Deborah Rathjen, B.Sc. (Hons), Ph.D., MAICD, FTSE

Executive Chair, President and Chief Executive Officer

Deborah Rathjen, B.Sc. (Hons), Ph.D., MAICD, FTSE, is the previous chief executive officer and managing director at Bionomics. Dr. Rathjen joined Bionomics in 2000 from Peptech Limited, where she was general manager of business development and licensing. She was a co-inventor of Peptech’s TNF technology and leader of the company’s successful defense of its key TNF patents against a legal challenge by BASF.

Dr. Rathjen has significant experience in company building and financing, mergers and acquisitions, therapeutic product research and development, business development, licensing and commercialization. Dr. Rathjen has been recognized internationally with awards and honors including the 2004 AusBiotech President’s Medal, 2006 Flinders University Distinguished Alumni Award, 2009 BioSingapore Asia Pacific Biotechnology Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, 2009 Regional Finalist Ernst & Young – Entrepreneur of the Year and 2014 Woman Executive of the Year BioPharm Industry Awards. In 2015 Dr. Rathjen was included in the top 50 most influential Australian businesswomen by The Australian.

Dr. Rathjen received her doctor of philosophy degree in immunology from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and her bachelor of science degree in immunology from Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia.

Christine Antalik

Chief Financial Officer

Christine Antalik has more than 25 years of experience in accounting and finance including several high-profile, executive-level roles as chief financial officer. Over the course of her illustrious career, Antalik has closed over $800 million in deal transactions through initial public offerings, private and venture equity financings, debt financings, recapitalizations, research grants and mergers and acquisitions. With four consecutive exits over eleven years, she has an impeccable track record of starting, building, growing and improving the profitability, performance and value of companies, while positioning them for the next level of growth or exit.

Antalik is the managing member of Founders Bridge Advisors, LLC, a business advisory firm located in Connecticut, and has served as chief financial officer of Aeromics, Inc. since October 2016. Previously, Antalik served as chief financial officer of SurgiQuest, Inc. where she led the $265 million acquisition of SurgiQuest, Inc. by CONMED Corporation after filing the company’s public S-1 statement. Antalik closed a $108 million initial public offering as the vice president of finance and controller at HigherOne, Inc., a financial technology company. Prior to HigherOne, Antalik served as controller for Tangoe, Inc., a software service company. As chief financial officer and treasurer of Hematech, LLC, Antalik formed a joint venture with a key services provider to mitigate business risk and ultimately steered the company to a successful exit, being acquired by Kirin Brewery Company, Limited. Antalik also previously served as controller and senior manager of litigation support and business valuation for Centerprise Advisors, Inc. (currently Marcum, LLP), a national consulting and accounting advisory firm, where she provided expert witness reports in economic damages cases, business valuations and forensic accounting services.

Antalik earned her bachelor of science degree in business administration from Western New England College, Springfield, Mass.

Mei Mei Tian, Ph.D.

Vice President, Head of External Research

Dr. Mei Mei Tian is a vice president and the head of external research at Bioasis Technologies, Inc. Dr. Tian has more than 10 years of experience working on melanotransferrin-related research in both academia and biotech. At the University of British Columbia, she investigated the role of melanotransferrin in melanoma malignancy, as well as mechanisms involved in melanotransferrin uptake in cells.

Since joining the Bioasis team in 2012, she has been a significant contributor in the early development and continued expansion of our proprietary blood-brain barrier technology, xB3. With her oncology and neurology background, she is a committed and driven individual with a passion for the success of our platform.

Dr. Tian received her doctor of philosophy degree in microbiology and immunology from the University of British Columbia.

May Orfali, M.D.

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. May Orfali has a deep and extensive background in drug and clinical development programs that spans two decades in multiple therapeutic areas, with a focus on rare diseases and oncology. Her most recent role was president at Oncology and Rare disease Consulting, LLC, she was the chief medical officer at CANbridge Life Sciences where she led the clinical development and medical affairs group, focused on progressing phase I and phase II oncology assets in glioblastoma multiforme and esophageal cancer, filing NDA for neratinib in china in adjuvant and metastatic breast cancer therapy. Prior to that, she was Executive Director, Global Product Development, Pfizer, Inc., USA, where she was responsible for patient-focused drug development across multiple rare disease assets in hematology, sickle cell disease, hemophilia, endocrinology, gene therapy and TTR-amyloidosis. Prior to her time at Pfizer, Dr. Orfali held several clinical leadership positions, including Senior Director, Global Medical Monitor, Oncology at Wyeth Pharmaceutical Company, USA; VP Clinical Development and Medical Affairs at Artisan Pharma, Inc., USA; Vice President, Clinical Research and Medical Affairs, Aeris Therapeutics, USA; Medical Director, CDMA, Cubist Pharmaceuticals and Medical Director, Women’s Health Group at Boston Scientific Corporation.

Dr. Orfali holds a medical degree from the University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq, and a Pharmaceutical Masters of Business Administration from Cambridge University, Cambridge, England. She was a practicing physician, specialized in CNS Oncology Clinical Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in Boston, MA and completed her Fellowship in Pediatric Oncology/Hematology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA.