Team
Derek Overstreet, PhD
Chief Executive Officer and Director
Dr. Overstreet is an expert in polymeric biomaterials and drug delivery. He manages Sonoran’s research and development activities and manages Sonoran’s intellectual property. He has led efforts to raise over $4 million of non-dilutive funding for Sonoran, having served as PI on five NIH small business grants. Dr. Overstreet has mentored over 30 people ranging from high school and undergraduate students to surgical residents and scientists with doctoral degrees. He has authored 18 peer-reviewed scientific publications and is listed as an inventor on four issued or pending patents. His research on novel hydrogels for biomedical applications has been presented over 30 times at various conferences including meetings of the Musculoskeletal Infection Society, Orthopaedic Research Society, Materials Research Society, Biomedical Engineering Society, and the Society for Biomaterials. Dr. Overstreet holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Arizona State University.
Alex McLaren, MD
Chief Medical Officer and Director
Dr. McLaren is one of a very small number of people that has expertise both in orthopaedic surgery and local drug delivery. He has over 30 years of clinical experience focused on orthopaedic infections, revision joint replacement and complex fractures and an equal length of time in research related to local drug delivery and evaluation of clinical outcomes. In addition to his work at Sonoran Biosciences, Dr. McLaren is a Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix (UACOM-P) and participates in research focused on diagnosis of pathogens using biophysical identification. He previously started the Orthopaedic Surgery Residency program at UACOM-P and served as the Program Director for 10 years. He is a past President of the Musculoskeletal Infection Society (MSIS) and inductee of the MSIS Hall of Fame, the leading North American society of clinicians focused on bone and joint infection. Dr. McLaren has authored over 80 peer-reviewed publications and nine book chapters, serving as editor on two textbooks. Dr. McLaren received his MD from Queen’s University (Ontario). He completed orthopaedic residency at the University of Western Ontario and a fellowship in orthopaedic research at the University of Southern California.
Joseph Cooper, MBA
Director
Mr. Cooper is a pharmaceutical executive with over 25 years of experience in general management, corporate development, product development, and manufacturing. He is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Hydrinity and sits on the board of Quoin Pharmaceuticals and Sonoran Biosciences. From 2011 to 2023, he provided operating and strategic business development support to a variety of early-stage companies including Sonoran Biosciences, NuvOx Pharma, and Resonea. From 1996 to 2010, Mr. Cooper served as Executive Vice President of Corporate and Product Development at Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation, where he was responsible for corporate development, clinical and technical operations, business unit management, as well as frequent representation for the company with investors and equity analysts. During his tenure at Medicis, the company’s revenues grew to over $600 million annually. Mr. Cooper is earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Management and Operations from Northeastern Illinois University and holds an MBA from the Executive Program at Arizona State University.
Michael Myers, PhD
Director
Dr. Myers is a pharmaceutical executive with over 30 years of experience in drug delivery and specialty pharmaceuticals. He currently serves as CEO of Quoin Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage specialty pharmaceutical company focused on development and commercialization of therapeutics for rare and orphan diseases including Netherton Syndrome. From 2003 to 2015, he served as CEO of Innocoll, Inc., which developed two locally applied pharmaceutical formulations based on collagen sponge through Phase 3 clinical trials for treatment of acute, postoperative pain and prevention of surgical site infection. Under his leadership, Innocoll went public in 2014. Prior to his time at Innocoll, Dr. Myers was president of the drug delivery division of West Pharmaceutical Services, president of pharmaceutical operations for Fuisz Technologies (Biovail), and held executive positions in Flamel Technologies and Elan Corporation. Dr. Myers earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University College Cork. Dr. Myers also serves on the Board of Directors of Wellesley Pharmaceuticals.
Gregory Stea
Director
Mr. Stea is a pharmaceutical executive with over 30 years of experience in sales and commercial operations. From 2009 to 2015, he served as Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations for Cubist, which was acquired by Merck in 2015 for $9.5 billion. In this role, Mr. Stea was responsible for leading all commercial operations, including the launch and sales of Cubicin, Zerbaxa and Sivextro. During this time he was also a member of the Cubist Operating Committee which was responsible for the company’s overall strategy. Mr. Stea served in other leadership roles at Cubist from 2002 to 2009 and at Amgen, where he was the first employee of its sales organization in 1988. Mr. Stea earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Temple University and completed the University of Michigan’s Executive Education program as well as Harvard Business School’s program in leadership and strategy in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.
Clinical Advisors
Adam Amundson, MD
Dr. Amundson is the Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and the Program Director of the Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Fellowship at Mayo Clinic Rochester. His practice and research is focused on treatment of acute postoperative pain and placement of peripheral nerve blocks. He has served as the President of the Minnesota Society of Anesthesiologists (2024) and faculty of the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management. He has authored over 40 peer-reviewed publications, including a three-arm randomized controlled trial published in Anesthesiology comparing peripheral nerve block, periarticular injection with ropivacaine, and periarticular injection with liposomal bupivacaine for patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty.
Antonia Chen, MD, MBA
Dr. Chen is the Dr. Charles F. Gregory Distinguished Chair in Orthopaedic Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center. She previously served as the head of Arthroplasty Research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She has received multiple awards for clinical and basic science research which has focused on the diagnosis and management of prosthetic joint infection and treatment of postoperative pain. She has authored over 400 articles in peer-reviewed journals, several authoritative book chapters, and she has held administrative positions in a number of national and international societies, including President of the Musculoskeletal Infection Society.
David Larson, MD, MBA
Dr. Larson is a colon and rectal surgeon and serves as Chair of the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery at Mayo Clinic. Dr. Larson has over 20 years of research experience focused on best practices related to surgery and recovery including surgical site infection, minimally invasive and robotic surgery, enhanced recovery and care process models, inflammatory bowel disease, diverticulitis, and neurolinguistic programming and informatics. He has authored over 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals, is an active educator, and served on several committees related to quality and education with the American College of Surgeons and American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons.
Sandra Nelson, MD
Dr. Nelson is Associate Clinical Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital. She oversees the Inpatient Infectious Diseases services and the Program in Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT). Her research has focused on care of patients with musculoskeletal infections, and she previously served as President of Musculoskeletal Infection Society. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Nelson served as the infectious disease liaison to Massachusetts General Hospital’s COVID-19 response, facilitating inpatient care redesign and surge response, and working on vaccine rollout efforts.
Mark Spangehl, MD
Dr. Spangehl is the Chair of the Division of Adult Reconstruction and Professor of Orthopaedics at Mayo Clinic in Arizona and founded both the Orthopaedic Surgery Residency and Adult Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship at Mayo Clinic’s campus in Phoenix, Arizona. He has over 20 years experience in clinical practice and research focused on total hip and knee replacement, including research into optimal strategies for managing postoperative pain and other potential complications including infection. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles focused on treatment of postoperative pain and diagnosis and management of prosthetic joint infection. Dr. Spangehl was a contributor to the MSIS criteria for the diagnosis of prosthetic joint infection and has served in leadership roles for national orthopaedic societies in their activities related to prosthetic joint infection.
Bryan Springer, MD
Dr. Springer is the Chair of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Mayo Clinic Florida. Previous to that, he was Associate Professor at Carolinas Medical Center, Fellowship Director at OrthoCarolina. He has served as Chair for the American Joint Replacement Registry, President of the International Congress for Joint Replacement (ICJR), President of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS), and President of the Musculoskeletal Infection Society. Dr. Springer has received multiple awards and honors including being listed as one of the “65 Total Knee Replacement Surgeons to Know in the US” by Becker’s ASC review in 2020. He has authored over 150 peer-reviewed articles and over 25 book chapters focused primarily on complex total hip and knee replacement and infection.