Team
Derek Overstreet, PhD
Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Director
Dr. Overstreet manages Sonoran’s intellectual property and oversees Sonoran’s day-to-day research and development activities. He has led efforts to raise over $3.8 million of non-dilutive funding for Sonoran through four NIH small business grants and led Sonoran’s preparation for a Pre-IND meeting on SBG003. His research on novel hydrogels for biomedical applications has been presented at various conferences including meetings of the Musculoskeletal Infection Society, Orthopaedic Research Society, Materials Research Society, Biomedical Engineering Society, and the Society for Biomaterials.
Alex McLaren, MD
Co-Founder, Chief Medical Officer, and Director
Dr. McLaren is one of a very small number of people that has expertise both in the biology of infection and orthopaedic surgery, with over 30 years of clinical experience focused on orthopaedic infections and an equal length of time in research related to antibiotic delivery. He is a past President and current Executive Board Member of the Musculoskeletal Infection Society (MSIS), the leading North American society of clinicians focused on bone and joint infection.
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 Business Officer for NuvOx Pharma and previously served as interim CEO and advisor to Sonoran Biosciences. 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. Prior to that, he served in senior roles with Schein Pharmaceutical, Smith and Nephew, and GD Searle. 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. 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 prevention of surgical site infection and treatment of acute, postoperative pain. 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 and Venkor 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. He most recently served as an advisor to La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company in preparing for commercialization of their first drug, Angiotensin II (Giapreza), and he currently serves on the Board of Directors of Achaogen.
Brent Vernon, PhD
Co-Founder
Dr. Vernon is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Arizona State University, having published over 40 peer-reviewed articles on injectable polymer-based biomaterials.
Ryan McLemore, PhD
Co-Founder
Dr. McLemore has authored over 50 peer-reviewed research manuscripts and 3 book chapters focused on orthopaedic biomaterials and drug delivery. He has held positions at Banner Health and Mayo Clinic.
Clinical Advisors
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.
Antonia Chen, MD, MBA
Dr. Chen is an orthopaedic surgeon and is an Associate Professor at the Sidney Kimmel School of Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University. She is a past President of the Musculoskeletal Infection Society (MSIS) and serves as the head of Arthroplasty Research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where she focuses on infection research. She has received multiple awards for clinical and basic science research focused on the diagnosis and management of prosthetic joint infection, and she completed an Adult Reconstruction fellowship at Rothman Institute. She has authored over 120 articles in peer-reviewed journals, several authoritative book chapters, and she has held administrative positions in a number of national and international societies.
Mark Spangehl, MD
Dr. Spangehl is an orthopaedic surgeon and educator. He is an Associate Professor 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 15 years experience in clinical practice and research focused on total hip and knee replacement, including management of complications including postoperative pain and infection. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles focused on diagnosis and management of prosthetic joint infection and postoperative pain management. Dr. Spangehl was 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 an orthopaedic surgeon, Associate Professor in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Carolinas Medical Center, Fellowship Director at OrthoCarolina, and a past President of MSIS. He has received national recognition from the Knee Society and AAHKS, and in 2014 was named one of the Top 22 North American Knee Surgeons by Orthopedics This Week. He is currently a member of both The Hip Society and The Knee Society and serves as Education Chair for AAHKS. He has authored over 85 peer-reviewed articles, over 25 book chapters, and three textbooks focused primarily on complex total hip and knee replacement and infection.