About Hemanext
Hemanext is a global biomedical technology pioneer in transfusion medicine. We recognize the vital role of blood for patients and are committed to optimizing its therapeutic impact and value to the healthcare system.
Our Mission, Vision, and Values
Mission
Deliver innovations that improve the standard of care for patients who rely on transfusions.
Our Vision
To transform transfusion medicine worldwide through advances in biomedical technology.
Our Values
Executive Team
Our executive team brings decades of experience in medical devices, pharma, and biomedical innovation to lead Hemanext’s mission.
Andrew Dunham
CEO & CTO, Hemanext since 2015 25 + years in medical devices & pharma
Eric Newman
Chief Financial Officer, Hemanext since 2018 20+ years Finance in medical devices
Laurel Omert
Chief Medical Officer, Hemanext since 2019 15+ years Medical Affairs in blood products
Robert Haime
VP Commercial, Hemanext since 2018 25+ years Marketing & Operations in transfusion medicine
Previous Company: Pall Corporation
Daan Kok
EVP and GM EMEA, Hemanext since 2022 15+ years Commercialization in Pharma
Laura Daniels
Vice President of Product Development, Hemanext since 2018 25+ years Product Development in transfusion medicine
Jill Buckley
Vice President of Human Resources Hemanext since 2019 20+ years Human Resources in medical device & high-tech industries
Tom MacDonald
VP Manufacturing & Operations, Hemanext since 2019 30+ years global medical device operations management
Board of Directors
Our visionary leaders are steering Hemanext’s path to improving the standard of care for patients who rely on transfusions.
Andrew Dunham, PhD
Chief Executive Officer- Hemanext
read more ⤑
Andrew Dunham, who has been an integral part of the company’s success story, serves as the Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Dunham joined Hemanext in 2015 as VP of Clinical & Scientific Affairs and, over the past eight years, played a key role in developing a scientific platform to characterize the biological and biochemical differences between hypoxic and conventional RBCs. His contributions not only led to securing an NIH grant for a pivotal clinical study but also, in collaboration with co-authors, earned the prestigious Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies (AABB) RISE Award for impeccable study design, innovation, significance, and effective communication. As a scientist, he has authored or co-authored thirty-two publications with hundreds of citations, and on the business front, his distinguished fourteen-year tenure at Baxter Healthcare culminated in five years as the global Vice President of Research and Development, where he led a multinational team of several hundred professionals.
Steve Eckert
Classic Communities Organization CEO
read more ⤑
Eduardo Avayú
Director and Owner of Empresas Indumotora SA
read more ⤑
Peter Testa
Founder and CIO of One Investments
read more ⤑
Paul M. Ness, M.D.
Board Member
Prior Director of the Transfusion Medicine Division and Professor of Pathology, Medicine, and Oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
read more ⤑
Dr. Ness served as Division Director from 1979-2018. From 1983-2000 he directed the Baltimore division of American Red Cross Blood Services leading the Baltimore community through the transfusion issues with the AIDS epidemic. At Johns Hopkins he helped to develop programs in patient blood management, bloodless medicine, therapeutic apheresis, and advanced immunohematology. Prior to coming to Hopkins, he was an undergraduate at MIT, a medical student at SUNY Buffalo, a medical resident at Hopkins, a staff associate in the blood program at NIH, and a hematology –transfusion medicine fellow at UC San Francisco
Dr. Ness was a member of the AABB Board of Directors for many years and became President in 1999. He served as editor of Transfusion from 2003-2018. Dr. Ness has written over 250 articles for medical journals and three texts. Dr. Ness also has extensive experience in transfusion related research with emphasis upon transfusion complications including transfusion transmitted infections and immune destruction of transfused cells. He was a member of the FDA Blood Products Advisory Committee and is currently a member of the Health and Human Services Advisory Committee of Blood and Tissue Safety and Availability.
He served as PI for the Johns Hopkins site of the Transfusion Medicine Hemostasis Clinical Trial Network, funded by NHLBI. Dr. Ness was co-PI for a project funded by the NHLBI REDS III program to study donor virus epidemiology and blood utilization issues in China. He has served as a consultant to the coordinating centers of REDS II, REDS III, and REDS IV. He continues to serve as a consultant to many companies involved in transfusion medicine supplies and practices.
William O'Neill
Former partner in the corporate finance and M&A practice of Latham & Watkins LLP
read more ⤑
Ismail Kola, PhD
General Partner at Forepont, Visiting Professor of Medicine at Oxford University and Adjunct Professor at several universities and medical schools in the US, Australia and the UK
read more ⤑
Prior to Forepont, Ismail held several senior executive positions in the pharmaceutical industry. He has published 159 papers in top scientific journals which have been cited over 16,000 times and has led teams that have brought numerous major medicines to the market during his 20-year career in the pharmaceutical industry.
Ismail Kola was until 2018 the CSO of UCB, His previous positions were: Senior Vice President, Discovery Research and Early Clinical Research & Experimental Medicine, Schering-Plough Research Institute, and Chief Scientific Officer, Schering Plough Corporation; Senior Vice President Basic Research and Site Head, Rahway, Montreal and Madrid, Merck and Chairman of Merck’s Antibacterial and Antifungal Worldwide Business Strategy Team; and Vice President Research, and Global Head, Genomics and Biotechnology at Pharmacia Corporation.
Prior to his move to Industry, Ismail was Professor of Human Molecular Genetics, Monash University Medical School, and Director of the Research Center for Functional Genomics and Human Disease for 15 years.
He is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Athersys Inc. (ATHX, Nasdaq) and a Director of GPN vaccines (Australia).
Clinical Advisors
Hemanext collaborates with preeminent scientific advisors to ensure preclinical and clinical work meets global state-of-the-art standards.
Biree Andemariam
MD, Director, New England Sickle Cell Institute & Connecticut Bleeding Disorders Center, Associate Professor of Medicine at University of Connecticut, Chief Medical Officer of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Inc.
Jose Cancelas
MD,PhD, Director of Research, Hoxworth Blood Center at University of Cincinnati. Professor of Pediatrics at University of Cincinnati.
Angelo D'Alessandro
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Director of the Metabolomics Core, Director of Mass Spectrometry – Colorado Cancer Center, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Larry Dumont
MBA, PhD, Senior Investigator and Associate Director, Blood Systems Research Institute. Former Director of the Center for Transfusion Medicine at Dartmouth University and a National Blood Foundation Hall of Fame Inductee.
Paul M. Ness
MD, Prior Director, Division of Transfusion Medicine and Professor of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Editor of Transfusion-the journal of the Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies (AABB) and past president of AABB.
Philip C. Spinella
MD, Associate Professor, Pediatrics Division of Critical Care Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine.
Steven Spitalnik
MD, Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology, Vice Chairman, Laboratory Medicine, Columbia University. National Blood Foundation Hall of Fame Inductee.
Ralph Vassallo
MD, FACP, Executive Vice President & Chief Medical and Scientific Officer at Blood Systems, Inc., Scottsdale, AZ.
Travis Nemkov PhD
Assistant Professor University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus.
Mark Yazer MD
Professor of Pathology at University of Pittsburgh and an Associate Director of UPMC’s Centralized Transfusion Service.
Mike Murphy
Professor of Transfusion Medicine at the University of Oxford and a Consultant Haematologist for NHS Blood & Transplant (NHSBT) and the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Founder
Martin’s leadership was instrumental in cultivating a high-performing team and creating a culture of innovation that garnered international acclaim.
Martin Cannon is the founder and former CEO of Hemanext, Inc., a leading biotechnology company specializing in the development of transformative blood storage and transfusion technologies. Martin co-founded the company in 1997, originally under the name Hemanext, and later merged it with New Health Sciences in 2007 to form the company as it exists today. Under his leadership, Hemanext grew from a small startup with just four employees and initial intellectual property licensed from Los Alamos National Laboratory, to a recognized leader in the red blood cell transfusion space.
During his tenure as CEO, Martin successfully guided the company through key milestones, including raising over $150 million in equity and NIH funding, securing more than 200 patents, and obtaining both US FDA authorization and a CE Mark for Hemanext’s innovative products. His strategic vision and dedication to scientific advancement helped establish Hemanext as a pioneer in the fields of transfusion medicine and blood management, with the company’s technologies now poised for commercial launch.
Martin’s leadership was instrumental in cultivating a high-performing team and creating a culture of innovation that garnered international acclaim. Throughout his career, he worked closely with scientists, clinicians, and key stakeholders to bring Hemanext’s groundbreaking technologies to the forefront of medical practice, with the goal of improving patient outcomes and reducing healthcare costs globally.
Since retirement in September 2023, Martin continues to support Hemanext’s new leadership, including CEO Andrew Dunham, with whom he worked for nearly a decade. He also advises early-stage companies and mentors aspiring entrepreneurs, drawing on his extensive experience in building successful businesses and navigating the complex landscape of biotech innovation.
