Leadership
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Dr. Neal Walker
Interim Chief Executive Officer and President, and Chair of Board of Directors -
Kevin Balthaser
Chief Financial Officer -
Joseph Monahan, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer -
Matthew Rothman, JD
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary -
James Loerop
Chief Business Officer -
Jon Jacobsen, PhD
Senior Vice President, Chemistry -
Steve Tucker
Senior Vice President, Project Leadership -
Ajay Aggarwal, MD, FCCP, MBA
Senior Vice President, Clinical Development
Dr. Neal Walker co-founded Aclaris and has served as Aclaris’ Interim Chief Executive Officer and President since January 2024, and Chair of Aclaris’ board of directors since January 2023. He previously served as Aclaris’ Chief Executive Officer until December 2022 and has served as a member of the board of directors since its inception in July 2012.
Neal is a board-certified dermatologist and serial entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in the life science industry. He began his pharmaceutical industry career at Johnson & Johnson. Neal co-founded NeXeption, LLC, a biopharmaceutical assets management company, in 2012, and its affiliated companies. Prior to Aclaris, he co-founded and served as President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Vicept Therapeutics, Inc., a dermatology-focused specialty pharmaceutical company, from 2009 until its acquisition by Allergan, Inc. in 2011. Previously, Neal co-founded and led a number of life science companies, including Octagon Research Solutions, Inc., a software and services provider to biopharmaceutical companies (acquired by Accenture plc); Trigenesis Therapeutics, Inc., a specialty dermatology company, where he served as Chief Medical Officer (acquired by Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Inc.); and Cutix Inc., a commercial dermatology company. He also co-founded and previously served on the boards of the Dermatology Summit, Dermatology Innovation Forum, and Advancing Innovation in Dermatology. Neal is on the board of directors of Aldeyra Therapeutics, Inc., a publicly held biotechnology company, as well as several private companies. In 2016, Neal was awarded the Frank Baldino Bioscience CEO of the Year award and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Greater Philadelphia award. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Neal received a Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, and a Bachelor of Arts in biology from Lehigh University.
Kevin Balthaser has served as Aclaris’ Chief Financial Officer since January 2023. Mr. Balthaser has served in various roles at Aclaris of increasing responsibility since 2017, most recently as Vice President, Finance since January 2022.
Kevin is a financial executive with over 13 years of progressive leadership experience. Before joining Aclaris, he held various positions of increasing responsibility within the accounting and finance department at Lannett Company, Inc., a publicly traded generic pharmaceutical company, where he was also a member of the team responsible for executing capital market transactions and acquisitions. Prior to his tenure with Lannett Company, Kevin began his career with international accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Kevin is a certified public accountant in Pennsylvania. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in finance from Pennsylvania State University and his Master of Business Administration from Villanova University. He is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Joseph Monahan, Ph.D., has served as Aclaris’ Chief Scientific Officer since January 2021, and has more than 35 years of pharmaceutical research experience. Previously, Joseph served as Aclaris’ Executive Vice President, Research and Development.
Prior to joining Aclaris, Joseph founded the biotechnology company, Confluence Life Sciences, Inc. in 2010 and functioned as the Chief Scientific Officer. He has also held multiple research leadership positions at Pfizer Inc., including Executive Director, Inflammation Research, global kinase platform leadership team lead, site head of enzymology and biophysics, and inflammation research and development lead. Throughout his career, he led the advancement of project portfolios from early discovery through phase 1 and 2 clinical development. He has held adjunct and visiting professor positions at Washington University Medical School, University of Missouri and University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine. He has published over 85 peer-reviewed publications and is listed as co-inventor on 14 patents.
Joseph received his Bachelor of Science in biochemistry from the University of New York at Buffalo and Doctor of Philosophy in biochemistry from the University of South Carolina.
Matthew Rothman has served as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary since November 2022. He joined Aclaris in 2018 and has served in a number of roles of increasing responsibility within the legal department. Prior to joining Aclaris, Matt was an associate in the corporate and securities group at the global law firm Dechert LLP.
Matt received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and his Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh. He is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania.
Jim Loerop has served as Aclaris’ Chief Business Officer since January 2022.
Prior to joining Aclaris, Jim served as Executive Vice President, Business Development and Strategic Planning at Anika Therapeutics, Inc., a publicly held global joint preservation company, where he was responsible for global business development activities. He also previously served as Chief Corporate Development Officer for Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he was a member of the company’s Executive Leadership Team and was responsible for global business development and corporate development activities. Prior to joining Lupin, he held senior leadership roles at various companies in the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry, including at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. as Senior Vice President of Global Business Development, GlaxoSmithKline as Vice President of North America Business Development, and Stiefel Laboratories, Inc. as Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Development, prior to GSK’s acquisition of Stiefel.
Jim received his Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from Western Michigan University.
Jon Jacobsen, PhD, has served as Aclaris’ Senior Vice President, Chemistry since January 2022. Jon has more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, and previously served as Director of Chemistry at Confluence Life Sciences, Inc. since 2011.
Prior to joining Aclaris, Jon held multiple science and leadership positions at Pfizer and legacy companies, including that of a senior fellow, chemistry director, as well as in project and chemistry team leadership roles for drug discovery projects. Over his career, Jon worked on multiple projects within CNS, cancer, cardiovascular and inflammation disease areas. He successfully led teams that advanced a number of compounds from discovery to clinical development and worked closely with development teams to advance candidates. During the last twelve years, his research has focused on the inhibition of multiple kinase targets involved in cancer and inflammation pathways. He has co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and is listed as a co-inventor on more than 50 patents.
Jon received his Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Harvey Mudd College and Doctor of Philosophy in synthetic chemistry from the University of California, Irvine. He also carried out post-doctoral studies at the University of Geneva in Switzerland.
Steve Tucker has served as Senior Vice President, Product Leadership of Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. since January 2023. Having joined Aclaris in 2018, Steve has led Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing and Product Leadership during his time with Aclaris. In his current role, he leads cross-functional development teams and the portfolio steering committee. Previously, Steve served as Aclaris’ Senior Director, Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing.
Prior to joining Aclaris, Steve held positions at both large and small companies, including Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Elan Corporation plc, and Cutanea Life Sciences Inc. for over nearly 20 years in the industry. His experience in drug development has extended from discovery into INDs, NDAs, and support of commercial products. His development experience includes topical, oral, and injectable products across many therapeutic areas.
Steve received his Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from Drexel University.
Ajay Aggarwal, MD, currently serves as Senior Vice President, Clinical Development. Ajay joined Aclaris in October 2021, and has more than 10 years of experience in clinical research. He is a clinical scientist and a board certified Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Physician who has executed many studies in a variety of therapeutic areas including respiratory, immunology, and oncology.
Prior to joining Aclaris, Ajay served as Chief Medical Officer of CereXis Inc., developing drugs for rare neurology and oncology indications. He also held clinical leadership positions at Insmed, Inc. and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals plc, successfully moving several compounds from the preclinical setting to late stage clinical development.
Ajay is also a practicing clinician and volunteers at a clinic in the greater Philadelphia area serving the poor and uninsured patients in the community, and has worked at the VA Hospital prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry. He has published many peer reviewed papers, and is a fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians.
Ajay received his Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management of Northwestern University, and his medical degree (MBBS) from All India Institute of Medical Sciences.