Board & Management
Scroll or use the links below to view the various sectors within Regeneus.
Chairman
John Martin is the chairman of Regeneus and has been a director since 2009. He has over 20 years corporate and commercial experience including being a CEO and director of ASX listed and private companies and a corporate partner of a top-tier law firm. He has advised and worked with emerging technology and high-growth companies for over 15 years including being a co-founder and director of biotech spin-outs from Macquarie University, Proteome Systems and BTF. John is the former CEO of ASX listed Primelife Corporation and Babcock & Brown Communities. He is a former executive partner of the corporate practice at Allens where he specialised in M&A, fundraising, and corporate and commercial advice across a wide range of industries. He is currently principal of The Channel Group and Channel Ventures, chairman of Ai-Media and a director of Eagle Eye Solutions (Asia Pacific).
CEO
Dr Graham Vesey is a co-founder and inaugural CEO of Regeneus. Graham is a successful biotechnology entrepreneur, technology innovator and inventor on valuable international patents in the biotechnology field and a well-recognised scientist. Prior to co-founding Regeneus, Graham was a co-founder and executive director of BTF, a successful Sydney-based biotechnology company that is a leader in the field of producing innovative microbiological testing products for pharmaceutical and food production and environmental testing markets. ln September 2007, after 7 years of rapid sales growth, BTF was acquired by French multinational diagnostic company bioMerieux. Graham is an adjunct professor at Macquarie University and a Senior Research Fellow at the University of NSW.
Thomas Mechtersheimer is a co-founder and non-executive director of the Company. He is a Senior Vice President, South Asia Pacific of Fresenius Medical Care, a US$12 billion global leader in healthcare services and technology. His input to the Company is that of a private investor with business connections in Asian, USA and European firms, to the NSW and Federal governments at the healthcare level and to the local and international media. Thomas was educated in Europe and has experience in building and leading businesses in Europe and Asia. Thomas holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering, a Master of International Marketing and Foreign Trade and is a Fellow of AICD (Australian Institute of Company Directors). He has recently completed the “Chairman and Leadership in the Boardroom” course at the AICD.
Associate Professor Ben Herbert is a co-founder and non-executive director of the Company. Dr Herbert is a Vice-Chancellor's Innovation Fellow at Macquarie University. Prior to this, he was Director of the Proteomics Technology Centre of Expertise at the University of Technology, Sydney. He was a co-founder of Proteome Systems (PSL) and worked at PSL for 7 years - from start-up to 3 years after the public listing of PSL. Ben was a key member of the team that set up the Australian Proteome Analysis Facility (APAF) at Macquarie University and was the APAF scientist responsible for a commercial development of new protein analysis technologies with Bio-Rad. Ben has developed and patented intellectual property centred on novel methods for protein extraction, sample preparation, fractionation and electrophoresis. Ben leads the adipose-derived cell research collaboration activities with Regeneus at Macquarie University.
Professor Marc Wilkins is a co-founder and non-executive director of the Company. Dr Wilkins is Professor of Systems Biology at the University of New South Wales. He co-founded the biotechnology company Proteome Systems in 1999 where he was the Vice President of Bioinformatics (1999-2004) and then Head of Proteomics (2004-2005). He established and managed the company’s Global Strategic Alliance with IBM. He currently serves on scientific advisory boards for the ARC Centre of Excellence in Bioinformatics, the Australian Proteomics Computing Facility (APCF) and the UNSW Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry Facility (BMSF). Marc is an editor of PROTEOMICS journal. He lectures in the area of proteomics, biochemistry and biotechnology commercialisation. Marc is recognised for developing the concept of the “proteome“ and coined the term. His seminal publications on proteomics, including co-authoring and co-editing the first book on proteomics, were major contributors to the establishment of the field of proteome research, which is now a major international field of endeavour.
Dr Dror Ben-Ami is an ecologist with BA from UC Santa Cruz, USA, Masters Qualifying Diploma and PhD from the University of New South Wales, Australia. Dror is a research fellow at the University of Technology Sydney and part of the investment team at Sherman Group Pty Ltd, specialising in cleantech and biotech technologies. The Sherman Group has been supporting research and application development in the fields of Adipose and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for over three years.
Head of Human Health
Dr Richard Lilischkis is Head of the Human Health business unit. After a sucessful career in cell biology research in Germany and Australia, he left his position as Associate Professor (Privatdozent) of Cell Biology at Aachen University, Germany, and joined Dr Graham Vesey at BTF. Richard built BTF’s European business from scratch, generating a high reputation of BTF’s products amongst many major multinational pharmaceutical companies, resulting in substantial sales growth in Europe and internationally. Richard is responsible for Regeneus’ human business by managing a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial with leading rheumatologists in Australia and by-medical doctors of the highest reputation to work with Regeneus. His experience and knowledge in biomedical sciences gives him credibility in the medical community and his international business development experience enables him to successfully drive clinical outcomes to commercial success.
Head of Animal Health
Duncan Thomson is the Head of the Animal Health business unit. He is a trained veterinarian with extensive practical experience in Australia and the UK. Upon completion of his MBA he worked for Novartis Animal Health in Switzerland, the US and Australia in senior strategic marketing and sales roles. Duncan has built sales and marketing teams in the US and Australia and achieved strong sales growth for a variety of newly launched and established vet products. He is now responsible for the Regeneus vet team.
Chief Veterinary Advisor
Dr Tony Batterham is the Chief Veterinary Advisor of the Company and provides advice and assistance with the clinical trials for the development of new veterinary products. Tony graduated from Sydney University in 1996, then joined Gloucester Veterinary Hospital. In 1998 he took up an equine internship at Sydney University Veterinary Centre Camden, and attained his DipVetClinStud. Tony has been a director of Quirindi Veterinary Clinic (QVC) since 2003 and is a director of Quirindi Feedlot Services (QFS) which provides veterinary services to over 70% of Australia's feedlot cattle. He has recently established Quipolly Equine Centre which provides the Hunter Valley with state-of-the-art breeding services such as artificial insemination, embryo transplantation and semen storage.