Our Board
Our Board of Directors is robust with scientific and entrepreneurial experience.
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Mark Kessel is the Chairman of the Particles for Humanity Board of Directors. Mr. Kessel is also Chairman of the Board of FIND, a global non-profit accelerating the development and delivery of diagnostic tests for poverty-related diseases. He has also served as a director of the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development. He was formerly the managing partner of Shearman & Sterling, with day-to-day operating responsibility. He co-founded Symphony Capital LLC, a private equity firm investing in the clinical development programs of biopharmaceutical companies, and is widely recognized as a leader in structuring product development investments for the biopharmaceutical industry. He has also served as a director of Dynavax Technologies Corporation, OXiGENE, Inc., Antigenics, Inc., Organovo Holdings, Inc., Heller Financial, Inc., Harrods (UK) Limited, and the Biotechnology Industry Organization.
Chairman
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Sherri is the CEO and a Co-Founder of Particles for Humanity. She has more than 20 years of experience leading private as well as public companies, with strong experience in translating academic research to development, overseeing all phases of product development, and attracting the diverse talent and financial resources required for success. She has raised more than $300 million, including venture capital, an initial public offering (IPO), various public equity transactions, international partnerships, and joint ventures. She has recruited and retained senior management who subsequently became CEO’s or members of the National Academy of Engineering.
CEO, Particles for Humanity
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Robert Langer is one of 11 Institute Professors at MIT, the highest honor that can be awarded to a faculty member. He is the most cited engineer in history and has published over 1,500 peer-reviewed articles. He also holds more than 1,400 issued and pending patents worldwide which have been licensed or sublicensed to more than 400 pharmaceutical, chemical, biotechnology, and medical device companies. Dr. Langer has received more than 220 major awards. He is one of 3 recipients of both the United States National Medal of Science (2006) and the United States National Medal of Technology and Innovation (2011), which he received from former Presidents Bush and Obama respectively.
Institute Professor, MIT
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Dr. Ana Jaklenec is a Principal Research Scientist and PI at Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. Ana researches the controlled delivery of therapeutics, with a focus on technologies for developing world applications. Dr. Jaklenec was elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows in 2022 for her work in controlled delivery of vaccines and heat-stable micronutrients for global health. She was also elected to the Controlled Release Society (CRS) College of Fellows in 2022 for her research at the interface of engineering and immunology. She has published more than 35 peer-reviewed articles and over 30 issued and pending patents worldwide. Dr. Jaklenec has received the Ruth L. Kirchstein National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Health. She is a member of the Biomedical Engineering Society, the Controlled Release Society, and the Society of Biomaterials.
Principal Research Scientist, MIT
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Andrew Jack has worked as a journalist for the Financial Times since 1990, currently as global education editor. He led FT’s coverage that won the communications award of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in 2011. He received the 2013 media award of the European Organisation for Rare Diseases; First Prize in the Stop TB Award for excellence in reporting for 2010; and a Kaiser Family Foundation mini-fellowship in global health reporting in 2008. He has been an Honorary Associate Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine as well as a Visiting Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism in Oxford. He is on the board of the Foundation for Innovative Diagnostics, which develops affordable diagnostics for diseases in low-income countries.
Global Education Editor, Financial Times
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Dr. Sall is the CEO of Institut Pasteur de Dakar in Senegal. He was named by Fortune as one of the World’s 25 Greatest Leaders: Heroes of the Pandemic for his work to expand COVID-19 testing capacity by developing a point-of-care device that offers results in 10 minutes, costs only $1, and is manufactured in Senegal. He is a virologist and an expert on epidemics and global security who has worked all over the world fighting epidemics ranging from Ebola to Zika to COVID-19. He was awarded the Grand Prix of the President of the Republic of Senegal for the sciences in 2011 and the UNESCO Prize for the Life Sciences in 2015 for his research. Dr. Sall sits on several scientific boards including the Foundation for Innovative and New Diagnostics in Geneva, the Medical Research Unit of Gambia, and the African Society of Medical Laboratories.
CEO, Institut Pasteur de Dakar
Our Advisory Board
Our Advisory Board brings significant experience in diverse fields from around the world.
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Kul Chandra Gautam is the former Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF and Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. Over three decades, he served with UNICEF in leadership positions in New York, Haiti, and throughout Asia. He has extensive experience in international diplomacy, development cooperation and humanitarian assistance. He is the former Chair of Nutrition International (previously Micronutrient Initiative), and a former board member at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunization. Currently, Gautam serves on the boards and advisory committees of several organizations dealing with poverty reduction, inter-faith cooperation, global health, education, and woman’s and children’s rights.
Advisory Board Member
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M.G. Venkatesh Mannar’s leadership on iodization and multiple fortification of salt has been scaled to benefit billions worldwide. He is the former President of Nutrition International (previously the Micronutrient Initiative), where he directed work on cost-effective and sustainable solutions to address micronutrient deficiencies. Mannar focuses on food fortification, vitamin A supplementation, and scaling biofortified foods. He has co-authored over 100 articles in leading nutrition journals and is the co-editor of ‘Food Fortification in a Globalized World’. Mannar is an Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Global Engineering at the University of Toronto. Mannar was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s greatest civilian honors, for his leadership in the global fight against micronutrient deficiency.
Advisory Board Member
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Gene Walther, joined the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in November 2010 as Former Deputy Director – Diagnostics. Before joining the foundation, Walther worked in the Venture Capital industry with Bay City Capital and as Executive Chairman for one of their investment companies, GenturaDx. Walther has over two decades of experience in the health care field. Walther was President of Novartis Diagnostics directing global operations for an $800+ million business focused in blood testing and diagnostics. He has held senior leadership positions at Gen-Probe, Abbott Laboratories and American Hospital Supply in the area of global commercial operations.
Advisory Board Member
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Uwa Osa-Oboh is the Head, Corporate Development at Capital Alliance Nigeria, a member of the African Capital Alliance (ACA) group, an investment management firm working across Africa. Throughout her career, she has worked as a lawyer, banker, and management consultant. Formerly, she was CEO of ReStraL, a research, strategy and leadership-development consulting firm working with corporations and government agencies. Osa-Oboh is on the board of the Africa Venture Philanthropy Alliance; the Impact Investors Foundation of Nigeria; and the African Leadership Initiative – West Africa (ALI-WA). She is also a fellow of ALI-WA, an offshoot of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Advisory Board Member
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Liz brings 30 years of experience formulating and operationalizing breakthrough strategies for some of the world’s leading corporations and non-profit organizations. She served over 10 years in leadership roles with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, including India Country Director for Health and Program CFO for the foundation’s Global Health Division. Previously, Liz was a Principal at Bain & Company and she led the International Finance Corporation’s financial services sector advisory practice for former Soviet republics.
Advisory Board Member
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Adedotun Sulaiman has served on or chaired many boards, including Absa (formerly Barclays) Nigeria, SecureID Ltd, Interswitch Ltd, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Sundry Foods Limited, and Parthian Partners Limited. The Nigeria government appointed him as Chairman of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, where he oversaw the development of the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance in 2018. He had a long career at Accenture Nigeria, retiring as Chairman and Country Managing Director. He is active in venture capital investing acting as an adviser to promising young entrepreneurs. He is a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) of Nigeria, a national honor awarded to individuals who have shown remarkable service and commitment to Nigeria.
Advisory Board Member
Our Employees & Consultants
Our full time employees are supported by expert consultants from around the world.
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Sherri is CEO and a co-Founder of Particles for Humanity, She has more than 20 years of experience leading private as well as public companies, with strong experience in translating academic research to product development and attracting the diverse talent and financial resources required for success. She raised more than $300 million, including venture capital, an initial public offering (IPO), various public equity transactions, international partnerships and joint ventures, and she recruited and retained senior management who subsequently became CEO’s or a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Sherri began her career in venture capital, first at Inco Venture Capital Management and then Aegis Venture Funds, before becoming CEO and board member at Neomorphics, where she led the translation of research at Boston Children’s Hospital and MIT into product development, and led partnering discussions that resulted in significant financial support for the technology and a successful exit for investors. Subsequently she co-founded Acusphere, and under her leadership, the company grew to more than 100 employees with four drug candidates that entered human clinical trials and one that completed Phase 3 trials and New Drug Application (NDA) and Marketing Authorisation Application (MAA) processes in the US and Europe. She oversaw the company’s transition from venture capital-backed private status, to becoming publicly-traded company after its IPO and then private again through a venture capital financing.
After 20 years with Acusphere, she transitioned from the CEO role and took a sabbatical year to work on a documentary about educational change that premiered at Sundance Film Festival. She then became Senior Advisor to social entrepreneurs at a non-profit education company and began work at MIT on the technology to eradicate malnutrition in the developing world that became Particles for Humanity. Ms. Oberg was a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and a Mass High Tech All-Star. For eight years, she served on the Board of Trustees at Dartmouth College, where she was Chair of the Audit Committee. She received an AB from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business.
CEO and President
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Don is Chief Technical Officer and co-Founder of Particles for Humanity. He is an accomplished executive with more than 20 years of start-up experience in medical devices and pharmaceutical development. Don is an expert in microencapsulation and has developed particle-based drug delivery systems for oral, inhaled, and parenteral administration. He is a creative engineer and problem solver, with a track record of innovative thinking backed by more than 50 US patents.
Before joining PFH, Dr. Chickering held positions of Chief Operating Officer at XTuit, Vice President of Engineering at Seventh Sense Biosystems, Vice President of Technical Operations at Acusphere, and Project Leader of the Therapeutic Delivery Systems group at Sulzer Carbomedics. Over his career, Don has transferred numerous products from academic labs to industrial settings, scaled processes over 10,000-fold, and led development and manufacturing activities resulting in INDs, 510ks, ISO 13845 certification, CE mark approval, and an NDA.
Don was the recipient of the American Association of Medical Instrumentation Young Investigator Award and the Boston Business Journal's 40 Under 40 Award. Additionally, one of his innovative product designs received a Gold Medal from The Edison Awards™ in the Science and Medicine - Diagnostic Aids Segment.
Don is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineers (AIMBE), which honors the most accomplished and distinguished medical and biological engineers responsible for innovation and discovery. Don has served on the Northeastern University Industrial Advisory Board for the Chemical Engineering Department and as a technical advisor to numerous start-up companies.
Dr. Chickering holds a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and earned his Ph.D. from Brown University's Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Biotechnology.
Chief Technical Officer
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Judith brings almost a decade of strategy, finance, and development experience to the firm. She joins Particles for Humanity from Seed Health, Inc., where she worked to develop their finance and operations capabilities. She began her career at the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee before spending several years in management consulting at Fidelity Investments and The Boston Consulting Group. Her management consulting work spanned go-to-market strategy, organizational design, international development, and public policy efforts.
Judith received her MBA from The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania and her MPA from The Kennedy School at Harvard University. At HKS, she completed an independent study on innovations in financing of humanitarian aid and coursework in international affairs. She received a BA from Cornell University in Government and Economics, with a concentration in Middle Eastern Studies.
Director, Business Development
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Sam is a biomedical engineer with experience in formulation development and process engineering at startup biotech companies. Sam has spent nearly a decade designing, performing, and analyzing scientific experiments, whether internal or outsourced, and manages technical activity planning and execution at PFH.
Before joining PFH, Sam was a formulation development scientist at Tarveda Therapeutics and a senior process engineer at XTuit Pharmaceuticals. Sam’s career has focused on transforming lab procedures into manufacturing processes, with a particular focus on lyophilization and formulation development of parenteral drugs.
Prior to working in industry, Sam conducted cell culture-based tissue engineering research in an academic setting. Her work focused on investigating cell responses to changes in the mechanical properties of in vitro substrates to understand potential modes of peripheral nerve repair.
Sam holds both a B.S. and M.S. in biomedical engineering from Brown University.
Director, Research, Development & Program Management
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Haisong serves the Particles for Humanity team as an R&D Engineer, where he contributes to analytical and research efforts for current initiatives and supports the development of future portfolio projects.
Prior to coming aboard PFH, Haisong was a research assistant at the Srivastava lab of biomechanics at Brown University. There, he developed various formulations of pH-sensitive hydrogels for neutralizing the tumor microenvironment and discovered an interest in drug delivery and encapsulation technologies in the process. Working with the team at non-profit Project C.U.R.E. as a biomedical engineer intern during the pandemic, Haisong contributed to the repair and validation of over $1 million dollars’ worth of second-hand medical devices and equipment that were delivered to low-resource communities in five countries around the world. In doing so, he developed a curiosity for global health and a desire for impact. Finally, Haisong worked as a clinical insight analyst at Cress Health, where he helped research and compile the medical knowledge base comprising the start-up's wellness-AI companion concept.
Haisong received a B.S. in biomedical engineering from Brown University.
R&D Engineer II
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Caro is passionate about global public health and equity. With almost a decade of experience in the space, she specializes in the development and implementation of project-specific intersectional feminist programs, grass-roots capacity building, cross-cultural relationship building, and global health research and partnerships. She has lived and worked throughout Southern and East Africa, focusing on gender equity, sexual health, and nutrition.
Caro received her MS in Global Affairs with a concentration in Global Gender Studies from NYU, focusing on how climate change disproportionately impacts the health of women and girls in low-income countries. She received a BA in Environmental Studies from Bucknell University.
Manager, Global Health Research & Partnerships
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Rachel is a biomedical engineer and public health professional with experience in point of care diagnostics. Passionate about working in the intersection of technology and global health, Rachel is excited to join PFH as senior manager, technical development operations.
Her graduate thesis was focused on HIV diagnostics for low resource settings and HPV within HIV positive women. She has field experience working in Kenya and Ghana.
Before joining PFH, Rachel worked as an integration engineer at Mammoth Bioscience and a product development associate at Global Health Labs. In addition to wet lab research experience, Rachel has worked on implementation, tech transfer, and design for manufacturing based projects.
Rachel received a B.S. in biomedical engineering from Boston University. She received her Ph.D. in biomedical engineering and her master’s in public health from Brown University.
Senior Manager, Technical Development Operations
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Dr. Straub consults for PFH on analytical chemistry and formulation development. She is an experienced pharmaceutical development consultant working with a range of development stage pharmaceutical and biotech companies from concept through approval for a variety of products. She has over 30 years of drug development experience, which includes overseeing chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC) and managing IND-enabling nonclinical programs for small pharmaceutical/biotechnology companies. For more than 10 years she has been an independent consultant advising medical product companies on areas of product development, CMC, nonclinical studies, regulatory affairs, project management, and specific scientific topics such as drug delivery. As a consultant, Dr. Straub has functioned as Vice President of CMC and Nonclinical Development for client organizations. Prior to establishing her consultancy, she served as Executive Director of Research for Acusphere, a specialty pharmaceutical company, including working from concept as an inventor through NDA submission for a cardiovascular imaging agent. Before holding that position she was involved in drug/biologic research and development at Alkermes, and was an NIH postdoctoral fellow at Harvard. Dr. Straub received a B.S. and an M.S. in Chemistry from Caltech and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from MIT.
Consultant
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Landry Sagbo is a seasoned Medical Doctor with over a decade of experience in public health in West Africa. His expertise covers reproductive, maternal, neonatal, and child health programs, family planning, and nutrition. Dr. Sagbo took the helm at Shifa Al Asqam in Kaolack, Senegal, in 2014, initiating a transformative healthcare project supported by an Islamic American NGO and the Saint Christopher College of Medicine, Senegal.
His career highlights include clinical work in Dakar, Senegal, and technical/management on a French Red Cross project addressing child malnutrition along the Senegal-Mali border. Beyond clinical practice, he served as a guest lecturer in Senegal and contributed to the draft nutritional assessment protocol and contraceptive choices for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Lagos, Nigeria, USAID supported project, in 2018.
Specializing in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and strong family planning advocate, Dr. Sagbo received training at the Obstetrics & Gynecology department of University College Hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria. In 2019, he coordinated a project improving contraception access, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
As the lead of the Technical Support Unit (TSU) project in Lagos and the South-west, funded by the Gates Foundation, he provided critical technical assistance, emphasizing the integration of reproductive, maternal, neonatal, and child health (RMNCH) into healthcare planning and monitoring.
In 2021, he led the Transparency Accountability & Capacity-building (TRAC) platform, funded by the Gates Foundation, and has been supporting Particles for Humanity (PFH) in providing stable Vitamin A for better nutrition outcomes in Nigeria, since September 2022. A 2021 Mandela Washington Alumnus from Georgia State University, Dartmouth Alumnus 2022 and ILA member, Dr. Sagbo demonstrates outstanding leadership, bridging French and English fluency to shape West African health system. He is the co-chair of the Lagos State Accountability Mechanism (LaSAM) for Maternal & Child Health since 2022.
Consultant
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Melissa Cook is a longtime proponent of investing and doing business in sub-Saharan Africa. Since 2007, Ms. Cook has made more than 50 trips to 16 countries on the continent. Ms. Cook has more than 30 years of global investment research and business experience. Before starting her work in Africa, she had a front-row seat watching the emergence of new economies in Eastern Europe and China. Ms. Cook has done business on six continents and across a broad spectrum of industries.
Melissa uses her deep knowledge and broad network to help companies and investors make better decisions about putting capital to work throughout sub-Saharan Africa. She has access to thought leaders and decision-makers throughout business, government, and development institutions.
Melissa has an A.B. degree in History from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. in Finance from the Stern School of Business at New York University. Melissa is a CFA charterholder. In November 2014, Melissa was appointed for a two-year term on President Obama’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa. She is a member of the Bretton Woods Committee, the preeminent non-profit organization dedicated to effective global economic and financial cooperation.
Consultant
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Raphael Coly has strong experience in translating food safety and animal health standards into regulation for their enforcement and their implementation. He has more than 25 years expertise in food safety matters at national and international levels. Dr. Coly has facilitated the effective and coordinated participation of delegates of African Union member states in the meetings of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and its subsidiary bodies as well as in the meetings of the Assemblies of the World Organization of Animal Health. Dr. Coly is based in Senegal.
Consultant
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Kevin Prudence has spent more than 30 years of his career in nutrition and ingredients for human health. He has been employed by Roche Vitamins, DSM Nutritional Products, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (SA), Abbott Laboratories, and Edelweiss Connect GmbH. His roles have covered product innovation, project management, business development, sales, marketing, quality management, and basic research. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed scientific publications and filed a number of patents. He is based in Switzerland.
Consultant
Learn more about our work to help stop vitamin A deficiency.