H. Ralph Snodgrass, Ph.D.
CEO and Director
Dr. Snodgrass founded VistaGen in 1998 and has been its Chief Executive Officer since inception. Prior to VistaGen, he was Chief Scientific Officer of Progenitor, Inc. Dr. Snodgrass has a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and has over 13 years experience in senior management and over 10 years research experience as a professor at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Medicine, and as a member of the Institute for Immunology, Basel, Switzerland. Dr. Snodgrass is a past Board Member of the Emerging Company Section of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), and is a recognized pioneering expert in stem cell biology with more than 20 years experience in the uses of stem cells as biological tools for drug discovery.

Shawn K. Singh, J.D.
President and Director
Mr. Singh joined our Board of Directors in 2000 and our management team in 2003 following our acquisition of Artemis Neuroscience, of which he was President. Mr. Singh has nearly 20 years of experience working with biopharmaceutical companies. He currently serves as Managing Principal of Cato BioVentures, a life science venture capital firm affiliated with Cato Research, a leading contract research organization. Mr. Singh also serves in management and director roles for Echo Therapeutics and Hemodynamic Therapeutics, each a Cato BioVentures portfolio company. Mr. Singh served as Chief Business Officer of SciClone Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: SCLN) and as a Corporate Finance Associate of Morrison & Foerster, an international law firm. Mr. Singh is a member of the State Bar of California.

A. Franklin Rice, MBA
Chief Financial Officer and Director
Mr. Rice joined VistaGen in 1999 and has previously held positions of increasing responsibility within the biotechnology industry since 1984, including Senior Director of Business Development at Genencor International and Vice President of Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals for Bechtel Group’s global manufacturing based biotechnology and pharmaceuticals consulting practice. Mr. Rice also serves on the Executive Board of BayBIO, the independent trade association serving the life science industry in Northern California. Mr. Rice has engineering and business degrees from Clarkson, Rochester and MIT.

Independent Directors

Jon S. Saxe, J.D.
Chairman
Mr. Saxe has been Chairperson since February 2000. Mr. Saxe is a Director and the retired President of PDL BioPharma and was President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Synergen, Inc. (acquired by Amgen). Mr. Saxe served as Vice President, Licensing & Corporate Development for Roche from 1984 through 1989, and Head Patent Law from 1978 through 1989. Mr. Saxe received his BS ChE from Carnegie-Mellon University, his J.D. from George Washington University School of Law and his LL.M. from New York University School of Law. He is also a director of public companies, including PDL BioPharma, InSite Vision, Sciele Pharmaceuticals, SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Durect and Entelos, and several private companies.

Gregory A. Bonfiglio, J.D.
Director
Mr. Bonfiglio joined our Board of Directors in February 2007. Mr. Bonfiglio is founder and Managing General Partner of Proteus Venture Partners. He has over 25 years experience working with technology companies as a Partner with Morrison & Foerster LLP, Adjunct Professor at Stanford University Law School, and, most recently, as a General Partner investing in life science and information technology companies at Anthem Venture Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm.

Scientific Advisory Panel

Gordon Keller, Ph.D.
Chairman, Scientific Advisory Panel
Director of McEwen Center of Regenerative Medicine University Health Network, Toronto, Canada
Professor Keller holds an endowed chair at the Carl C. Icahn Institute for Gene Therapy and Molecular Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and is a recent past President of the International Society of Stem Cell Research. Dr. Keller has recently accepted a position as Director of the McEwen Center for Regenerative Medicine, University of Toronto. Dr. Keller is a world leader in the field of hematopoietic development with more than 50 peer-reviewed publications relating to blood development and embryonic stem (ES) cells. Previously, he was a Member of the National Jewish Medical & Research Center, Denver, CO, Associate Professor, Department of Immunology, University Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO, a Member, Basel Institute for Immunology, Basel, Switzerland, and a Visiting Scientist at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna, Austria. He has served on several NIH study sections and is invited throughout the world to talk about his research on ES cells and blood development. He and Dr. Snodgrass were the pioneers who helped develop and exploit the ES cell system for understanding hematopoietic development and cellular development.

Allen Cato, M.D., Ph.D.
President, Chief Executive Officer, and cofounder of Cato Research
Dr. Cato has more than 30 years of experience in clinical research and new drug development. He has directed or participated in the development of more than 100 INDs and NDAs. Dr. Cato's areas of expertise include the following: clinical pharmacokinetics; biostatistics; drug surveillance; pharmacoepidemiology; adverse drug reactions; clinical study design; regulatory interactions; pulmonary and pediatric medicine; and clinical research and development. Dr. Cato has published hundreds of papers, principally in the fields of clinical pharmaceutical research, cystic fibrosis, gene therapy and global drug development. He is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cato Research, Co-Founder and Principal of Cato BioVentures, and serves as a member of the board of directors for several pharmaceutical companies.

George Clay, Ph.D.
Recently retired as Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, Kyowa Pharmaceuticals
Dr. Clay brings 13 years in experience of worldwide registration of drugs and biologics plus 15 years experience in preclinical research in the fields of neuronal and gastroenterology. In addition to his work at Kyowa, Dr. Clay was former Deputy Vice President, Worldwide Regulatory Affairs, Sanofi Pharmaceuticals, and former Senior Vice President, North American Regulatory Affairs, Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals. His experience with regulatory and commercial issues will be extremely valuable to the successful development and anticipated commercialization of VistaGen.s technology.

Arthur Fetter, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Retired in April, 1999 as Sr. Vice President, Worldwide Drug Safety and Laboratory Animal Resources at Rhone-Poulenc Rorer
Dr. Fetter brings 20 years of veterinary pathology/toxicology and senior management experience in preclinical safety assessment of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and surgically related products. Dr. Fetter's experience with preclinical safety assessment will be extremely valuable in focusing the development of VistaGen's technology to the most pressing needs of the industry.

Jacqueline A. French, M.D.
Professor of Neurology, NYU comprehensive Epilepsy Center
Dr. French is a world renowned expert in the treatment of epilepsy and managing epilepsy clinical trials. She has been on the Board of Directors of the American Epilepsy Society, and the Chair of the Guidelines Task Force and the Epilepsy Practice Committee. Dr. French is an editor for the Clinical Neuropharmacology section of Epilepsy, and has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications, more than 35 reviews and editorials in the field of epilepsy treatment, and is widely asked to talk about the management and treatment of epilepsy.

Curtis D. Klaassen, Ph.D.
Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Kansas Medical Center
Dr. Klaassen is a recognized leader in the field of toxicology whose work has been ranked as having the fourth highest scientific impact in the U.S. in the study of xenobiotics. In addition to being highly published, Dr. Klaassen is the editor (and contributor) of important journals and textbooks in toxicology, and has served on numerous national committees including those with NIH, FDA, National Library of Medicine, Environmental Protection Agency, National Academy of Science, National Toxicology Program, and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. Dr. Klaassen has also served as president to several major societies associated with drug safety assessment.

Robert Schwarcz, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychiatry, Pharmacology and Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, and Deputy Director of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center
Dr. Schwarcz is an internationally renowned neuroscientist, who has pioneered the study of molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative and seizure disorders. He has authored more than 250 articles, edited four books in the area of psychiatric and neurological research, and served as a committee member of several elite professional societies (for example, American Epilepsy Society, American College for Neuropsychopharmacology). In addition, Dr. Schwarcz was Chair of the International Advisory Board of the Brain Research Institute in Vienna, Austria, serves on numerous editorial boards, NIH Study Sections and Advisory Panels, and is a much sought-after lecturer.