Brian Johnstone

VP of Research

For the past 20 years, Dr. Johnstone has been actively involved in translating adult stem cell therapies into treatments for a host of diseases affecting the major organs of the body. In 2004, he co-authored one of the first studies demonstrating the potential for treating cardiovascular diseases with novel adult stem cells isolated from fat.

Since then, Dr. Johnstone has continued to develop and test new medical uses for adult stem cells as part of his own research as well as in collaboration with international academic centers and pharma / biotech firms.

Outside of the research setting, Dr. Johnstone co-founded NeuroFx, an early-stage biotech firm developing a novel therapy for neurological disorders. Dr. Johnstone led the R&D program at NeuroFx for two years, where he was directly responsible for preclinical and chemistry, manufacturing, and controls development activities. He continues to act as an advisor for NeuroFx. Additionally, Dr. Johnstone has formed two other biotech companies, Chemigen, which is developing a small molecule drug for treating Lou Gehrig’s disease, and EmphyMab Biotech (now Allinaire), which is developing biologics to treat serious lung diseases.

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Dr. Johnstone was an early employee at Sangamo Biosciences for 6 years, where he managed the preclinical development program for their lead gene therapy candidate for cardiovascular diseases, which is currently in Phase II clinical testing. Dr. Johnstone received his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, College Park, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Jay Gardner

Director of People & Talent

Ms. Gardner is a hands-on People leader with deep experience supporting high-growth startups across SaaS, cleantech, and fintech. Her focus is building scalable People and Talent infrastructure that emphasizes connection and engagement across multiple locations, teams, and levels.

Before joining Ossium, Ms. Gardner established the People team as employee #18 at Turntide Technologies, a cleantech electric motor startup with backing from Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Robert Downey Jr. During her tenure, she cemented the People team as the connective tissue for a before-its-time hybrid model of 6 offices and 40% remote staff, and drove 555% headcount growth across the company. At Turntide she rolled out multiple people-focused initiatives including introducing OKRs, creating a recruiting playbook, founding a DEBI (Diversity, Equity, Belonging, & Inclusion) team, and building out the onboarding program Turntide 101. Ms. Gardner also spent 4 years in HR Consulting, working with startups across the nation to implement HR systems and best practices. Her team supported between 30-40 clients at any given time to onboard companies’ first hires, create a foundational HR base, and set the company up for future success with a focus on proactive consultative HR.

Prior to finding her calling in the People space, Ms. Gardner worked in guest operations at San Francisco’s two science museums: The California Academy of Sciences (where she presented public engagement shows underwater as a scuba diver) and the Exploratorium. Ms. Gardner received her BA in Feminist Studies from Stanford University, where she won a national championship as a member of the women’s water polo team and was named to the All-American team all four years. She also spent six months playing professional water polo overseas in Greece.