Wa'el Al Rawashdeh

Senior Director, Development

Dr. Al Rawashdeh has an interdisciplinary career focusing on the clinical translation of cell therapies and development of molecular imaging platforms. Prior to joining Ossium, he held a number of critical roles at Miltenyi Biotec, a global market-leader in cell processing, that enabled the creation of a successful CAR T cell therapy program. Dr. Al Rawashdeh developed industry-leading non-clinical development (NCD) and molecular imaging platforms and led the in vivo NCD packages of the CAR T cell therapy program, which in 4 years resulted in 4 CIT approvals in Germany, 1 IND pivotal trial FDA application, and 1 successful approval of an ‘orphan drug’ by the EMA. Dr. Al Rawashdeh developed a novel animal model that permitted the approval of the first CAR T cell clinical trial in Europe targeting melanoma.

On the research front, Dr. Al Rawashdeh spearheaded the initiation of an industry-academia consortium that successfully secured a major grant of $1.6 million from the EU European Funding for Regional Development initiative to develop novel CAR T cell therapies against solid tumors and cell tracking strategies, and led the project up to the time of his departure in 2021, when he joined Ossium. .

As a postdoc at RWTH Aachen University, Germany’s top engineering university, Dr. Al Rawashdeh co-developed novel optical imaging technology that convinced MiLabs, a global leader in molecular imaging, to adopt the technology and build and commercialize a hybrid tomography system that generated over $10 million in sales to date. Furthermore, on the basis of his original research and project design where he recruited industry partners from Germany, Italy and the UK, he secured a $1 million grant from the European Union’s European Commission in the highly competitive multi-country BioPhotonics call.

Dr. Al Rawashdeh completed his BS from California State University, Fresno, and his MSc and Ph.D. from RWTH Aachen University.

Oliver Cácananta

Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs

Mr. Cacananta is a 25-year veteran of the biopharmaceutical industry, having worked broadly with biologics, combination medical devices, and small molecule drugs. He has extensive involvement in collaboration or leadership of approved marketing and investigational regulatory filings (BLAs, MAAs, PMA, CE Mark, 510(k), NDA, INDs/IDEs as well as CMC and other pre- and post-approval commitment submissions) and in organizing and participating in various agency interactions (e.g., PDUFA meetings and advisory panel). His global experience spans multiple therapeutic areas, including vaccines for influenza and biodefense medical countermeasures, diabetes and other metabolic disorders, endovascular disease, blood pathogen reduction technologies, and cell therapy for ophthalmology and medical aesthetics, and diverse geographies, working with partners and agencies across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (primarily China, Japan, and Australia), South America, and Middle East-North Africa.

Mr. Cacananta’s career and contributions to research and science are rooted in the intersections of the biotech and pharmaceutical industry and the quality and regulatory pathways by which treatment and technological innovations reach patients. As a regulatory professional, his impact comes from shepherding research products through the product lifecycle, from clinical trials to market approval, all the while ensuring that products are safe and efficacious and are within the regulatory parameters set forth by governing agencies.

Mr. Cacananta has worked at a variety of large and small biotechnology companies, including Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Cerus Corporation, Medtronic, Amgen, Emergent BioSolutions, BioMarin Pharmaceuticals, and Chiron Corporation. He received his BS in Biological Sciences from California State University, East Bay, and MBA in Global Management from the University of Phoenix.

Jay Gardner

Senior Director, Talent & People Operations

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.

Brian Johnstone

Vice President, 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.

Margie Mathewson

Senior Vice President, Business Operations

Dr. Mathewson’s career has focused primarily on helping start-ups and small businesses build out robust operations, from internal structures and systems to external partnerships. Prior to joining Ossium, Dr. Mathewson was the 7th team member at Point, a FinTech start-up offering non-traditional options for home equity funding, where she led Business Operations. While there, she drove development of an underwriting process for nontraditional, complicated customers that allowed funding of Point’s initial set of homeowners, including the first to successfully exit the investment. She also communicated complex mathematical concepts to homeowners to educate them on the Point investment model and how their equity sale would work.

Dr. Mathewson also worked as a consultant for McKinsey & Company, where, among other projects, she helped develop a rapid growth strategy for a successful health system, overhauled a sales and supply chain planning process to improve communication and ensure every customer got what they ordered on time, and restructured the international sales team for a major global telecom. Dr. Mathewson completed her PhD at the University of California, San Diego, where she was an NSF Fellow and founded a successful mentorship program for first generation college students in engineering.