Dignify Therapeutics

Marcalee Alexander, MD is currently Clinical Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. Alexander co-authored the International Standards to document remaining Autonomic Functions after Spinal Cord Injury (ISAFSCI). She is a consultant with the Spalding-Harvard Spinal Cord Injury Model System and has conducted a substantial body of research documenting the effects of spinal cord injury on sexual response in women and men.

Dr. Alexander is on the editorial boards of Spinal Cord, Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy and Sexuality and Disability. She is Past President of the American Spinal Injury Association and also Past Vice President representing North America for the International Spinal Cord Society.

Kristy M. Borawski, MD is currently Assistant Professor in the Urology Department at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Dr. Borawski is committed to providing comprehensive, quality of life driven and compassionate care to her patients and specializes in female urology, urodynamics, neurourology, and female/male incontinence. Dr Borowaski received her Medical Degree from Albany Medical College and completed her Urologic Residency at Duke University. Dr. Borawski remained at Duke University to complete a Fellowship in Reconstructive Urology, Neurourology and Urodynamics.  Dr Borowski received a Meaningful Use Stage 1 Certification from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in 2012 and is a Fellow (FACS) American College of Surgeons.

Michael Camilleri, M.D. is currently Professor of Medicine and Physiology at the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine in Rochester, Minn. and also serves as a consultant in gastroenterology and hepatology.

Dr. Camilleri is a past president of the American Gastroenterological Association. Dr. Camilleri’s research is focused on improving patient care through the development and clinical testing of novel medications and medical technologies for the treatment of gastrointestinal motility disorders. Dr. Camilleri is particularly interested in diabetic gastroparesis, obesity, irritable bowel syndrome and chronic constipation, bile acid diarrhea, as well as the factors that determine people’s appetites.

Mike Jay, PhD, is the Fred Eshelman Distinguished Professor of Molecular Pharmaceutics, and Division Chair at the Eshelman School of Pharmacy at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Dr Jay has over 30 yrs of experience working in Pharmaceutics. Dr. Jay received his BS in Pharmacy from the State University of New York at Buffalo and his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Kentucky. After spending a year as Assistant Professor of Nuclear Medicine at the University of Connecticut Health Center he returned to the University of Kentucky as Assistant Professor of Medicinal Chemistry. Dr Jay rose through the academic ranks and became Professor of Pharmaceutics and Professor of Radiology at the University of Kentucky. Dr Jay also directed of the Center for Pharmaceutical Science & Technology from 1998 to 2007.

Dr Jay is internationally known for his work in Pharmaceutical Science and Pharmaceutical Product Development where he uses many approaches to solve problems encountered in the development of novel formulations and drug delivery systems. Dr Jay has received a number of awards, including the Berson-Yalow Award from the Society of Nuclear Medicine, the Mendell Award for Scientific Excellence in Pharmaceutical Sciences, the Excellence in Pharmaceutical Graduate Education Award from the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Kentucky. He was also named a Fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. He is also the cofounder of Arcato Laboratories, Inc. and Capture Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr Jay has over 124 peer reviewed papers and has received numerous grants for his research from NIH and FDA.

Michael J. Kennelly, MD, FACS is currently Director of Urology – Carolinas Rehabilitation, Clinical Professor in the Department of Surgery, Division of Urology at University of North Carolina, Medical Director of the Charlotte Continence Center and Co-Director of the Women’s Center for Pelvic Health – Carolinas Medical Center.

Dr. Kennelly is a recognized authority in neurourology, female urology, urodynamics, and pelvic reconstruction. He is the Past President of the American Spinal Injury Association, current Vice President of the American Paraplegic Society, and Board of Director member of Academy of Spinal Cord Injury Professionals. Dr. Kennelly’s clinical, educational, and academic research expertise is in voiding dysfunction, neurogenic bladder, and complex lower urinary tract and pelvic floor reconstruction, and he has been principal investigator in several clinical trials on these topics.

Bradley P. Kropp, MD is a professor of pediatric urology in the OU Department of Urology and Chief of the Pediatric Urology Service at the Children’s Hospital of Oklahoma. He obtained his MD from the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo; served his urology residency at the Indiana University Department of Urology; and was accepted for the Pediatric Urology Fellowship at James Whitcomb Riley Children’s Hospital at Indiana University. He completed this fellowship training in June, 1996.  He is certified by the Board of Urology and has a CAQ in Pediatric Urology.

Dr. Kropp has published numerous articles in refereed journals and presented at many national meetings. He was President of the Society of Fetal Urology in 2003-2004. Dr. Kropp has a complete basic science research laboratory that is highly involved in tissue engineering and the use of bio materials in regenerative bladder augmentation research. His major clinic focus is in the reconstruction of exstrophy and neurogenic bladders. Dr. Kropp was president of the American Association of Pediatric Urology from 2013-2014. He is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Society for Pediatric Urology.

With sad regret, Dignify has lost a wonderful friend and colleague, Gary Mawe, PhD. Gary was a friend since the late 1970’s where we met in Dr. deGroat’s lab at Pitt Medical School studying neural control of bladder function. Gary subsequently obtained his doctorate studying parasympathetic neurons that control bladder and bowel function, at the ultrastructural level, in the labs of Dr. Beattie and Dr. Bresnahan at Ohio State Medical School. He switched his focus to neural control of the gastrointestinal tract for his postdoctoral studies in the lab of Dr. Michael Gershon at Columbia U. In 1988 he began his independent research and teaching career at U. of Vermont, eventually being appointed the Samuel W. Thayer Professor in the Department of Neurological Sciences and an Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Pharmacology and Medicine (GI Division), as well as & Director of the Anatomical Gift Program. Gary was an excellent teacher, who was loved by his students because of the care and effort he would put into his lectures, going the extra mile to make learning both enjoyable and informative. As an independent researcher, Gary quickly became an internationally recognized expert in physiology, pharmacology, and anatomy of the innervation of the gastrointestinal tract.

In addition to his professional accomplishments, Gary was a very caring, personable, and trustworthy person whose love of science made “work” fun for those around him. We are grateful for Gary’s positive influence and his scientific role in the success of Dignify’s GI programs and were very proud to have him serve on Dignify Therapeutic’s Scientific Advisory Board since 2014. His influences will always be remembered fondly.