Our Team
Senior Leadership
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Neal Hunter
Chief Executive Officer Neal was the founding investor of Novan, Inc. and served as the Company’s Chairman for eight years, personally orchestrating the fund raising of over $100M in private financing. His 25 year track record of successfully raising capital for technology companies in both the public and private sectors began as a Co- founder of Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ:CREE). Mr. Hunter served multiple roles at Cree, including as the public company CEO and Chairman from 1994 to 2001 and then Chairman until 2005. Mr. Hunter has been either co-founder, founder, co-founding investor or founding investor in over ten significant start-up ventures in the areas of semiconductor materials and devices, aesthetic materials, software, gourmet food service, commercial and residential real estate, LED lighting systems and life sciences. Mr. Hunter’s proven expertise in technology transfer, from inception of innovations to the creation of market-changing products, has led to the transition to his new role as Managing Director of KnowBio, LLC, an RTP based incubator for platform based medical technology and biotechnology companies. Vast Therapeutics, Inc. and PhotonMD, Inc. are two companies that have emerged from the KNOW Bio platform. |
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Mark Schoenfisch, Ph.D.
President and Chief Scientific Officer 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. |
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John C. Oakley
Chief Financial Officer Mr. Oakley joined Vast Therapeutics in July 2017 as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Oakley also currently serves Know Bio LLC, Vast’s parent company, and all its group companies as Chief Financial Officer. Throughout his career, Mr. Oakley has served in senior financial positions and as a Director for both publicly traded and privately held companies such as Cleaver-Brooks, Inc., Flanders Corporation, and Home Meridian International. Mr. Oakley began his career in the audit division with Arthur Andersen, LLP after earning a B.S. degree in accounting from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. |
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Kyle Kimble
Director of Intellectual Property Kyle W. Kimble, JD PhD, is an attorney focused on pharmaceutical and intellectual property law. His PhD in Analytical Chemistry was earned from the University of Pittsburgh developing novel polymeric sensors. His JD was earned from the Robert H. McKinney School of Law: Indiana University where he studied international business law and intellectual property. After several years practicing as a patent attorney with Barnes & Thornburg, a large national general practice firm, Kyle joined the Roche Group and served as patent counsel for their oncology diagnostics business. He next served as lead U.S. patent and intellectual property counsel for Merz Pharmaceuticals, a private specialty pharmaceuticals and aesthetics company. |
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Darlene Dendy
Director of Administration Darlene Dendy is the Director of Administration at Vast Therapeutics. She manages daily operations to ensure the business runs smoothly and operates efficiently. She creates and implements Human Resource policies, manages investor relations, and manages corporate communication for Vast Therapeutics CEO and CFO. Before joining Vast Therapeutics she served as the Executive Assistant for the Chairman and CEO of Cree, Inc. Darlene studied Business Administration at Western Carolina University and holds a North Carolina Real Estate Broker’s License. |
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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. |
