Management

Dr. Demopulos founded our company and has served as our president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors since June 1994. Prior to founding Omeros, Dr. Demopulos completed his residency in orthopedic surgery at Stanford University and his fellowship training in hand and microvascular surgery at Duke University. Dr. Demopulos currently serves on the board of trustees of the Smead Funds Trust, an open-end mutual fund company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Dr. Demopulos received his M.D. from the Stanford University School of Medicine and his B.S. from Stanford University.

Dr. Bral joined Omeros as our vice president of nonclinical development in October 2015. From April 2014 to October 2015, Dr. Bral was the executive director of toxicology at Arrowhead Research Corporation. From June 2008 to April 2014, Dr. Bral served as director of drug safety evaluation at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Vertex, Dr. Bral held various pre-clinical drug safety positions of increasing responsibility at Schering-Plough Research Institute including associate director of drug safety evaluation. Dr. Bral received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Biophysics from Texas A&M University and his B.S. in Chemistry from John Carroll University, and he has been board-certified in toxicology through the American Board of Toxicology since 2000.

Mr. Cancelmo, JD, has served as our vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary since June 2019. He joined Omeros in January 2019 as deputy general counsel, corporate governance and securities. Prior to joining Omeros, Mr Cancelmo was a principal and shareholder with Garvey Schubert Barer, P.C., where he represented clients in the life sciences and other technology industries in mergers, acquisitions, strategic alliances, public and private securities offerings, and a range of other corporate, commercial and financial transactions. He served as chair of the firm’s business practice group from 2016 until his departure in December 2018. Before Garvey Schubert Barer, Mr Cancelmo practiced corporate and transactional law at Davies, Ward, Phillips and Vineberg LLP, in New York, and Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP, in Boston. Mr Cancelmo received his JD from Boston University and his BA from Saint Michael’s College.

Ms. Dac has served as our Chief Commercial Officer since January 2021. Ms. Dac brings nearly three decades of international experience as a strategic commercial leader at large and small biopharmaceutical companies. Prior to joining Omeros, Ms. Dac served as the chief commercial officer at Alder Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (acquired in 2019 by Lundbeck) from April 2019 until June 2020 and as vice president of global specialty commercial development at AbbVie, Inc. from December 2014 to March 2019. She previously served as vice president of marketing at Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from May 2013 to September 2014, when the company was acquired by Endo International plc. From 2009 to 2013, Ms. Dac held several roles of increasing responsibility at Novartis AG, including global vice president of neuroscience professional relations prior to her role as vice president of Novartis’ multiple sclerosis franchise, and at Biogen Inc., Johnson & Johnson, and Eli Lilly and Company. She holds a B.S. in Marketing from Rutgers University.

Mr. Duffy has served as our vice president of business development since March 2010. From November 2008 to March 2010, Mr. Duffy served as the managing director of Pacific Crest Ventures, a life science consulting firm that he founded. From June 2004 through September 2008, Mr. Duffy served at MDRNA (formerly Nastech Pharmaceutical Company), a biotechnology company, where he held roles of increasing responsibility in marketing and business development, most recently as chief business officer. Prior to MDRNA, Mr. Duffy served as vice president of business development at Prometheus Laboratories, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, and as a customer marketing manager at The Procter & Gamble Company. Mr. Duffy received his B.S. from Loras College.

Dr. Gaitanaris joined Omeros as our vice president of science in August 2006 and has served as our chief scientific officer since January 2012. From August 2003 to our acquisition of nura in August 2006, Dr. Gaitanaris served as the chief scientific officer of nura, a company that he co-founded and that developed treatments for central nervous system disorders. From 2000 to 2003, he served as president and chief scientific officer of Primal, a biotechnology company that was acquired by nura in 2003. Prior to co-founding Primal, he served as staff scientist at the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Gaitanaris received his Ph.D. in cellular, molecular and biophysical studies and his M.Ph. and M.A. from Columbia University and his M.D. from the Aristotelian University of Greece.

Mr. Jacobsen joined Omeros in August 2013 as our vice president of finance and has served as our chief accounting officer and treasurer since October 2013. Prior to joining Omeros, Mr. Jacobsen served as vice president of finance at Sarepta Therapeutics from September 2011 to May 2013 and as its chief accounting officer from September 2011 to December 2012. From April 2007 to August 2011, Mr. Jacobsen was vice president and chief accounting officer at ZymoGenetics. Prior to his service with ZymoGenetics, Mr. Jacobsen held various roles at ICOS Corporation, including senior director of finance and corporate controller. From April 1995 to October 2001, Mr. Jacobsen held vice president of finance or chief financial officer roles at three companies in the software, computer hardware and internet retailing industries, two of which were publicly traded. Mr. Jacobsen is a certified public accountant and received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Idaho State University.

Dr. Melfi joined Omeros as our vice president of regulatory affairs and quality systems in October 2012 and has served as our chief regulatory officer since April 2016. Dr. Melfi previously served from 1996 to 2012 at Eli Lilly and Company, where she held technical and leadership roles of increasing scope and responsibility, including senior director and scientific director in global health outcomes and regulatory affairs, respectively. Prior to joining Lilly, Dr. Melfi held various faculty and staff positions at Indiana University, including appointments in its economics department, in the school of public and environmental affairs, and in the Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Melfi received her Ph.D. in economics from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and B.S. in economics from John Carroll University.

Ms. Quinton, JD, MS, has served as our vice president, patents since June 2019 after having served as deputy general counsel, patents since 2017 and associate general counsel, patents since 2012. Prior to joining Omeros, Ms Quinton was a partner with the firm Christensen O'Connor Johnson & Kindness, PLLC, where she represented clients in the biotechnology and medical sciences industries in all aspects of worldwide patent procurement and enforcement. Before Christensen O'Connor Johnson & Kindness, Ms Quinton was a research scientist at several biotechnology companies and centers, including ZymoGenetics, Targeted Genetics Corporation and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Ms Quinton received her JD and her MS in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Washington and her BS from Gordon College.

Dr. Whitaker has served as our vice president of clinical development since joining Omeros in March 2010, and served as our chief medical officer from March 2010 through August 2018 and from November 2019 to present, Dr. Whitaker served as the chief medical officer and vice president of clinical development at Allon Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on developing drugs for neurodegenerative diseases. From August 2007 to May 2008, he served as a medical consultant to Accelerator Corporation, a biotechnology investment and development company. From May 1994 until its acquisition by Eli Lilly and Company in 2007, Dr. Whitaker served at ICOS Corporation. At ICOS, he held roles of increasing responsibility in clinical research and medical affairs, most recently as divisional vice president of clinical research as well as medical director of the Cialis global product team. Dr. Whitaker received his M.D. from the Indiana University School of Medicine, his J.D. from the University of Washington and his B.S. from Butler University.

Peter W. Williams joined Omeros in June 2020 as our vice president of human resources.  Mr. Williams brings over 20 years of experience in leading HR teams and programs.  Before joining Omeros, Mr. Williams served as the senior vice president of human resources at Redbox from 2016 to 2019 where he led the HR and internal communications functions.  From 2009 to 2016, Mr. Williams worked at Outerwall (fka Coinstar) in a series of increasingly responsible positions including the role of vice president of HR operations.  Prior to 2009, Mr. Williams held HR leadership roles at various technology and consumer focused companies, including Washington Mutual, Sterling Commerce, Expedia, Verio and TCI/AT&T Broadband.  Mr. Williams holds undergraduate degrees in Business Administration and English from the University of Washington.