Ms. Heron is an accomplished financial executive with over 20 years of experience working for public and private companies. She has an in-depth understanding of corporate finance and expertise in equity financing, strategic planning, financial analysis, cash flow optimization, budgeting, systems management and corporate operations. Ms. Heron founded Together Consulting LLC, where her work with preclinical, pre-revenue biopharmaceutical clients has expanded her knowledge of the industry. Previous positions have included financial roles of increasing responsibility for technology and commerce platform organizations. Ms. Heron is a CPA and received her B.B.A with a concentration in Accounting from James Madison University.
Team Category: Leadership
Dr. Martell is a seasoned biopharmaceutical executive with high-impact, results-oriented breadth and depth in clinical development, medical affairs and business development across a range of therapeutic areas from first-in-human through approval and commercialization. She brings extensive scientific acumen to her leadership roles and has been a pivotal leader or major contributor in the success of six marketed products: Kadcyla®, Elelyso®, Intermezzo®, the trastuzumab biosimilars Ogivri®, as well as secondary indications for Pradaxa® and Sutent®. Dr. Martell has held leadership and C-suite executive roles at companies including Kura Oncology, where she led the Menin Inhibitor Program, and at Juniper Pharmaceuticals, where she led the development program for a Bob Langer-created drug/device technology that was out-licensed for $131M. She started her pharmaceutical career at Pfizer, where she had roles of increasing responsibility that included Clinical Team Leader for Sutent® GU solid tumors in the Oncology Business Unit and, ultimately, Biosimilars Medical Head. She began her clinical investigation career at Yale with a Career Development Award, where she led a therapeutic cocaine vaccine trial and was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar. Dr. Martell was a practicing physician at Yale for 20 years and remains active as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Yale Ventures. She holds a B.Sc. in Microbiology from Cornell University, an M.A. in Molecular Immunology from Boston University and an M.D. from The Chicago Medical School. Dr. Martell is board certified in Internal and Addiction Medicine.
Dr. Hoekstra has worked in pharmaceutical research & development as a medicinal chemist and intellectual property coordinator for more than 30 years. Prior to Artizan, he served as Senior Vice President of Medicinal Chemistry at Viamet Pharmaceuticals Inc., where he co-invented the Phase 3 antifungal oteseconazole and the Phase 2B anticancer agent seviteronel. Dr. Hoekstra also held the position of Associate Director in Discovery Medicinal Chemistry at GlaxoSmithKline where he coordinated the introduction of a group of nuclear receptor modulator programs into the portfolio. Earlier in his career, he directed the discovery and lead optimization of several clinical new chemical entities such as the Phase 2B antithrombotic elarofiban in Johnson & Johnson’s Department of Drug Discovery. Dr. Hoekstra has co-authored over 100 publications, holds 75 issued U.S. patents and has presented several invited lectures. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from Hope College and subsequently earned his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Emory University.
Dr. Miller has spent over 30 years in the biopharmaceutical industry in various technical and leadership roles including leading early discovery teams at Synlogic, AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Warner-Lambert. Prior to Artizan, he was Chief Scientific Officer at Synlogic, where he established the company’s research team and helped guide it to advance a novel, engineered, live microbial biotherapeutic platform from idea to first-in-human studies in under three years. Dr. Miller was the Vice President of Infection Biology at AstraZeneca, where he was responsible for the early discovery portfolio and strategy, while also leading several external collaborations. He also served as Chief Scientific Officer for Antibacterial Research at Pfizer, leading discovery teams that produced eight drug development candidates, provided critical research support for several successful marketed antibiotics including Zithromax and Zyvox, and advanced a novel oxazolidinone (sutezolid) for tuberculosis into Phase 2 studies. A microbial geneticist by training, he began his professional career at the Warner-Lambert Company, where he integrated cutting-edge molecular-genetic approaches into a traditional antibacterial drug discovery program and established novel target discovery projects. His work there led to new insights into the mechanisms by which bacteria sense and respond to antibiotics and other environmental agents. Dr. Miller has served as a member of the Institute of Medicine’s Forum on Microbial Threats and is a scientific advisor to the CARB-X antibacterial funding initiative as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in tuberculosis drug discovery. He received his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the Albany Medical College and conducted post-doctoral studies in yeast genetics at the National Institutes of Health.