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Derek K. Rapp - Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Rapp joined Divergence in January, 2001 after more than twelve years with the Monsanto Company in St. Louis.
At Divergence, he has responsibility for strategic planning, financing, business operations, and the formation
of alliances. At Monsanto, Mr. Rapp served as Director of Mergers & Acquisitions; Director of Investor Relations;
Director of Commercial Partnership & Alliances for the Ceregen business unit; and Director of Strategic Planning
within the agricultural group. He led several major acquisitions and licensing transactions in the plant biotechnology
area and the completion of a $2 billion divestiture program. He has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School, University of
Pennsylvania with concentrations in Finance and Corporate Management, and he has a B.A. from Brown University. He also
has investment banking experience, having worked for two years for Lazard Frères & Co. in New York. Mr. Rapp is the
founder of the non-profit organization St. Louis Cares, Chairman of the Board of the Greater St. Louis
Community Foundation, and a board member of the Missouri Biotechnology Industry Association, the St. Louis Life Sciences Project, and the St. Louis
Regional Chamber and Growth Association (RCGA). Mr. Rapp is the Chairman of the Friends' Committee of the Donald
Danforth Plant Science Center. He is a member of the Lay Review Committee and the Research Development Committee of the
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
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James P. McCarter, M.D., Ph.D. - Founder, President, and Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. McCarter is an expert in the application of genomics to parasitic disease, leading both industry and
academic initiatives to reduce diseases of humans, animals, and plants caused by nematode worms. He founded
Divergence in 1998 to apply new genomics technology to the discovery of effective and ecologically sound
strategies for parasite control. A full-time employee of Divergence since 2002, Dr. McCarter leads scientific
discovery and development within the Company. Dr. McCarter is also an Adjunct Instructor in Genetics at
Washington University School of Medicine's Genome Center (GC) in St. Louis, continuing work he initiated in
1998 as the Merck Fellow of the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation working with GC Director Dr. Robert Waterston.
At the GC, Dr. McCarter has led the world's largest effort devoted to the sequencing of genes from parasitic
nematodes, generating over 500,000 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from 32 species with funding from the
National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. He is a co-author of over 50 scientific
papers and reviews. Dr. McCarter completed his medical and doctoral training at Washington University,
receiving the Victor Hamburger Prize in developmental biology for his research on the model nematode C.
elegans. Previously, he graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University, receiving the Cannon Award in
biology. Dr. McCarter is the recipient of the 2003 Innovation Award from the Academy of Science of St. Louis,
a member of the 2002 class of Henry Crown Fellows of the Aspen Institute, and a 2002 selection for the St.
Louis Business Journal's 40-Under-40 list of business leaders. He is the founder of Washington University's
Young Scientist outreach program and serves on the University's National Research Advisory Council. In 2008,
he joined the board of the Academy of Science of St. Louis.
Related Links:
Genome Center
Young Scientist Outreach Program
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Deryck Jeremy Williams, Ph.D. - Vice President of Discovery Research
Dr. Williams joined Divergence in 2000 to implement the Company's bioinformatics and target
gene discovery efforts. He has overseen the development of the Company's strategies in genomics,
functional validation using RNA interference, and chemistry, and is a co-inventor on several
dozen patents and patent applications held by Divergence and its collaborators. He is the
company's liaison to its intellectual property counsel, Fish and Richardson. As Vice President
of Discovery Research he oversees the company's discovery efforts which include several chemical
and transgenic projects in nematode control. Prior to joining Divergence, Dr. Williams was a
post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Biochemistry at Washington University School of Medicine
in St. Louis. Dr. Williams received a Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics from Washington University
where he worked with Dr. Kathleen Hall on the application of computational methods - continuum
solvation and stochastic dynamics models - to analyze the effects of mutations on the thermodynamics
and structure of RNA hairpins. At Washington University, Dr Williams twice held the Gerty T. Cori
Sigma Chemical Company Fellowship. He received his B.A. in Biochemistry and French from Swarthmore
College where he was also a Pew Minority Fellow.
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Michelle Coutu Hresko, Ph.D.
- Senior Director of Crop Improvement Technology
Dr. Hresko joined Divergence in 2001 to lead the Company's efforts in C. elegans molecular genetics and
to direct multiple projects in nematode control based on Divergence's gene target discoveries. She has
served as principal investigator on Small Business Innovation Research Grants from the National Science
Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Dr. Hresko brings to Divergence 20 years of experience
in C. elegans and Drosophila molecular genetics with a focus on structural proteins. Most recently, she
was a Research Instructor in Genetics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis where she
was also a post-doctoral fellow with departmental chairman Robert Waterston M.D., Ph.D. researching key
genes involved in muscle attachment. Previously, Dr. Hresko received a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University
in Baltimore where she worked on vinculin with Susan Craig Ph.D. and a B.A. in Biology from Wheaton College
in Norton, Massachusetts. Dr. Hresko has authored 10 research papers and is a recipient of the George Meany
Award from the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
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Michelle Insco -
Senior Director of Business Administration, Corporate Secretary
Ms. Insco joined Divergence in 2001 and manages a variety of functions for Divergence, including human resources,
financial management, communications, grant management, general administration, acting as liaison with attorneys,
accountants, and others. Prior to her employment with Divergence, Ms. Insco worked for seven years with KPMG LLP in
New York where she was, most recently, Project Manager for the Office of the Chairman of KPMG US and International.
Ms. Insco has a bachelor's degree from Truman University with a major in speech communications and a minor in business
administration. Ms. Insco is a member of the Friends Committee of St. Louis Children's Hospital, an Allocations panel
member for the United Way of Greater St. Louis and Vice President of the Board of Trustees for The St. Michael School, an
Independent School in Clayton, Missouri.
If you are interested in employment with Divergence, submit CV or resume to Michelle Insco, Divergence, Inc., 1005 North
Warson Road, St. Louis, MO, 63132; via email to info@divergence.com;
via fax to 314-812-8099.
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Barry Shortt, Ph.D.
- Senior Director of Plant Protection Research
Dr. Shortt joined Divergence in 2002 after 17 years as a plant pathologist at Monsanto Company in
St. Louis. At Divergence, he leads the testing of chemicals and transgenes for nematode control in
laboratory and greenhouse trials, and oversees progress in formulation chemistry. He also supervises
all field trials, collaborations in product testing, and other efforts in plant pathology. At Monsanto,
Dr. Shortt conducted and coordinated chemical and biotech research trials for control of nematodes and
diseases of most commercial row crops, fruits, vegetables, as well as ornamentals. He directed all
greenhouse- and field-testing for the Monsanto/Bayer Tribute nematicidal chemistry and has relationships
with an extensive network of private and academic field test sites throughout the U.S. He is also a
patent holder for the silthiofam fungicidal chemistry introduced in Europe in 1999 and was a discovery
team leader for thifluzamide fungicidal chemistry introduced in Japan in 1998 by Rohm and Haas. Dr.
Shortt received a Ph.D. and M.S. in Plant Pathology from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and
a B.S. in Biology from Northeast Missouri State University.
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Michael Crawford, Ph.D. -
Director, Discovery Research
Dr. Crawford joined Divergence in 2005. In addition to playing key roles in target identification and
curation initiatives, Dr. Crawford directs the animal and human health aspects of the company's chemical
discovery program. He is also the principal investigator on Small Business Innovation Research Grants from
the National Institutes of Health and U.S. Department of Agriculture. Prior to joining Divergence, Dr.
Crawford was a Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Associate in the laboratory of Dr. David S. Roos at the
University of Pennsylvania where his research involved bioinformatic, biochemical, pharmacological, cell
biological and genetic approaches to identify and characterize proteins targeted to the plastid organelle of
apicomplexan parasites. He received his Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis where he worked in the
laboratory of Dr. Daniel Goldberg performing studies on gene regulation and nitrosative stress protection in
Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Salmonella typhimurium.
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Matt Dimmic, Ph.D. -
Director of Computational Discovery Research
Dr. Dimmic joined Divergence in 2005 to expand the company's capabilities in comparative genomics and
structural bioinformatics. He currently coordinates the company's discovery program in plant protection
chemistry and leads the molecular modeling and cheminformatic programs. Dr. Dimmic is the principal
investigator on a Small Business Innovation Research Grant from the National Institutes of Health. Prior to
joining Divergence, he was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell University working with Dr. Carlos
Bustamante and Dr. Rasmus Nielsen, where he developed advanced computational methods for detecting
coevolution between amino acid residues in proteins. Dr. Dimmic received his Ph.D. in Biophysics from the
University of Michigan, working in the laboratory of Richard Goldstein to develop models of protein
evolution which account for differing selective constraints due to protein structure and function.
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Bingli Gao, Ph.D. - Director of Transgenic Discovery
Dr. Gao joined Divergence in 2004 to lead the Company's efforts in transgenic nematode control.
He brings to Divergence significant experience in plant parasitic nematode molecular biology and
host-parasite interactions. Prior to joining Divergence, Dr. Gao was a post-doctoral fellow with
Dr. Dick Hussey at the University of Georgia where Dr. Gao contributed nine first-author publications
on the study of the molecular and functional characterization of parasitism genes in the soybean
cyst nematode Heterodera glycines. This work included a comprehensive profile of parasitism genes in
H. glycines, the first such profile produced for a parasitic nematode. Dr. Gao received his Ph.D. from
Nanjing Agricultural University in China where he worked on signal recognition between rhizobacteria
and legumes. Dr. Gao previously served as Associate Professor of Microbiology at Central South Forestry
University (Hunan, China) where his research focused mainly on the biological control of forest pests.
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Urszula Slomczynska, Ph.D., D.Sc. - Director of Discovery Chemistry
Dr. Slomczynska joined Divergence in 2008 to expand the company's chemistry efforts in parasite control.
She has over 25 years experience in chemistry discovery including 13 years leading small-molecule drug
discovery and development, including lead selection and optimization, drug delivery, process optimization
and analytical chemistry. Dr. Slomczynska has directed research programs in the areas of amino acid,
peptide and peptidomimetic chemistry, enzymatic synthesis, and development of small-molecule therapeutics.
Dr. Slomczynska received her M.S. in Chemistry in 1974, Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry in 1981 and D.Sc. in
Organic Chemistry in 1992 from the Technical University of Lodz, Poland, where she was an Assistant
Professor until 1994. She also performed postdoctoral work at University of Minnesota with Dr. George
Barany and worked at Washington University with Dr. Garland Marshall. At Northwestern University, she
managed the Medical School's combinatorial synthesis facility. Dr. Slomczynska's positions in industry
include Research Director at Receptor Laboratories, Inc. and multiple roles over six years at MetaPhore
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. At MetaPhore, her positions increased in responsibility from Combinatorial Chemistry
Manger to Senior Director of Drug Product Development focusing on progressing orally available synthetic SOD
enzymatic mimetics and iron chelators into clinical trials. Prior to joining Divergence she worked as
Director of Medicinal Chemistry for Apath, LLC leading research on small-molecule inhibitors for treatment
of RNA viral infections. In addition to 51 publications, she holds several patents, was the recipient of the
Polish Academy of Sciences Award in 1989, and was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Scholar in
1995.
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John D. Bradley, M.S. - Senior Scientist
Mr. Bradley joined Divergence in 2000. He brings over twenty years of experience in biotechnology
discovery and development. At Divergence, he has managed efforts in molecular target identification
through RNAi studies of C. elegans and pathogenic nematodes; he currently directs the molecular biology
construction team. Mr. Bradley is an author on more than twenty U.S. patents on such topics as target
identification in nematodes and the yeast C. albicans, molecular approaches to target evaluation in the
yeast S. cerevisiae, identification of antifungal chemistry, and purification of anti-apoptotic lipid
mixtures. Prior to working at Divergence, he designed, developed and implemented strategies for target
gene validation in yeast at Scriptgen (now Anadys) Pharmaceuticals; at Chiron Corporation he worked on
purification strategies for human recombinant growth factors in yeast; and at LXR Biotechnology, Inc.
he identified and isolated anti-apoptotic lipids from soybean. Mr. Bradley is a graduate of Harvard
College, with a B.A. in Biochemical Studies. He received his M.S. from the University of California,
Berkeley for studies of telomerase in T. thermophila.
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