Meet the Team
Excitant Therapeutics is a pharmaceutical start-up based in Oklahoma City, OK. We are focused on developing novel therapeutic agents for ophthalmic diseases, especially those with dysfunctional microvasculature basis such as Diabetic Retinopathy, Diabetic Macular Edema, and Age-related Macular Degeneration. With our world-class scientific expertise in this field, we strive to translate our science to enhance current standard of care for many ophthalmic diseases.
Henry Shin, Ph.D.
Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer
Henry is a biotech entrepreneur and translational scientist with over +15 years of experience in ophthalmic and retinal disease research. As a co-founder and CEO of Excitant Therapeutics, he has successfully led the company from discovery through grant-funded preclinical development, securing multiple non-dilutive funding sources and advancing a strong IP estate around novel, selective PPAR-α agonists. Beyond his scientific expertise, Henry has demonstrated strategic leadership by building cross-functional teams, forging collaborations, and developing regulatory and commercial roadmaps to position the company for long-term success. On our team, he brings a unique combination of scientific depth, business strategy, and visionary leadership to drive program execution and corporate growth.
Joe Smith, M.S.E
Chief Business Officer (Acting)
& Executive Advisor
Joe is a seasoned life sciences executive with over 20 years of experience across consulting, equity capital markets, start-ups, and specialty pharma/biotech. He has played a key role in more than 40 M&A and licensing transactions worth over $20 billion and a dozen financings totaling ~$300 million, including leading turnaround efforts that helped rescue three public companies from potential bankruptcy. He has developed Board-ready strategic plans and long-term financial models integrating organic and inorganic growth, consistently driving value creation across diverse teams. On our team, Joe brings expertise in shaping corporate strategy, leading opportunity evaluation and diligence, and supporting execution of financing, M&A, and licensing to advance the company’s growth.
Henry Shin, Ph.D.
Co-founder & Board Member
Henry is a biotech entrepreneur and translational scientist with over +15 years of experience in ophthalmic and retinal disease research. As a co-founder and CEO of Excitant Therapeutics, he has successfully led the company from discovery through grant-funded preclinical development, securing multiple non-dilutive funding sources and advancing a strong IP estate around novel, selective PPAR-α agonists. Beyond his scientific expertise, Henry has demonstrated strategic leadership by building cross-functional teams, forging collaborations, and developing regulatory and commercial roadmaps to position the company for long-term success. On our team, he brings a unique combination of scientific depth, business strategy, and visionary leadership to drive program execution and corporate growth.
Jian-Xing (Jay) Ma, M.D./Ph.D.​
Co-founder & Board Member
Jay is a leading expert in the field of Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) research who has identified and investigated various pathogenic mechanisms underlying diabetes complications. Jay has established many diabetic animal models, transgenic and knock-out mice as well as the assays and techniques for DR studies in his laboratory. He has been continously funded through NIH since 1998, and has published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers.
Adam Duerfeldt, Ph.D.
Co-founder & Board Member
Adam obtained his Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Kansas. After completing an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship at The Scripps Research Institute, he began his independent research career at the University of Oklahoma. Adam's expertise lies in structure-guided lead optimization and his research interests include 1) the development of chemical tools that can be utilized to enhance our understanding of disease mechanisms and 2) the development of new therapeutic leads for the treatment of cancers, bacterial infections, and ocular diseases.