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Senior Management

Edward M. Rudnic, Ph.D.
President & Chief Executive Officer

The founder of MiddleBrook (formerly Advancis), Dr. Rudnic has more than 20 years of industry experience in the development and commercialization of a wide range of pharmaceutical products.

Prior to founding MiddleBrook, Dr. Rudnic directed U.S. research and development activities for Shire Pharmaceuticals. His work with Shire began in 1997, when Shire acquired Pharmavene, Inc., where Dr. Rudnic was senior vice president for development and technical operations. From 1985 to 1990, he held positions of increasing responsibility as a director of formulation development and head of pharmaceutical process development at Schering-Plough Corporation. Prior to his work with Schering-Plough, Dr. Rudnic was a research investigator at E.R. Squibb & Sons, where he developed oral controlled-release dosage forms and novel drug delivery concepts.

Dr. Rudnic earned a B.S. in pharmacy, an M.S. in pharmaceutics and a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Rhode Island. Dr. Rudnic is a registered pharmacist and holds adjunct professorships at the University of Rhode Island and the University of Maryland. He serves on the board of directors for the Technology Council of Maryland (TCM), an organization enhancing the growth of high-tech and biotech activities in the state.

Robert C. Low
Vice President, Finance & Chief Financial Officer

Robert C. Low, CPA, MBA, has served as our Vice President, Finance, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer since November 2005, and Controller since August 2003. Mr. Low joined us in August 2003 during our initial public offering process. Before joining us, he was senior vice president and corporate controller of American Medical Laboratories, Inc., prior to its acquisition by Quest Diagnostics Incorporated.

Mr. Low was Chief Financial Officer of M. W. Kellogg Limited, a joint-venture engineering company in London, England, for four years, and has additional senior financial management experience at Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation, Dresser Industries, Inc., Kellogg Oil & Gas Services Limited, and The M. W. Kellogg Company.

Mr. Low began his career as an auditor at Arthur Andersen & Co., where he spent approximately nine years in public accounting.

He received his M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Houston and B.A. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, he attended the University of Houston Law Center where he was elected to the Houston Law Review. Mr. Low is a Certified Public Accountant.

Robert W. Bannon
Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications

Robert W. Bannon, CFA has served as our Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications since October 2006. Mr. Bannon joined us in October 2003 as Director, Investor Relations and was promoted to senior director in November 2004. Mr. Bannon has more than 20 years of financial and investment industry experience. From 2001 to 2003, Mr. Bannon established and managed his own consulting firm, providing investor relations and financial analysis services for publicly-traded companies in several high technology industries. From 2000 to 2001, Mr. Bannon was Director of Investor Relations for Net 2000 Communications, a publicly-traded telecommunications services firm. From 1987 to 2000, Mr. Bannon was employed at the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and the NASDAQ Stock Market. While at the NASD and NASDAQ, he held management positions with increasing responsibilities in the economic research, market services and institutional investor services organizations. Mr. Bannon received a bachelor?s of science degree in commerce from The University of Virginia and is a holder of the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Darren W. Buchwald
Vice President, Commercial Development, Sales & Marketing

Darren W. Buchwald joined us in September 2003 as vice president, pharmaceutical marketing. Mr. Buchwald has over 13 years of experience in development and commercialization of biologies and pharmaceuticals. From 1998 to September 2003, Mr. Buchwald established and managed strategic marketing at Human Genome Sciences where he directed the development and execution of the commercialization strategies supporting the oncology products portfolio. From 1996 to 1998, Mr. Buchwald was a consultant with Parexel International, a pharmaceutical services company, where he directed international commercial strategy engagements. Prior to joining Parexel, he was responsible for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Maryland?s (now CareFirst) prescription drug and managed health benefit products. From 1991 to 1995, he held positions of increasing responsibility with Forest Laboratories as product manager of their narcotic analgesic franchise. Mr. Buchwald has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland.

Beth A. Burnside, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Research

Beth A. Burnside, Ph.D. has served as our vice president, pharmaceutical research since August 2003. Dr. Burnside joined us in August 2002 as senior director, formulation development. From 1993 to 2002, Dr. Burnside was employed by Shire Laboratories Inc/Pharmavine. While at Shire she held management positions with increasing responsibilities in the pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical development and the advanced drug delivery organizations. As vice president of the advanced drug delivery division, Dr. Burnside assisted in the development of the division's specialized controlled release and enhanced bioavailability oral delivery formulation and product strategy. Prior to working at Shire, Dr. Burnside gained additional experience at Johnson & Johnson from 1991 to 1992 and at Schering-Plough Research from 1989 to 1991. She received a B.S. in chemistry/mathematics from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania and an M.S. in organic chemistry and a Ph.D. in physical-organic chemistry from Drexel University.

Susan P. Clausen, Ph.D.
Vice President, Clinical Research & Regulatory Affairs

Susan P Clausen, Ph.D. has served as our vice president, clinical research since December 2004. Dr. Clausen joined us as senior director, clinical research in September 2003.

From 1994 to 2003, Dr. Clausen was employed at Shire Pharmaceutical Development. While at Shire, she held management positions with increasing responsibilities in the biopharmaceutical and clinical research organizations. As the senior director of clinical research, Dr. Clausen was responsible for clinical development programs in various therapeutic areas including CNS, oncology, virology and GI disorders.

Prior to working at Shire, Dr. Clausen gained additional experience at TSI/Mason Research Laboratories and at Harvard Medical School as a post-doctoral research fellow.

She received a B.S. (Hons) in Chemistry from University College, Dublin, Ireland, an M.S. in Forensic Science from Strathclyde University, Glasgow, Scotland and a Ph.D. in Forensic Toxicology from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Nicholas J. J. Garito, Jr.
Vice President, Compliance & Quality

Nicholas J. Garito, Jr. has served as our Vice President, Compliance and Quality since October 2007. Mr. Garito joined us in November 2003 as Director of Quality Control and was promoted to senior director, Compliance and Quality in September 2005. From 1991 to 2003, Mr. Garito was employed at Shire Laboratories Inc., where he held management positions with increasing responsibilities in the pharmaceutical analysis, quality control and quality assurance organizations. While at Shire, Mr. Garito supported to the analytical development, registration, validation, compliance and commercialization of products in several therapeutic classes. Mr. Garito received a bachelor?s degree in chemistry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Donald J. Treacy, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development & Quality

Donald J. Treacy, Ph.D. has served as our vice president, analytical sciences since January 2004. Dr. Treacy joined us as director, analytical research and development in March 2000. Dr. Treacy has 13 years of industry experience including 12 years in drug development and novel drug delivery systems.

From 1993 to 2000, Dr. Treacy was employed at Shire Laboratories, Inc./Pharmavene. While at Shire Laboratories, he held management positions with increasing responsibilities in analytical method development, validation, clinical trial material release and NDA stability. Prior to that, Dr. Treacy performed analytical method development and photodegradation research at the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Treacy has a bachelor?s degree from Roanoke College and received a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Maryland.

Sandra E. Wassink
Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development & Technical Operations

Sandra E. Wassink has served as our vice president, pharmaceutical technology since August 2003. Ms. Wassink joined us as senior director, pharmaceutical development in May 2000. Ms. Wassink has over 20 years of industry experience in formulation and development of advanced drug products. From 1992 to 2000, Ms. Wassink managed the pharmaceutical technology department at Shire Laboratories, Inc. She was involved in development, scale up, validation and introduction into production of oral solid dose products. Prior to that, Ms. Wassink was involved in formulation development at Schering-Plough Corporation. Ms. Wassink received a bachelor?s degree in biology from Florida State University.