Leadership Team

We are dedicated to developing life changing medicines

N. Scott Fine

N. Scott Fine

Chief Executive Officer, Cyclo Therapeutics

N. Scott Fine has been a Director of the Company since February 2014 and became our Chief Executive Officer on September 14, 2015. From 2004 until 2014, he was a principal at Scarsdale Equities, an investment banking firm located in New York City. Mr. Fine has been involved in investment banking for over 35 years, working on a multitude of debt and equity financings, buy and sell side M&A, strategic advisory work and corporate restructurings. Much of his time has been focused on transactions in the healthcare and consumer products area. Mr. Fine has led global transactions in healthcare, including medical devices, generic pharmaceuticals, and genetics. He also worked with The Tempo Group of Jakarta, Indonesia.

Mr. Fine was Chairman of the Board of The Global Virus Network (GVN), and he also was the lead investment banker on the initial public offering of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. and Central European Distribution Corporation (“CEDC”), a multi-billion-dollar alcohol company. Mr. Fine continued his involvement with CEDC serving as a director from 1996 until 2014, during which time he led the CEDC Board in its successful efforts in 2013 to restructure the company through a pre-packaged Chapter 11 process whereby CEDC was acquired by the Russian Standard alcohol group.

Recently, Mr. Fine served as Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Restructuring Committee of Pacific Drilling from 2017 to 2018 where he successfully led the independent directors to a successful reorganization. He also served as sole director of Better Place Inc. from 2013 until 2015. In his role there, Mr. Fine successfully managed the global wind down of the company in a timely and efficient manner which was approved by both the Delaware and Israeli Courts.

Mr. Fine currently serves on the board of directors of Kenon Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KEN), devotes time to several non-profit organizations and has been a guest lecturer at Ohio State University’s Moritz School of Law and Fordham University Law School.

Howard S. Jonas

Howard S. Jonas

Chairman of the Board, Rafael Holdings, Inc.

Howard S. Jonas has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company since August 17, 2017 and as Executive Chairman since June 13, 2022 and served as Chief Executive Officer from March 8, 2018 through April 30, 2021. Mr. Jonas has been a director of Cornerstone Pharmaceuticals since April 2013 and was appointed Chairman of the Board of Cornerstone Pharmaceuticals in April 2016. Mr. Jonas founded IDT Corporation in August 1990, has served as Chairman of its Board of Directors since its inception and as its Chairman since September 2022. Mr. Jonas served as member of the Board of Directors of IDT from inception to December 2020, when he was appointed as an ex-officio (non-voting) member of the Board of Directors. In March 2021, Mr. Jonas was reappointed as a voting member of the Board of Directors. Mr. Jonas served as Chief Executive Officer of IDT from October 2009 through December 2013 and from December 1991 until July 2001. From January 2014 until November 2017, Mr. Jonas served as the Chief Executive Officer of Genie Energy Ltd., a former subsidiary of IDT that was spun off to stockholders in October 2011, and has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Genie Energy since the spin-off. From June 2016 to November 2016, Mr. Jonas served as the Chairman of the Board of Zedge, Inc., a former subsidiary of IDT that was spun off to stockholders in June 2016. Mr. Jonas has served as the Vice Chairman of Zedge, Inc. since November 2016. Mr. Jonas also serves as Chairman of the Board of IDW Media Holdings, Inc., a former subsidiary of IDT that was spun off to stockholders in September 2009, has been its Chairman since June 2022 and served as Chief Executive Officer from February 2019 through April 2020. Mr. Jonas is also the founder and has been President of Jonas Media Group (f/k/a Jonas Publishing) since its inception in 1979. Mr. Jonas received a B.A. in Economics from Harvard University.

William 'Bill' Conkling

William 'Bill' Conkling

President and Chief Executive Officer, Rafael Holdings, Inc.

William Conkling has served as the Company’s President since January 2023 and as its Chief Executive Officer since February 2022.  He previously served as the Chief Commercial and Business Officer of the Company from March 8, 2021 to January 31, 2022. Mr. Conkling has over 20 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical/biotech industry working in Oncology. He has extensive experience launching innovative oncology products. His experience spans across all areas of commercialization including marketing, sales, market access, commercial operations and business development. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Conkling helped lead the launch of Trodelvy at Immunomedics Inc. (acquired by Gilead for $21B in October 2020) as the VP Sales, Marketing and Market Access. Mr. Conkling also spent over 10 years at Novartis Oncology where he helped lead the launch of the first CAR-T therapy approved in the US as the Global Commercial Leader — Kymriah. Mr. Conkling earned his Bachelor’s Degree from Fordham University and his Master’s in Business Administration from New York University Stern School of Business in 1998.

John Goldberg, MD

John Goldberg, MD

John Goldberg, MD has served as Chief Medical Officer since November 20, 2023. Dr. Goldberg is a seasoned medical professional with 18 years of experience in Oncology clinical trials across academia and industry. Dr. Goldberg was the Chief Medical Officer at Oncorus from Feb 2022 to June 2023 and served as Senior Vice President of Clinical Development from Oct 2018 to Feb 2022. Prior to joining Oncorus, Dr. Goldberg served as Senior Medical Director of H3 Biomedicine, a developer of genomics-based cancer therapies. While at H3 Biomedicine, he supervised the clinical development of H3B-8800, the first-in-human spliceosome modulator. Previously, Dr. Goldberg held clinical roles in cancer drug development, leading the pediatric oncology Phase 1 program at the University of Miami and working as Medical Director for Agenus. His immunotherapy experience includes first-in-human neo-antigen vaccines, dendritic cell vaccine and GVAX trials, as well as checkpoint inhibitors and costimulatory agonists. Dr. Goldberg is also a pediatric oncologist with 15 years of experience treating children with cancer and enrolling patients in clinical trials. Dr. Goldberg received his pediatric hematology oncology training from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital Boston and his general pediatrics training from the University of Rochester. Dr. Goldberg holds an M.D. from the University of Massachusetts Medical School and a A.B. in Biological Sciences from the University of Chicago. In addition, Dr. Goldberg is a Medical Advisory Board Member for the Sarcoma Foundation of America.

Karen Mullen, FFPM

Karen Mullen, FFPM

Interim Chief Medical Officer, Cyclo Therapeutics

Dr. Mullen is a highly experienced pharmaceutical physician with more than 20 years’ experience in medical affairs and clinical research and development.  She has worked in Europe, the US and Australia across a wide range of pharmaceutical therapeutic areas, including rare disease, vaccines, oncology and gene therapies. 

Prior to joining Cyclo Therapeutics, Inc., Dr. Mullen has been the Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Clinical and Medical Affairs at Boyds where she has been leading the clinical department and its team of pharmaceutical physicians, providing medical monitoring, safety, scientific and medical advice and strategy for Cyclo Therapeutics, Inc.’s ongoing Niemann-Pick Type C program. Preceding this role, Karen worked for GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) where she was the Country Medical Director for the UK and Ireland and responsible for leading and managing a large medical department across clinical research, pharma, and vaccines. Her previous roles at GSK include Head of Medical Affairs, Director of Vaccines, and Director of Metabolic Medicine.

Karen is a Fellow of Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) and the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine (FFPM) and was a member of the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA) Appeal Board for three years. Previously, she also chaired the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) Code of Practice Working Group on behalf of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine (FPM).

Jeffrey L. Tate, PhD

Jeffrey L. Tate, PhD

Director, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Quality Officer, Cyclo Therapeutics

Dr. Tate is a seasoned executive with more than 30 years of operations experience in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and nutritional supplements industries including: branded generic drugs, intellectual property strategy, product development, and cGMP manufacturing. He is intimately familiar with food and drug marketing approval procedures, documentation and strategy in U.S. and foreign markets, experienced in implementation of all aspects of regulatory compliance and in successfully communicating with regulatory agency representatives.

Dr. Tate has successfully established compliant regulated manufacturing operations and integrated regulatory compliance programs resulting in timely, cost effective corporate-wide compliance, meeting regulatory agency requirements and customer expectations. He closely monitors developments in U.S. and international regulations to maintain compliance and identify regulatory and intellectual property strategies for new products and markets. He holds patents and trademarks in material processing and food formulation.

Michael Lisjak

Michael Lisjak

Chief Regulatory Officer, Senior Vice President for Business Development, Cyclo Therapeutics

Mike Lisjak is the Company’s Chief Regulatory Officer and Senior Vice President for Business Development at Cyclo Therapeutics, Inc. He brings 20+ years of Regulatory Strategy and Operations expertise within the biopharmaceutical and consulting industries for multiple therapeutic areas including cardiovascular, metabolic, neuroscience and pain and inflammation and rare disease.

Prior to joining Cyclo Therapeutics, Inc., Mr. Lisjak was the Director of Global Regulatory Affairs at Sanofi leading the Endocrinology and Neuromuscular Rare Disease Area, which then led to a new role as the Head of Global Regulatory Affairs for Established Products and Global Health. Proceeding Sanofi, Mike served as the Global Regulatory Services Lead for Accenture’s Life Sciences group accountable for the growth and strategic oversight for Accenture’s global regulatory offerings, capabilities and go-to-market strategy. Before Accenture, he held multiple leadership roles at Pfizer and Wyeth with responsibility for developing, maintaining and directing global regulatory strategies and resources in the provision of regulatory guidance and deliverables as well as to ensure optimal regulatory interactions with global/regional Health Authorities. Additionally, Mike supported and delivered formal due diligence assessments for priority business development activities.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Rochester Institute of Technology in biology.

Joshua M. Fine

Joshua M. Fine

Chief Financial Officer, Cyclo Therapeutics

Mr. Fine was appointed our Chief Financial officer in June 2019 and brings more than 15 years of operational, investment banking and investing experience in Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology sectors.  Josh brings to Cyclo financial expertise and an in-depth understanding of public company accounting.

Mr. Fine also brings significant experience in mergers and acquisitions, business development and strategy development.  Josh served as Senior Vice President of Finance and Operations at Icagen, where as part of the management team he worked on two transformational acquisitions.  After acquiring assets and talent out of Sanofi and Pfizer, Josh worked to transition both operating teams into financial and operational alignment.  While at Icagen, Josh worked closely with the CEO to successfully negotiate and sign multiple licensing deals with Roche, Sanofi, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  Additionally, Josh was part of the team that led to the strategic sale of Icagen to Ligand in April of 2020.

Prior to joining Icagen Mr. Fine was an investment banking professional focused in the Life Science and Healthcare sectors.  In this role Josh was a part of or led, financings, strategic partnerships, mergers and acquisitions and advisory work.

Lori McKenna

Lori McKenna

Global Head of Patient Advocacy, Cyclo Therapeutics

Lori is a dedicated biotechnology professional with more than two decades of communications and patient advocacy experience, focused upon the unique and urgent needs of rare disease communities.  Lori began her career at public relations agency Brodeur Worldwide and eventually moved to an in-house role at Thermo Fisher Scientific, where she oversaw all communications activities for 12 divisions worldwide, financial media relations, and executive communications. Lori also spent eight years as Director of Communications at Sanofi Genzyme where she led global communications for Rare Diseases. She was the main corporate spokesperson for inquiries into pipeline and clinical development programs, the price and value of commercialized orphan disease therapies, disease awareness initiatives and crisis issues. Lori was also positioned on the front lines of the largest crisis in the biotechnology company’s history as spokesperson for the shutdown of the company’s biological manufacturing facility that produced therapies used to treat two rare and serious diseases. Lori partnered with Genzyme’s Patient Advocacy function to ensure consistent messaging throughout resulting and long-term global product shortages, to be sure the perspectives of the patient community were represented, and she received the Vice President’s Award for this work.  Eventually, Lori transitioned into a role in Global Patient Advocacy and initiated programs to support disease awareness, provide caregiver support, communicate clinical program updates and ensure compliant, two-way communication between Genzyme and patient communities. After two years at Radius Health where she was Senior Director of Communications and Advocacy for larger disease states, in 2017 Lori began her own consulting business devoted to supporting rare disease communities. A graduate of Boston College, Lori is a hands-on mom of two boys and is an active volunteer in her community. She also serves on the Board of a nonprofit organization called Our Odyssey. Our Odyssey connects young adults impacted by a rare or chronic condition with social and emotional support in the hope of improving their quality of life.

Trappsol® Cyclo™ is not currently approved for any indication.

Third-party websites are provided for convenience only. Cyclo Therapeutics, Inc. does not approve of, or endorse any of the content. Cyclo Therapeutics, Inc. does not maintain, control or monitor the content of third-party websites in any way.