Jeffrey B Reich, MD, has over 30 years of experience in the life sciences. For >20 years he was a portfolio manager overseeing healthcare related investments at Merlin BioMed and Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn. He was a founding board member of Neurologix, the first CNS directed gene therapy company. Prior to going to Wall St, Dr Reich was an Assistant Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at the Weill Cornell Medical Center and an Attending Neurologist at the The New York Presbyterian Hospital. He has participated in numerous NIH and industry sponsored clinical drug trials. Dr. Reich received his BS from Binghamton University and MD from the Weill Cornell School of Medicine.
Annie Pasternak is our Chief Operating Officer. Prior to Sparian, Annie was a consultant at ClearView Healthcare Partners advising biotech and pharmaceutical companies on pre-clinical, clinical, commercial, and pricing / market access strategies. Along with her industry experience, she brings in-depth expertise on the arylepoxamide series having worked and published on the foundational science for SBS-1000. Annie received an honors Bachelor's degree in neuroscience from Dartmouth College.
Alberto is Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Sparian Biosciences. He has held a number of CFO roles with emerging companies, including, for over ten years at Nexus Life Science Partners, a crossover fund which invests in private and public biotech companies. Prior to that, he was controller at Merlin BioMed Investment Advisers, an investment manager focused on public life science companies. Alberto is a Certified Public Accountant with audit management, experience in executive and compliance roles, and received his BS in accounting from Binghamton University.
Gus Northrop, MBA, is the Program Director at Sparian. Prior to joining Sparian, Gus worked at Merck & Co. on the KEYTRUDA marketing team and at BioMarin Pharmaceutical on the Pipeline Commercialization team. Gus also has 5 years of experience as a Consultant at Globe Life Sciences in London, advising biotech and pharmaceutical companies on various strategic issues. Gus holds a first-class BA in Medical Sciences from Oxford University and an MBA with Honors from Columbia University.
Chris serves as head of manufacturing and development for Sparian. He has more than 25 years of industry experience with roles of increasing responsibility at AMRI, Johnson Matthey Pharma Services, Coldstream Laboratories, Piramal Pharma Solutions, TCG Life Sciences, PBOA, and Oxular Limited. Chris’s experience spans regulatory; chemistry; process development and scale-up; manufacturing and manufacturing controls; pilot-to-full scale production; injectable product development; formulation development; CMC project management; alliance management and licensing and partnering. He has also authored or contributed to over 70 patents, publications, and presentations concerning project management, business, and pharmaceutical development. Chris received a BS in Chemistry and an MBA from the University of Albany and holds a PhD in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from the University of New Hampshire.
Bio Coming Soon!
Bio
Dr. Pasternak is a co-founder of Sparian Biosciences, former chairman of the SAB, and an inventor of SBS-1000 and SBS-226. During his distinguished science career, Dr. Pasternak was a leader in the field of opiate biology. He held the Anne Burnett Tandy Chair of Neurology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, served as Attending Neurologist and Attending Physician on the Pain and Palliative Care Service at Memorial Hospital, was a member of Sloan-Kettering Institute and Professor of Neurology & Neuroscience, Pharmacology and Psychiatry at the Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Pasternak is the author of over 450 articles and chapters and the recipient of numerous NIH grants and academic awards. Dr. Pasternak received his BA in Chemistry from Johns Hopkins University, and his MD and PhD from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. As a graduate student with Solomon Snyder, he was part of the original team that identified and characterized the mu opiate receptor.
Dr. Majumdar is a scientific co-founder of Sparian Biosciences. While working as a postdoc in the Pasternak Lab at MSKCC, Dr. Majumdar developed two of the compounds that became the foundation of our pipeline: SBS-1000 and SBS-226. He is currently a Professor of Clinical Pharmacology in the department of anesthesiology at Washington University School of Medicine. He is a recognized worldwide leader in medicinal chemistry and opiate biology. Dr. Majumdar received his undergraduate and post-graduate education in Organic Chemistry from Delhi University, Delhi, India. He went on to receive a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Florida College of Pharmacy in Gainesville, FL.
Dr. Pan is a scientific co-founder of Sparian Biosciences. While working in the Pasternak Lab at MSKCC, Dr. Pan led the research efforts on the molecular biology of the AEAr. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at Rutgers University Medical School. He received his undergraduate degree and medical degree from the Shanghai University and PhD in physiology and biophysics from the University of Cincinnati.
Dr. Katz was the co-founder and former CEO of Analgesic Solutions and Chief Science Officer of WCG – Analgesic Solutions. He is currently President of Ein Sof Innovation and Chief Medical Officer of Chariton Pharmaceuticals. Dr Katz served as Chair of the Advisory Committee for the United States FDA Division of Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Addiction Products from 2000 to 2004. Dr Katz has had over 30 years of experience directing, conducting and participating in clinical trials of treatments for pain, both industry-initiated and investigator-initiated, involving pharmaceuticals, non-pharmaceutical analgesics and devices. Dr. Katz holds an MD from the Medical College of Pennsylvania and a Master of Science in Biostatistics from Columbia University. He completed his neurology residency at Tufts University School of Medicine and fellowship in pain management at the Harvard Medical School Brigham & Women’s Hospital.
Dr. Levin is the Kennedy-Leavy Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University and the Chief of the Division on Substance Use Disorders at Columbia University - New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI). She has been the Director of the Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program at New York Presbyterian Hospital. She is Medical Director of the Providers’ Clinical Support System- Medication Assisted Treatments (PCSS-MAT), a national training and mentoring initiative focused on addressing prescription opioid misuse. She is currently on the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP), the College on Drug Dependence (CPDD), and the American Society of ADHD and Related Disorders (APSARD). She is an editorial board member of three journals, past President of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, and past Chair of the APA Council on Addiction Psychiatry. Dr. Levin has written over 250 articles and book chapters and has served as primary investigator on dozens of industry and academic lead clinical trials in substance use disorders. Dr. Levin graduated from Cornell University Medical College and completed her psychiatric residency at the New York Hospital-Payne Whitney Clinic.
Dr. Nestler the Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience, Director of the Friedman Brain Institute, and Dean for Academic Affairs at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Chief Scientific Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System. He has served on the Boards of Scientific Counselors of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, on the National Advisory Mental Health Council for the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Advisory Drug Abuse Council for the National Institute on Drug Abuse, as Council Member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (President 2011) and the Society for Neuroscience (President 2017). He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation and of One Mind, as well as a past member of the Board of Directors of the McKnight Endowment Fund in Neuroscience. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 1998 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2005. Dr. Nestler is the author of more than 725 peer-reviewed publications and reviews. He directs six research projects funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Nestler earned his PhD (Pharmacology) and MD degrees from Yale University, and completed his residency training in psychiatry at McLean Hospital and Yale.
