Leadership
HRGN is led by an experienced team with an extensive background in biotechnology, patient care, finance, and new product development.
Mr. He joined Harvard Apparatus Regenerative Technology, Inc as its CEO and Chairman of the Board in March 2023. Prior to that, Mr. He served as the CEO of Bright Scholar Education Holdings Limited (NYSE listed: BEDU) since October 2015, until he was promoted to Executive Vice Chairman in January 2019. Prior to joining Bright Scholar, Mr. He was a Managing Director at TStone Corp, a private equity firm. He also served as CFO, CEO and a director of Noah Education Holdings Ltd., a former NYSE listed private education services provider in China, from July 2009 to December 2011. Mr. He was a portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley Global Wealth Management from June 2008 to June 2009 and he held a position as Vice President at Bear Stearns from July 2006 to May 2008. Mr. He had extensive experience working with pharmaceutical and biotech companies when he was a management consultant. Mr. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Peking University and a Master’s degree in Chemistry, MBA with Honors from the University of Chicago. Mr. He is a CFA charter holder.
Hong Yu, age 46, is a seasoned executive with extensive knowledge in strategic analytics, wealth management, and investment research. Prior to Biostage, Mr. Yu was most recently a Senior VicePresident responsible for strategic analytics at Bank of America, where he was employed for nearly 20 years. During his career, Mr. Yu has built strong business connections in various industries,including biotech/healthcare, financial services, and robotics/artificial intelligence. He developed an expertise in matching emerging companies with cross-border investors, often providing U.S.companies with market access to the vast capital supply in China. Mr. Yu graduated from Huanggang High School (Hubei, China) in 1990 and obtained a B.S. in Biophysics from Peking University(Beijing, China), and M.S. in Biostatistics from School of Public Health, University of Illinois (Chicago, IL). Mr. Yu is a charterholder of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Joseph Damasio has over 20 years of finance and accounting experience, most recently as Vice President of Finance at Inhibikase Therapeutics, a publicly-traded clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, since October 2021 prior to joining Biostage. Before joining Inhibikase, Mr. Damasio was Controller at Cue Biopharma from June 2020 to October 2021, Controller at XL Fleet from February 2019 to June 2020, and Chief Financial Officer at Pressure BioSciences, Inc. from April 2017 to February 2019. Mr. Damasio earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting, with honors, from theUniversity of Massachusetts. He holds an MBA and MSF from Boston College and is a Certified Public Accountant in Massachusetts.
Dr. Hu has over 15 years of experience in business and market development, process and product development, investment and R&D strategy. He founded and co-founded 3 startups in China and managed global business operations in China, USA and EU. He has broad experience with CMC on medical devices, biologics and drugs, operations and project management including expertise in technologies transfer, cGMPs commercial manufacturing, and contract manufacturing management through Bioventus, Biostage, Velcro, GT Advanced Technologies and others. He holds a B.S. degree in Materials Science with minors in International Trade; Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering.