Steven L. Stroup, MD | CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, DIRECTOR OF U.S. MEDICAL RESEARCH

Dr. Steven L. Stroup, one of the founders of Bach Pharma, Inc, is currently serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors and as Chief Medical Officer. He is responsible for the overall direction of the company, and is involved in all ongoing studies relating to the Company’s Research and Development as the Director of U.S. Medical Research. Dr. Stroup provides medical oversight, expertise and leadership in the implementation of clinical trial programs. He works very closely with Bach Pharma’s Officers, Directors and Advisors as the company pursues its intensified focus on bringing Bach’s drug platform through to an Investigational New Drug (IND) for the therapeutic treatment of Gulf War Illness (GWI), as well as new, urgently needed therapeutics to help treat patients affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Stroup was a founder and past board member of both Protherics Limited (formerly Therapeutic Antibodies Inc.) and BSD Medical Inc. He is also a past member of the Board of Governors of the Hospital Corporation of America. Dr. Stroup retired as the Director of Radiation Oncology at Sarah Cannon Cancer Center in Nashville, since renamed PearlPoint Cancer Support Foundation Center, which he founded, and has been the Chairman and a Director of the Nashville-Davidson County Unit of the American Cancer Society. The PearlPoint Cancer Support Foundation Center, is a non-profit organization committed to providing guidance to cancer patients.

Dr. Stroup received his MD at the University of Illinois. He completed his residency in Radiation Oncology at Duke University Hospital. Dr. Stroup served as Major in the United States Air Force at Keesler Medical Center. He also served as Director of the Division of Radiation Oncology at Vanderbilt University, and he holds a degree in Marketing and Management from Southern Illinois University.

No stranger to military life, Dr. Stroup previously served as Major in the United States Air Force, at Keesler Medical Center. Stroup reported, “We are very proud of our results on the Department of Defense study on Gulf War Illness (GWI), and plan on completing studies with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.” In addition to GWI and other neuroimmunodegenerative diseases, Dr. Stroup continues to maintain interests in research in oncology, chemotherapy, radiation and closed head trauma.

C. Norman Spencer, MD | DIRECTOR

Dr. Norman Spencer is a Member of the Board of Directors at Bach Pharma, Inc. Dr. Spencer is a Diplomat for the American Academy of Pediatrics, as well as a member of the Tennessee Pediatric Society and member of Tennessee Medical Association and Sumner County Medical Society.

Dr. Spencer is the founding partner and medical director of Gallatin Children’s Clinic, Gallatin, Tennessee. He founded the clinic in 1982 and grew it to be a highly recognized pediatric practice. In 1996, he negotiated an equity partnership with Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Monroe Carroll Children's Hospital, creating a unique business model for pediatricians in the United States, whereby the physicians are the majority equity partners in the LLC with Vanderbilt. Under Dr. Spencer’s leadership it has now grown to a practice including twenty-five pediatric providers serving 29,000 patients in middle Tennessee from seven locations. In 1998, Dr. Spencer attended Vanderbilt University’s Owen School of Business Executive Program specializing in Management Principles for Healthcare.

Dr. Spencer completed his BA degree at Vanderbilt University majoring in Biology with minors in Chemistry and Psychology. He graduated with his MD from Vanderbilt University Medical School and continued his training at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital with an internship and residency. He was selected to serve as Chief Resident and Faculty Member of Pediatrics at Vanderbilt, 1979-1980. Dr. Spencer was appointed a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics in 1980 participating in the education of medical students and residents continuing through the present time. Since 1980, he has maintained hospital privileges at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital and since 1982 at Sumner Regional Medical Center in Gallatin, Tennessee. He served in various leadership positions within Sumner Regional Medical Center, including Chief of Staff, Chairman of the Department of OB-Peds, and as Chairperson of Medical Staff Quality Activities for the past 14 years.

Throughout his long association with Vanderbilt’s Monroe Carroll Children’s Hospital, Dr. Spencer has participated in various clinical research programs, most recently, “Inspire”, a National Institutes of Health study conducted by the Department of Pulmonology.

In addition to his many responsibilities professionally, Dr. Spencer has written several novels, two of which have been published. The Beaver Patrol in 1996 explores the psychology of kidnapping. FLU, published in 2011, explores the survivability of pandemic avian influenza. Dr. Spencer is also passionate about service and giving back to the community. Being an Eagle Scout himself, he has served as Troop Committee Chairman for 23 years in the troop where his three sons achieved rank of Eagle Scout. For the past 15 years, through his Church and Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM.org), he has served as Medical Director on annual mission trips to Mexico and the Dominican Republic. His medical teams set up “clinics”in rural villages seeing both adults and children, often as many as 700 patients in a week.

Mark O. Henry, CPA | TREASURER, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, ACTING CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Mark Henry, a co-founder of Bach Pharma, Inc. currently serves as Chief Financial Officer, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Treasurer. He has been a member of the Board of Directors at Bach Pharma since its inception. Mr. Henry oversees all day-to-day operations of the company and is the key contact with all external collaborators and partners of the company, in the areas of research, commercial interests, academic studies and government grants and studies.

Mark started his accounting career as a CPA with Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. (KPMG) in the international department. Mark served as a Vice President of State Street Bank in Boston where he headed up the shareholder accounting department for many of the Bank’s major mutual funds. Mark has been a commercial pilot for 35 years and is the current holder of two USA National Aeronautical Association and two world speed records. In 1985, Mark was the recipient of the first St Augustine Award ever bestowed by Merrimack College OSA.

Mark joined Bach in 2001 after 27 years as Treasurer for CFI, Inc. Mark has developed several successful businesses, including a large regional CPA firm, a computer service bureau and two businesses in the aircraft industry. Mark has co-invented several patents, and has a number of patent applications pending.

As an undergraduate at Merrimack College, Mark was awarded the Accounting Society Achievement Award, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree. Mark served two terms on the Board of Trustees at Merrimack College and at Lawrence General Hospital.

Daniel Cato, MS, MBA | DIRECTOR, VICE PRESIDENT OF REGULATORY AFFAIRS

Mr. Daniel Cato has 30 years of experience in all phases of activities involved in the development and management of Clinical Trials. Mr. Cato was previously Director and Vice President of Project Operations for Cato Research Ltd., a Contract Research Organization (CRO) located in Durham, North Carolina. He was also the Managing Director for Cato’s Washington bureau, and was responsible for IT Strategy and Operations, Facilities, and Administrative Services. His close work with the Washington bureau has provided close contact and familiarity with the FDA and other Federal US agencies essential for the approval of new drug applications.
Mr. Cato learned the business from the ground up, starting as a computer technician developing early stage project plans, budgets and proposals for product development, Phase 1 through Phase 3 clinical trials, through to late stage clinical trial monitoring and analysis. He continued to direct and develop the overall networking plan for Cato Research including systems for internal operations of Finance, Human Resources, Network Operations and Business Development. Mr. Cato became managing director of their Washington, D.C. metro office, and participated in all contract negotiations and helped plan for strategic growth of the company. He recently left Cato Research after the family owned company was bought out by a strategic investment partnership.
Mr. Cato currently works as a consultant to help other companies develop and bring their drug products to market. After previously serving at Bach Pharma, Inc. on the Board of Directors and as President, Mr. Cato currently serves on the Board of Directors and as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. With his extensive experience in pharmaceutical clinical trial management, systems, and knowledge of worldwide regulatory affairs, Mr. Cato brings the leadership necessary to complete Bach's international development goals. In addition, he continues to serve as a Director and Secretary/Treasurer of the RTP Federal Credit Union of North Carolina. Mr. Cato received his BS and MS in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina in 1991, and his MBA in 2009 from Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, Fuqua School of Business Global Executive Program, with an emphasis in health care.

Valeri Melekhov, MS, MBA | VICE PRESIDENT, DEVELOPMENT AND MANUFACTURING

Valeri Melekhov is a Pharma industry veteran of over 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry, with broad experience in product licensing, product and business development, alliance management, marketing and sales as well as operations management. He has exceptional abilities to conceive, plan, develop and executecomplex projects. Multi-lingual, he is a voracious learner with a solid complementary core of knowledge in pharma industry, technology, and in economics.

Valeri currently serves on the Advisory Boards of two medical manufacturing companies in the Greater New York City Area. He also serves as President of Coryn Pharmaceuticals LLC, a start-up company dedicated to the development of drug addiction treatment medicines and non-addictive pain management drugs, in collaboration with an international drug development team of pharmaceutical scientists and academics in the U.S., Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. In addition, Valeri is currently the CEO and Founder of Aquarius Ventures LLC, providing consulting services to clients in the pharmaceutical industry, including the development of new drug products specializing in transdermal and topical formulations, as well as drug products based on natural and synthetic cannabinoids.

Valeri’s previous experience included over 15 years as Director of Business Development for Rhodes Technologies, a subsidiary of Purdue Pharma LP, which specializes in controlled drug substance manufacturing, including synthetic and semisynthetic opioids and synthetic cannabinoids. Prior to that, Valeri spent over four years with Purdue Pharma and its subsidiaries developing innovative technologies and proprietary fiber optic software for dissolution testing of different dosage forms, after initially serving as Director, Licensing and Business Development, responsible for assessing the business viability and developing the business plan establishing the new technology.

Valeri earned his MS of Chemical Technology at Lomonosov University for Fine Chemical Technology (Moscow, Russia) in 1973, and his MBA, Marketing and Finance at the University of Connecticut in 2002. During the interim, Valeri continued his studies as the job required, and earned his Certified IP Manager, IP Management and Technology Licensing degree from the National Institute of Intellectual Property in 1977, followed by an MS in Management of International Trade Operations from the National Academy of Foreign Trade in 1988.

Valeri and his wife reside in the Metropolitan Boston area in Massachusetts.

Joanne M. Ajmo, BS, MS, PHD | DIRECTOR OF PRE-CLINICAL AND CLINICAL RESEARCH

Dr. Joanne M. Ajmo is a Science and Research Advisor at Bach Pharma, Inc. Dr. Ajmo oversees all research at Bach Pharma, and is spearheading Bach’s current international project on COVID-19.

She currently holds a Biology Faculty position at Valencia College in Kissimmee, Florida, after previously serving as Adjunct Professor at St. Petersburg College for the Biological Sciences.

Dr. Ajmo received her BS in Microbiology at the University of Florida where she also participated in research at the McKnight Brain Institute involving neonatal exposure to ethanol in relation to fetal alcohol syndrome. She holds her MS and PhD in Neuropharmacology from the University of South Florida, and has over 27 published, peer-reviewed papers.

In addition, Dr. Ajmo completed two postdoctoral appointments at the University of South Florida from 2011 through 2015. She first studied the signaling pathways in metabolic syndrome, including fatty liver disease, obesity, and diabetes.

Jamie Jamitkowski, BA, MMH | DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS

Jamie Jamitkowski is the Director of Marketing and Communications of Bach Pharma, Inc., using his broad experience in product and business development, alliance management, marketing and sales as well as operations and management training. He has exceptional abilities to conceive, plan, and develop business and brand expansion, marketing, merchandising and staff development and employee training programs.

Although new to the pharmaceutical industry, Jamie applies techniques learned from the ground up running his family owned retail businesses to expanded retail, commercial, training and motivational consulting areas using the latest multi-media tools and processes. His previous experience included over 15 years as owner of his expanded family owned and operated consulting firm, by expanding brands and maximizing productivity.

Jamie graduated from Ithaca College with a BA in Communications as well as a BA in Mass Communication/Media Studies, then went on to earn his MMH in Hospitality Management at Cornell University.