R. Ian Lennox
Chairman/CEO of Ricerca Biosciences, LLC
Mr. Lennox is Chairman/CEO of Ricerca Biosciences, LLC, a private, preclinical contract research drug development company based in Concord, Ohio.
Previously, he served as President & CEO, MDS Pharma & Biotechnology Markets; President & CEO, Phoenix International Life Sciences; and Chairman & CEO, Drug Royalty Corporation, Inc. In addition, he served in numerous positions in North and South America with Monsanto Company including President & CEO.
He currently serves as Director, Ambit Biosciences, Spectral Diagnostics Corporation and Tekmira Biosciences. His previous board experience includes serving as Chairman of Stressgen Biotechnologies and Drug Royalty Corp. He also served as a Director of GenSci Regeneration, Inc., Marsulex, Inc., Hemosol, Inc., and MDS Capital.
Mr. Lennox is an HBSc (Physiology & Pharmacology) and MBA graduate of the University of Western Ontario, London. He attended Columbia Business School.
Gerald Jacobson
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Gerald "Gary" Jacobson is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Ricerca with responsibility for controllership, tax, legal, human resources, facilities and IT.
Previously, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Harlan Sprague Dawley, Inc., and Chief Operating Officer of Harlan Europe (1999-2005); Senior Vice President and Division Manager of LaSalle National Bank (1994-1998); and Senior Vice President/Vice President of NBD/American National Bank (1985-1993).
Mr. Jacobson is a graduate of Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. He holds a certificate in political economy from the Adam Smith School of Economics in Glasgow, Scotland, and received his MBA from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.
Heidi B. Nelson-Keherly, Ph.D.
Vice President, Client Services/Program Management
Dr. Nelson-Keherly, Vice President of Client Services/Program Management, is responsible for proposal generation and program management while acting as liaison between business development and operations.
Between 2005 and 2007, Dr. Nelson-Keherly was Business Manager for Bioanalytical and Analytical Chemistry at Ricerca. In this capacity, she was responsible for departmental financial profitability, proposals and program management.
From 1997 and 2005, Dr. Nelson-Keherly held numerous positions of increasing responsibilities at Lark Technologies, a molecular biology CRO, from R&D Scientist to Laboratory Director.
Dr. Nelson-Keherly has a Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology from the University of Wisconson, as well as a B.S. in biology from Duke University.
Robert Béland
Chief Operating Officer
As Chief Operating Officer, Robert Béland leads the three operating units of Ricerca Biosciences, LLC: the Pharmacology/DMPK unit based in Bothell, Washington, and Taipei, Taiwan, the Chemistry/Biology unit based in Concord, Ohio, and the Drug Safety Assessment unit based in Lyon, France. The three units consist of close to 500,000 square feet of laboratory space and employ more than 800 collaborators. He has more than 25 years of global general management experience, as well as expertise in operations, business development and scientific affairs.
Before joining Ricerca, Mr. Béland served as Senior Vice President, Discovery and Preclinical for MDS Pharma Services; Vice President, Corporate and Scientific Affairs for Jamieson Laboratories; Vice President/General Manager for the Nutrition Division of R.P. Scherer; and President, North America for Arkopharma, LLC.
Mr. Béland majored in health sciences at Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf and received a B.S. in chemistry from the Université de Montréal. He has been a member of the Quebec Order of Chemists since 1982. p>
Peter Pattison
Senior Vice President and General Manager
Mr. Pattison is responsible for the operations and business performance of Ricerca’s discovery pharmacology business, which includes company sites in Bothell, Washington, and Taipei, Taiwan. Before joining Ricerca, Mr. Pattison served in a similar capacity at MDS Pharma Services managing the operations at the Bothell and Taipei sites.
From 1998 to 2006, Mr. Pattison served in various business development roles at MDS Nordion in Canada including vice president of corporate development with responsibility of creating and executing the company’s growth strategy beyond its core businesses. Mr. Pattison began his career in the pharmaceutical industry at Hoffman LaRoche in Basel, Switzerland.
Mr. Pattison received his B.S. in biochemistry and his MBA from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Stéphane Bulle
 Senior Vice President and General Manager
As Senior Vice President and General Manager, Stephane Bulle is responsible for the operations and client services performance at Ricerca’s Lyon, France, drug safety assessment site.
In 1992, Mr. Bulle joined the Lyon site as Finance and Administration Director and later became Vice President in 1996. He was promoted to General Manager in 2003.
Prior to joining Ricerca, Mr. Bulle held various positions in financial audits and banking for Coopers and Lybrand, Crédit Lyonnais and Maytag Corporation.
Mr. Bulle graduated in 1982 from the ICN Business School located in Nancy, France.
Michael E. Placke, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President and General Manager
Dr. Placke is responsible for the operations and business performance of Ricerca’s Concord, Ohio site.
Before joining Ricerca, Dr. Placke served as Vice President, Drug Safety, at Wyeth Research (now Pfizer) in Chazy, New York. He was responsible for leading all non-clinical drug safety evaluations and support of Wyeth’s drug development portfolio from candidate selections through post-marketing assessment.
From 1999 to 2003, Dr. Placke was Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development, and Chief Scientist at Battelle Pharma, Inc., in Columbus, Ohio. He was responsible for the development of new pharmaceuticals and technologies, including product development program design and managing the integration of scientific operations.
Dr. Placke received his B.S. in animal science and his M.S. in physiology from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, and his Ph.D. in pathobiology from the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut.
Mark T. Crane
Vice President Business Development
Drug Safety Assessment/Chemical Development
Drug Safety Assessment/Chemical Development Mr. Crane joined Ricerca as Vice President Business Development and Marketing in June of 2007. Mr. Crane has overseen development of the new Ricerca "IP to IND" brand, as well as development of the website and sales literature.
Prior to joining Ricerca, Mr. Crane served as Vice President, Sales and Marketing, for both Bridge Global Pharmaceutical Services and Quest Pharmaceutical Services. Mr. Crane was also Vice President of Global Business Development, Preclinical/Discovery Services for MDS Pharma Services and held various posts at MDS Panlabs, AVANTEC, Inc. and the Perkin Elmer Corporation.
Mr. Crane holds a B.S. degree in health education/community health from Western Connecticut State University at Danbury.
Eric M. Hess
Vice President Business Development
Discovery Pharmacology
Mr. Hess leads Global Discovery Pharmacology Business Development with major concentrations in Europe, North America, Japan and China for the Discovery Pharmacology business based in Bothell, Washington, and Taipei, Taiwan.
Before joing Ricerca, Mr. Hess served as Vice President Business Development for Discovery Pharmacology for MDS Pharma Services; Vice President Supply Chain Management, Facilities and Global Business Operations for MDS Pharma Services; and Director of Sales Operations for PerkinElmer, where he held several positions in sales and sales management. Prior to PerkinElmer, he was Analytical Study Director at the BASF Agricultural Research Center in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
Mr. Hess holds a B.S. degree in microbiology from North Carolina State University and an MBA in international management from Mercer University.
Matthew S. Jones
Vice President Business Development
Drug Safety Assessment
As Vice President Business Development for Ricerca Drug Safety Assessment non-clinical division in Lyon, France, Mr. Jones leads the commercial growth strategy to best support client needs.
Previously, Mr. Jones served as Vice President of Business Development for MDS Pharma Services where he drove strategic partnering models and collaborative opportunities from an early clinical arena before moving to non-clinical and supporting clients at the key stage in their drug development programs. Mr. Jones oversaw non-clinical sales and marketing directors and led growth for these divisions.
Mr. Jones received his B.S. in biology from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom and a degree in business management at the London Business School.
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