Company

About Us

People

Dr. Natale is a biologist with more than 15 years experience in the field. She conducts or oversees Obura Company’s day-to-day operations and makes key company-related decision. She has been leading the development of DM201 since 2005, and, prior to that time, led the company’s efforts at target identification and drug discovery. She received an M.Sc. from Trinity College Dublin, and her Ph.D. from the University of Bern.

Ms. Adams has 2 years of research/laboratory assistant experience including an internship at Carnegie Institute Department of Plant Biology, Stanford, Chris Somerville Lab. She also has 20 years of software design and development experience and management experience. She has joined several start ups like Aperto Networks, XaQti Inc., and WiChorus, Inc. Ms. Adams has one U.S. patent and a B.S.E. in Computer Systems Engineering from Arizona State University. She is currently finishing a degree in Biotechnology from Foothill College.

Neal Caldecott Research Associate

Mr. Caldecott has over 20 years of software development experience at both large S&P 500 companies and small startups. He has served in a number of technical and managerial positions specializing in analytical systems, large database and bioinformatics applications. He holds a certificate in bioinformatics from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He joined Obura Company in September 2005.

Advisory Board

Brian Macknick, Ph.D.

Dr. Macknick has over 20 years of management experience in product development and commercialization. He has general management experience in leading both ventures and established business units. His responsibilities included sales, marketing, and building/operating manufacturing facilities in the US, Mexico and Europe. He is acting as a mentor as Obura forms and maps its future directions. Dr. Macknick has a diverse technology background with 6 issued US patents and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

Neil Ackerman, Ph.D.

Dr. Ackerman is the retired Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Cygnus, Inc. (Redwood City, CA). Cygnus developed the GlucoWatch Biographer, the first FDA-approved device for the non-invasive measurement of blood glucose. He was also Vice President, Research and Development at Glycomed, where he led discovery efforts in cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases. He has extensive experience in FDA-regulated industry, and has also held management-level positions at E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Company, and Syntex Research. Dr. Ackerman received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Maryland, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in immunology at Stanford University.

Dr. Susan Dieterich, M.D.

Dr. Dieterich is advising us on issues that will arise in the clinic. She is a physician at Driscoll Children's Hospital (Corpus Christi, TX) in the department of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine & eurodevelopmental Disabilities. She has over 15 years experience with Medtronic pumps and has been involved the implantation and maintenance of countless pumps. She has been an investigator in clinical trials. She has been aiding us for the last year and will continue to do so as we refine our strategy for the transition to the clinic. She is board certified in four areas: Neurodevelopmental Disabilities, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Pediatrics, and Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine.