Leadership Team
Our team of experts
Results-Driven, World-Renowned Team
Dedicated to Curing Cancer in Children and Adults
Douglas Baum
CEO, Co-Founder, Director
Douglas R. Baum
Chief Executive Officer & Director
Mr. Baum was appointed to the board of the Company in January 2020 and to the position of CEO in November 2020. He brings to the Company over 30 years of experience in the bioscience and biotech industries, including development, FDA/EMA approval and commercialization of multiple drugs and medical devices. Over his long senior executive tenure, he has overseen 15 product approvals through the FDA and EMA and raised over $85 million in capital to fund breakthrough technologies. Between 2017 and 2020, Mr. Baum consulted with multiple medical schools, biotech and pharmaceutical companies; and between 2012 and 2017, he served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Xeris Pharmaceuticals Inc. (currently, NASDAQ: XERS). Previously, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Macuclear Inc., and other executive level positions with clinical trial research firms including SCIREX and Premier Research Group, Inc. He holds a Masters of Science in Technology Commercialization and BBA in International Business and Marketing from the University of Texas.
C. Richard Piazza, PHD
Exec. Chairman, Co-Founder, Director
C. Richard Piazza
Executive Chairman
Mr. Piazza was appointed as a member and the Executive Chairman of the board of the Company in November 2020. Mr. Piazza has also served since 2017 as President and CEO of IGL Pharma Inc., the licensor of CycloSam®, and a consultant to IsoTherapeutics Group, LLC, the inventors of the technology. Mr. Piazza also currently serves on the board of directors of NovaScan LLC, a privately-held cancer detection and diagnostics company. Prior to his work with IGL Pharma, from 2014 to 2016, he was CEO of SynVivo, Inc., a cancer diagnostics company. Mr. Piazza has more than 48 years of healthcare experience in both medical devices and pharmaceutical/biotech and has led several technology companies to market success including numerous FDA approvals in both sectors. Previously, he served in general management positions in both public and private international companies including Ohmeda, Smith & Nephew Pharmaceuticals, Marquest and VitaGen (world’s first bioartifical liver). Over his career, he has provided advisory services to some of world’s leading institutions including MD Anderson Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, University of California San Diego, University of Chicago and Kings College Hospital (London). In 2019, he co-founded QSAM Therapeutics, Inc. with Douglas Baum, our CEO. Mr. Piazza obtained a BS in Economics and a BS in Speech Pathology from the State University of New York and MA & PhD in Economics from the University of Buffalo and Leeds University.
Adam King
CFO
Adam King
Interim Chief Financial Officer
Mr. King currently serves as Interim CFO for the Company, a position he has held since December 6, 2021. Mr. King is the founder and CEO of King Consulting Group, where he provides a range of financial and reporting services for clients that include Vice President of Finance for large private equity-backed international companies to CFO of small start-ups. Before founding King Consulting Group in January 2021, Mr. King was the CFO for Netsertive, a venture-backed digital marketing company in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. From 2016 to 2018, he was the Office Managing Audit Director for BDO’s Greenville, SC office, in addition to Audit Director in Raleigh, NC, and Boston. While at BDO, Mr. King worked with various clients, from Tech and Life Science start-ups to large billion-dollar publicly traded companies. Before his time at BDO, he served as the Director of Revenue Assurance and Internal Controls at Bandwidth.com and an Audit Manager at Ernst & Young. Mr. King holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Elon University and is a CPA in Raleigh, NC. In October 2019, Mr. King and his wife filed for personal bankruptcy under chapter 13 of the United States Bankruptcy Code due to excessive medical expenses incurred by the family in connection with their child’s medical diagnosis and treatment. The final payment under their bankruptcy plan is scheduled to end in September 2024.
Christopher Nelson
General Counsel
Christopher Nelson
General Counsel & Director
Mr. Nelson has been General Counsel and director of the Company since 2015, and was also its President from 2016 to November 2020. In these roles, he has overseen corporate and governance legal matters, finance and business development for the Company. He has also served since 2016 as Managing Director of GreenBlock Capital LLC in Palm Beach, Florida, a boutique mergers and acquisitions advisory firm specializing in bio-technology, ag-technology and similar sector business combination transactions; and since 2019 as General Counsel for Earth Property Holdings, LLC, a private equity-backed company engaged in soil health and compost manufacturing in Texas and Florida. Mr. Nelson has practiced law in Florida for over 26 years, and during that time has represented many start-up, early stage and established businesses seeking financing, acquisitions and general growth management counseling. Between 1997 and 2000, Mr. Nelson was an associate with Greenberg Traurig PA, and between 1995 and 1997 an associate with Akerman Senterfitt PA, both in Miami, Florida. At both firms he served in their corporate and securities practice, representing NYSE and NASDAQ companies. Mr. Nelson received a BA from Princeton University, and JD from University of Miami School of Law, and is a member of the Florida Bar.
Barry Sugarman
Regulatory & Clinincal
Barry Sugarman
Regulatory & Clinical
Barry Sugarman is a Senior Executive Generalist with over 30 years of experience spanning public and private companies in the pharmaceutical, medical device, dietary supplement, and cosmetic industries. Barry has considerable direct experience in pharmaceutical product development, manufacturing, clinical trials, regulatory affairs, FDA and government relations, marketing, and distribution.
Barry possesses broad experience in clinical trial operations and management, mergers, acquisitions, turnarounds, startups, reorganization, process improvements, and sales management and a very strong knowledge of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP’s), Good Clinical Practices (GCP’s), Good Laboratory Practices (GLP’s), and International Conference for Harmonization (ICH) requirements. He is an author and co-author of numerous FDA filings and approvals including Investigational New Drug Applications (IND’s), New Drug Applications (NDA’s), Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDA’s), and Medical Device Applications 510(k)’s.
Barry is a member of the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society (www.raps.org), American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (www.aaps.org), Association of Clinical Research Professionals (www.acrpnet.org), and the National Association of Corporate Directors (www.nacdonline.org). He is a co-author of “Prompt, Accurate Diagnosis of Pediatric Cancer and Leukemia for Pediatricians, Orthopedists, and Family Practitioners” – Paperback (Aug. 28, 2007) by Andrew Pendleton, Jennifer Minigh, Lainie Shapiro, and Barry Sugarman.
Namrata Chand
VP Operations
Namrata Chand
VP Operations
Ms. Chand has held the position of VP - Operations with the Company since November 2020. Ms. Chand brings 20 years of experience and a diverse foundation in administration, marketing, operations and business development within non-profit and for-profit sectors. Initially focusing her career in large organizations, she held leadership positions in marketing and corporate relations at Nestle, Beam Suntory, Aetna and BFAS, a leading national animal welfare organization, to build brand awareness, improve operational efficiency and drive overall growth. Ms. Chand later entered the life science space and joined La Jolla Capital Partners in 2011 where she assisted small to midsize healthcare companies through various stages of development with special emphasis on capital formation, operations, supply chain, clinical trials, marketing and business development. Most recently, Ms. Chand led Investor Relations and Business Development for Ryca International, an innovative dental product company that entered into a joint venture with a leading global medtech company. In addition to leading operations at the Company, Ms. Chand serves on the Advisory Board of a number of early-stage biotech companies.
World Class Independent Directors
Charles J. Link, M.D.
Charles J. Link, Jr.
Director
Dr. Link was appointed to the Board in February 2021, and brings decades of biotech and drug development experience to the Company. He currently serves on the executive committee of the Board of Directors at NovaScan Inc., a clinical-stage company focused on cancer detection. Dr. Link also serves on the Board of Directors for Viewpoint Molecular Targeting, a clinical stage company developing alpha-particle radiopharmaceuticals; and is the founder and Executive Director of biotech startup Syncromune. He is also a founder of biotech startup ChainLink Pharma. Previously, Dr. Link was the CEO, CSO, Chairman, and founder of NewLink Genetics, a NASDAQ-listed immunotherapy company focused on developing novel immuno-oncology product candidates, from 1999 until his retirement in 2019. During his tenure at NewLink, Dr. Link led a series of collaborative transactions totaling hundreds of millions of dollars with Merck, Roche and the United States government. He also oversaw the collaboration with Merck to develop EVERBO, the first Ebola vaccine to receive FDA approval. Prior to founding NewLink Genetics, Dr. Link was an attending physician at the National Cancer Institute. He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed papers. Dr. Link received an M.D. from Stanford University, and he attended the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Adriann Sax
Adriann Sax
Director
Ms. Sax has a distinguished 30+ year career in biotech and life sciences, serving in leadership, operational and business development roles with a focus on oncology for both Fortune 100 and start-up companies. She currently serves as CEO and co-founder of Vetigenics LLC, an animal health biotech company, where she has secured partnerships with Merck, obtained federal grants, and which was named 2021 Start-up of the Year by the Penn Center for Innovation at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously she was EVP and Chief Commercial Officer at Kadmon Corp., a division of Sanofi Company, and for five years, Entrepreneur in Residence at Fortress Biotech. During the early 2000s, Ms. Sax served in various leadership capacities at large pharmaceutical companies, notably Vice President at Bristol Myers Squibb, Executive Director at Merck & Co., and Executive Vice President in charge of Business Development and Strategic Planning at King Pharmaceuticals, leading to its $6.5 Billion acquisition by Pfizer. Ms. Sax holds an MBA from the Keller Graduate School and a BS in Animal Science from the University of Delaware. She is an active advisor and board member for many industry associations, academic institutions, and nonpublic company boards.
Jeff Soinski
Jeff Soinski
Director
Jeff Soinski is a growth-oriented CEO with a 30-year career of building successful operating companies in diverse healthcare segments. Since December 2014, Mr. Soinski has served as President and CEO of Avinger, Inc., (NASDAQ: AVGR), a developer and manufacturer of image-guided medical devices for the treatment of vascular disease and one of the top-performing med-tech IPOs of 2015.
From its formation in September 2009 until the acquisition of its Unisyn business by GE Healthcare in May 2013, Jeff Soinski was the Chief Executive Officer of Medical Imaging Holdings, Inc. and its primary operating company Unisyn Medical Technologies, Inc., a national provider of technology enabled products and services to the medical imaging industry. Mr. Soinski worked with Galen Partners, a leading healthcare-focused private equity firm, to complete the acquisition and merger of the three independent diagnostic imaging service and technology companies that formed Unisyn. From 2008 to 2013, Mr. Soinski served periodically as a Special Venture Partner for Galen Partners, and since 2016 has served as a Special Investment Partner for the firm.
From December 2001 until its acquisition by C.R. Bard in June 2008, Mr. Soinski was the President and CEO of Specialized Health Products International, Inc., a publicly-traded manufacturer and marketer of safety medical products. During his tenure, Specialized Health Products ranked three consecutive years in the top half of the Deloitte Technology Fast 500, a ranking of the 500 fastest
growing technology companies in North America, and was twice named one of the fastest-growing companies in Utah on the MountainWest Capital Network Utah 100 list. In 2008, Mr. Soinski was named “Utah CEO of the Year” for small public companies by Utah Business magazine.
Prior to Specialized Health Products, Mr. Soinski had been President and CEO of ViroTex Corporation, a venture-backed pharmaceutical drug-delivery company he sold to Atrix Laboratories, Inc. in 1998. Mr. Soinski joined ViroTex as its first CEO in 1992. At the time of its acquisition, ViroTex had five established drug delivery technologies and two prescription drugs in clinical testing, including the predecessor to Aczone®, a leading topical acne medication currently marketed by Allergan, Inc.
Mr. Soinski received a B.A. degree from Dartmouth College. He served as a Director of Medical Imaging Holdings and its remaining operating company Consensys Imaging Service until the sale of Consensys to a strategic acquirer in 2017. From August 2008 until March 2016, Mr. Soinski served on the board of directors of Merriman Holdings, Inc., parent of Merriman Capital, a publicly-traded investment banking and brokerage firm focused on high-growth companies and their institutional investors.
Scientific Advisory Board
World-renowned authorities in radiopharmaceuticals
R. Keith Frank, PhD
R. Keith Frank, PhD
Dr. Frank has served as scientific advisor to the Company since April 2020. Since 2006, he has served as CEO, President and co-founder of IsoTherapeutics LLC, a radiopharmaceutical R&D and contract manufacturing company that invented CycloSam® and provides services for both large and small biotechnology companies. He also serves as Chairman of IGL Pharma, Inc., the Company’s licensor of CycloSam®. Prior to these positions, Dr. Frank spent over 20 years in numerous senior scientific positions at Dow Chemical Company. At Dow, he was a collaborator in the development of bone-seeking radiopharmaceuticals Quadramet (Sm-153-EDTMP) and STR (Ho-166-DOTMP). Additionally, Dr. Frank was the lead inventor of Iotrex™ for use in the GliaSite® Radiation Therapy System. He also initiated and was the technical leader of Dow’s ChelaMedSM Radiopharmaceutical Services offering.
Jim Simón, PhD
Jim Simón, PhD
Dr. Simon has served as scientific advisor to the Company since April 2020. Since 2006, he has served as Vice President and Chief Science Officer, and co-founder of IsoTherapeutics LLC, a radiopharmaceutical R&D and contract manufacturing company that invented CycloSam® and provides services for both large and small biotechnology companies. Prior to co-founding IsoTherapeutics, Dr. Simon spent over 25 years as a senior scientist at Dow Chemical Company where his initial proposals led to the creation of Dow’s radiopharmaceutical group. At Dow, Dr. Simon was the lead inventor for all bone agent patents including Sm-153-EDTMP and Ho-166-DOTMP. Dr. Simon has been involved in numerous FDA submissions for clinical trials, and has coordinated the radioisotope activities at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (isotope production), the University of Missouri Veterinary School (dog studies), and The Harry S. Truman Veterans Administration Hospital (human clinical studies).