Guided by Leaders with the Capacity to Translate Vision into Reality
Comprised of leaders from academia, healthcare, clinical research, and life sciences, our team shares a deep connection and passion for unlocking the potential of regenerative medicine while changing the way new biotherapies are discovered and developed.
JON ADKINS, M.B.A.
President & Co-Founder
Jon Adkins is a dedicated leader in the development and commercialization of live biotherapeutic products. In 2016, he co-founded XenoTherapeutics and currently serves as its President and board member. Jon and his team have worked tirelessly to build a highly effective clinical-stage, regenerative medicine company developing new biotherapies from genetically engineered animals.
Under Mr. Adkins’ leadership, the XenoTherapeutics team has successfully translated the first live biotherapeutic skin xenotransplant from theory to therapeutic reality. Today, Jon continues to lead the clinical evaluation of realSKIN® and realNERVE™ while managing the financing and logistical operations that support the research and development efforts at XenoTherapeutics. He has provided a crucial role in the company’s regulatory strategy, and expansion of its intellectual property portfolio and led its business development operations with both hospitals and industry partners.
With over 20 years of experience in the life sciences industry, Jon is also a co-inventor of 6 patents in xenotransplantation and holds an MBA with an emphasis in healthcare management. Prior to XenoTherapeutics, Jon held multiple roles at top medical device and biotech companies such as Smith & Nephew, Zimmer Biomet, Bacterin (now Xtant Medical), and Johnson & Johnson. He is also a founding member of Alexis Bio, which serves as the commercial arm and partner of XenoTherapeutics Foundation.
JAMIE LOVE
Chief Financial Officer / Treasurer
As Chief Financial Officer, Jamie Love oversees financial, program, and product development, core partnerships, and business services functions at XenoTherapeutics Foundation. She is also a member of the Board of Directors. Mrs. Love also maintains the company’s exclusive Sponsored Research Agreement with Alexis Bio.
Mrs. Love has more than two decades of public and private sector financial management experience in large Pharma and Insurance, which she has used to help shape the company’s financial operations. Earlier in her career, she served as Senior Financial Analyst at Abbott Laboratories during the distribution of the first FDA-licensed test to screen blood for HIV, which led to a vast reduction in disease transmission during transfusions and organ transplantation.
Mrs. Love received her Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Management from Indiana University in South Bend.
JESSICA OLDHAM
Chief of Staff
Jessica Oldham joined XenoTherapeutics Foundation in August 2022 and serves as the Chief of Staff to Jon Adkins, CEO, of XenoTherapeutics Foundation. Jessica’s responsibilities include working closely with the Board of Directors, vendors, business partners, and staff. She is a reliable professional who supports the entire team. She provides technical and logistical support on projects and assists the scientific team with data management.
Prior to this position, Jessica worked for a lobbying and media firm as the Chief of Staff to high-level associates as well as the COO. She has more than a decade of experience in operations and logistics.
THE SCIENCE TEAM
ROD MONROY, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
As Chief Scientific Officer, Rod Monroy is the senior scientific adviser and oversees research and development, clinical trials, and c-GMP manufacturing.
Dr. Monroy joined Xenotherapeutics Foundation in 2017 after spending more than 11 years leading cell therapy clinical research of mesenchymal stem cells and hepatocytes at Osiris and Cytonet. Previously, he served as director of research efforts in hematopoietic chimerism and immunological responses in xenotransplantation studies in non-human primate models at Biotransplant. Dr. Monroy began his scientific career studying radiation, stem cell biology, and transplantation in the U.S. Navy.
Dr. Monroy received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at Case Western Reserve University.
Robert Kaiser, Ph.D., D.A.B.T.
Principal Toxicologist
As the Principal Toxicologist, Rob is responsible for the design, oversight, and interpretation of discovery and development studies of existing xenotherapeutic candidates in the pipeline as well as the strategic development of future therapeutic candidates. In the execution of these directives, Rob interacts with potential academic and biotech collaborators and is responsible for the interactions with regulatory bodies to ensure compliance with our therapeutic candidates in all stages of development.
Rob is a board-certified toxicologist with 20 years of drug discovery and development experience, contributing to hundreds of INDs over the course of his career. He is an established entrepreneur and is a co-founder of multiple cell and gene therapy companies. He has experience in licensing IP, new entity incorporation, and biotech merger/acquisition activities.
Rob received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Nevada, Reno, and served a research fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
KAITLYN ROGERS, Ph.D.(c)
Scientific Research Director
Kaitlyn Rogers is the Scientific Research Director at XenoTherapeutics Foundation. Since joining XenoTherapeutics in 2018, Kaitlyn Rogers has remained committed to translating scientific discoveries into tangible, meaningful outcomes that improve people's lives.
Mrs. Rogers' research has focused on the design, development, and understanding of the mechanisms of action in innovative acute therapies and how they contribute to human transplantation. In addition to her scientific accomplishments, Mrs. Rogers' expertise and leadership are essential for ensuring that the company's efforts are focused, effective, and successful in bringing innovative new drugs to market.
Mrs. Rogers has over 14 years of professional experience. Before coming to XenoTherapeutics, she worked for the United States Marine Corps in Intelligence and later management in the private sector in Operations and Marketing. Mrs. Rogers earned a B.S. in Forensics (cum laude) from American Military University in Charlestown, West Virginia, and is pursuing an executive Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Miami.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
WILLIAM S. DEACON
Board Chairman
Bill is a qualified Portfolio Advisor who, in addition to providing traditional advice and guidance, can help clients pursue their investment objectives by recommending individual, or any combination of, Merrill Lynch or approved third-party investment managers; strategies, funds, or portfolios. His approach to wealth management focuses on building long-lasting relationships with clients in order to understand their goals and objectives. Before making financial recommendations, he conducts a financial profile in order to understand each client’s needs and intentions in order to provide a customized investment approach to meet their needs.
Bill provides a high level of personal service and guides clients through the investment process which includes cash flow, retirement, education and estate planning strategies, and liability/debt management. Bill and his team are committed to providing outstanding service and communication with each client.
Dr. DICKEN KO
Chief Medical Officer / Clerk
Dicken Ko, MD is a board certified urologist specializing in renal transplants and general urology. Dr. Ko received his medical degree from Queen’s University School of Medicine, Ontario, Canada. Before joining Brown Urology, Dr. Ko was a surgical urologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
Dr. Ko completed his surgical internship at the University of Toronto and his residencies in surgery and urology at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. He completed his fellowships in multi-organ transplantation and transplantation biology research at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Dr. Ko is a member of the American Board of Urology, the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, and the American College of Surgeons.
RUTA J. LAUKIEN, J.D. MBA
Trustee
Rūta J. Laukien has more than 12 years of investment-banking experience, including a strong background in M&A, debt capital markets, and equity capital raises. She spent seven years as a Vice President at Bear Stearns, where she was part of the M&A, healthcare, and financial sponsors groups and had primary coverage responsibility for 13 private equity and hedge funds. Laukien was a Director at C.W. Downer, an international middle-market investment bank, where she focuses on the healthcare industry, including biotechnology and life sciences and cross-border transactions.
Mrs. Laukien holds BA degrees in Economics and Psychology from the University of North Florida, an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business as well as a JD and Masters in International Law from Duke University Law School. She is admitted to practice law in New York State.
MARK NEDELMAN
Trustee
Mark Nedelman is a drug development and CRO veteran with more than 35 years of experience. Mark started his career in R&D at Massachusetts General Hospital where from 1983-87 he ran the laboratory of H. William Strauss, a pioneer in nuclear cardiology. From MGH, he was recruited to start and head Preclinical Pharmacology at Centocor, a leading biotechnology company (acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 1996), where he was the Associate Director from 1987-1996 playing key roles in the development of numerous first-in-class drugs including abxcimab (ReoPro) and infliximab (Remicaide).
In 1996, Mark joined the CRO industry where he held several positions of leadership within Charles River Laboratories including; Senior Director of Pharmacology, Surgery, and Toxicology. At CRL, he established a new, multi-site business unit, Interventional & Surgical Services where he served as General Manager. In 2014, Mark joined Biomedical Research Models (Biomere) as CEO. Under Mark’s leadership, Biomere grew to be one of the largest, specialty contract research labs in the industry. In 2019, Joinn Laboratories acquired Biomere where Mark continued to lead the US-based business for JOINN as CEO and Executive Sterring Committee member.
Mark is also currently serving as the pharm/tox expert for Celecor supporting the discovery and development of zalunfiban, a drug in Phase 3 trials for use in patients with a suspected AMI. Mark holds a MS in Biology from the University of Cincinnati and MBA from Northeastern University. He has co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications and 3 book chapters.
