Jessica Ibbitson is Senior Vice President, Clinical Operations at Mineralys and is responsible for the delivery of our clinical trial strategy and execution. Prior to joining Mineralys, Jessica led the Clinical & General Operations department at ProQR Therapeutics which included Clinical Operations, Project Management and Digital Health Technologies and was the head of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Clinical Site Services department responsible for start-up of cystic fibrosis clinical development programs which led to the expedited approvals of Kalydeco®, Orkambi® and Symdeko®. Jessica has spent her career focusing on diseases with a high unmet medical need and developing new methods for accelerating clinical trials in order to get potential treatments to patients as quickly as possible.
Dr. Borut Čižman earned his medical degree from the University of Ljubljana School of Medicine, Slovenia and began his clinical journey at the University Medical Center in Ljubljana, specializing in the internal medicine. After completing further clinical nephrology and epidemiological training, Dr. Čižman joined the Electrolyte and Hypertension Division’s faculty at the Perelman School of Medicine’s Department of Medicine. Concurrently, he took on the role of Chief of the Renal Section at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center, a position he held until 2006.
Transitioning from academia after seven years, Dr. Čižman joined Baxter Healthcare, spearheading research on devices, solutions, and software tailored for peritoneal dialysis. In 2013, he took the helm of the anemia of CKD ASCEND program at GSK R&D. This program culminated in approval of daprodustat by FDA for the oral treatment of anemia in dialysis population. By 2021, he joined his first pharmaceutical startup: Inozyme Pharma, focusing on the prevention of vascular calcification in CKD and addressing ultra-rare diseases linked to ENPP1 and ABCC6 deficiencies.
In 2023, he furthered his career by joining Mineralys Therapeutics as the Vice President of Clinical Development. Here, he is dedicated to working on lorundrostat, a novel selective aldosterone synthase inhibitor targeting uncontrolled hypertension and the
progression of CKD.
Dr. Čižman’s scientific pursuits encompass a range of nephrological interests, including anemia of chronic kidney disease and ESA hyporesponsiveness, progression of CKD, immune kidney diseases, vascular calcifications, and resistant/uncontrolled hypertension. His contributions to medical literature are significant, with publications in premier medical journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA. Additionally, he has published
in prominent kidney-focused journals, including CJASN, NDT, AJKD, Kidney International, Kidney International Reports, Clinical Kidney Journal, Kidney Medicine, and Kidney 360.
Ms. Karydas currently serves as President and Chief Financial Officer of Flare Therapeutics Inc. where she has been since October 2021. Prior to Flare Therapeutics, she served as the Chief Financial Officer of Syndax Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: SNDX) from July 2020 to October 2021. From April 2017 to May 2020, Ms. Karydas held several roles at Allergan plc, including Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Financial Planning & Analysis. Prior to her senior executive and top manager roles at these biotech and pharmaceutical companies, Ms. Karydas spent more than 15 years in investment banking and asset management roles that focused exclusively on the healthcare space, including biopharmaceuticals, life sciences and medical technologies. Ms. Karydas has previously served on the boards of directors at Elicio Therapeutics, LogicBio Therapeutics, Inc., and Eucrates Biomedical Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: EUCR). Ms. Karydas received a B.A. and M.S. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Glenn P. Sblendorio was Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of IVERIC bio, Inc., a publicly-held biotechnology company, from July 2017 until it was acquired by Astellas Pharma in July of 2023. Prior to IVERIC, Mr. Sblendorio was President and Chief Financial Officer of The Medicines Company from March 2006 through March 2016 and was a member of the board of directors of The Medicines Company from July 2011 through December 31, 2015. Before joining The Medicines Company, Mr. Sblendorio was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from February 2002 until it was acquired by OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in November 2005. Mr. Sblendorio also served as a Managing Director of MPM Capital Advisors from 1998 through 2000. Mr. Sblendorio also serves as a member of the board of directors of Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and as a member of the board of directors Amicus Therapeutics, Inc. Mr. Sblendorio received his B.B.A. from Pace University and his M.B.A. from Fairleigh Dickinson University and is a graduate of the Harvard Advanced Management Program.