Who We Are
Kelly Beck, MBA
Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Beck brings over 20 years of knowledge and experience from biotechnology and clinical research organizations. She most recently served as vice president, investor relations and administration with Ocugen, Inc., where she played an instrumental role in the growth of the company, including through its reverse merger to become a publicly-traded company on the Nasdaq exchange. Prior to Ocugen, she held roles of increasing responsibility at PRA Health Sciences, DrugDev and Tengion. Ms. Beck holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from Millersville University, a M.S. in Human Resource Development from Villanova University and a M.B.A. with a concentration in Biotechnology and Health Industry Management from Penn State University.
Kelly Beck, MBA
Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Beck brings over 20 years of knowledge and experience from biotechnology and clinical research organizations. She most recently served as vice president, investor relations and administration with Ocugen, Inc., where she played an instrumental role in the growth of the company, including through its reverse merger to become a publicly-traded company on the Nasdaq exchange. Prior to Ocugen, she held roles of increasing responsibility at PRA Health Sciences, DrugDev and Tengion. Ms. Beck holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from Millersville University, a M.S. in Human Resource Development from Villanova University and a M.B.A. with a concentration in Biotechnology and Health Industry Management from Penn State University.
Chief Executive Officer
Sandhya Kortagere, Ph.D.
Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer
Sandhya Kortagere is the Inventor, Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of PolyCore Therapeutics LLC. Dr. Kortagere is a molecular pharmacologist with over 15 years experience in Drug Discovery and Development. She is currently an Associate Professor at Drexel University College of Medicine where she pioneered in the development of a platform technology called the Hybrid Structure Based method to design small molecule modulators to a variety of therapeutically relevant protein targets. Prior to her arrival at Drexel, she was a research and teaching specialist at Robert Wood Johnson Medical school of Rutgers University, NJ. Dr. Kortagere obtained her Ph.D at National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India in Molecular Pharmacology and pursued her postdoctoral fellowship at Mount Sinai Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medical College at NYC.
Sandhya Kortagere, Ph.D.
Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer
Sandhya Kortagere is the Inventor, Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of PolyCore Therapeutics LLC. Dr. Kortagere is a molecular pharmacologist with over 15 years experience in Drug Discovery and Development. She is currently an Associate Professor at Drexel University College of Medicine where she pioneered in the development of a platform technology called the Hybrid Structure Based method to design small molecule modulators to a variety of therapeutically relevant protein targets. Prior to her arrival at Drexel, she was a research and teaching specialist at Robert Wood Johnson Medical school of Rutgers University, NJ. Dr. Kortagere obtained her Ph.D at National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India in Molecular Pharmacology and pursued her postdoctoral fellowship at Mount Sinai Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medical College at NYC.
Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer
Thais Sielecki, Ph.D.
Chief Operating Officer
Thais Sielecki is the COO at PolyCore Therapeutics LLC. Dr. Sielecki previously worked as Vice President, Preclinical Development of Cytokine PharmaSciences, Inc. At CPSI Dr. Sielecki ran programs from early lead discovery through to Phase I and assisted in Phase II and III study design as her primary focus. As part of the management team, she was also a member of teams to manage product portfolio, in-licensing, intellectual property management, and company strategy. Her experience spans oncology, inflammation, women’s health, CNS diseases, and antibacterials with a strong background in drug delivery and controlled release delivery systems. Dr. Sielecki has a PhD In medicinal chemistry from Colorado State University and completed a Post Doctoral research position at Stanford University. She has over 60 publications and patents over her career.
Thais Sielecki, Ph.D.
Chief Operating Officer
Thais Sielecki is the COO at PolyCore Therapeutics LLC. Dr. Sielecki previously worked as Vice President, Preclinical Development of Cytokine PharmaSciences, Inc. At CPSI Dr. Sielecki ran programs from early lead discovery through to Phase I and assisted in Phase II and III study design as her primary focus. As part of the management team, she was also a member of teams to manage product portfolio, in-licensing, intellectual property management, and company strategy. Her experience spans oncology, inflammation, women’s health, CNS diseases, and antibacterials with a strong background in drug delivery and controlled release delivery systems. Dr. Sielecki has a PhD In medicinal chemistry from Colorado State University and completed a Post Doctoral research position at Stanford University. She has over 60 publications and patents over her career.
Chief Operating Officer
Board of Directors
Jim Harris, MBA
Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer
Jim Harris is the Co-founder and Chairman of the Board of PolyCore Therapeutics LLC. Mr. Harris is a serial entrepreneur with 30+ years experience in the life sciences. His expertise is in business creation, commercialization and brand marketing. Mr. Harris is a former Merck executive (27+ years) most recently serving as Executive Director for Merck’s US Diversified Brands Franchise which he built, launched and led for the company. The franchise included 25 brands in nine therapeutic disease areas. He also serves as a commercial reviewer for the National Science Foundation and is a QED Business Advisor and steering committee member at the University City Science Center, located in Philadelphia. Mr. Harris received an MBA from California State University, Sacramento.
Chairman of the Board & Co-Founder
Sandhya Kortagere, Ph.D.
Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer
Sandhya Kortagere is the Inventor, Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of PolyCore Therapeutics LLC. Dr. Kortagere is a molecular pharmacologist with over 15 years experience in Drug Discovery and Development. She is currently an Associate Professor at Drexel University College of Medicine where she pioneered in the development of a platform technology called the Hybrid Structure Based method to design small molecule modulators to a variety of therapeutically relevant protein targets. Prior to her arrival at Drexel, she was a research and teaching specialist at Robert Wood Johnson Medical school of Rutgers University, NJ. Dr. Kortagere obtained her Ph.D at National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India in Molecular Pharmacology and pursued her postdoctoral fellowship at Mount Sinai Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medical College at NYC.
Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer
Kelly Beck, MBA
Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Beck brings over 20 years of knowledge and experience from biotechnology and clinical research organizations. She most recently served as vice president, investor relations and administration with Ocugen, Inc., where she played an instrumental role in the growth of the company, including through its reverse merger to become a publicly-traded company on the Nasdaq exchange. Prior to Ocugen, she held roles of increasing responsibility at PRA Health Sciences, DrugDev and Tengion. Ms. Beck holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from Millersville University, a M.S. in Human Resource Development from Villanova University and a M.B.A. with a concentration in Biotechnology and Health Industry Management from Penn State University.