Executive Officers & Board of Directors
James McCullough - Chief Executive Officer and Director
James McCullough has served as our co-founder and Chief Executive Officer since our inception. Mr. McCullough has leadership experience building emerging technology companies in both the public and private sectors with specific expertise in the life-sciences industry. From 2008 to 2014, he served as chief executive officer of Exosome Diagnostics Inc., a venture backed personalized medicine company developing non-invasive liquid biopsy diagnostics in cancer that was acquired by Bio-Techne Corporation in 2018. Since 2014, Mr. McCullough has also served as a managing partner of Renwick Capital, LLC, a management consulting firm specializing in assisting emerging healthcare technology companies with strategic planning and business execution. He received his B.A. from Boston University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Fergus Fleming - Chief Technology Officer and Director
Fergus Fleming has served as Renalytix’s Chief Technical Officer since its inception. Fergus has over 25 years’ experience in the life sciences sector, including leadership positions with Baxter Healthcare, Boston Scientific, Trinity Biotech plc, and EKF Diagnostics. Fergus has extensive experience in the design and manufacture of interventional medical devices, digital health solutions, in vitro diagnostics instruments and reagents, and electromechanical devices. He has extensive experience managing global projects, including clinical research collaborations, product development, acquisitions, and manufacturing site transfers.
Thomas McLain - President
Thomas McLain has served as our President and Chief Commercial Officer since July 2019. Prior to joining Renalytix, he held leading positions, including as Chief Executive Officer, of Exosome Diagnostics Inc. from July 2014 to July 2019. Mr. McLain has also served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Vermillion, Inc., Chief Executive Officer of Claro Scientific LLC, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Nabi Biopharmaceuticals and Vice President at Bausch & Lomb. Mr. McClain received his B.A. in Economics at College of the Holy Cross and his MBA at the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration at University of Rochester.
O. James Sterling - Chief Financial Officer
O. James Sterling, MBA, has served as our Chief Financial Officer since our inception. Since May 2015, Mr. Sterling has also served as a managing partner of Renwick Capital, LLC. Previously, he served as a managing director at SF Sentry Securities, Brock Capital Group LLC and Aleutian Capital Group. Mr. Sterling also has experience as a management consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton. He received his B.A. in geography (alternative energy and environmental science) from Boston University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Michael J. Donovan, Ph.D., M.D. - Chief Medical Officer
Michael J. Donovan, Ph.D., M.D. has served as our Chief Medical Officer since our inception. Since November 2011, Donovan has also served as a Professor of Experimental Pathology and Director of the Biorepository and Pathology core at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. In addition to an academic career at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, Dr. Donovan has over 20 years’ experience in the biotechnology industry, serving in various senior management roles at Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Incyte Pharmaceuticals. He most recently served as Chief Clinical Officer of Vigilant Biosciences, Inc., Chief Medical Officer of MetaStat, Inc. and Chief Medical Officer of Exosome Diagnostics, Inc. Dr. Donovan received a B.S. in Zoology, an M.S. in Endocrinology and a Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental Biology from Rutgers University. He received his M.D. from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
Daniel J. Levangie - Non-Executive Director
Erik Lium, Ph.D. - Non-Executive Director
Erik Lium, Ph.D. has served as a member of our board of directors since November 2018. Since March 2014, Dr. Lium has served in various roles at Mount Sinai, where he is currently the president of Mount Sinai Innovation Partners, and the executive vice president and chief commercial innovation officer of the Mount Sinai Health System. Dr. Lium represents Mount Sinai on several private company boards and previously served as a member of the investment review committee for the Accelerate NY Seed Fund. Dr. Lium also serves as chairman of the board of managers of Kantaro. Prior to joining Mount Sinai, Dr. Lium served as the assistant vice chancellor of Innovation, Technology & Alliances at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), the UCSF principal investigator for the Bay Area National Science Foundation I-Corps node, and assistant vice chancellor of Research. Dr. Lium served as president of LabVelocity Inc. prior to its acquisition in 2004. He pursued postdoctoral research at UCSF in the laboratory of J. Michael Bishop, M.D., earned a Ph.D. from the Integrated Program in Cellular, Molecular and Biophysical Studies at Columbia University in the laboratory of Dr. Saul J. Silverstein, and holds a B.S. in Biology from Gonzaga University.
Christopher Mills - Non-Executive Chairman
Christopher Mills has served as a member of our board of directors since our inception. Mr. Mills founded Harwood Capital Management in 2011, a successor from its former parent company J.O. Hambro Capital Management, which he co-founded in 1993. He is chief executive officer and investment manager of North Atlantic Smaller Companies Investment Trust plc and chairman and chief executive officer of Harwood Capital Management Ltd. Mr. Mills currently serves on the board of a number of public companies, including EKF Diagnostics plc, Sureserve Group plc, Augean plc and MJ Gleeson plc. Mr. Mills received a B.A. in Business Studies from Guildhall University.
Chirag R. Parikh, Ph.D., M.D. - Non-Executive Director
Chirag R. Parikh, Ph.D., M.D. has served as a member of our board of directors since October 2019. Since July 2018, Dr. Parikh has served as a Professor of Medicine and the Division Director of Nephrology at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Parikh also served a faculty member at Yale University where he directed the Program of Applied Translational Research. Dr. Parikh’s research focuses on the translation and validation of novel biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of kidney diseases. He has assembled multicenter longitudinal prospective cohorts for translational research studies across several clinical settings of acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease for the efficient translation of novel biomarkers. Dr. Parikh received his medical degree from Seth G.S. Medical College and KEM Hospital in Mumbai, India and subsequently completed his Nephrology fellowship and a Ph.D. in Clinical Investigation at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
Catherine Coste - Non-Executive Director
Salim Hamir - Company Secretary
Salim Hamir is a Chartered Accountant with leadership experience in a number of companies. Salim has played instrumental roles in the public listings of Renalytix, Verici Dx and Trellus Health and serves as Company Secretary for all these companies. Salim has also provided his services to EKF Diagnostics Holdings plc since 2011 serving in various capacities, including Company Secretary and Head of Corporate Affairs dealing in all matters in respect to M&A, investor relations and governance. Salim also served as Chief Financial Officer for Trellus Health. Salim has extensive experience providing strategic advice on mergers and acquisitions, fundraising and AIM listings, cost reduction, tax planning, and implementation of new systems and processes. Prior to these roles, Mr. Hamir served as the Finance Director for Quotient Diagnostics and the Wilton Group.