Management Team

Kerr Spencer

Kerr Spencer is a co-founder and serves as chief executive officer for CBDI. He has served in a number of executive level sales / marketing / operations / business development positions with high-technology medical companies including Acoustic Imaging, Siemens / Acuson General Electric Medical Division, and W.L. Gore & Associates.

Mr. Spencer is an accomplished senior executive with a solid track record of proven success and advancement.  With a good operational background, he places an emphasis on driving technologies to products and developing global distribution, sales, marketing, and communications plans for high technology medical products. He is a well connected individual within the medical community, able to leverage personal global relationships with many industry leaders in the field.  With extensive experience in traveling to Europe and Asia/Pacific to identify and work with luminaries, establish manufacturing/distribution partners, and evaluate new technologies, Mr. Spencer will serve as an invaluable leader in CBDI’s commercial development.

Dr. George Christ, Ph.D

Dr. George Christ, Ph.D. is a co-founder and scientific advisor of CBDI. Dr. Christ is a Professor of Regenerative Medicine and Head of the Cell, Tissue and Organ Physiology Program, and is also a Professor of Urology and Physiology & Pharmacology as well as an Affiliate Faculty Member in the Molecular Medicine Program and the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences. Dr. Christ is also a Co-Founder and Directing Member of Ion Channel Innovations, LLC (ICI).

ICI is an early stage biotechnology company pursuing gene transfer treatments for smooth muscle diseases/disorders, with a current focus on therapies for the lower urinary tract (bladder and erectile dysfunction (ED)).

Dr. Christ is an internationally recognized expert in smooth muscle physiology. He is the Past Chairman of the Division of Systems and Integrative Pharmacology of the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, and President of the North Carolina Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (NCTERM) group. He currently serves on the Editorial Board of five journals and is an ad-hoc reviewer for 15 others. Dr. Christ has authored more than 150 scientific publications and is co-editing a book on integrative smooth muscle physiology and another on regenerative pharmacology. Dr. Christ has served on both national and international committees related to his expertise in smooth muscle physiology, and has also served on NIH study sections in both the NIDDK and NHLBI. He has chaired working groups for both the NIH and the World Health Organization. Dr. Christ is a co-inventor on more than 23 patents (national and international) that are either issued or pending, related to gene therapy for the treatment of human smooth muscle disorders and tissue engineering technologies.

Dr. Anthony Atala, M.D.

Dr. Anthony Atala, M.D. is a co-founder and scientific advisor for CBDI. Dr. Atala is the current director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. He is also the chair of the department of urology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and a practicing surgeon.

Dr. Atala has significant experience in the area of regenerative medicine. He is the founding member and Continental Chair of the North American Chapter of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Regenerate International Conference. In addition, Dr. Atala serves as an editor for numerous scientific and medical journals, has published more than 200 journal articles and applied for or received over 150 national and international patents. Dr. Atala’s research alone has produced five spin-off companies. Dr. Atala is well recognized for his impressive work. He was named one of the "Best and Brightest" by Esquire magazine, and recognized as one of the "50 people who will change how we work and live over the next 10 years" by Fast Company magazine.

Our History

CBDI was incorporated in 2007 and will be uniquely positioned in the market by combining “state-of-the-art” instrument automation with biologically-based enhancements for further functionalization and bioreactor application development. The initial focus of CBDI will be on bioreactor development for the construction of engineered tissues for blood vessel replacement/bypass and creation of functional and cosmetic skeletal muscle tissue engineered constructs. Nonetheless, this platform technology will be applicable to the entire range of bioreactor needs for the rapidly growing field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. CBDI is currently located at the Wake Forest University New Venture Incubator, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Our Leadership

The company will achieve its goal of pre-eminence in bioreactor development and implementation/application by combining the decades of experience and expertise of its principals. CBDI leadership includes a unique blend of world class scientists and clinicians, as well as internationally renowned and successful biological instrumentation technologies/expertise. The CBDI team has extensive experience in the translation and commercialization of technology. More than 60 commercial products are currently on the market as a result of these efforts. These products have successfully navigated the regulatory pathways, third party reimbursement, and commercialization hurdles necessary to reach patients.

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