Our Team

Senior Leadership

Neal Hunter
Chairman

​Neal Hunter 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 KNOW Bio, LLC, an RTP based incubator for platform based medical technology and biotechnology companies. Vast Therapeutics, Inc. and REVIAN, Inc. are two companies that have emerged from the KNOW Bio platform.

Chuck Swoboda
President & Chief Executive Officer

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. 

Mark Schoenfisch, Ph.D. 
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. 

John C. Oakley 
Chief Financial Officer

​John 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.

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.

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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