Dr. Vinod Jaskula-Ranga

Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Vinod Jaskula-Ranga, Ph.D., is the Founder, President and CEO of Hunterian Medicine. Recognized as one of the few CRISPR “experts” by Johns Hopkins Medicine, he is the lead inventor of the CRISPR-AAV therapeutic delivery platform, as well as numerous other CRISPR-related or gene therapy-related technologies, improvements, and applications.

Dr. Jaskula-Ranga has participated on scientific advisory boards, institutional committees, U.S. regulatory agencies, NIH study section, and at scientific conferences worldwide, including as a featured speaker at the Aspen Health Festival and as a guest on the Genetics Unzipped podcast. Dr. Jaskula-Ranga’s research has been highlighted by Chemical & Engineering News, Johns Hopkins Medicine Press, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News, Biotechniques, Xconomy, and Genomeweb among others.

A graduate of the Biochemistry Cellular and Molecular Biology (BCMB) program at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Dr. Jaskula-Ranga trained in the laboratory of Dr. Carol Greider (winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize and the 2006 Albert Lasker Award) receiving his doctorate in Molecular Biology and Genetics. Dr. Jaskula-Ranga then completed a fellowship in Genetic Engineering and Molecular Ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Jaskula-Ranga holds a B.A. in Religion with a focus on Philosophy from Case Western Reserve University, where he was awarded the Ratner Family Prize in recognition of the “Highest Academic Achievement.”

Anand Somayaji

Chief Financial Officer

Anand Somayaji, CFA is Chief Financial Officer at Hunterian Medicine. In this role, Anand plays a key role in corporate strategy while overseeing the company’s finances, and investor relations.

Anand brings over 20 years of experience spanning investment management and investment banking. Previously, Anand managed AVR Asset Management’s New York office where he led the company’s biotech and event-driven investments for over 10 years. Earlier in his career, Anand worked in Stifel’s equity research group. His career started at M&T Bank’s Management Development program where he worked in Bank’s investor relations, and commercial and investment banking groups. Anand is a Chartered Financial Analyst and graduated from Case Western Reserve University with degrees in Economics and Psychology.

Robert Lorette

Chief Licensing Officer & Vice President of Business Development

Robert Lorette is Chief Licensing Officer and heads Hunterian’s business development efforts. He is President & CEO of Boston Life Science Advisors (BLSA). Prior to founding BLSA in 2009, Bob served as Chief Business Officer and Senior Vice President of Dynogen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage drug development company. From 1999 to 2002, Bob was Senior Vice President of Corporate Development for Boston Healthcare Associates, Inc., a firm providing management consulting and business advisory services to companies in the life sciences industry. From 1996 to 1999, he was Vice President of Corporate Development for UroMed Corporation. Before joining UroMed, Bob held several legal and general management positions with Bausch & Lomb Incorporated, a global eye care company. Prior to Bausch & Lomb, he practiced corporate law at a private firm. Bob received his bachelor’s degree in economics from the College of the Holy Cross, his law degree from Syracuse University College of Law and his master’s in public administration from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University. He also attended the Program for Management Development at the Harvard Business School.

James Silverglad

General Counsel

James Silverglad is a co-founder and serves as Hunterian's general counsel. James began his legal career at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in 2001 and led investment fund industry transactions at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP from 2005-2010. He then served as Associate General Counsel of CLS Bank International and was most recently legal counsel at Western Union. James holds a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law, an LL.M in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center, and a B.A. in Politics and Philosophy from New York University.

Dr. Michael Spellman

Head of Preclinical Development

Dr. Michael Spellman, Ph.D., is Head of Preclinical Development of Hunterian Medicine. Michael has over thirty years of drug development experience and has been an independent consultant since 2008. Prior to this, Michael served as Senior Vice President of Pharmaceutical Development at Dynogen Pharmaceuticals from 2002 to 2008. He was previously Vice President of Quality and Vice President of Process Development at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, and Vice President of Preclinical Development at Coulter Pharmaceuticals. From 1984 to 1998, Michael was employed at Genentech, where he led groups in analytical development and product characterization and then served as Director of Pharmacokinetics and Metabolism. Michael received his bachelor’s degree from Assumption College and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Michigan State University and performed postdoctoral research in the Department of Organic Chemistry at Stockholm University.

Dr. Daniel Yu

Dr. Daniel Yu, Ph.D., Scientist I, Assay Development, is supporting preclinical gene editing and gene therapy assays optimizations.  Dr. Yu joins Hunterian from Johns Hopkins, where he developed high-throughput approaches to dissect RNA and ribozyme function in Dr. Sarah Woodson’s lab.  Prior to graduate studies, Dr. Yu gained exposure to multiple rare diseases and clinical laboratory sciences at Sanofi (Genzyme).

Dr. Yu is graduate of the Cell, Molecular, Developmental Biology and Biophysics program at Johns Hopkins University where he received his Ph.D. from the Department of Biology and was a Thomas Hunt Morgan Fellow. Dr. Yu obtained a Master of Science in Molecular and Cell Biology and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the National Taiwan University, where he was Valedictorian and First Place in the graduating class.

Todd Hartman

Todd Hartman is a Data Scientist at Hunterian where he leverages recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and deep learning (DL) technologies.  Todd's work at Hunterian has lead to the discovery of novel promoters and he is an inventor on patent applications.  Prior to Hunterian, Todd researched genomic data and analysis with Dr. Moses Schanfield at the George Washington University Department of Forensic Sciences. Todd graduated with his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering with a concentration in Data Science and minor in Applied Math and Statistics from the Johns Hopkins University.  Todd received his M.S. in Biomedical Engineering with a concentration in Data Science from the Johns Hopkins University, receiving multiple national awards and honors for his academic achievements.

Mark Kelman

Mark Kelman, Laboratory Director, brings a wealth of operational expertise to Hunterian, where he oversees all laboratory operations, quality control, safety, and compliance at the laboratory facilities.  Mark joined Hunterian following over 26 years of managing the Ludwig Center for Cancer Genetics and Therapeutics at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute under the world-renowned researcher Dr. Bert Vogelstein, M.D.  Mark completed his undergraduate degree in Organizational Psychology from the Johns Hopkins University.