

Board of Directors
Brian Jamieson FCA (Non-Executive Chairman)
Donal O'Dwyer, BE, MBA (Non-Executive Deputy Chairman)
Professor Silviu Itescu, MBBS (Hons), FRACP, FACP, FACR (CEO, Managing Director)
Michael Spooner, BCom, ACA, MAICD (Non-Executive Director)
J. Kevin Buchi (Non-Executive Director)
Byron McAllister, B.Sc, M.Ag (Non-Executive Director) (Resigned on 29 November 2010)
Management and Key Consultants
Paul Rennie, BSc, MBM, MS (Chief Operating Officer)
Suzanne Lipe BSc (Hons) PhD, LLB (Vice President, Operations)
Jenni Pilcher CA, BBS (Chief Financial Officer & Company Secretary) (Appointed as Company Secretary on 1 January 2012)
Dr Donna L. Skerrett, MD, MS (Clinical and Regulatory Affairs)
Professor Peter Ghosh, BSc (Hons), PhD, DSc, FRACI, FRSC, CSc. (Vice President for Cartilage Regenerative Programs)
Julie Meldrum (Corporate Communications Director)
Kevin Hollingsworth, FCPA, FCMA (Company Secretary) (Resigned on 1 January 2012)
Scientific Advisory Board
Professor Silviu Itescu, MBBS (Hons), FRACP, FACP, FACR (Chairman)
Professor Richard E Gilbert, MBBS, PhD, FRACP (Member)
Professor Robert M Graham, FAA, MBBS (Hons), MD, FRACP, FACP, FAHA (Member)
Professor Stephen Graves, MBBS, D. Phil FRACS, FA, Orth A (Member)
Professor Henry Krum, MBBS, PhD, FRACP (Member)
Professor Joseph Lane, AB,MD (Member)
Board of Directors
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Non-Executive Chairman Brian Jamieson FCA Brian Jamieson was Chief Executive of Minter Ellison Melbourne and a partner of the Minter Ellison Revenue Group from 2002-2005. He retired as Chief Executive of Minter Ellison Melbourne on 31 December 2005. Prior to joining Minter Ellison, Mr Jamieson was Executive Officer at KPMG from 1998-2000, Managing Partner of KPMG Melbourne and Southern Regions from 1993-1998 and Chairman of KPMG Melbourne from 2001-2002. He was also a KPMG Board Member in Australia , and a member of the USA Management Committee. Mr Jamieson is a Non-Executive Director of Sigma Pharmaceuticals Limited, Oxiana Limited and HBOS Australia Pty Ltd. He is also a Director and Treasurer of Care Australia and the Bionic Ear Institute, and a Director of Veski, The Sir Robert Menzies Foundation, the Australian Council - Major Performing Arts Board and the Tattersall's George Adams Foundation. Mr Jamieson has over 30 years of experience in providing advice and audit services to a diverse range of public and large private companies. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia . |
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Non-Executive Deputy Chairman Donal O'Dwyer, BE, MBA Mr O'Dwyer has almost 20 years experience as a senior executive in the global cardiovascular and medical devices industries. From 2000 to 2003, he was worldwide president of Cordis Cardiology, the cardiology division of Johnson & Johnson's Cordis Corporation. Cordis is the world's largest manufacturer of innovative products for interventional medicine, minimally invasive computer-based imaging, and electrophysiology. In this role, Mr O'Dwyer led Cordis through the launch of the revolutionary Cypher drug eluting coronary stent technology, and saw the company take over number one market share of coronary stents worldwide. He directly supervised an increase in sales from $US500 million in 2000 to $US2 billion in 2003. Prior to joining Cordis in 1996, Mr O'Dwyer worked for 12 years with Baxter Healthcare, rising from plant manager in Ireland to president of the Cardiovascular Group, Europe , now Edwards Lifesciences. Mr O'Dwyer is a non-executive Director of Cochlear Limited and Sunshine Heart. |
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CEO, Managing Director Professor Silviu Itescu, MBBS (Hons), FRACP, FACP, FACR Professor Itescu is the Founder of Mesoblast Limited and Angioblast Systems, Inc. Most recently Director of Transplantation Immunology at New York 's Columbia University Medical Center , Professor Itescu has established an outstanding international reputation in the fields of stem cell biology, autoimmune diseases, organ transplantation and heart failure. His experiences range from laboratory research to new drug development and clinical evaluation. Professor Itescu pioneered novel approaches to the use of adult stem cells for the treatment of heart disease and is leading international collaborative trials in this area. Professor Itescu was an advisor on cell therapy for cardiovascular diseases to both the United States President's Council on Bioethics and the US FDA Biological Response Modifiers Advisory Committee (BRMAC). He has consulted for many international pharmaceutical companies and has been an advisor to biotechnology and health care investor groups. |
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Non-Executive Director Michael Spooner, BCom, ACA, MAICD Mr Spooner has an extensive network of relationships with investment firms and business communities across the globe, having spent the majority of the past 25 years living and working internationally. He has an outstanding track record in the rapid international commercialisation of high growth companies including within the medical application and commercial technology sectors. Most recently, Mr Spooner was Managing Director & CEO of Ventracor Limited where he led the transformation of a small Australian listed life sciences company into the second highest performing stock on the S&P/ASX 200 index in 2003. He was a Principal Partner and Director of Consulting Services with PriceWaterhouse Coopers (Coopers & Lybrand) in Hong Kong for seven years. Mr Spooner advises a number of high growth corporations and is a non-executive Director of Peplin Limited. |
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Non-Executive Director J. Kevin Buchi J. Kevin Buchi was promoted to Chief Executive Officer of global biopharmaceutical company, Cephalon, in 2010, after serving the company in other capacities for almost 20 years. Most recently, Mr Buchi served as Chief Operating Officer and managed the company's global sales and marketing functions, as well as product manufacturing, business development and investor relations. From 1996 to 2009, he served as Chief Financial Officer and, from 2004, head of business development for the company. Mr Buchi has played an instrumental role in the global growth of Cephalon through acquisitions and sound financial management. At various times in his career since joining Cephalon in 1991 as controller, Mr Buchi has had oversight of corporate finance, accounting, information systems, facilities, human resources and administration. Mr Buchi graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry. He was a synthetic organic chemist for the Eastman Kodak Company before going on to obtain a master's degree in management from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. He worked for a large public accounting firm before beginning his career in the pharmaceutical industry with E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company in 1983. Mr Buchi is a certified public accountant, and he serves on the board of directors of Celator Pharmaceuticals, Inc. located in Princeton, New Jersey. |
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Management and Key Consultants
| Chief Operating Officer Paul Rennie, BSc, MBM, MS Mr. Rennie has over 25 years experience in marketing and business development within the Australian biomedical and pharmaceutical industry. He was formerly Director of Business Development for Soltec, a wholly owned subsidiary of F H Faulding & Co., Ltd, with focus on developing improved pharmaceutical drug delivery systems. Previously, as Business Development Manager for the Biosciences Division of Bonlac, he led the commercialisation strategies and licensing negotiations between Bonlac and multinational global oral care and health care/nutritional companies, including Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, and SmithKlineBeecham, and successfully concluded licensing of Bonlac's CPP-ACP technology to Warner Lambert. Between 1990-1994 he held various positions with the global pharmaceutical company Merck Ltd, where as National Sales and Marketing Manager he was responsible for Australia-wide sales of pharmaceuticals, analytical reagents, environmental monitoring products, and scientific research products. In this capacity, Mr. Rennie implemented a new strategic plan which contributed to transforming Merck Australia from having a loss in 1993 to record sales and profits in 1996. |
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| Vice President, Operations Suzanne Lipe BSc (Hons), PhD, LLB Dr Lipe has strong development and commercial experience gained over almost 20 years in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. She has negotiated with centres, set up and managed preclinical and clinical trial programs, including IND multi-centre studies, and had regulatory affairs responsibility for several multinational companies. Through a strong commercial focus, she developed the strategy and managed the launch of new products on to the market, particularly through her senior roles with the former ICI (now AstraZeneca), Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (now Aventis) and CSL. Dr Lipe has been a Managing Director, CEO and Board member of three biotechnology start-up companies and for four years prior to joining Mesoblast, she was Chief Operating Officer at Norwood Immunology. She is a member of the Pharmaceuticals Partnerships Program Committee of the Innovation Board (AusIndustry). |
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| Chief Financial Officer & Company Secretary Jenni Pilcher CA, BBS Since qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse, Mrs Pilcher has worked in corporate and business financial roles for high profile international companies in pharmaceuticals, FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) and services. Before joining Mesoblast as Financial Controller in 2007, she spent six years with ASX 200 Company, Spotless Group, progressing through a variety of financial roles. Previously Mrs Pilcher worked in the finance teams at Cadbury Schweppes plc and international pharmaceutical group Medeva plc, both based in the United Kingdom. She was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Mesoblast in November 2007 and Company Secretary in January 2012. |
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| Clinical and Regulatory Affairs Dr Donna L. Skerrett, MD, MS Dr Skerrett has been involved in stem cell procurement, manipulation and transplantation for more than 10 years. She has most recently been Director of the Stem Cell Facilities at Weill-Cornell Medical Center in New York, and previously served as Associate Director of Transfusion Medicine at Columbia University's New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Dr Skerrett oversees clinical development of the antibody-based stem cell selection technology and in vitro culture processes, as well as the human clinical trial programs, while liaising closely with the FDA. She is an advisor to the New York State Department of Health on the progenitor cell committee and the governor's Council on Blood and Transfusion Services. Dr Skerrett has also been an adviser and committee member with the National Marrow Donor Program and the American Society of Hematology. |
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| Vice President for Cartilage Regenerative Programs Professor Peter Ghosh, BSc (Hons), PhD, DSc, FRACI, FRSC, CSc. Associate Professor Peter Ghosh is recognised as an international authority on osteoarthritis and intervertebral disc disease and has authored more than 400 books, papers and book chapters in these fields. In 1999, Professor Ghosh was elected President and Director of the Institute of Bone and Joint Research of the University of Sydney at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, Australia. For ten years he was a Board member of the US-based Osteoarthritis Research Society International and remains a member of the journal's Editorial Board and is on the editorial boards of the APLAR Journal of Rheumatology and Current Rheumatology Reviews. He is past president of the Australian and New Zealand Orthopaedic Research Society and the Matrix Biology Society of Australia and New Zealand and was elected a Life Member of the International Hyaluronan Research Society. Professor Ghosh is presently a board member and director of four Australian biotechnology companies and a consultant for several international pharmaceutical companies. |
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| Corporate Communications Director Julie Meldrum Winner of the League of American Communication Professionals Gold Magellan Award, Ms Meldrum has 30 years experience as a corporate communications and investor relations strategist, European foreign correspondent, political and business reporter and television and radio producer. She also served as a senior diplomat for 14 years promoting Australian policies and industries in the key markets of Japan , Hong Kong and Indonesia and has advised Prime Ministers, Cabinet Ministers and business leaders. Ms Meldrum previously worked in a similar role for Australian heart company, Ventracor Limited, where she devised and led the pivotal corporate communications and investor relations functions aimed at gaining access to international markets. She was appointed Corporate Communications Director of Mesoblast in September 2004. |
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Scientific Advisory Board
updated 9th February, 2012
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