CytoSage Team Expertise
Robert W Mays, PhD
Dr . Mays is the acting CEO and co-founder of CytoSage LLC. Previously, he was co-founder of Athersys, Inc. and Executive Vice President of Regenerative Medicine at Athersys, Inc. he has over 27 years of translational neuroscience research focused on cellular therapeutic applications in Regenerative Medicine and drug discovery, with a specific focus on injuries and diseases affecting the central nervous system. Dr Mays was the Principal Investigator of the MASTERS (Mutistem Administration for Stroke Treatment and Enhanced recovery Study) (NCT03545607) clinical trial assessing the safety and efficacy of MultiStem in the treatment of ischemic stroke. He was also the Principal Investigator of the pivotal phase 3 MASTERS-2 study, which received RMAT, Fast Track and Special Protocol Assessment designation from the FDA. Dr Mays is a member of the National Center for Regenerative Medicine, Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, the American Heart Association and is an Adjunct Professor at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He has authored or co-authored more than 40 peer reviewed scientific papers or reviews and is the inventor of more than 10 patents relating to the use of stem cells for treating neurological disease and pathophysiology. Dr Mays is on the Scientific Advisory Committee for Target ALS, as well as the Mellon College of Science at Carnigie Mellon University. He graduated from Carnigie Mellon in 1987 with a B.S. in Cell and Development Biology. In 1994, he received his PhD in Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford University. After doing post-doctoral rersearch at the University Utrecht in the Netherlands, the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel and the University of California, San Francisco before co-founding Athersys, Inc
Stephen A Kilfeather, PhD
Stephen Kilfeather is Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of CytoSage LLC. He has 10 years experience in translational cardiovascular research and over 34 years experience in translational immune and inflammatory pharmacology. He was co-founder of Aeirtec Limited, a contract research organisation conducting preclinical and clinical anti-inflammatory drug development for multiple biotech and large pharma organisations. He was a consultant in phase 2 respiratory clinical trial design for Astra Zeneca and Novartis and Principle Investigator on anti-inflammatory clinical trials for Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK and Altana in phase 2-4 trials. Through direction of a Site-Management Organisation of anti-inflammatory organisation, he also generated a platform for acquisition of human inflammatory disease tissue for conduct of immunopharmacology. He is co-inventor of two novel immunoassay-based proteomics platforms and inventor of the dual antibody affinity state-derived high sensitivity assay system within Aeirtec; with all aspects being patent awarded across USA, EU and China. He directed the evolution of blood biomarker multiplexing within Aeirtec, leading to the stratification of several immune-related disorders with respect to severity and response to treatment through combined high sensitivity blood marker multiplexing and multivariate analyses. He has authored or co-authored over 40 peer reviewed publications and reviews. He received BSc and PhD in pharmacology from University of London.
Elaine Lee, PhD
Dr Elaine Lee is co-founder and Project Manager within CytoSage LLC. She was previously co-founder and director of Aeirtec Limited, a contract research organisation conducting preclinical and clinical anti-inflammatory drug development for multiple biotech and large pharma organisations. In Aeirtec she managed delivery of contracts across preclinical and clinical studies. She has 25 years experience in directing immune-inflammatory cell pharmacology, managing clinical trials and blood biomarker multiplexing. She is co-inventor and oversaw optimization to the point of product launch of Aeirtec’s high sensitivity proteomics multiplexing platform that has received issued patents in three continents. This technology has been applied under her management in conjunction with multivariate statistics to delineate disease pathology, patient group stratification and proteomic signatures of treatment response within Aeirtec. She received BSc in pharmacology from the University of East London and PhD in pharmacology from University of Sunderland. She established the universal role of leukotrienes in human inflammatory cell survival and its reflection in cell-specific inflammatory cell apoptosis induction by the different leukotriene inhibitor drug classes.