Ms. Jones has over 30 years of experience as a medical technology executive and entrepreneur in large and small companies and academia. With Rebiotix as her first foray into biotechnology, Lee is leading a fast-paced effort to develop a new way of treating disease through Microbiota Restoration Therapy (MRT). The company’s first MRT is a biologic drug targeted at recurrent Clostridium difficile infection.

Before joining Rebiotix, Ms. Jones was the Chief Administrative Officer of the Schulze Diabetes Institute at the University of Minnesota. She is also the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Inlet Medical, a privately held medical device company that she grew to profitability prior to its sale to CooperSurgical in 2006. Prior to Inlet, she spent 14 years at Medtronic where she developed and commercialized several innovative products, including InterStim – a surgically implanted neurostimulation device for urinary incontinence that opened up new markets for the company.

Ms. Jones has served on several public and private boards and is currently on the board of Electromed Inc., on the University of Minnesota’s Office of Technology Commercialization advisory board, and on the board of Medical Alley Association, an industry association. She is a member of the Sofia Angel Investment Fund and is an advisor to several small companies. Ms. Jones has a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and an Executive Management degree from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. She currently serves as the Senior Advisor for Ferring for the development and advancement of the company’s microbiome platform.

Prior to joining Rebiotix/Ferring, Dr. Blount coordinated translational urologic oncology research for the Yale Cancer Center. Previously, he was a cofounder and the Director of Biology at BioRelix, a venture-backed Connecticut biotech that developed new antibiotics to target structured bacterial messenger RNAs. At BioRelix, Dr. Blount led a combined force of internal scientists and external resources that delivered development candidates for treating Clostridioides difficile infections. Dr. Blount received his undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of Arkansas and earned a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Colorado Boulder, after which he completed an NIH post-doctoral fellowship at the University of California San Diego.

Prior to joining Rebiotix, Dr. Bancke spent 10 years at Upsher-Smith Laboratories, leading clinical trials and research strategy, as well as cross-functional development programs for both ANDA and NDA products.  Most recently, she was the Clinical and Development Program Lead at Proximagen, a privately-held biotech company focused on small molecule drug discovery and development.  At Proximagen, Dr. Bancke led an early-phase neuro-oncology program, as well as a late-stage epilepsy product preparing for NDA submission. Dr. Bancke received her undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and earned a PharmD from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, after which she completed a post-doctoral fellowship in clinical research.

In her career, Ms. Timm was involved in the turnaround of a nearly bankrupt company, working with financial institutions, regulatory agencies and vendors in the process. Ms. Timm’s expertise includes strategic planning, financial reporting, annual audits, internal/external sales force management and mergers and acquisitions. She specializes in initiatives to streamline processes and increase the efficiency of business systems to improve bottom line results.

Prior to joining Rebiotix/Ferring, Dr. Kuphal worked within Oncology Regulatory Science and Strategy at AstraZeneca, where she played a major role in AstraZeneca’s first success in FDA’s Real Time Oncology Review (RTOR) and “Orbis” programs, evidenced by the approval of Calquence within 2 months of submission. She also served as a Portfolio Manager within Biologics Development at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS). Dr. Kuphal has held leadership positions at Cote Orphan Consulting (a boutique regulatory consulting service for orphan-based products), Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals (now Leadiant Biosciences), and Cardinal Health Specialty (Regulatory) Services. Dr. Kuphal obtained her MBA from The George Washington University, with an emphasis in business analytics, and currently holds a PMP certification from the Project Management Institute. She completed her PhD from the University of Kansas in Exercise Physiology, with post-doctoral training at the University of Missouri-Kansas City in Pharmacology.

Mr. Willard has led commercial teams for pre-launch, launch, and co-promotion initiatives for both large and small companies in the pharmaceutical and biotech arenas, as well as providing commercial strategy to improve a company’s value. Additionally, Mr. Willard’s experience includes strategic brand planning, business development, market research, and product platform strategy as part of pre-approval packages, new market entries and product life cycle management.

Mr. Willard received his undergraduate degree in Microbiology and Immunology from Purdue University, as well as his MBA in Marketing/Corporate Strategy from Clemson University.