CYGNOS senior leaders combine expertise, passion and business acumen to guide the company’s continued growth.
Jay E. Yourist, PhD
Co-Founder and President
Dr. Yourist has held a broad range of management, healthcare, and research positions in the academic, public, and private sectors for over 35 years, and is the author of several published papers and nine issued patents. He achieved his Masters degree in Biochemistry and Doctorate degree in Microbiology from the University of Miami, School of Medicine, and served as a faculty member at the University of Miami’s, Department of Medicine. He was a Florida Gubernatorial appointee to direct the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation and Social Security Disabilities Department to manage healthcare and community-based services for disabled adults in Florida. He was also appointed to direct the Trust Fund Program for Traumatic Brain and Spinal Cord Injury.
Dr. Yourist, co-founded and managed the Florida 501(c) non-profit organization, the International Institute for Healthcare and Human Development (IIHHD), with its primary mission to research and dedicate resources to the development of new practices, policies, systems, and training programs to improve healthcare delivery and social integration for persons with disabilities and chronic diseases in the Eastern Caribbean. This was performed with the partnership/ leadership of Ambassador Chandradath Singh to develop a new chronic disease healthcare delivery system for the region. Dr. Yourist served as the President & CEO of Nuovo Biologics to develop and commercialize its antiviral and antitumor peptide technology.
John A. Bogdan, Jr., PhD
Vice President of Product Development and Partnering
Dr. Bogdan has significant experience in industry with bacterial toxin production, purification and testing for use in acellular pertussis vaccines. He also has significant experience with recombinant expression of proteins in E. coli and detection of inhibitors of kinase activity in vitro using phosphor-imaging techniques and cell-based assay systems. As a NIAID Program Officer, he managed several successful product development contracts for inhibitors against anthrax and botulinum neurotoxin that have been licensed or are in advance development and has consulted on early- and late-stage product development work in this field.
Dr. Bogdan achieved his Masters degree and Doctorate degree in Microbiology and Immunology from the University at Buffalo.
Debbie Somers
Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer
Debbie Somers is accountable for all operations including designing / implementing business processes and organizational structures / strategies to ensure continued longevity and growth. She is an animal advocate with a strong history in Small Business and Health Information Technology (HIT) consulting for academic, commercial and government clients. In her previous position as Senior Advisor to the Deputy Commissioner for Systems, Social Security Administration, Ms. Somers’ vision and energy initiated the SSA HIT program, building the program to national recognition. Ms. Somers devised ways to achieve SSA’s goals while also providing a broader value to the healthcare industry and the community at‐large. Her emphasis on the strategic planning and business impacts for organizations and agencies established a basis for expansion and adoption of national programs. During her tenure she received numerous awards and recognition at the national level from both government and private industry.
As a consultant she advised organizations on strategic planning for Health IT and disability, and organized think tank sessions to discuss cognitive disabilities, routinely convening diverse organizations and stakeholders to collaborate, identify common goals, and achieve results. Ms. Somers subsequently served as the Chief Operating Officer for Nuovo Biologics, focusing the biotech company on strategic planning, budgeting, and achieving specific goals. She put her love of animals into action working with the Los Angeles County shelter system and led a program teaching young women in probation camp how to foster kittens while fostering many herself. For the past few years she has been a key manager/coordinator in the CAAT Friends rescue organization in Southern California, fostering, providing basic feline medical care, educating and mentoring fosters, and handling much of the organization’s fostering and adoption protocols for the hundreds of animals they save and help each year.
Ms. Somers has also coordinated and overseen pilot studies with the Cygnos anti-viral drug for felines with FIP, Upper Respiratory and Herpes infections.
Craig Reinemeyer, DVM, PhD
Co-Founder and Director
Dr. Reinemeyer is primarily responsible for oversight and management of the clinical pivotal studies, safety and related regulatory requirements, etc. Dr. Reinemeyer is a veterinarian and also holds a doctorate in parasitology. He taught veterinary parasitology at The University of Tennessee, College of Veterinary Medicine for 14 years. Dr. Reinemeyer left academia in 1998 to create East Tennessee Clinical Research, a privately held contract research organization, that conducts veterinary pharmaceutical development studies for commercial sponsors.
With over 20 years of pharmaceutical development experience, Dr. Reinemeyer has contributed to the approval of approximately 30 New Animal Drug Applications and Abbreviated NADAs. His operation is registered with the USDA as a Research Facility (R-63-0120), and he is a charter Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Microbiology (Parasitology Specialty). He is a member of numerous professional organizations and served as the President of the American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists from 2003 to 2004. Dr. Reinemeyer has authored over 90 peer reviewed articles, several book chapters and is co-author of “Handbook of Equine Parasite Control” (2nd ed.).
Philip Gao, PhD
Co-Founder and Director
Dr. Gao has been working full time in research areas of molecular biology, protein production and biophysical characterization of proteins for almost 25 years. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Kansas and completed an NIH postdoctoral fellowship at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at UCLA. From 2001 to 2007, Dr. Gao established and managed a new membrane protein production facility at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State University. Since July 2008, he directed the COBRE-PSF Protein Production Group Core Laboratory at the University of Kansas. Both at FSU and at KU, Dr. Gao’s laboratory provided proteins used for team-based NIH projects focused on the structure and function of proteins. Dr. Gao has an excellent background in molecular biology, protein purification, cell culture, and fermentation. He also has extensive experience in the preparation of challenging proteins for both academic research and industrial usage.
He is the founder and the President of KanPro Research, Inc. where he oversees operations of the company, operates, and maintains related laboratory equipment, and performs cloning, and expression and protein purification processes. He works with investigators to devise appropriate strategies for their novel projects.
Walid Chaar, BSEE
Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer
Mr. Chaar, as CTO, he is responsible for all elements of technical operations of the company, the management of IT systems, including hardware, software, and networks, ensuring the security and compliance of the company’s data and IT infrastructure.
Mr. Chaar is proficient in healthcare informatics, project management, delivering infrastructure solutions and business-focused applications, directing complex projects, managing IT operations and development teams, developing enterprise IT strategies, establishing IT GRC (Governance, Risk, Compliance) processes, and managing clients. Mr. Chaar years of working experience within multiple IT-related areas and specifically in the healthcare and energy industries, expanded his knowledge to provide vision, advice and technical oversight on managing and implementing information technology (IT) strategies with business goals. He is a skilled IT professional with extensive experience in IT Enterprises and Cybersecurity for a wide range of industries and technologies including handling, trending, and analysis of large data sets to align with the latest technology advancements, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).
Mr. Walid Chaar received a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Miami and holds many certifications in various IT-related technologies.
Ambassador Chandradath Singh
Director
Ambassador Singh is responsible for marketing and oversight of collaborations and international projects.
Ambassador Singh spent thirty five years in the Foreign service of Trinidad and Tobago with diplomatic assignments to: The U.K, (1st. Secretary,1978-1981), Canada, Second Secretary,1981-1984), India Acting High Commissioner and Head of Chancery(1988-1993), Chief of Protocol of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago,1995-1997), Consul General, Miami Florida,1997-2003), High Commissioner/Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, India, 2010-2013), Ambassador Extraordinary and plenipotentiary China,2014-2016).
During his overseas and home postings, Ambassador Singh created tremendous impact among the population he served, far beyond traditional diplomatic roles. These included deep involvement in social, cultural and community activities. His extensive work in healthcare related projects is well documented. Ambassador Singh was truly a champion in helping to empower communities beyond ethnic, racial, and national boundaries. It is not surprising therefore that he applied for and was granted U.S Permanent Residence in the category of Extraordinary Abilities.
