Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Tasto has a diverse background in medicine, engineering, research, business and the non-profit sector. In addition to his M.D. degree, he has an M.S. in electrical engineering.   He was the Director of Medical Research & Technology at Immersion Medical, where he led multidisciplinary R&D teams that produced robotic and computer-based medical simulators to train physicians. Dr. Tasto was the Principal Investigator (PI) on 13 grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense (DoD). Throughout his career Dr. Tasto has focused on starting up biomedical research-related organizations. These include co-founding Medical Science & Computing, Inc (MSC) where he was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and was the Scientific Program Manager on over $200 million in contracts with the NIH. In addition, he has founded a consulting company and a social enterprise. He is on multiple non-profit boards. He is published in the fields of medicine, engineering and education. Dr. Tasto serves on NovaGen’s Board of Directors.

Board Chair

Dr. Hohman received his Ph.D. in Microbiology from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the University of Maryland, followed by postdoctoral work at the Pasteur Institute and NIH, where he studied immune cell signaling. He spent over a decade in biotechnology, leading R&D at Oncor, Inc., where he helped develop the first FDA-approved FISH-based DNA diagnostic test for breast cancer. He later led research product development and international expansion efforts in France. In 2000, Dr. Hohman returned to NIH as Associate Director for Research Technologies at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), overseeing advanced research infrastructure and a team supporting over 120 principal investigators. Dr. Hohman retired from NIH in December 2019 after a 36-year career and now provides technology consulting to government, industry, and academic institutions. In 2022, he was elected to the board of the Foundation for the Advanced Education in the Sciences, which supports NIH’s mission to train future generations of scientists. Dr. Hohman was appointed as the Chair of NovaGen’s Board of Directors in 2024.

Chief Operating and Financial Officer

Mr. Mays brings three decades of cross-sector leadership experience with a career spanning public health, defense, energy, and telecommunications. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer at Axle, where he partners with business and government executives to lead operations supporting scientific research, emerging technologies, and innovation at scale. His prior experience includes 16 years at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) where he held senior roles in strategic planning, intramural research management, and international vaccine development. He also served as the Acting Executive Officer of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), overseeing operations for the $1.7 billion program supporting over 5,000 personnel. Mr. Mays is a certified Project Management Professional with a Senior Executive Service (SES) certification from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. His career has been defined by his ability to drive innovation, implement broad operational strategies, and foster impactful partnerships advancing translational science and public health outcomes. Mr. Mays serves on NovaGen’s Board of Directors.