Leadership

Dr. Libin is responsible for the daily operations of the Company. He is an experienced researcher and businessman in taking companies from inception through the development stages. He was Founder, Chairman and CEO of BML Pharmaceuticals Inc., a pharmaceutical research and development company in inflammatory and infectious diseases. Dr. Libin identified, formulated and directed clinical studies on a series of drugs having anti-inflammatory (Cox 2), anti-microbial and analgesic properties. BML’s lead drug in cancer therapy for prevention of chemotherapy and radiation induced mucositis was granted fast track status by the FDA and advanced through phase three clinical testing before BML was sold to Endo Pharmaceuticals in July of 2002. Following that Dr. Libin founded BML MedRecords Alert, LLC, an electronic medical records company that provides hospitals and physicians with “paperless” venues, and provides individual consumers with secure personal medical vaults. Dr. Libin received his DDS and his Masters (MSD) in Periodontics and Oral Medicine from NYU College of Dentistry, and his MS in Management and Policy from the Harriman School of Business at the State University at Stony Brook.

Sustained Nano Systems welcomes Dr. Bill McVicar to its Board of Directors. Bill’s career includes over thirty years in the pharmaceutical industry with senior positions in Novartis, RPR Gencell, and Sepracor. Most recently he was the Chief Scientific Officer of Inotek Pharmaceuticals, and the Chief Executive Officer and Director at Flex Pharmaceuticals.

During his career, Dr. McVicar has overseen the development of multiple drug candidates responsible for preclinical testing through to FDA approval, including BROVANA®, XOPENEX MDI®, and XOPENEX’s pediatric approval. As a C-suite executive, Dr. McVicar has raised well over $100MM in venture and public financings, lead numerous development collaborations and licensing transactions, and negotiated the merger of Flex and Salarius Pharmaceuticals. Dr. McVicar also serves on the board of Satellos Biosciences (MSCL.V) and is Chairman of the Board of Salarius (SLRX).

Dr. McVicar earned his B.S. in Chemistry from SUNY College at Oneonta and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Vermont. He is an author on numerous peer-reviewed scientific publications and an inventor on 15 issued US patents.

Dr. Jeffrey M. Liebmann graduated from Boston University School of Medicine,
completed his ophthalmology residency at the State University of New York/Downstate Medical Center, and his glaucoma fellowship at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary. Dr. Liebmann serves as Shirlee and Bernard Brown Professor, Vice-Chair, and Director of the Glaucoma Division of the Department Ophthalmology at Columbia University Medical Center. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology and American College of Surgeons. Dr. Liebmann serves as a member of the Board of Governors of the World Glaucoma Association, Board of Directors of The Glaucoma Foundation and Secretary-Treasurer of the New York Glaucoma Society. Dr. Liebmann is a past-President of the World Glaucoma Association, American Glaucoma Society, and the New York Society for Clinical Ophthalmology, Emeritus Editor-in Chief of Journal of Glaucoma and was co-founder of the New York Glaucoma Research Institute, the American Glaucoma Society Foundation and ASCRS Glaucoma Day.

In addition to maintaining a busy tertiary-care referral practice in New York City, Dr. Liebmann is Principal Investigator for the NIH African Descent and Glaucoma Evaluation Study (ADAGES) and Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study (OHTS III) at Columbia University and is the author and/or co-author of more than 1000 medical and scientific papers, book chapters, and abstracts. He has lectured widely in the United States and abroad on glaucoma diagnosis and management. His current main areas of research interest include the causes of glaucoma, glaucoma progression, glaucoma surgery, ocular imaging, and neuroprotection.

Dr. Chen is a leading expert in biodegradable polymer matrices for drug and gene delivery and tissue engineering. Dr. Chen received his BS in Pharmacy from the University of Wisconsin, and his MS and PhD from the University of Michigan in Pharmaceutics. Dr. Chen was Associate Professor of BioMedical Engineering in the Department of Surgery at New York University and past Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he jointly Co-founded EndoMedix, Inc., in the Long Island High Technology Incubator. Prior to that he was Manager of Drug/Gene Delivery Technologies at Clear Solutions (2001-2003). He has been awarded numerous grants from the NIH in the fields of biodegradable drug delivery devices and tissue engineering. He has written numerous peer reviewed articles and has lectured throughout the world.

Dr. Beach received his BS in Pharmacy at Union University-Albany College of Pharmacy and his PhD at the University of Maryland. He is past President and COO of Synovics Pharmaceuticals where he was responsible for overall operations, including Prescription and Business Development. Previously he was Senior Consultant to VCG&A in Toronto where he managed the Phase II Clinical Program, and at Genpharm where he was Director of Research and Development. Dr. Beach was Associate Director of Pharmaceutical Process Improvement at Schering-Plough and Solids Development Senior Scientist/Group Leader at DuPont Pharmaceuticals.

As Senior Regulatory Affairs Director, Jan is responsible for overall relationships with the FDA. He has over 40 years of experience in clinical research trial design and regulatory affairs, including Director of Regulatory Affairs at Emmes for numerous clinical trials. Mr. Peterson is the 2018 Chair of the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP) Regulatory Affairs Committee. Mr. Peterson holds current professional certifications in regulatory affairs (RAC), clinical research (CCRA and ACRP-CP) and biomedical quality auditing (ASQ CBA). He received his BA in Biomedical Sciences from St. Cloud State University (MN) and an MS in Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics from the University of California at San Francisco.

David Boyer, MD, is a world-renowned clinician, surgeon, and educator. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Illinois at Champaign, IL, a medical degree at the Chicago Medical School, residency at the Los Angeles County -USC County Medical Center, and retinal surgery fellowship at the Wills Eye Hospital, in Philadelphia. He is currently a leading investigator for various national clinical trials on retinal diseases and serves as an advisor for multiple research, educational and charitable institutions.

Peter K. Kaiser, M.D. graduated magna cum laude with Highest Honors from Harvard College and magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School. He completed an internal medicine internship at Massachusetts General Hospital, an ophthalmology residency at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, and a vitreoretinal fellowship at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute where he was awarded a Heed Ophthalmic Fellowship , before joining the vitreoretinal department of the Cole Eye Institute at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio where he is the Chaney Family Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology Research and Professor of Ophthalmology at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine.

As a National Eye Institute and National Institute of Health RO1-funded principal investigator, Dr. Kaiser leads a team involved in the evaluation of vascular biology in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy (DR). In addition, Dr Kaiser is actively involved in clinical research having served as Study Chairman for numerous major, multi-center, international clinical trials, and principal investigator in over 60 trials evaluating new treatments for AMD, DR, and other retinal disorders. He is the director of Center for Ocular Research and Evaluation (CORE). Dr. Kaiser has been honored to receive the Lew R. Wasserman Award from the Research to Prevent Blindness and the Macula Society’s Young Investigator Award. Complementing his research endeavors, Dr. Kaiser serves on numerous scientific advisory boards and addresses his research interests as an invited speaker at national and international conferences. He is a major contributor to the medical literature having authored 7 textbooks, 30 book chapters, and more than 400 peer-reviewed manuscripts. He is Editor-in-Chief of Retinal Physician, Associate Editor of International Ophthalmology Clinics, and serves on the editorial boards of American Journal of Ophthalmology, Retina, Retina Today, and Ocular Surgery News. Dr. Kaiser has been recognized by American Society of Retina Specialists Honor and Senior Honor Awards, along with the American Academy of Ophthalmology Achievement, Senior Achievement, and Lifetime Achievement Awards. He has been listed as one of the “Best Doctors in America” every year since 2002 and named one of the “150 Top Innovators in Retina” by Ocular Surgery News, selected as a charter inductee of the Retina Hall of Fame in 2017, and appeared on the biannual Ophthalmologist’s “Power List” in 2016, 2018, and 2020 as one of the top 100 most influential people in the world of ophthalmology. He is the team ophthalmologist for the Cleveland Cavaliers (National Basketball Association).

Gary Sternberg, MD, MBA, has more than 20 years of ophthalmology expertise including biotechnology, pharmaceutical industry experience and medical practice. Dr Sternberg has held senior positions in industry in both executive management and medical roles. He was founding Chief Executive Officer of Stargazer Pharmaceuticals, a company developing a treatment for Stargardt Disease. He was also Chief Executive Officer of Tisbury Pharmaceuticals, an ophthalmic glaucoma start-up. Prior to that, he was Chief Business Officer for Eleven Biotherapeutics, a publicly traded company that was developing protein therapeutics for ocular indications. He also held a senior medical role at Genentech, a division of the Roche Group, as Therapeutic Head of Ophthalmic Medical Affairs leading US Medical Affairs for Lucentis (ranibizumab), an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) drug approved to treat multiple retinal disease indications.

He earned his MD at State University of New York (Brooklyn) and conducted his postgraduate residency training in Ophthalmology and fellowship training in Cornea, External Diseases and Refractive Surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center. He obtained his MBA from the University of Chicago.

Dr. Rich has 15 years of Research and Development in product and clinical development, including strategic, regulatory and clinical planning, clinical operations/CRO relationships and managing programs. Dr. Rich has participated or led over 50 product development programs and/or clinical development projects including over 120 clinical trials with over 80 clinical and preclinical studies in ophthalmology and approximately 50 studies in multiple other indications. Dr. Rich received his Medical degree and Residency in Ophthalmology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Mr. Goldfarb, Corporate Counsel and a member of the Board of Directors, has over twenty-five years of legal experience. Before joining SNS in December, 2011, Mr. Goldfarb was Senior Vice-President, General Counsel and Secretary of Andrx Corporation. Prior to that he was a partner with the law firm of Hughes, Hubbard and Reed. Mr. Goldfarb is presently President and General Counsel of Accu-Break Pharmaceuticals. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut and his law degree from the University of Florida.

Michael Goodman, CPA, as Chief Financial Officer and member of the SNS Board of Directors, is a former Janover LLC, Managing Partner where he provided corporate structure services for over 35 years. Known throughout the public accounting community for his creativity, Michael’ s depth of knowledge has translated into effective corporate strategies. In assuming overall responsibility for managing the company’s finances, he will have direct involvement with financial planning, management of financial risks, and assist in all strategic and tactical matters relating to budget management, cost–benefit analysis, forecasting needs and securing of new funding. Michael is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the New York State Society of CPAs. He has lectured on taxation issues, and has been interviewed in a number of industry-related articles in leading publications. Prior to joining Janover, Michael practiced engineering in the aerospace industry, joining the development team at Grumman in designing the propulsion system of the lunar module. Michael earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh University, an MS in Mechanical Engineering from The City University of New York, and an MBA from Pace University.

Neil Cohen is the Founder and Chairman of Emerald Development Managers LP, a Venture Capital firm founded in 1994. He is also Co-Founder, Co-CEO, and a Member of the Executive Committee of American Rock Salt Company LLC, the largest salt mine in the US. Mr. Cohen serves as a Board Director of Babson Diagnostics Inc., Proscia Inc., Sustained Nano Systems, and TBT Pharma Inc., and as a Board Observer for LifeSprout, Inc., Torigen Pharmaceuticals, and WATT Fuel Cell Corp. Mr. Cohen is a member of the Advisory Board of the Whiting School of Engineering at The Johns Hopkins University and the Board of Advisors of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

Neil holds a MS in Management from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a BES in from The Johns Hopkins University.