About

Nelson Landrau

Founder, President, CEO

Mr. Landrau has over 25 years of experience in polymer and synthetic organic chemistry, material sciences, and drug formulation. His formulation work includes over 15 years of hands-on involvement in drug product development, related formulation, and the CMC aspects of moving drug candidates from early pre-clinical studies into clinical development. He established an excellent track record in the design of advanced coatings and polymeric materials while working for Foster Miller and Eikos, where he conducted NASA- and DOD-award winning work. At those firms he received multiple patents and two NASA awards for novel thermoset plasticizers for polyimide resins and high temperature micron-sized polymer spheres. At Inotek Pharmaceuticals in Beverly, MA he was a key contributor in formulating a stable microsuspension of a glaucoma drug candidate that was critical for achieving a desired therapeutic outcome (at the time of this writing in Phase 3 clinical trials). Also at Inotek he spearheaded scale-up, analysis, separation, and formulation of the complicated isomeric mixture of porphyrin drug candidates tested for ischemia-reperfusion injury applications and funded by a multimillion-dollar NIH grant.

Mr. Landrau co-founded Neo-Advent Technologies and was President and CEO for 13 years. At NAT he performed and oversaw a wide variety of processes, including pre-clinical pharmaceutical development and cosmetic development. He is co-inventor on 8 US patents. At NAT he serves as a PI and hands-on investigator on various drug formulation projects, including solid dose formulations, injectable and topical formulations. He is an expert in using high-energy equipment for reducing particle size and liposomal production. Mr. Landrau holds a B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Christiani (Chris) Landrau

CFO, Owner

Ms. Landrau has over 20 years of experience in finance and accounting. She has worked in firms such as Neo-Advent Technologies in Littleton, MA, The Framingham Community Health Center in Framingham, MA, Vascular Associates in Framingham, MA, Davox Corporation in Westford, MA, Great Brook Valley Health Center in Worcester, MA, and Sylvester Adventist Hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She is also actively involved in cosmetic product design, development, and manufacturing. Mrs. Landrau holds a B.S. in Accounting from Faculdade de Ciências Contábeis, Vitória-ES, Brazil and a B.A. in Music from Espirito Santo School of Music, Vitória-ES, Brazil.

Malcolm G. Pluskal, Ph.D.

Chief Science Officer

Dr. Pluskal has worked in the biotechnology field in the Boston area since 1976. He has a wide range of experience in proteomics, chromatography, purification, molecular biology, electrophoresis, synthesis of macromolecules, and development of devices and hardware for analysis and sample preparation. His former positions include: Executive Vice President of New Technology and Business Development at Proteome Systems, Inc., Woburn, MA; Director of Bioseparations and Production for Unisyn Technologies, Inc.; Director of the Custom DNA and PNA Synthesis group in the Biosearch Division of Millipore Corporation; Senior Application Scientist, POROS chromatography group, Thermo-Scientific; Director, Cellufine Applications Development for JNC America.  At Landrau Scientific Innovations he heads up the bio-separations group.

Dr. Pluskal received his Ph.D. in 1976 and was a Muscular Dystrophy Post-Doctoral Fellow at MIT in the area of aging influences on muscle protein synthesis. After leaving academia, Dr. Pluskal developed key technologies in PVDF-based blotting membranes, 2D-gel electrophoresis hardware, purification resins based on immobilized ligands, pre-cast gel technology, carbohydrate analysis by electrophoresis, and application of membranes in MALDI-MS.

Benjamin Rivnay, Ph.D.

Director of Biochemistry and Drug Formulation

Dr. Rivnay has over 30 years of R&D activity in a variety of positions in biomedicine, both in academia and in the biotechnology/pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Rivnay’s experience in test development and in the diagnostic industry started with research in the introduction of dozens of novel or improved clinical diagnostic tests in the field of women’s health, particularly in the area of infertility, at Repromedix Corporation, spanning a large variety of biological disciplines.  His experience also includes activities to expand, upgrade and introduce new testing service capabilities in Formatech, Inc. (a drug formulation development CRO), focusing on physicochemical analytics and on tests for protein expression and purification. On the corporate management side, Dr. Rivnay served as VP of R&D at Repromedix and Director of R&D at Formatech Inc.  At Repromedix, he oversaw the regulatory submission for approval of all testing services (CLIA) and served for over 12 years as Lab Director of a clinical diagnostic laboratory under GLP regulations. At Formatech Dr. Rivnay managed all of the drug formulation development activities for dozens of clients. This experience is essential for diagnostic kit/test development, as this type of activity is key to achieving long shelf life and stability of test performance over time. Subsequently, Dr. Rivnay servedas Chief Scientist at Boston Therapeutics Inc, overseeing R&D activities that focused on a non-systemic drug for diabetes. Dr. Rivnay was recently involved in the Amphotericin B liposomal formulation study in a BAA contract from FDA/CDER/OGD/ORS.

Dr. Rivnay holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from and was Associate Professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, and has published over 50 scientific articles.

Yuri Y. Svirkin, Ph.D.

Director of Analytical Chemistry

Dr. Svirkin has over 30 years experience in in a variety of positions in the biomedical field, engineering, and the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Svirkin has developed injectable hydrogels for drug delivery and tissue regeneration applications. He has expertise in developing and the validation of analytical methods (LC-MS/MS, GC/MS, GPC, FTIR, UV, NMR, ICP, TGA, DSC, Instron, Rheology) for characterization of drug products, medical devices, and polymer based drug delivery systems. He has broad experience in chromatography method development for assay and impurity analysis in complex drug delivery systems: hydrogels, liposomes, micro and nanospheres, polymer-drug conjugates, and polymer-drug combination products. Dr. Svirkin is experienced in the preparation and analysis of liposomes for drug delivery applications. He has developed dynamic light scattering (DLS) methods for size determination and charge of the drug loaded liposomes, as well as developed HPLC methods for determining the liposome’s drug encapsulation efficiency and drug release kinetics. In the drug delivery field he developed polyphosphazene-microspheres for vaccine delivery, polymer-drug conjugates for local delivery, and analytical methods for their characterization. He has developed hyaluronic acid based products for orthopedics, cosmetics and anti-adhesion applications.

Dr. Svirkin holds a Ph.D. from The Central Synthetic Rubber Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia, and worked as a visiting scientist at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. He holds four US patents, five Russian patents, and has produced multiple publications.

Jaeweon Lee, MSE

Project Engineer

After spending 2 years in the Republic of Korea Army, Mr. Lee moved back to the states to finish his bachelor’s degree. He then went on to earned his MSE. Mr. Lee joined Landrau Scientific Innovations to learn more about biopharmaceutical R&D and advanced analytical techniques.

Mr. Lee holds a Master’s in Chemical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

Richard Marx, Ph.D. Candidate

Lyophilization Engineer

Mr. Marx is currently a candidate for his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. He comes from over 12 years of experience in a variety of roles at the world’s largest chemical company, BASF. In his role at LSI he supports formulation and lyophilization of drug products.

Ed Collins, Ed.M.

Technical Support, Web Development, Director of Business Development

Mr. Collins has over 30 years of experience in the fields of education and technology, having provided technical support and training and/or done course development for Atlantic Union College, Assumption College, Boston University, Neo-Advent Technologies, and The College Church in South Lancaster, MA. His expertise is in software applications, web development, network connectivity, data management, and instructional design. As director of business development, he seeks to make potential clients aware of the services that LSI provides and how we can help them move their projects from concept to reality. Mr. Collins holds an Ed.M. in Educational Media and Technology from Boston University.