Board of Directors

Phillip Louis Gomez III
Chief Executive Officer

Phillip L Gomez began serving as Chief Executive Officer on October 13, 2016 and was appointed as a director on December 6, 2016.  Prior to joining SIGA, Dr. Gomez was a Principal in the Pharma & Life Sciences Management Consulting Practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”) since 2011. At PwC, and at PRTM Management Consultants (“PRTM”), where he was a Director from 2007-2011 prior its acquisition by PwC, Dr. Gomez led the team that focused on the development and execution of business strategies for leading pharmaceutical companies, governmental agencies, academic medical centers, and foundations with respect to product development and manufacturing of pharmaceutical products.  Dr. Gomez joined PRTM from the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the NIH, where he worked from 2001 – 2007 and established the Vaccine Production Program, which manufactured vaccines for clinical trials against HIV, SARS, Ebola, West Nile Virus and Influenza.  Prior to NIH, Dr. Gomez spent more than nine years in the pharmaceutical industry at Abbott Laboratories, Sanofi Pasteur, and Baxter Healthcare Corporation in positions of increasing responsibility, leading process/product development initiatives and project teams for the development of multiple biologic products.  Dr. Gomez holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dartmouth College, a Master of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy in chemical engineering from Lehigh University, and a Master of Business Administration from the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. 

Jaymie Durnan

Jaymie A. Durnan joined the SIGA Board of Directors in June 2020. He has served as the Deputy Assistant to the Director for Strategic Initiatives at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory, the nation’s premiere federally funded Department of Defense research, development and prototyping center, since September 2015. A member of the New York State Bar, he served from approximately 1992 through 1999 as a Senior Vice President and Special Counsel at MacAndrews & Forbes Holding Inc. Mr. Durnan has also served as a Product Line Manager at BAE Systems: a Partner at Radius Capital Partners, a private investment firm; and, as the Managing Member of Woodbury Hill Partners, LLC, a strategic advisory firm counseling companies from startup to the Fortune 200. His government service includes as a member of the Federal Senior Executive Service, where he served as a Special Assistant (Chief of Staff) to the Deputy Secretary of Defense and a Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense in the President George W. Bush administration. He also served as the Senior Advisor to the Chief Technology Officer and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering in the Department of Defense in the President Barack Obama administration. A retired naval officer, he served as an aircraft carrier-based naval aviator; an operations analyst on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations; an Aide to the Chief of Naval Operations; a member of staff of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff supporting arms control negotiations; a Military Assistant to Director of the Office of Net Assessment where he pursued topics related to forecasting future capabilities and alternative security environments; and a Military Social Aide to the President of the United States. For his service, Mr. Durnan has received some of the highest Defense Department non-combat awards including, the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, and the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award presented by the Secretary of the Navy to a civilian for specific courageous or heroic acts or exceptionally outstanding service of substantial and long-term benefit to the Navy, Marine Corps or Department of the Navy. Mr. Durnan has served as a director or trustee for MacAndrews & Forbes Worldwide Corp.; Swift Prepaid Solutions; kSARIA Corp.; Orthozon Technologies; Defensewerx; Antioch New England University; and, Unity College. He is the Chairman of the Andrew W. Marshall Foundation. He is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Georgetown University, and the Georgetown University School of Law.

Independent Director
Harold Ford, Jr.

Harold Ford, Jr. joined the SIGA Board of Directors in November 2022.  He is a former five-term Tennessee Congressman and is currently a vice chair and EVP in PNC’s corporate and institutional banking business. Mr. Ford is also the chair and CEO of Empowerment & Inclusion Capital I Corporation (NYSE: “EPWR”) - a PNC sponsored mission-based special purpose acquisition company. Prior to joining PNC, Mr. Ford spent more than 10 years in investment banking with Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley. In addition, he was nonexecutive chair of Rx Saver, a patient directed prescription medication search engine platform.  Mr. Ford is also a co-host of “The Five” and is a frequent contributor to “Special Report with Bret Baier.” Mr. Ford earned a BA in history from the University of Pennsylvania and a JD from the University of Michigan.

Julie M Kane
Julie M. Kane joined the SIGA Board of Directors in May 2019. Ms. Kane currently serves as Senior Vice President, Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer, and Deputy General Counsel with PG&E Corporation. Prior to joining PG&E Corporation in 2015, Ms. Kane worked at Avon Products, Incorporated as Vice President and General Counsel of Avon North America and Corporate Legal Functions. Prior to joining Avon in 2013, Ms. Kane held a number of senior roles with Novartis Corporation and its affiliates over a 25-year period. Ms. Kane is a member of the Board of Directors of the Commonwealth Club of California and the Ethics Resource Center in Washington, D.C. Ms. Kane holds an undergraduate degree in political science from Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, and a law degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law. Ms. Kane is a member of the California state bar. Ms. Kane’s decades of experience spanning several industries, including pharmaceuticals, chemicals and agribusiness, beauty, direct-selling and dual-fuel utilities, provides our Board with valuable leadership and insight into many aspects of our business.
Independent Director
Joseph W. "Chip" Marshall, III

Joseph W. “Chip” Marshall, III has served as a director of SIGA since early 2009. Mr. Marshall is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Temple University Health System (2001-2008). In 2000, he became Chair of Temple University Health System and served in that capacity until 2007. Prior to 2000, Marshall was a founding partner at Goldman & Marshall P.C., Philadelphia, PA, a corporate healthcare law firm. He received his B.A. and J.D. degrees (1975 and 1979, respectively) from Temple University. In 1990, he joined the Temple University Board of Trustees. He was a founding member of the Temple University Health System Board of Directors in 1995. He served on the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission in the 1980s and early 1990s, including as Chairman for a portion of that period. During 2005-2006, he served as a Member of the Federal Medicaid Commission. Additionally, during 2004-2006, he served as a Member of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

Independent Director
Dr. Gary Nabel
Dr. Gary J. Nabel M.D., Ph.D. joined the SIGA Board of Directors in June 2021. Dr. Nabel recently retired as Chief Scientific Officer, Global Research and Development, and Head of the North American R&D Hub at Sanofi. In addition to serving as Senior Vice President for the company, Dr. Nabel also oversaw the Breakthrough Lab, which developed the first trispecific antibodies now in development for HIV as published in Science, as well as cancer immunotherapies and novel vaccines. An author of more than 450 scientific publications, Dr. Nabel joined Sanofi in 2012 from the National Institutes of Health, where he served as Director of the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) since 1999, during which time, he provided overall direction and scientific leadership of the basic, clinical, and translational research activities and guided development of novel vaccine strategies against HIV, universal influenza, Ebola and emerging infectious disease viruses. His work encompasses basic mechanisms of HIV gene activation, structure-based vaccine design, and immunotherapy. Dr. Nabel graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1975 and continued his graduate studies at Harvard, completing his Ph.D. in 1980 and his M.D. two years later, followed by a post-doctoral fellowship with David Baltimore at the Whitehead Institute. In recognition of his expertise at the forefront of virology, immunology, gene therapy, and molecular biology, Dr. Nabel was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 1998. Among his many other honors, Dr. Nabel received the Amgen Scientific Achievement Award from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the Health and Human Services Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service, and is a fellow of the American Association of Physicians, and the American Academy of Arts Sciences. Dr. Nabel’s broad experience and expertise within the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, as well as Dr. Nabel’s history of leadership within the National Institutes of Health, provide the Board with valuable insights into many aspects of our business.
Julian Nemirovsky

Julian Nemirovsky has served as a director of SIGA since December of 2020. He currently serves as Senior Vice President, Capital Markets at MacAndrews & Forbes, where he is responsible for managing all capital-structure matters relating to the firm’s portfolio companies and new investments. Prior to joining MacAndrews in 2020, he spent 9 years at MidOcean Credit Partners, where he held the title of Principal and Portfolio Manager. In that role, he was responsible for management of over $1 billion of assets across several opportunistic credit strategies including long/short hedge funds and illiquid credit drawdown funds. Prior to joining MidOcean in 2011, he was an Associate at Union Capital, a lower-middle market private equity firm. He began his career in 2006 as an Analyst in Goldman Sachs’ Leveraged Finance group within the Investment Banking division. Julian holds a BBA from Baruch College and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business (Dartmouth).

Michael C. Plansky

Michael C. Plansky joined the SIGA Board of Directors in May 2017. He has 35 years of experience at KPMG LLP where he served in a variety of senior leadership positions until his retirement in 2010.  From 2005-2009, he was the National Partner in Charge, Risk Management – Audit, and Regional Risk Management Partner, serving on the firm's Professional Practice Committee and having responsibility for oversight of risk management for the Americas region.  Mr. Plansky also served as the firm's Ombudsman and a member of its Legal and Compliance Committee and Management Review Panel.  Earlier in his tenure, he held the roles of Lead Audit Engagement Partner, SEC Reviewing Partner and National Director of the firm's Consumer Products Practice, serving a broad range of global public companies. Also, Mr. Plansky served as a director on ANN INC.'s Board of Directors between 2011 and 2015 and was an Adjunct Associate Professor at New York University's Leonard N. Stern School of Business.

Lead Director
Dr. Holly Phillips
Dr. Holly Phillips joined the SIGA Board of Directors in June 2021. Dr. Phillips, a Board-Certified General Internist in private practice in Manhattan, gained nationwide recognition as a Senior Medical Contributor for CBS News. For 16 years, at her Upper East Side practice, she has addressed all aspects of internal medicine and has established a broad referral base of specialists across the City’s major hospital systems. Prior to joining CBS News, Dr. Phillips was the Chief Medical Correspondent for CBS2, New York’s local news affiliate. She has also served as an on-air expert and anchor for the nationally syndicated program “The Doctors.” Frequently quoted in print, she has held contributing editor roles for both Prevention and Cosmopolitan. Dr. Phillips is the author of “The Exhaustion Breakthrough,” published by Rodale, a New York Times Digital Bestseller for Health and Wellness. Dr. Phillips holds a B.A. in English from Williams College and a medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. During her residency at Lenox Hill Hospital, she was awarded the Letter of Commendation for Outstanding Performance in Women’s Health after spearheading a cancer screening and health maintenance program for residents of the Park Avenue Women’s Shelter. Dr. Phillips is a member of the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, and the Independent Doctors Association of New York. Dr. Phillips’ many years of direct patient-facing interactions, broad network of hospital-based and institutional relationships, and communication, broadcast and journalism experience, provide the Board with unique insight into the perspectives of a wide range of stakeholders.
Dr. Jay Varma
Jay K. Varma, MD, joined the SIGA Board of Directors in November 2022.  Dr. Varma is a Professor of Population Health Sciences and Director of the Cornell Center for Pandemic Prevention and Response at Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Varma is an expert on the prevention and control of diseases, having led epidemic responses, developed global and national policies, and led large-scale programs that have saved hundreds of thousands of lives in China, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the United States.  From 2001-2021, he worked for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with postings in Atlanta, Thailand, China, Ethiopia, and New York City. Recruited by the Mayor of New York at the peak of the COVID epidemic, Dr. Varma served from April 2020 to May 2021 as the principal scientific spokesperson and architect for New York City’s COVID-19 pandemic response, including the largest diagnostic testing and contact tracing programs in the country, the phased re-opening of businesses, the health policies and practices for the safe re-opening of the largest public school system in the country, and vaccination campaigns. In September 2021, Dr. Varma joined Weill Cornell Medicine to conduct research, training, and programs on public health and direct a new center focused on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.  Dr. Varma graduated with highest honors from Harvard for his undergraduate education, and completed medical school, internal medicine residency, and chief residency at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine
Board Diversity Matrix (as of November 14, 2022)
  Female Male Non-Binary Did not Disclose
Gender
Board Size: Total Number of Directors 10
Gender 2 8 0 0
Number of Directors who identify in Any of the Categories Below:
Asian 0 1 0 0
African American or Black 1 1 0 0
White 1 5 0 0
Hispanic or Latinx 0 1 0 0
Alaskan Native or Native American 0 0 0 0
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 0 0 0 0
Two or More Races or Ethnicities 0 0 0 0
Did Not Disclose Demographic Background  0