OUR PEOPLE

Board Members

Jerry R. Youkey, MD Board Member, Chairman

Dr. Jerry R. Youkey joined the Greenville Hospital System in 1998 and currently serves as Vice President of Medical and Academic Services, reporting to the CEO. The Greenville Hospital System employs approximately 9,000 employees and 1,000 medical doctors.

Dr. Youkey served a rotating internship and general surgery residency at William Beaumont Army Medical Center, El Paso, Texas and a fellowship in peripheral vascular surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC. He also served in the United States Army and was honorably discharged in August 1984, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, Medical Corps. Dr. Youkey served as Chief, Department of Surgery, and Director, Peripheral Vascular Surgery Fellowship program at Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, PA, prior to coming to Greenville. He is certified by the American Board of Surgery in general surgery and general vascular surgery.

He is widely published in his specialty field of general vascular surgery, having authored books, abstracts, and journal articles. He holds the academic appointment of Professor and Associate Dean at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, and the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC. In addition to his administrative duties, Dr. Youkey practices general vascular surgery at the Greenville Hospital System, Greenville, SC. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, his medical degree from Marquette Medical School, Milwaukee, WI, and is a member of numerous professional societies and organization.

Susan Bichel, Board member

Susan Bichel joined Greenville Hospital System in 1976. Prior to joining the Greenville Hospital System, Ms. Bichel was employed by Humana, Inc. in Louisville, Kentucky.

Ms. Bichel earned a master of business administration degree and a bachelor of science degree in business administration with majors in management and marketing from the University of South Carolina. She also has a certificate in health care administration from Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. She is a member of the South Carolina Healthcare Financial Management Association and serves on the Board of Directors of the Palmetto Hospital Trust, PHT Services, Ltd. and the Palmetto Healthcare Liability Insurance Program. She also serves on the Carolina First Advisory Board.

Joseph Podolski, Board Member

Mr. Podolski has over 36 years experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. He is the President and CEO of Repros Therapeutics (formerly Zonagen) and has been with this company since 1989. Following his promotion to President and CEO in 1992, he was instrumental in taking Repros public the following year after he redirected the efforts of the company from animal health into human reproductive health.

He has led the Repros Therapeutics clinical development programs and has taken drug candidates through the entire regulatory process from preclinical safety studies to NDA submission. He acquired the sexual dysfunction technology that eventually led to the product Vasomax® and subsequently spearheaded both the clinical program and the out-licensing effort leading to a $70+ million follow-on offering and a partnership with Schering Plough. He is named as the inventor of the technology surrounding the company's Androxal Program and two of the second generation impotence therapies and championed the efforts leading to the licensing of the NIH selective progesterone receptor modulators.

Mr. Podolski has successfully raised over $160 million for Repros in both the public and private US capital markets, successfully negotiating four out-licensing deals. In December of 2003 he reorganized the capital structure of the company via a “modified Dutch tender auction” which placed control of the company with its current shareholders.

Prior to joining Repros, Mr. Podolski held positions in operations, engineering, quality control, research and product development at Baxter, Abbott and G. D. Searle.

He holds a M.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology and has an in-depth working knowledge of the process surrounding intellectual property evolution. He is a named as the inventor on thirteen issued US patents and numerous applications and concepts.