Management Team
Ron Najafi, Ph.D., Chairman and CEO
Ramin (“Ron”) Najafi is the founder and Chairman of NovaBay. He has served as President since July 2002, and as Chief Executive Officer since November 2004. Previously, Dr. Najafi served in various management positions within NovaBay including as Chief Scientific Officer.
Prior to founding NovaBay, Dr. Najafi was the President and CEO of California Pacific Labs, Inc., a chemical laboratory safety devices company. He has also held scientific roles at Rhone Poulenc Rorer (now Sanofi-Aventis), Applied Biosystems, a division of PerkinElmer, Inc., and Aldrich Chemical.
Dr. Najafi received a B.S. and M.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of San Francisco and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of California at Davis.
Thomas Paulson, M.B.A., Chief Financial Officer
Thomas (“Tom”) Paulson has served as NovaBay’s Chief Financial Officer since January 2008.
Prior to joining NovaBay, Mr. Paulson was a partner at Tatum LLC, an executive services and consulting firm in the United States. Mr. Paulson was also President and CEO of The Paulson Group, a management consulting company whose clients included high-technology and biotechnology companies. He also held senior management positions at Avigen Inc., Neurogen Corporation, Ciba-Corning Diagnostics, Quidel Corporation and Abbott Laboratories.
Mr. Paulson received a B.A. from Loyola University and an M.B.A from the University of Chicago.
Behzad Khosrovi, M.A., Ph.D., Chief Alliance Officer and Senior Vice President of Product Development, NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Dr. Behzad Khosrovi has directed research and development for NovaBay Pharmaceuticals since he joined the company in 2003. He currently serves as NovaBay’s Chief Alliance Officer and Senior Vice President of Product Development.
Dr. Khosrovi plays a major role in managing collaborations between NovaBay and its corporate partners Alcon and Galderma.
Dr. Khosrovi’s accomplishments managing new drug and biologic research span more than 30 years. He has in-depth experience in the chemistry, manufacturing, preclinical, clinical and regulatory requirements for both biologics and drugs, as well as a long history of product development achievements. Dr. Khosrovi has taken numerous diverse product candidates through the FDA's Investigational New Drug procedure, with three of these approved and currently sold in both the U.S. and Europe.
Prior to joining NovaBay, Dr. Khosrovi was vice president of development for Neurobiological Technologies Inc. He also served in various roles of escalating responsibility at Cetus Corp., where he was ultimately vice president of development. He has acted as a consultant to several biotechnology companies, advising on manufacturing, quality control and product development.
Educated in England, Dr. Khosrovi received his M.A. degree in natural sciences from the University of Cambridge and earned his Ph.D. in applied microbiology & biochemical engineering from the University of Manchester.
Mark Anderson, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Mark Anderson has served as NovaBay's Chief Scientific Officer since
October, 2009. A seasoned industry veteran, Dr. Anderson has directed
the progression of numerous research and development programs from basic
scientific principles to clinical practice. He has provided extensive
advice to corporate boards and management teams on scientific
vision, development, and strategic direction.
Prior to joining NovaBay, Dr. Anderson was Chief Scientific Officer at
Biotech Pharma Solutions. He also served as Vice President at Myriad
Genetics/Pharmaceuticals, Senior Director at Elitra Pharmaceuticals,
Associate Director at Pfizer-Agouron and Senior Scientist at
Ligand-Glycomed.
Dr. Anderson has authored and co-authored many research articles and
reviews, and has delivered numerous scientific presentations. He is an inventor on multiple patents and patent applications. In addition to co-authoring a chapter in Burger’s Medicinal Chemistry, Dr. Anderson is the author of a new book.
Dr. Anderson earned his doctorate degree from Purdue University and was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University in the department of
Chemistry and Chemical Biology. He earned a B.S. degree in chemistry
from the University of Minnesota where he also enjoyed biochemistry,
microbiology, and an undergraduate research thesis.
Roy J. Wu, M.B.A., Senior Vice President, Business Development
Roy J. Wu joined NovaBay Pharmaceuticals in July, 2009 as Senior Vice President of Business Development. Mr. Wu brings to NovaBay more than 30 years of highly successful experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He has held management positions of increasing responsibility in the areas of global business development, licensing, international marketing, project management, clinical development, and Pacific sector regulatory and pharmaceutical development.
Prior to joining NovaBay, Mr. Wu was Vice President of Business Development at Genelabs Technologies Inc., where he was responsible for all business development and licensing activities, including search, evaluation, and contract negotiations for all in- and out-license transactions, as well as alliance management and assisting in corporate financing activities. At Genelabs, Mr. Wu completed numerous licensing agreements and research collaborations with companies including Novartis, Gilead Sciences, Tanabe Seiyaku and Affymetrix.
Mr. Wu also has served as Vice President of Kissei Pharma USA, where he was responsible for clinical development, regulatory affairs and business development. Prior to Kissei, Mr. Wu served as Director of Business Development for Quintiles-BRI. Earlier in his career, Mr. Wu spent 16 years at Syntex Corporation, where he rose from the role of chemist to ultimately become the Director of Research & Development and Program Planning & Management, Japan.
Mr. Wu received his MBA in International Finance from the University of San Francisco, School of Business.
Ken Krantz, MD, Ph.D., Vice President, Medical Affairs
Ken Krantz, MD, Ph.D., has served as NovaBay's Vice President, Medical Affairs since 2003.
Dr. Krantz brings over 30 years of related experience to his position of Vice President, Medical Affairs at NovaBay. He has held senior management roles at Searle, Schering-Plough, Ayerst, and Johnson & Johnson as well as at numerous start-up and biotech companies including ImClone, Neurocrine and NaPro.
Dr. Krantz received his doctoral degrees in medicine and pharmacology from the University of Chicago.
