Board of Directors

Ms. Wasman served as Director since November 2020 and was appointed Board Chair in August 2023. Ms. Wasman was President, International & General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. , a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, from 2012 through December 2019, managing its international, legal, quality, intellectual property and compliance functions, after serving in other executive roles at Acorda starting in 2004. Before joining Acorda, Ms. Wasman was with Schering-Plough Corporation, a global pharmaceutical company, for over eight years, holding various U.S. and international leadership positions, including Staff Vice President and Associate General Counsel. Ms. Wasman earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School and her undergraduate degree from Princeton University. She chairs the board of directors of Sellas Life Sciences, a publicly traded biotechnology company, chairs its nominations & governance committee, and is a member of its audit, compensation and finance committees. She also is a member of the board of directors of Rigel Pharmaceuticals, a publicly traded biotechnology company, where she is a member of its nominations, governance & compliance committee and its scientific committee, and of the board of Cytovia Therapeutics, a private biotechnology company, where she is a member of its finance committee. She has been a member of the board of directors and a member of the executive committee of the New York Biotechnology Association since 2007. Additionally, she is co-founder of the NY Hub of BioDirector, an organization supporting board effectiveness and diversity. Ms. Wasman is a strategic leader with almost 25 years in the biopharma industry, with extensive U.S. and international experience. Her expertise includes M&A, strategic development, corporate governance, international, litigation, commercial, compliance and government affairs, as well as operational implementation.

Independent Director
Board Chair
Member of the Nominations, Governance and Compliance Committee
Member of the Compensation Committee
Chairman of the Audit Committee

Mr. Camardo joined Athersys in February 2022 as our Chief Executive Officer. Prior to him joining the team, Mr. Camardo served as Executive Vice President and Head of the Rare Disease and Inflammation Business Units and President, U.S. at Horizon Therapeutics (Horizon). In this previous role, Mr. Camardo led a broad commercial transformation, built out new capabilities to support a portfolio of products in the rare disease and specialty medicines space, and helped transform the small specialty products company into a global biotechnology company focused on rare, autoimmune, and severe inflammatory diseases. He has worked in commercial leadership roles for other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, including Astellas and has been involved in more than 10 medicine launches across various therapeutic areas, including small molecules and biologics. Mr. Camardo is recognized for creating innovative solutions to overcome marketplace challenges and fostering cross-functional collaboration to drive results. Mr. Camardo holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Mathematics from the University of Rochester and a Master of Business Administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

CEO and Director

Dr. Mayhugh became a Director on Athersys’ board in August of 2023. She is an executive with more than 20 years of experience in healthcare consulting, industry, academic, and hospital settings. Dr. Mayhugh has served as the Founder and Managing Partner of Wave Strategy, a consultancy focused on the rapid commercialization of healthcare innovations, since 2016. Under her leadership, Wave Strategy has bridged early-stage technologies from renowned medical institutions with investors and industry experts, propelling them into the market. Notable partnerships include collaborations with Mass General Bringham, The Cleveland Clinic, and BioEnterprise Corporation, among others. Prior to Wave Strategy, Dr. Mayhugh served as Chief Operating Officer at Mobile Hyperbaric Centers from 2015-2016, where she instituted transformative changes that increased patient volumes and compliance rates while enhancing organizational efficiency. Earlier in her career, she held leadership positions at The Cleveland Clinic and Pfizer, with a focus on commercialization and market analytics. Dr. Mayhugh holds a PhD in Pharmacology & Toxicology from Dartmouth College and a BS in Human Physiology from Boston University.

Independent Director
Member of the Audit Committee
Member of the Compensation Committee
Member of the Nominations, Governance and Compliance Committee

Mr. Nolan has served as a Director since January 2023. Mr. Nolan serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Jaguar Gene Therapy, a biotechnology company with a mission to accelerate breakthroughs in gene therapy for patients suffering from severe genetic diseases. Prior to this, Mr. Nolan served as General Manager of AveXis, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company which developed one of the first gene therapies approved by the FDA for spinal muscular atrophy and was acquired by Novartis Gene Therapies for $8.7 billion. From 2001 to 2018 Mr. Nolan held leadership positions to support global licensing, marketing, business development, and commercialization at Abbott Laboratories, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Lundbeck, Marathon Pharmaceuticals, Eversana, and KJE Health Pharma Science. Mr. Nolan holds an M.B.A. in Marketing from the University of Notre Dame and a B.S. in Finance from Tulane University.

Mr. Nolan's extensive experience provides unique business development and marketing expertise to the Board, including an understanding of specialty pharma marketing and sales, acquisitions, product launches, recruiting, training, and developing teams, and market access strategy.

Independent Director

Mr. Wyszomierski has served as a Director since June 2010. From 2004 until his retirement in June 2009, Mr. Wyszomierski served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of VWR International, LLC, a supplier and distributor of laboratory supplies, equipment and supply chain solutions to the global research laboratory industry. From 1982 to 2004, Mr. Wyszomierski held positions of increasing responsibility within the finance group at Schering-Plough Corporation, a pharmaceutical company, culminating with his appointment as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in 1996. Prior to joining Schering-Plough, he was responsible for capitalization planning at Joy Manufacturing Company, a producer of mining equipment, and was a management consultant at Data Resources, Inc., a distributor of economic data. Mr. Wyszomierski currently serves on the board of directors of Solenis, Inc., a privately held chemicals company since 2014, where he serves as Chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Compensation Committee, Xoma Corporation (NASDAQ: XOMA) since 2010, where he also serves as chairman of the compensation committee and as a member of the audit committee, and Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXEL) since 2004, where he serves as chairman of the audit committee. Mr. Wyszomierski was also a member of the board of directors and chairman of the audit committee at Unigene Laboratories, Inc. (OTC: UGNE) from 2012 to 2013. Mr. Wyszomierski holds a M.S. in Industrial Administration and a B.S. in Administration, Management Science and Economics from Carnegie Mellon University.

Mr. Wyszomierski’s extensive financial reporting, accounting and finance experience and his service on the audit committees of other public companies, as well as his experience in the healthcare and life sciences industries, provides financial expertise to the Board, including an understanding of financial statements, corporate finance, developing and maintaining effective internal controls, accounting, investments and capital markets.

Independent Director
Member of the Audit Committee
Member of the Compensation Committee
Chairman of the Nominations, Governance and Compliance Committee