Roger S. Newton, Ph.D., FAHA

President & CEO

Roger Newton, Ph.D. has worked for thirty years in the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries. He is currently Founder, President & CEO, and a Director of Esperion Therapeutics, Inc., which has its laboratories and offices at the Michigan Life Science and Innovation Center in Plymouth, MI. Prior to his current role, he was Senior Vice President, Pfizer Global R&D, and Director, Esperion Therapeutics, a Pfizer, Inc. company. He was a Co-founder, President & CEO of the original Esperion founded in July 1998. Under Roger’s leadership and the team's effort, Esperion raised more than $200 million in funding, building a portfolio of biopharmaceuticals focusing on HDL therapy and small molecule lipid regulating agents. Esperion was acquired by Pfizer for $1.3 billion in February 2004 and was run as a separate unit within Pfizer until its closure in May 2007. Roger divested Esperion IP and the company name from Pfizer in May 2008 and restarted the company as an independent enterprise with $23 million in venture capital. Prior to founding the original Esperion, Roger was with Warner Lambert/Parke-Davis from 1981-1998. As a Distinguished Research Fellow and Chairman of the Atherosclerosis Drug Discovery Team, he co-discovered and was the product champion of what is now the most prescribed cholesterol-reducing drug in the world, atorvastatin (Lipitor®).

Roger's research interests for the past thirty-nine years have focused on the nutritional and pharmacological regulation of cholesterol and lipoprotein metabolism as they relate to atherosclerosis and vascular diseases. Roger is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Michigan Medical School. He has co-authored nearly one hundred peer-reviewed articles and chapters during his research career. Roger has a Ph.D. in nutrition from the University of California, Davis, a Master of Science degree in nutritional biochemistry from the University of Connecticut, and a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Lafayette College.

Roger is a member of the Board of Directors of Juventas Therapeutics, Rubicon Genomics, and Ann Arbor Spark. He is a member of the National Advisory Boards of the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center and University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute. He is also a member of the Technology Advisory Boards of Arboretum Ventures and Metagenics, Inc.

Troy Ignelzi

Vice President, Finance & Business Development

Troy has worked for more than 15 years in business development with start-up and established companies to raise capital, leverage resources, identify partnership and funding opportunities and enhance sales, marketing and communications.

In early 2007, Troy joined serial entrepreneur and financier, Dr. John Kapoor, as a member of the executive team of Insys Therapeutics. As the Vice President - Business Development and Strategic Planning, Troy led all licensing, business development, strategic planning and drug development contract activities. Troy's licensing efforts led to the successful negotiation and acquisition of four product candidates - three pre-clinical and one in phase 3 – as well as two proprietary drug delivery devices. Troy co-led the team responsible for submitting an S-1 registration and securing SEC approval for Insys.

Troy gained valuable life science industry experience as a sales and marketing professional in the neuroscience division with Eli Lilly and Company. In this role as Specialty Senior Sales Representative, Troy was a commercial product champion in the successful launch of the first drug approved for diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain. This leadership role included in-depth competitive analysis, sales modeling, target product profiling, key opinion leader development and all aspects of marketing message development.

Troy previously held senior leadership positions in development and finance supporting entrepreneurs and small business. This included Executive Director for both city and county grant and loan funds and Vice President, Commercial Loan Officer with regional banking systems. Troy's loan portfolio consisted of small and medium operations with a focus on entrepreneurial service to start-up companies through SBA and Community Development Corporation (CDC) financing.

Noah L. Rosenberg, M.D.

Chief Medical Officer

Noah L. Rosenberg, MD has recently been appointed the Chief Medical Officer of Esperion Therapeutics, a Michigan based biotech. Over the past decade, Dr. Rosenberg has held senior posts in the pharmaceutical industry, including leadership roles in medical affairs, clinical development and administration in the US and globally at Pfizer, sanofi-aventis and Forest Labs. Noah has experience working on compounds in all phases of drug development including late stage drugs such as Lipitor and Lantus. Most recently at FRI (Forest Research Institute) he led the successful in-licensing of the GK1-399 program and until his departure served as a standing member of the JDC (Joint Development Committee) with partner Transtech pharma. Noah also headed up the successful integration of the Forest CV and metabolism clinical development teams and managed the group through a highly productive period helping to strengthen a pipeline that ultimately included compounds such as Bystolic and Azimilide. Noah was trained in Internal Medicine at The Mount Sinai Hospital/Mount Sinai School of Medicine in NYC and served on faculty there as well in the Department of Emergency Medicine. He earned an MD from Drexel University and a BA in Natural Sciences from The Johns Hopkins University. He is married with two boys ages 5 and 8 and they live in Essex county New Jersey.

Rai Ajit K Srivastava, Ph.D., MBA, FAHA

Executive Director, Biology & Pharmacology

Ajit Srivastava has been engaged in research and development for the past 30 years. He is currently directing the efforts of Pharmacology and Biology at Esperion Therapeutics. Ajit's prior industry experience includes working in a startup biotech (original Esperion) as Director of Pharmacology, a mid-size biotech (Tularik Pharmaceutical Co) as head of preclinical discovery, and a large pharmaceutical company (Bristol-Myers Squibb) as head of preclinical pharmacology in the Atherosclerosis Department. Prior to joining Esperion, Ajit directed the efforts of discovery and development in metabolic disorders, dyslipidemia, atherosclerosis, and inflammation as Executive Vice President & Head of Pharmacology and Biology at Piramal Life Sciences Ltd, India. He brings with him a rare combination of extensive knowledge and experiences that bridges basic academic science to the applied innovation, discovery and development needed by corporations. His experience spans basic molecular science at the level of the gene, to biochemistry, and to the physiology of the cell and the body in the complex field of lipid metabolism and atherosclerosis. As a leader directing the discovery efforts in industries, Ajit has been involved in several investigational new drug submissions in metabolic disorders and atherosclerosis and taken new chemical entities to the clinic.

Prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry, Ajit served for 10 years on the faculty of the Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO. His research efforts there focused on nutrient-gene interaction, hormonal regulation of lipoprotein metabolism, and regulation of the main apoprotein of LDL, apoB. Some of Ajit's notable contributions in the field of lipoprotein metabolism include elucidation of saturated fat mediated posttranscriptional regulation of apoAI, solving the puzzle of how cholate in the high fat diet lowers HDL, translational upregulation of the apoE gene by estrogen, differential regulation of the LDL receptor in rats and mice, and generation of a mutant HepG2 cell line by homologous recombination that produced full length and truncated apoB to study the mechanism of low apoB levels in hypobetalipoproteinemic subjects. Ajit has a Ph.D in Biochemistry, a Master of Science degree in Biochemistry, a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in chemistry, and a diploma in Master of Business Administration, all from India.

Ajit has authored 76 research papers, 3 review articles, and 3 book chapters. He is a visiting Professor at the University of Palermo, Italy, Adjunct Professor at Wayne State University, associate editor of international journals, and a reviewer of research papers for journals.

Sergey Filippov, Ph.D.

Principal Scientist, Biology

Clay Cramer, M.S.

Director, Biology

Clay Cramer leads Esperion biology efforts. Prior to Esperion, Clay worked in World Wide Drug Safety at The Upjohn Company from 1985 -1998. In 1990, he joined the Investigative Toxicology group within Upjohn where he led the in vitro hepatic modeling project. In this role, Clay investigated the mechanism of untoward effects of compounds from discovery to clinical development with a particular emphasis on compounds that affected lipid metabolism. In 1998, he was recruited to join the original Esperion where he led the in vitro biology effort. At Esperion he applied his in vitro experience to support research and development efforts on all Esperion projects. Clay graduated from Western Michigan University in 1993 with a Master of Science degree in biomedical sciences.

Tim Hurley

Director, Chemistry

Tim Hurley has been the Director of Chemistry for Esperion since 2008. Prior to that, Tim spent 27 years in the pharmaceutical industry with Pfizer, Inc, and its legacy companies. He joined the Parke-Davis pharmaceutical research division of Warner-Lambert as a discovery chemist in the natural products cancer research group in 1980. During this time, Tim co-discovered the esperamycin family of compounds and was an inventor of the anti-cancer drug fostriecin. From there, he joined the Chemical Development division working as an analytical chemist, managing the preparative chromatography efforts for Parke-Davis Discovery. In this role, he co-produced the first lot of atovastatin calcium, the active ingredient in Lipitor®, the most prescribed drug in pharmaceutical history. As a Senior Scientist, Tim was responsible for the development and validation of analytical methodology for compounds in development. Tim also served as Group Leader in Pfizer's structural elucidation group and in the Research Analytical Division, responsible for completing the Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) section of regulatory documents.

In 2001, Tim was the recipient of the Pfizer Global Research & Development Annual Achievement Award. Based on his published work, Tim was Pfizer's global technical expert on marketed Lipitor®. He is an inventor on 11 patents and author on 22 scientific journal articles. Tim graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry in 1979.

April Seiler, M.S., PMP

Director, Administration and Project Management

April is the Director of Project Management and contributed to the start-up activities of the current Esperion. She is a member of the leadership and operations teams at Esperion, and a key contact for multiple consultants and vendors. She first joined Esperion Therapeutics in 2003, just prior to the Pfizer acquisition, and continued with Esperion working in Project Management until the dissolution of research activities in April 2007. Prior to Esperion, she started her pharmaceutical career at Parke-Davis in Ann Arbor, MI. She has managed multiple virtual teams simultaneously and has contributed to numerous discovery, research, and development stage projects. April’s experience includes program planning, budgeting and forecasting, contract management, resource management, IND and eNDA submission work, document management, supply chain management, quality assurance (including company-wide SOP management and training), and regulatory affairs. April earned a Master of Science Degree in Quality Assurance/Regulatory Affairs from Temple University and a Bachelor of Science Degree in General Biology from Eastern Michigan University. She earned a Clinical Trial Management certificate from Temple University in 2004 and has been a PMI certified project manager since March 2007.

Jeffrey Hanselman, M.S.

Senior Scientist II

Steve Pinkosky. M.S.

Senior Scientist, Biology

Steve Pinkosky is a senior scientist in the Biology department. Steve has approximately 12 years of lab experience beginning at the University of Michigan where he studied T cell Biology and age associated changes of the immune system. Steve then transitioned to the pharmaceutical industry where he worked with the Inflammation Pharmacology group within the Biologics Division of Pfizer. Here, he worked on the discovery and development of several monocolonal antibody-based therapies for rheumatoid arthritis. In 2004, Steve joined the Vascular Biology Department at Esperion where he focused on mechanisms of endothelial dysfunction and vascular inflammation. He applied his experience to help bridge the gap between inflammation and lipid metabolism. Steve was a member of multiple project teams and worked with the HDL Mimetics Team to further optimize candidate compounds for anti-inflammatory activities. Steve has a Masters of Science degree in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from Michigan State University.

Mark Spahr, M.S.

Senior Scientist, Biology

Mark Spahr plays a key role in the biology efforts at Esperion. Prior to Esperion, in 1990 Mark began his career in pharmaceutical sciences with Merck, Sharpe and Dohme at their research facility in Rahway, NJ, as Staff Immunologist using his immunology background in the efforts to research new methods for treating Type II diabetes as an autoimmune disease. In 1992, he joined Roger Newton in the department of Vascular and Cardiac Diseases at the Parke-Davis research division of Warner Lambert, using his background in cell biology, biochemistry, and molecular biology to tackle a variety of cardiovascular disease targets including lipoprotein(a), [Lp(a)], assembly and inhibition of diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT). As an innovator, his efforts with DGAT led to a process patent for a high throughput DGAT assay and his scientific endeavors with Lp(a) earned a presentation at the 1998 American Heart Association meeting. During his 15 years at Parke-Davis, then acquired Pfizer research facility, his expertise in cell biology, lipid biochemistry and assay development led to his recruitment into a global scientific SWAT team to quickly identify and resolve challenges brought from within the scientific community.

Mark graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelors of Science degree in Biology and in 1990 he finished his Masters of Science degree in microbiology and immunology.

Janice Margulies, M.S.

Senior Manager, Clinical Trials

Janice has more than 28 years of experience in the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries. Prior to joining Esperion in clinical development Janice worked at the University of Michigan Hospital Laboratories and in the University of Michigan, School of Public Health department of epidemiology, where the laboratory’s research in influenza vaccine effectiveness was instrumental in getting influenza vaccine covered under Medicare Part B benefits as a preventive service. Janice joined Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis in 1992 where she worked in the areas of data management, quality improvement, and study management in the cardiovascular therapeutic area. Janice was involved in studies for Lipitor, Viagra, as well as ETC-216 which was attained by Pfizer's acquisition of Esperion in 2004. She then joined a small biotech as a development scientist in the areas of men’s and women’s health where a small group brought a new drug through Phase 1, 2 and 3 clinical trials and readied for an NDA. Janice earned a Master of Science degree in kinesiology and a Bachelor of Science degree in medical technology, both from the University of Michigan.

Cheryl Bradshaw

Scientist, Bioanalytical Chemistry

Cheryl joined Esperion in 2009 as a bioanalytical chemist. Prior to joining the Esperion team she worked for the University of Michigan as both a lab manager and an analyst for a newly created metabolomics laboratory. She has also worked for Applied Biosystems in field applications support, as well as for Pfizer in both chemistry and pharmacology. Through these roles she has accumulated a variety of analytical experiences including bioanalytics, proteomics, and metabolomics utilizing various types of mass spectrometry and other instrumental methods. At Esperion Cheryl is responsible for developing, transferring, characterizing, and documenting analytical methods to support biomarker, mechanism of action, and pharmacology and safety studies on a variety of platforms. Cheryl earned a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry from Michigan State University’s Lyman Briggs School.

Richard Lister, B.S., LAT

Scientist, Biology

Richard joined the Esperion team in May 2011 and conducts in-vitro and in-vivo experiments within the Biology section, supporting inflammation, cardiovascular and metabolic disease research. He came to Esperion from Charles River Laboratories Discovery and Imaging Services (CRL) with eight years of combined experience in mammalian tissue culture and cell-based in-vitro assays as well as in-vivo evaluation of oncology test agents in human tumor xenograft, orthotopic, syngeneic and transgenic models of human disease. In addition, Richard has 10 years of experience in pharmacokinetics and drug metabolism in-vivo models in multiple species and four years of animal husbandry experience with Parke-Davis/Pfizer and has worked across multiple disease areas. He holds a B.S. degree in Biology from Eastern Michigan University and is an AALAS Certified Laboratory Animal Technician. Richard has extensive in-vivo technical abilities, is a highly skilled small animal surgeon and also possesses several years of in-vitro assay experience as well.