Atairgin's Management

MICHAEL K. SKINNER, Ph.D
Co-Founder, Chief Scientific Officer, Director and Scientific Advisory Board Member

Michael K. Skinner, Ph.D. co-founded Atairgin in 1996 with Dr. Gordon Mills.

Dr. Skinner is director of the Center for Reproductive Biology at Washington State University and professor in the Department of Genetics and Cell Biology at Washington State University. Prior to that, Dr. Skinner served as associate professor in the Reproductive Endocrinology Center at the University of San Francisco. He has also served as assistant professor in the Pharmacology Department at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Dr. Skinner earned a B.A. degree in chemistry at Reed College in Portland, Oregon and a Ph.D. in biochemistry and biophysics from Washington State University. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the C.H. Best Institute at the University of Toronto, Canada. Dr. Skinner received the Young Investigator Award from the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association and Pew Scholars Award in Biomedical Sciences.

Debra Liebert has joined the company to lead corporate development activities. Debra has over 18 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry holding positions in business development, clinical research, and regulatory affairs. Debra's most recent position was with Lion bioscience Inc. (formerly Trega Biosciences, Inc.) where she served as Vice President, Corporate Development and completed key partnership, divestiture and merger transactions. Previously, Ms. Liebert held senior level medical and regulatory affairs positions with Gensia and the Institute for Biological Research and Development. Debra began her career at Merck, Inc. working in the area of drug metabolism prior to her promotion to clinical research.

Debra received her MBA from the Anderson School of Business Administration at UCLA, her MS in pharmacology and toxicology from Duquesne University and her BS in chemistry from Clarion University.

ROB GOSHERT
Vice President, Business Operations

Rob Goshert manages Atairgin's strategic business initiatives, directs marketing and sales activities and oversees facility operations in preparation for the company's commercial activities.

Rob has nearly 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry since starting as a sales representative with Novartis (formerly CIBA-Geigy). He has held several senior positions prior to joining Atairgin, including management roles at Fujisawa Pharmaceuticals and, most recently, as senior director of business development and contract manufacturing at Sicor, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company.

Goshert received his B.S. degree from Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana.

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KIU LEUNG, Ph.D.
Vice President, Diagnostics

Dr. Kiu Leung is an immunologist and biochemist/clinical chemist with over twenty years of research and development experience in industry and academia. His technical expertise in immunology, cancer and biochemistry is enhanced by his proven ability to facilitate technology transfer from R&D to manufacturing. He has previously served as director of the development laboratory at Specialty Laboratories in Santa Monica, California, as manager of technical product development at Abbott Laboratories and as research and development manager at Sanofi Diagnostics Pasteur in Chaska, Minnesota.

Dr. Leung received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees, all in biochemistry, from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and a fellowship in immunology from Research Institute of Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, California. He is a member of the American Association of Immunologists, American Association for Cancer Research, American Chemical Society, and New York Academy of Sciences.

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ALISON ALLEN
Executive Director, Finance

Alison Allen serves as executive director of finance for Atairgin Technologies and is responsible for all aspects of financial management and planning for Atairgin.

Most recently, Ms. Allen was director of finance at Gensia Sicor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where her responsibilities included strategic planning, research and development project development and financial support for corporate partnerships. Prior to that, Ms. Allen worked at McGaw Laboratories where she gained experience in operations planning and cost accounting.

Ms. Allen holds B.S. degrees in accounting and finance from Miami University in Ohio.

Linda Heiner is responsible for the designing, planning, implementation and overall direction of Atairgin's clinical research projects.

Ms. Heiner brings to Atairgin over 22 years of experience in the area of clinical research and clinical trial management. Recent positions include associate director, medical affairs at Cytel Corporation and associate director, clinical trials management at Chiron Corporation. She has participated in directing clinical trials in a number of therapeutic areas including oncology, p53 tumor suppressor gene, gene therapy for solid tumors, HIV and Hepatitis B, and cardiovascular.

Ms. Heiner is a Registered Nurse in California with a diploma in nursing from San Jose Hospital School of Nursing.

JEFF PARROTT, Ph.D.
New Concept Development

Dr. Jeff Parrott is responsible for expanding the company's platform technology in the area of lysophospholipid assays and developing related applications in other disease states.

Jeff was the first scientist hired by Atairgin and has been involved in virtually every element of the company's progress. He has been instrumental in Atairgin's product development and brings valuable expertise in the area of reproductive endocrinology.

Dr. Parrott received his B.E. from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee with majors in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering. He went on to earn his Ph.D. from the University of California, San Francisco in Biomedical Sciences, Reproductive Endocrinology. Jeff is author or co-author of several patents and numerous scientific publications.