About

David Perryman, J.D., is Chief Operating Officer of Drug Innovation Ventures at Emory University (DRIVE) in Atlanta.  He was formerly President, CEO and a founder of Zirus. David has played many roles in his 25 years in the biotechnology industry. In addition to Zirus, David has founded two other biotechnology companies: one was acquired and the second became a publicly traded company. David has served on the Board of Directors of these and other biotechnology companies.

Prior to joining Zirus, he was a shareholder and head of the Biotechnology Patent Practice group at Needle & Rosenberg, an IP boutique law firm. He practiced biotechnology patent law for 20 years delivering patent business strategy to biotech companies, venture capital funds, the CDC, NIH, FDA and numerous universities. He also served as a founder and special advisor to Georgia Venture Partners, a state associated biotech venture capital fund.

David served as a panelist at the Institute of Medicine’s Countermesure/Bioterrorism policy meeting (2010) as well as a featured presenter in Developments in Biodefense and Technology Platforms at the 8th Annual BioDefense Summit 2010. He received the 2014 Industry Growth Award from GaBio, considered the top award in Georgia for contribution to the state’s biotechnology industry.

He served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Pernix Therapeutics, LLC. From December 2005 to December 2007, he served as Vice President of Business and Product Development at Pernix and from December 2003 to December 2005, he served as Pernix’s Territory Manager. He was responsible for acquiring companies and products, attracting investors and increasing the overall efficiency. He served at the NFL franchise The New Orleans Saints in their media relations department for three years. He has been a Director of Oncternal Therapeutics, Inc. since February 22, 2017.

He has been an Independent Director of TherapeuticsMD, Inc. since February 28, 2012. He serves as a Director of Pernix Sleep, Inc. and Anthem Vault Inc. He served as a Director of Pernix Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. from January 1, 2007 to February 2014. Mr. Collins earned a BA and an MBA from Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana.

Her excellence in the digital health world has garnered numerous awards including, Bio-IT World Best Practices, CIO magazine and CIO.COM awards including the CIO 100 award and CIO 100+ Competitive Advantage award. She has special expertise in executing innovation, information and technology solutions, building businesses, implementing operational excellence programs and developing leaders. Karan has been called a visionary and inspirational leader adept at shaping technical and business strategies, creating an energetic climate for growth and excellence, delivering large-scale goals, and motivating others to achieve their highest levels of growth and performance.

She has a reputation for excellence in creating high performance global teams and organizations and for administering multi-million dollar budgets. A technopreneur, Karan serves as a board member and advisor for technology start-ups, colleges, universities and industry standards organizations.