MEET OUR MANAGEMENT TEAM
Our team of visionaries combines the boldness of big pharma with the agility of startups to drive a new era of dermatology and help people achieve healthier skin.
Executive Leadership
Todd Zavodnick
Chief Executive Officer
Todd Zavodnick has over 20 years of leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Dermavant in November 2018, Mr. Zavodnick served as Chief Commercial Officer and President of Aesthetics and Therapeutics at Revance. He served in global leadership roles at ZELTIQ Aesthetics prior to the company’s acquisition by Allergan; at Galderma Laboratories, where he was President and General Manager of North America; and at Alcon Laboratories. He is a member of the board of directors of the Children’s Skin Disease Foundation.
Philip M Brown, MD, JD
Chief Medical Officer
Philip Brown brings over 25 years of clinical development experience to the Dermavant team. Prior to joining Dermavant in January 2019, Dr. Brown served as Head of Global Pharmaceutical Development at Galderma, as well as Senior Vice President of Clinical Development at Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company. Dr. Brown received his MD from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine, his JD from the University of Texas School of Law, and his BA from Hendrix College.
Chris Chapman
Chief Commercial Officer
A member of the Dermavant team since early 2020, Chris Chapman brings 20 years of industry experience to his role. After receiving his BS from Towson University, Mr. Chapman spent 20 years in commercial roles, including: leading Pfizer’s U.S. Pharmaceutical Contracting and Pricing Organization division, as well as serving as the Vice President and General Manager of U.S. Prescription Business for Galderma, Senior Principal of the Core Access Group, and Executive Director for Managed Markets and Contracting for Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation.
David Rubenstein, MD, PHD
Chief Scientific Officer
Following a distinguished career in academia as University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s Louis C. Skinner Jr. Distinguished Professor of Dermatology, and years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, David Rubenstein joined Dermavant in 2018 from GlaxoSmithKline Dermatology. During his time at GSK, he built an industry-leading dermatology drug development organization as Vice President, Discovery and Preclinical Development. Dr. Rubenstein received his BA in molecular biology from Princeton University and his MD and PhD from Duke University School of Medicine.
Chris Van Tuyl, JD
Chief Legal Officer
Chris Van Tuyl joined Dermavant in March 2018 and has over 20 years of legal experience. Prior to joining Dermavant, he was a corporate partner at the firm Sacks Tierney P.A., where his practices focused on the healthcare, pharmaceutical, and technology industries. He previously served in various in-house legal positions at publicly traded companies, including as Legal Executive at FIS Global; Corporate Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer at Rayonier Inc; and Associate General Counsel at Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation. Mr. Van Tuyl began his legal career in private practice as a corporate attorney at the international law firms of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP in Phoenix and Clifford Chance LLP in New York. He received his BS in finance summa cum laude from Arizona State University and his JD from Duke University School of Law.
Michael Swartzburg
Chief Financial Officer
Michael Swartzburg has over 20 years of leadership experience and finance expertise within the biotechnology and healthcare space. Prior to joining Dermavant, Mr. Swartzburg most recently served as Vice President of Finance and in Principal Financial and Accounting Officer roles at Iovance Biotherapeutics, where he participated in over $1 billion in equity raises. Before Iovance, Mr. Swartzburg provided CFO and board advisory services at various biotech companies and served as Vice President of Finance, Controller and Principal Accounting Officer at Adverum Biotechnologies, where he was part of the team that steered Adverum through their successful IPO. He began his career as a Certified Public Accountant and auditor at Ernst & Young in Los Angeles.
Paul Seaback
Chief Technical Officer
Paul Seaback brings 30 years of technical operations and CMC global leadership in biopharmaceuticals from clinical and commercial companies to his role as Chief Technical Officer. Prior to joining Dermavant in May 2018, Mr. Seaback held leadership roles as VP of Operations and Supply at IGNYTA, Head of Global Supply at Gilead Sciences, and VP of Manufacturing and Global Supply Chain at Medicis Pharmaceutical, as well as additional leadership roles at Hospira, Mayne Pharma, Cardinal Health, and Novartis.
Senior Leadership
Doral Fredericks, PharmD, MBA
Senior Vice President, Medical Affairs Strategy
With over 20 years of medical affairs experience in multiple therapeutic areas – including dermatology, immunology, ophthalmology, and rare disease – Doral Fredericks was well equipped for her transition to Dermavant. She previously served as Vice President of Medical Consulting at Scientific Commercialization and Vice President of Medical Affairs at both Acadia Pharmaceuticals and Bausch & Lomb, and she has held many individual contributor and leadership roles in medical affairs at Novartis and AstraZeneca. In 2023, Dr. Fredricks added the coveted Women in STEM award to her extensive list of accomplishments. Dr. Fredericks received her PharmD and MBA degrees in a joint program at the University of Southern California.
Peter Nicholson
Senior Vice President, Global Business Development
Peter Nicholson has over 20 years of experience in strategy and business development roles in the dermatology industry. He previously ran the Global Strategy and Business Development functions at Nestle Skin Health, Galderma, and led the groups responsible for strategic partnerships, licensing agreements, acquisitions, joint ventures, divestitures, and out-licensing at Mentor (Johnson & Johnson) and Inamed (Allergan). Mr. Nicholson has a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry with an emphasis on immunology from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master of Business Administration from UCLA’s Anderson School of Business.
Leisha Martin
Global Head of Quality
Skilled at guiding clinical and commercial efforts, Leisha Martin brings over 25 years of experience in quality management to the Dermavant team. Ms. Martin has held quality management positions of increasing responsibility at Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation, Gilead Sciences, and Heron Therapeutics. Ms. Martin holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Pharmaceutical Quality & Good Manufacturing Practice from the University of Strathclyde and a BA in Chemistry from Arizona State University.
Krista Skidmore
Senior Director of Corporate Communications
With over two decades of expertise in brand and corporate communications, Krista Skidmore has been the driving force in elevating Dermavant’s corporate identity. Prior to joining Dermavant she worked at Galderma where she led digital marketing initiatives for the prescription portfolio and assisted in the development of an award-winning app during her time as a product manager. Ms. Skidmore graduated from Sam Houston State University with a bachelor’s degree in communications.
Bryan Gillespie
Vice President, Human Resources
Bryan Gillespie has over 20 years of experience across a variety of industries. He’s been instrumental in helping Dermavant successfully grow and develop talent in alignment with business needs. Prior to joining Dermavant, Mr. Gillespie served as Head of Talent Acquisition for organizations across the technology, distribution, and pharmaceutical industries. Most notably leading the talent acquisition function at Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation prior to the acquisition by Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Mr Gillespie graduated from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, with a bachelor’s degree in marketing.
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