About Us

Dr. Edgardo Rodriguez-Lebron is one of Lacerta’s co-founders and has actively guided Lacerta as scientific advisor, Chief Scientific Officer, Chairman of the Board and now Chief Executive Officer.

Dr. Rodriguez-Lebron brings over two decades of research experience and entrepreneurial leadership to Lacerta. His research on Huntington’s disease, spinocerebellar ataxias and other neurodegenerative diseases has been funded by the NIH and multiple foundations. He has also secured tens of millions of dollars in non-dilutive funds to fuel Lacerta’s growth and commitment to finding a cure for rare CNS diseases. His ongoing affiliation with the University of Florida keeps him on the cutting edge of scientific discoveries.

Dr. Rodriguez-Lebron holds multiple patents in AAV technology and degrees in Molecular Biology from the University of Central Florida and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Florida. An active contributor to the gene therapy community, he is an ASGCT member and serves as the CSO of NF2Biosolutions, a nonprofit focused on the development of a gene therapy approach to neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2). He has co-founded and helped launch multiple startups in the Gainesville, Florida area. A Florida Gator at heart and by degree, Dr. Rodriguez-Lebron can be found cheering on the home team most fall weekends.

Dr. Warrington has a broad expertise across the AAV gene therapy product development continuum including discovery, process development/scale up for clinical grade manufacturing, CMC and product characterization using a broad range of platforms, and GMP-compliant testing to support IND-enabling preclinical and early stage clinical programs.

Shannon Wilson has over 13 years of experience in Accounting & Finance. She started her career in public accounting as an auditor, where she conducted financial audits of various industries. She has extensive experience in financial reporting and in federal and state compliance. Prior to joining Lacerta, Shannon was the Director of Finance for a local school district. She helped manage a budget of more than $100 million, including federal and state grants, allocated across eighteen schools and twenty departments. She was also in charge of the preparation and submission of annual financial reporting to the Department of Education, School Board, and State Auditor General’s Office. She received her MBA with a concentration in Accounting from Saint Leo University.

Dr. Edgardo Rodriguez-Lebron is one of Lacerta’s co-founders and has actively guided Lacerta as scientific advisor, Chief Scientific Officer, Chairman of the Board and now Chief Executive Officer.

Dr. Rodriguez-Lebron brings over two decades of research experience and entrepreneurial leadership to Lacerta. His research on Huntington’s disease, spinocerebellar ataxias and other neurodegenerative diseases has been funded by the NIH and multiple foundations. He has also secured tens of millions of dollars in non-dilutive funds to fuel Lacerta’s growth and commitment to finding a cure for rare CNS diseases. His ongoing affiliation with the University of Florida keeps him on the cutting edge of scientific discoveries.

Dr. Rodriguez-Lebron holds multiple patents in AAV technology and degrees in Molecular Biology from the University of Central Florida and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Florida. An active contributor to the gene therapy community, he is an ASGCT member and serves as the CSO of NF2Biosolutions, a nonprofit focused on the development of a gene therapy approach to neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2). He has co-founded and helped launch multiple startups in the Gainesville, Florida area. A Florida Gator at heart and by degree, Dr. Rodriguez-Lebron can be found cheering on the home team most fall weekends.

Dr. Wang brings more than 20 years of senior leadership and operating experience in the biotechnology industry. Dr. Wang served as Chief Operating Officer at Monte Rosa Therapeutics with responsibilities for legal, HR, communications, IT and other corporate groups. Prior to Monte Rosa, Dr. Wang served as Chief Operating Officer of BlueRock Therapeutics and led its operations in the U.S. and Canada through its acquisition by Bayer. Before BlueRock, Dr. Wang held the position of Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Agios Pharmaceuticals and built its legal and compliance functions as the founding member from a private research focused start-up to a mid-cap publicly traded commercial-stage company. She began her career as a patent attorney at the intellectual property law firm of Fish & Neave and served as Senior Patent Counsel at Genentech and Merck. Dr. Wang received her Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Brown University and her J.D. from the Fordham University School of Law.

Joe Zenkus, MS PT, MBA, is the Head of Business Development and Strategic Alliances at Sarepta Therapeutics. Joe has more than 15 years of experience in the life sciences industry, primarily in business development, corporate strategy and commercial roles. He has effectively and consistently built high performing organizations and executed on a wide range of deal types globally, from early discovery to commercial stage programs. Prior to joining Sarepta, Joe served as the Business Development Lead for Pfizer’s Rare Disease Business Unit. He previously held various leadership roles at Mylan in Corporate Development, Corporate Reorganization and Sales Operations. Earlier in his career, he held sales roles at Schering-Plough/Merck. Joe earned an MBA in Finance from London Business School and an MS in Physical Therapy from the University of Massachusetts.

Dr. Heldermon is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Florida. His research expertise is in the use of gene replacement and stem cell therapies for the treatment of inherited disorders such as lysosomal storage diseases. He has extensive preclinical data for the use of AAV to treat Sanfilippo syndrome B.

Dr. Muzyczka received his PhD in Biochemistry from Johns Hopkins in 1973 and joined Dan Nathans’ laboratory as a postdoctoral fellow where he began his work on gene therapy. In 1980, his lab initiated the development of AAV vectors for gene therapy. His lab invented a way of doing genetics on AAV, and then invented the first AAV vectors, as well as the AAV vectors that are in use today. In 1994, he founded the Powell Gene Therapy Center at the University of Florida where he served as Director for six years. In 1995, he was awarded the American Cancer Society Edward R. Koger chair. His laboratory went on to develop many of the techniques currently used in AAV technology, including standard methods for vector production, purification and quality control. His laboratory also participated in experiments that demonstrated the first long term AAV mediated expression in the eye and CNS. To enable these animal studies, his lab helped humanize the small marker gene GFP and his lab participated in the first demonstration of using rAAV to create an animal disease model. His basic research in AAV biology includes mapping of the TR sequences that are recognized by the Rep protein for replication, the identification of the cellular proteins required for replication and the complete reconstitution of AAV DNA replication in vitro, the identification of the transcription control elements in all three AAV promoters, and the characterization of more than 100 AAV capsid mutants that control capsid assembly, cell entry and trafficking. His laboratory has also developed novel vectors for targeting AAV to specific tissues. In 1999, he founded Applied Genetic Technologies Corp (AGTC) with the help of four fellow scientists at UF and UNC. He served as the company’s first CEO and COB and served as a Director on the Board until 2012, shortly before the company went public. In 2015, he founded Lacerta Therapeutics, whose mission is to develop therapies for central nervous system and lysosomal storage diseases, and he currently serves as its COB. In 2017, he was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors.

Dr. Srivastava is a Professor of Pediatrics and Chief of the Division of Cellular and Molecular Therapy at the University of Florida with over 30 years of experience with AAV vectors and was the first to completely sequence AAV DNA. He has made many basic contributions to AAV biology. Most recently, he has developed over 250 different AAV capsid mutants using rational design approaches that increase transduction by up to two orders of magnitude in animal models.

Dr. Zolotukhin is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Florida with 30 years of experience in the gene therapy field. He has developed many of the methods for purification and quality control of AAV vectors and has pioneered the development of improved capsid engineering methods and baculovirus vector production platforms.