John Sholar, JD

Chief Executive Officer

John is a seasoned biotech executive, having served at various times over the years as jCyte’s General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and now as jCyte’s Chief Executive Officer.

He brings to jCyte more than 25 years of experience, serving as the head of North American legal for a large publicly traded pharmaceutical company, in private practice as a law firm partner focused on intellectual property development and pharmaceutical patent licensing and litigation, and in the military as a Naval Officer leading teams in new mission areas around the globe.

John earned his juris doctorate magna cum laude from the University of Illinois where he served as an editor of the Law Review and subsequently completed a federal appellate court clerkship in Washington, D.C.

Henry J. Klassen, MD, PhD

Co-Founder and Chairman

Henry Klassen, MD, PhD, is Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of California, Irvine. He has a longstanding interest in neural plasticity and regeneration that dates to his undergraduate days at UC Berkeley and continued during MD/PhD studies at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Klassen’s clinical training included internship at the Cambridge Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and residency in ophthalmology at Yale Eye Center, followed by a combined fellowship in medical retina and retinal research at Moorfields Eye Hospital and the Institute of Ophthalmology in London. His research has shown that transplanted retinal progenitor cells improve the function of photoreceptors of the degenerating retina of RCS rats. He continues to pursue the goal of translating these findings into a cell-based therapy for patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and other blinding diseases. This effort has included co-founding a startup company (jCyte) and completion of phase 1/2a and phase 2b clinical trials in RP.

Jing Yang, MD, PhD

Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer

Dr. Yang has worked as a physician-scientist in ophthalmology for more than 16 years, beginning her career at the Peking University Eye Center. Later, she began studying regenerative medicine at the University of Copenhagen, developing new ways to isolate and grow retinal progenitor cells; and served as an adjunct professor in the Department of Opthalmology at the University of California, Irvine from 2013 to 2022.

She has developed pivotal techniques to advance stem cell therapies, and is also exploring other clinical applications for retinal progenitor cells, such as using them to treat glaucoma and other optic nerve diseases.

Adrian Morris, MS

Chief Development Officer

Mr. Morris brings to jCyte over three decades of pharmaceutical industry experience in global leadership roles in R&D, commercial strategy, marketing, and business development, including a remarkable track record of successfully guiding the development and leading the launch of numerous innovative breakthrough therapies that went on to become blockbuster assets for GlaxoSmithKline.

During Mr. Morris’ illustrious career at GSK, he guided the global clinical development programs across more than a dozen disease areas where he led the launches of some of GSK’s most successful brands, including the first combination therapy for HIV, the first influenza antiviral (Relenza), the first long-acting beta agonist (Serevent) and Advair, a global top five selling medication. Notably, Mr. Morris guided the pipeline in GSK’s most valuable therapeutic area, respiratory, where he achieved unparalleled success resulting in the approval of its five latest respiratory medicines. Given Mr. Morris’ deep scientific background, his track record of success in GSK’s Global R&D organization, his strong hands-on commercial experience in the international pharmaceutical marketplace, and Global Center of Excellence leadership, Mr. Morris was tasked by GSK’s corporate executive team with leading their global response to the H1N1 influenza pandemic, as well as establishing a new global business unit responsible for the research, development, manufacture, distribution, marketing, and sales of novel genetic diagnostics.

Prior to joining jCyte, Adrian was managing director of Pharmaco Consulting, where he supported clients with developing global clinical development programs and commercial strategies across emerging therapeutic areas, with an emphasis on cell and gene therapies.

Adrian is a geneticist by training and earned his Master’s degree in Genetics from Cambridge University, UK. Before joining the pharmaceutical industry, he spent his early career researching the genetic basis of inherited human diseases at Guy’s Hospital in London.

Rob Beathard, CPA

Chief Strategy Officer

Rob Beathard serves in a critical role supporting corporate and clinical development activities for jCyte. He works closely with the executive management team on cultivating strategic partnerships, securing corporate financing, and allocating resources to meet the Company’s strategic and financial goals. He is also integrally involved with clinical data analysis and trial design optimization.

Mr. Beathard played a vital role in securing the Ex-US licensing and commercialization agreement for jCell therapy with Santen Pharmaceutical in 2020, with a total deal size over $250 million in addition to tiered, double-digit royalties on net commercial sales in Santen’s licensed regions. Since the agreement was executed, he has served on the Joint Steering Committee between the two companies. Prior to the licensing deal, he was pivotal in securing over $10 million in funding to jCyte in 2019 via the combination of an early-stage equity financing round and a non-dilutive CLIN2 grant award from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).

jCyte hired Mr. Beathard as its first fulltime employee in 2017 following the Company’s announcement of its first CLIN2 grant award from CIRM to fund its Phase 2b trial. At that time, he was chiefly responsible for designing and implementing the entire corporate internal control framework and oversaw all finance, accounting, and grant management functions. Prior to joining jCyte, he spent years working for PricewaterhouseCoopers within their assurance and advisory lines of service, with a focus on the life sciences industry. He holds an active certified public accountant license in the state of California.

Ahmad Hassan Batal, M.D.

Strategic Advisor for Middle Eastern Markets

Dr. Ahmad Hassan Batal, M.D., is the founder of Batal Eye Centers in Saudi Arabia and a Strategic Advisor to jCyte for Middle Eastern markets. As the visionary behind one of the region’s leading full-service ophthalmic institutions, he has played a central role in advancing eye-care excellence across the Gulf. Dr. Batal is a lecturer and examiner for the Saudi Board of Ophthalmology, and serves as both an examiner and a member of the Executive Committee for the International Council of Ophthalmology. He is also a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and a Fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. He earned his medical degree from Arabian Gulf University and has since become deeply involved in the treatment and long-term management of patients with inherited retinal diseases throughout Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region—following and caring for thousands of affected individuals.