Where Mission Meets Medicine

Dr. Black is a founding team member starting with Gallant in 2019 and served as President and Chief Scientific Officer before moving to Chief Executive Officer in April 2021. She brings over 17 years of cross-functional experience leading strategic and operational initiatives in the biotechnology industry. She has led corporate development, finance, operations, and R&D along with a track record in regenerative medicine – with extensive experience in the development and commercialization of stem cell therapies for pets. From 2016 to 2019, she served as President and Chief Scientific Officer at Medicus Biosciences, a preclinical biotech firm focused on using polymer technologies for localized drug and stem cell delivery. Prior to Medicus, she served as the VP of Product Development for VetStem Biopharma, the first veterinary stem cell company to provide regenerative therapies to horses, dogs and cats. She authored the first peer reviewed publications describing the safety and efficacy of primary adipose-derived stem cells in osteoarthritis and muscle injury in working dogs. This culminated with leading a product development team to develop the first “off-the-shelf “stem cell therapies for dogs with osteoarthritis, which was later licensed to Aratana. She was the founder and CEO of SciStem Therapeutics, a company focused on delivering off-the-shelf genetically modified stem cells for bone healing in pets and people. Prior to those roles, Dr. Black consulted exclusively for Merial, Ltd, now Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, supporting R&D, marketing, and sales divisions. She is a member of the scientific advisory boards of Medicus Biosciences and Zander Therapeutics, and a member of the board of Directors for Gallant. Dr. Black holds a DVM from University of Wisconsin-Madison, a PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and completed her post-doctoral fellowship at GlaxoSmithKline.

Dr. Wrightson is a proven Chief Operating/Technical Officer with over 25 years’ successful leadership experience in scientific and technical operations, and research and development in the regenerative medicine, protein expression and genomic diagnostics industries for both human and veterinary markets. Excellent track record in partnering with top management and driving strategic value creation. Known for streamlining operations through reengineering and building highly skilled and motivated teams to deliver strong business results. Responsible for meeting growth requirements as well as assisting with strategic, regulatory, clinical, and scientific functions. Well versed in agency interactions from writing product characterization, manufacturing and controls technical section submissions as well as leading technical aspects of pre-approval and licensure audit inspections. Fiscally responsible mindset to develop corporate value in early-stage development process, build and communicate business acumen, foster collaboration and teamwork among staff through engagement and coaching to develop teams that deliver results. Known for working hand in hand with Quality staff to deliver safe and effective cell therapy products. Carolyn’s prior roles include COO/CTO of Performance Cell Manufacturing (Cellipont Bioservices, a cell therapy CDMO), as well as COO of VetStem Biopharma where she led laboratory operations and manufacturing development for 15 years, and as Group Leader at Sequenom for 7 years. Carolyn has received a dual B.S. in Biology and Biochemistry from Mount St. Mary’s University, earned her Ph.D. in Pathobiology from the University of Southern California, and completed her post-doctoral fellowship at The Scripps Research Institute department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine.

Steve joined Gallant in 2024 and serves as Chief Financial Officer. He has over 20 years of experience serving as a CFO and COO in numerous venture-backed startups. His industry experience includes enterprise software, pet technology, mobile applications, fabless semiconductor design, publishing, and remote network security. He has completed numerous M&A transactions on the buy and sell sides. Sell-side exits include Whistle, Netpulse, Nimblefish, and iReady. Prior to his CFO roles, he held analyst and leadership roles at American Airlines and Frito-Lay. His volunteer work includes serving as a Director at HealthRight 360 and Walden House. He also served as an officer and naval aviator in the United States Navy, where he was a mission commander and instructor pilot. Steve holds a B.S. in Economics and Psychology from UCLA and an MBA from Stanford University.

Dr. Williams is a highly experienced multidisciplinary veterinarian joining Gallant in 2023 as Senior Vice President of Clinical Development and Regulatory. She offers extensive knowledge in pharmaceutical and stem cell therapeutics with over 20 years of talent and leadership in animal health. She has served several large well-established animal health biopharmaceutical companies such as Fort Dodge Animal Health and Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health as well as smaller privately held or venture-capital held companies that reached Top Five status or were successfully acquired by a Top Five company such as Ceva Animal Health and Kindred Biosciences, Inc. She brings diverse business experience to Gallant to help drive growth and value for both our stakeholders and customers. She has led global teams and strategic initiatives in pharmacovigilance, veterinary affairs and technical services, research, clinical development, and regulatory affairs. She has extensive expertise in facilitating the FDA-approval process of novel therapeutics including bisphosphonates, ACE inhibitors, aldosterone receptor antagonists, dopamine receptor agonists, tetracyclic antidepressants, monoclonal antibodies, and most recently stem cells for dogs, cats, horses, and food animals. Prior to her career in the animal health industry, she was a practicing equine surgeon focused on delivering high quality medical and surgical care to all levels of equine athletes from birth through retirement. She is committed to bringing science and therapeutics to market that meet unmet medical needs targeted at disease modification and improved clinical outcomes and quality of life for both the patients and their families. Dr. Williams holds a DVM from Texas A&M University and a MS in both Reproductive and Joint Physiology from Colorado State University and The Ohio State University. She completed an equine surgery residency at The Ohio State University and is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (equine).

As a founding team member of Gallant, Beau brings over 15 years of operational experience in the pet space and has been a part of teams from seed rounds to public. Prior to the founding of Gallant, Beau lead consumer operations for Pod Trackers, a GPS tracker for dogs and cats with customers in more than 150 countries. While at Pod, Beau ran international logistics and specialized in optimizing the customer experience while working cross-functionally with the engineering team to develop a top trier tracking device. Before that, Beau was Sr. Customer Service Manager at DogVacay, a consumer marketplace app for dog sitting and dog walking where he managed a team of 30 customer service and ops representatives that helped set the standard for customer service in the pet space. The business merged with Rover (Rover.com) in April 2017 to create what is now a public $1B pet services company. Under Beau’s leadership, the team was able to successfully transition Dog Vacay’s more than 300k customers to the Rover platform. Beau welcomes the challenges of building a company from the ground up along with all the challenges and opportunities to learn new skills. In his free time, he enjoys spending time outdoors with his pups Chiquita and Autzen and rooting for his Alumni mater University of Oregon Ducks.

Dr. Windsor earned her DVM from the University of California at Davis in 2005, followed by an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at North Carolina State University and a residency in neurology and neurosurgery at UC Davis. She became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine in 2009. Dr. Windsor has practiced in busy specialty hospitals in Washington DC, the San Francisco Bay area, Chicago, and Denver, and she currently resides in Colorado. She was named a Best in Colorado Top Doctor of 2024 for excellence in veterinary medicine. Dr. Windsor has a strong passion for clinical research and teaching and has authored numerous publications. She joined Ethos Discovery (a non-profit incubator of scientific innovation) as a Clinician Scientist in 2021, where she leads the Neurology research portfolio. She was appointed the House Officer Research Project Coordinator for Ethos Discovery in 2024. She has a particular interest in neuroinflammatory disease and a commitment to help advance veterinary medicine by bringing novel diagnostics and therapeutics to pets. In her free time, Dr. Windsor enjoys yoga, cycling, skiing, hiking, paddleboarding, and spending time with her husband and two sons. She has two beloved pets, a dog named Porter and a cat named Mango.

Dr. Taechangam joined Gallant as a Post-Doctoral Research and Development Scientist in 2021. As a former practicing veterinarian in a large-scale teaching hospital, she brings extensive experience in managing complicated companion animal internal medicine cases as well as serving on the hospital’s drug approval committee and leading educational seminars. She was awarded a prestigious Fulbright graduate scholarship to pursue her graduate study with research focus on feline mesenchymal stem cells and their potential therapeutic benefits towards inflammatory and immune-mediated disorders in Dr. Dori Borjesson’s world-renowned regenerative medicine laboratory. Dr. Taechangam has several first-authored publications in Stem Cell Research & Therapy and co-authored stem cell clinical studies related to feline chronic gingivostomatitis. Nopmanee holds a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Chulalongkorn University (2011), a Master of Science (2019) and a Ph.D. (2021) in Integrative Pathobiology from the University of California, Davis.

April brings over 15 years of experience in accounting and financial management in animal health and life sciences. She has focused on start-up and early phase companies to implement accounting systems, procedures and internal controls as well as create consistent and accurate financial reports. She manages and analyzes cash flow and the budgeting process, and also handles Human Resources compliance. Prior to Gallant, she served as Accounting Controller for VetStem Biopharma where she managed full cycle accounting and has consulted for several animal health start-ups to establish internal controls and procedures, restructure accounting teams, and converting to GAAP financials. April earned her undergraduate degree in Equine Science from California State Polytechnic University and a Master’s in Business with honors from Webster University. She enjoys hiking with her family, riding her horse and loves all furry critters.

Mr. Boutros-Ghali has over the years established a successful track record as an investor and entrepreneur focused on the commercialization of disruptive technologies. His interests have ranged from the reshaping of the media landscape through technological innovation, to, currently, the convergence of the physical, digital, virtual, and biological world as it redefines healthcare and biotechnology. He is co-founder and Managing Partner of Bold Capital Partners a family of early-stage venture funds. Prior to BOLD he was co-founder of Monitor Ventures an investment advisory partnership. He has also been a founder/executive of several successful technology start-ups including All Business, a B2B web site targeted to small businesses (sold to GE-NBC); and, as part of his work on technology commercialization he served for several years as senior advisor to Interval Research, Paul Allen’s Silicon Valley incubator, as well as, more recently, designing Saudi Aramco’s corporate venture fund. Prior to his entrepreneurial activities, Mr. Boutros-Ghali was an executive with Time Warner. Over a ten-year period, he held a number of positions, including: Vice President of Time Inc.’s corporate venturing arm, Time Inc. Ventures; and, Publisher of Time International—responsible for repositioning and running the media property worldwide. Before joining Time Warner, Mr. Boutros-Ghali was a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group. He was a leader of the media and telecommunications practiceand also served as head of recruiting for BCG. Mr. Boutros-Ghali holds an SM from the Sloan School of Management in Finance; a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Plasma Physics (his thesis dealt with the formation of coherent structures out of chaotic turbulent systems); and, a BA from Cambridge University in Electrical Sciences. Mr. Boutros-Ghali sits on the board of several private companies, has lectured on entrepreneurship at the Anderson School of UCLA and been a judge for the annual Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Dr. Black is a founding team member starting with Gallant in 2019 and served as President and Chief Scientific Officer before moving to Chief Executive Officer in April 2021. She brings over 17 years of cross-functional experience leading strategic and operational initiatives in the biotechnology industry. She has led corporate development, finance, operations, and R&D along with a track record in regenerative medicine – with extensive experience in the development and commercialization of stem cell therapies for pets. From 2016 to 2019, she served as President and Chief Scientific Officer at Medicus Biosciences, a preclinical biotech firm focused on using polymer technologies for localized drug and stem cell delivery. Prior to Medicus, she served as the VP of Product Development for VetStem Biopharma, the first veterinary stem cell company to provide regenerative therapies to horses, dogs and cats. She authored the first peer reviewed publications describing the safety and efficacy of primary adipose-derived stem cells in osteoarthritis and muscle injury in working dogs. This culminated with leading a product development team to develop the first “off-the-shelf “stem cell therapies for dogs with osteoarthritis, which was later licensed to Aratana. She was the founder and CEO of SciStem Therapeutics, a company focused on delivering off-the-shelf genetically modified stem cells for bone healing in pets and people. Prior to those roles, Dr. Black consulted exclusively for Merial, Ltd, now Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, supporting R&D, marketing, and sales divisions. She is a member of the scientific advisory boards of Medicus Biosciences and Zander Therapeutics, and a member of the board of Directors for Gallant. Dr. Black holds a DVM from University of Wisconsin-Madison, a PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and completed her post-doctoral fellowship at GlaxoSmithKline.

Richard Jennings is the former CEO of California Cryobank Life Sciences and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the biomedical and healthcare fields. He joined the company in 2008 and served as the President of the Stem Cell division before being named as CEO. Prior to joining California Cryobank, Richard served as CEO of Mediscan, Administrator of CFHS Holdings (Hospitals), and held leadership positions in R&D and Marketing at Kimberly Clark Corporation. He earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering. Richard is additionally a Board Member of Palisades Country Estates and Village School. He supports various fund raising efforts including the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Aaron Schacht is CEO of BiomEdit – a biotechnology company focused on animal health productinnovation leveraging the science of the microbiome and synthetic biology, addressing some of the mostchallenging conditions in livestock and pets. Mr. Schacht founded BiomEdit in 2022 via a strategic carveout from Elanco Animal Health (NYSE: ELAN) and a strategic partnership with Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE:DNA). Schacht retired in 2021 from Elanco where since 2015 he led research and development (R&D),regulatory affairs and business development. During his time at Elanco, he transformed Elanco’sinnovation model, building and integrating internal and external innovation strategies that positioned Elanco as a leading independent animal health company. Schacht led the strategic acquisition of BayerAnimal Health, Aratana Therapeutics and Kindred Biosciences. His R&D teams delivered more than a dozen new products to the market during his tenure including Interceptor Plus, Credelio, Galliprant,Clynav, Experior and Elura, while integrating the R&D capabilities and pipelines of Novartis Animal Health, Boehringer Ingelheim pet vaccines, Bayer Animal Health, Aratana, Prevtec and Kindred. Schacht was a member of the founding executive team that completed the carve out from parent Eli Lilly and Company, taking Elanco public in 2018. Prior to his time at Elanco, Schacht spent the first 25 years of his career in the life sciences industry at Eli Lilly and Company, beginning as a discovery research chemist and playing a variety of roles across R&D, strategy, external innovation and product development. Schacht’s last role at Lilly was leading the late stage product development program which resulted in the approval and commercialization of Emgality, a novel CGRP neutralizing monoclonal antibody proven effective for the prevention of migraine andcluster headache. In addition to his role as independent board director for Gallant, Schacht currently serves on the boardsof Redux Bio, Indiana Biosciences Research Institute and Agrinovus Indiana (Chair Emeritus). Schacht received his bachelor’s degree in chemical sciences from the University of Illinois in 1990.

Darryl Rawlings has established himself as a leader in medical insurance for cats and dogs. As founder and chief executive officer of Trupanion and founder and member of NAPHIA, Rawlings is setting high standards for a growing industry, expanding public awareness of medical insurance for cats and dogs, and expanding the market across North America. His passion for pet health runs deep. When he was 14, his family dog needed surgery that could have lengthened her life for another 12 years. The cost was beyond his parents’ means and they left the veterinary hospital without her. He vowed that someday pets would have even better medical insurance than people do. And Trupanion has fulfilled that promise with medical insurance for cats and dogs that is remarkably better than most human health insurance. Trupanion covered its first pet in Canada in 2000 and expanded to the United States in 2008. Since expanding to the U.S., Trupanion has established itself as a market leader and now provides medical insurance for cats and dogs in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. In July 2014, Darryl took this a step further, and lead the company through an IPO. Trupanion is publicly traded on NASDAQ. Under his leadership, the company continues to experience consistent growth, with revenue growth in excess of 25% in each of the past 39 quarters. Trupanion now covers more than 500,000 pets. Rawlings is a graduate of the British Columbia Institute of Technology. His family includes his wife Caroline, two sons Sam and Bennett, bulldogs Tristen and Priscilla, cat Halle and bird Q.

Jim has spent his entire career working with entrepreneurs in a variety of industries, though he has had primary focus in life science and factory automation. He is currently the managing member of Hill Creek Partners, LLC, a family office that invests in entrepreneurial companies. Jim began his career with a major public accounting firm, where he managed a segment of the firms entrepreneurial practice group. He then became a partner in a large venture capital firm. Since then he has served as the CFO and COO of two early-stage companies that went public and were ultimately sold to industry leaders. He then became the CEO of an early-stage oncology drug development company that was acquired by a major pharmaceutical company. Jim has served on the board of two publicly held companies, a number of private companies, and a non-profit organization that focuses on addiction treatment. Jim is a CPA. He did his undergraduate studies at LaSalle University, and graduate studies at Temple University. He and his wife Pam have two grown sons, five grandchildren and you can always find a labrador retriever at their home in Doylestown, PA.

Dr. Boaz Arzi is a Professor of Dentistry and Oral surgery at the department of Surgical and Radiological Sciences, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Arzi completed the residency-training program in dentistry and oral surgery at the School of Veterinary Medicine and two years fellowship in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at UC Davis. He is a Diplomate of the American Veterinary Dental College (AVDC) and the European Veterinary Dental College(EVDC). Dr. Arzi is also a Founding Fellow of the AVDC in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Dr. Arzi’s clinical and research focus is on oral maxillofacial disorders and regenerative solutions in dogs and cats. His lab also investigates TMJ disorders and treatments across species. Dr. Arzi is the director of the Veterinary Institute for Regenerative Cures (VIRC) at UC Davis. Ultimately, Dr. Arzi’s work is translational with the aim of One Health treatment modalities for both human and animal health.

Michael D. Lairmore, DVM, PhD is immediate past dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). At UC Davis, he oversaw all the school’s teaching, research and service activities, personnel, facilities and funding resources. He presided over six academic departments, the William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System, the Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center in Tulare, Veterinary Medicine Extension, and numerous centers of excellence. As dean, he helped create new programs to expand clinical trials, global programs, and entrepreneurship. Upon his arrival at UCD in 2011, Dean Lairmore led the School on a strategic planning process that enhanced current units, added new programs in faculty, staff, and student leadership, expanded student services including mental health support, created new diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, extended communication, marketing, and development activities. As result the school was named the #1 or #2 institution in the world in veterinary sciences by QS World Rankings, and #1 ranking among veterinary schools/colleges by US News and World Report. Since 2011, he guided the school to record fundraising, raising more than $300 million in 9+ years. He is board certified in veterinary anatomic pathology, virology, and immunology. He is one of the few veterinarians elected as a member of the National Academy of Medicine. He is also a Fellow in the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, and has received numerous teaching and research awards throughout his career. His research has provided significant breakthroughs in the biology of human retroviruses and the understanding of viral-associated carcinogenesis. He has authored or co-authored 190 scientific publications.

Dr. Borjesson has been Washington State University dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine since July 2020 after more than a decade at the University of California-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, where she established herself as a respected pioneer and leader in the field of veterinary medicine. She served in various leadership roles at UC-Davis, including as chair of the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology; director of the Clinical Regenerative Medicine Laboratory; and inaugural director of the Veterinary Institute for Regenerative Cure. She specialized in adult-derived stem cell research and spent her last 12 years at UC-Davis examining how stem cells alter the immune system. A board-certified veterinary clinical pathologist, Dr. Borjesson and has more than 100 peer-reviewed publications. She holds two patents in mesenchymal stem cells and immunomodulation, and some of her recent research has focused on naturally occurring inflammatory bowel disease in dogs, chronic gingivostomatitis in cats and spinal cord injury in dogs She received the Zoetis Research Excellence award in 2014 for the exceptional quality and productivity of her research efforts in regenerative medicine with an emphasis on utilizing mesenchymal stem cells as a therapeutic option for both orthopedic injury (such as bone and tendon damage) and in immunomodulation.

David Haworth is former President of PetSmart Charities in the US and Canada. An independent non-profit, strategic grant-making organization, PetSmart Charities seeks to end pet homelessness by supporting partner organizations and programs that help find loving homes for all pets and celebrates the bond between people and animals. Dr. Haworth was formerly President & CEO at Morris Animal Foundation, Director of Global Alliances within the Business Development group at Pfizer Animal Health (now Zoetis, Inc.), and before that a Director in Pfizer Animal Health’s Research & Development division. Prior to joining Pfizer Animal Health, he was an associate veterinarian at a small animal and emergency clinic in Washington State. Dr. Haworth received his bachelor of science in biology from the College of William & Mary and his doctor of veterinary medicine and doctorate of philosophy from Colorado State University. He also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Colorado State University’s Flint Animal Cancer Center.

Scott R. Burger, MD, is the Principal of Advanced Cell and Gene Therapy, a consulting firm specializing in cell and gene therapy product development, manufacturing, and regulatory affairs. Dr. Burger has over 25 years of experience developing cell and gene therapy products and has consulted for over 100 industry and academic clients in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. He has directed or consulted on process development, manufacturing, and regulatory aspects of a wide range of cell therapy and gene therapy products, including CAR T-cells, gene-edited cells, dendritic cell vaccines, natural killer (NK) cells, and other immunotherapies, hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) from bone marrow, blood, umbilical cord blood, and regenerative medicine products such as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), chondrocytes, pancreatic islet cells, and other somatic cell therapies. Dr. Burger’s regulatory background includes numerous IND and IDE submissions and productive interactions with FDA-CBER Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies (OTAT, formerly the Office of Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies, OCTGT). Dr. Burger is a member of several scientific advisory boards, and has served on the USP Cell, Gene and Tissue Therapies Expert Committee, the ISCT advisory board and ISCT committees on gene therapy, regulatory affairs, commercialization, and product/process development. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Dr. Burger completed training in clinical pathology and transfusion medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to founding Advanced Cell & Gene Therapy in 2002, Dr. Burger was Vice-President for R&D at Merix Bioscience, and director of the University of Minnesota Cell Therapy Clinical Laboratory. Dr. Burger is author of over 200 scientific publications and presentations, and recipient of numerous honors and awards.