AIVITA Biomedical CEO and leadership

Dr. Keirstead is an internationally known stem cell expert and has led therapy development for cancer, immune disorders, motor neuron diseases, spinal cord injury and retinal diseases. He is the Chairman and CEO of AIVITA Biomedical. He was previously CSO of Caladrius which acquired California Stem Cell in 2014. Dr. Keirstead founded California Stem Cell, served as CEO, and led 3 rounds of the investment and sale of the Company. He holds Board positions in several prominent biotechnology companies.

Previously, he founded and served as the CEO of Ability Biomedical, which developed technology later sold to Bristol Myers Squibb. He was a Professor at the University of California, Irvine where he founded and directed the $77 million Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center. As a Full Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology, he was awarded over $16 million in grants during his 15-year tenure. He has mentored over 100 students, published over 100 manuscripts, and granted over 20 patents. He was awarded the Distinguished Award for Research, the UCI Academic Senate’s highest honor, as well as the UCI Innovation Award for innovative research leading to corporate and clinical development. He was a founding advisor of the California Stem Cell Initiative that resulted in a $3 billion stem cell fund (CIRM). He has been a long-time advisor to several governments on biomedical policy.

Dr. Keirstead has been a notable figure in the field of regenerative medicine for over two decades. His work in spinal cord injury earned him the distinction of being one of 100 top scientists of the year in Discover Magazine. He was featured on 60 minutes in a full segment covering his treatment for spinal cord injury. Dr. Keirstead and his research have also appeared in Newsweek, Inc. Magazine, WIRED, Esquire, The NY Times, TIME Magazine, Men’s Vogue, Science and The American Spectator, amongst other national publications. He has given dozens of keynote addresses at industry meetings and events, was a TEDx speaker, and was recently honored as one of 7 thought leaders in Canada at the Seven Wonderer’s event by Beakerhead.

Dr. Keirstead received his Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of British Columbia, Canada for which he received the Cameron Award for the outstanding Ph.D. thesis in the country. He conducted Post-Doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge. He received the distinct honor of election as Senate Member of the University of Cambridge and Fellow of the Governing Body of Downing College, and was the youngest member to have been elected to those positions.

As a corporate finance leader with 30 years of public and private experience, my strengths lie in leading financial, operational, strategic and M&A initiatives requiring complex financial expertise.

Most recently, I have served public Life Sciences and Technology companies in CFO, Secretary and Treasurer, VP of Finance and Controller positions. In these roles, I've directed public equity offerings of up to $115 million in size and helped organizations make major strides in achieving cash flow profitability, capital formation, IR, financial reporting, corporate compliance and reorganization. I recently co-led an M&A process that resulted in the successful sale of CombiMatrix to Invitae Corp. for 2.7X 2016 revenues.

Prior to my corporate leadership tenures, I spent 9 years in the ranks of \'Big 5\' public accounting firm Arthur Andersen, auditing and providing business consulting services to dozens of firms, including the office’s largest client at the time. In 2016, I joined two Boards of Directors; Microbot Medical (Nasdaq: MBOT) and AgEagle (NYSE: UAVS). In 2017, I joined the CollPlant (Nasdaq: CLGN) Board of Directors.

Areas of expertise include:

• Capital Raising

• Corporate accounting/finance leadership

• SEC filing and financial reporting, including SOX and GAAP compliance

• Mergers/Acquisition due diligence, planning, structuring, and integration

• FP&A department leadership and data-driven decision support

• Board membership and support

• Human Resources, IT and Legal oversight

• Corporate restructuring, change management, and turnaround leadership

• IR, Wall Street analysts and banking relationship management

• CPA (inactive)

My industry background centers around Biotechnology & Life Sciences, High Technology, Telecommunications, Hospitality and Real Estate. I am currently a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors, the Forum for Corporate Directors - Orange County and the American Institute of CPAs.

Twenty-five years of executive experience in global sales, operations and customer relationship management in the highly competitive and rapidly changing Medical Device and Consumer-Electronics markets. Extensive engineering, marketing, sales, and sales operations management experience along with managing global world-class contact center operations. Employed proven methodologies and processes and delivered year-over-year industry leading customer satisfaction programs. In-depth understanding of customer and product lifecycle management. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills honed managing multinational clients, third party suppliers and global operations teams. Elevated customer loyalty to a level where its bearing on bottom line profitability was substantial and measurable.

Skills and Expertise:

• CRM Tools and Technologies

• Product Life Cycle Management

• Performance Management

• Reverse and Forward Logistics Optimization

• People Development

• Leadership and Executive Management

• Customer Analytics (CSAT and NPS)

• Process Improvement (Lean and 5S)

• E-Commerce

• Cross Functional Team Management

• Global TPL and TPS Management

• Entrepreneurship

• Change Management

• Strategic Planning

• Program Management

• Sales Operations

Dr. Keirstead is an internationally known stem cell expert and has led therapy development for cancer, immune disorders, motor neuron diseases, spinal cord injury and retinal diseases. He is the Chairman and CEO of AIVITA Biomedical. He was previously CSO of Caladrius which acquired California Stem Cell in 2014. Dr. Keirstead founded California Stem Cell, served as CEO, and led 3 rounds of the investment and sale of the Company. He holds Board positions in several prominent biotechnology companies.

Previously, he founded and served as the CEO of Ability Biomedical, which developed technology later sold to Bristol Myers Squibb. He was a Professor at the University of California, Irvine where he founded and directed the $77 million Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center. As a Full Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology, he was awarded over $16 million in grants during his 15-year tenure. He has mentored over 100 students, published over 100 manuscripts, and granted over 20 patents. He was awarded the Distinguished Award for Research, the UCI Academic Senate’s highest honor, as well as the UCI Innovation Award for innovative research leading to corporate and clinical development. He was a founding advisor of the California Stem Cell Initiative that resulted in a $3 billion stem cell fund (CIRM). He has been a long-time advisor to several governments on biomedical policy.

Dr. Keirstead has been a notable figure in the field of regenerative medicine for over two decades. His work in spinal cord injury earned him the distinction of being one of 100 top scientists of the year in Discover Magazine. He was featured on 60 minutes in a full segment covering his treatment for spinal cord injury. Dr. Keirstead and his research have also appeared in Newsweek, Inc. Magazine, WIRED, Esquire, The NY Times, TIME Magazine, Men’s Vogue, Science and The American Spectator, amongst other national publications. He has given dozens of keynote addresses at industry meetings and events, was a TEDx speaker, and was recently honored as one of 7 thought leaders in Canada at the Seven Wonderer’s event by Beakerhead.

Dr. Keirstead received his Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of British Columbia, Canada for which he received the Cameron Award for the outstanding Ph.D. thesis in the country. He conducted Post-Doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge. He received the distinct honor of election as Senate Member of the University of Cambridge and Fellow of the Governing Body of Downing College, and was the youngest member to have been elected to those positions.

Dr. Keirstead is an internationally known stem cell expert and has led therapy development for cancer, immune disorders, motor neuron diseases, spinal cord injury and retinal diseases. He is the Chairman and CEO of AIVITA Biomedical. He was previously CSO of Caladrius which acquired California Stem Cell in 2014. Dr. Keirstead founded California Stem Cell, served as CEO, and led 3 rounds of the investment and sale of the Company. He holds Board positions in several prominent biotechnology companies.

Previously, he founded and served as the CEO of Ability Biomedical, which developed technology later sold to Bristol Myers Squibb. He was a Professor at the University of California, Irvine where he founded and directed the $77 million Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center. As a Full Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology, he was awarded over $16 million in grants during his 15-year tenure. He has mentored over 100 students, published over 100 manuscripts, and granted over 20 patents. He was awarded the Distinguished Award for Research, the UCI Academic Senate’s highest honor, as well as the UCI Innovation Award for innovative research leading to corporate and clinical development. He was a founding advisor of the California Stem Cell Initiative that resulted in a $3 billion stem cell fund (CIRM). He has been a long-time advisor to several governments on biomedical policy.

Dr. Keirstead has been a notable figure in the field of regenerative medicine for over two decades. His work in spinal cord injury earned him the distinction of being one of 100 top scientists of the year in Discover Magazine. He was featured on 60 minutes in a full segment covering his treatment for spinal cord injury. Dr. Keirstead and his research have also appeared in Newsweek, Inc. Magazine, WIRED, Esquire, The NY Times, TIME Magazine, Men’s Vogue, Science and The American Spectator, amongst other national publications. He has given dozens of keynote addresses at industry meetings and events, was a TEDx speaker, and was recently honored as one of 7 thought leaders in Canada at the Seven Wonderer’s event by Beakerhead.

Dr. Keirstead received his Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of British Columbia, Canada for which he received the Cameron Award for the outstanding Ph.D. thesis in the country. He conducted Post-Doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge. He received the distinct honor of election as Senate Member of the University of Cambridge and Fellow of the Governing Body of Downing College, and was the youngest member to have been elected to those positions.