Management

Donna Janson
President and Chief Executive Officer

Donna 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 Biacore International AB, a global market leader in Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) technology-based systems and Axenic Dental, Inc a dental device company focused on developing a disposable dental handpiece.

Robert S. Stefanovich
Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Stefanovich 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. 

Laura A. Navalta, B.A.
Senior Vice President, Clinical & Regulatory Affairs

Ms. Navalta joined Novalar in October 2004 and leads the clinical, regulatory and quality functions, as well as, serves as project leader to Novalar's product teams for OraVerse™ approved by FDA in 2008 and for Novalar's new development candidate, NV-201. 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's knowledge of start-up operations through licensure activities has contributed to multiple organizations across varied therapeutic areas. She earned her B.A. from the University of Southern California. Ms. Navalta's strong knowledge of clinical operations, trial management and regulatory compliance makes her a strong contributor to Novalar's overall development plan, and a valued member of the Management Team.

Bruce Rutherford, DDS, PhD
Vice President, Clinical Development

Bruce Rutherford joined Novalar as the Vice President of Clinical Development in January 2006. He received his D.D.S. from the University of Washington and Ph.D 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. He 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.

Jeffrey Lord
Vice President, Sales

Jeffrey 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.

Doug Bakan
Vice President, Product Development

Doug 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, a start-up company focused on developing biochemically activated imaging agents; Director of Pharmaceutical Formulations and Manufacturing at Corvas International, a company focused on developing drugs treating cardiovascular disease and cancer; and Associate Director of Product Development at Molecular Biosystems, Inc., where Albunex® and Optison®, the first cardiac ultrasound imaging agents, were developed and commercialized during his tenure. 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. Doug 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.