Our Team

Senior Leadership

Chuck Swoboda
EXECUTIVE Chairman

Chuck Swoboda joined Vast in January 2021 after more than 25 years at Cree, Inc, where he helped lead the company from $6 million in revenue to over $1.6 billion. During his 16 years as CEO, Chuck was named Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year for the Carolinas while Cree was recognized as MIT Technology Review’s 50 Smartest Companies for 2014 and as one of Fast Company’s World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies in 2015. Chuck currently serves on the board of KnowBio LLC, Equity Distribution Acquisition Corp, Vesper Technologies, and Lonerider Brewing Company. 

NATE StasKO, PH.D.
Chief EXEcutive Officer

Dr. Stasko joined Vast following his role as Senior Strategic Advisor to parent company, KnowBio LLC where he was an originator of the entrepreneurial vision to develop and optimize a proprietary chemistry platform that enables the delivery of nitric oxide across multiple therapeutic areas. As President & CEO of Novan Inc., an early embodiment of this vision, he led Novan through financings totaling more than $150 million, award of government grants and contracts totaling $15 million, and a successful initial public offering in September 2016 to become a NASDAQ listed company (NOVN).

Mark Schoenfisch, Ph.D. 
Chief Scientific Officer

​Dr. Schoenfisch is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he has developed a dynamic research program in the field of nitric oxide. With nearly 20 years of experience as a chemist, he has published >100 peer-reviewed articles on nitric oxide-related technologies. He has a long-standing interest in developing macromolecular scaffolds that store and release nitric oxide for drug delivery and disease management applications. 

John Simons
VP of Product Development

John Simons is an accomplished, quality-oriented product development scientist with a history of leadership and achievement in the pharmaceutical industry. He is passionate about improving operational and process efficiencies within cross-functional teams and laboratories to ensure quality drug products are developed which meet both regulatory standards and business objectives. John has extensive experience with project/laboratory leadership in GMP-compliant laboratories. 

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