Management

Dr. Narayanan 'Suri' Surendran

Founder & CSO

Suri has a B. Pharm (Hons) from BITS Pilani, India and PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Arizona, Tucson. He has over 24 years of experience in drug discovery and development with 3 patents, 20+ publications and 40+ presentations in various scientific conferences. He is the inventor of the granted US patent on the technology being developed by Ayma Therapeutics. His primary area of expertise is Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics (DMPK). He is also the founder of RythRx Therapeutics LLC, an Ann Arbor based company focused on improving blood and platelet storage.

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Ramesh Gopalan

Dr. Narayanan 'Suri' Surendran

Co-Founder, CEO / CTO

Mr. Ramesh Gopalan is also the Founder/President of Cognitive Mantra Inc. He has over 20 years of experience in delivering enterprise technology solutions. He is currently focused on developing advanced AI and Cognitive Computing solutions for the Pharma and Life Sciences industry.

Dr. Qais Abu Ali

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Abu Ali, MD, FACMG is a board-certified geneticist-physician, with over 20 years of experience in clinical practice, molecular diagnostics, clinical trials, and drug development. In 2020, he joined Ayma Therapeutics executive team as the chief medical officer.
Previously of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Abu Ali held multiple positions in industry with advancing leadership roles from medical director to vice president to chief genomics and medical officer in various pharmaceuticals and biotechnology companies including GeneDx, Ultragenyx, BridgeBio, Zogenix and others. Dr. Abu Ali oversaw development of multiple successful global Phase 1-4 programs receiving approvals from the FDA and EMA.
Dr. Abu Ali received his medical degree from the University of Jordan, internal medicine residency from Henry Ford Hospital, and fellowships in both clinical genetics and molecular genetics from the National Institutes of Health.

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Robert Dickey

Dr. Qais Abu Ali

Chief Financial Officer / Advisor

Rob Dickey is the Managing Director at Foresite Advisors, a financial advisory firm for life science companies. He has more than 25 years of experience, primarily as a CFO or a Board member, leading life science and medical device companies, both private and public, ranging from early-stage development to commercial operations. Prior to becoming an advisor, he served as full time CFO for multiple companies and before that spent 18 years in investment banking, mostly at Lehman Brothers. Rob holds an AB from Princeton University and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

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Advisory Board

Adeoye Olukotun MD, MPH, FACC

Senior Physician Executive

Dr. Olukotun has over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He is currently the CEO of CR Strategies, LLC, a clinical research and development consulting firm. Prior to this, he was the CEO of Epigen Pharma, Vice Chairman of Cardiovax Inc., a biotech company developing innovative cardiovascular therapies, Co-founder and CMO of VIA Pharmaceuticals, , CMO of Mallinckrodt, Inc. He has held executive roles at BMS and other companies.

Iftikhar Kullo MD

Clinician

Dr. Iftikhar J. Kullo is at Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN. His research interests include biomarkers of cardiovascular risk. Through his Atherosclerosis and Lipid Genomics Laboratory, Dr. Kullo is investigating the use of new methodologies in refining cardiovascular risk stratification. These include genetic markers, circulating biomarkers, and noninvasive tests of arterial function and structure.

Michael Boffa PhD

Biochemistry and Pharmacology

Dr. Boffa received his doctorate from Queen’s University, Canada and is currently Associate Professor at the Robart’s Research Institute, Ontario. His research group is pursuing studies of structure/function relationships in TAFI, using molecular biological and protein biochemical approaches. They have made key contributions to the understanding of the mechanisms of regulation of the gene encoding TAFI, and continue to pursue new avenues of research in this area

Martin Bogsrud MD, PhD

Clinician

Dr. Bogsrud is a member of Atherosclerosis and Lipidology group at the Department of Endocrinology, Morbid Obesity and Preventive Medicine at Oslo University Hospital Martin has significant research and clinical experience in Familial Hypercholesterolemia, a genetic lipid disorder that predisposes individuals for a high risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD).

Marlys Koschinsky PhD

Biochemistry and Pharmacology

Dr. Koschinsky received her doctorate in Molecular Genetics of Human Ceruloplasmin from the University of British Columbia and is presently Professor at the Department of Physiology & Pharmacology, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. Dr. Koschinsky’s research focuses primarily on Lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)), a causal risk factor for coronary heart disease.

Somanath Shenoy PhD, FAHA

Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics

Dr. Shenoy is a Professor at the University of Georgia, Augusta. His research laboratory has is pursuing the development of new and innovative therapeutics for acute lung injury (ALI), acute respiratory disease syndrome (ARDS), angiogenesis and fibrosis dependent clinical conditions as well as for cancers of the prostate, bladder and colon. His primary focus of our research is on Protein kinase B (Akt), a serine-threonine kinase, and associated signaling partners on mediating these processes.

Andrea Sikora Newsome BCPS, BCCCP

Critical Care Pharmacist

Andrea Sikora Newsome is a Critical care pharmacist and clinical assistant professor at the College of Pharmacy, University of Georgia. Dr. Newsome’s research interests include the vascular and hemodynamic alterations in critical illness and critical care pharmacy practice.