Michael Fonstein, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer and President

Dr. Fonstein has served as the company's Chief Executive Officer and President since the company's inception in June 2003. He served as Director of the DNA Sequencing Center at the University of Chicago from its creation in 1994 to 1998, when he left to found Integrated Genomics, Inc. located in Chicago, Illinois. He served as CEO and President of Integrated Genomics from 1997 to 2003. Dr. Fonstein has won several business awards, including the Incubator of the Year Award from the Association of University Related Research Parks. He was also the winner of a coveted KPMG Illinois High Tech Award.

Andrei Gudkov, Ph.D., D. Sci.
Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Gudkov has served as one of the company's directors and as the company's Chief Scientific Officer since the company's inception in June 2003. Prior to 1990, he worked at The National Cancer Research Center in Moscow (USSR) where he led a broad research program focused on virology and cancer drug resistance. In 1990, he reestablished his lab at the University of Illinois at Chicago where he became a tenured faculty member in the Department of Molecular Genetics. His lab concentrated on the development of new functional gene discovery methodologies and the identification of new candidate cancer treatment targets. In 1999, he defined p53 as a major determinant of cancer treatment side effects and suggested this protein as a target for therapeutic suppression. In 2001, Dr. Gudkov moved his laboratory to the Lerner Research Institute at the Cleveland Clinic where he became Chairman of the Department of Molecular Biology and Professor of Biochemistry at Case Western Reserve University. In 2007, Dr. Gudkov accepted the position of Senior VP Basic Science and Chair, Department of Cell Stress Biology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY. Dr. Gudkov is not employed full time by the company, but rather divides time between work for CBLI and for Roswell Park.

Yakov Kogan, Ph.D., MBA
Chief Operating Officer

Dr. Kogan has served as one of the company's directors and as the company's Executive Vice President of Business Development since the company's inception in June 2003 and as Secretary since March 2006. From 2001 to 2004, as Director for Business Development at Integrated Genomics, he was responsible for commercial sales and expansion of the company's capital base. Prior to his tenure in business development, Dr. Kogan worked as a Group Leader/Senior Scientist at Integrated Genomics and ThermoGen, Inc. and as Research Associate at the University of Chicago. Dr. Kogan holds a Ph.D. degree in Molecular Biology from VNII Genetica, as well as an M.S. degree in Biology from Moscow State University.

Jack Marhofer, MBA, CMA, CFM
Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Marhofer joined us as the Controller and General Manager in February 2005 and was subsequently appointed to be the company's Chief Financial Officer in August 2005. He was Corporate Controller of Litehouse Products, Inc. from June 2001 to February 2005. He obtained certifications as a Certified Managerial Accountant and Certified Financial Manager in March 2006. Mr. Marhofer earned his Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Marketing from Miami University in Ohio in 1984, and his Masters in Business Administration in Finance from Akron University in Ohio in 1997, where he was named to the National Honor Society of the Financial Management Association.

Michael Kurman, MD
Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Kurman joined Cleveland BioLabs, Inc. as Chief Medical Officer in January 2008. He has spent over twenty-five years in the oncology drug development field. Dr. Kurman is a board certified medical oncologist who practiced community oncology in New Jersey, where he participated as an investigator in oncology clinical trials sponsored by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) and the Memorial Adjunct Staff Oncology Group (MASOG). During his career in the pharmaceutical industry, he has held positions of progressive responsibility at Janssen Research Foundation as Director of Oncology, at Cyotgen Corporation as Senior Director of Research and at U.S. Bioscience as Vice-President for Research. Prior to establishing his consultancy, Dr. Kurman served as Vice-President for Clinical and Scientific Operations for Quintiles’ Oncology Therapeutics Division. In his nineteen-year career in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Kurman has been involved in the regulatory review or commercial launch of four new oncology products. Dr. Kurman received his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in biology from Syracuse University and his M.D. degree from Cornell University Medical College. He received his training in internal medicine at the State University of New York – Upstate Medical Center, and his oncology training at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York. Dr. Kurman serves on the scientific advisory boards of several companies as well as serving on the board of Avalon Pharmaceuticals, where he is head of the compensation committee, and of Thallion Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Kurman is also an Adjunct Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Health Promotion in the Master of Clinical Trials Program at New York University and an Adjunct Professor for Pharmaceutical Technology Management at the Wesley J. Howe School of Technology Management of Stevens Institute of Technology.

Ed Venkat, Ph.D.
Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development

Ed Venkat, Ph.D. joined Cleveland BioLabs, Inc. as Director of Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls in 2006. He has over twenty years of experience with demonstrated leadership capability in drug development, operation and management of commercial cGMP manufacturing, process engineering, technology transfer, and regulatory and quality control systems. Dr. Venkat has drug development and manufacturing experience with biological compounds and small molecules in both Big Pharma and small biotech. Before joining CBLI, he worked in numerous research and managerial positions at Merck & Co, Inc. (Rahway, NJ) and as the Director of Process Development for GlobeImmune, Inc. (Louisville, CO). In addition to a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering, Dr. Venkat holds an M.S. degree in Biochemical Engineering from The Indian Institute of Technology (New Delhi, India), a Ph.D. in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering from Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ) and a M.S. degree in Executive Technology Management from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ.

Donald Handley, MBA
Director, Regulatory Affairs

Mr. Handley joined Cleveland BioLabs in 2010. Prior to joining CBLI, Mr. Handley was Director of Global Regulatory Affairs at Bausch & Lomb, Inc., where he directed submissions of several New Drug Applications and Investigational New Drug Applications, led preparation efforts for a successful FDA advisory committee meeting and multiple other FDA interactions and was involved in meetings with international regulatory authorities.  From 1999 to 2002, Handley held the positions of Manager and then Senior Manager of Regulatory Affairs at Celltech / Medeva Pharmaceuticals Inc.  From 1996 to 1999, he served as Senior Regulatory Affairs Associate and then Manager of Worldwide Regulatory Affairs at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.   Before this, he held several positions in Regulatory Affairs at Fisons Pharmaceuticals.  Handley holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemical Pharmacology from the State University of New York at Buffalo, a Master of Science in Natural Sciences from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute Graduate Division of the State University of New York at Buffalo and a Master of Business Administration from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Michael Paterno, O.D.
Director, Clinical Operations

Dr. Paterno joined Cleveland BioLabs in 2010. He brings twenty years of clinical research and development experience to the company. Prior to joining CBLI, Paterno was Manager, Pharmaceutical Clinical Science at Bausch & Lomb, Inc., where he led teams in the design, implementation, and conduct of Phase I – IV clinical trials in support of new product development. He has contributed to several Investigational New Drug Applications and New Drug Applications in addition to authoring clinical study results for publication. From 1989 to 2004, Paterno held several other clinical research positions at Bausch & Lomb including Manager, Internal Research Clinic; Senior Research Optometrist, Global Vision Care; and Interim Director, Clinical Management, Personal Products Research and Development, among others. Dr. Paterno holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences from the State University of New York at Binghamton, a Bachelor of Science in General Sciences and a Doctor of Optometry degree from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry.