About Us
One global team united behind a mission to transform pain management.
Allay Therapeutics is pioneering ultra-sustained analgesic products to transform post-surgical pain management and recuperation for patients and physicians.
We believe an era of stalled innovation for pain management is over. We see the future of our field including a dramatically expanded toolkit with safer, longer-lasting and more tailored solutions that reduce the burden of recovery. Crucially, this includes solutions that address the drawbacks of opioids to reduce related issues of addiction, hospitalization, lengthy rehabilitation and overall costs to the healthcare system.
There are a number of scientific challenges to delivering this vision for post-surgical pain management. And we think we’ve solved them all.

Our Leadership
Our global team harnesses the energy of a dynamic, global team of entrepreneurs, scientists, clinicians and innovators. Guided by a deeply experienced board and management team, Allay is committed to transforming the experience of healing after surgery through incredible entrepreneurship and unequalled scientific research.
David Hewitt, M.D.
Chief medical officer
Read MoreDavid Hewitt, M.D.
Chief medical officer
David Hewitt has served as chief medical officer at Allay Therapeutics since July 2021. He is a neurologist with a successful career in pharmaceutical clinical development spanning two decades.
Prior to Allay, David was senior vice president, clinical development at Nura Bio. David joined Nura Bio from Karuna Therapeutics, where he served as senior vice president of clinical development. Previously, he was vice president of neuroscience and pain at Syneos Health. He also served in the neurology group at Merck, where he led the pediatric program for the treatment of migraine and the successful pediatric filing for Maxalt and worked on the BACE program for the treatment of prodromal Alzheimer’s disease. David began his career in biopharma at the Ortho-McNeil division of Johnson & Johnson, where he designed and conducted clinical trials in acute and chronic pain and migraine. He also worked on a large postoperative pain program that led to the approval of the drug device system Ionsys.
David earned his MD at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, served a residency at New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center and then a fellowship in pain, palliative care and analgesic research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He then spent six years at Emory University leading its pain and headache clinic and conducting industry-based clinical trials.
Betsy Beasley
Vice president, business operations
Read MoreBetsy Beasley
Vice president, business operations
Betsy Beasley is a finance, human resources and administration professional who has helped establish and grow more than 10 startup medical companies in the past 16 years. Her first venture in the world of medical and pharmaceutical products was with FoxHollow Technologies, which went public in 2004. Prior to joining Allay, Betsy teamed up with the Foundry and ForSight partners from 2005 to 2014 to drive the growth and several successful exits for companies started both at The Foundry and in ForSight Labs, an incubator focused on developing and applying solutions to improve the sight, care and quality of life of visually impaired patients.
Betsy is a San Francisco Bay Area native and holds a BS in Finance from Santa Clara University.
Adam D. Gridley
Chief executive officer
Read MoreAdam Gridley has served as chief executive officer at Allay Therapeutics since November 2020. He has over 25 years’ experience in the biotechnology, medical device and pharmaceutical industries leading venture capital-backed startups to mature, fully integrated commercial organizations.
Prior to Allay, Adam was the CEO of Entera Bio (NASDAQ: ENTX), a biotechnology company specializing in the oral delivery of large molecules and biologics, as well as the president and CEO of Histogenics (NASDAQ:HSGX), a cell therapy and biologics company developing novel therapeutics for cartilage defects, where he led a completed IPO, multiple fundraisings and strategic transactions. Prior to Histogenics, Adam was senior vice president, technical operations and global site head at Merz Pharma. He was also previously senior vice president of corporate development at BioForm Medical (NASDAQ: BFRM) prior to the company’s sale to Merz, where he played a key role in an IPO as well as acquisitions and product launches. Adam was previously on the board of directors of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine and is on the board of advisors for Life Science Cares. He also serves as the executive chairman of LifeSprout, a Johns Hopkins founded company developing aesthetic and regenerative medicine products. Adam holds a bachelor’s degree and MBA from the University of Denver.
Sharon Hall
SVP, regulatory
Read MoreSharon Hall
SVP, regulatory
Sharon Hall has served as senior vice president, regulatory at Allay Therapeutics since December 2022, after originally joining Allay in April 2021. She brings nearly 30 years’ experience in pharmaceuticals and biotech regulatory affairs, during which time she has successfully overseen submission for multiple NDAs, MAAs, INDs and FDA audits.
Prior to Allay, she was an independent consultant for various pharmaceutical companies and vice president, regulatory affairs at Revance Therapeutics (NASDAQ: RVNC), a biotech focused on innovative aesthetic and therapeutic offerings. Sharon has served in director-level positions at multiple drug delivery and pharmaceutical companies including Pharmacofore and Connetics and Aerogen. She holds bachelor’s degrees in biology and psychology from the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Kristen Howells
VP, finance/controller
Read MoreKristen Howells
VP, finance/controller
Kristen Howells joined as VP Finance, Corporate Controller at Allay Therapeutics in December 2022. She brings over 15 years of experience in technical and operational accounting with emphasis in process creation, system implementation, control documentation and building out accounting teams for growth organizations.
Prior to Allay, Kristen served as vice president, finance at ESCAPE Bio, a pharmaceutical company focused on neurodegenerative diseases. Before that she held various roles in finance as well as Chief of Staff at Accuray, a medical device company in the oncology space, and started her career as an auditor with Grant Thornton LLP.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting from Sonoma State University and holds a CPA license in the state of California.
Cyndi Lee, Ph.D
VP, product development
Read MoreCyndi Lee, Ph.D
VP, product development
Cyndi Lee has served as vice president, product development at Allay Therapeutics since September 2020, having joined as senior director of program management in August 2019. She brings over 15 years of experience in medical device and biotech product development, manufacturing and supply chain management and business operations.
Prior to Allay, Cyndi served as director of program management for start-up medical device companies Neuspera Medical and Topera (Abbott Electrophysiology after its acquisition), where she developed cutting-edge technologies for neuromodulation and electrophysiology diagnostics, respectively. Her broad experience in those roles included program management; research and development; manufacturing operations; directing cross-functional product development teams; and building infrastructure and processes to support commercialization within the startup environment to integrate into a multi-national organization. Earlier in her career, Cyndi held various roles in product development and program management at Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic. Cyndi holds a bachelor’s degree in bioengineering from the University of California Berkeley, a master’s degree and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the AO Institute in Davos, Switzerland.
Hans Schulz
VP, quality
Read MoreHans Schulz
VP, quality
Hans Schulz has served as vice president, quality at Allay Therapeutics since May 2019. He brings over 20 years’ experience ensuring the efficacy and safety of devices and treatments while keeping the production process as efficient as possible.
Prior to Allay, Hans served as vice president, quality at Intersect ENT, a drug-device combination product company specializing in advancing treatment of ear, nose and throat conditions. Earlier in his career, Hans developed quality engineering best-practices at multiple medical device and biotechnology firms in the United States, including Pulmonx and FoxHollow. He holds a bachelor’s degree in applied economics from the University of San Francisco.
Koon Kiat Teu
VP and GM, Singapore
Read MoreKoon Kiat Teu
VP and GM, Singapore
Koon Kiat Teu (KK) has served as vice president and general manager, Singapore at Allay Therapeutics since December 2022 and originally joined Allay in February 2018. KK brings nearly 15 years of research and development experience in medical device and biotech products, bringing to market various products in multiple applications.
KK was general manager of Orchid Medical prior to Allay’s acquisition of the company in 2018. He also served as research and development director of Singapore startup, JN Medsys Pte Ltd, where he was a part of the company since its early phase and played key roles through the design and development cycle of its first commercial machine, ClarityTM. KK ensured key development milestones were met, enabling the company to successfully secure various rounds of government funding and external investments. Earlier in his career, KK held roles of increasing responsibility in research and development at Biosensors Interventional Technologies Pte Ltd, an interventional cardiology device company, where he was involved in several product development projects and led product transfer projects between Singapore, the U.S. and China. KK holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from National University of Singapore and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Nanyang Technological University.
Mike Carusi
Lightstone Ventures
Read MoreMike Carusi
Lightstone Ventures
Mike is a general partner at Lightstone Ventures, where he focuses on investments in the biopharmaceutical and medical device industries. Earlier in his career, Mike served as a director of business development for Inhale Therapeutic Systems (now Nektar Therapeutics), a venture-backed pulmonary drug delivery company, where he led partnering activities with a number of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies internationally. Mike was also a principal at The Wilkerson Group and currently serves as an adjunct professor at the Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College. Mike sat on the board of directors for the National Venture Capital Association and remains active in helping to shape policy affecting both innovation and healthcare. Mike holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business.
Tak Cheung, M.D.
NEA
Read MoreTak joined NEA in 2018 as a principal on the healthcare team. He focuses on medical device investments. He currently serves as a board member of Allay Therapeutics, Magenta Medical, Spyglass Ophthalmics and Vesper.
Prior to NEA, Tak was a venture partner at Merieux Development Venture Fund where he led all phases of investment for healthcare startups, including sourcing, diligence and investment approvals. Tak also co-founded Lexington Medical, a commercial-stage medical device startup in the gastrointestinal surgery space. Prior to Merieux and Lexington, Tak was vice president of business development for the Global Surgical Division at Bausch & Lomb and was responsible for all business development efforts in the ophthalmic surgical division. Tak has held various corporate and business development leadership roles at Edwards Lifesciences in the heart valve therapy division and Advanced Medical Optics (acquired by Johnson & Johnson).
Tak received a bachelor’s degree with honors in engineering and applied science from the California Institute of Technology, an M.D. from the University of California, Irvine and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Mark Deem
Lightstone Ventures
Read MoreMark has been an operating partner of Lightstone Ventures since 2013, where he advises the medical device team with deal sourcing, due diligence, and portfolio company management. Mark is also a co-founder of The Foundry, LLC, the premier medical device company incubator that has founded and financed over twenty new medical device companies. Prior to that role, Mark served as a co-founder and consulting director of research and development for Ventrica, Inc. Previously, Mark was a senior member of the research and development team at Medtronic Micro Interventional Systems. He has spent over thirty years in the design, testing and manufacture of medical devices. Mark also serves in governance or advisory roles for several other medical device innovators, including as chairman for FIRE1, as a director for Half Moon Medical and as a board observer for Nuvaira and Shoulder Innovations. Mark holds a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Boston University.
Josh Makower, M.D.
NEA
Read MoreJosh Makower, M.D. has served on the board of Allay Therapeutics since January 2019 and is a special partner on NEA’s healthcare team. In addition to his role at NEA, Josh serves on the faculty of the Stanford University Medical and Engineering Schools as a professor of medicine and bioengineering and is director and co-founder of The Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign. Josh is also the founder and executive chairman of ExploraMed, a medical device incubator that has created nine companies over the past 25 years. Notable transactions from the ExploraMed portfolio include Acclarent, acquired by J&J in 2009; EndoMatrix, acquired by C.R. Bard in 1997; TransVascular, acquired by Medtronic in 2003; Nuelle, acquired by AyTu Biosciences in 2014; and Neotract, acquired by Teleflex in 2017. Ongoing ExploraMed/NEA ventures include Moximed, Willow Innovations, Revelle Aesthetics, and ExploraMed V. Josh currently serves on the boards of Eargo, Allay Therapeutics, Lungpacer, Revelle Aesthetics, Vesper Medical, Magenta Medical, DOTS Technology Corp., ExploraMed, Intrinsic Therapeutics, Moximed, SetPoint Medical, Willow and Coravin. Josh holds over 300 patents and patent applications for various medical devices in the fields of cardiology, ENT, general surgery, drug delivery, obesity, orthopedics, women’s health, aesthetics and urology. He received an MBA from Columbia University, an M.D. from the NYU School of Medicine, a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a fellow of the American Institute of Biomedical Engineering and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Paul McCreadie
Arboretum Ventures
Read MorePaul McCreadie
Arboretum Ventures
Paul oversees Arboretum’s investment process and leads the firm’s operations. His portfolio investments focus on capital-efficient health IT and service companies applying technology to underserved markets. Paul currently serves as a board director for BioIQ, VYDENCE Medical, and Delphinus Medical and is the former Chief Operating Officer for CerviLenz (now Lucina), where he led the design of the company’s first commercial product from concept to launch. Prior to joining Arboretum, Paul worked at Ford Motor Company holding management positions within product development, manufacturing, and business strategy. He currently serves on the National Advisory Board for the Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation at the University of Michigan. Paul earned a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
Leighton Read, M.D.
Brandon Capital
Read MoreLeighton Reid, M.D. is a serial entrepreneur and investor who currently serves as a venture partner at Brandon Capital Partners, a global venture capital firm dedicated to biomedical research and capabilities. Leighton is the executive chairman of Global Kinetics Pty Ltd and also serves on the boards of EBR Systems, Glyscend Therapeutics and Okogen. Earlier in his career, Leighton founded and served as managing director and president of the pharma division of Affymax NV. He was also a founding investor, chairman and chief executive officer of Aviron and Avidia. Leighton completed internal medicine training at Duke and the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, where he held appointments at the Harvard Medical School and School of Public Health. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Rice University and an M.D. from the University of Texas Health Science Center.
Nicole J. Walker
Arboretum Ventures
Read MoreNicole J. Walker
Arboretum Ventures
Nicole joined Arboretum Ventures in 2021 as a Managing Partner, where she focuses on early-to-growth stage healthcare investments. Current areas of interest include pharma-adjacent tools & analytics; devices; and tech-enabled solutions which transform healthcare delivery by improving the overall access, cost, and quality of care for unmet therapeutic needs. For more than 25 years, Nicole has successfully partnered with entrepreneurs to modernize and transform the healthcare industry. She strongly believes in the power of teams and in the importance of bringing diversity across all levels when building effective organizations. Her notable investments and board roles prior to joining Arboretum include category-defining companies such as Cala Health, Elucent Medical, MI Biosciences (acquired), NeoChord, NeuMoDx Molecular (acquired), and Strata Oncology.
Nicole joined Arboretum Ventures from Baird Capital, where she was a managing director and partner, having co-led the team’s healthcare investments since 2013. Prior to Baird, Nicole was an investment director at Abbott Ventures and Abbott Biotech Ventures, helping to stand up the original investment organization for the corporation. Nicole began her career as a process engineer with Advanced Cardiovascular Systems/Guidant, where she spent ten years advancing through increasing roles of responsibility in product development, marketing, and strategy. Nicole is proud to serve as an advisor to Springboard Enterprises, an accelerator program dedicated to building technology-oriented companies led by women and to the Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Council – MATTER Chicago. Additionally, she serves as a board director with Venture Forward (the foundation arm of the National Venture Capital Association), the Alzheimer’s Association, and Minnesota’s Medical Alley. Nicole has been recognized as one of the industry’s most active and engaged investors by “The Tech Crunch List 2020” and by Crain’s Chicago Business “Tech 50” for 2018 and 2016. Nicole holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University and completed dual degrees in management and operations from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Ron Burch, M.D., Ph.D.
Read MoreRon Burch, M.D., Ph.D.
Ron Burch, M.D., Ph.D., currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Sanguistat, a company developing products to treat bleeding disorders. He previously served as Chief Medical Officer at Naurex, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel NMDA receptor modulators, and Pacira, an industry leader in non-opioid solutions for pain. Dr. Burch has served as Chairman of Zeneca Pharmaceuticals’ Global CNS Therapeutics Area Team; co-founder and CEO of AlgoRx Pharmaceuticals, a company that successfully developed a number of therapeutic agents for pain management; CEO and Chairman of Biowave Corporation, a medical device company that successfully launched three neurostimulation products to treat chronic, intractable pain and postoperative pain; and Scientific Advisor of Collegium Pharmaceuticals. He also held various managerial positions with Purdue Pharma, including Vice President of Scientific Evaluations and Immunotherapeutics, Medical Director and Project Manager and Medical Safety Officer for several pain development programs. Dr. Burch was a researcher at the National Institutes of Health, performing research involving neuroreceptor regulation with Nobel Laureate Dr. Julius Axelrod. Dr. Burch obtained a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and M.D. from the Medical University of South Carolina. He holds bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and marine biology from the College of Charleston.
David Dalury, M.D.
Read MoreDavid Dalury, M.D.
David Dalury, M.D. is an orthopedic surgeon specializing in total knee replacement, partial knee replacement and hip replacement. He currently serves as clinical professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Maryland Medicine and chief of orthopedics at the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center. He is an active member of The Knee Society and the University of Maryland Joint Network, among other medical associations. His work has been published extensively in peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Dalury is a graduate of Dartmouth Medical School, where he completed his residency and fellowship at Harvard-affiliated hospitals network with training in total joint replacement surgery.
Joachim Kohn, Ph.D.
Read MoreJoachim Kohn, Ph.D.
Joachim Kohn, Ph.D. is a distinguished professor emeritus at Rutgers University and the founder and principal investigator of the Kohn Lab, a laboratory dedicated to improving health care and quality of life by developing advanced biomedical products for tissue repair, replacement and the delivery of pharmaceutical agents. Dr. Kohn serves as the director of the New Jersey Center for Biomaterials and has been a principal investigator for numerous federally funded research and development programs. His research focuses on the development of new biomaterials, and he has won numerous awards and honors for his breakthrough studies. Dr. Kohn holds a bachelor’s degree from Hebrew University, a Ph.D. from Weizmann Institute, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in polymeric drug delivery systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Arthur Tipton, Ph.D.
Read MoreArthur Tipton, Ph.D.
Arthur Tipton, Ph.D., is an independent consultant that aids companies in developing the next generation of drug delivery products. He previously held leadership roles in three drug delivery start-ups and played a key role in each company’s path to a public offering. He was founder and chief executive officer of Brookwood Pharmaceuticals, now part of Evonik. Dr. Tipton holds 43 U.S. patents; his inventive efforts have led to several publications and multiple commercial products. He currently serves as a board member for five organizations and has previous experience on 12 additional boards. His resume also includes induction into the National Academy of Inventors, the College of Fellows for the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the Controlled Release Society, where he served as president in 2015. Most recently, Dr. Tipton was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2021. He holds a Ph.D. in polymer science and engineering from the University of Massachusetts.
Our Full Team

Kevin Arreaga
Senior Process Engineer

Arlene Alcantara
Lab manager/scientist

Gregg Bishop
Director, manufacturing

Justin Cornejo
Office manager/AP

Pratik Dave
Senior Regulatory Associate

Vicky Doan
Senior QA specialist

Hongqing Du, MD
Manager, Nonclinical

Eduardo Garcia
Senior QA Specialist

Esi Ghartey-Tagoe, Ph.D.
Director, nonclinical

Jason Goh, Ph.D.
Scientist, Nonclinical

JJ Hancock
Director, R&D

Arianna Hayes
Clinical engineering manager

Ericka Izzo
Senior CRA

Felicia Jeng Khei Wang
Lab Technician

Conor Kelleher
Research & Development Scientist

Travis Larry
Manufacturing Technician

Peggy Lee
Office manager

Wei Li Lee, Ph.D.
Lead Scientist, Pipeline

Yew Kee Lee
Senior Manager Quality Control

Darryl Lim
Senior Engineer

Ming Siew Lim
Senior Engineer

Micheline Markey, Ph.D.
CMC analytical fellow

Ingrid Meara
Director, Clinical Operations

Alicia Ng
Senior Engineer

Ee Theng Ng
Engineer

Jamie Nguyen
Analytical Scientist

Lynne Nguyen
Principal Quality Control Analyst

Sneha Pandey
Quality engineer II

Jasmines Pang
Lab technician

Nurfatin Samsudin
Senior engineer

Daniel Seet
R&D manager

Vanessa Shetty
Senior Clinical Trial Associate

Mukhtiar (Sunny) Singh
Scientist

Negar Shiraz
In-House Clinical Research Associate

Cynthia Sng
R&D Chemist

Megan Soo
Engineer

James Su, Ph.D.
R&D fellow

Sze Hwee Tan
Quality manager

Lindsay Taylor
Manufacturing engineer

Thai Tran
Director, Quality

Michele Zhan
Senior manager, R&D