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Board of Directors

We are a team of seasoned biotechnology professionals with significant experience developing and launching leading pharmaceutical products.

David J. Matlin

Chairman

David Matlin has been on our board of directors since December 2020 and chairman of our board since May 2021, and is in charge of supervising and providing independent judgement to our Board, as well as overall strategic planning and business planning. Mr. Matlin was the Chief Executive Office of MatlinPatterson Global Advisers LLC, a global private equity firm, which he co-founded in 2002, as well as a co-founder of MatlinPatterson Asset Management, a series of U.S. based credit hedge funds begun in 2010. Mr. Matlin was a former Managing Director at Credit Suisse First Boston and also a founding partner of Merrion Group, LP. He currently serves on the public board of TriSalus Life Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: TLSI), as well as the board of several privately held companies. Mr. Matlin holds a J.D. from the Law School of the University of California at Los Angeles and a B.S. in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Rob Etherington

President & CEO

Rob Etherington brings nearly 30 years of sales, marketing and leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry to Clene. Prior to joining Clene as CEO, Mr. Etherington worked for Actelion Pharmaceuticals, which was the largest biopharmaceutical company based in the EU until Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals acquired the company in 2017. He initially joined Actelion as founding Director of Marketing in 2000, the same year the company went public, and went on to hold various roles of increasing responsibility. Mr. Etherington served as the first U.S. commercial employee, leading U.S. commercial operations and serving as Chair of the U.S. Commercial Strategic team where he was responsible for five marketed drugs. Prior to Actelion, Mr. Etherington began his pharmaceutical career with a number of sales and marketing roles at Parke-Davis, a division of Pfizer, culminating in a Team Leader position that oversaw the drug Lipitor. As the founding CEO of Clene, Mr. Etherington has raised more than $150M in equity financings, and has driven Clene’s focus on neurodegenerative diseases.

Arjun “JJ” Desai, MD

Board Member

Arjun “JJ” Desai, M.D., brings a diverse and successful track record as a Stanford trained clinical physician, medical technology executive, bio-technology executive, and investor. His early career started as a founding or early team member at multiple medical and biotechnology companies including Profusa, Qool Therapeutics, Incline Therapeutics, and Avinger. Concomitantly, Dr. Desai served as both clinical instructor and faculty for the Biodesign Program at Stanford. In 2016, Dr. Desai was recruited to serve as the Global Vice President, External Innovation for Johnson & Johnson, where he led the JLABS organization and Center for Device Innovation as Chief Operating Officer. He built 12 offices globally, with >500 early-stage assets under management across medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer technology. Dr. Desai was later recruited to lead a global team at Insightec, the world’s foremost leader in focused ultrasound therapeutics, with an emphasis on neuroscience. As a senior executive, Dr. Desai leads teams across Israel, Europe, the U.S., Japan, and China – responsible for strategic development, pharmaceutical drug development partnerships, and global market access and reimbursement. Dr. Desai serves on the Board of Directors for TriSalus Life Sciences (NYSE: TLSI), Obvius Robotics (board chairman), PathologyWatch, Tympa Health, Wesper, and as a senior advisor to Empyrean Neuroscience (co-founder; CRISPR Therapeutics). Dr. Desai holds an M.D. from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and a B.S. in economics from the University of Oklahoma.

Jonathon T. Gay

Board Member

Jonathon Gay is a Managing Partner at Kensington-SV Global Innovations LP (KSV), a growth stage investment firm which he co-founded in 2018. Prior to joining KSV, Mr. Gay served for five years as a Managing Partner and co-led the investment strategy of Kensington Capital Ventures (KCV), an investment group within Kensington Capital Holdings (KCH). While at KCV, he oversaw transaction and execution of deals and monitored portfolio companies. Previous to co-leading KCV, Mr. Gay was a principal at KCH, a single-family office where he focused on private equity and venture capital fund and direct investment strategies. Prior to joining KCH, Mr. Gay worked as a Vice President at HGGC in Palo Alto, California, where he performed functions in all aspects of the firm’s private equity practice including fund raising, investment sourcing, investment analysis and deal execution. Prior to joining HGGC, Mr. Gay served as an Operations Analyst at Sorenson Capital. Mr. Gay received his MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Shalom Jacobovitz

Board Member

Shalom Jacobovitz has been on our board of directors since March 2013 and served as the Chairman of the Board from November 2015 to May 2021. Mr. Jacobovitz has over 30 years of professional experience in the development of pharmaceuticals and biotech products. Mr. Jacobovitz is the Chief Executive Officer of CiVi Biopharma, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company, and the former Chief Executive Officer of the American College of Cardiology (ACC). At the ACC, Mr. Jacobovitz led the ~50,000 member organization in its mission to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health. Prior to joining the ACC, Jacobovitz served as President of Actelion Pharmaceuticals U.S., a biopharmaceutical company and subsidiary of Actelion specializing in orphan cardiopulmonary therapies. Mr. Jacobovits has also held positions at F. Hoffmann La Roche, Abbott Canada, Nordic Labs and Marion Merrill Dow (now known as Sanofi) in Canada. Mr. Jacobovitz earned a B.S. in biology at Western University, formerly known as the University of Western Ontario.

Matthew Kiernan AM, Ph.D., DSc

Board Member

Professor Matthew Kiernan has been on our Board since September 2023. He is the CEO and Institute Director of Neuroscience Research Australia, the Scientia Professor of Neuroscience at the University of NSW and Staff Specialist Neurologist for the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District. Prior to these roles, he held the prestigious appointment of Bushell Chair of Neurology at the University of Sydney, and was Co-Director of the University’s Brain and Mind Centre. Professor Kiernan leads a research group comprised of a team of clinicians, scientists, biomedical engineers, doctoral and postdoctoral students with a focus on neurological disease. His research team’s focus is clinical neurology, including frontotemporal dementia and motor neurone syndromes such as ALS. Currently his team is investigating the mechanisms and the prevention of neurodegeneration in ALS and frontotemporal dementia; chemotherapy-induced neurotoxicity; spinal muscular atrophy and inherited neuropathies. His research has been recognized through a number of awards including the Sheila Essey Award of the American Academy of Neurology in 2022. Professor Kiernan is Editor Emeritus of the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry (BMJ Publishing Group, United Kingdom), having served as Editor-in-Chief of the journal from 2010-2022. He is past President of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists, Board Member of Motor Neurone Disease Research Australia and President of the Brain Foundation, the largest priming institution for neuroscience in Australia, responsible for distributing funding towards research and medical education for the treatment and prevention of neurological disorders. In 2019 he was elected Chair of the World Federation of Neurology Research Committee for Neurodegenerative Disease and currently serves as Scientific Chair for the World Congress of Neurology.

Vallerie V. McLaughlin, MD

Board Member

Vallerie V. McLaughlin, M.D., is the Kim A. Eagle M.D. Endowed Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, to which she was appointed in 2014; and Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, to which she was appointed in 2003. Dr. McLaughlin is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, American College of Chest Physicians, and American Heart Association (AHA). She has been the Principal Investigator of several major clinical trials of drug therapies for pulmonary arterial hypertension and has published numerous papers in this field. Dr. McLaughlin is a former editorial board member of Chest, a Guest Editor for the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and past Editor-in-Chief of Advances in Pulmonary Hypertension. She is a past Chair of the Scientific Leadership Committee and past Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Pulmonary Hypertension Association, has chaired the American College of Cardiology Foundation/AHA Clinical Expert Consensus Document Committee for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, and was Chair of the Cardiovascular Medical Research and Education Fund Steering Committee. She received her medical degree from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, IL, and completed her internal medicine residency at University of Michigan Hospitals and cardiology fellowship at Northwestern University.

Alison H. Mosca

Board Member

Alison Mosca brings over 25 years of experience, focused on private family wealth management, including wealth structuring, preservation and transfer, philanthropic advising, tax, investment and risk management counsel. Ms. Mosca is a Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Kensington Capital Holdings, a single family office she helped launch in 2008. Prior to founding Kensington Capital Holdings, she built a multi-family office within Audax Group, a leading middle market private equity firm for the founding members and their families. Previous to her work at Audax Group, Ms. Mosca spent several years at PricewaterhouseCoopers in its Private Client Group and Audit Assurance practices, where she served a variety of clients including broker-dealers, venture capital and private equity funds and their general partners, investment managers, insurance, high tech and manufacturing companies. Ms. Mosca’s experience also includes both non-profit and for-profit board level experience and mentoring. She is a Certified Public Accountant and received an M.S. with distinction in Personal Financial Planning from Bentley University and a B.S., cum laude with university honors program distinction, in Accounting from Northeastern University.

Reed N. Wilcox

Board Member

Reed Wilcox co-founded Clene Nanomedicine and has been on our board of directors since 2013. From September 2014 through June 2023, Mr. Wilcox was President, Trustee and member of the board executive committee of Southern Virginia University, a private liberal arts college in Buena Vista, Virginia, and he has since been designated as President Emeritus. Mr. Wilcox has extensive experience in management, growth and strategy consulting, having served as Vice President and Director of Boston Consulting Group, co-founder and Chief Development Officer of General Resonance, LLC, founder and owner of Resonance RNW LLC, co-founder of The Flagship Group, and CEO of The Lifelike Company. Mr. Wilcox also served a three-year mission as president of the France Marseille/Toulouse Missions of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mr. Wilcox earned a B.S. in economics and international relations summa cum laude from Brigham Young University, MBA with High Distinction as a Baker Scholar from Harvard Business School, and J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School. Mr. Wilcox is an inventor on over 20 U.S. patents and has extensive international business experience in Europe, Asia and Africa.

Mark Mortenson

Chief Science Officer

Mr. Mortenson is the co-inventor of the technology platform developed to produce Clene’s Clean-Surface Nanocrystal (CSN™) therapeutics, as well as the inventor/co-inventor for 30 other U.S. patents and hundreds of corresponding foreign patents.

Prior to joining Clene, Mr. Mortenson served as former Chief Operating Officer of Research, Development and Manufacturing for an advanced materials-based company of more than 300 employees. In addition to his professional experience, he is a former chief patent counsel responsible for approximately 5,500 patents and patent applications in the U.S. and 44 foreign countries. Mr. Mortenson holds both a Bachelor of Science in physics and a Bachelor of Science in ceramic engineering from Alfred University, a Master of Science in material science from Pennsylvania State University, and a Juris Doctor degree from George Washington University.

Rob Etherington

President & CEO

Mr. Etherington brings nearly 30 years of sales, marketing and leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry to Clene. Prior to joining Clene as CEO, Mr. Etherington worked for Actelion Pharmaceuticals, which was the largest biopharmaceutical company based in the EU until Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals acquired the company in 2017. He initially joined Actelion as founding Director of Marketing in 2000, the same year the company went public, and went on to hold various roles of increasing responsibility. Mr. Etherington served as the first U.S. commercial employee, leading U.S. commercial operations and serving as Chair of the U.S. Commercial Strategic team where he was responsible for five marketed drugs. Prior to Actelion, Mr. Etherington began his pharmaceutical career with a number of sales and marketing roles at Parke-Davis, a division of Pfizer, culminating in a Team Leader position that oversaw the drug Lipitor. As the founding CEO of Clene, Mr. Etherington has raised more than $150M in equity financings, and has driven Clene’s focus on neurodegenerative diseases.

Joanne Zhongyan Zhang M.D., PhD

Director of Micro and Biology

Joanne Zhongyan Zhang is the Director of Micro and Biology at Clene. Dr. Zhang has spent more than 20 years in medical research and is an experienced leader in quality control microbiology laboratory and scientific research in biology. Dr. Zhang helped design, and personally executed the initial and validated Cuprizone Studies of Clene’s asset, CNM Au8, suggesting that Au8 may enhance remyelination in MS. Dr. Zhang designed and directed the ALS pilot study proving that Au8 improved the motor coordination in congenic ALS SOD1 G93A mouse model. Both MS and ALS are now in Clinical Trial Phase II. Dr. Zhang brings to Clene both clinical experience and a successful medical research background. She spent over six years working as an attending physician and chief physician at Tianjin First Central Hospital. Dr. Zhang was a postdoctoral fellow in Cell Biology at Johns Hopkins University; she worked as research associate in the Cardiology Department at Duke University; and prior to Duke was awarded Special Fellow status by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science while working at Osaka University. Dr. Zhang was awarded her medical degree from Tianjin Medical University and received her PhD from the Cardiology Division of Internal Medicine and Molecular Science at Osaka University.

D. Kyle Pierce

Vice President, Research & Development

D. Kyle Pierce is the Executive Director of Nano-Engineering at Clene. Mr. Pierce has been with Clene since its inception. Mr. Pierce oversees the R&D department, designed the production equipment and software which Clene uses in its manufacturing of their key asset, and developed production procedures. He started his carrier in an antecedent technology and development company, General Resonance, as a Senior Engineer developing the technology used for Clene’s production equipment. While attending the University of Maryland at College Park, where he received a BS in Electrical Engineering, he worked for the Army Material System Analysis Activity (AMSAA DoD). While at AMSAA Mr. Pierce debugged and maintained an active protection performance model software, he was issued a Secret Security Clearance from the Department of Defense. While at Clene, he has co-authored numerous peer reviewed publications.

Austin Rynders

Vice President, Clinical Operations

Austin Rynders is the Vice President of Clinical Operation at Clene. Mr. Rynders is a multi-faceted professional with over 10 years of clinical experience heavily focused in CNS/pain methodology with an emphasis in investigational pain modeling, abuse potential, degenerative disorders, and unique early proof-of-concept study development across Phase I-III studies. With participation and oversight of over 200 clinical trials prior to joining Clene, Mr. Rynders’ exposure to complex and unique study designs has allowed for development of a robust clinical mindset and multiple key accomplishments. These accomplishments include the development and implementation of validated methodologies surrounding ventilatory responses to hypercapnia and quantitative sensory testing, development and beta testing of cognition-based assessment platforms, operational reorganization of multiple clinical operations teams, and the expansion and development of a purpose built 136 bed Phase 1 facility. Mr. Rynders has received a Bachelor of Nursing from the University of Utah and will soon obtain his Master of Science in Pharmacology and Toxicology from Michigan State University.

Adam Dorfman

Vice President, Quality & Technical Operations

Adam Dorfman is the Executive Director of Quality Control and Bioanalytical at Clene. Mr. Dorfman has over 13 years of experience in various roles including nanoparticle development and characterization, specimen bioanalysis, and quality control. Mr. Dorfman has been with Clene since 2013 and is responsible for ensuring that the finished pharmaceuticals meet all quality standards for Clene’s active clinical trials. In addition, he leads the bioanalytical group that analyzes all GLP/GCP tissue and pharmacokinetic specimens that are collected during pre-clinical and clinical activities. Mr. Dorfman was originally tasked with establishing a GMP/GLP compliant lab at Clene, and more recently has been responsible for developing and implementing Clene’s laboratory informatics system that will streamline all manufacturing and quality control processes. He has a BS in Chemical Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University and MS in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

Mary Anne McNeil

Head of Human Resources

Mary Anne McNeil is the Head of Human Resources at Clene. Ms. McNeil is an accomplished professional with a diverse and successful career in human resources, management and marketing. Prior to joining Clene, Ms. McNeil served as the EVP of Human Resources, Marketing and Sales for a successful art business, where she executed a company culture of diversity, career development, and an outstanding sales force. While there, sales increased by 40%, the employee retention rate doubled and the signing of new artists to represent increased by over 12%. Ms. McNeil is creating a company culture which encourages diversity, growth and learning, open communication and accessibility, recognition for exemplary work, long term careers while striving to make Clene a leading and desirable place of employment. She has started a management training program by working with a local college, has implemented a review and raise process, has encouraged career mapping with all Clene colleagues which has led to many promotions within the company, assisted in developing a comprehensive training program and is working with workforce services to employ individuals from the local area. doubled. She is excited for the future of Clene and looks forward to its success and many upcoming milestones.

Jerry Miraglia, J.D.

General Counsel and Corporate Secretary

Mr. Miraglia has advised small private companies and large public companies, ranging from startups with only an idea to Fortune 125 companies. Most recently, he led the M&A legal team at Jabil Inc (NYSE: JBL), a contract manufacturer with 250,000+ employees operating in 30+ countries, including its medical solutions healthcare division. Mr. Miraglia spent the first 14 years of his legal career in Baltimore, joining Miles & Stockbridge out of law school and becoming a full equity partner in their corporate department, advising such clients as Black & Decker. Mr. Miraglia left Miles to serve as General Counsel for an interactive entertainment company, and subsequently entered the business world and served as EVP for Dover Motorsports (NYSE: DVD) and ultimately President of a media company. Mr. Miraglia’s diverse background navigating both business and legal aspects of corporate transactions, manufacturing, sales, marketing and distribution, providing Clene with a unique blend of insights as it leaves the private sector and enters the public.

Michael Hotchkin

Chief Development Officer

Mr. Hotchkin brings more than 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical commercialization, planning, strategy development, and medical affairs to Clene, where he currently leads commercial planning and strategy development, preclinical translational medicine, and health regulatory authority filings. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Hotchkin was a founding team member at Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc., where he helped launch multiple best-in-class products for orphan disorders. Having spent more than a decade at Actelion, Mr. Hotchkin led the commercialization efforts for the company’s Genetic Business Unit, including clinical development activities which resulted in the doubling of sales for two different pharmaceutical drugs. Among his contributions while at Actelion include the implementation of new market planning activities for the company globally, directing U.S. strategy development and leading marketing activities for multiple medicines. Mr. Hotchkin began his career at Parke-Davis, a subsidiary of Pfizer.

Morgan Brown

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Morgan Brown has more than 29 years of finance and accounting experience with the last twenty-two years servicing biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device and clinical research companies.  Prior to joining Clene as CFO, Mr. Brown served in a similar capacity at Lipocine Inc. (NASDAQ: LPCN), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company; at Innovus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCBB: INNV), an emerging pharmaceuticals company; at World Heart Corporation (NASDAQ: WHRT), a medical device company; at Lifetree Clinical Research, a clinical research organization; and, at NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: NPSP), a biotechnology company.  Previously he worked for KPMG LLP, an international public accounting firm, in Salt Lake City where he served as a Senior Audit Manager. In his roles prior to Clene, Mr. Brown has participated in and led efforts to successfully evaluate, negotiate, and close transactions including equity and debt financings totaling over $1 billion and out-licensing of commercial stage asset transactions totaling $220 million. Mr. Brown has experience in sale-leaseback arrangements, facilities construction, and M&A activities.  Mr. Brown is a licensed certified public accountant in the state of Utah. Mr. Brown earned a Master of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Utah and a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Utah State University.

Benjamin Greenberg, MD, MHS, FAAN

Head of Medical

Dr. Benjamin Greenberg is an internationally recognized expert in disorders of the central nervous system. He joins Clene alongside his current role as professor of neurology and Vice Chair of Clinical and Translational Research in the Department of Neurology at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX.

His clinical and research expertise spans many areas of neurology including the diagnosis and treatment of MS and other rare neurological disorders. Dr. Greenberg received his Bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and his Master’s degree in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. He graduated from Baylor College of Medicine and completed an internal medicine internship at Rush Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago, before going on to residency in neurology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

Rowena Green

Executive Director, Quality Assurance

Rowena Green joined Clene Nanomedicine, Inc. in 2015, with experience in the (bio)pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, medical device and environmental industries. With over twenty-three years of GxP experience, eighteen years are as a quality assurance representative, which confirms her role as Sr. Director of Quality Assurance. Prior to Clene, Rowena spent three years as a consultant at Meridian BioGroup. There, she supported multiple clients to ensure compliance to the appropriate regulations (i.e., GMPs, GLPs). Prior to being a consultant, Rowena worked with Johns Hopkins University as the Quality Manager of the Cell Processing and Gene Therapy Department, which manufactured clinical trial material for multiple JHU Investigators. With a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry, Rowena has worked as a Manufacturing Operator to produce brain cancer treatment, developed clinical trial projects to manufacture API as a Research Associate in Chemical Development, and performed the data review for one of the largest MRSA clinical studies ever conducted as a Sr. Quality Assurance representative. Rowena’s experience in the various industries has led her to Clene, where she and her direct reports provide regulatory support and quality assurance oversight for at least seven on-going clinical studies.