Management Team
Ceregene is proud of the management experience and talent we have implementing our mission to improve the quality of life for those affected by serious neurodegenerative disorders.
- Jeffrey M. Ostrove, Ph.D., President & Chief Executive Officer
- Raymond T. Bartus, Ph.D., Executive Vice President & Chief Scientific Officer
- Joao Siffert, M.D., Vice President & Chief Medical Officer
- Maurice J. Mezzino, C.F.A., Vice President & Chief Business Officer
- Kate Van Riper, Senior Director, Human Resources and Administration
- Lisa Ann Melia, Director, Clinical Operations
- Carolyn J. Bonebright, Controller
Prior to joining Ceregene as its first employee in April 2001, Dr. Ostrove was Chief Operating Officer of NeuroVir Therapeutics, Inc., located in Vancouver, B.C. and San Diego, California, and was instrumental in its merger with Medigene AG. Preceding NeuroVir (Medigene), Dr. Ostrove served as Senior Vice President and Chief Scientist of MAGENTA Corporation of Rockville, Maryland; a company he founded as a subsidiary of BioReliance, Inc., where he was also Vice President for Scientific Development. Dr. Ostrove also served on the staff of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health. He holds a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Florida College of Medicine, and completed his post-doctoral training at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Dr. Bartus joined Ceregene in December 2002, bringing over 30 years of experience in drug discovery, development and management from tenures at major multi-national pharmaceutical companies and smaller, development-stage biotech companies. He has general oversight and strategic responsibilities for Ceregene’s preclinical, clinical and regulatory activities. Prior to joining Ceregene, Dr. Bartus spent 10 years at Alkermes, as Senior Vice President for Preclinical Research and Development where he conceived and championed the preclinical development and initial clinical strategy for Alkermes’ only approved proprietary product, Vivitrol®. He is recognized as one of the originators of the ‘Cholinergic Hypothesis’, which led directly to the first four drugs approved by the FDA for Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Bartus was the inaugural Editor-in-Chief for the scholarly journal Neurobiology of Aging and has served on several elite committees and panels, for the FDA, United States Congress and United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, among others. He has published extensively and is listed by the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI) as a “Highly Cited Researcher”, placing him in the top 0.5% of all scientists, based on the impact his research has had on neuroscience.
Dr. Siffert previously served as the Chief Medical Officer at Avera Pharmaceuticals, a CNS specialty pharma company. Prior to joining Avera, Dr. Siffert held positions with Pfizer as the Worldwide Medical Team Leader in areas of pain and epilepsy of various products including Relpax, Lyrica and Neurontin. He was also instrumental in the Phase 3b/4 program development and global launch of Lyrica. Prior to Pfizer, Dr. Siffert held academic positions at Beth Israel Medical Center, where he served as director of the Adult Neuro-Oncology program, and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he was assistant professor of neurology. During his tenure at Beth Israel, Dr. Siffert was actively involved in clinical research of novel therapies for patients with brain and spinal cord tumors. He completed residencies in pediatrics at New York University School of Medicine and in neurology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Siffert was certified by the American Board of Neurology and Psychiatry. He holds an M.D. degree from the University of São Paulo School of Medicine as well as an M.B.A. degree from Columbia University Business School.
Prior to joining Ceregene in April, 2008, Mr. Mezzino was Vice President, Business Development, at Biogen Idec, where he directed business development activities for a strategic business unit. During his tenure at Biogen Idec, Mr. Mezzino led numerous cross disciplinary teams that identified, evaluated, structured and negotiated a range of deals, including the acquisition of Conforma Therapeutics and divestiture of Zevalin. Earlier, while at IDEC Pharmaceuticals, he directed a team that forged an oncology strategic alliance with Biogen; a key relationship that was a foundation for the merger between the two companies. Mr. Mezzino has over twenty years of industry experience, including positions in clinical development, business planning, strategic marketing and business development, at Biogen Idec, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Schering-Plough Corporation and Hoechst-Roussel Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Mezzino received a B.A. in environmental biology from Rutgers University, an M.S. in microbiology from Louisiana State University, and an M.B.A. in finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (C.F.A.).
Ms. Van Riper joined Ceregene in July, 2003 as a consultant and was hired as Director of Human Resources in May, 2004. She was promoted to Senior Director, Human Resources and Administration in January, 2006. She has over 20 years experience in human resources management in a variety of private and public companies in industries including medical services, energy services, and financial services and banking. Ms. Van Riper received a B.A. in Psychology, with an emphasis in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from San Diego State University and has received certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources.
Ms. Melia joined Ceregene in June, 2008 as a Director of Clinical Operations. She has over 10 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Ceregene, Ms. Melia held positions at both large and small pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, Inc, Avera Pharmaceuticals and ACADIA Pharmaceuticals. Ms. Melia received a M.A. in Clinical Psychology from The University of Tennessee at Knoxville and a B.A. in Psychology from Trinity University.
Ms. Bonebright joined Ceregene in October, 2004. She has over 20 years accounting and finance experience in the San Diego biotech and healthcare industries for start-up and established organizations. Ms. Bonebright earned her B.A. in Economics from San Diego State University.