Mike Raab

President & Chief Executive OfficerMike has served as Ardelyx’s President and Chief Executive Officer since March 2009. Before Ardelyx, Mike was a partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), one of the world’s largest and most successful venture capital firms, where he specialized in healthcare investments focusing on the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors.

Prior to joining NEA in 2002, Mike spent 15 years in commercial and operating leadership roles in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. He was senior vice president, therapeutics and general manager of the renal division at Genzyme Corporation, a Sanofi company. In this position, Mike launched and oversaw the sales growth of sevelamer, the leading phosphate binder for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia, with over $1.0 billion in worldwide sales in 2013. Mike was also instrumental in the worldwide launch of Genzyme’s therapies for Gaucher disease, Ceredase and Cerezyme. Mike also spent two years with Genzyme’s diagnostic products and services division. Previous to Genzyme, Mike held business development and sales and marketing positions at Repligen and Bristol-Myers.

Mike received his B.A. from DePauw University

Robert Blanks, MS RAC

Chief Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance Officer

Rob has served as our Chief Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance Officer since 2020. Before that, Rob had served as our head of regulatory affairs and quality assurance since August 2013. Rob has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry in the quality, regulatory and CMC areas. A majority of this experience has been with small biotech companies, where he has played a critical role in developing companies’ initial drug product candidates, including peptides, monoclonal antibodies and small molecules, from the pre-clinical stage to commercial registration.

Prior to Ardelyx, Rob was vice president of CMC at Flexion Therapeutics where he oversaw the manufacture of the company’s initial two drug product candidates, one of which Zillretta™, is in late Phase 3 development. Prior to Flexion, he was vice president of quality at Idenix Pharmaceuticals, overseeing all quality aspects of the commercial launch of the company’s first product, Tyzeka®. Previous to Idenix, he served as vice president of technical operations for Trine Pharmaceuticals and earlier was vice president of technical operations and founder of Phaedrus Pharmaceuticals. At GelTex Pharmaceuticals, subsequently purchased by Genzyme, he was a key participant in both the quality and regulatory areas in the development and registration of RenaGel®.

Rob has a B.S. in biology from Bowdoin College and an M.S. in chemistry from Boston College. Rob is regulatory affairs certified.

Elizabeth Grammer, Esq.

Chief Legal and Administrative Officer

Liz has served as our Chief Legal and Administrative Officer since 2020. Before that, Liz had served as our General Counsel since May 2014. Liz joined Ardelyx as vice president, legal in December 2012 after serving as an independent outside corporate counsel for Ardelyx for three years. Liz brings over 20 years of experience representing privately held and publicly traded life sciences companies in structuring and negotiating strategic transactions, such as collaborations, joint ventures and intellectual property licensing transactions. Liz also brings significant experience in providing legal support in connection with all aspects of the research, development and manufacture of pharmaceutical products.

Prior to joining Ardelyx, Liz served as vice president and general counsel of Trine Pharmaceuticals and as general counsel of GelTex Pharmaceuticals. Liz started her career in the law firms of Ware & Freidenrich in Palo Alto, Calif., and Palmer & Dodge in Boston, in both cases, focusing her efforts on work with emerging life sciences companies.

Liz received her J.D. from Stanford Law School and her B.A. from Boston University.

David Rosenbaum, PhD

Chief Development OfficerDavid has served as our Chief Development Officer since January 2015, and before that, had served as our vice president, drug development since January 2010. David has spent the past 20 years developing new therapies for global registration and has focused his efforts on non-absorbed, minimally-systemic new chemical entities.

David began his career at Arthur D. Little (ADL), where he was a senior consultant and study director for over a hundred pharmacology and GLP toxicology studies in a wide variety of therapeutic areas. Since ADL, David has spent his career working for start-up and small pharmaceutical companies. Notably, David was vice president of preclinical research and development at GelTex Pharmaceuticals, where he was integral in the development and approval of two non-absorbed drugs: RenaGel® and WelChol. Most recently, David was vice president of drug development for Trine Pharmaceuticals, where he was developing a novel non-systemic therapeutic for the treatment of IBS. David has filed numerous INDs, met with regulatory agencies around the world, and filed two approved NDAs.

David received a Ph.D. in pharmacology from Boston University School of Medicine, an M.S. in toxicology from Albany Medical College and a B.A. in biology from the University of Pennsylvania.

Justin Renz

Chief Financial & Operations Officer

Justin has served as our Chief Financial & Operations Officer since 2023. Before that, Justin had served as our Chief Financial Officer since June 2020. Justin brings over 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, with an extensive array of financial and operational experience.

Prior to Ardelyx, Justin served as the president and chief financial officer of Correvio Pharma, a global specialty pharmaceutical company dedicated to the commercialization of cardiovascular and infectious disease products, where he led the sale of the company to ADVANZ PHARMA in May 2020. Prior to Correvio, Justin was executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer of Karyopharm Pharmaceuticals, where he led core business and finance functions and multiple financings. Before Karyopharm, Justin was executive vice president and chief financial officer at Zalicus Inc. (formerly CombinatoRx, Inc.), which he joined in 2006. At Zalicus, Justin oversaw multiple rounds of equity and debt financings, led the company’s asset monetization strategy and was instrumental in the reverse merger and sale of Zalicus to EPIRUS Biopharmaceuticals Inc. in July 2014. Earlier in his career, Justin held numerous positions of increasing responsibility at EMD Serono Inc., ArQule, Inc., Coley Pharmaceutical Group and Millipore Corporation.

Justin began his career with Arthur Andersen LLP in 1993. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Accounting from the College of the Holy Cross, a Master of Science in Taxation from Northeastern University and a Master of Business Administration from Suffolk University.

Susan Rodriguez

Chief Commercial OfficerSusan has served as our Chief Commercial Officer since May 2020. Susan brings over 25 years of industry experience, with extensive leadership across pharmaceutical, biopharma, hospital products, and nutrition segments in U.S. and international markets.

Prior to Ardelyx, Susan served as the founding chief executive officer of Tolmar Pharmaceuticals, a U.S. commercial specialty pharmaceutical company with marketed products. Susan was then named President of the branded division upon the formation of the global entity, Tolmar Inc. Prior to Tolmar, Susan held various positions at Abbott Laboratories, most recently divisional vice president of global marketing, where she established the global marketing function for a $3.8 billion international portfolio of nutrition brands. As divisional vice president, she directed strategic brand planning and commercial go-to-market strategies and programs for 11 global product launches. Earlier in her career, Susan held several sales, marketing and commercial positions including, vice president and general manager, Abbott Renal Care, director, managed care at TAP Pharmaceuticals, professional sales representative at Merck Human Health Division and client manager at ARBOR, a pharmaceutical market research firm.

Susan holds a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.

Laura Williams, MD MPH

Chief Medical Officer

Laura has served as our Chief Medical Officer since 2021. Before that, Laura served as our Senior Vice President (SVP), Global Therapeutic Strategies and Patient Advocacy since November 2020. Laura is a results-oriented, accomplished, executive leader with 25 years of global pharmaceutical drug development experience both in large pharma and smaller biotech settings, spanning all clinical development phases and numerous therapeutic areas. She has a proven track-record, as indicated by her leadership on and contributions to key regulatory approvals for 7 on-market compounds.

Prior to Ardelyx, Laura served as SVP and Head of Clinical Development and Biostatistics at AMAG Pharmaceuticals, where she was responsible for four investigational-staged assets and two on-market compounds. Prior to AMAG, she served as Vice President of Clinical Development at Myovant Sciences, where she was responsible for an investigational infertility compound and co-led business development activities to expand the women’s health pipeline. Previously, in her 18-year career at Abbott/AbbVie, she held roles of increasing responsibility, leading multiple global clinical development programs and managing the general medicine therapeutic area.

Laura holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Mississippi State University, a Doctor of Medicine degree from University of Iowa, and a Master of Public Health degree in Epidemiology from University of Washington, where she also completed a clinical fellowship in Infectious Diseases. She completed her Internal Medicine residency at University of Michigan, where she also served as Chief Resident and Junior Faculty.

Sarah O’Brien

Chief People Officer

Sarah has served as our Chief People Officer since April of 2021. Sarah brings more than twenty years of strategic human resources experience impacting organization with a focus on leadership development, change management, total rewards, talent discovery and team building.

Prior to joining Ardelyx, Sarah served as Head of People & Organization at Ohana Biosciences, leading the company in areas of culture, organization, and talent discovery and talent development in preparation for the company’s first product launch. Prior to Ohana, Sarah served as Chief People Officer at Relay Therapeutics. During her tenure at Relay, she successfully spearheaded a culture and engagement strategy that resulted in the company receiving the Boston Business Journal “Best Places to Work” award three years in a row, including the #1 small company award in 2018.

Previous to Relay, Sarah served as the VP, Human Resources for Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (Sobi), in North America, where she designed and implemented a robust learning and development program for leaders and team members. Before her tenure at Sobi, Sarah held a number of senior HR leadership roles at Novartis including the Director, Global Human Resources Oncology & Immuno-Oncology where she served as member of the Translational Clinical Oncology Global Leadership Team.

Prior to joining Novartis, Ms. O’Brien served in HR roles as well as leading compensation and benefit programs for several years at a number of financial service companies, including Mellon Capital Management.

Sarah graduated summa cum laude from the University of New Hampshire with a B.A. in English, Philosophy and Art History.

Charon Spencer

Chief Human Resources Officer

Charon has served as our Chief Human Resources Officer since Jan 2023. Charon brings more than 25 years of human resources experience within the life science industry. Charon will lead human resources and programs, developing and delivering high-impact people strategies and solutions that foster a strong employee experience.

Prior to Ardelyx, Charon served as chief human resources officer at DICE Therapeutics, senior vice president of human resources at Puma Biotechnology, and held key roles at other leading enterprises such as Merck, Genentech and FDB-The Hearst Corporation. Charon has also been active in the local community, having served as senior human resources advisor to PARCA and she continues to serve as a board member and scholarship chair to the employee advisory council in the San Francisco Bay area.

Charon holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from San Francisco State University, completed her graduate work in Human Resources Organizational Development from the University of San Francisco, and is a Certified Executive Coach. 

Geoffrey A. Block, MD

Associate Chief Medical Officer
Senior Vice President, Clinical Research & Medical Affairs
U.S. Renal Care, Inc.
Plano, TX, USA

• Dr. Block received his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati in OH. He completed his internship and residency at the University of Cincinnati, and his fellowship at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, MI.
• Dr. Block is an Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. He has also previously served as the Medical Director of DaVita Hemodialysis (Lakewood Facility) and DaVita Home Hemodialysis (Lowry Facility).
• Dr. Block is involved in with a variety of professional activities including as an Editorial Board Member of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, Fellow of the National Kidney Foundation, Grant Reviewer of Kidney Research on behalf of the United Kingdom, and American Society of Nephrology Scientific Reviewer.
• Dr. Block has been published over 100 times and has been invited to present around the world.

Glenn M. Chertow, MD, MPH

Professor of Medicine
Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford, CA, USA

• Dr. Chertow received his medical degree and MPH from Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, respectively, both in Cambridge, MA. He completed his residency in internal medicine and fellowship in nephrology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital before joining the Harvard faculty, where he remained until 1998. He then joined the faculty at University of California San Francisco, where he served as Director of Clinical Services in the Division of Nephrology and was promoted through the academic ranks to full Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Epidemiology and Biostatistics until joining the Stanford faculty as Professor and Division Chief in 2007.

• Dr. Chertow is the Norman S. Coplon Satellite Healthcare Professor of Medicine and (by courtesy) of Epidemiology and Population Health, and Chief, Division of Nephrology at Stanford University School of medicine.

• In addition to an active clinical practice, administrative responsibilities, teaching and mentoring, Dr. Chertow has developed and maintained a robust clinical research program. He has served or is currently serving in leadership roles for multiple NIDDK-, NHLBI-, and VA-sponsored clinical trials and for several industry-sponsored clinical trials.

• Dr. Chertow has served in an advisory capacity to the Medicare Payment Advisory Committee and the National Quality Forum on issues related to the ESRD program, on NIH study sections and in multiple roles with the American Society of Nephrology (ASN), including the Public Policy Board, Quality Metrics Taskforce, and as Associate Editor of the society’s leading journal.

• Dr. Chertow has published more than 200 scientific articles and presented at national and international conferences. He is Co-Editor of Brenner and Rector’s The Kidney. Dr. Chertow was honored by the American Kidney Fund in 2007 with the National Torchbearer Award and in 2011 with the Nephrologist of the Year Award, in recognition of his contributions to the care of persons with kidney disease. Dr. Chertow was elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation in 2004, and in 2015, received the Belding H. Scribner Award from ASN and was elected to the Association of American Physicians and the National Academy of Medicine (formerly Institute of Medicine). In 2018, Dr. Chertow received the David M. Hume Memorial Award, the highest honor given by the National Kidney Foundation to a distinguished scientist-clinician in the field of kidney and urologic diseases.

Derek Forfang

Patient Advocate and Activist
San Pablo, CA, USA

• Mr. Forfang is the Chair of the National Forum End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Networks, Kidney Patient Advisory Council, and is a Member of the Forum Board of Directors. He also serves as the Chair of Health Services Advisory Group ESRD Network #17’s Patient Advisory Committee (PAC) and Network #17’s Board of Directors.
• Mr. Forfang also chairs the National Kidney Foundation’s (NKF) Kidney Advocacy Committee and the NKF Public Policy Committee.
• Mr. Forfang is a Member of the Kidney Health Initiative Patient and Family Partner Council. He is also an Active Member of the “Making Dialysis Safer for Patients” Coalition, working with the Center for Disease Control.
• Mr. Forfang co-leads projects working with Kidney Health Initiative and the University of North Carolina Kidney Center.

Kam Kalantar-Zadeh, MD, MPH, PhD

Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics, Public Health, and Epidemiology
Chief, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension
University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine
Orange, Irvine, Long Beach, and Los Angeles, California, USA

• Dr. Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, (a.k.a. Kam Kalantar) is a triple board-certified physician, who studied medicine at the Universities of Bonn and Nuremberg in Germany (MD degree) and received MPH and PhD degrees in Epidemiology from University of California Berkeley, School of Public Health. Dr. Kalantar’s postgraduate training includes an internship training in Nuremberg, Germany, residency training in Internal Medicine and also in Pediatrics in the State University of New York (SUNY, 1993-97), and a nephrology fellowship at University of California San Francisco (UCSF, 1997-2000).

• During 2000-2012 Dr. Kalantar was a full-time faculty at Harbor-UCLA including Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics and Epidemiology at UCLA. Since 2012 he has served as a tenured Professor and HEAD of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at University of California Irvine (UC Irvine) School of Medicine, in Orange and Irvine, CA, and a Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Public Health at UC Irvine and attending nephrologist at UC Irvine as well as Long Beach Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital.

• Dr. Kalantar-Zadeh has been recognized by several prestigious top/best physician directories in the USA including SUPER DOCTORS™ and TOP PHYSICIANS™ Castle-Connelly. In 2014 he was ranked among top 10 experts in ESRD and Chronic Kidney Failure by Expertscape™.

• He serves as the immediate past President of the International Society of Renal Nutrition & Metabolism. President elect of the International Federation of Kidney Foundations and the International Steering Committee of the World Kidney Day. Prof. Kalantar-Zadeh has published more than 700 scientific articles, authored many chapters, and presented numerous grand rounds and other lectures in national and international conferences. He is an editor of nephrology and nutrition textbooks including the “Nutritional Management of Renal Disease”, 3rd edition 2013. Dr. Kalantar is an Associate Editor or member of the editorial board of several top journals.

Kevin J. Martin, MB, BCh, BAO

Clara A. Drefs Professor, Internal Medicine
Director, Division of Nephrology
St. Louis University School of Medicine
St. Louis, MO, USA

• Dr. Martin received his medical degree at University College Dublin Medical School in Ireland. He completed his internship and residency at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin, and a fellowship in Nephrology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO.

• Dr. Martin is a Member of numerous societies, including the International Society of Nephrology, the American Society of Clinical Investigation, and the National Kidney Foundation. He was previously a Member of the Program Committee of American Society of Nephrology and represented the Council of American Kidney Societies to the American College of Physicians.

• Dr. Martin has published more than 200 scientific articles. Dr. Martin’s research interests center on bone and mineral metabolism and the role of vitamin D in vascular calcification.

Sharon M. Moe, MD

Stuart A. Kleit Professor, Medicine
Professor, Anatomy and Cell Biology
Director, Division of Nephrology
Indiana University School of Medicine
Indianapolis, IN, USA

• Dr. Moe received her medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago.
  She completed her internship and residency at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, IL, and a clinical and research fellowship in Nephrology at the University of Chicago in IL. She has been a faculty member at Indiana University since 1992.

• Dr. Moe is the Division Chief of Nephrology at IU with 52 faculty members, covering 6 hospitals. The Division has over $14 million in extramural funding, and follows over 700 dialysis patients with a large home dialysis program.

• Dr. Moe is the former President of the American Society of Nephrology, served as Co-Chair of the first KDIGO Global Mineral and Bone Initiative and the recent update, was a councilor for the ISN, and a member of the Kidney Advisory group to the AHA. She is currently Co-Director of the Indiana Clinical and Translational Science Institute that oversees translational research in the State of Indiana.

• Dr. Moe has been extramurally funded by the National Institutes of Health and Veterans Affairs for over 20 years and has over 300 original scientific publications, text books, and reviews.

Rory C. Pace, MPH, RD, CSR, FAND

Corporate Director, Nutrition Services
Satellite Healthcare
San Jose, CA, USA

• Ms. Pace received her MPH in Community Health Sciences and Nutrition from University of California,
  Los Angeles. She completed her internship in Dietetics at West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Dietetics from University of California, Davis.

• Ms. Pace is a Delegate in the representing California in the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics House of Delegates and is a Member of the Academy’s Council on Future Practice. She also serves as primary author of the Nephrology Nutrition Standards of Practice/Standards of Professional Performance, to be published in early 2021.

• Ms. Pace has been published numerous times and presented at multiple conferences including the National Kidney Foundation Spring Clinical Meeting, the Annual Dialysis Conference, and the California Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Annual Conference.

Pablo E. Pergola, MD, PhD

Physician
Renal Associates, PA
Principal Investigator
Clinical Advancement Center
San Antonio, TX, USA

• Dr. Pergola received his medical degree from Universidad del Salvador, Facultad de Medicina in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and his PhD in Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Therapeutics from the University of Kansas in Kansas City. He completed his internship, residency, and fellowships in Physiology and Nephrology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.
• Dr. Pergola is also a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center. With decades of teaching experience, he has also supervised many theses and dissertations for graduate and doctoral candidates.
• Dr. Pergola has authored and coauthored nearly 100 titles in his career, with his most recent publication appearing in Journal of the American Society of Nephrology on the topic of iron deficiency in chronic kidney disease, and has received numerous grants from the National Institutes of Health, Veterans Affairs, and the American Heart Association.

Stuart M. Sprague, DO

Chief, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension
NorthShore University HealthSystem
Evanston, IL, USA
Clinical Professor, Medicine
University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
Chicago, IL, USA

• Dr. Sprague received his medical degree at Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine in East Lansing. He completed his internship at the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, residency at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Lukes Medical Center, and research and clinical fellowships in Nephrology at the University of Chicago, all situated in Chicago, IL.
• Dr. Sprague is the current Chief of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension of the NorthShore University HealthSystem. He is also Clinical Professor of Medicine at University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. He is also Medical Director of DaVita Glen Dialysis Unit and is a senior attending physician of the Division of Nephrology at NorthShore University HealthSystem. He is also the Director of Nephrology Research of NorthShore University HealthSystem.
• Dr. Sprague has published more than 150 articles, and is an Editorial Board Member or Associate Editor of multiple journals including American Journal of Nephrology, Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, and Clinical Nephrology.

Francesca Tentori, MD, MS

Vice President, Outcomes Research and Patient Empowerment
DaVita Kidney Care
Denver, CO, USA

• Dr. Tentori received her medical degree from Università degli Studi di Milano in Milan, Italy, where she completed a fellowship in Nephrology. She also received an MS in Clinical Investigation from Vanderbilt University.

• Dr. Tentori is also an Adjunct Instructor of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN. She previously served as an investigator of the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patters (DOPPS) program which gave her unique insight in international practices. Most recently, she held the position of Medical Director of Patient Empowerment and Medical Director of Clinical Research at DaVita Kidney Care.

• Dr. Tentori is a Reviewer for several journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, American Journal of Kidney Disease, and several others. She has published more than 80 scientific articles, and is the recipient of numerous grants from the National Institutes of Health, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS), and among others.

• Dr. Tentori has been repeatedly invited as a Moderator or Member of CMS Technical Expert Panels on a variety of topics, including Mineral and Bone Disorder and End-Stage Renal Disease Patient-Reported Outcomes.

David Mott

Chairman

Dave is a private investor through Mott Family Capital.

From September 2008 to February 2020, Dave was general partner at New Enterprise Associates (“NEA”) and led the healthcare investing practice. NEA is among the largest venture capital firms in the world and invests across all stages in healthcare and technology. At NEA, Dave’s personal investing practice was primarily focused on biopharmaceuticals.

Prior to joining NEA, Dave was president and chief executive officer of biotechnology company MedImmune. He joined MedImmune in 1992 and served in various roles, including president and chief executive officer from October 2000 through July 2008 and previously chief financial officer and president and chief operating officer. Dave led the sale of MedImmune to AstraZeneca in June 2007 for $15.6 billion.

Earlier in his career, he was a vice president in healthcare investment banking at Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co., Inc. Across his career, as chairman, chief executive officer, board member, general partner or operating executive, Dave has been involved in over $40 billion in corporate acquisitions, fundraising, partnerships and other capital formation. He has been involved in more than 35 initial public offerings or corporate acquisitions, in bringing over a dozen new drugs through development to commercialization, and has served on 25 corporate boards.

Dave is currently Chairman of several public biotechnology companies:, including Adaptimmune (ADAP), Epizyme (EPZM), Imara (IMRX), and Mersana (MRSN).

He earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College.

Geoffrey A. Block, MD

Director

Geoff joined the Ardelyx board of directors in March 2019. He currently serves as Associate Chief Medical Officer, Senior Vice President, Clinical Research & Medical Affairs at U.S. Renal Care, Inc. He was previously Vice President, Nephrology at Reata Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and before that Geoff served as the Medical Director of the DaVita-Lowry Hemodialysis Unit and as Director of Clinical Research in the Denver Nephrology Research Division at Colorado Kidney Care/Denver Nephrologists for over 22 years. Earlier in his career, Geoff served as an associate clinical professor in Medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and as an attending physician at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Geoff was previously a member of the Executive Steering Committee for KDIGO and served on 2 KDIGO Guideline workgroups. He has had a long-standing interest in translational and clinical research having been involved as Principal Investigator in designing and conducting over 100 clinical trials. Geoff received his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and completed his fellowship in nephrology at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

Robert Bazemore

DirectorRob has spent his career of 30+ years on the development and commercialization of novel medicines.  From 2015 to 2021, he served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Epizyme, Inc., developing and launching TAZVERIKÒ for patients with Follicular Lymphoma and Sarcoma while continuing to build on the company’s pipeline of promising epigenetic candidates in oncology.  Prior to joining Epizyme, Rob served as Chief Operating Officer of Synageva BioPharma Corp., where he established the company’s global commercial and medical organization to support the first product launch, helping lead the broader transition to a sustainable commercial enterprise through the company’s acquisition by Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in July 2015.  Prior to Synageva, Rob held several senior leadership positions at Johnson & Johnson, including President of Janssen Biotech, where he led the successful launches of numerous products and indications, including the US launches of the oncology therapies ZYTIGAÒ and IBRUVICAÒ, and guided the company’s worldwide immunology portfolio strategy.  Prior to Johnson & Johnson, he served for over 11 years at Merck & Co. Inc., where he held numerous roles including supporting the launch of SINGULAIRÒ in the U.S.

Rob is currently a Director for Nuvation Bio Inc. and was previously a Director for Neon Therapeutics prior to its acquisition by BioNTech and Board Chairman for Pennsylvania BIO.  He earned his B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Georgia.

William J. Bertrand, Jr., JD

Director

Bill joined the Ardelyx board of directors in October 2015. He is a seasoned biopharmaceutical leader who has led commercial, business, legal and compliance functions for biopharmaceutical companies over the past 15 years. He currently serves as the chief operating officer of Adaptimmune, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel cancer immunotherapy products.

Prior to his current role at Adaptimmune, Bill was the executive vice president, general counsel of Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc., with responsibility for regulatory affairs and IT. Prior to joining Infinity, from July 2013 to August 2015, Bill held a variety of positions with Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., including senior vice president, general counsel, acting chief operating officer, and most recently, general manager of Salix Pharmaceuticals following its acquisition by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International in April 2015. Prior to that, Bill pursued a 12-year career at MedImmune, Inc., serving in numerous roles of increasing responsibility, including as executive vice president and general counsel from 2008 to 2013.

Bill received his B.S. in biology from Wayne State University and his J.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Onaiza Cadoret-Manier

Director

Onaiza joined the Ardelyx board of directors in March 2020. She currently serves as chief corporate development and commercial officer at Ionis Pharmaceuticals and previously was the chief commercial officer for Grail Biosciences, an early detection genomics company, where she developed the commercial strategy and business model. Prior to Grail, she was vice president of the respiratory franchise at Genentech, where she built and managed a team of more than 400 employees responsible for successfully commercializing medicines that generated approximately $3 billion in revenue. Onaiza also has held multiple senior management positions overseeing corporate strategy, alliances, and marketing and sales for numerous disease areas for Genentech, Pfizer and Amylin Pharmaceuticals. She has an MBA from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in economics and accounting from City University of New York Queens College.

Jan M. Lundberg, PhD

Director

Jan brings more than 22 years of experience in biopharma and significant research strength to the board. He currently serves as executive vice president, science and technology, and president, Lilly Research Laboratories at Eli Lilly where he has been instrumental in the submissions and approvals of 10 new products over the last five years. Before Lilly, he was global head of discovery research at AstraZeneca, where he played a key role in numerous drug candidate nominations, development projects and marketed-product support, as well as in-licensing, partnering and acquisitions. Prior to AstraZeneca, he served as the head of preclinical research at Astra AB. Jan was also the co-founder of Aerocrine AB, a biotech diagnostic company with exhaled nitric oxide as an allergic asthma breath test.

He earned a BSM equivalent in medicine from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and a Ph.D. in pharmacology from Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.

Mike Raab

Director

Mike has served as Ardelyx’s president and chief executive officer since March 2009. Before Ardelyx, Mike was a partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), one of the world’s largest and most successful venture capital firms, where he specialized in healthcare investments focusing on the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors.

Prior to joining NEA in 2002, Mike spent 15 years in commercial and operating leadership roles in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. He was senior vice president, therapeutics and general manager of the renal division at Genzyme Corporation, a Sanofi company. In this position, Mike launched and oversaw the sales growth of sevelamer, the leading phosphate binder for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia, with over $1.0 billion in worldwide sales in 2013. Mike was also instrumental in the worldwide launch of Genzyme’s therapies for Gaucher disease, Ceredase and Cerezyme. Mike also spent two years with Genzyme’s diagnostic products and services division. Previous to Genzyme, Mike held business development and sales and marketing positions at Repligen and Bristol-Myers.

Mike received his B.A. from DePauw University.

Muna Bhanji, R.Ph

Director

Muna has served on the Ardelyx board of directors since March 2021. She brings more than 30 years of strategic and operational experience in commercializing new therapies in the biopharmaceutical industry with a proven track record of commercial leadership, growth, and value creation. Muna built her career at Merck where she demonstrated an unwavering commitment to saving and improving lives, working with healthcare providers, patients, and payers. As the former senior vice president, Global Market Access, she set the global strategy for pricing, market access, and affordability across the company’s diverse portfolio. She also oversaw the global market access organization aimed at enabling access and payer reimbursement for both medicines and vaccines in the U.S. and globally.

In addition to Ardelyx, Muna currently serves on the boards of Cytokinetics and Corus International. She previously served on the board of Possible Health, a non-profit with ties to Nepal that delivers high-quality, affordable care to rural and underserved communities. She also served on the board of the Foundation of Managed Care Pharmacy, which is the research, educational, and philanthropic arm of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy.

Muna earned her Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from Rutgers School of Pharmacy and an MBA from St. Joseph’s University.

Richard Rodgers

Director

Rick has served on the Ardelyx board of directors since March 2014.

From March 2010 to August 2013, Rick was executive vice president, chief financial officer, secretary and treasurer of TESARO, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, which he co-founded. He previously served as the chief financial officer of Abraxis BioScience, Inc. from June 2009 to February 2010. Prior to that, Rick served as senior vice president, controller and chief accounting officer of MGI PHARMA, Inc., from 2004 until its acquisition by Eisai Co. Ltd. in January 2008. Rick has held finance and accounting positions at several private and public companies, including Arthur Anderson & Co. Rick currently serves as a director of Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Rick received a B.S. in financial accounting from St. Cloud State University and his MBA in finance from the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Business.