ABOUT: TEAM
OVERVIEW | LEADERSHIP TEAM | TEAM | BOARD
OVERVIEW | LEADERSHIP TEAM | TEAM | BOARD
Dr. Paul K. Wotton received his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Nottingham and is an experienced CEO, Board Member, named inventor and entrepreneur. He has extensive experience in strategic growth management, business transactions and product development. Dr. Wotton serves on the Board of Directors of Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ: VCEL), Cynata Therapeutics (ASX: CYP), Kytopen (Chairman), Combined Therapeutics and is a Co-Founder and Director of Avenge Bio., a clinical stage biotechnology company. Dr. Wotton was President and CEO of Ocata Therapeutics(NASDAQ:OCAT) until its acquisition by AstellasPharma in 2016. Paul was named as a “Top 100 Innovation CEO” by World Biz Magazine and won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Regional (NJ) Life Sciences award in 2014.
Before joining RBL LLC and Sentinel BioTX as the CEO, Rima was a Partner at KdT Ventures where she invested in early-stage biotech spanning human health, climate technology, and synthetic biology. She sits on the board of multiple companies, including Dimension Inx, Cypris Materials, and Modulus Therapeutics. Prior to KdT, she directed the preclinical and clinical development of a portfolio of therapeutic assets at the Fannin Innovations Studio, a venture creation firm focused on technology commercialization in the life sciences.
Rima started her career as a neurologist at the University of Pennsylvania and is a physician-scientist trained at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Her research as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute fellow in the lab of Dr. Helen Hobbs focused on the development of bio-engineered assays to study lipid transport and metabolism in the context of cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Omid Veiseh, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Bioengineering and Director of the Biotech Launch Pad at Rice University, where he leads a research program aimed at engineering next-generation treatments for a wide range of human diseases by leveraging the latest techniques in synthetic biology, immunoengineering, and materials science to develop innovative cell-based platforms for real-time production of biologics. He is also a serial entrepreneur who has co-founded multiple biotechnology companies. These companies collectively have attracted ~ $500M in private and public investment capital.
Dr. Veiseh received a dual Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering and Nanotechnology from the University of Washington. He completed his postdoctoral research with Prof. Robert Langer and Daniel G. Anderson at MIT and Harvard Medical School. Throughout his career, he has authored or co-authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications, including those in Nature Biotechnology, Nature Materials, Nature Medicine, and Nature Biomedical Engineering. He is an inventor on more than 50 pending or awarded patents. Dr. Veiseh has been elected a fellow of the Controlled Release Society, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and the National Academy of Inventors.
Ryan Newman, As VP of Operations and Planning at RBL, Ryan Newman is responsible for leading cross-functional teams to drive the development of IND-enabling programs and managing strategic external partnerships. His role involves cultivating and maintaining key collaborations to enhance RBL’s capabilities and growth. Prior to joining RBL, Ryan held a number of roles across Corporate Development and Portfolio Management, with a focus on oncology and cell therapy. Most recently, he was responsible for the operational management and organization of novel cell therapy programs at Avenge Bio and Sigilon Therapeutics, where he led integrated project teams to deliver on key milestones from proof of concept data through regulatory approvals (both US and ex-US). Ryan is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he majored in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. He went on to earn an M.B.A. with a focus on Project Management from the Keller School of Management.
David Aubuchon is RBL-LLC’s Treasurer, Secretary and Head of Finance and is responsible for all financial operations of the Company. Mr. Aubuchon joined RBL with 25+ years of experience in finance leadership roles in the life sciences industry. Prior to RBL, Mr. Aubuchon was SVP of Finance, Chief Accounting Officer at Obsidian Therapeutics and had similar roles at Sigilon Therapeutics, Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Ocata Therapeutics and Sepracor Pharmaceuticals (now Sunovion Pharmaceuticals). Mr. Aubuchon began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers and earned his CPA in Massachusetts. Mr. Aubuchon holds a BA from the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) and an MBA from Babson College.
Lori is a dynamic operations professional with a deep-rooted passion for people and culture. Lori brings over two decades of experience in building and optimizing workplace infrastructure in fast-paced startup environments, primarily within the biotechnology industry. Throughout her career, Lori has been known as a trusted partner to executive leadership, a problem-solver with an affinity for streamlining processes, and an advocate for positive culture who thrives on fostering inclusive, vibrant workplaces.
Currently serving as Director of Operations & Administration at RBL LLC, Lori oversees the operational infrastructure of the office and lab, leading everything from HR and administrative support to IT, event planning, and partnerships with the Rice Biotech Launchpad.
Previously at Kronos Bio, she played a vital role in the company’s growth and employee engagement strategy as Assistant Director, People & Culture. There, she spearheaded developing professional development programs, culture-building initiatives, and performance management systems, ensuring operational excellence while keeping people at the center of the organization’s mission.
As employee number three at Sigilon Therapeutics, she demonstrated her skill in building office infrastructure from the ground up, supporting C-suite executives, and leading cross-functional initiatives in many areas of a growing biotech company. She spent her foundational years at Cosi Inc. and Dansco, showcasing her agility in customer service, HR, legal, finance, and marketing.
Lori received her Bachelor of Science from Framingham State University and is a Certified Professional with the Society of Resource Management.
Jacob received a B.S. in Physics from UCLA in 2003 and a PhD in Applied Physics from Cornell University in 2008 under advisor Dr. Michal Lipson. After completing his PhD, studying silicon nanophotonics, he began postdoctoral research in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University. While at Harvard, Jacob developed silicon nanowire devices to probe the electrical and chemical activity of living cells. In the summer of 2012, he joined the Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Bioengineering departments at Rice University. He is currently interested in developing nanofabricated devices to study the structural and functional dynamics of living neural circuits.
Dr. Jazaeri is the Vice Chair for Clinical Research and the Director of the Gynecologic Cancer Immunotherapy Program in the Department of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He obtained his Bachelor and Medical degrees from the University of Virginia and completed his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the same institution. He completed his fellowship in Gynecologic Oncology at the National Cancer Institute and MD Anderson Cancer Center. Since his recruitment in 2014, he has established a broad base immunotherapy program for gynecologic cancers that include adoptive cell therapies, vaccines, and immune checkpoint inhibitor investigations. His other areas of research interest include innovative clinical trial designs and translational research for identification of novel immunotherapy targets for gynecologic cancers.
Dr. Ravi K. Ghanta is a surgeon-scientist and prominent figure in the field of cardiothoracic surgery. His clinical practice encompasses a wide spectrum of conditions, including coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease, diseases of the thoracic aorta, and lung cancer. He is focused on minimally invasive surgery, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), mechanical circulatory assist devices, and heart transplantation.
Dr. Ghanta completed his medical training at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA., graduating with honors. He completed a thesis in Biomedical Optics at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology while receiving fellowships from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Association for Academic Surgery.
Dr. Ghanta’s journey in General Surgery and Cardiothoracic Surgery unfolded at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School. During that time, he served as Chief Resident of General Surgery and Chief Resident in Cardiac Surgery and was a recipient of the John Mannick Award.
In 2012, Dr. Ghanta joined the faculty at the University of Virginia, maintaining an active clinical practice and a funded research lab. He attained multiple clinical leadership positions, including Director of the Adult Extracorporeal Life Support Program.
In 2016, Dr. Ghanta joined the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine and assumed the role of Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Ben Taub Hospital in Houston, TX. His NIH-funded laboratory focuses on ischemic cardiomyopathy and acute lung injury with the mission of bringing new therapies into the clinic through innovation.
Susan Drapeau, Ph.D., has over 25 years of industry experience in cell therapy, biologics, biomaterials, protein therapies and medical device development. At RBL, LLC, Dr. Drapeau leads projects with numerous Rice Companies across development, landscape assessment, regulatory strategy, and clinical design to accelerate their portfolio. Susan lead the development process at Sigilon Therapeutics, a cell therapy company combining biomaterials and cellular engineering to treat rare diseases. This included product development, regulatory, preclinical, and program management departments. Prior to joining Sigilon, she served as the Senior Director of Business Development and Strategy at Vericel Corporation, where she evaluated new technologies and supported MACI and Epicel, two FDA approved autologous cellular therapies. Dr. Drapeau spent 14 years at Medtronic Spine running part of the biologics product development organization as well as leading due diligence efforts in business development and managing the IP portfolio. While at Medtronic, her team launched five products, gained many 510(k) approvals, submitted several INDs and supported manufacturing, tech transfer, due diligence and intellectual property. Prior to Medtronic, Dr. Drapeau ran the bone product development team at Osiris Therapeutics, focusing on allogeneic cell therapies in combination with biomaterials. During her career Dr. Drapeau has worked in orthopedics, rare diseases, cardiac, wound care, burn, dental, and pain therapies. In addition to industry experience, Dr. Drapeau serves as an advocate for the biomedical field with the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering. She also serves as an Adjunct professor and as a member of the Advisory Board for the department of Biomedical Engineering at Rice University. Dr. Drapeau holds B.S. degrees in chemical engineering and chemistry from Purdue University and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Rice University. She is an inventor on 70+ patents and a co-author of 90+ journal articles, book chapters and presentations.