Molecular Insight's senior management combines strong track records in building and growing successful biopharmaceutical companies with great depth of expertise in molecular imaging and drug development. The company's internal capabilities are augmented by a significant network of leading scientific and medical collaborators.

David S. Barlow has served as the Chairman of our Board of Directors since early 2000 and as our Chief Executive Officer since January 2003. He has more than 25 years of experience in the global biopharmaceutical industry. Prior to Molecular Insight, Mr. Barlow was President, Pharmaceuticals at Sepracor Inc. During his tenure at Sepracor from 1993 to 1999, Pharmaceuticals was built into a fully integrated pharmaceutical company with a strong product pipeline, a complete research and development and United States sales and marketing capability, and several significant corporate partnerships. Before Sepracor, Mr. Barlow worked for Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, where he led the turnaround of the Armour Pharmaceutical Division. He had previously worked for Pfizer Inc and ARES-Serono in a variety of business development and marketing positions. Mr. Barlow is a Trustee of McLean Hospital, Bates College, and Newton Country Day School and on the Board of Directors of New River Pharmaceuticals. He is also a member of the President’s Council at Massachusetts General Hospital. Mr. Barlow received a B.A. from Bates College and an M.B.A. from Stanford University.

John W. Babich, Ph.D., a founder of the company in 1997, serves as our President and Chief Scientific Officer, and is a member of our Board of Directors. He has been an active researcher in the field of molecular imaging and targeted radionuclide therapy for the past 25 years. Prior to joining the company, he was Assistant Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School and Staff Radiopharmaceutical Chemist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Boston, Massachusetts. Prior to joining MGH, Dr. Babich was Principal Scientist and Head of the Radiopharmaceutical Section at the Institute of Cancer Research in England. Dr. Babich’s current research efforts focus on molecular imaging in cardiovascular disease, oncology and neurology. His previous research experience includes detection of breast and colorectal cancer using monoclonal antibodies, pharmacological and in vivo biological studies of novel small molecules for targeted therapy of neuroblastoma, the use of peptide-based molecular imaging agents for the detection of infection and cancer, and the use of positron emission tomography for the study of drug behavior in humans. He has published more than 100 research articles in a variety of peer-reviewed journals as well as several book chapters and invited reviews. He is inventor or co-inventor of seven issued and pending patents licensed to or property of the company. He is also co-inventor of a cardiac imaging product currently marketed by Mallinckrodt-TycoHealthcare, Inc. as Ultra-Tag. Dr. Babich recently served as President of the Society of Nuclear Medicine’s Radiopharmaceutical Science Council. Dr. Babich received a B.S. in Pharmacy from St. John’s University, an M.S. from University of Southern California, and a Ph.D. from the University of London.

John E. McCray has served as our Chief Operating Officer since joining Molecular Insight in March 2003. He has over 20 years of marketing, operations and public policy experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including product launches, manufacturing scale-up and new market openings in developing countries. From 2000 to 2003, Mr. McCray served as the Chief Operating Officer at Pan Pacific Pharmaceuticals. For six years ending in 1999, he worked with various subsidiaries of Sepracor Inc. Before joining Sepracor, Mr. McCray held the position of Director, Worldwide Marketing at Armour Pharmaceutical company. His pharmaceutical experience also includes a five-year tenure at Pfizer Inc where he managed reimbursement, formulary and public policy issues. Mr. McCray received a B.A. from the University of Texas and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Norman LaFrance, M.D., FACP, FACNP has served as our Senior Vice President, Clinical Development and Chief Medical Officer since April 2007. He has nearly 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry, including drug development and commercialization work with molecular imaging companies. His background includes strategic planning and management of pharmaceutical development for FDA approval as well as clinical and academic experience. From 2005 to 2007 he worked at Bausch & Lomb, where he served as Vice President, Global Pharmaceutical R&D. Dr. LaFrance was with Celltech Americas as Senior Vice President, Medical and Regulatory Affairs from 2002 to 2005, where he held responsibility for Clinical Research, Clinical Operations, Medical Affairs (including Pharmacovigilance, Medical Education & Medical Information) and Regulatory Affairs & Operations. Additionally, he held positions of increasing responsibility at Bracco Diagnostics Inc. and at Sterling Winthrop Pharmaceuticals. Dr. LaFrance began his industry career at DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Company where he was instrumental in Cardiolite, Neurolite and Persantine programs. Previously, he held academic appointments at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the Departments of Medicine and Radiology and the Department of Radiological Sciences in the John Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.

Dr. LaFrance received a B.S. degree and Masters Degree in Nuclear Engineering & Science from Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute, and an M.D. degree from the University of Arizona. He is Board-certified in Internal Medicine and Nuclear Medicine and is a Fellow in the American College of Physicians and the American College of Nuclear Physicians.

Donald E. Wallroth has served as our Chief Financial Officer since 2007 and has more than 25 years of financial and operating experience working with high growth technology companies.  Mr. Wallroth joined Molecular Insight from the National Life Sciences practice of Tatum LLC, a national financial executive services firm, where he was Partner and was deployed as the CFO for prominent New England-based companies.  Prior to joining Tatum LLC, Mr. Wallroth was a Partner with Keen Partners, an investment banking firm with a focus on the life sciences, among other industries.  Before joining Keen Partners, he served as Chief Operating Officer of GoldK, where he managed financial activities and business operations. Prior to GoldK, Mr. Wallroth was the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Transition Systems, a healthcare software company.  In addition, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Project Software and Development, Inc. (PSDI), subsequently called MRO Software, Inc., which was recently acquired by IBM.  Mr. Wallroth also served as a Partner at Accenture and a Partner at Arthur D. Little, Inc. Mr. Wallroth received an MBA from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from The George Washington University. 

Brian Abeysekera, Ph.D. has served as our Vice President, Manufacturing since April 2007. He has more than 20 years of experience in radioisotope and radiopharmaceutical development, including production, radiochemistry, quality control, quality assurance and regulatory affairs activities in the United States and Canada. From 1985 to 2007, he worked at MDS Nordion, where he held various positions, including Manager Radiopharmaceutical Development; Director, Quality Safety and Regulatory Affairs; and most recently, Director, Applied R&D. During his tenure at Nordion, Dr. Abeysekera helped establish the company as a cGMP supplier of sterile pharmaceuticals in the United States and Canada; designed, developed and validated aseptic manufacturing facilities; directed scale-up from clinical to commercial manufacturing; and developed chemistry and manufacturing sections for numerous small molecule and biologic products to support FDA submissions. Dr. Abeysekera holds a Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry from the University of British Columbia.

John A. Barrett, Ph.D. has served as our Vice President of Nonclinical Development since August 2005. He has over 20 years of experience in the discovery and development of agents in oncology and angiogenesis-directed tumor imaging and therapy. He came to Molecular Insight from Infinity Pharmaceuticals where he worked from 2003 to 2005 and served as the Senior Director Pharmacology/ Toxicology, ADME, and Bioanalytical Chemistry. Prior to Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Barrett was Senior Director of Pharmacology/ Toxicology at EPIX Medical, Inc. from 2000 to 2003. In 1993, Dr. Barrett was recruited to DuPont Merck Radiopharmaceutical Division as a Principal Research Scientist in Biological Research Imaging, and later was appointed as Director Discovery Biology Research Imaging and Animal Resources. He has held positions at Rorer Pharmaceuticals where he was Group Leader of Cardiovascular Pharmacology and as Research Manager in Vascular Biology at the RWJ Pharmaceutical Research Institute. Dr. Barrett received a B.S. from the State University of New York at Oneonta and a Ph.D. from St. John’s University.

Joshua Hamermesh has served as our Vice President of Commercial and Business Development since May 2005. From 1999 to 2005, he worked at Genzyme Corporation, where he was the Business Director, Cardiac Cell Therapy and Chief Operating Officer of the company’s MG Biotherapeutics unit. Mr. Hamermesh held several cardiovascular product marketing and business development positions at Genzyme, including Director, Cardiovascular Business Development and Marketing Manager, Genzyme Surgical Products. Previously, he was a strategy consultant at Monitor Company. Mr. Hamermesh received a B.A. from Amherst College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Priscilla Harlan has served as our Vice President, Corporate Communications since July 2005. From 2000 to 2005, Ms. Harlan worked at Complete Healthcare Communications, a medical communications consultancy, where she was an Account Director for pharmaceutical clients. Previously, she served in senior investor relations positions at Feinstein Kean Healthcare, a communications consulting firm, where she designed and implemented strategic communications initiatives for emerging companies. Prior to that, she directed corporate communications and investor relations at Sepracor Inc. and one of its subsidiaries. Ms. Harlan received a B.A. in Biology and History from the University of North Carolina.

John L. Joyal, Ph.D. has served as our Vice President of Discovery Research since January of 2008. He joined Molecular Insight as Director of Biology in 2005. He has over 20 years of oncology basic research and drug discovery experience with expertise in cell and molecular biology particularly in the areas of receptor biology, signal transduction pathways, and assay development. Prior to joining Molecular Insight, Dr. Joyal was Director of Discovery Research at Phylogix Pharmaceuticals where he led a team evaluating the biology and mechanism of action of protein therapeutics for oncology supportive care. From 1997 to 2004, he held several positions at Praecis Pharmaceuticals including Director of Cell Biology, where he initiated or contributed to the establishment of numerous research projects focusing on the discovery of novel therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, inflammation, infectious disease, and neurological disorders. From 1993 to 1997, Dr. Joyal did his post-doctoral training at Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women’s Hospital examining novel interactions between the calcium sensor, calmodulin, and proteins involved in breast carcinogenesis and growth factor signaling. He received his Ph.D. in biology in 1994 from Tufts University studying mitochondrial physiology.

James F. Kronauge, Ph.D. has served as our Vice President of Process Chemistry since August 2005. He joined the company in December 1999. He has been an active researcher in the field of radiology and nuclear medicine for the past 20 years and has published more than 50 research articles in a variety of peer-reviewed journals. He is inventor or co-inventor of six issued patents, including one for the use of Cardiolite, a perfusion imaging agent for the detection of cardiac ischemia. Prior to joining Molecular Insight, he was Assistant Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School and Associate Director of Radiopharmacy in the Joint Program in Nuclear Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. His research efforts have focused on the development of diagnostic agents for measurement of tissue perfusion in cardiovascular disease, developing imaging agents for the detection of various cancers and monitoring multi-drug resistance in tumors. His experience includes synthetic organic and inorganic chemistry, elucidation of drug interactions by in vitro cell culture techniques and in vivo animal models, HPLC analysis, pharmacodynamics and metabolism studies, radiochemistry and pharmaceutical chemistry. He has been involved with the discovery and development of CardioGen (Bracco) and Mebrofennin (Bracco). Dr. Kronauge received a B.S in Chemistry from the University of Cincinnati, and a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from M.I.T. under the guidance of Professor Alan Davison.

James Wachholz has served as our Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance since May 2005. He has over 20 years of experience in regulatory affairs and product development at biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. From 2003 to May 2005, he worked at Accentia Biopharmaceuticals, where he served as Chief Regulatory Officer. From 1998 to 2003 Mr. Wachholz worked at Sepracor Inc., where he served as the Executive Director of Regulatory Affairs. Previously, Mr. Wachholz held regulatory and compliance positions at Hybridon, Inc., Searle Pharmaceuticals and Baxter International. Mr. Wachholz received a B.S. in Biochemistry from Northern Illinois University and an M.B.A. from DePaul University.