About TriCelX

Jakes Jordaan founded TriCelX in 2023 and leads the company as Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer. He built TriCelX as a vertically integrated biotherapeutics platform, from birth-tissue sourcing and in-house cGMP manufacturing to clinical development and physician delivery, and serves as sponsor of the company's four FDA INDs.

Mr. Jordaan brings more than 20 years of C-level operating experience across agribusiness, manufacturing, financial services, mining and consumer goods, including as CEO of a large multinational company and as operating partner of a private equity fund.

As a chief executive and investment banker, he has structured, negotiated and completed nearly every form of corporate transaction, with a combined value of more than $5 billion. These include mergers, leveraged and management buyouts, recapitalizations, tender offers, joint ventures, venture capital financings and more than 20 public offerings of debt and equity.

Abdul Baker, MD, serves as Chief Medical & Strategy Officer at TriCelX and is Principal Investigator on the company's four FDA INDs: knee osteoarthritis, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, ALS and Alzheimer's disease. He leads TriCelX's clinical programs, from protocol design to patient care.

A board-certified neurosurgeon, he completed his internship at Cleveland Clinic and fellowship training at Johns Hopkins University.

Kathryn Dziedzic serves as Chief Operating Officer of TriCelX, where she leads day-to-day operations, commercial operations, strategic partnerships and investor relations.

Ms. Dziedzic brings operational and business development experience from leading healthcare organizations, including The Steadman Clinic, one of the world's premier sports medicine institutions. She holds an MBA.

Cayla Clark, PhD, serves as the Director of Clinical Research at TriCelX, where she is co-investigator on the company’s clinical trials of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal signaling cells. Her background centers on exercise and environmental therapies to treat neurodegenerative diseases, bridging scientific research with clinical application to drive meaningful outcomes for patients.

Her research has focused on brain health and neurodegeneration, spanning Parkinson’s disease, cognitive function, cerebral oxygenation, and the role of sleep in neurological disease. Her doctoral work examined whether whole-body passive heating and aerobic exercise increased heat shock protein expression to improve motor and non-motor symptoms in women with Parkinson’s disease. She serves on the Executive Board of the Parkinson’s Discovery Institute in Fort Worth, Texas. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles, published in journals including Scientific Reports, Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience and Sleep Medicine, and has delivered more than 30 conference presentations.

She holds a PhD in Kinesiology from Texas Woman’s University, an MS in Kinesiology from Texas Tech University, and a BS in Kinesiology, summa cum laude, from Abilene Christian University.

Ms. Amys serves as Director of Clinical Operations at TriCelX, where she delivers patient care and runs day-to-day operations across the company's clinical trials of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal signaling cells. She works with the team to turn study protocols into clinical practice, from patient screening and treatment to follow-up.

A board-certified physician assistant with a clinical background in minimally invasive neurosurgery and spine care, Ms. Amys also serves as Chief Operating Officer for multiple healthcare organizations. Before her clinical training, she worked in research and development at 3M, where she is a named inventor on multiple patents. That experience gives her a foundation in scientific rigor, product development and quality that she brings to clinical care.

Ms. Amys graduated with distinction at the top of her class and was inducted into Pi Alpha, the National Physician Assistant Honor Society. Selected from a class of 100, she received the Vernon A. & Virginia M. Culver Memorial Award for excellence in research, recognizing her literature review and her research in community health.

Ms. Amys holds an MCMSc from Barry University and a BS in Neuroscience from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

General Smith served as Commander, U.S. Joint Forces Command, and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, Norfolk, Virginia, with operational control over approximately 1.19 million forces.

He led NATO’s transformation efforts and training for operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo. A command pilot, he flew more than 165 combat missions.

General Kimmitt served as Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs from 2008 to 2009, overseeing security assistance and arms sales and serving as the principal liaison between the Departments of State and Defense.

His portfolio included the international response to piracy off the coast of Somalia.