Meet the Marinus Team

Dr. Braunstein brings over 30 years of knowledge and experience from diverse biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry vantage points. Dr. Braunstein is currently an operating partner at Aisling Capital. He most recently served as chief strategy officer and chief operating officer at Pacira Biosciences, Inc. Prior to Pacira, Dr. Braunstein served as a healthcare portfolio manager at Everpoint Asset Management and spent 13 years with J.P. Morgan Asset Management as a healthcare analyst and managing director in the U.S. Equity team, and as portfolio manager of the JP Morgan Global Healthcare Fund responsible for managing investments in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and medical devices.

Dr. Braunstein is currently on the board at Trevena, Inc. and Caribou Biosciences, Inc. He previously served on the boards of Constellation Pharmaceuticals (acquired by MorphoSys AG in July 2021), Ziopharm Oncology, Inc., Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. and Protara Therapeutics, Inc. Dr. Braunstein began his career as a practicing physician at the Summit Medical Group and as assistant clinical professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Columbia University Medical Center. He earned his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and his B.S. from Cornell University.

Mr. Mayleben has more than two decades of executive leadership experience in the life sciences industry, most recently as President, CEO and Director of Esperion Therapeutics, Inc, a pharmaceutical company developing and commercializing non-statin, oral medicines for patients with elevated levels of LDL-cholesterol, where he led the development and approval of Nexletol and Nexlizet, the first such medicines approved in almost 20 years. Prior to Esperion, he was President, CEO and Director of Vericel Corporation, (previously named Aastrom Biosciences), former President, COO, and a director of Virtual Radiologics, Inc. (formerly NightHawk Radiology Holdings, Inc.), and former COO and CFO of the original Esperion, until its acquisition by Pfizer in 2004.

Mr. Mayleben earned an MBA, with distinction, from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, and a BBA from the University of Michigan, Ross School of Business.

Mr. Ezickson brings extensive biopharmaceutical operational, strategic and capital formation expertise to Marinus’s board, most recently having served as the Chief Operating Officer and head of corporate development at Scholar Rock Holding Corporation, a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on novel oncology and rare disease treatments. At Scholar Rock, he directed corporate development, operations and strategy, and played a significant role in corporate finance, leading the company’s initial public offering. Prior to joining Scholar Rock, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Aveo Pharmaceuticals where he built and oversaw corporate development, commercial operations, technical operations, medical affairs, program management and legal functions and led capital raising and licensing efforts with multinational pharmaceutical companies.

Prior to Aveo, Mr. Ezickson was at Biogen in roles that included President of Biogen Canada, Program Executive and Associate General Counsel. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of four biotechnology firms including Carmine Therapeutics, Tvardi Therapeutics, Ziopharm Oncology and Asylia Therapeutics. Mr. Ezickson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Yale University and a Juris Doctorate from the Columbia University School of Law.

Mr. Fischer brings to the Board of Directors over 38 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and medical device industry, including 29 years in various leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson.
Mr. Fischer currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Agile Therapeutics, Inc. (AGRX), Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SPPI), and is also an advisor to MedHab, LLC. Previously, Mr. Fischer served as the Chief Executive Officer and as a Director of Vivus, Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company commercializing and developing innovative, next-generation therapies to address unmet needs in obesity, diabetes, sleep apnea and sexual health from September 2013 to December 2017. Prior to Vivus, Mr. Fischer served in various positions of increasing responsibility at Johnson & Johnson, most recently as Company Group Chairman, Johnson & Johnson and Worldwide Franchise Chairman of Cordis Corporation.

Prior to that, he served as Company Group Chairman, North America Pharmaceuticals, which included responsibilities for Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals, Janssen and Scios. Prior to that, Mr. Fischer served as President of Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Fischer’s operating responsibilities encompassed the commercialization of products in multiple therapeutic categories including Topamax® for epilepsy and migraines, neurologic, analgesic, anti-infective, cardiovascular, psychiatric and women’s health areas. From May 2013 to May 2019, Mr. Fischer also served on the Board of Directors of BioSig Technologies, Inc. 
Mr. Fischer earned a bachelor’s degree in general studies from Ohio University and served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force.

Mr. Johnson’s professional experience spanned over 34 years at Merck & Co., Inc. predominantly in commercial operations. During that time he held senior sales and marketing leadership positions across multiple therapeutic categories including Acute Care, Neurology, Diabetes, Respiratory, Cardiovascular, Pain Management and Sleep Disorders. Mr. Johnson is experienced leading large scale regional, national and global sales and marketing organizations worth over $3 billion in revenue and has extensive experience launching products in the U.S and abroad. He was most recently Chief Learning Officer at Merck from 2016 until his retirement in October 2018.

Mr. Johnson is a member of the Board of Directors for Trevena, Inc., Vice Chair on the Board of Trustees for Tabor Children’s Services, Inc. and serves as a member of the strategic advisory board for GP Strategies Corporation. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from the Pennsylvania State University.

Ms. Silverstein is a seasoned finance executive with experience across both private and public biopharmaceutical companies and an aptitude for implementing strong financial strategy, corporate partnering, financial reporting, cash management and improving efficiencies within organizations. Ms. Silverstein currently serves as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Artios Pharma Limited and most recently served as CFO of Excision Biotherapeutics, Inc. She previously operated in various senior executive roles within the biotechnology industry, including Emendo Biotherapeutics (acquired in December 2020 by AnGes, Inc.), as CFO, Abeona Therapeutics, as CFO and Principal Financial Officer, and SCO Capital Partners, a New York-based biotechnology venture fund, as managing director. Ms. Silverstein began her career in the financial services industry before moving to capital markets advisory firms, where she was instrumental in advising clients on transaction considerations and formulating effective U.S. public listing and financing strategies.

A member of CHIEF and Women in Bio, two esteemed networks of exceptional female leaders, Ms. Silverstein holds a Bachelor of Science from the Peter Tobin College of Business at St. John’s University and has earned accreditations from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and Harvard University. She currently serves on the board of Abeona Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on rare pediatric diseases.