Dr. Van Bokkelen co-founded Athersys in October 1995 and has served as Chief Executive Officer and a director since Athersys' founding. Prior to May 2006, he also served as Athersys' President. He has served as Chairman of Athersys' Board of Directors since August 2000. Dr. Van Bokkelen is the current Chairman of the Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, and has served on a number of other boards, including the Biotechnology Industry Organization's ECS Board of Directors from 2001 to 2004, the Kent State University Board of Trustees from 2001 to 2004 and serves as an advisor to Early Stage Partners, a venture capital firm. He received his Ph.D. in Genetics from Stanford University, his B.A. in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley, and his B.A. in Molecular Biology from the University of California at Berkeley.
John Harrington Ph.D.
Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Harrington co-founded Athersys in October 1995 and has served as Athersys' Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer and as a director since Athersys' founding. Dr. Harrington led the development of the RAGE technology as well as its application for gene discovery, drug discovery and commercial protein production applications. He is a listed inventor on 20 issued or pending U.S. patents, has authored 20 scientific publications, and has received numerous awards for his work, including being named one of the top international young scientists by MIT Technology Review in 2002. Dr. Harrington has overseen the therapeutic product development programs at Athersys since their inception, and during his career he has also held positions at Amgen and Scripps Clinic. He received his Ph.D. in Cancer Biology from Stanford University and his B.A. in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from the University of California at San Diego.
William (B.J.) Lehmann J.D.
President and Chief Operating Officer
William (BJ) Lehmann, Jr., J.D. joined Athersys in September 2001 and was Athersys' Executive Vice President of Corporate Development and Finance from August 2002 until May 2006, when he became Athersys' President. From 1994 to 2001, Mr. Lehmann was with McKinsey & Company, Inc., an international management consulting firm, where he worked extensively with new technology and service-based businesses in the firm's Business Building practice. Prior to joining McKinsey, he worked at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, a Silicon Valley law firm, and worked with First Chicago Corporation, a financial institution. Mr. Lehmann received his J.D. from Stanford University, his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, and his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.
Robert Deans Ph.D.
Senior Vice President, Regenerative Medicine
Dr. Deans has led Athersys' regenerative medicine research and development activities since February 2003 and has served as Vice President of Regenerative Medicine since October 2003. He was named Senior Vice President of Regenerative Medicine in June 2006. Dr. Deans is highly regarded as an expert in stem cell therapeutics, with over fifteen years of experience in this field. From 2001 to 2003, Dr. Deans worked for early-stage biotechnology companies. Dr. Deans was formerly the Vice President of Research at Osiris Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, from 1998 to 2001 and Director of Research and Development with the Immunotherapy Division of Baxter International, Inc., a global healthcare company, from 1992 to 1998. Dr. Deans was also previously on faculty at USC Medical School in Los Angeles, between 1981 and 1998, in the departments of Microbiology and Neurology at the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Deans was an undergraduate at MIT, received his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan, and did his post-doctoral work at UCLA in Los Angeles.
Laura Campbell
Vice President of Finance
Laura Campbell joined Athersys in January 1998 as Controller and has served as Vice President of Finance since May 2006. Prior to joining Athersys, she was at Ernst & Young LLP, a public accounting firm, for 11 years, in the audit practice. During her tenure with Ernst & Young LLP, Ms. Campbell specialized in entrepreneurial services and the biotechnology industry sector and participated in several initial public offerings. Ms. Campbell received her B.S., with distinction, in Business Administration from The Ohio State University.