About Us
Board of Directors
Robert E. Dudley, Ph.D.
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, Clarus Therapeutics, Inc.
Dr. Dudley has served as our Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of our board of directors since February 2004. He has significant development, regulatory and commercial experience in the testosterone (T) replacement field. During his tenure as an executive at Unimed Pharmaceuticals, Inc., he led the discovery, development, FDA regulatory approval and launch of AndroGel®, the first T-gel product, which today remains the market-leading T-replacement therapy nearly a decade after its launch. Prior to founding Clarus, Dr. Dudley served as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of Anagen Therapeutics, Inc., from 2001-2003. He served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Unimed Pharmaceuticals, Inc., from 1999 to 2001. From 1994 to 2001, Dr. Dudley held several senior-level executive positions at Unimed Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a public company acquired by Solvay Pharmaceuticals in 1999. Dr. Dudley received his B.S. in Biology from Pepperdine University, Seaver College, his M.S. in Biology from University of New Mexico, and his Ph.D., with honors, in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Dr. Dudley is also a board-certified toxicologist (American Board of Toxicology).
James E. Thomas
Managing Partner, Thomas, McNerney & Partners
Mr. Thomas is a co-founder of Thomas, McNerney & Partners and has been investing in health care companies since 1992. James previously headed Warburg Pincus LLC's medical technology private equity practice where he had responsibility for investments in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device and diagnostic companies. Historical investments include: American Medical Systems Holdings, Inc. (AMMD), Coley Pharmaceutical Group, Inc. (COLY sold to Pfizer), The Medicines Company (MDCO), NeXagen, Inc. (NXGN/NXTR sold to GILD), OsteoBiologics, Inc. (sold to Smith & Nephew plc),Oxford GlycoSciences, plc (OGSI sold to CLL), Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc. (TKTX sold to SHPGY),Visible Genetics, Inc. (VGIN sold to BAY), Wright Medical Group, Inc. (WMGI), and Xomed Surgical Products, Inc. (XOMD sold to MDT). In addition to being a Clarus director, he is currently a board member of CAS Medical Systems, Inc., Galil Medical Ltd., and InnoPharma, Inc. Prior to joining Warburg, James was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs International in London. James also serves as a Member of the Board of Directors at the Second Stage Theatre in New York City and The Children's Hospital at Montefiore. He graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and received an M.Sc. in Economics from the London School of Economics.
Alex Zisson
Partner, Thomas, McNerney & Partners
Mr. Zisson joined Thomas, McNerney & Partners in 2002. In addition to being a Director of Clarus, he also is a board member of Tranzyme Pharma, Inc., Celator Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and InnoPharma, Inc. Before joining the firm, he spent eleven years in the research department at Hambrecht & Quist (and its successor firms Chase H&Q and JPMorgan H&Q). After the merger of Chase H&Q and JPMorgan, Mr. Zisson became the firm's Health Care Strategist. He was named twice in The Wall Street Journal’s All-Star Analysts Survey, including during his last year at JPMorgan when he placed in all three categories: stock picking (#1 in pharmaceuticals), earnings estimate accuracy (tied for #2), and 'home run' hitting (#8 across all industries). He graduated magna cum laude from Brown University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Bruce C. Robertson, Ph.D.
Managing Director, H.I.G. BioVentures
Dr. Robertson focuses on investment opportunities in the life sciences sector, including biopharmaceuticals and medical devices at H. I. G. BioVentures. In addition to Clarus, Bruce currently serves on the boards of Apollo Endosurgery, and CardioFocus. He has been active in the life sciences sector for more than 20 years. Prior to joining H.I.G., Dr. Robertson served most recently as Managing Director at Toucan Capital, an early-stage venture capital fund focusing on life science investments. While at Toucan, he invested in leading drug and device companies throughout the U.S. Prior to Toucan, Dr. Robertson was a General Partner at GIV Venture Partners, a venture capital firm focused on early stage investments in the US, India, and China. Dr. Robertson also serves on the boards of Adventist Healthcare, the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association, the University of Delaware Research Foundation, and BioLife Fund of the Virginia Center for Innovative Technology. Dr. Robertson holds a B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering and B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania, a Ph.D. in Chemical/Biomedical Engineering from the University of Delaware, and an M.B.A. with High Distinction from Harvard Business School.
Karen Hong, Ph.D.
Principal, ProQuest Investments
Dr. Hong joined ProQuest Investments in 2001 as an Associate and became a Principal in 2004. Prior to joining ProQuest, Dr. Hong provided technical consultation to the healthcare group at BancBoston Ventures and pursued academic research in molecular biology and chemistry. Most recently, she led numerous research projects in the area of mammalian cancer genetics and genomics in the laboratory of Dr. Eric Lander at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. In addition to her Clarus directorship, Dr. Hong serves on the Board of Directors of Agile Therapeutics and is a board observer at Predictive Biosciences. In addition, she has represented ProQuest as an observer on the Board of Directors of Gloucester Pharmaceuticals and BioRexis Pharmaceutical Corp., among others. Dr. Hong received a B.S. in chemistry and a B.A. in molecular biology from the University of California at Berkeley, where she graduated with honors and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She received a Ph.D. in biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.