Management team
Michael H. Tardugno
President and Chief Executive OfficerMr. Tardugno's career has been exclusively focused in the healthcare and brings over 29 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries to Celsion. He has held positions of increasing responsibility in general management, operations, and product and technology development. Prior to joining the company in 2007, Mr. Tardugno served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Mylan Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of Mylan Laboratories, a transdermal delivery system and medical components company. Before Mylan, he was a founding member of management and Executive Vice President of Songbird Hearing, Inc, a privately held start-up company. Before Songbird, he held the positions of Senior Vice President of Technical Operations, World Wide for the ConvaTec division of Bristol-Myers Squibb, and World Wide Vice President of Technology Development and Manufacturing for Bausch & Lomb. Mr. Tardugno began his career in 1977 with Abbott Laboratories where he held positions in pharmaceutical operations and as plant manager for the company's Ross Laboratories Division nutritional business. Mr. Tardugno holds a B.S. in Biology with Chemistry concentration from St. Bonaventure University and attended the Harvard Business School executive program.
Nicholas Borys M.D.
Vice President and Chief Medical OfficerNicholas Borys, M.D. joined Celsion on October 1, 2007 as Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. In this position Dr. Borys manages the clinical development program for Celsion. Dr. Borys, who was most recently Chief Medical Officer at Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, Inc, has accumulated extensive experience in all phases of pharmaceutical development with a focus in oncology while holding increasingly senior positions at Cytogen Corporation, Anthra Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Amersham Healthcare, Inc. and Hoffmann La-Roche Inc. Dr. Borys attended Rutgers University and holds an M.D. Degree from American University of the Caribbean.
Mark Italia Ph.D.
Executive Director, Quality and Regulatory AffairsMark Italia, Ph.D. joined Celsion in March, 2007 as Executive Director of Quality Assurance and was promoted to his current position, Executive Director of Quality and Regulatory Affairs in September of 2007. Prior to joining Celsion, Mark held the position of Sr. Director, Compliance for Gilead Sciences in San Dimas, California. Mark's employment history as a Quality professional in the Pharmaceutical Industry includes 20 years of increasing responsibilities and a track record of accomplishment for a number of major companies including Schein Pharmaceuticals, Boehringer Ingelheim, Fisons Pharmaceuticals, Knoll Pharmaceuticals and Johnson & Johnson. He holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts and an M.B.A from Rutgers University.
Raj Prabhakar M.B.A.
Senior Director, Corporate and Strategic PlanningRaj Prabhakar, M.B.A. joined Celsion in January 2004 and served as Director of Program Management leading the liver cancer program from preclinical stage through launch of the global Phase III HCC study. He was promoted to his current position of Senior Director of Strategic Planning and Business Development in December 2007. Raj has nearly seven years of biomedical industry experience including Celsion, Protiveris (proteomics), Osiris Therapeutics (stem cells) and Harvard Medical School (orthopedic implants). Prior to receiving his M.B.A., Raj held analyst and associate positions for four years in several finance, venture capital and private equity firms. In addition to 11 years of experience, Raj holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and dual B.S. degrees from MIT in biology and mechanical engineering.
Paul Susie
Chief Accounting OfficerPaul B. Susie joined Celsion in February, 2007 as its Corporate Controller, bringing solid experience and a track record of accomplishment in accounting and finance to the company. In September, 2007 he was promoted to his current position, Interim Chief Accounting Officer. Prior to joining Celsion, Mr. Susie served as Vice President of Administration and Controller for Earthshell Corporation from October, 2005 to February, 2007. He also served as Corporate Controller of American Pool Enterprises, Inc. (a division of FirstService Corporation) from March, 2004 through October, 2005, and from 1998 to 2004, he held the position of controller for Baltimore Marine Industries, Inc. Mr. Susie has over 16 years of experience in both public and corporate accounting and finance, holds a B.S. in accounting from the University of Baltimore and is a Certified Public Accountant.