training at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and obtained an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Dr. Metters was previously president and CEO of Lycera Corp. and held a number of leadership positions over more than two decades at Merck & Co. Under her leadership Lycera developed a pipeline of immune modulator programs which led to an exclusive global collaboration with Celgene in 2015. Dr. Metters began her tenure at Merck & Co as a research scientist and progressed to become head of Worldwide Basic Research. During this time Dr Metters was integral to the discovery of the asthma drug Singulair® and subsequently chaired the Worldwide Business Strategy team for the respiratory business. Dr. Metters graduated with a BS in biochemistry from the University of Manchester Institute for Science and Technology and obtained her PhD from the Imperial College of Science and Technology. She is an author on more than 70 publications and has been listed on 29 patents. She also serves on the board of directors of Pharmaxis and scientific advisory boards of Bridge Medicines and Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute.
W. McIlwaine (Mac) Thompson, Jr. is a founding investor and a founding board member of HemoShear. He is of counsel to the law firm of Woods Rogers PLC and has represented companies in diverse fields including biotechnology, information technology, education and manufacturing. Mr. Thompson is on the board of directors and past chair of the UVA Curry School of Education Foundation and a member of the board of directors of Virginia Humanities. He has been on the board and past chair of the Community Investment Collaborate, a Charlottesville-based education and micro-finance organization. He is also a board member of a number of privately-held companies. Mr. Thompson graduated from Yale College in 1969 and the UVA Law School in 1972.
Mr. Tilton is the Chief Commercial Officer and one of the founding management members of Biohaven Pharmaceuticals. He has over 25 years of experience successfully commercializing bio-pharmaceutical products, launching start-up biotech companies as well as raising capital in private and public markets. He joined Biohaven from Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he was an Executive Director and one of the founding commercial leaders responsible for the commercialization of multiple orphan drug indications. Mr. Tilton played a central role in the successful global launches of Soliris, as well as building operational infrastructure for 4 orphan indication launches in over 30 countries for Alexion. Previously, Mr. Tilton held leadership roles of increasing responsibility at Pfizer, Agouron and Sanofi with therapeutic focus in the orphan, oncology and specialty markets. Mr. Tilton holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of South Carolina — Darla Moore School of Business.
Dr. Wamhoff, selected as one of the PharmaVOICE 100 most inspiring people in the industry, is co-founder of HemoShear and served as head of innovation and chief operating officer before being appointed as interim CEO. He co-invented HemoShear’s REVEAL-TXTM platform, which enabled the company to launch proprietary drug discovery programs in several rare diseases. HemoShear’s development of human models of the vascular system and liver diseases was achieved in part by Dr. Wamhoff’s role in securing significant NIH Small Business Innovation Research funding from five NIH institutes. His passion and scientific vision have fueled the formation of productive partnerships with Takeda and Horizon. As a former associate professor at the University of Virginia, he co-founded multiple medical device and therapeutics companies. He has authored or co-authored 70 papers and has been issued 18 patents. Dr. Wamhoff obtained a B.S. in biology with a minor in business administration from Rhodes College, where he was the 2011 Distinguished Alumnus; he received his Ph.D. in medical physiology from the University of Missouri.
Mr. Watkins was President, CEO and a Director of Human Genome Sciences (HGS) from 2004 until the company was acquired by GlaxoSmithKline in 2012. During his tenure, HGS successfully developed and brought Benlysta to market, the first new lupus drug to be introduced in over 50 years. Prior to HGS, Mr. Watkins spent more than 20 years in senior roles at Abbott and its affiliates in the U.S. and Asia. During that time, he was President of TAP Pharmaceutical Products, Inc., where he led the growth from approximately $2 billion to over $4 billion in annual revenue. Previously, Mr. Watkins was a consultant with McKinsey and began his career with Arthur Andersen. He is former Chairman of the Biotechnology Industry Organization and continues to serve on its board. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Vanda Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and on the board of Horizon Pharma plc. He also serves on the board of Visitors of the College of William & Mary and the board of the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Mr. Watkins received his B.B.A. in accounting from William & Mary and his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, now the Booth School of Business.
Professor and Chair, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, VCU; Chairman, NIH NASH Research Network.
Former CMO, Editas; VP Clinical Development, Rare Diseases, Sanofi Genzyme
HayesWays LLC; former SVP Regulatory Affairs, Synageva BioPharma; Genzyme; FDA
Former Chief Scientific Officer at Ribometrix, HemoShear Therapeutics and Cardioxyl; SVP Discovery Biology, GSK
Professor and Director of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, former Global Head of Exploratory Development Sciences, GSK
HemoShear Therapeutics, Inc.
501 Locust Avenue
Suite 301
Charlottesville, Virginia 22902