Farah Champsi

Managing Director, Alta Partners

Farah joined Alta in 2000, prior to the formation of Alta BioPharma II. She is currently on the board of directors of Aerovance, Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, Myocor, Portola Pharmaceuticals, Sanarus Medical, and Trevena, and serves as the Chairperson of the Board for Zelos Therapeutics. Farah also led Alta’s investment in Agensys. Prior investments include Cytokinetics, Esperion, Orphan Medical and Renovis. She focuses her efforts on biopharmaceutical and medical technology companies.

Prior to Alta, Farah was an investment banker at Robertson Stephens & Company between 1987 and 1999, where she focused on biotechnology and other life sciences companies. She was elected a General Partner in 1992 and head of the global life sciences investment banking group in 1995. During that time, she was responsible for building one of the most successful life sciences investment banking franchises on Wall Street.

She holds a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Smith College.

Nicholas M. Dean, Ph.D.

Founder and Chief Scientific Officer

Prior to founding Excaliard in the spring of 2006, Dr. Dean served for four years as Vice President of Functional Genomics and Oncology at Isis Pharmaceuticals where he also served as Managing Director, Isis Singapore. Dr. Dean originally joined Isis Pharmaceuticals in 1991 and served in various roles in the molecular pharmacology department until 2000 at which time he became Executive Director and Vice President, Functional Genomics for Isis Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Dean received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the Welsh National School of Medicine. He then spent time conducting research at the National Cancer Institute and the University of Hawaii before joining Isis Pharmaceuticals. Dr Dean has authored more than 110 scientific papers, and more than 50 issued patents.

J. Gordon Foulkes, Ph.D.

Managing Director, RiverVest Venture Partners

Gordon joined RiverVest in 2005 and is now a managing director. He has more than 25 years of experience in biopharmaceutical research and development. Prior to joining RiverVest, Dr. Foulkes headed R&D, and served on the board of multiple  biotechnology companies, including Oncogene Science, Inc. (now OSI Pharmaceuticals, NASDAQ: OSIP), Aurora Biosciences (acquired by Vertex), and Elitra Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Merck). At OSI, he pioneered the early development of cell-based high-thoroughput drug screening and oversaw multiple drug discovery and development programs. He has had a lead role in securing more than 15 corporate partnerships, resulting in over $200 million in recognized collaborative revenues. He has also directly participated in raising over $160 million in private, IPO, and follow-on public offerings. Dr. Foulkes has held academic positions at MIT the MRC (UK).

Lincoln Krochmal, MD, FAAD

President & Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Lincoln Krochmal is a board certified Dermatologist with over 25 years experience in the pharmaceutical and consumer goods industries. Prior to joining Excaliard as president and CEO and a member of the BOD in September 2008, Dr. Krochmal served as Executive Vice President, Research and Product Development for Connetics Corporation, a specialty dermatology company headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, until the company’s acquisition by Stiefel Laboratories, Inc. Dr. Krochmal began his industrial career with Westwood Pharmaceuticals (the dermatology subsidiary of Bristol-Myers Squibb) becoming VP, Dermatology Research & Development and VP, Worldwide Medical Development. He then joined Unilever PLC, where he spent the next decade in various executive management positions including SVP, Home and Personal Care Research & Development directing the worldwide development of numerous consumer products including helping to build the Dove® brand to a $ 2 billion dollar global business.

During his career, Dr. Krochmal has played a pivotal role in the approval of 15 NDAs/ANDAs for new topical dermatologicals including LacHydrin®, Ultravate®, Dovonex®, Evoclin®, Verdeso®, Olux-E® and Extina® and numerous OTC and consumer goods in the US and internationally.

Dr. Krochmal received his Doctor of Medicine from the Medical College of Wisconsin, and is board certified in dermatology. Dr. Krochmal serves on the board of directors for the International Academy of Cosmetic Dermatology and Quinnova Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology, a Diplomat of the American Board of Dermatology, a member of the International Society of Dermatology and the Dermatology Foundation.

Alain Schreiber, M.D.

Partner, ProQuest Investments

Dr. Schreiber joined ProQuest as a General Partner in 2000. His extensive industry experience provides a commercially-focused operational discipline and a depth of drug development expertise. Prior to joining ProQuest, Dr. Schreiber served as President, Director, and CEO of Vical. Previously, at Rhône-Poulenc Rorer (now Sanofi-Aventis), Dr. Schreiber served in several roles, including Senior Vice President of Research. Prior to his tenure at Rhône-Poulenc Rorer, Dr. Schreiber was Department Head of Biochemistry at Syntex (now Roche Bioscience). He has previously served on the Board of Directors of ActivX Biosciences, BioRexis Pharmaceutical Corp., Cabrellis Pharmaceuticals, Cadence Pharmaceuticals, Conforma Therapeutics, Gemin X and Somalogic. Currently Dr. Schreiber serves on the Board of Directors of Aires Pharmaceuticals, Concentric Medical, Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, LEAD Therapeutics, Optimer Pharmaceuticals and Tragara Pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Schreiber received a B.S. in chemistry, summa cum laude, and an M.D., summa cum laude, from the Free University in Brussels, Belgium. Subsequently, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.

Jay Birnbaum, Ph.D.

Independant Board Member

Dr. Jay Birnbaum is a dermatology consultant specializing in ethical and OTC drugs, medical devices, and cosmeceuticals. His 35 years of industry experience span the areas of discovery research, formulations, clinical R&D, regulatory and marketing, and he has been involved in the development and commercialization of numerous drug and consumer products and brands. Dr. Birnbaum is a co-founder and former Chief Medical Officer of Kythera Biopharmaceuticals, a company developing products in aesthetic dermatology. Prior to starting his own consulting company in 1999, he was with Novartis/Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Corporation, serving most recently as Vice President, Global Project Management, with responsibilities for strategic planning and development of the company's dermatology portfolio. Prior to that, Dr. Birnbaum held various management positions at the Medical and Consumer Product Divisions of American Cyanamid Company (Wyeth).

Dr. Birnbaum has broad relationships in industry and academia, and has published extensively on his work in drug development. His professional affiliations include the American Academy of Dermatology, Society of Investigative Dermatology, European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, and International Society of Dermatology. He is a member of the board of directors of Oculus Innovative Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:OCLS) and is on the Science Advisory Boards of Evolva, NanoBio Corp, NexMed, Inc., Topica Pharmaceuticals, and Transport Pharmaceuticals.

He received a B.S. degree from Trinity College and a Ph.D in Pharmacology from the University of Wisconsin.