Meet Our Leaders
Our management team is dedicated to making Novalar the best partner to dentists by providing inventive solutions for patients. As company leaders, their passion and integrity guides Novalar to redefine possibility in dentistry. Backed by vast industry expertise, they inspire our own people with their creativity and unwavering commitment to excellence.
Back row (from left to right): Bruce Rutherford, DDS, Diana Friedman, Robert Stefanovich, Jeff Lord, Doug Bakan, PhD
Front row: Laura Navalta, Donna Janson
Robert S. Stefanovich, MA
Laura A. Navalta
Bruce Rutherford, DDS, PhD
Diana P. Friedman, MA, MBA
Jeffrey Lord
Doug Bakan, PhD
Donna Janson
Ms. Janson joined Novalar™ as CEO in June of 2004, and brings more than 20 years experience in leading dental companies and launching novel products to the dental market. Between 2002 and 2004, Ms. Janson served as President and CEO of Biora AB, a public dental biotech company specializing in periodontal regeneration. As CEO, she successfully reorganized and refocused the organization and achieved continued profitability. Ms. Janson managed the acquisition of Biora by Straumann at a 50% premium to the share price.
Prior to being appointed CEO, Ms. Janson served as president of Biora Inc., the North American subsidiary of Biora AB. In this role, she was responsible for establishing Biora, Inc., played an active role in Biora's Independent Public Offering and was able to achieve profitability in less than 5 years. She currently serves as a board member of Medivir AB a pharmaceutical company which develops protease inhibitors and Axenic Dental, Inc., a dental device company focused on developing a disposable dental handpiece.
back to topRobert S. Stefanovich, MA
Mr. Stefanovich joined Novalar in October of 2007, and brings extensive experience in managing finance and administration for start-up and Fortune 500 hi-tech and biotech companies, both publicly traded and privately held. Most recently he served as interim Chief Financial Officer of Xcorporeal, Inc., a publicly traded medical device company. Previously, Mr. Stefanovich served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Artemis International Solutions Corporation, a publicly traded software company. He also held several other senior finance positions, including Chief Financial Officer of Aethlon Medical Inc. and Vice President of Administration at SAIC, a Fortune 500 company. Mr. Stefanovich was a member of the Software Advisory Group and Audit Manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers' hi-tech practice in San Jose, CA and Frankfurt, Germany. He received his Masters of Business Administration/Accounting and Engineering from the University of Darmstadt, Germany.
back to topLaura A. Navalta
Ms. Navalta joined Novalar in October 2004 and leads the clinical, regulatory and quality functions. Ms. Navalta brings over 23 years of industry experience with proven expertise in clinical and regulatory arenas. Prior to joining Novalar, Ms. Navalta served as Executive Director of Clinical Research Operations for Vical Inc., responsible for the clinical operations for oncology and infectious disease programs. She also spent over 6 years with Baxter Healthcare Corporation. As Senior Director of Global Clinical Operations for Baxter's BioScience Division, she was responsible for clinical research involving coagulation disorders, biosurgery and critical care areas with management and corporate responsibilities for global teams in the U.S., Germany and Austria. Her biopharmaceutical experience also includes drug development of products involving CNS diseases such as Alzheimer's, stroke, insomnia, in addition to Kaposi's sarcoma and solid tumor research while at CoCensys, Inc., Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Vestar, Inc. Ms. Navalta earned her BA from the University of Southern California.
back to topBruce Rutherford, DDS, PhD
Dr. Rutherford joined Novalar as the Vice President of Clinical Development in January 2006. He received his DDS from the University of Washington and PhD from the University of Rochester. Dr. Rutherford brings to Novalar over 30 years experience in dentistry; including private and military practice, dental education, and laboratory and clinical research. He has been a consultant to several biomedical companies and was a co-founder of Dentigenix, Inc. where he served as Chief Scientific Officer. He has also been a grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health and Medical Research Council of Canada and on the editorial boards of several scientific journals including the Journal of Dental Research. Dr. Rutherford is the recipient of several grants from the National Institutes of Health and Industry. He is the author of 55 peer reviewed publications and holds several patents and a distinguished scientist award from the International Association of Dental Research.
back to topDiana P. Friedman, MA, MBA
Ms. Friedman MA, MBA, joined Novalar in April 2007 and brings over 16 years of dental industry marketing experience. Ms. Friedman served as lead consultant to Fortune 100 companies launching dental products into the professional as well as consumer markets. During her tenure in dentistry, Ms. Friedman has helped corporations successfully expand market penetration, develop new lucrative sales verticals and fortify brand positioning and marketing effectiveness. Prior to assuming her role at Novalar Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Ms. Friedman served as Director of Professional Marketing, Education and PR for Philips Oral Healthcare and more recently as Business Director at Philips Medical Systems. Ms. Friedman is a recognized global speaker on professional endorsement and marketing of clinical products and devices.
back to topJeffrey Lord
Mr. Lord joined Novalar in October 2007 as the Vice President of Sales. Mr. Lord brings over 14 years of national sales experience and success in the dental specialty market to Novalar. Most recently he served as Area Vice President at Straumann USA, a global leader in implant, restorative and regenerative dentistry where he was responsible for the Western Area. Previously, Mr. Lord served as Regional Sales Manager for the Professional Division of Dentsply International, the largest professional dental company in the world. He also held several other senior sales positions, including Regional Sales Manager and Territory Manager at BIORA, Inc., which developed, manufactured, marketed and sold biology-based products for the treatment of periodontal disease for use in oral surgery. Mr. Lord received his BA in Sociology from the University of Washington in Seattle.
back to topDoug Bakan, PhD
Dr. Bakan joined Novalar in May 2008 as Vice President, Product Development. Dr. Bakan brings more than 20 years experience in the discovery, development, commercialization and licensing of novel pharmaceutical products and medical technologies. Immediately prior to joining Novalar, he served as Senior Director of Development at Neurocrine Biosciences where his team was responsible for program management of the company's diverse product pipeline aimed at treating diseases of the neurological and endocrine systems. He has also served as Vice President of Business Development at Alerion Biomedical, a company that developed and launched the Fenestra™ line of in vivo imaging agents for CT and microCT imaging; Chief Operating Officer at MetaProbe LLC,; Director of Pharmaceutical Formulations and Manufacturing at Corvas International; and Associate Director of Product Development at Molecular Biosystems, Inc. Dr. Bakan is an author or co-author on more than 50 peer reviewed publications and abstracts, is an inventor on 5 issued and numerous pending patent applications, and has won several awards in the field of in vivo medical imaging. Dr. Bakan earned his BS in bioengineering and his PhD in biochemistry and physiology from the University of California, San Diego and completed post-doctoral work at the University of Michigan.
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