Cascia is led by senior leaders with deep experience in
building healthcare businesses, especially those focused on emerging
technologies.
Chief Executive, James Cour
A
talented senior executive with over 30 years of broad healthcare industry
experience and accomplishments.
Prior to founding Cascia and inventing the technologies on which the business is
founded, he spent twenty years in a variety of operational, financial, strategic
planning, and business development roles with Baxter International with a
principal focus on global markets including serving as general manager of
operation for Baxter Japan, a $750 million sales operation.Recruited as President of Aastrom Biosciences (now Vericel), a NASDAQ
biotechnology company focused on stem cell therapeutics, he established
manufacturing and introduced autologous cellular therapeutic to markets in
Europe.He led clinical trial and
medical studies in the United States, Germany, Spain, and Turkey.
Following his time at Aastrom, he designed the core technologies that comprise
Cascia's cellular therapeutics platform, and he assembled the portfolio of
antifibrotic drugs that comprise our development pipeline. He
earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Notre Dame, and
a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Chicago.
Glenn Charlesworth, Interim CFO
A
seasoned senior executive with a solid track
record in both the private and public sectors with core competencies in
financial reporting, strategic planning, general management, and operations. He
has over 20 years of experience in the healthcare, broadcast and construction
industries holding positions of CFO, Chief Accounting Officer and VP of Finance. After earning a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of
Arkansas – Fayetteville he was a CPA in public practice for over 25 years. He
transitioned to the corporate sector as CFO & VP Finance for Cytomedix (now Nuo
Therapeutics), a publicly traded medical device company, and Equity Broadcasting
Corporation, a private company that operated over 50 television stations. He
became CFO and Chief Accounting Officer of the successor corporation, NASDAQ
listed Equity Media Holdings, after leading the financial team in a merger with
a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) in a $50 million reverse
acquisition and equity recapitalization transaction. He has served in an
advisory capacity for a company transitioning back to private status, an SEC
reporting company in the software industry, an SEC reporting payment processor,
and a startup in the financial technology sector.
Medical Director, Dr. Erkan
Özgün
Dr.
Özgün is a licensed physician and researcher with over 35 years of clinical
experience. Following graduation from medical school, he served in the Turkish
armed forces and practiced in the government medical sector. He founded a
private company to commercialize stem cell and regenerative therapy products,
and co‑authored scientific research papers in leading peer-reviewed journals on
the use of stem cells for treatment of traumatic spinal cord injury and
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. More recently he has served as Chief Physician of
Emergency Medicine for a private hospital group, a concurrent appointment in the
Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Science Department at Başkent University,
and he operates a private clinic. Previously he was medical advisor to YURiA-PHARM
a privately held pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturer . He received
his medical degree from Gülhane Medical Academy, a Master’s of Business
Administration from Başkent University, and a PhD from Brussel Capital
University.
VP Development – Europe & Middle East, Francisco Vidal
Expert sales and business development professional
especially in surgical application of cellular therapy and medical engineering.
Studied engineering and medical products design at Universidad Politécnica de
Cataluña, and then worked in sales for Baxter International in the renal
dialysis and immunotherapy divisions. He achieved sales of over $2 million in
the first year for the first commercially available hematopoietic stem cell
product. He earned a Master’s degree in Hospital and Healthcare Management at
Escuela de Alta Dirección y Admistracion and was recruited to serve in business
development for several companies producing blood processing and cellular
preparation devices including Biosafe, PlasmaSelect, and Biotransplant before
joining Aastrom Biosciences as country manager where he was responsible for
launching the first sales of its autologous stem cell therapeutics. He has been
a frequent speaker at medical conferences on cellular therapy in Europe, United
States, and Latin America. More recently he developed a unique cellular
therapeutic that is supplied to a number of hospitals, principally for
orthopedic applications.
VP Development - Americas, Dr. Susan Cour
Experienced
healthcare professional with exceptional interpersonal and organizational
skills.Following graduation from
Loyola University, she served with the US Army Medical Corps before entering
private practice and later establishing a consulting firm that worked with
early-stage biotechnology companies.She has presented at biotech partnering conferences and managed licensing
discussions.Prior to professional
school, she was a Research associate in the Department of Radiation Biology and
Biophysics at the University of Rochester.Since 2014, she has devoted her efforts to the development of Cascia’s
technologies and design of clinical protocols.She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Hope College, and a Doctor
of Dentistry degree from Loyola University of Chicago.
A
talented senior executive with over 30 years of broad healthcare industry
experience and accomplishments.
Prior to founding Cascia and inventing the technologies on which the business is
founded, he spent twenty years in a variety of operational, financial, strategic
planning, and business development roles with Baxter International with a
principal focus on global markets including serving as general manager of
operation for Baxter Japan, a $750 million sales operation.
Recruited as President of Aastrom Biosciences (now Vericel), a NASDAQ
biotechnology company focused on stem cell therapeutics, he established
manufacturing and introduced autologous cellular therapeutic to markets in
Europe. He led clinical trial and
medical studies in the United States, Germany, Spain, and Turkey.
Following his time at Aastrom, he designed the core technologies that comprise
Cascia's cellular therapeutics platform, and he assembled the portfolio of
antifibrotic drugs that comprise our development pipeline. He
earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Notre Dame, and
a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Chicago.
Dr.
Özgün is a licensed physician and researcher with over 35 years of clinical
experience. Following graduation from medical school, he served in the Turkish
armed forces and practiced in the government medical sector. He founded a
private company to commercialize stem cell and regenerative therapy products,
and co‑authored scientific research papers in leading peer-reviewed journals on
the use of stem cells for treatment of traumatic spinal cord injury and
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. More recently he has served as Chief Physician of
Emergency Medicine for a private hospital group, a concurrent appointment in the
Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Science Department at Başkent University,
and he operates a private clinic. Previously he was medical advisor to YURiA-PHARM
a privately held pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturer . He received
his medical degree from Gülhane Medical Academy, a Master’s of Business
Administration from Başkent University, and a PhD from Brussel Capital
University.
Expert sales and business development professional
especially in surgical application of cellular therapy and medical engineering.
Studied engineering and medical products design at Universidad Politécnica de
Cataluña, and then worked in sales for Baxter International in the renal
dialysis and immunotherapy divisions. He achieved sales of over $2 million in
the first year for the first commercially available hematopoietic stem cell
product. He earned a Master’s degree in Hospital and Healthcare Management at
Escuela de Alta Dirección y Admistracion and was recruited to serve in business
development for several companies producing blood processing and cellular
preparation devices including Biosafe, PlasmaSelect, and Biotransplant before
joining Aastrom Biosciences as country manager where he was responsible for
launching the first sales of its autologous stem cell therapeutics. He has been
a frequent speaker at medical conferences on cellular therapy in Europe, United
States, and Latin America. More recently he developed a unique cellular
therapeutic that is supplied to a number of hospitals, principally for
orthopedic applications.
Experienced
healthcare professional with exceptional interpersonal and organizational
skills.