Scientific Advisory Board

Jürgen B. Bulitta, PhD, is a Member at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and previously served as a Professor and the Perry E. Foote Eminent Scholar Chair at the University of Florida. Originally trained as a chemist in Germany, Dr. Bulitta worked on over 90 clinical pharmacokinetic (PK) studies and did his PhD on the clinical population PK of β-lactam and quinolone antibiotics in patients with cystic fibrosis.

His postdoc at SUNY Buffalo focused on mechanistic modeling of anti-infectives, and his translational modeling significantly contributed to the development of tedizolid, fusidic acid, and contezolid. His NIH- and FDA-funded research program focuses on quantifying and maximizing the target-site penetration of antibiotics and identifying the most essential penicillin-binding proteins in Gram-negative bacteria.

Dr. Bulitta is an elected member of the American Academy of Microbiology, served as president of the International Society of Anti-Infective Pharmacology, and received the 2010 Giorgio Segré Prize for innovative contributions to pharmacokinetics / pharmacodynamics.

Dr. Bush, with a PhD in biochemistry from Indiana University, began her work on beta-lactamases and beta-lactamase inhibitors at Squibb in 1977, and continued working in anti-infective research at BMS, Lederle (Wyeth), Astra and Johnson & Johnson until 2009. She was on the research team that discovered aztreonam and worked on the development of piperacillin-tazobactam, levofloxacin, doripenem, ceftobiprole, and the influenza drug peramivir.

She also led a microbiology research team responsible for the discovery and early development of novel ketolides, oxazolidinones and fluoroquinolones. She is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Biology and Biochemistry Departments at Indiana University, where she teaches in the graduate Biotechnology program and leads a group of MS students studying antibiotic resistance in recent clinical isolates.

She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, an Advisor for CLSI, a past Editor of Antimicrobial Agents & Chemotherapy, and a reviewer for many microbiology journals and NIH Study Sections.

Dr. John Domagala has 44 years of experience in anti-infective drug development research including antibacterials and antivirals. He received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Wayne State University in 1977 and immediately joined Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis working on monobactams and cephalosporins. He headed the Quinolone Research Program, where he was the first to link structure-activity and structure-side-effect relationships, and his group produced two classes of HIV therapeutics that reached clinical trial.

Dr. Domagala became the Anti-infective Section Director in 1985 and the Global Senior Executive Director of all infectious disease research at Pfizer in 2000. In that role he maintained a portfolio of over 30 projects from screening leads to IND submissions, and served on the in-license team that evaluated over 100 projects. When Pfizer closed the site in 2007, he became an anti-infective consultant, later founding Domagala Consulting LLC, working with biotechs and universities to develop new agents and IP to treat infectious diseases.

Dr. Dudley was previously the founding President and CEO of Qpex Biopharma in San Diego, CA. Qpex Biopharma now operates as a Shionogi Group Company in anti-infective drug discovery and development following its acquisition in 2023.

Mike has over 30 years of industrial experience in anti-infective R&D and commercialization, and led teams associated with 4 regulatory approvals for antibiotics during the previous decade, including discovery of vaborbactam that emerged from a new class of boronate beta-lactamase inhibitors. He and his team advanced meropenem-vaborbactam (Vabomere) from discovery to FDA approval in under 8 years.

In 2018, he co-founded Qpex Biopharma and advanced 3 programs to Investigational New Drug status in the company's first 3 years. Prior to Qpex, he was Chief Scientific Officer of Rempex Pharmaceuticals / The Medicines Company. He has led negotiations for multiple public-private partnerships, including BARDA and Europe's IMI, for over $200 million USD.

Prior to industry he held academic appointments including Professor and Chair at the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy and Brown University School of Medicine. He has published over 170 scientific papers and book chapters, and co-founded the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP) in 1991. He completed his PharmD at UCSF and a fellowship in infectious diseases at Hartford Hospital.

Dr. Susan Emeigh Hart is an experienced toxicologist, clinical and anatomic pathologist with over 35 years’ experience in all aspects of preclinical pharmaceutical development for both large and small molecules. She received her BS in Animal Science from the Pennsylvania State University and her VMD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. After a short tenure in private practice, she enrolled in a combined veterinary pathology residency and PhD program in Pathobiology at the University of Connecticut, which she completed while also serving as a postdoctoral fellow in mechanistic toxicology in the laboratory of Dr. Steven D. Cohen.

Dr. Emeigh Hart started her career in the chemical industry with CIBA Crop Protection before transitioning to pharmaceutical development. At Pfizer Central Research and DuPont Pharmaceuticals, she served primarily as a Contributing Scientist or Principal Investigator, providing direct support to toxicology studies either as a study director, clinical pathologist, study pathologist or peer review pathologist for studies supporting all phases of pharmaceutical development, from exploratory studies through chronic toxicity and carcinogenicity studies, and serving as the non-clinical safety project team lead. Since 2002, she has held multiple leadership and executive level positions, Director through Vice President, both in established global pharmaceutical companies (AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc) and small biopharmaceutical companies (Genaera Corporation, Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Intrexon Corporation and Venatorx Pharmaceuticals), where she has been responsible for the strategic direction, oversight and management of non-clinical drug development programs and regulatory submissions (IND through NDA/BLA and post-marketing) across a number of therapeutic areas. Compound types she has supported include unusual biopharmaceuticals (peptides, aminosterols, non-antibody, non-recombinant proteins and gene therapy products) in addition to traditional small molecules and monoclonal antibodies.

Currently, Dr. Emeigh Hart is the owner and Principal Consultant for Integrated ToxPath Consulting, LLC, headquartered in Oxford, PA (USA). She provides support for non-clinical development programs at all stages (pre-IND through registration) as well as support for CMC-related toxicology assessments: impurity qualification, ICH M7 assessment of potentially genotoxic impurities, and generation of risk assessments and PDE calculations for extractables and leachables.

Dr. Jehangir K. Khan is the President of Preclinical Insight Ltd., a drug discovery and preclinical development consultancy. Previously he was Director of Biological Sciences & Pharmaceutical Development at NAEJA Pharmaceutical Inc., involved in early discovery and in preclinical development including Drug Metabolism, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, Safety profiling, Preformulation and Bioanalysis. Prior to NAEJA, he was Director of Preclinical Development at Synphar Laboratories Inc.

Dr. Khan is a co-inventor of an amidine-substituted beta-lactam patent with candidate compound AIC499, and of diazabicyclooctane beta-lactamase inhibitor patents with candidate compound Nacubactam (RG-6080, FPI-1459, OP-0595) in clinical development.

He received B.S. & M.S. degrees in Pharmacy from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and a magna cum laude Doctorate from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Ghent, Belgium. He has published over 35 articles, is co-inventor on several patents, and has presented at more than 20 international meetings.

Jennifer received her BSc in Microbiology from Cornell University in 1991, her PhD in Medical Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and did her postdoc in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Harvard Medical School.

Jenn joined the Novartis Infectious Diseases Area in early 2003, where she led the search for novel compounds to treat Gram-positive infections and was co-inventor and co-project team leader of LFF571. In 2010 she was named Executive Director, Head of Antibacterial Discovery, and later co-led the rebuild of the Infectious Diseases Area, bringing several compounds into clinical development including the novel monobactam LYS228. Joining Novartis Business Development & Licensing in 2019, she successfully re-homed a dozen pre-clinical and clinical programs before retiring in 2024 after 22 years.

Jenn serves on the Board of the Cornell CALS Alumni Association and is a member of the President's Council of Cornell Women. As an advocate for antibacterial R&D, she has chaired GRC, Keystone, ASM and other conferences, served on the Novo Holdings REPAIR Impact Fund Scientific Selection Board, and continues to support the microbiology community as an ASM Distinguished Lecturer and Waksman Foundation Lecturer.

Dr. Samarendra N. Maiti is a highly respected medicinal chemist and accomplished scientific leader whose distinguished career has spanned more than three decades of innovation in pharmaceutical research and drug discovery. Since earning his Ph.D. from the University of Kalyani, West Bengal, India, in 1980, Dr. Maiti has established an exceptional record of scientific achievement across multiple therapeutic areas.

With over 35 years of experience, Dr. Maiti has collaborated with leading pharmaceutical organizations in the development of novel therapies targeting antimicrobial, cardiovascular, central nervous system, and metabolic diseases. He has authored chapters in two scientific books, written five comprehensive review articles, published more than 60 peer-reviewed papers, and is the inventor or co-inventor on 15 patents.

Among his most notable achievements is his leadership role in the discovery and development of three antimicrobial drug candidates that advanced to clinical development, one of which has reached the marketplace, underscoring the rare ability to translate groundbreaking research into real-world medical solutions.

Dr. Keith A. Micetich brings over 30 years of clinical, academic, and healthcare leadership experience to Fedora Pharmaceuticals' Scientific Advisory Board. A specialist in Obstetrics and Gynecology, he trained and practiced across Canada and the United States, holding senior leadership roles including Chief of Medical Staff, Department Head, and Service Line Director at major hospital systems.

Dr. Micetich has contributed extensively to clinical governance and healthcare strategy, serving on medical executive committees for more than two decades and participating in statewide healthcare protocol development and national physician advisory boards.

In addition to his clinical career, Dr. Micetich brings valuable industry insight through his involvement with multiple pharmaceutical and biotech organizations, where he has held executive and board roles. His combined expertise in patient care, medical leadership, and pharmaceutical development supports Fedora's mission to advance innovative therapeutics.

Dr. Post has over 40 years of experience in all stages of pharmaceutical and biotechnology company R&D, from early drug discovery through clinical development and FDA approval. He was the Chief Scientific Officer of Vivace, Virtuoso, and BioMarin and held senior positions at LEAD Therapeutics, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, and Parke-Davis Pharmaceuticals. He currently serves as an advisor and board member for several biotech companies. He received a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from the University of Michigan and a doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin, after which he performed a postdoctoral fellowship in virology at the University of Chicago with Dr. Bernard Roizman.