Our Team

Founders

Chief Executive Officer

Arthur Sefiani earned his PhD from Texas A&M School of Medicine. Having an immense passion to revive the neuroregenerative ability that we’ve all lost with age, Arthur studied the impact of aging on neural response to treatment. Since then, Arthur has found new targets specific to adults which he used to develop novel therapeutic strategies for neurotrauma. Arthur is the lead inventor on multiple proprietary screening technologies we use to evaluate the therapeutic potential of our leads. Arthur is a multi-grant awardee, a National I-Corps recipient, and the Founder of NeuroCreis.

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Chief Scientific Officer

Cédric G. Geoffroy, Ph.D.

Cedric Geoffroy earned his PhD from Cambridge and has since accumulated 2 decades of experience in studying the impact of aging on axon regeneration and neurological recovery after spinal cord injury. Cedric’s work significantly contributes to today’s understanding of age-dependent response to treatment after neurotrauma. Cedric is an Assistant Professor at Texas A&M School of Medicine, co-founder and Associate Chief Scientific Officer at TANA Therapeutics, and on the scientific advisory board of Axoltis Pharma. Cedric is co-inventor with Arthur and a co-Founder of NeuroCreis.

Chief Technology Officer

Mark Bacon, Ph.D.

Mark Bacon earned his PhD from University of St. Andrews followed by accruing over 30 years of experience in biomedical research making significant strides in the bioenergetics field. Mark was Head of Biology at Sirius Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Chief Scientific Officer at Molecular Synthetics Ltd, Director of Cintralis Ltd, and Director of Kimmiter Consulting Ltd, developing and commercializing neurotherapeutics. As Executive and Scientific Director of the International Spinal Research Trust, Mark developed translational strategies to accelerate scientific innovations into the clinic.

Advisory Board

Medicinal Chemist

Kevin Burgess, Ph.D.

Kevin Burgess earned his PhD from Cambridge and has more than 30 years of experience with syntheses, design, and biophysical testing of protein binding small molecules. Over the years, Kevin has significantly contributed to the field of medicinal chemistry by developing novel strategies, including Exploring Key Orientations, that facilitate the development of small molecules that perturb protein-protein interactions for the treatment of neurological disorders and metastatic cancer. One of Kevin’s Trk-targeting small molecules is currently in phase III clinical trials for treatment of dry-eye disease. Kevin is currently the Rachal Professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M and Medicinal Chemist at NeuroCreis.

Business Strategist

Michelle Leeuwon, Ph.D.

Michelle Leeuwon earned her PhD from University of California, Davis making significant contributions to the field of signal transduction and transcriptional factors. Michelle went to develop manufacturing technology for enhanced peptide production, founding Swan Biotech to commercialize her technology. Michelle is a registered USPTO patent agent who provided business support to more than 10 corporations. She self-drafted and prosecuted 5 US and international patents along with 20 university license and option agreements. Michelle is currently a Program Manager at Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas and is a Business Strategist at NeuroCreis.

Scientific Consultant

Vance P. Lemmon, Ph.D.

Vance Lemmon earned his PhD at Emory where he made significant contributions to the field of retinal development and degeneration with age and has accumulated decades of experience in the field of neurotrauma. Vance served as program director of Computational Biology at the Institute for Data Science and Computing advancing the development of high throughput phenotypic screening methods to identify novel targets for enhancing regeneration by screening over 440 million compounds and genetic molecules on primary neurons. Vance is listed on the "World's Top 2% Scientists 2020“ and currently holds the Walter G. Ross Distinguished Chair as Professor in Developmental Neuroscience at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, University of Miami. Vance is a co-founder of Truvitech, patent holder, and recently, an NIH Blueprint Neurotherapeutics awardee to develop novel therapeutics for spinal cord injury. Vance serves as a Consultant at NeuroCreis, perfecting our screening platform.

Business Strategist

Joseph Jilka, Ph.D.

Joseph Jilka earned his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Joseph joined Pioneer Hi-Bred Seed Company where he worked on the first commercial transgenic insect-resistant corn lines. Joseph served as a Licensing Manager at Texas A&M Technology Commercialization Office and as a Consultant for new biotechnology companies formed at Penn State College of Medicine. Over the years, Joseph has been a business strategist at several startups, leading the way in fund acquisition and developing growth strategies. Joseph is currently a Senior Licensing Associate at Houston Methodist Hospital specializing in therapeutics and is a Business Strategist at NeuroCreis.