About Us

Marla Persky is CEO and President of WOMN LLC, a company dedicated to helping women succeed in the business of law by increasing their knowledge of and acuity with financial drivers, client development, and leadership. Throughout her professional life, Ms. Persky has had the opportunity to understand and practice business principles that lead to personal and company success. Ms. Persky retired in 2013 as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Boehringer Ingelheim USA, where she oversaw a department of over 70 individuals. She also was a member of Boehringer’s executive management team and a director of the company and several of its subsidiaries.

Prior to joining Boehringer Ingelheim, Ms. Persky spent 19 years at Baxter International Inc. where she held numerous business and legal positions, the most recent of which was Acting General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. During her career at Baxter, Ms. Persky managed global legal services, was General Manager of an international medical device business, led international crisis management teams, acquired and integrated international businesses, and designed/implemented strategies to manage global mass torts.

Ms. Persky is currently chair of the Nominating & Governance Committee and serves on the Audit and Compensation Committees of Panavance Therapeutics Inc, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company advancing the development of GP-225, a novel oncology therapeutic. She is also a member of the board of directors of Revolo Biotherapeutics, a venture funded biotechnology company engaged in the development of therapies that reset the immune system to achieve long-term disease remission. Previously, she served on the board of directors of Cytyc Corporation (Nasdaq diagnostics company). She was also on the board of Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation, the world’s largest privately owned pharmaceutical company. Ms. Persky was a director of Watermark, Inc., a private publisher and broker of children’s literature.

In addition to her corporate activities, Ms. Persky is on the board of several not-for-profit organizations such as the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Primary Stages (an off- Broadway theater company), and World Neighbors Inc. Ms. Persky is a frequent speaker on a variety of subjects, including leadership principles, mentoring, diversity, crisis management, and negotiation techniques.

Throughout her career, Ms. Persky has focused on improving diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. She has been awarded for her contributions by elite organizations such as the Lawyer's Collaborative for Diversity and the Connecticut Appleseed Foundation. She was recognized as one of the 10 most innovative in-house counsels for her strategy and efforts to increase the opportunities and visibility of women in high-profile litigation

She is a graduate of the Washington University School of Law and Northwestern University.

Dawn Halkuff was most recently the Chief Executive Officer of Ideal Protein, a wellness company focused on medically developed weight loss protocols.

Ms. Halkuff has held numerous senior-level commercial and marketing positions over 20 years, most recently as Chief Commercial Officer at TherapeuticsMD, Prior TherapeuticsMD, she was Senior Vice President of the Pfizer Consumer Healthcare Wellness Organization and a member of the Consumer Global Leadership Team. Ms. Halkuff was also commercial lead for sales and marketing of the Pfizer Women’s Health Division, focusing on the company’s reinvestment in hormone therapy treatment, including Premarin® Vaginal Cream and oral hot flash treatments. From 2005–2010, Ms. Halkuff was Head of Global Innovation at Weight Watchers International, where she created new weight-loss products, services, and solutions for women worldwide.

She holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Connecticut and an MBA from Pennsylvania State University.

John Schmid has over 30 years of experience in financial and executive management in the biotechnology industry and has raised over $900 million in private and public equity and debt financings. Mr. Schmid is currently an independent board member of AnaptysBio Inc., Poseida Therapeutics Inc., Helix Acquisition Corp. II, Design Therapeutics, Inc., and Speak, Inc. Mr. Schmid has also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Blacksmith Medicines, Inc. (formerly Forge Therapeutics). 

Previously, he was the Chief Financial Officer of Auspex Pharmaceuticals, which he joined in 2013 and took public in early 2014 before it was sold to Teva in 2015 for $3.5 billion. Prior to Auspex Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Schmid cofounded Trius Therapeutics in 2004; there, he served as CFO through its initial public offering until its sale to Cubist Pharmaceuticals in 2013 for over $700 million.

Previously, he was the Chief Financial Officer of Auspex Pharmaceuticals, which he joined in 2013 and took public in early 2014 before it was sold to Teva in 2015 for $3.5 billion. Prior to Auspex Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Schmid cofounded Trius Therapeutics in 2004; there, he served as CFO through its initial public offering until its sale to Cubist Pharmaceuticals in 2013 for over $700 million.

Committee Roles:
Chair of the Audit Committee
Member of the Compensation Committee

BJ Bormann is a professional with nearly 30 years of experience in academic and pharmaceutical science and biotechnology and pharmaceutical business development. She most recently served as the Vice President of Translational Science and Network Alliances for the Jackson Laboratory. In this role, Dr. Bormann worked to bring the innovations from the Jackson Laboratory faculty closer to patients by generating a series of collaborative relationships with industrial partners. Dr. Bormann’s previous work in the biotechnology area includes serving as CEO of Pivot Pharmaceuticals (OTC: PVOTF) as well as CEO of Supportive Therapeutics, LLC, a company developing a drug for the treatment of oral mucositis, a severe side effect to chemoradiation treatment in oncology patients.

Dr. Bormann has previously served as the CEO of Harbour Antibodies, based in the Netherlands, licensing transgenic mice that make human antibodies, as well as the Chief Business Advisor for NanoMedical Systems, Inc. of Austin, Texas, which licenses a unique implantable drug delivery device. Prior to these engagements, from 2007–2013, Dr. Bormann was Senior Vice President at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., responsible for worldwide alliances, licensing, and business development. From 1996– 2007, she served in a number of positions at Pfizer, Inc., the last one being Vice President of Pfizer Global Research and Development and the worldwide Head of Strategic Alliances.

Dr. Bormann currently serves on the board of directors of various companies, including Supportive Therapeutics, LLC, the Institute for Pediatric Innovation, and Bioline RX (Nasdaq: BLRX). Dr. Bormann received her PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Connecticut Health Center and her BS in Biology from Fairfield University. Dr. Bormann completed postdoctoral training at the Yale School of Medicine in the department of Pathology.

Jeffrey (Jeff) W. Sherman, MD, FACP, has more than 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry.  He was most recently the Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President at Horizon Therapeutics until its acquisition by Amgen.  Dr. Sherman also served on the Board of Directors of Strongbridge prior to its acquisition by Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc in 2021. Additionally, Dr. Sherman served previously on the Board of Directors of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), Larimar Therapeutics and of Sorriso Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He is a member of a number of professional societies, a diplomat of the National Board of Medical Examiners and the American Board of Internal Medicine, and on the Board of Advisors of the Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation. He previously held positions at pharmaceutical companies such as IDM Pharma, Inc., Takeda Global Research and Development, NeoPharm Inc., G.D. Searle, LLC/Pharmacia Corporation, and BristolMyers Squibb, and is a past board chair of the Drug Information Association.

Dr. Sherman received a B.A. in Biology from Lake Forest College and earned his M.D. from the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science/The Chicago Medical School. Dr. Sherman completed internship and residency programs at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where he currently serves as an adjunct assistant professor, and a fellowship program at the University of California, San Francisco.

Committee Roles:
Member of the Compensation Committee
Member of the Nominating Governance Committee

John H. Johnson is a recognized leader in the biopharmaceutical industry with more than three decades of experience. He currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer if Reaction Biology, a biotechnology company. Prior to Reaction Biology, he was the CEO of Strongbridge Biopharma plc prior to its acquisition by Xeris Biopharma Holdings. Mr. Johnson has held executive management roles at leading global corporations, including Johnson & Johnson, where he spent the majority of career. He served as the Company Group Chairman of Biopharmaceuticals within Johnson & Johnson, where he was responsible for the Johnson & Johnson Biotechnology, Immunology and Oncology commercial businesses. Mr. Johnson also served as President of Eli Lilly & Company’s Worldwide Oncology Unit, following the company’s 2008 acquisition of ImClone Systems, Inc., where he served as CEO and a member of ImClone’s Board of Directors. John is also an experienced Director having served on numerous boards across industry, biotech, and biopharmaceutical services companies. Mr. Johnson serves on the Boards of Axogen (AXGN), and Verastem Oncology (VSTM).

Mr. Johnson holds a BS from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania.

Committee Roles:
Member of the Nominating Governance Committee

John Shannon was appointed Chief Executive Officer in August 2024.  He joined Xeris in 2017 as Chief Operating Officer and was promoted to President in 2020.  Mr. Shannon has 35+ years of pharmaceutical and healthcare experience with a diverse background in sales, global and US marketing, operations and manufacturing, strategic planning, and business development.

Prior to Xeris, Mr. Shannon spent two years as Chief Executive Officer for Catheter Connections, Inc., a company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative vascular access products designed to protect patients from acquiring infections during intravenous infusion therapy. Catheter Connections, Inc. was acquired by Merit Medical in January 2016.

Before Catheter Connections, Mr. Shannon spent three years as Chief Commercial Officer for Durata Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of differentiated therapeutic solutions to advance patient care in infectious disease and acute illnesses. Durata was acquired by Actavis (now Allergan) in November 2014. Mr. Shannon spent 10 years (2001–2011) at Baxter Healthcare, where he was General Manager, Global Hemophilia and Global Commercial Excellence; General Manager, US Biopharmaceuticals; Vice President, Marketing US Bioscience; and Vice President, Marketing US Renal. During his time at Baxter, he led the commercialization and drove the growth of two Baxter brands, ADVATE® and GAMMAGARD®, both of which now exceed revenues of $1 billion.

Prior to coming to Baxter, Mr. Shannon was Vice President, Marketing for Caremark. Before that, he was at Searle for 10 years; there, he held several positions, most notably Executive Director, Cardiovascular Global Commercialization, in which he was responsible for the commercial development and marketing of new cardiovascular products worldwide, and Senior Director of Cox-2 Global Commercialization, in which he led the worldwide launch and global marketing of Celebrex®. In addition, he spent 7 years at Bock Pharmacal Company, where he held various positions including Sales Representative, Sales Trainer, Sales Operations, Marketing, Strategic Planning, and Business Development.

Mr. Shannon holds a BS in Biology with an emphasis in Microbiology from Western Illinois University.