Our Leadership
Rod Ray - Ph.D., P.E.
CEO and Chairman
Dr. Ray is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of the Board at Bend Research, where he has worked since 1983. During his time at Bend Research, Dr. Ray has held numerous positions specializing in the development and commercialization of a wide range of products. He has been instrumental in directing the management of large-scale programs to advance pharmaceutical compounds through the development process to commercialization, serving as the primary...
James Nightingale - Ph.D.
President
Dr. Nightingale serves as President at Bend Research, where he has worked since 1993. His areas of scientific expertise include the development of pharmaceutical drug-delivery systems, including controlled- and triggered-release formulations and the bioavailability-enhanced formulations for low-solubility compounds. He was instrumental in the development of Bend Research’s spray-dried dispersion (SDD) and nanoparticle technologies for delivery of low-solubility compounds and has...
Lisa Graham - Ph.D., P.E.
Senior Vice President
Dr. Graham, Senior Vice President at Bend Research, is responsible for business development, particularly for biotherapeutics and new technology areas; management of major client relationships; strategic planning; and technology and engineering development. Dr. Graham’s areas of particular focus include growth of the biotherapeutics business programs for large molecules, and leveraging technical expertise in the application of fundamental engineering knowledge to the development of...
Bruce DeKock - J.D.
General Counsel and Senior Vice President
Mr. DeKock is General Counsel and Senior Vice President for Bend Research and is responsible for corporate legal affairs and management of the patent group. His areas of legal expertise include the protection of intellectual property and complex commercial litigation. He has practiced before the federal courts in patent and trademark cases, including the U.S. District Court for the Districts of Oregon and Arizona and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and...
Dwayne Friesen - Ph.D.
Senior Vice President
Dr. Friesen, Senior Vice President, is responsible for directing the research and development of novel drug - delivery technologies and formulations for the advancement of active pharmaceutical ingredients. He has been instrumental in the development of novel drug-delivery platforms and dosage forms for the delivery of compounds with challenging properties, including those with extremely low water solubility. His current work includes the development of...
David Lyon - Ph.D.
Senior Vice President
Dr. Lyon, Senior Vice President, oversees Research at Bend Research. He leads development activities for new technologies, oversees the development of predictive biomodels, and provides technical and general leadership to the research groups for new and applied technologies. Dr. Lyon is also responsible for all activities related to new business development. His areas of technical expertise include the reactivity of small organic molecules in the solid state,...
Tanya Hayden
Vice President
Ms. Hayden, Vice President, serves as the director of Project Management for Bend Research Inc. She is responsible for design and implementation of project management initiatives. She is also leading our newly formed Emerging Best Medicines group, whose mission is to support the advancement of clients’ best new medicines by utilizing Bend Research capabilities and technologies, as well as outsourcing to an experienced collaborator network. Her other areas of...
Dan Dobry
Vice President
Mr. Dobry, Vice President, oversees Engineering at Bend Research. Mr. Dobry’s responsibilities include managing the engineering group, which focuses on formulation and engineering for novel drug‑delivery technologies; managing client relationships; and business development. He has also been a key contributor to the development of Bend Research's SDD technology and has worked on formulation, process design, scale‑up, and technology transfer from preclinical screening...
David Vodak - Ph.D.
Vice President
Dr. Vodak, Vice President, oversees Chemistry at Bend Research, where his responsibilities include overseeing the development of new pharmaceutical delivery platforms, including the successful development of a pulmonary drug-delivery platform based on spray-dried engineered particles. His areas of expertise include the research and development of novel pharmaceutical drug-delivery systems, particularly for the delivery of low-solubility compounds.
Dr. Vodak holds a B.A...
Ralph Nauman
Vice President
Mr. Nauman, Vice President, is responsible for Organizational Development at Bend Research, and has been a member of the Bend Research Board of Directors since 2000. As part of overseeing corporate organizational development, Mr. Nauman is responsible for general management, business development, finance, and strategic initiatives. He also serves as CEO of Environ-Metal Inc., which produces HEVI-Shot tungsten shotgun shells. Previously, Mr. Nauman served as...
Trevor Wigle - P.E.
Vice President
Mr. Wigle, Vice President, is responsible for all aspects of clinical manufacturing, including financials, operations, quality control, and facilities/engineering. He has led multidisciplinary teams and designed, built, and maintained equipment and facilities used to make pharmaceutical products, particularly those based on spray‑dried and melt‑congeal platforms. His expertise includes mechatronics, controls, and embedded system design. Mr....
Debra Katter
Vice President
Ms. Katter, Vice President, is responsible for Quality oversight for drug-product manufacture under current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) and other applicable regulations. As head of the Quality organization, which encompasses both Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC), she is also charged with regulatory registrations and interactions with regulatory agencies and customer compliance groups during inspections and audits. Ms. Katter...
Doug Lorenz
Vice President
Mr. Lorenz , Vice President, is responsible for applied technology at Bend Research. He directs the formulation, testing, and advancement of pharmaceutical candidates from discovery through Phase III clinical trials using a number of different drug delivery platforms. These include solubility-enhanced systems, controlled- and triggered-release technologies, and osmotic tablet technologies. Mr. Lorenz has expertise in synthetic and analytical chemistry, chiral separations, and...
Dana Settell
Vice President
Ms. Settell, Vice President, oversees large, late-stage manufacturing and engineering programs at Bend Research. Formerly, she was director of business development. In addition, in a previous position as director of operations at the company’s current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) facility, she assisted with the installation, commissioning, start-up, maintenance, validation, and operation of a PSD-2/FSD-4 spray dryer. Ms. Settell has extensive experience with scaling up drug...
