BOARD OF DIRECTORS & STAFF

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Cynthia Tsai

President

Chief Executive Officer

Healthquest

Ronald E. Zook

Vice President

President & CEO

Swan Valley Medical

Corbin Schwanke

Secretary

Chief Administrative Officer, Genetics

Shodair Children’s Hospital

Jerry Magin

Treasurer

Chief Operations Officer

Titin KM

DIRECTORS

Jay T. Evans, Ph.D.

University of Montana

Director, Center for Translational Medicine

Debbie Lennon

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)

Site Controller

Chad DeLong

Hamilton High School

College and Career Readiness Coordinator

Joseph Thiel, Ph.D.

Montana University System

Interim Deputy Commissioner for Academic, Research and Student Affairs

Kole Mickolio, D.O.

Titin KM Biomedical Corporation

Cofounder and CEO

Moses Leavens, Ph.D.

McLaughlin Research Institute

Associate Professor

Kurt Toenjes, Ph.D.

Montana State University Billings

Dean, College of Health Professions and Science

Greg Meiselbach

The Shelburne Group

Founder and Principal

Monica Serban, Ph.D.

University of Montana

Director, Montana Biotechnology Center

Blake Wiedenheft, Ph.D.

Montana State University

Professor, Microbiology and Cell Biology

STAFF

Cassandra Sunell

Montana BioScience Alliance

Executive Director

Cynthia Tsai

President

About Cynthia Tsai

Chief Executive Officer at Healthquest

Ms. Tsai has more than 30 years of experience in global biotechnology and medical technology. She spent 16 years on Wall Street as a Vice President with Merrill Lynch and Kidder Peabody (1982-1995). Since 2016, she has been the CEO of Tana Systems, a global software and IT company based in the U.S. and India. Ms. Tsai leads a team of 50 engineers in the U.S. and 500 engineers in India. She is also the Chief Executive Officer of Healthquest, a global biotechnology and medical technologies advisory firm, a position she has held since 1995.

From 1993 to 2002, Ms. Tsai was the Founder and CEO of HealthExpo, the largest consumer healthcare event in the U.S., where she grew the enterprise from concept to execution, attracting more than 50 million consumers to HealthExpo. Prior to that, she was a General Partner in MassTech Ventures, a multi-million-dollar equity fund focused on technology development at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Ms. Tsai currently serves on the Board of Selectors for the Jefferson Foundation Awards and is on the board of the Prix Galien Foundation. In 1999, the Harvard Business School Alumni Chapter in New York recognized Ms. Tsai with an Early Stage Honor Roll Award for Entrepreneurship. In 2004, she also received a “Leading Woman Entrepreneur of the World” Award from the Star Foundation in Overland Park, Kansas.

Ms Tsai earned a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Missouri. She is currently a director of Certus Critical Care Inc., a director of Vita Nav and TitinKM. Tsai has been nominated to serve as a director beginning in November 2021 of Ethan Allen, listed on the NY Stock Exchange.

Ronald E. Zook

Vice President

About Ronald E. Zook

President & CEO at Swan Valley Medical

Mr. Zook has over 35 years of experience in the development of emerging growth technology-based companies. Mr. Zook began his career as an aerospace RF engineer, which evolved into becoming a serial entrepreneur with the founding, from concept, of five successful technology-based companies that have become industry market leaders. Mr. Zook has an extensive IP portfolio comprised of more than 100 U.S. and international patents.

As the CEO of several technology companies, including a “turn-around” of a venture-capital funded company, Mr. Zook has developed significant experience in diverse markets including medical device, biomedical, health information systems, telecommunications, instrumentation, and information technology.

Mr. Zook’s background includes extensive experience in financing transactions including private placements, mergers and acquisitions, licensing, investment fund management, and investment banking, including the management of a large U.S. strategic bio-medical acquisitions fund for a multi-billion-dollar foreign corporation.

Mr. Zook is the managing partner and founder of Swan Capital, LLC, a family office, specializing in early-stage private placement financings, strategic partnerships, and M&A transactions in the biomedical industry. Mr. Zook is currently the President, CEO and Co-Founder of Swan Valley Medical, Incorporated, a Montana-based, surgical instrument company, with an informatics solution enabling hospitals to realize compelling improved clinical outcomes through a change in “Standard of Care” resulting in millions in annual cost savings based upon predictive analytics. The company to date has developed sales in U.S., E.U., Canada, and Mexico and has raised over $20 million in non-institutional private equity funding.

Swan Valley Medical, is also a participant in the Montana BioScience Cluster Initiative Grant, which was awarded by the SBA to promote bioscience and STEM education and entrepreneurship within the state of Montana, including mentoring of early-stage bioscience companies.

Mr. Zook holds a B.S.E.E. from Montana State University and took postgraduate studies in marketing and finance at the University of Minnesota.

Corbin Schwanke

Secretary

About Corbin Schwanke

Chief Administrative Officer, Genetics at Shodair Children's Hospital

Originally from Missoula, Mr. Schwanke studied cellular and molecular biology at the University of Montana and began working in molecular biology labs as an undergraduate. He spent 10 years in the Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences as a staff scientist assisting research labs and graduate students with complex molecular biology techniques.

Mr. Schwanke moved into clinical genetics and genomics with Shodair Children’s Hospital in 2010, where he now serves as the Chief Administrative Officer for Medical Genetics. His mission is to ensure that state-of-the-art genomic testing and clinical services are available to everyone who needs them, even in a rural region without a large urban center. When he’s not working, he loves taking advantage of the incredible outdoor recreation access Montana provides and spending quality time with his family and dogs.Mr. Schwanke holds a B.A. in Molecular Biology from the University of Montana, Missoula.

Jerry Magin

Treasurer

About Jerry Magin

Chief Operations Officer at Titin KM

Jerry Magin is an entrepreneur at heart and a proven growth strategist with more than 25 years of experience in B2B commercial leadership, executive strategy, and business transformation. Throughout his career, Jerry has successfully scaled startups, revitalized established companies, and guided organizations through complex revenue and operational challenges to achieve sustainable growth, fundraising success, and strategic exits.

He has extensive experience advising boards, CEOs, venture capital, and private equity firms—particularly in digital health, healthcare IT, AI, and life sciences. His expertise includes building go-to-market strategies, developing high-performing teams, and driving commercialization in markets spanning health systems, life sciences, medtech, payors, and direct-to-patient solutions.

Jerry’s background encompasses startups, venture-backed and PE-backed firms, as well as publicly traded companies. His specialties include digital transformation, AI/ML, decentralized clinical trials, genomics, value-based care, telemedicine, and virtual health. He has played pivotal roles in mergers and acquisitions, growth-stage advisory, and business development—always with a focus on crafting win-win partnerships and empowering teams to thrive.

A believer in innovation and people, Jerry is passionate about creating value through collaboration, mentorship, and visionary leadership. His commitment to advancing healthcare and technology aligns with the Montana Bioscience Alliance’s mission of fostering growth and innovation across the state’s bioscience ecosystem.

Jay T. Evans, Ph.D.

Director

About Jay T. Evans, Ph.D.

Director, Center for Translational Medicine at University of Montana

Dr. Evans, is Director of the Center for Translational Medicine at the University of Montana and CEO of Inimmune Corporation in Missoula, MT. Prior to joining the University of Montana and co-founding Inimmune, Dr. Evans spent 16 years at GSK Vaccines (formerly Corixa Corporation and Ribi Immunochem) working on the identification, characterization and development of novel vaccine adjuvants, immunomodulators, and delivery systems.

Because of their unique ability to enhance innate and adaptive immune responses, pattern recognition receptor (PRR) ligands are being developed as both vaccine adjuvants and as stand-alone immunomodulators. Interest in PRRs has increased steadily over the past 20 years because of promising clinical data, licensed products, and increased understanding of structure activity relationships among several families of PRR ligands. Dr. Evans’ team is focused on the discovery and advancement of novel synthetic PRR ligands across a broad range of prophylactic and therapeutic vaccine targets including SARS-CoV-2, influenza virus, pertussis, tuberculosis, pseudomonas, cancer immunotherapy, opioid addiction, and allergy.

Dr. Evans holds a B.S. in Biology from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA and a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR.rwt

Debbie Lennon

Director

About Debbie Lennon

Site Controller at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)

Debbie Lennon serves as the General Manager and Site Leader for GSK’s U.S. Biopharma Operations in Hamilton, Montana, where she oversees site strategy, manufacturing performance, workforce development, and community engagement. With more than two decades of experience in biopharmaceutical operations and leadership, Debbie has guided complex teams through process scale-ups, quality systems improvements, and regulatory compliance while fostering a culture of safety and collaboration. Under her leadership, GSK Hamilton continues to play a vital role in the company’s global vaccine and biopharma supply chain, providing high-impact career opportunities for Montanans and supporting the state’s growing life sciences ecosystem. As a member of the Montana Bioscience Alliance Board of Directors, Debbie brings her deep industry insight, commitment to operational excellence, and passion for developing local talent to strengthen Montana’s position in the national and global bioscience community.

Chad DeLong

Director

About Chad DeLong

College and Career Readiness Coordinator at Hamilton High School

Mr. DeLong is a native Montanan. He grew up in Helena and attended the University of Montana where he studied Business Administration and Marketing. He then embarked on a 25-year career in economic development in New Mexico, Kansas, and Colorado. His focus was on retooling organizations and creating regional partnerships. In his time in Colorado, he ran the Metro Denver Network, a regional organization encompassing seven counties, over 100 companies, and 50 economic development organizations in the Metro Denver area. He oversaw strategic planning and fundraising efforts that led to unprecedented growth in focus areas of biotechnology, medical devices, and the launching of the Colorado Biotechnology Association and the development of a biotechnology incubator.

Mr. DeLong then moved his family back to Montana where he was Vice President of the Missoula Economic Corporation and then moved into his passion project at Hamilton High School, working to educate kids on careers and developing partnerships with business, public sector, and secondary and higher education to expand workforce development opportunities. Over his career, Mr. DeLong has developed a belief that Montana has a huge potential to develop a strong biotechnology industry and feels privileged to serve on the Board of the Montana BioScience Alliance.

Joseph Thiel, Ph.D.

Director

About Joseph Thiel, Ph.D.

Interim Deputy Commissioner for Academic, Research and Student Affairs at Montana University System

Dr. Thiel is currently Interim Deputy Commissioner for Academic, Research and Student Affairs for the Montana University System. Previously he was the Director of Academic Policy and Research where his responsibilities included coordinating the development of the state science and technology plan and organizing Montana’s Science and Technology Committee.

He also has served as a junior consultant at the Natural Resource Governance Institute and as a research assistant in the Department of Economics at Montana State University.

During his time as a student at MSU, Dr. Thiel was appointed by Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer to two terms as the lone student representative on the seven-member Board of Regents governing the Montana University System. He chaired the board’s Two-year and Community College Education Committee, acting as the first student to chair one of the board’s core committees.

Dr. Thiel holds both a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Education and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Oxford. He earned two bachelor’s degrees from Montana State University, one in Chemical Engineering and one in Liberal Studies.

Kole Mickolio, D.O.

Director

About Kole Mickolio, D.O.

Cofounder and CEO at Titin KM Biomedical Corporation

Dr. Kole Mickolio serves as Co-Founder and CEO of Titin KM Biomedical Corporation, where he leads strategic vision, innovation, and operations. He was recently a Radiology Resident in interventional and diagnostic radiology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Additionally, Dr. Mickolio contributes to the broader scientific community as a member of the Board of Directors for the Montana BioScience Alliance.

A native of the Gallatin Valley, Dr. Mickolio first pursued biomedical engineering at the University of Utah, followed by an M.Sc. in Molecular Medicine from Montana State University. His path to medicine was shaped by unexpected challenges—including career-ending athletic injuries during his time as a Division I baseball player and a serious stroke while working as a biomedical engineer—which ultimately fortified his dedication to melding biomedical innovation with clinical care.

While in medical school, he founded Titin KM Biomedical, headquartered in Bozeman, Montana. What began as a forward-thinking vision has expanded into a thriving enterprise, now serving major academic medical centers, the NCAA, Major League Baseball, and the NFL. Titin has developed a comprehensive, in-house manufacturing ecosystem—spanning software, hardware, and mechanical engineering—and is currently advancing its technologies through luminary-site testing with top universities and professional sports franchises.

Committed to fostering local talent and economic growth, Dr. Mickolio ensures that Titin remains firmly rooted in Montana. The company employs numerous Montana graduates and interns and includes them on its leadership council, reflecting Dr. Mickolio’s investment in the next generation of innovators in his home state.

Dr. Mickolio was born and raised in the Gallatin Valley before being recruited as a Division 1 baseball player to the state of Utah. After suffering career-ending injuries in baseball, along with a stroke while working as a biomedical engineer, he simultaneously pursued his passion for both biomedical engineering and medicine.

Dr. Mickolio founded Titin KM Biomedical while in medical school. Headquartered in Bozeman, Titin has significantly grown in workforce and market demand within large academic medical centers, the NCAA, MLB, and the NFL. Titin has organically developed its in-house manufacturing facility including software, hardware, and mechanical engineering. Titin is currently in luminary site testing with notable universities and professional sports franchises. Dr. Mickolio has persevered and worked hard to not only bring but keep this industry in Montana. Titin currently has many Montana graduates and interns on its workforce and leadership council.

Moses Leavens, Ph.D.

Director

About Moses Leavens, Ph.D.

Associate Professor at McLaughlin Research Institute

Dr. Moses Leavens is an assistant professor at the McLaughlin Research/Weissman Hood Institute. Dr. Leavens received degrees from Montana State University (AS in general education), University of Providence (BA/BS in chemistry, biology, math), and the University of Montana where he earned his MS and PhD degrees in Biochemistry/Biophysics as a member of the Sloan Indigenous Scholars program. In 2023, Dr. Leavens was awarded a Sloan Foundation Grant to support his research involving the superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) protein in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Since receiving this grant, Dr. Leavens has published his first paper on a new assay detecting misfolded SOD1 in human ALS neural tissues (DOI: 10.1007/s00401-024-02752-8). Currently, Dr. Leavens is a research project leader in a 14-million NIH grant awarded to the McLaughlin Research/Weissman Hood Institute where he is studying SOD1 in Parkinson’s disease.

Kurt Toenjes, Ph.D.

Director

About Kurt Toenjes, Ph.D.

Dean, College of Health Professions and Science at Montana State University Billings

Dr. Toenjes is the Dean of the College of Health Professions and Science at MSU-Billings and currently also serves as the deputy commander for the MSU-Billings COVID Incident Command. He started at MSU-Billings in 2005 as a faculty member and then served as Chair of the Department of Biological and Physical Sciences and Professor of Cellular Biology before transitioning into his current role as Dean.

His research over the last 20 years has revolved around efforts to identify and characterize small organic compounds that inhibit the transition between budded and filamentous growth of dimorphic fungi and the conidia germination and filamentous growth of filamentous fungi. The dimorphic fungi include members of the Candida genera with particular emphasis on C. albicans. The work with filamentous fungi includes members of the Aspergillus genera and various Bark Beetle fungal symbiotes. He also seeks to increase our understanding of the role that post-translational modifications, particularly, ubiquitination, play in regulating cellular morphogenesis.

Dr. Toenjes earned a B.S. in Genetics from the University of California, Davis and a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Arizona. He was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Vermont Medical School and also held a research faculty position in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics.

Greg Meiselbach

Director

About Greg Meiselbach

Founder and Principal at The Shelburne Group

Mr. Meiselbach is the founder and principal of The Shelburne Group, a strategic advisory firm in the biotechnology arena, where he advises companies on capital raising and government affairs. He also serves as a Senior Advisor to Tonix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ : TNXP) which plans to build a large commercial-grade manufacturing facility in Hamilton, MT.

Prior to starting The Shelburne Group, Mr. Meiselbach was Director for International Affairs at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) for five years. In his role, he managed BIO’s international government affairs portfolio for the Asia Pacific and worked with BIO’s members to craft engagement strategies to promote member companies’ business interests abroad. Before joining BIO, while based out of Singapore, he built and managed the Asia Pacific portfolio of Frontier Strategy Group’s Expert Advisory Network, a broad network of in-market experts, professionals, and former officials who supported the company’s clients’ expansion into emerging markets. He also worked for United Parcel Service (UPS) early in his career on its corporate public affairs team in Washington, DC, where he supported a portfolio of legislative and regulatory issues focused on international trade, customs, and transportation.

Mr. Meiselbach has worked and traveled abroad extensively and as a child grew up in Tokyo, Japan and Beijing, China. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Tufts University in Medford, MA and speaks conversational Mandarin.

Monica Serban, Ph.D.

Director

About Monica Serban, Ph.D.

Director, Montana Biotechnology Center at University of Montana

Dr. Serban is the Director of the Montana Biotechnology Center (BIOTECH) at the University of Montana and a Professor in the Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Department. She is also the President and Co-founder of Maana Discoveries, a university spin-off focused on advancing technologies developed in academia to commercialization.

Dr. Serban has more than five years of biotech and medical device industry experience. After completing her postdoctoral training in Biomedical Engineering at Tufts University, she joined Tengion, a development-stage regenerative medicine company.

Subsequently, she gained substantial medical device expertise when she joined Allergan Medical where, as Senior Scientist, she was part of the company’s product development/innovation team and involved in products’ lifecycles from feasibility to design transfer and commercial launch. At Allergan, she received substantial training in front-end innovation, project management, and leadership. In 2014, she was the recipient of Allergan’s Award for Excellence for her contributions to the successful launch of SERIÒ Surgical Scaffold, the first-ever silk-based soft tissue support medical device in the market.

In 2015, Dr. Serban joined the University of Montana. Her academic research was featured on local news and selected for media distribution by the American Chemical Society in September 2020. She has authored numerous publications and book chapters and has multiple patents and patent applications. Dr. Serban holds a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Utah, an M.S. in Organic Chemistry, and a B.S. in Chemistry and Physics from Babes-Bolyai University in Romania.

Blake Wiedenheft, Ph.D.

Director

About Blake Wiedenheft, Ph.D.

Professor, Microbiology and Cell Biology at Montana State University

Dr. Wiedenheft received his Ph.D. in the joint laboratories of professors Mark Young and Trevor Douglas at the Thermal Biology Institute at Montana State University. His work there focused on the identification and isolation of viruses that infect microorganisms that thrive in boiling-acid environments. After completing his Ph.D. in 2007, Dr. Wiedenheft joined Jennifer Doudna’s lab at UC-Berkeley as a Life Sciences Fellow of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. In 2012, he returned to Bozeman and launched the Wiedenheft Lab at MSU, which is now a leader in CRISPR research.

Dr. Wiedenheft’s career has been dedicated to understanding the mechanisms that viruses use to manipulate their hosts and the counter-defense systems that microbes employ to defend themselves from infection. Today, his research team works to understand the evolutionary outcomes of that genetic conflict.

Citing his work on CRISPR, President Obama presented Dr. Wiedenheft with the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in January 2017. In addition to his scientific accomplishments, the award recognized his mentoring of Montana’s aspiring scientists, many with rural Montana roots.

Dr. Wiedenheft was initiated into the Montana BioScience Hall of Fame in 2023.

Cassandra Sunell

Director

About Cassandra Sunell

Executive Director at Montana BioScience Alliance

Cassandra Sunell, Director of the Montana Bioscience Alliance.

Cassandra is a driving force behind Montana’s growing bioscience economy.

With a background in international business and a passion for innovation, Cassandra brings deep expertise in cross-sector collaboration, workforce development, and economic strategy to her role as Director. Her career has spanned key roles in outreach, policy engagement, and program design, always with a focus on creating opportunity and impact across the bioscience and tech landscape.

As the Founder and Curator of TEDxWhitefish and a Montana Ambassador appointed by the Governor, Cassandra knows how to bring people together to move ideas forward. She also leads workforce development initiatives at Accelerate Montana, helping to prepare Montanans for careers in emerging industries.

Whether she’s building statewide partnerships or designing training programs that expand access to STEM careers, Cassandra is committed to one thing: ensuring Montana’s bioscience ecosystem is built to last. 🔬

BOARD OF DIRECTORS & STAFF