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Team

All of us, like people everywhere in every walk of life, have been impacted by cancer at a personal level – family, friends, colleagues, ourselves. We dedicate ourselves every day to the development of new medicines in the battle against cancer.

Executive Team

Edwin J. Thomas

CEO and President
Mr. Thomas has over 30 years of C-level executive experience including over 25 years with companies in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. Prior to founding Eleison in 2009, Mr. Thomas was chief operating officer of Provid Pharmaceuticals, a company engaged in the discovery and development of autoimmune disease therapeutics and remains involved with Provid as a member of its board of directors. Previously, Mr. Thomas was CEO of CMI Inc. a cancer focused biotech company, and was, COO of Avid Therapeutics Inc., an anti-viral drug discovery biotech company, Mr. Thomas received a B.S. degree in biochemistry and economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1981, and an MBA from The Wharton School in 1984.

Matthew Cromie, MS

Vice President, Clinical Research
Mr. Cromie brings to Eleison more than 20 years of clinical research, development, and clinical operations experience in both large and small pharmaceutical companies spanning multiple therapeutic areas including oncology. Prior to joining us he was the associate director of clinical operations at Rafael Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage oncology company, the associate director of clinical operations at Hengrui Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, and the senior manager of clinical research sciences at Emergent BioSolutions Inc., a global life sciences company. Mr. Cromie received a B.S. degree from Michigan Technological University in 1989, and a Masters of Science degree from Northwestern University in 2012.

Michael E. Lusty, PhD

Vice President, CMC
Dr. Lusty was appointed our vice president of chemistry manufacturing and controls (“CMC”) in 2021, and has been providing his CMC expertise to us since 2011. Dr. Lusty has extensive experience in the manufacturing of pharmaceutical products, and has previously held senior CMC positions at Cardeas Pharma, Ikano Therapeutics, KOS Pharmaceuticals, and the Schering-Plough Research Institute. Dr. Lusty received a B.S. degree from the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, in 1984, a PhD from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, in 1989 and a Post Graduate Certificate Quality Assurance Regulatory Affairs from Temple University, Philadelphia 2004.

Board of Directors

Edwin J. Thomas

Mr. Thomas is Eleison’s President and CEO. He has over 30 years of C-level executive experience including over 25 years with companies in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. Prior to founding Eleison in 2009, Mr. Thomas was chief operating officer of Provid Pharmaceuticals, a company engaged in the discovery and development of autoimmune disease therapeutics and remains involved with Provid as a member of its board of directors. Previously, Mr. Thomas was CEO of CMI Inc. a cancer focused biotech company, and was, COO of Avid Therapeutics Inc., an anti-viral drug discovery biotech company, Mr. Thomas received a B.S. degree in biochemistry and economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1981, and an MBA from The Wharton School in 1984.

Joel Morganroth, MD

Dr. Morganroth became a member of our board of directors in 2018. He is an academic cardiologist and a founder, prior chief executive officer and chairman of eResearch Technology, Inc. (ERT), a company he took public in 1997 providing clinical research services specializing in cardiac and respiratory safety and patient reported outcomes in new drug research and has been serving as the chief cardiac consultant to ERT since 2012. Dr. Morganroth’s primary research focus has been in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias and he is a specialist in the field of clinical drug development. He has published more than 350 articles and edited over two dozen books. He received a B.S. degree in 1966, and a M.D. (Cum Laude) in 1970, from the University of Michigan. Dr. Morganroth’s background in medicine and business, and particularly his experience with clinical research are important to our business and make him a well-qualified member of our board of directors.

Michael J. Otto, PhD.

Dr. Otto became a member of our board of directors in 2019. Prior to joining our board of directors, from 2014 to 2019, he was our acting chief scientific officer. Since 2012, Dr. Otto has been the president of MJO Consulting LLC, a drug development consulting company. He previously served as chief scientific officer of Pharmasset Inc. (Nasdaq: VRUS), then a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, from 1999 until the company was acquired in 2012 by Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD), a biopharmaceutical company. Since 2014, he has been on the board of directors and a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of ContraFect Corp. (Nasdaq: CFRX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing treatments for life-threatening infectious diseases and has been serving as the chairman of its compensation committee since 2018. He is the author or coauthor of over 100 research papers and book chapters and named inventor on several patents and patent applications. Dr. Otto received a B.S. degree in biology from Loyola University of Chicago in 1973, and a PhD in medical microbiology from The Medical College of Wisconsin in 1979. Dr. Otto’s scientific background, his prior affiliations with clinical stage pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are important factors in assessing his qualifications to serve as a member of our board of directors.

Frank Seidman

Mr. Seidman became a member of our board of directors in 2012. He has been the president and founding principal of Capital Solutions, Inc., a real estate development and private equity firm, since 1991. Mr. Seidman has over 35 years of experience working in the real estate industry as a developer and investor. Mr. Seidman is a certified public accountant and is currently a member of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA). He received a B.S. degree in accounting from Drexel University in 1976. We believe that Mr. Seidman is an important addition to our board of directors because of his general business background, his experience as an investor and his accounting background.

Bryan R. Wood

Mr. Wood became a member of our board of directors in 2010. He is a founder and managing general partner of Alta Berkeley (London, Geneva), a company he founded in 1983 and a venture capital firm investing in early-stage communications, information technology, media and health care companies in Western Europe, USA and Israel. From 2006 to 2020, Mr. Wood was a member of the Investment Advisory Committee of NanoDimension, a private venture capital fund investing in life sciences and physical sciences. He received a B.S. Degree in Industrial Engineering from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1968 and an MBA from Harvard University in 1970. We believe that his background in finance, particularly with respect to early stage companies, make him well-qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors.