Executive Team

Carmel Biosciences management team has extensive international experience within academia, biotech research/pharmaceutical companies, patent offices, corporate/investment banking and Big Pharma sales/marketing. Research accomplishments, publications, and business success demonstrate their ability to create results.

Bobby V. Khan, MD, PhD, Executive Director

Dr. Bobby Khan is a cardiologist and clinical investigator. He serves as Professor of Medicine at the University of Central Florida School of Medicine. He has published nearly 90 peer-reviewed articles in the areas of cardiovascular and metabolic disorders in highly regarded scientific journals. In 2009, he was awarded a Fulbright Research Chair to work at the University of Prince Edward Island with Dr. Tarek Saleh, Chairman of Biomedical Sciences, and his research group. Dr. Khan’s Fulbright scholarship has allowed him to come to Canada on several occasions over the past five years. His work has been extremely productive and has resulted in the production of multiple research manuscripts and the submission of patents on developed intellectual property. He has served as the principal investigator for several clinical trials. He has obtained research support from the National Institutes of Health and private companies. He has served on several planning committees for the scientific sessions of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. He is the holder of several patents in the area of Treatment for Atherosclerosis and Other Cardiovascular and Inflammatory Diseases.

Nadya Merchant, PhD, MPH, Commercialization Management

Dr. Merchant has extensive experience with the design and implementation of clinical trials. She has been intrinsically involved in clinical trial regulatory affairs and takes a key role in formulating the preclinical drug development plan for Carmel Biosciences compounds. As the Chief Commercialization Officer, Dr. Merchant is actively involved in developing the commercialization strategies for Carmel Biosciencescompounds through vital partnerships with larger pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Merchant received her doctorate in Nutrition from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Emory University. She has a Masters degree in Public Health and International Nutrition from the Rollins School of Public Health. Her research focused on the effects of lipid-modifying and oxidative compounds on atherosclerosis development. Her background and expertise in human nutrition gives the company a valuable advantage in the nutraceutical arena. She has nearly ten years of experience in drug development. She has presented at various conferences including those of the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, The Southeast Lipid Research Conference and The Oxygen Society and has a number of publications.

Ray Carreon, MBA, Clinical and Drug Development Operations

Mr. Carreon was involved in the sales division for Alcon Laboratories and Zuellig Pharma, a leading pharmaceutical distribution in Southeast Asia, for several years. He has over 30 years of progressive leadership in pharmaceutical sales, clinical research, pharmaceutical drug product development, project management, regulatory, quality management, data and business analysis, and operational excellence. He has extensive international relationships and was instrumental with the global expansion of Molor new products, establishing rapid growth in new markets all across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Mr. Carreon holds MBA degree from Boston University. Currently, he serves as a Senior Manager, Clinical Operations with Atlanta Clinical Research Centers.

William Schaeffer, Operations Management

Mr. Schaeffer most recently was COO and on the Board of Directors for InVasc Therapeutics, Inc., a pharmaceutical development company.  From 2006 to 2009, he was V.P., Global Head of Quality for Ciba Vision Inc. (a Novartis company).  Prior to joining Ciba Vision, Mr. Schaeffer was President of the American Cardiovascular Research Institute, a translational medical research organization, which merged to establish the Saint Joseph’s Research Institute focused on accelerating development of cutting-edge therapies in cardiovascular medicine.  Experienced with start-ups and the FDA, as COO for Ortec International, Inc., he led them to two FDA product approvals and first stage commercialization.  Mr. Schaeffer began his career with Johnson & Johnson where he spent 28 years in a variety of senior management positions.  During his tenure, he was integral to the development of several products and five start-up companies.  Prior to leaving JNJ, he was Vice President, Quality Assurance Worldwide for Cordis, Inc. and on their Management Board. Mr. Schaeffer serves as an Elder in the Peachtree Presbyterian Church, is on the Board of the Iota Chapter of Kappa Delta Rho, and annually does international mission work. He holds a B.S. in Biology from Bucknell University and has attended executive education programs at Duke, Northwestern and Harvard.

Scientific Board

The three current members of our scientific advisory board hold international reputations in the specific field of expertise.

Jaipal Singh, Ph.D., CEO, Prana Biotech

Dr. Singh has had a distinguished career in pharmaceutical development. He served as a senior scientist for Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is the immediate past Chief Scientific Officer for the Saint Joseph Translational Research Institute in Atlanta. Dr. Singh has published nearly 100 papers and has received extensive financial support from the National Institutes of Health and the pharmaceutical industry. He is also Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Sciences at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

Tarek Saleh, Ph.D. University of Prince Edward Island

Dr. Saleh continues to serve as a close collaborator with Dr. Khan and is a co-inventor for CAR-208. He is presently Chairman of Biomedical Sciences at UPEI. Dr. Saleh has published extensively in internationally renowned neuroscience journals and has considerable funding from the Canadian Institute of Health Research.

Martin Thoenes, M.D. Edwards Lifesciences-Europe

Dr. Thoenes has an extensive professional career in pharmaceutical development and in the cardiometabolic space. He served as Medical Director of Atherosclerosis and Diabetes Development at Sanofi-Aventis in Paris (2002-2006) and then in Shanghai, China (2006-2010). In addition, he serves as Associate Professor of Pharmacology at the Technikal University in Dresden, Germany. Dr. Thoenes is director of education for Edwards Lifesciences-Europe in Geneva, Switzerland and is focused on coating of drug products on devices such as stents. He has published several highly regarded scientific papers and is well regarded at international medical conferences.