Management Team

TheraQuest's management team brings over 80 years of combined experience and a proven track record of successfully discovering and developing pain management products. The TheraQuest management team has contributed to the development of a considerable number of analgesics approved in the United States in the past 20 years. Our management team has published over 200 scientific communications in the field of analgesia and rheumatology. We have been invited to provide scientific presentations in the U.S. and in Europe at a variety of the most prestigious venues. Our management team also has extensive experience with regulatory agencies.

Najib Babul, PharmD, is Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer of TheraQuest. Dr. Babul has been engaged in analgesic drug development for over 20 years. He has spoken and published extensively on acute pain, chronic pain, cancer pain and neuropathic pain, with over 100 published abstracts and manuscripts. He sits on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Opioid Management and the Journal of Pain and Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy and has consulted with most companies developing analgesics. Dr. Babul is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology, Temple University School of Medicine and serves as Chair of the American Pain Society's Clinical Trials Special Interest Group. Prior to TheraQuest, Dr. Babul was Vice President, Global Clinical Drug Development and Therapeutic Leader, Analgesia & Rheumatology at SCIREX Corporation (now Premier Research), a preeminent Philadelphia based clinical research organization. Prior to his tenure at SCIREX, he was Director of Clinical Research at Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin® for eight years.

Douglas R. Baum, MS, is Consulting Senior Vice President, Business Development of TheraQuest. Doug has been involved in analgesic drug development for 20 years, initially with SCIREX Corporation and, subsequently with its new corporate entity, Premier Research Group. He has extensive business development experience, working across a number of classes and formulations of analgesics, including immediate release, sustained-release and abuse deterrent opioids, TRPV1 antagonists, NSAIDs and COX-2 inhibitors. He has served as Director, Clinical Research, Executive Director Strategic Development and VP, Strategic Development in the Analgesia & Rheumatology Therapeutic Business Unit at SCIREX and later as Senior VP, Early Development Unit and VP, Global Business Development at Premier Research. Doug has significant operational experience with P&L responsibility, having served as Project Director and Program Director on numerous clinical trials in the areas of acute and chronic pain. He served as Program Director on a 22-study clinical development program with a COX-2 inhibitor. Mr. Baum has authored over 20 scientific publications in the field of pain. Doug received his bachelor's and master's degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

Danny Kao, PhD, JD, is Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development and General Counsel of TheraQuest. Dr. Kao received his undergraduate degree in pharmacy from the National Taiwan University; his master’s degree in industrial pharmacy from the St. John’s University, New York; his PhD in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Kentucky and his JD from Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center in Central Islip, New York. Dr. Kao has extensive formulation development experience. He has developed a number of marketed extended release opioid dosage forms, including several first to ANDAs and he has more than 20 issued or pending patents. Dr. Kao has also been involved in the development of other delivery systems, including OROS®, transdermal patches, nasal sprays, lozenges and quick dissolving tablets. He is a registered patent attorney at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and is admitted to practice law in New York and New Jersey.

Sophia Chang, MD, RPh, is Senior Director, Clinical Research of TheraQuest. Prior to joining TheraQuest, Dr. Chang was Director, Clinical Research and Medical Affairs at TIS Pharma, Inc and clinical pharmacist on medication therapy management service at CVS Pharmacy. She has written population pharmacokinetic programs to predict the plasma profiles of various toxic drugs. Dr. Chang received her undergraduate degree in pharmacy from Taipei University, her master's degrees in clinical pharmacy & pharmacology/toxicology from St. John's University and Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Long Island University, New York, and her M.D. degree from the University of Health Sciences Antigua. She trained in internal medicine at the Catholic Mercy Hospital in Taiwan.

Donald R. Mehlisch, MD, DDS is Consulting Chief Medical Officer of TheraQuest. Dr. Mehlisch is a physician and oral maxillofacial surgeon, internationally renowned for his scientific expertise in analgesic drug development. Dr. Mehlisch has over 100 scientific communications to his credit, including 50 articles and book chapters in peer-review journals. In his capacity as Executive Vice President, Analgesic Clinical Research at Biomedical Research Group Inc. and subsequently at Scirex Clinics, he has participated as an investigator or consultant for virtually every analgesic approved in the United States (over 400 analgesic trials). Dr. Mehlisch completed a Doctor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota, a residency in Oral Surgery at Johns Hopkins, and a Maxillofacial Reconstructive Surgery fellowship at the Mayo Clinic where he also received a Master's of Science degree.