Board of Directors

Dr. Gower was Chief Executive Officer of Lyondell Petrochemical from 1985 through his retirement at the end of 1996. Together with Dr. Richard Smalley, Dr. Gower founded Carbon Nanotechnologies, Inc. (“CNI”) in 2000 developing fullerene carbon nanotubes for multiple applications. CNI was acquired by Unidym in 2007. Dr. Gower founded Specified Fuels and Chemicals and in early 2008, founded Ensysce for the specific focus of using carbon nanotubes in therapeutic areas. He served on the board of directors of numerous companies, including Kirby Corporation and OmNova. In addition, Dr. Gower received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Kirkpatrick has focused her entire career on drug discovery and development. Former Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry in Canada, she has co-founded two start up companies and successfully brought three novel cancer drug candidates into human clinical trails. Following the acquisition of her first company, by Biomira Inc., (Oncothyreon) in 2006, Dr. Kirkpatrick took the role as the Chief Scientific Officer of the merged company. She became President and CEO of Ensysce Biosciences Inc. in January 2009. Dr. Kirkpatrick received her PhD from the University of Saskatchewan and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine. She has published extensively in the area of targeted drug discovery and development and holds numerous patents for novel targeted drugs and delivery technology.

Mr. Chang serves as Chief Executive Officer of Westlake Realty Group and Chairman of Westlake International Group where he works for more than 40 years. Mr. Chang runs Edge Venture Capital Fund and is a founder and the managing partner of Digikeyih. Mr. Chang is an investor in the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. Mr. Chang is also a member of YPO Gold, Northern California and is the former Chairman of U. S. Rugby Football Union. He also served on the Board of the Asia Foundation and San Francisco Port and Social Services Commissions. Mr. Chang holds a Bachelor degree in Economics from Harvard University.

Mr. Benton was the President, Chief Executive Officer and Trustee of Pepperdine University from June 2000 to July 2019. Mr. Benton was the former chairman of both the American Council of Education, the major coordinating body for all of the nation’s higher education institutions, and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. Mr. Benton is also past chair of the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities and a member of the American Bar Association, the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, the President’s Cabinet of the West Coast Conference, the Association of Presidents of Independent Colleges and Universities, and the Los Angeles World Affairs Council. Mr. Benton holds an undergraduate degree in American studies from Oklahoma Christian University and a J.D. from Oklahoma University. Mr. Benton was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award by Oklahoma University.

Mr. Martin currently serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Armata Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical development stage biotechnology company listed on New York Stock Exchange since January 2016. Previously, Mr. Martin served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Applied Proteomics, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company, from December 2014 to August 2015. From June 2011 to December 2014, Mr. Martin served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Apricus Biosciences, Inc. (“Apricus”), a publicly traded pharmaceutical company, and served as the Interim Chief Executive Officer of Apricus from November 2012 through March 2013. From 2008 to January 2011, Mr. Martin served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of BakBone Software (“BakBone”), a publicly traded software company. During his final 10 months with BakBone until the company’s acquisition in January 2011, Mr. Martin also served as BakBone’s Interim Chief Executive Officer. From 2005 to 2007, Mr. Martin served as Chief Financial Officer of Stratagene Corporation, a publicly traded research products and clinical diagnostics company. Mr. Martin’s previous experience also includes serving as Controller with Gen-Probe Incorporated, a publicly traded molecular diagnostics company, as well as 10 years with Deloitte & Touche LLP, a public accounting firm. Mr. Martin holds a Bachelor in Science in Accounting from San Diego State University and is a certified public accountant (inactive).

Dr. Levin is the Vice Chair of Faculty Development for the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Johns Hopkins University, where he has been on faculty since 2014. He is an Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Associate Professor of Oncology, researching treatments related to musculoskeletal oncology, while also maintaining an active clinical practice. He has served as the Associate Director of the Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Training Program since 2015, and has led novel curricular efforts through the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. He has overseen Departmental Compliance since 2016, in addition to holding additional leadership roles related to billing, coding, and practice management for the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Prior to joining Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Levin was an Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra University, and Attending Physician at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and North Shore University Hospital in New York between 2012 and 2014. From 2010 to 2012, he was a fellow of musculoskeletal oncology and Clinical Instructor at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, following his residency training at the North Shore/LIJ Health System (now Northwell Health) from 2005 to 2010. He was a member of the North Shore/LIJ Physician High Potential Program from 2013 until his departure in 2014, and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ Leadership Fellows Program from 2019 to 2020; he has maintained membership in the American Orthopaedic Association of Emerging Leaders Program since 2015. Dr. Levin has also continued to serve as Associate Editor for CME for the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery since 2016, and is on the Steering Committee for the Musculoskeletal Tumor Registry where he leads the Publications Subcommittee. Dr. Levin served as a subject-matter consultant to Leisure Acquisition Corp. during the Company’s initial review of pre-clinical and Phase I clinical trial results from Ensysce Biosciences. Dr. Levin holds a B.S. in Biology with a concentration in Animal Physiology from Cornell University, an M.D. from New York Medical College, and is currently studying at the Johns Hopkins University Carey School of Business for an M.B.A. with a specialization in Healthcare Management, Innovation, and Technology.

Dr. Rosebraugh is a member of Griebel and Rosebraugh Consulting LLC since May, 2018 where he is a regulatory consultant for small molecule and biological drug development. Prior to forming a consulting firm, he was with the Food and Drug Administration since 2000 and was the Director of the Office of Drug Evaluation II (“ODEII”) within the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (“CDER”) from 2007 until his retirement in 2018 with supervisory responsibility for the evaluation of all drug products within 3 divisions: the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Rheumatology Products, the Division of metabolism and Endocrinology Products and the Division of Anesthesia, Analgesia, and Addiction Products. He has overseen the development and approval of over 50 new drugs, was responsible for the planning of over 100 advisory committee meetings, led ODE II through several controversial safety issues and has received many honors and awards. Dr. Rosebraugh has been involved in the development of abuse deterrent opioid formulations and has also been involved in the development of the biosimilar program as well as many other CDER initiatives. Dr. Rosebraugh received his undergraduate degree in pharmacy in 1981, his Medical Degree in 1986 and completed a residency in Internal Medicine in 1989, all at the University of Kansas. He completed a Masters of Public Health at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in 1999 and a Clinical Pharmacology Fellowship at Georgetown University in 2000. Dr. Rosebraugh joined the FDA in 2000 as a Medical Reviewer in the Division of Pulmonary and Allergy Drug Products and became the Deputy Director Office of Nonprescription Products in 2002 before joining ODE II in 2005, first as Deputy Director and then as Director in 2007.

Ms. Rauch, an experienced Chief Executive Officer and Strategy Advisor, has served both public and private companies. During her near 40-year career, Ms. Rauch successful built companies ranging in focus from pre-clinical research to advanced clinical development, took the lead in mergers and acquisitions and used her experience to secure financing for public and private biotech companies. Among her many leadership roles, Ms. Rauch, was notably a founding member of McKinsey & Co.’s International Pharmaceutical Practice and the Executive Chairman of Springboard Enterprises Health Innovation Hub. Most recently, Ms. Rauch, served as President and CEO of Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. Ms. Rauch received a B.S. in Chemistry from Arizona State University and an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Chicago.