Management Team

David Burkhart, Ph.D.

Chief Operating Officer

Dr. David Burkhart is the Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of Inimmune, while also overseeing the formulation science R&D team. Dr. Burkhart was an investigator with GlaxoSmithKline for nearly 8 years leading the formulation R&D team where he demonstrated a knack for innovation and project/team management which led to his promotion from his starting role as a Principal Scientist.

Prior to his work with GSK, Dr. Burkhart was a Senior Scientist with the CMO Hollister-Stier labs in Spokane, Washington for two years where he gained invaluable experience in cGMP analytical and manufacturing. He has over 10 years of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries with experience in project management, leadership, business development, and licensing with over 13 years experience in medicinal and analytical chemistry, formulation and drug delivery. David earned his Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 2002 from the University of Idaho and conducted research in oncology as a postdoctoral scientist at the University of Colorado, Boulder until 2005.

Jay T. Evans, Ph.D.

Chief Scientific and Strategy Officer and Cofounder of Inimmune

Dr. Evans is the Chief Scientific and Strategy Officer and Cofounder of Inimmune Corp. Dr. Evans is also Director of the Center for Translational Medicine at the University of Montana and a Research Professor in the Division of Biological Sciences.

He has over 20 years’ experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry including 15 years at GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines (formerly Corixa Corporation) where he held various roles including North American Pre-Clinical Innovation Team Leader, Project Leader, and Investigator. Dr. Evans completed his Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital working in HIV immunology, stem cell transplantation, and vector-based gene therapy systems. Dr. Evans holds a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Oregon State University and a B.S. in Biology from Pacific Lutheran University.

Helene Bazin-Lee, Ph.D

Vice President, Early Discovery
Dr. Bazin-Lee is VP, Early Discovery and Co-Founder of Inimmune, serving as head of early discovery research programs. She has over 17 years of experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries including 14 years with Corixa/GlaxoSmithKline developing new synthetic immunomodulators and vaccine adjuvants, managing medicinal chemistry efforts and new adjuvant discovery projects. Dr. Bazin-Lee earned an M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering at the ENSCCF (France) and received her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Lyon I (France). She then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Iowa, focusing on the development of new synthetic methods for the synthesis of glycosaminoglycan building blocks. Dr. Bazin-Lee is a co-inventor on 15 patents.

Kendal Ryter, Ph.D.

Vice President, Manufacturing and Dev.

Dr. Ryter is VP, Manufacturing and Development and Co-Founder of Inimmune. He started his postgraduate synthetic career working at Albany Molecular Research, Inc. In Albany NY. The experience highlighted his ability to adapt and come up to speed quickly on new projects and classes of drug pharmacophores. From alkaloids to opiates to complex heterocycles he worked on projects that included drug discovery and SAR to development and cGMP production, including work in 50-100 L reactors and supervision of pilot plant production.

The opportunity to join Corixa was seen as a new challenge and he delivered as project lead on the development to commercial production of a late-stage, novel TLR4 agonist. Continuing his efforts at GSK, he adapted and contributed to the basic understanding of vaccine adjuvant mechanism of action, developed new methods for preparing complex molecules at scale and seamlessly transitioned projects to contract manufacture. With >18 years of industrial experience, he now leads Product Development at Inimmune.

Mike Sullivan

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Sullivan is serving as our Chief Financial Officer since December 12, 2022. Mr. Sullivan has held senior level financial positions for several publicly and privately held businesses including First Advantage Corporation, Utek Corporation, eANGLER, and HSN Direct International Limited.


Most recently, he was the Chief Financial Officer for Oragenics Inc. Oragenics is a development-stage company dedicated to fighting infectious diseases including coronaviruses and multidrug-resistant organisms.


Mr. Sullivan is a Florida Certified Public Accountant. He graduated from the Florida State University with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and a Master of Business Administration.

Michael Conger

VP of Legal and Business Strategy

Before joining Inimmune, Mr. Conger served as Assistant General Counsel-Patents for GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), advising leaders of research programs for fourteen years, including a close association with the scientists who would later found Inimmune.

Prior to GSK, Mr. Conger worked five years in private practice at a large, regional firm in Salt Lake City. Mr. Conger is a skilled lead patent counsel, having managed intellectual property issues arising from university, industry, and government-sponsored research programs in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. Mr. Conger earned his Juris Doctorate degree from Brigham Young University Law School and a Bachelor of Science degree from the BYU College of Biology.

Alan F. Joslyn, PhD

Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Joslyn served as Chief Executive Officer, President & Director of Oragenics Inc. until May 2021.

Since 2009 he has served as Board member of Synergy Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SGYP). Since 2014, Dr. Joslyn has been a partner in Lazarus Pharmaceuticals, LLC. From March 2010 to April 2014, Dr. Joslyn served as CEO and a Director of Sentinella Pharmaceuticals and from August 2009 to October 2012 as CEO and Director of Edusa Pharmaceuticals, both privately held biotechnology companies.

From March 2007 to March 2009, Dr. Joslyn served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Mt. Cook Pharma and as Senior Vice President of Research & Development at Penwest Pharmaceuticals from 2004 to 2007. From 1995 to 2004, Dr. Joslyn held a number of leadership positions within Johnson & Johnson and Glaxo focusing on development of gastroenterology products including Propulsid®, Motilium®, Aciphex®, prucalopride and Zofran. Dr.

Joslyn received his B.S. in medicinal chemistry, B.A. in biology and Ph.D. in biochemical pharmacology from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Jon Ruckle, M.D.

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Ruckle brings over 25 years of clinical trial experience including protocol design, product development strategy, and medical monitoring. He has served as an Investigator for over 350 clinical trials. Dr. Ruckle will oversee the global clinical development and regulatory activites for Inimmune.

After receiving his medical degree from Loma Linda University and completing an Internal Medicine Residency at Mayo Clinic, Dr. Ruckle served as the founding Medical Director at Northwest Kinetics in Tacoma, WA, from 1995 to 2000. He then led Phase I development at Radiant Research Honolulu from August 2000 until acquired by Covance in 2006. He remained as Medical Director at Covance until 2008, then fouded Pacific Pharma Group in 2008 and served as Medical Director, Early Development for Comprehensive Clincical Development in Tacoma, WA from 2011 to 2013.

Lucinda Tennant

VP Clinical Operations

Lucinda (Lucy) Tennant is VP, Clinical Operations of Inimmune. Lucy brings over 20 years of clinical operations experience including strategy, planning, and execution of phase 1 – 3 clinical trials. Lucy has extensive experience in operationalizing clinical trials in oncology, specifically for I-O small molecules, cellular and gene therapy, cellular vaccines, and nanoparticle drug conjugates.

After receiving her BSN from the University of Iowa and RN by the state of Iowa, Lucy specialized in oncology nursing with a focus in stem cell transplant and gene therapy research. She then obtained her MS in Healthcare Administration and started her career in the biopharmaceutical industry holding many leadership positions within NewLink Genetics Corporation over 17 years. Lucy has also held leadership positions at Digital Diagnostics and Innovative Cellular Therapeutics.

Inimmune Oncology

Cancer Immunotherapy

Inimmune is advancing a novel TLR7/8 agonist nanoparticle formulation to the clinic to treat cancer by harnessing the patient’s immune system and synergizing with existing immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies. Further, we’re leveraging our expertise in innate immune activation to develop novel compounds and technology to target other immune receptors to develop the next generation of disruptive therapies in oncology.

Adjuvants

Our lead vaccine adjuvants target innate immune receptors TLR4, TLR7/8, and Mincle and are focused on generating Th1 and Th17 responses. We are also working on discovery of new adjuvants that target STING as well as inflammasome-activating adjuvants.
inimmune-infectios-disease

Infectious Disease

Inimmune is at the forefront of infectious disease prevention and treatment through the development of cutting edge vaccines and antibiotics.

Allergy

At Inimmune, we’re developing a rapid disease modifying treatment which does not require identification of the allergen. INI-2004 is an allergen agnostic immunotherapy that reprograms the allergic immune response, desensitizing the patient against allergens of concern.

Autoimmunity

Inimmune is developing technology that turns off signaling from specific receptors that are involved in the development and maintenance of autoimmune disease.
autoimmunity

Vaccines

To combat the opioid epidemic and the growing problem of drug resistant bacteria Inimmune is developing novel vaccines adjuvanted with our proprietary innate immune stimulators.
Inimmune Oncology

Cancer Immunotherapy

Inimmune is advancing a novel TLR7/8 agonist nanoparticle formulation to the clinic to treat cancer by harnessing the patient’s immune system and synergizing with existing immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies. Further, we’re leveraging our expertise in innate immune activation to develop novel compounds and technology to target other immune receptors to develop the next generation of disruptive therapies in oncology.

Adjuvants

Our lead vaccine adjuvants target innate immune receptors TLR4, TLR7/8, and Mincle and are focused on generating Th1 and Th17 responses. We are also working on discovery of new adjuvants that target STING as well as inflammasome-activating adjuvants.
inimmune-infectios-disease

Infectious Disease

Inimmune is at the forefront of infectious disease prevention and treatment through the development of cutting edge vaccines and antibiotics.

Allergy

At Inimmune, we’re developing a rapid disease modifying treatment which does not require identification of the allergen. INI-2004 is an allergen agnostic immunotherapy that reprograms the allergic immune response, desensitizing the patient against allergens of concern.

Autoimmunity

Inimmune is developing technology that turns off signaling from specific receptors that are involved in the development and maintenance of autoimmune disease.
autoimmunity

Vaccines

To combat the opioid epidemic and the growing problem of drug resistant bacteria Inimmune is developing novel vaccines adjuvanted with our proprietary innate immune stimulators.
Inimmune Oncology

Cancer Immunotherapy

Inimmune is advancing a novel TLR7/8 agonist nanoparticle formulation to the clinic to treat cancer by harnessing the patient’s immune system and synergizing with existing immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies. Further, we’re leveraging our expertise in innate immune activation to develop novel compounds and technology to target other immune receptors to develop the next generation of disruptive therapies in oncology.

Adjuvants

Our lead vaccine adjuvants target innate immune receptors TLR4, TLR7/8, and Mincle and are focused on generating Th1 and Th17 responses. We are also working on discovery of new adjuvants that target STING as well as inflammasome-activating adjuvants.
inimmune-infectios-disease

Infectious Disease

Inimmune is at the forefront of infectious disease prevention and treatment through the development of cutting edge vaccines and antibiotics.

Allergy

At Inimmune, we’re developing a rapid disease modifying treatment which does not require identification of the allergen. INI-2004 is an allergen agnostic immunotherapy that reprograms the allergic immune response, desensitizing the patient against allergens of concern.

Autoimmunity

Inimmune is developing technology that turns off signaling from specific receptors that are involved in the development and maintenance of autoimmune disease.
autoimmunity

Vaccines

To combat the opioid epidemic and the growing problem of drug resistant bacteria Inimmune is developing novel vaccines adjuvanted with our proprietary innate immune stimulators.
Inimmune Oncology

Cancer Immunotherapy

Inimmune is advancing a novel TLR7/8 agonist nanoparticle formulation to the clinic to treat cancer by harnessing the patient’s immune system and synergizing with existing immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies. Further, we’re leveraging our expertise in innate immune activation to develop novel compounds and technology to target other immune receptors to develop the next generation of disruptive therapies in oncology.

Adjuvants

Our lead vaccine adjuvants target innate immune receptors TLR4, TLR7/8, and Mincle and are focused on generating Th1 and Th17 responses. We are also working on discovery of new adjuvants that target STING as well as inflammasome-activating adjuvants.
inimmune-infectios-disease

Infectious Disease

Inimmune is at the forefront of infectious disease prevention and treatment through the development of cutting edge vaccines and antibiotics.

Allergy

At Inimmune, we’re developing a rapid disease modifying treatment which does not require identification of the allergen. INI-2004 is an allergen agnostic immunotherapy that reprograms the allergic immune response, desensitizing the patient against allergens of concern.

Autoimmunity

Inimmune is developing technology that turns off signaling from specific receptors that are involved in the development and maintenance of autoimmune disease.
autoimmunity

Vaccines

To combat the opioid epidemic and the growing problem of drug resistant bacteria Inimmune is developing novel vaccines adjuvanted with our proprietary innate immune stimulators.
Inimmune Oncology

Cancer Immunotherapy

Inimmune is advancing a novel TLR7/8 agonist nanoparticle formulation to the clinic to treat cancer by harnessing the patient’s immune system and synergizing with existing immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies. Further, we’re leveraging our expertise in innate immune activation to develop novel compounds and technology to target other immune receptors to develop the next generation of disruptive therapies in oncology.

Adjuvants

Our lead vaccine adjuvants target innate immune receptors TLR4, TLR7/8, and Mincle and are focused on generating Th1 and Th17 responses. We are also working on discovery of new adjuvants that target STING as well as inflammasome-activating adjuvants.
inimmune-infectios-disease

Infectious Disease

Inimmune is at the forefront of infectious disease prevention and treatment through the development of cutting edge vaccines and antibiotics.

Allergy

At Inimmune, we’re developing a rapid disease modifying treatment which does not require identification of the allergen. INI-2004 is an allergen agnostic immunotherapy that reprograms the allergic immune response, desensitizing the patient against allergens of concern.

Autoimmunity

Inimmune is developing technology that turns off signaling from specific receptors that are involved in the development and maintenance of autoimmune disease.
autoimmunity

Vaccines

To combat the opioid epidemic and the growing problem of drug resistant bacteria Inimmune is developing novel vaccines adjuvanted with our proprietary innate immune stimulators.
Inimmune Oncology

Cancer Immunotherapy

Inimmune is advancing a novel TLR7/8 agonist nanoparticle formulation to the clinic to treat cancer by harnessing the patient’s immune system and synergizing with existing immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies. Further, we’re leveraging our expertise in innate immune activation to develop novel compounds and technology to target other immune receptors to develop the next generation of disruptive therapies in oncology.

Adjuvants

Our lead vaccine adjuvants target innate immune receptors TLR4, TLR7/8, and Mincle and are focused on generating Th1 and Th17 responses. We are also working on discovery of new adjuvants that target STING as well as inflammasome-activating adjuvants.
inimmune-infectios-disease

Infectious Disease

Inimmune is at the forefront of infectious disease prevention and treatment through the development of cutting edge vaccines and antibiotics.

Allergy

At Inimmune, we’re developing a rapid disease modifying treatment which does not require identification of the allergen. INI-2004 is an allergen agnostic immunotherapy that reprograms the allergic immune response, desensitizing the patient against allergens of concern.

Autoimmunity

Inimmune is developing technology that turns off signaling from specific receptors that are involved in the development and maintenance of autoimmune disease.
autoimmunity

Vaccines

To combat the opioid epidemic and the growing problem of drug resistant bacteria Inimmune is developing novel vaccines adjuvanted with our proprietary innate immune stimulators.

TLR-7/8 (INI-4001), TLR-4 (INI-2002), CTLR (UM-1098), STING