Board of Directors
Martin Mellish
Independent Non-Executive Chairman
Martin Mellish has served as founding director of Aspen Advisory Services Ltd., since 1994. Aspen is a London-based private office overseeing investments in North America, Europe, and Asia. Mr. Mellish serves as non-executive director of Nucana Ltd (NASD: NCNA; member, Audit Committee) a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on improved chemotherapy agents, and Levitronix Technologies Inc. (Chair, Audit Committee) a technology company handling high-purity fluids for the semiconductor and life science industries, among other non-executive directorships. He is a member of the International Advisory Council of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Boston.
He holds an M.Sc. from the Master of Health Care Delivery Science program at Dartmouth; an SM (Management) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.Sc. (Accounting) from Northeastern University.
Wensheng Fan
Chief Executive Officer
Wensheng Fan is a Co-Founder and the first employee of Spectral MD. Over the past 11 years he has served as CTO and COO, before becoming the CEO of Spectral MD. He is an executive, entrepreneur, and innovator with over 20 years of experience in natural speech recognition and imaging systems. Mr. Fan held various leadership roles in strategy, engineering, and operations with Sensata Technologies and Philips. He also has a long history of experience in business development and cross-functional team leadership, being a founder and/or early core member of multiple successful start-up companies. Under his leadership, Spectral MD’s DeepView® was granted FDA Breakthrough Device designation and is well on its way to disrupting the field of healthcare and medical technology.
Mr. Fan received his B.S.E.E. degree from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China and M.S.E.E. degree from Northeastern University in Boston.
Richard Cotton
Independent Non-Executive Director
Richard Cotton has a wealth of experience in senior financial roles in life sciences and other sectors, including broadcast and photographic, automotive, filtration and metals. His experience covers all financial management and value creation activities from R&D, to manufacturing and commercial in international organisations. He has significant experience in the development and successful execution of strategy, corporate finance and M&A, capital markets and governance.
Mr. Cotton was Chief Financial Officer of FTSE250 animal health company Dechra Pharmaceuticals plc, and prior to that Chief Financial Officer of medical device and drug formulation business Consort Medical plc. He was also Finance Director of Vitec Group plc, Group Finance Director at Wagon plc and Group Finance Director of McLeod Russel plc. Prior to this he held senior finance roles in Alcoa Inc.
Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Mr Cotton holds a BA (Hons) in Business Studies from Kingston University.
Cynthia Cai
Independent Non-Executive Director
Dr. Cynthia Cai is an executive and investor with over twenty-five years of experience in the healthcare and life science industry. Extensive experience in equity investment, board membership, marketing, and business development. In-depth understanding of global biotech and life science business, widely recognized as having a unique ability to bridge collaboration between scientists and businesses, between the eastern and western worlds.
Dr. Cai is the founder and president of Tharton Consulting, which provides investment and management consulting services. She is also a venture partner of Viva BioInnovator, an equity investor in biotech innovation with novel solutions to cross multiple therapeutic areas. Before that, she served as senior advisor to Northern Light Venture Capital, led its healthcare investment effort in the United States. Previously Dr. Cai had progressive leadership roles with Agilent Technologies, as global associate vice president of marketing, she was responsible for its billion-dollar Chromatography, Automation, and Mass Spec. business.
Dr. Cai serves on the board of directors for Spectral MD (London: SMD), Arthrosi Therapeutics, F5 Therapeutics, AceLink Therapeutics, Exarta Therapeutics, and Amberstone Biosciences. She is also a member of the board for the Science History Institute in Philadelphia.
Dr. Cai earned a B.A. and M. Eng. from Tsinghua University in Beijing, received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts, and an MBA from The Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Gerry Beaney
Independent Non-Executive Director
Gerry Beaney is currently a consultant to growth companies seeking strategic advice or funding for expansion. He has carried out senior executive roles in the corporate finance sector for over 25 years. During 2018, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Northland Capital Partners Limited, an institutional stockbroker based in London, and prior to this acted as Northland’s Head of Corporate Finance between 2014 and 2018. From 1997 to 2013, Mr Beaney was a Partner and Head of Capital Markets at Grant Thornton UK LLP which grew to become the largest independent nominated adviser to AIM companies under his leadership.
Prior to 1997, Mr Beaney held various roles with Grant Thornton in the UK and New York City. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, and was a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants between 1991 and 2016. He holds a Bachelor of Accountancy Degree from the University of Glasgow.