Leadership Team

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• Founder, President, CEO

Dr. Kiaei is a renowned ALS researcher with extensive expertise in therapeutic development and pre-clinical drug discovery for neurodegenerative diseases. He has made significant contributions to identifying druggable targets for ALS and conducting therapeutic testing on promising drug candidates. As the founder of RockGen, Dr. Kiaei is committed to advancing the development of effective treatments for ALS and other neurodegenerative disorders. He plays a hands-on role in shaping RockGen’s mission, overseeing experimental design, and implementation, and ensuring the successful progression of all research projects. 

• VP Chemistry & Manufacturing

Dr. Crooks is an internationally renowned medicinal chemist. He is a Professor and Chairman of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA. Dr. Crooks has over 35 years of experience in drug chemistry, synthesis, and development. He has over 200 patents to his name and established or co-founded six drug discovery companies. He is the senior vice President of Chemistry at Mitochon Pharmaceuticals.

•  Chief Operating Officer and Chief Business Officer

Chris Cano has been a member of the RockGen Team since October 2023, bringing more than 20 years of pharmaceutical operations and business development expertise to RockGen.  Chris will continue to focus on building and growing RockGen, through funding/financing efforts, developing RockGen’s lead asset in ALS, expanding the RockGen pipeline into other neurological diseases, partnering and licensing efforts with pharmaceutical companies, and solidifying the RockGen IP portfolio.

Before joining RockGen, Chris was the Chief Operating Officer and VP of Business Development at TFF Pharmaceuticals. Chris is also the managing director of C2 Strategic Solutions. This BD&L consulting company has provided BD&L services to clients such as Almirall, Agile, Noven, Hitsamitsu, Liberty Medical, and Barrier Therapeutics, among many others in the biotechnology, life science, and/or drug delivery industry.

Chris holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Villanova University and a master’s in business management from Rider University.

• VP Business Development

Doug Nissinoff is the Vice President of Business Development at RockGen, where he leverages his extensive background in venture capital and consulting to drive strategic growth and innovation.

As the Managing Director and Co-Founder of Intelligence Ventures, a venture capital fund investing in AI and Healthcare startups, Doug brings a wealth of experience in identifying and nurturing early-stage companies. Additionally, he is the Principal and Founder of Renegade BioConsulting, guiding US-based startups in fundraising, market preparation, and successful exits, and helping European and Asian startups enter the US market.

Before making the switch to focus on his entrepreneurial efforts full-time, Doug worked in Investor Relations both as a consultant for numerous publicly traded life science companies and in-house for Graphite Bio, a gene editing company. He also worked for Jakob and Partners, a generic and biosimilars consulting firm, where he helped the firm expand from Denmark to the US.
Doug holds an MSc in Biotechnology from Georgetown University and a BSc in Biological Sciences from Florida State University.

• Director of Business Development

Dr. Ebrahimzadeh is the Director of Business Development at RockGen. With a background in business development, complemented by extensive experience in both the pharmaceutical industry and academia (PhD, MSc), Mohammad offers a unique blend of financial acumen, a nuanced understanding of the biomedical industry, and academic rigour.

As part of his business development background, Mohammad has forged key strategic partnerships and contributed to regulatory strategies, particularly focusing on FDA requirements. In addition, he has led early-stage business development activities, conducting thorough market analysis and competitive intelligence to inform growth strategies.

He has collaborated with prominent pharmaceutical companies headquartered in the US and Europe. He has contributed to developing multiple drug candidates, with experience spanning preclinical efficacy and toxicity studies (FDA IND-enabling) and human clinical trials.

His research in prominent academic institutions including, Penn State University, and high-profile national research initiatives have been published in the top 10 psychiatry journals, and recognised in the broader scientific community including citations in review articles, textbooks, and by the New York State Department of Financial Services.