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.

Ray Carreon, MBA, Managing Advisor

Ray Carreon has spent most of his career in pharmaceutical sales, pharmaceutical drug product development, regulatory affairs, project management, business development, and clinical research. His work focuses on providing strategic guidance, leading teams, and empowering them to achieve operational efficiency and excellence, all while successfully delivering FDA-approved drug products. He is in the executive management team of Loreto Pharma and Atlanta Clinical Research Centers. He received his Master of Business Administration degree from Boston University Questrom School of Business.

Joe Esposito, R&D/Quality/Regulatory Advisor

Joe Esposito brings more than thirty years’ experience in the specialty chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. Over twenty years have been dedicated to the development and manufacturing of oral solid dose, liquid, and semi-solid products, along with industry experience in regulatory and compliance aiding in the filings of several NDA and ANDA submissions. Joe brings a combined skillset in Pharmaceutical Operations with backgrounds in all areas of Quality and Laboratory Management, Regulatory Affairs, and cGMP Practices.

William Schaeffer, Operations Advisor

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.