Daniel Lawton
President and CEO
Mr. Lawton has been Promentis’ President and CEO since early 2008 and has over fifteen years of experience in the pharmaceutical/life sciences industry. Prior to joining Promentis, Mr. Lawton was Vice President and General Counsel of Schwarz Pharma, Inc. where he was a member of the US senior management group. His previous work experience includes a number of senior positions at Abbott Laboratories supporting its US, Canadian, European and Japanese businesses, with a focus on new business development, licensing, acquisitions and related transactions. Mr. Lawton has practiced law at firms in Europe and the United States. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and was a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University (Economics under Professor Martin Feldstein).
Steven Pollock
Mr. Pollock has been part of the Promentis team since early 2008 and has been in the pharmaceutical industry for over 25 years. Mr. Pollock was previously Vice President of Medical Affairs, Regulatory Affairs, Quality Assurance, and New Product Development at Schwarz Pharma, Inc. with responsibility over four of the group’s eleven divisions. In sixteen years with Schwarz Pharma, he was involved in a number of product development and registration programs, leading to over a dozen FDA approved products. During the ten years that Mr. Pollock was with The Upjohn Company, he held a number of different development roles including Manager, FDA Liaison in Regulatory Affairs, Medical Research Associate in Clinical Pharmacokinetics and Developmental Pharmacist in a formulation development group. Mr. Pollock holds a B.S. Pharmacy degree from the University of Wisconsin and an MBA from Western Michigan University.
Michael Neary
Laboratory Analyst
Mr. Neary joined Promentis in his current role in 2010. His previous experience includes laboratory work for Roche in Madison and the University of Wisconsin, Department of Pediatrics and Medical Genetics. Mr. Neary received his B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
David Baker, Ph.D.
Founder and Director
Dr. Baker cofounded Promentis Pharmaceuticals in 2007 and currently serves as a Director and chairs the Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Baker is also Associate Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Marquette University. He previously served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Medical University of South Carolina in the laboratory of Peter Kalivas. He obtained his Ph.D. at Arizona State University in 1999 and his B.S. at Montana State University in 1992 working in the laboratories of Dr. Janet Neisewander and Dr. Michael Babcock, respectively. Dr. Baker has had an active research career examining the neurobiological basis of diseases of the brain, as evidenced by his 30 publications in the past 18 years and 10 grants or awards over the past six years totaling $2.8M. Dr. Baker was featured in the Marquette Magazine cover story (Winter 2009 issue) “Searching for a Cure for the Brain’s Darkest Diseases” and was a recent recipient of The Business Journal’s Forty under 40 Award, honoring Milwaukee’s up-and-coming leaders. Dr. Baker is the recipient of the 2010 Daniel X. Freedman Award from NARSAD for outstanding basic research achievement.
John Mantsch, Ph.D.
Founder
Dr. Mantsch co-founded Promentis Pharmaceuticals in 2007. He is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Marquette University. Dr. Mantsch earned his Ph.D. in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center with a specialization in neuropharmacology and his BS in Psychology at Allegheny College. He received his postdoctoral training in the Laboratory of the Biology of Addictive Diseases at the Rockefeller University. Dr. Mantsch has received more than $3 million in funding from NIH.
In addition to the Founders and Management/Scientific team described above, Promentis benefits from its relationship with a number of consultants, including Dr. James Cook, University Distinguished Professor, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Dr. Doug Lobner, Professor of Physiology and Neurobiology, Marquette University, and Dr. Edward M. Johnson II, Pharm.D., R.Ph., Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.
Promentis has obtained an exclusive license from Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee Research Foundation to certain intellectual property owned by Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Research Foundation.
