TEAM

The company’s management team, board of directors, and advisors have strong records of accomplishment in advancing the development of complex biological products and commercializing them in equally complex markets. CL’s management and advisors are experts in heart failure, intervention cardiology, and cell therapy. These physicians and researchers also have decades of experience designing and executing the types of pre-clinical and clinical studies that are required for the company’s success.

Alex Vodenlich, M.S.

President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director

Mr. Vodenlich is a business executive with 30 years of experience in startup and early-stage life science companies, specializing in fundraising, sales, and business development, product commercialization, and general management. He was CEO of KromaTiD Inc. and president and CEO of Gentel Biosciences (Intuitive Biosciences). Mr. Vodenlich held other senior leadership roles at Lucigen (LGC Biosearch Technologies), Cellara LLC, and PanVera Corp. (Thermo Fisher Scientific). He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in medical microbiology and bacteriology.

Eric Schmuck, Ph.D.

Co-founder, Vice President, and Chief Science Officer

Dr. Schmuck is the inventor of Cellular Logistics’ extracellular matrix technology and the company’s chief science officer, leading product development and operations. He also serves as director of translational research for the Dr. Amish Raval Laboratory at UW-Madison. Dr. Schmuck’s research centers on therapies for cardiac regeneration, including a novel extracellular matrix generated in the lab that improves cardiac function. After its discovery, this material was licensed to the company by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. Dr. Schmuck earned his master’s degree and a doctorate in human physiology from UW-Madison.

Jasmine Giles, M.S.

Development Scientist

Mrs. Giles is a Development Scientist with Cellular Logistics, managing product development, manufacturing, and laboratory operations. Jasmine has over 10 years of experience as a scientific researcher working at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Her background includes the study of cardiovascular disease, specifically pertaining to inflammation from mutations that help regulate myocardial contraction. Jasmine earned her Master of Science in Biotechnology degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Amish Raval, M.D.

Co-founder and Chairman of the Board

Dr. Raval is a co-founder of Cellular Logistics and is actively engaged in the company’s technology and product development strategies. He is a practicing interventional cardiologist who treats patients with advanced coronary artery, valve, and vascular disease using transcatheter methods. He holds an appointment as a Professor of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health where he is also the Director of Clinical Cardiovascular Research and the UW Health ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction Program. He has served as national and site principal investigator on more than a dozen Phase I, II, and III regenerative medicine trials for heart disease. Dr. Raval earned his medical degree from the University of Western Ontario, Canada, and has advanced clinical and research fellowship certification from Georgetown University, Washington Hospital Center, and the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health in Bethesda.

Paul Resnick, M.D.

Director

Paul is an executive with broad leadership experience that spans large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and encompasses corporate strategy, product development, licensing, mergers and acquisitions, and collaboration. He is the business development director at Wyss Institute (Harvard University), Boston, and previously held senior business development positions at Rinat Neuroscience Corp. (Pfizer), Pfizer Inc., Intellikine Inc. (Takeda), and Juventas Therapeutics Inc. He has demonstrated outstanding performance as a leader of business strategy that resulted in value creation and transformative partnerships. Paul earned his medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin and a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Alex Vodenlich, M.S.

Peiman Hematti, M.D.

Co-founder; Chair, Scientific Advisory Board

Dr. Hematti is a professor of medicine, pediatrics, and surgery at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. He is a hematopoietic stem cell transplant physician and also serves as director of Clinical Hematopoietic Cell Processing Laboratory at UW Health. His clinical research interest is in the use of novel cellular immuno-therapies for hematological malignancies, including the use of cells produced in the bone marrow, specifically macrophages, in regenerative medicine. He is a co-author of more than 200 manuscripts and book chapters and is a named inventor on several patents in the field of regenerative medicine and cellular therapy. Dr. Hematti earned his medical degree at the Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran., completed a combined internal medicine/pediatrics residency at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and a clinical hematology and research fellowship at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

Stephen Badylak, D.V.M., Ph.D., M.D.

Member, Scientific Advisory Board

Dr. Badylak is a professor in the department of surgery and deputy director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. More than fifteen million patients have been treated with bio-scaffolds developed in Dr. Badylak’s laboratory. He holds more than 75 U.S. patents and 350 patents worldwide. Dr. Badylak has authored more than 425 scientific publications and 60 book chapters. Dr. Badylak is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, a member of the Society for Biomaterials, a charter member of the Tissue Engineering Society International, and a past president and founding international fellow of the Tissue Engineering Regenerative Medicine International Society. Dr. Badylak has either chaired or been a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of several major medical device companies, and presently serves as chief scientific officer for ECM-Therapeutics in addition to his professorial role at the University. He earned his doctorate in anatomic pathology from Purdue University and his medical degree from Indiana University.

William Murphy, Ph.D.

Member, Scientific Advisory Board

Dr. Murphy is the Harvey D. Spangler professor of biomedical engineering, professor of orthopedics and rehabilitation, co-director of the Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center, and director of the Human Models for Analysis of Pathways (MAPs) Center at UW-Madison. His research interests focus on creating new biomaterials inspired by the materials found in nature. Dr. Murphy’s research group is using new biomaterials to understand stem cell behavior and to induce tissue regeneration. He has published more than 150 scientific manuscripts, filed more than 40 patents, co-founded multiple venture-backed startup companies, and received awards that include induction as a Fellow in the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Dr. Murphy earned his doctorate from the University of Michigan.

Nancy Sweitzer, M.D., Ph.D. 

Member, Scientific Advisory Board

Dr. Sweitzer is Professor and Vice-Chair for Clinical Research in the Department of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.  She is also Associate Director of the Institute for Clinical and Translational Sciences and Director of Clinical Research in the Cardiology Division at Wash U.  Dr. Sweitzer was formerly director of the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center and chief of cardiology at the UA College of Medicine-Tucson. She is a board-certified advanced heart failure and transplant cardiologist and clinical researcher who is nationally recognized for her leadership and experience in clinical trials. She has done extensive work on the physiology of heart failure with preserved systolic function, a disease that disproportionately affects older women. She has led and collaborated on numerous studies sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, and by industry and academic sponsors. She just completed a term as chair of Clinical Trials Review Committee of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institute of Health. Dr. Sweitzer earned her doctorate in physiology and her medical degree from UW-Madison.

Scott Fisher, Ph.D.

Member, Scientific Advisory Board

Dr. Fisher is an intradisciplinary leader with a diverse background across pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, and diagnostics sectors. He has been involved in the formation, early stage, or spin-out of 5 companies, where he defined strategy, raised capital, led operations, and served in executive leadership. In his career, Dr. Fisher was a member of the team that developed the formulation of ABRAXANE®. He has been involved in the SARM program at GTx Therapeutics, the drug-coated balloon & TAVR programs at Boston Scientific, novel gene therapy programs at Juventas Therapeutics, Xogenex & CavoGene, brought Patient Burden Index® to market at Medidata. Dr. Fisher is currently the Head of Strategic Collaborations at Exact Sciences. He is an advocate for the advancement of regenerative medicine and the earlier detection of disease. Dr. Fisher earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Dayton, his master’s degree at Ohio State University, and his doctorate at the University of Maryland, where he was an NIH pre-doctoral fellow. He was the first-ever Rathmann Family Foundation post-doctoral fellow at the University of Maryland-Baltimore Office of Research and Development and the Baltimore Veterans’ Affairs Medical Center.

Phil Marchand, M.S.

Member, Scientific Advisory Board

Phil is a medtech engineer with 25 years of experience in the field, specializing in product development of disruptive technologies from concept to commercialization. He was one of the earlier pioneers in Trans Aortic Valve Replacement, responsible for the RetrofleX™ catheter delivery system. He invented and developed the WEB™ Aneurysm Embolic system at Sequent medical which was acquired by Terumo and developed the ClotTriever™ at Inari Medical. Most recently, at BlueRock Therapeutics, he was responsible for all drug delivery aspects from device to cell delivery matrix.  Phil holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Biosystems Engineering from McGill University in Montreal.