Leadership

William ‘Obi’ M. Greenman
President and CEO

Mr. Greenman was named our President and Chief Executive Officer in April 2011. He had served as Cerus’ Chief Business Officer since April 2010. Previously, he was Senior Vice President, Business Development and Marketing. From 2006 to 2008, he held the position of President, Cerus Europe, and prior to that, he served as Vice President, Business Development. Prior to joining Cerus in 1995 as director of business development, he worked in various marketing and business development positions in Baxter’s Biotech Division from 1991 to 1995. Mr. Greenman previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of both Aduro Biotech and Chinook Therapeutics, as Audit and Compensation Committee Chairs, respectively, for a combined period of more than a decade. He received his B.A.S. in Economics and Biological Sciences from Stanford University.

Richard J. Benjamin, MBChB, Ph.D., FRCPath
Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Benjamin was appointed as our Chief Medical Officer (CMO) in July 2015. Previously, he served as CMO for the American Red Cross where he oversaw donor and patient safety issues for 40% of the US blood supply. Prior to Red Cross, he served as Medical Director at the Adult Transfusion Service at the Joint Program in Transfusion Medicine at Harvard University. Dr. Benjamin served as a Board Member and Regional Director for North America for the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) and is an active member of the Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies (AABB). He has also served on the DHHS Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Blood and Tissue Safety and Availability (ACBTSA) in the U.S. Dr. Benjamin is an Adjunct Professor of Pathology at Georgetown University and author of 130 peer-reviewed publications. He received his M.D. from the University of Cape Town and his Ph.D. from Cambridge University, England in Immunology, and he completed post-doctoral research at Stanford University, CA.

Laurence M. Corash, M.D.
Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Corash, a co-founder of Cerus, was appointed as our Chief Scientific Officer in 2009. He has held various medical positions within the company, including Chief Medical Officer from 1994-2015. Dr. Corash was a consultant to us from 1991 to 1994. He has been a Professor of Laboratory Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco since July 1985 and was Chief of the Hematology Laboratory for the Medical Center at the University of California, San Francisco from 1982 to 1997. From February 1990 to July 1994, Dr. Corash was a consultant to the FDA Advisory Panel for Hematology Devices. He previously served on the U.S. Health and Human Services’ Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability. Dr. Corash has published over 200 original peer-reviewed research publications in the field of hematology and transfusion medicine. Dr. Corash is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology, and Hematology Pathology. He received his B.A. from Dartmouth College and his M.D. from New York University School of Medicine.

Alicia Goodman
Chief Human Resources Officer

Ms. Goodman was appointed as our Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) in September 2023. Ms. Goodman has over 30 years of experience in HR and has held various head of HR roles including most recently at Aimmune Therapeutics, which was bought by Nestle Health Science in 2020. She currently serves as a Board member for the Bay Area Red Cross. Ms. Goodman received her M.Sc.A. in Human Resources from Central Michigan University and her B.A. from Michigan State University.

Kevin D. Green
Vice President Finance and Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Green was appointed our Chief Financial Officer in 2013. From 2006 to 2013, Mr. Green served in several roles for us including Senior Director of Finance, Controller, and later, Vice President, Finance and Chief Accounting Officer. From 2000 until 2006, Mr. Green held various financial management positions with Macromedia, Inc. (acquired by Adobe Systems in 2005), including Director of Finance and Assistant Controller. Prior to joining Macromedia, Mr. Green was a member of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in the Assurance and Business Advisory Services division.

Mr. Green is a certified public accountant (inactive).

Vivek K. Jayaraman
Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Jayaraman was appointed as our Chief Operating Officer in March 2020. In his role, Mr. Jayaraman oversees commercial operations, supply chain, customer service, and manufacturing operations. Previously, Mr. Jayaraman served as Cerus’ Chief Commercial Officer from August 2016. Prior to joining Cerus in 2016, Mr. Jayaraman led TriVascular’s commercial expansion as the company grew from a preclinical, venture-backed startup into a publicly traded, global medical device company. At the time of its merger with Endologix, Inc. (NASDAQ: ELGX) in February 2016, TriVascular’s products were sold in over 30 countries. Prior to TriVascular, Mr. Jayaraman served in roles of increasing responsibility at Medtronic, Inc.; most recently serving as Vice President of Global Marketing for Medtronic’s endovascular innovations business. Mr. Jayaraman received his M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and holds dual bachelor’s degrees from the University of Michigan.

Chrystal Jensen
Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel

Ms. Jensen was appointed Chief Legal Officer in 2012. Prior to joining Cerus, Ms. Jensen served as senior corporate counsel at Zynga, Inc. From 2000-2011, she was a partner at Cooley LLP, where she had practiced corporate and securities law. Ms. Jensen received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Chicago and her Bachelor of Science in finance and accounting from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Mark Jones
Vice President, Manufacturing Development

Mr. Jones was promoted to Vice President, Manufacturing Development in June 2024. He oversees device Hardware & Software Engineering, Disposables Development, Chemical Manufacturing Controls, and Quality Assurance. Previously, Mr. Jones served as Vice President, Device Development Disposables & Platelet & Plasma Biology. Prior to joining Cerus in 2020, Mr. Jones worked as Vice President, R&D at Adherium LTD., a digital health start-up focused on promoting medication adherence and at Flex LTD. as Vice President, Design & Engineering, a global ODM providing design, engineering, manufacturing, & supply chain services. Mr. Jones has played several key roles in transformation and growth initiatives including a successful FDA Consent Decree work plan certification with Terumo Cardiovascular Group and business divesture by Baxter Healthcare. He brings over 15 years of transfusion medicine industry experience with a track record of delivering innovative results, revenue growth, and increased profitability in multiple roles. Mr. Jones holds a BS and MS degrees in Plastics Engineering from University of Massachusetts at Lowell.

Carol Moore
Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Quality

Ms. Moore was promoted to Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, Quality, and Clinical in 2013. She has been at Cerus since 2008, previously serving as Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, Quality and Clinical. Prior to joining Cerus, she served as Vice President, Worldwide Regulatory Affairs at Bayer Corporation. Ms. Moore was with Bayer for over 30 years, during which she was involved with registration and regulatory compliance of Bayer’s biological and biotech products, health policy, and strategic planning.

Nina Mufti, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President, Research and Development

Dr. Mufti was promoted to Senior Vice President, Research and Development in June 2024. In her role, she oversees research and development activities for all Cerus programs. Prior to her promotion, she held the role of Vice President, Development and Red Blood Cell (RBC) Program Leader. Since joining Cerus in 2007, Dr. Mufti has guided the product design and development efforts for the INTERCEPT RBC System and served as Vice President, Development since 2012, overseeing Cerus’ PMA submissions and approvals for INTERCEPT platelets and plasma. Prior to Cerus, Dr. Mufti worked at Nektar Therapeutics on the development, registration and commercialization of drug and device combination products. Dr. Mufti completed her Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering at Cornell University, and her Bachelor of Science, Biochemistry and Bachelor of Applied Science, Chemical Engineering at the University of Ottawa.