ANTI-SCARRING GENE THERAPY
Executive Team
Get to Know Us
Karl L Mettinger, MD, PhD
Cofounder, Chair (Interim) & CEO
In Memoriam (1943 - 2026)
Dr. Mettinger has more than 35 years of experience as an executive in the life science industry, and has been involved with the successful development of new therapeutics, including a number of oncology, hematology, cardiovascular and CNS drugs and biologic products approved by regulatory agencies worldwide. Dr. Mettinger is the Principal and Founder of Progressive Clinical partners and helped accelerate and facilitate approvals of a novel oral breakthrough therapy in lymphoma and leukemia, leading to the USD21B market cap and acquisition. He was also a consultant to Philantropist /Investor Edward Bosarge (Capital Technologies, Houston) and Tissue Genesis LLC, Honolulu) helping establish a franchise in cellular therapeutics/ Regenerative Medicine. He served as Medical Director of Hematology and as Deputy General Manager of the cardiovascular business unit of Kabi (Pharmacia, now part of Pfizer) in Sweden; as Medical Director/ Executive Director at IVAX Corporation (acquired by Teva); Chief Medical Officer/Senior Vice President at SuperGen, (Astex, acquired by Otsuka); Chief Medical Officer at Oncolytics Biotech Inc, AB ; co-founder and past President of the Swedish Stroke Society, a 10,000-member stroke research and patient support organization. Dr. Mettinger received his M.D. from the University of Lund in Sweden and his Ph.D. in Hematology/Neurology from, and is a former Associate Professor of, the Karolinska Institutet, the home of the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology in Stockholm.
Kent Persson, PhD
Cofounder & President
Dr. Persson is an experienced cell and molecular biologist with > 20 years research expertise in genomics and molecular-cellular biology. He holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Umeå University in Sweden and did a Postdoctoral Fellowship in gene expression research at the University of California San Francisco. After postdoctoral work, Dr. Persson served as Senior Scientist in the Gene Expression Division of Bio-Rad Laboratories in California, participated in research and development of gene expression tools and led technical training in genetic analysis work. Returning to Sweden, Dr. Persson has been working for Octapharma AB in Stockholm. First as a Senior Scientist at the Biopharmaceutical Division where he oversaw Cell and Molecular Biology and manages process analysis development, introducing new molecular biology techniques including development of technologies in cell culturing, recombinant protein production, and molecular biological IND filings. Later Dr. Persson served as a Project Manager at Octapharma’s Quality Unit. Within the project he oversaw the building of a new lab, the development, regulatory submission and implementation for assays to serve Octapharma’s recombinant production. He has also worked for ComplyIt AB and AstraZeneca.
Vinod Kumar, MD
EVP, Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Kumar, MD, is a distinguished clinical scientist with more than 30 years’ experience of clinical drug development in academic medicine and the biopharma industry. He joined Lilly Pharmaceuticals as a Senior Research Physician. During his 16 years tenure at Novartis, Dr. Kumar advanced to become Section Head, and Executive Global Program Medical Director Development and Medical Affairs.Under leadership of its CEO, Vasant Narasimhan, MD, Novartis is today a leader in approved cell and gene therapies. Dr Kumar has a long standing research interest as a KOL in Aging Diseases and Regenerative Medicine. He served for more than 12 years on the NIH funded Steering Committee working with FDA on selecting and validating instruments for approval of new drugs for Alzheimer’s disease. He was Editor in Chief of International Journal of Geriatric Psychopharmacology, and is co-editor of two books, most recently “Exosomes, stem cells and microRNA – Aging, Cancer and Aging Diseases. Biological and Clinical Advances.” Springer 2018. He was a Professor of Neurology/Psychiatry at University of Illinois, where he also oversaw a Stem Cell Laboratory, and at University of Miami. Dr. Kumar received his medical degree from University of Lucknow, India, and post training from Leicester University, Birmingham University, UK and UCLA in US.
Henrik (Hank) Kulmala PhD
EVP Regulatory/Product Development
Dr. Kulmala has more than 35 years of life sciences experience He has worked closely with FDA and International regulatory agencies as a principal on numerous marketing applications (NDAs/MAAs) and INDs, involving some 75 drugs in various therapeutic areas. He joined the pharmaceutical industry as a medical/ regulatory writer at Marion Merrell Dow in Cincinnati. He became Manager of Technical Composition at the R&D Operations of Fujisawa USA, Inc. Astellas) in Illinois, where he was responsible for writing and organizing the New Drug Application for Prograf (tacrolimus), a multibillion dollar drug in liver transplantation, and other projects. Dr. Kulmala served as Director of Regulatory Affairs for Curatek Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Vice President Regulatory Affairs Quark Pharmaceuticals and Genix Therapeutics. For more than 20 years he has served as a consultant in areas of Product Development/ Regulatory Affairs, writing/organizing marketing applications in numerous therapeutic areas including Regenerative Medicine, asthma, oncology, diabetes mellitus, infections, and gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and renal disorders. Dr. Kulmala also has extensive translational experience advancing numerous drugs into human trials by preparing INDs and worked on device and drug-device combinations and biotechnology applications in early to late-stage clinical development. After earning a doctorate at The University of Chicago in Pharmacological & Physiological Sciences he served as an Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at Northeastern Ohio University College.
Brad Thompson PhD
CTO
Dr. Thompson, Ph.D., CEO and Co-Founder of Wyvern Pharmaceuticals and Kickshaw Ventures, is an experienced and highly respected biotechnology professional for more than 40 years.He is also an inventor of several patents granted or pending in the viral/ gene therapy area and of the proprietary technology platform assigned to Cellastra. He served for many years as Director and the Chairman of BIOTECanada, and as Executive Chairman, CEO and President of Oncolytic Biotech Inc. He started his career in biotech as Head of Biotechnology at The Alberta Research Council where he was responsible for GMP manufacturing for biologics as well held a variety of other positions from 1983 to May 1994. He served, amongst others, as a Director of Signal Gene, Paladin Labs Inc., Transition Therapeutics and Immunovaccine, Inc., and is a current board member of He is a current Direcor Erad Therapeutics Inc. and SolAeroMed Inc. Dr Thompson is also a member of the Advisory Board of Lifeboat Foundation Biosciences Inc. He received a B.Sc. from the University of Alberta and a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from the University of Western Ontario.
Deepika Kurl MBA, MS, CPA
Chief Financial Officer (CFO), VP Finance (Consultant)
Deepika Kurl is a CPA and CMA with more than 25 years of experience building finance and accounting functions from the ground up at VC-backed SaaS, biotech, and MedTech companies, including those with laboratory and manufacturing operations. As a fractional CFO and VP Finance consultant, she partners with founders, CEOs, and boards to turn finance into a scalable, strategic function, guiding companies through high-growth phases and pre-IPO readiness. Her foundation in public accounting and corporate taxation, including tax compliance and audit support, gives her a rigorous, compliance-minded perspective on every engagement Her work spans the full finance lifecycle: establishing a disciplined month-end close, producing audit-ready GAAP financial statements, and implementing internal controls that reduce risk and improve transparency. She leads US GAAP implementation and policy alignment, documents technical accounting conclusions, and serves as the primary partner to external auditors. She has also led ERP implementations, most notably NetSuite, along with process automation that improves the speed and integrity of reporting. Deepika is known for building and leading high-performing accounting teams, managing multi-entity and international consolidations, and supporting boards and executive teams with budgeting, forecasting, and reporting. Her approach is hands-on and pragmatic: she moves comfortably between strategy and detail, and builds automated, well-documented finance operations that keep improving as the business grows, giving leadership a foundation that scales with every stage. Deepika did her MBA in India, MS from San Jose State University and earned her CPA and CMA designation in the US.
DANIEL QUINTERO
Secretary, General Counsel
Mr. Quintero has a long and distinguished career in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area. He is a Founding Partner and Managing Partner of Prometheus Partners LLP, a diverse group of accomplished former Big Law Partners and Executive In House counsel committed to supporting innovation. Mr. Quintero was previously the General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Sony Optiarc America Inc., where he concurrently served as Senior Managing Counsel and Director for Sony Electronics Inc. and managed Sony's Silicon Valley law department operations. His responsibilities included advising executive management and the board of directors of a multi-national corporation, and negotiating and structuring multi-million and multi-billion dollar engagements. Mr. Quintero is largely well respected for his views on innovation and technology and was named one of California’s Top 20 General Counsel by the Daily Journal. Mr. Quintero received his undergraduate degree from the University of San Francisco (USF), and received his law degree from Berkeley Law (Boalt Hall), University of California at Berkeley
Emma YE, MD Cand
Scientific Adviser, Scientific Communications.
Mrs. Ye joined Cellastra in August 2023 and has been promoted to Scientific Adviser, Scientific Communications. She completed her undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley in 2018 and co-founded Real Graphene USA in 2019. Emma is currently completing her MD degree at Vanderbilt University and embarking on an MBA program.