Eric Vanderploeg, Ph.D.

Eric is an experienced R&D leader with over 15 years working in the biotech, pharma, and medical device industries. He has led cross-functional teams and advanced multiple therapeutic programs from discovery through late-stage preclinical development, bringing deep expertise in regenerative medicine, with a particular focus on cell therapy, biologics, and combination products. Most recently, Eric served as VP, Head of Preclinical at Satellite Biosciences, guiding development of a novel cell therapy for liver disease. Prior to that, he held senior roles at Sigilon Therapeutics leading the preclinical development of stem cell-derived therapies for diabetes and at Bioventus directing biomaterials and combination product development for multiple orthopeadic indications. Eric began his industry career with Pfizer working on research programs for biomaterial mediated drug delivery, advanced wound healing, and fibrosis. Eric holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech and completed postdoctoral research at MIT in the area of cartilage tissue engineering. He is an inventor on multiple patents and a published author in the fields of biomaterials and tissue engineering.