Novan CEO and leadership

Paula Brown Stafford is a biopharmaceutical services executive and leadership consultant with more than 30 years of industry experience. She is currently the President and Chief Operating Officer for Novan, Inc., as well as a Managing Director for Habergeon LLC.

Ms. Stafford retired in 2015 from her position as President of Clinical Development at Quintiles (now part of iQvia). Ms. Stafford’s global responsibilities encompassed Phase I-IV clinical research services and she served as a member of Quintiles Executive Committee. She was an Independent Director for BioImaging, later BioClinica (NASDAQ: BIOC), from 2002 to 2008. In addition, Ms. Stafford served as a member of the CDISC (Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium) Board of Directors for 9 years, serving as Chair for 2 years and as a member of the Executive Committee for 6 years.

Ms. Stafford is an Adjunct Professor in Public Health Leadership for the UNC-CH Gillings School of Global Public Health and emeritus member of the UNC-CH Public Health Foundation Board. In 2011, Ms. Stafford received the Triangle Business Journal’s Women in Business Award. FierceBiotech named Ms. Stafford one of the 10 top women in biotech in 2012.

Ms. Stafford holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Public Health in Biostatistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2016, the university honored Ms. Stafford with its Distinguished Alumna Award.

John M. Gay serves as the Company’s Principal Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary. Mr. Gay joined Novan in May 2018 and has previously served as the Company’s Senior Director of Finance and Corporate Controller. Prior to Novan, Mr. Gay held director-level positions, including at Valassis Digital, a digital marketing technology company, and Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a pharmaceutical development company. Prior to joining Furiex, Mr. Gay served in roles of increasing responsibility at Deloitte & Touche and Arthur Andersen, registered public accounting firms. He is a certified public accountant and holds Bachelor’s degrees in Economics and History and a Master’s in Accounting from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Carri Geer, Ph.D., leads drug substance, drug product, device and analytical development for Novan’s drug candidates. Additionally, Dr. Geer serves as the technical liaison for collaborative partnerships. Dr. Geer has 10 years of experience in pharmaceutical product development, and a background in analytical and bioanalytical chemistry. During her tenure at Novan, Dr. Geer has been responsible for establishing and growing the analytical capabilities of the company. Prior to joining Novan, Dr. Geer was employed at Merck and bridged the interface between R&D and cGMP analytical testing. Dr. Geer received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Paula Brown Stafford is a biopharmaceutical services executive and leadership consultant with more than 30 years of industry experience. She is currently the President and Chief Operating Officer for Novan, Inc., as well as a Managing Director for Habergeon LLC.

Ms. Stafford retired in 2015 from her position as President of Clinical Development at Quintiles (now part of iQvia). Ms. Stafford’s global responsibilities encompassed Phase I-IV clinical research services and she served as a member of Quintiles Executive Committee. She was an Independent Director for BioImaging, later BioClinica (NASDAQ: BIOC), from 2002 to 2008. In addition, Ms. Stafford served as a member of the CDISC (Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium) Board of Directors for 9 years, serving as Chair for 2 years and as a member of the Executive Committee for 6 years.

Ms. Stafford is an Adjunct Professor in Public Health Leadership for the UNC-CH Gillings School of Global Public Health and emeritus member of the UNC-CH Public Health Foundation Board. In 2011, Ms. Stafford received the Triangle Business Journal’s Women in Business Award. FierceBiotech named Ms. Stafford one of the 10 top women in biotech in 2012.

Ms. Stafford holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Public Health in Biostatistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2016, the university honored Ms. Stafford with its Distinguished Alumna Award.