Management Team & Staff

Scott Johnson, President and Founder

Scott Johnson brings more than 20 years of experience in business, which includes serving as President and CEO of three startups. Scott led such companies as Thermatrix, a venture-capital-backed company that developed, patented and sold a highly-efficient thermal oxidation technology that destroyed hazardous air pollutants. He also served as President and CEO of Cinemation, an entertainment company headquartered in Hawaii.

Scott's first startup was SeparaSystems LP, a joint venture between DuPont and FMC that utilized advanced membrane technology for food processing. Before these entrepreneurial roles, Scott was an executive at FMC Corporation and in management consulting at the Boston Consulting Group. He holds an M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Davis. Scott was diagnosed with MS in 1976.

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Russell “Rusty” Bromley, Chief Operating Officer

Rusty Bromley provides Myelin Repair Foundation with a unique combination of business experience in both academic and commercial research environments. His expertise includes the creation and protection of innovative technologies, business development, and marketing strategies for high tech and life sciences firms. Formerly he was CEO of LabVelocity, Inc., an internet information portal for the life science research community. Prior to that he was CEO of Berkshire Holding Corporation, a privately-held, multinational manufacturer of contamination control materials for microelectronics and pharmaceutical production.

Rusty's experience also includes 17 years with American Hospital Supply Corporation and Baxter Healthcare, in both the distribution and diagnostics businesses, culminating with seven years as President of the Burdick and Jackson Division. Rusty holds a degree in Biochemistry from Rice University.

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Mike Gresser, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer

Mike Gresser received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1976 from Brandeis University, where his thesis research was done under the supervision of W.P. Jencks on the mechanism of ester aminolysis. He did postdoctoral studies at the Molecular Biology Institute at UCLA on the mitochondrial and chloroplast proton translocating ATP synthases, under the supervision of Paul D. Boyer.

In 1980 Dr. Gresser joined the Department of Chemistry at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, and progressed through the ranks of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor of Chemistry. While there Dr. Gresser received the Excellence in Teaching Award, and did research on the biochemistry of Vanadium V, and on the mitochondrial ATPase.

In 1988 Dr. Gresser joined the Merck Frosst Center for Therapeutic Research in Kirkland, Quebec as Director of Biochemistry. Over the next twelve years he progressed through the ranks of Senior Director, then Executive Director of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. His team worked on a variety of small molecule drug discovery programs, resulting in the introduction of numerous molecules into clinical trials. Two of these molecules, Singulair and Vioxx, became products.

In 2000, Dr. Gresser joined Amgen Inc. in Thousand Oaks, California, as Vice President Research for Inflammation, where he remained until April, 2006. For two years Dr. Gresser served as Head of Neuroscience Research as well as Inflammation Research. His team at Amgen worked on many molecular targets, introducing numerous small molecules, human antibodies, and other proteins into development.

Currently Dr. Gresser is a Visiting Scholar at the Molecular Biology Institute at UCLA, and works as a consultant with Clarity Therapeutics Consulting. He often consults jointly with Dr. David R. Fitzpatrick of Biotech Clarity Consulting.

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Denise St. Onge, Chief Financial Officier

Denise St. Onge joined the Myelin Repair Foundation in 2006 as the Chief Financial Officer. Her background is leading finance functions in technology and technology start up companies. She was most recently Chief Financial Officer of BA Venture Partners; prior to BA Venture Partners she was Chief Financial Officer of Amplitude Software. Denise spent six years in Paris, first serving as the Business Planning Manager for Apple Computer Europe and Apple Computer France, then as the International Controller for Sterling Software. She began her career at Deloitte and Touche in Chicago and held finance positions at American Hospital Supply and Trans Union Corporation in Chicago. Denise has holds a B.S. degree in accounting from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and is a certified public accountant.

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Jay Tung, Ph.D., Vice President of Drug Discovery

Jay Tung, Ph.D. has more than 20 years of experience with the drug discovery process in both the biotech and pharmaceutical sectors (Eli Lilly, Athena Neurosciences and Elan Pharmaceuticals). Most recently Jay served as Senior Director/Department Head of the Chemistry Department at Elan where he worked on developing therapeutics for a variety of neurological diseases. He is an author/co-inventor of more than 50 scientific publications and patent applications.

Jay earned a B.A. in Biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and an M.S., M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from Yale University.

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Michael A. Pleiss, Ph.D. – Consultant (Business Development, Drug Discovery & Intellectual Property)

Michael A. Pleiss, Ph.D. is a medicinal chemist with more than 25 years of industrial experience in pharmaceutical research and has a proven track record in the design of novel small molecule drugs in several therapeutic areas. Compounds he has advanced into clinical trials or that are in predevelopment represent novel therapeutics for asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, neuropathic pain and Alzheimer's disease.

Mike is currently a private consultant with expertise in all aspects of drug design and development through Phase 1, including medicinal chemistry and outsourcing, computational chemistry, patent construction and breaking, DMPK, and CMC. He served most recently as Vice President of Chemistry and Drug Metabolism & Pharmacokinetics (DMPK) at Elan Pharmaceuticals. Mike has also held positions at Genentech and Syntex prior to joining Athena Neurosciences / Elan Pharmaceuticals.

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Russell E. Rydel, Ph.D. – Consultant (Discovery Biology & Target Validation)

Russell E. Rydel, Ph.D has been working with the Myelin Repair Foundation since November 2007, bringing more than 20 years of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. He is interested in a number of therapeutic areas including neurology, pain, inflammation, and associated autoimmune disorders such at multiple sclerosis.

From 1996–2005 he held a number of leadership positions at Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., most recently as Vice President and Head, Department of Pharmacology, where his groups had responsibilities for a number of drug discovery programs within the therapeutic areas of Alzheimer’s disease, asthma, multiple sclerosis, neuropathic pain, and Parkinson’s disease. Prior to its acquisition by Elan in 1996, Russell was Associate Director of Neurobiology at Athena Neurosciences, Inc. where he published seminal findings on the biology of the amyloid-b protein and the amyloid-b precursor protein, and focused on the development of novel therapies for Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

Russell received his B.A. in Chemistry from Grinnell College and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Neurobiology and Pharmacology from the Department of Pharmacology at New York University School of Medicine. Prior to joining Athena Neurosciences, Inc. in 1989, Russell was an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley.

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Kumar Hari, Ph.D., Director of Discovery Biology

Kumar Hari, Ph.D. has nearly 10 years experience in target validation, program management and business development through positions at Isis Pharmaceuticals and as Director and Co-founder of cBio, Inc., a bioinformatics consulting firm. Prior to founding cBio, Kumar served as Scientific Program Officer for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the State Stem Cell Agency, and as Associate Director of Business Development at Ibis Biosciences, a subsidiary of Abbott Molecular, Inc. During his career, Kumar has made scientific contributions to the fields of chromosome biology, functional genomics, and bioinformatics.

Kumar Hari received his B.S. in Genetics from the University of California, Davis and Ph.D. in Biology from the University of California, San Diego through The Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

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Steve Wong, Program Manager, Target Validation

Steve Wong has over 25 years of combined experience in basic science (Stanford University Medical Center) and BioPharma Research and Development (Pharmacyclics, Intrabiotics, and Rigel Pharmaceuticals). He has extensive cross-functional experience as a preclinical pharmacologist in drug formulation and delivery, running proof-of-concept validation models, and managing scientific study programs. He provided the pre-clinical support to move investigational compounds from the research pipeline phase to human clinical trials while working at Rigel.

Steve has a passion for working in the field of biotechnology with the intent of finding a viable therapeutic to combat unmet medical needs. He finds the Myelin Repair Foundation to be a good professional match where they will be relying on his extensive research experience to help them translate, develop, and validate the targets, tools and pathways discovered from MRF Sponsored Research for use in drug discovery applications.

Steve Wong earned a B.S. in Physiology from the University of California, Davis.

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Carol Menaker, Director of Communications

Carol Menaker brings to Myelin Repair Foundation more than 25 years of experience in communications, media relations and public affairs. Prior to joining MRF, Carol worked as a consultant to a number of Bay Area universities, non-profit organizations and law firms on communications strategy and the development of written materials, including brochures, annual reports, newsletters and web sites. During that time, Carol was also an active volunteer with MRF, managing their media relations program and contributing to the development of communications materials.

Carol's other experience includes senior public affairs management positions at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and San Jose State University. She has an M.S. in journalism from the University of Illinois and B.A. in Theatre from Penn State University.

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Justine Lam, Manager, Internet Strategy

Justine Lam joins the Myelin Repair Foundation to spearhead their internet strategy. She looks forward to spreading awareness and interest in myelin repair and MRF’s research model, engaging supporters, activating them as volunteers and expanding MRF’s grassroots donor base through the application of new media strategies.

Prior to joining MRF, Justine was responsible for spearheading the Ron Paul presidential campaign's online efforts. Her decentralized online strategies empowered and encouraged supporters to self-organize and generate an extensive web presence to spread the candidate's message which encouraged a community of support that led to the ground-breaking fundraising achievements in 2007.

Justine is a graduate of University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in Development Studies.

Follow Justine Lam on Twitter @MRF_Justine

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Beylah Redke, Development Coordinator

Beylah Redke brings to Myelin Repair Foundation her experience and passion for non-profit work. Most recently, she worked in development at Upward Bound House, a social service agency that supports homeless families and low-income seniors in Los Angeles. She also interned with the Family Focus Resource and Empowerment Center - providing outreach and supportive services to families with Deaf children. Beylah is very active in the community; she has worked as a caregiver for senior citizens and has been involved with organizations such as Humane Society, In2Books, and Tree People.

Beylah also has experience working with Deaf communities in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, and holds a B.A. in Deaf Studies from California State University, Northridge.

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Helen Solinski, Manager, Donor Relations

Helen Solinski has a passion for developing a treatment for multiple sclerosis. She also has a history of making things happen. Solinski brings over 25 years of sales and upper management experience to MRF and an extensive background in fundraising as a volunteer with numerous non-profits. As a testimony to her volunteer commitment and abilities, Solinski was nominated to be a part of California’s largest School Bond Oversight Committee. She is also a two-term President of Northern California’s largest Neighborhood Association. 

In 2003, Solinski was diagnosed with MS. She continued to work in sales, but directed more of her volunteer and fund-raising efforts toward MS. Solinski had been an active volunteer and integral member of the MRF team for five years prior to joining the staff.

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Karen Dua, Executive Administrator

In addition to her organizational and administrative skills, Karen has over 20 years of sales and marketing experience ranging from the creation of marketing materials to big ticket sales in excess of $1M. In the mid-90s Karen served as the U.S. Consulate Citizen Services Representative in Bangalore, India. During this time she was also instrumental in growing the Bangalore Overseas Women’s Club by 500%, and consulted with potential expat families considering assignments in India. Karen has been an active community volunteer over the years, focusing her efforts to benefit causes such as Toys for Tots, One Warm Coat, Second Harvest Food Bank, The Gift of Reading and Habitat for Humanity. In 2007 Karen was named Union School District Volunteer of the Year.

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