Mark Olesnavage

Managing Director

A veteran of the specialty pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries with international management experience. Mark spent 24 years with Perrigo Company, where he held various senior management positions, including Executive Vice President and General Manager. During his tenure, he was involved in several key acquisitions and helped drive revenue from $50 million to $1.3 billion. Mark also led the development of numerous product and technology partnerships. He also served on the executive committees of the Generic Pharmaceutical Association and the Consumer Healthcare Products Association.  He co-founded Hopen Life Science Ventures in 2008 and currently serves on the board of the Michigan Venture Capital Association.

Mark earned his B.S. in Economics / Marketing and MBA from Grand Valley University.

 Managing Director

Michael Fulton has over 20 years experience in the life sciences space, including 14 years as a successful early stage investor and entrepreneur. Prior to joining Hopen, Mike served in the roles of founder, director, and CEO at startup medical device and services companies, including Lanx, Inc., the second largest private company in the $7B spinal implant market. As CEO of Lanx, he built the organization from a single employee, pre-revenue company into an international corporation with over 200 employees. His accomplishments included raising over $50M in equity and venture debt, building a world-class team of medical device professionals, and launching an innovative fusion product that advanced a new paradigm in spinal treatment. Mike also played a key leadership role, served on the Board, and helped raise over $46M of equity for ProNerve, LLC, an Intraoperative Monitoring company he co-founded in 2007. Mike is an inventor of multiple neurosurgical and spinal devices with over 50 issued and pending U.S. and international patents. He received his B.A. from Northwestern University, his M.D. from Cornell University Medical College, and completed two years of neurosurgery residency at the Cleveland Clinic.

Scientific and Medical Advisory Board Chair

Doug Morton serves as chair of Hopen’s Scientific Advisory Board. Presently, Doug is a consultant in the life sciences arena, working with a variety of for-profit and non-profit organizations. From 2003-2006, he was CEO, Southwest Michigan Innovation Center, an incubator/accelerator located in Kalamazoo, MI that provides wet-laboratory space, access to venture funding and business services to emerging companies in the life sciences arena. Since 2006, he has continued his involvement with the Center as a member of its Managing Directors group. Doug also has 41 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry, joining the Upjohn Company as a research scientist in 1973 and remaining through mergers with Pharmacia AB, Monsanto and Pfizer. At the time of the Pfizer merger, Doug was Pharmacia Corporation’s Group Vice President, Technology Acquisitions & Operations for Discovery Research. Doug previously served on the Board of Directors of TissueInformatics, Inc., Icoria, Inc. (formerly Paradigm Genetics, Inc.), TCH Pharma, and NanoMed Pharmaceuticals. He is currently a board member of NephRx Corporation, Renovo Neural, Inc., Tetra Discovery, LLC and Tolera Therapeutics, Inc. Doug is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board and Management Committee of the Southwest Michigan First Life Science Fund as well as chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of Metabolic Solutions Development Company.

Doug holds an A.B. degree (chemistry) from Kenyon College and a Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry from Columbia University. He completed postdoctoral studies in organic chemistry at Stanford University. He is also a prolific inventor who holds 43 U.S. patents and has authored/co-authored 45 peer-reviewed scientific publications.

Scientific and Medical Advisory Board

Dr. Baer is Medical Director of Research and Innovation at MercyHealth and Executive Director of ClinXus (a subsidiary of MercyHealth).  Partner organizations include Borgess Research Institute, Bronson Healthcare, Cancer Hematology Centers of West Michigan, Ferris State University College of Pharmacy, Grand Valley Medical Specialists, P.L.C., Grand Valley State University, Innovative Analytics, Jasper Clinical Research and Development, Inc., Metro Health, Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research (MICHR), Michigan State University, MPI Research, Saint Mary’s Health Care, Spectrum Health, and Van Andel Institute.

Dr. Baer holds multiple faculty appointments including Associate Professor, Michigan State University School of Medicine and an adjunct faculty position at the VanAndel Research Institute in pharmacogenetics. He has received numerous honors and awards and has been involved with many community committees including VARI’s Help on the Hill and educational forums.

Dr. Baer serves in various board/medical director capacities with a number of innovative and forward thinking organizations including Metagenics, Inc., Metabolic Solutions Development Company, NuMedii, and Hopen Life Science Ventures. He previously served as co-chair of the Translational Medicine Working Group, is currently active with several PSTC working groups, and is well suited to help lead the emerging life sciences/health care community in West Michigan. With a background in pharmacology and a continuing interest in pharmacogenomic research, Dr. Baer brings medical knowledge, visionary leadership and collaborative spirit to the task of achieving efficiencies in clinical research and drug development.

Dr. Baer received his M.D. from West Virginia University School of Medicine and did his residency with Michigan State University.  He received his BS in Pharmacy from Duquesne University and Pharm D from West Virginia University.   He is a longtime practitioner of internal medicine at Grand Valley Medical Specialists.

Managing General Partner

Mike Jandernoa is the Managing General Partner of Hopen Life Science Ventures and the former Chairman of the Board and CEO of Perrigo Company.  During his career at Perrigo, Mike helped lead two LBO’s in 1981 and 1988 and the IPO in 1991. In addition to his service on Perrigo’s Board of Directors, Mike also serves on the Board of Directors of Business Leaders for Michigan (BLM), Lack Industries, ADAC Corp, Metabolic Solutions Development Company (MSDC), and Grand Valley University Foundation. Mike is a member of other corporate advisory boards and is a past member of the Young Presidents’ Organization. He also serves/chairs on numerous religious and community boards and committees as well.  Mike is the founder of Jandernoa Entrepreneurial Mentoring (JEM), a co-founder of Bridge Street Capital Partners, and a co-founder of Grand Angels.

Scientific and Medical Advisory Board

Dr. Dan Hartman has a broad background in drug development and strategy, both in the pharmaceutical industry and in the biotech sector. Dr. Hartman is currently the Director of Integrated Development Global Health Program at the Gates Foundation, and leads a team that provides technical expertise in drug and diagnostic development. Under his leadership, Integrated Development works closely with the foundation’s strategy teams to manage product pipelines through clinical trials as well as provide help with manufacturing, compliance, and regulatory strategy/intelligence.

Dr. Hartman has extensive management and pharmaceutical experience and joined the Gates Foundation after four years as President and CEO of Great Lakes Development Inc.–a consulting company providing strategic and operational support for early drug development projects. Previously, Dr. Hartman served as Senior Vice President of Product Development at deCODE genetics, Executive Director of Pfizer Global Research and Development, Vice President of Global Clinical Development at Esperion Therapeutics, and senior clinical research positions at Eli Lilly & Company.

Dr. Hartman received his bachelor’s degree from Calvin College and his medical degree from Wayne State University. He trained in internal medicine and completed a fellowship in pulmonary medicine at Indiana University where he also was chief medical resident.

Scientific and Medical Advisory Board

Dr. W. Gary Tarpley has a background in oncology and molecular virology research. In 1984 he joined the Upjohn Company, where he held multiple posts ranging from Research Scientist to Vice President, Discovery Research–Infectious Diseases Research. Today he is Vice President of Research and Development at the Promega Corporation, where he oversees daily R&D operations, including the investigation and development of new technologies and early-staged products. Gary serves on numerous scientific advisory boards and serves as a consultant to the pharmaceutical industry.

Gary has published over 70 papers in leading scientific journals. He earned his PhD in oncology research from the McArdle Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

 Venture Partner

Jerry Callahan is co-founder of Hopen Life Science Ventures and serves as a Venture Partner. He is the Vice President of Business Development for the Van Andel Research Institute. Jerry was involved in the formation of several life science companies in the cGMP, bio-informatics, personalized medicine, and CLIA laboratory spaces. More than $20 million has been invested in these start-ups. Prior to his role at Hopen, he served as Chief Information Officer and Vice President of Supply Chain at Twinlab/Metabolife. He played a key role in the company’s growth through acquisitions and new product launches. He has more than 15 years of operational leadership experience including roles as CEO, COO, and CIO. Jerry serves on the boards of several venture-backed life science companies and venture capital organizations. He has earned an MBA, MS in information systems, and PhD in organizational leadership.

Chief Financial Officer

Since 2008, Tom has served as CFO of Hopen Life Science Ventures. He is also CEO of his own financial consulting firm.  For ten years Tom has provided services, primarily as CFO or controller, for various startup companies in various industries including the life sciences and nutraceutical industries.  He started his accounting career at Hager Group Companies while still attending college and eventually was promoted to assistant controller.  After graduating from college, he joined Beene Garter, the largest local accounting firm in Grand Rapids, MI, where he received his CPA designation, and was promoted to manager of tax and audit.  In 1993, he joined Alticor (Amway Corporation) where he served in many roles including the new business development manager of the M&A division, and Amway Korea CFO.  In 2001, he and other senior executives from Alticor formed Idea Sphere, Inc., where he served as controller until 2004.

 Associate

Nate Fredrickson joined the Hopen team in 2009. As an associate, his primary responsibilities include screening new investment opportunities, conducting due diligence, and supporting portfolio companies. He has served as a judge for Great Lakes Entrepreneur’s Quest, a business plan competition for companies within the state of Michigan. Prior to Hopen, he was an intern at Merrill Lynch where he focused on economics and equities research. He graduated from Grand Valley State University with a degree in finance and economics.