About


  • Chemo Patient Exam
    JYANT leverages a strong intellectual property position to develop and commercialize new therapies with companion diagnostics to bring medical products to the market faster. JYANTs's patented technologies provide ground-breaking solutions to address unmet medical needs. Our dedicated research team and staff are rapidly advancing the development and delivery of therapies and diagnostics to better care for patients with chronic diseases. Our products in development and platforms benefit from strategic partnerships.
Senior Management

James W. Lillard, Jr. Ph.D., M.B.A.
President & CEO and Co-Founder

Dr. Lillard has been President and Chief Executive Officer since September 2010 and was one of the co-founders of JYANT Technologies. James Lillard completed his B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from the Ohio State University in 1988 and worked as a product development engineer from 1988 to 1992. He received his Ph.D. in Microbiology & Immunology from the University of Kentucky School of Medicine and completed post-doctoral training from 1996 to 1999 in mucosal immunology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Lillard received his Executive MBA from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University from 2001 to 2002. Dr. Lillard directly helped establish early-stage biotech companies and indirectly contributed to the formation and commercialization plans of others, as both a scientific and strategic business advisor.

Shailesh Singh, Ph.D.
Director & Co-Founder

Dr. Singh completed his B.Sc. degree in Zoology and M.Sc. degree in reproductive physiology and endocrinology from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. He received his Ph.D. in "Cancer Biology" from Center for Experimental Medicine and Surgery, Department of Surgery, Institute of Medical Science, Banaras Hindu University. After completing his Ph.D., Dr Singh investigated the role of dietary habits and life style on etiopahtogenesis of gallbladder disease and later completed postdoctoral training at the Morehouse School of Medicine from 2000-2003. Dr Singh has extensive experience conducting clinical trials, managing clinical resources for diagnosis, tissue procurement and processing, decision making for the cancer treatment, and cancer research.

Rajesh Singh, Ph.D.
Director & Co-Founder

Dr. Singh completed his B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. degree in Agronomy from Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. Dr. Singh joined Morehouse School of Medicine as a postdoctoral fellow in 2004 and completed his post-doctoral training from 2004 to 2006 in Cancer Immunobiology and Nanotechnology. Dr. Singh also developed a novel method of targeted delivery of natural compounds and therapeutic drugs using nanotechnology to treat (prostate, breast, ovarian and lung) cancer and infectious diseases.

Board of Advisors

The Honorable Louis Sullivan, MD
CEO & Chairman of The Sullivan Alliance

Former Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services
Dr. Sullivan has many accomplishments as Secretary of the US Health and Human Services Department and a member of President George H.W. Bush's cabinet (1989-93) propelled to him to international prominence. Dr Sullivan's entire career. He was instrumental in establishing the Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) and leading MSM from its inception to evolution to an exceptional research and service Institution it is today. Dr. Sullivan currently serves on the following corporate boards: Henry Schein, United Therapeutics, Emergent Biosolutions, and BioSante Pharmaceuticals. He is retired from the boards of General Motors, 3M, Bristol Myers Squibb, CIGNA, Household International (now HBSC), and Equifax.

Harold Shlevin, PhD
Chief Operating Officer at Galectin Therapeutics Inc.
Former President & CEO of Solvay Pharmaceuticals

Dr. Shlevin is a bioscience industry executive with more than 25 years of senior management experience in the development and commercialization of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Dr. Shlevin brings a broad range of technical, managerial and leadership experience in small, medium and large pharmaceutical companies that includes a track-record of: attracting capital, negotiating partnering deals, developing/commercializing new pharmaceutical products, and optimizing regulatory compliance.

Vincent La Terza, JD
President & CEO, Aiye Pharma, Inc.

Mr. La Terza is a serial entrepreneur and past President & CEO early stage startups, Octagen, Abeome, NeurOp, and Haplomics) and current President & CEO of Aiye. He is an experienced biotech entrepreneur with a successful track record of creating value for investors. Vince was a cofounder of an Emory University spin-off company called Octagen. Octagen developed a FVIIII product for hemophilia A patients with inhibitors called OB1, which successfully completed Phase 2 clinical testing. Octagen was acquired by Ipsen and its drug, OB1, is now in late stage clinical development sponsored by Baxter. Vince was also the first business hire for NeurOp. While Vince was NeurOp's CEO, the company accessed seed financing, several major research grants and entered into an alliance with Bristol-Myers Squibb to co-develop novel medicines for depression and pain. Early in his career, Vince worked as a technology transfer professional for several major research universities in Georgia, including UGA and Georgia Tech. Vince was the first Director of Emory's Office of Technology Transfer. During his tenure at Emory, Vince was involved in licensing and equity arrangements for numerous start-up pharmaceutical companies, such as Pharmasset (acquired by Gilead). Vince also negotiated several license agreements for Emory compounds that are now approved or in human clinical trials. He was Emory's primary business and legal representative for the negotiation of a license agreement between Emory and Triangle Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Gilead) for the antiviral drug Emtriva, aka FTC. This arrangement yielded a one-time royalty payment in the amount of $540 million (lump sum royalty buy-out) to Emory.

Cherie Butts, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Immunology at Biogen Idec

Dr. Butts received her BA in Chemistry & Natural Sciences and MS in Biotechnology from the Johns Hopkins University. She later worked at the National Cancer Institute as a Cancer Research Training Fellow and completed her PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of TX at Houston Health Science Center, working at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her pre-doctoral studies (with advisor Ralph Freedman, MD, PhD) focused on characterizing dendritic cell responses in ovarian cancer patients. Dr. Butts followed with postdoctoral training at the National Institute of Mental Health (working with Esther Sternberg, MD) where she developed systems to determine the effects of steroid hormones on dendritic cell modulation in animal models. She continued her research at the Center for Drug Evaluation & Research (CDER) of the Food & Drug Administration and took on responsibilities reviewing IND applications. Dr. Butts currently serves as Associate Director of Immunology Research at Biogen IDEC, where she leads research and development efforts of biologics and small molecules targeting treatment of autoimmune/fibrotic conditions.