Leadership

Tom McCourt joined Ironwood in 2009 as senior vice president of marketing and sales and chief commercial officer, advancing to hold the roles of president and interim chief executive officer before becoming chief executive officer and member of the board of directors in 2021. He has played an instrumental role in the success of the company’s blockbuster product, LINZESS™, and in advancing the company’s scientific pipeline with potential treatments that address GI areas of high unmet need.

Mr. McCourt joined Ironwood after having led the U.S. brand team for denosumab at Amgen Inc. Before that, Mr. McCourt worked for Novartis AG for seven years, where he directed the launch and growth of ZELNORM™ for the treatment of patients with IBS-C (irritable bowel syndrome with constipation) and CIC (chronic idiopathic constipation) and held several senior commercial roles, including vice president of strategic marketing and operations. He was also part of the founding team at Astra Merck Inc., leading the development of the medical affairs and science liaison group and then serving as brand manager for PRILOSEC^® and NEXIUM^®.

Mr. McCourt serves on the board of directors and as a member of the compensation committee of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLRX) and on the board of trustees for the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE). Mr. McCourt recently served on the board of directors of Acceleron Pharma Inc., serving as Chairman of the Nomination and Governance committee and as a member of the Audit and Compensation committees. He received the 2023 UW–Madison School of Pharmacy Citation of Merit, the 2023 PM360 Uber ELITE Award, the 2024 ASGE Industry Service Award, and the 2022 ASGE President’s Award. Mr. McCourt holds a degree in pharmacy from the University of Wisconsin.

Dr. Shetzline has served as our chief medical officer, and head of research and drug development since October 2021 and had served as chief medical officer, and head of drug development from January 2019 to October 2021. Dr. Shetzline is a gastroenterologist and internist, with more than 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and academia. Before joining Ironwood, Dr. Shetzline was vice president and head of gastroenterology clinical sciences at Takeda Pharmaceuticals International Co., or Takeda, a global pharmaceutical company, where he led global clinical development for all GI assets from January 2015 to January 2019. Prior to Dr. Shetzline’s role at Takeda, Dr. Shetzline served as vice president and global head of gastroenterology at Ferring International Pharmascience Center U.S., Inc., or Ferring, from 2012 to January 2015, during which he led Ferring’s clinical development programs in gastroenterology. Before that, Dr. Shetzline was vice president and global program head crossing multiple therapeutic areas and head of translational medicine GI discovery at Novartis Pharmaceuticals AG from 2002 to 2012. Dr. Shetzline also served as gastroenterology program director and assistant professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center from 1997 to 2002. Dr. Shetzline has published over 40 full papers and book chapters and acted as a reviewer for a range of medicine journals. Dr. Shetzline earned his M.D. and Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in physiology and medicine. Dr. Shetzline completed his internal medicine residency and fellowship in gastroenterology and served on the faculty as a National Institutes of Health supported physician scientist at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Shetzline is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, the American College of Gastroenterology, and the American Gastroenterological Association and certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Dr. Huh has served as Vice President and Head of Clinical Development since September 2022. Dr. Huh is a board-certified pediatric gastroenterologist experienced leader in clinical development, clinical and epidemiologic research, and quality improvement. Before joining Ironwood, Dr. Huh was Senior Medical Director and Global Clinical Lead in the gastrointestinal therapeutic area unit at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, where she led global clinical development for the TAU’s microbiome portfolio, overseeing the clinical strategy for inflammatory bowel disease and liver disease assets in preclinical through Phase 2. Prior to this role, Dr. Huh held clinical development leadership roles in asset programs across phases 1-4 targeting motility, inflammatory bowel disease, and rare pediatric disease.

Dr. Huh is an accomplished clinician and researcher who is Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and a Pediatric Gastroenterologist at Boston Children’s Hospital. Prior to joining Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Huh’s clinical and research interests focused on the effects of early childhood nutrition on lifelong health. For ten years, Dr. Huh directed the Growth and Nutrition Program, a multidisciplinary program offering diagnosis and treatment for children with malnutrition and feeding difficulties, and she continues a part-time clinical practice in this program. She has held NIH and other research grants, and her research on prenatal and early childhood factors associated with child obesity have earned national media attention.

Dr. Huh has over 20 published research articles and has served as an ad hoc reviewer for multiple journals, including New England Journal of Medicine and The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). She has been a speaker at multiple national and international meetings. She has received mentoring awards, including the Women in the Enterprise of Science and Technology and the David S. Weiner award for leadership and innovation in child health from Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. Huh earned her M.D. from Western University (Ontario, Canada) and MPH from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, concentrating on clinical effectiveness. Dr. Huh completed her residency at the Children’s Hospital of Western Ontario and did her fellowship in pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She is a member of the advisory boards for Women in the Enterprise of Science and Technology (WEST) and Mother’s Milk Bank Northeast.

Mr. Emany has served as our chief financial officer since December 2021. Prior to joining Ironwood, Mr. Emany served as corporate vice president, commercial excellence and chief strategy officer of Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corporation, a publicly held global healthcare company, since March 2020 and as vice president of strategy, treasury and investor relations from February 2018 to March 2020. Prior to that, Mr. Emany served in various mergers and acquisitions investment banking roles in Bank of America and BofA Securities (formerly Bank of America Merrill Lynch) from September 2008 to February 2018, culminating in his service as managing director in the mergers and acquisitions group where he led numerous mergers and acquisitions in the healthcare sector. Mr. Emany also served in various other financial roles, including with Goldman Sachs Group and Morgan Stanley. Mr. Emany serves on the board of directors of Assertio Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASRT). Mr. Emany holds a B.A. in international relations from The Johns Hopkins University and an M.A. in international relations and international economics from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Mr. Minardo has served as our chief legal officer since August 2021. Prior to joining Ironwood, Mr. Minardo was with Seqirus, a pharmaceutical company, where he was vice president, general counsel and a member of the Seqirus executive leadership team, leading a global legal team overseeing activities including business transactions, regulatory matters, corporate governance, compliance and intellectual property from November 2015 to July 2021. Prior to Seqirus, Mr. Minardo was with Novartis in increasing roles of responsibility from October 2007 to November 2015, ultimately serving as vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer at Novartis Influenza Vaccines. Mr. Minardo started his legal career as a litigator at Kaye Scholer LLP. Mr. Minardo holds a B.A. from Boston College and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School.

Tammi Gaskins is Vice President of Brand Management at Ironwood. She joined the company in July 2020 as Senior Director of Marketing. Prior to joining Ironwood, Ms. Gaskins spent over 20 years at AstraZeneca, most recently serving as Executive Director of the Diabetes Franchise. She also held positions of increasing seniority within the company’s Specialty and Primary Care Brands and spent time in Dubai as Commercial Director for the Middle East Area. Ms. Gaskins received a B.A. in international studies from Trinity College in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Davis has served as our chief business officer since December 2021 and had served as senior vice president of corporate development, strategy and valuation from May 2021 to December 2021. Before joining Ironwood, Mr. Davis served as the chief business development and M&A officer at iNova Pharmaceuticals from September 2017 to May 2021, leading all company transactions and acting as a member of the executive management team. Prior to iNova, Mr. Davis was head of oncology business development for Merck & Co. from November 2016 to September 2017. Before his time at Merck, Mr. Davis was at Bausch Health Companies (formerly Valeant Pharmaceuticals), where he held roles of increasing responsibility within the business development function, ultimately serving as senior vice president of business development and leading all transactions for the company, including the acquisitions of Salix Pharmaceuticals and Bausch + Lomb. Mr. Davis began his career as an analyst at McKinsey & Co., where his work focused on the healthcare space. Mr. Davis serves on the board of directors of Biomarck Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. and UTILITY therapeutics Ltd. Mr. Davis holds a B.A. in economics from Boston University.

Beth Calitri joined Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in 2019. Ms. Calitri has spent more than 25 years in healthcare communications working at a host of major U.S. and international pharmaceutical companies, as well as leading communications agencies. Currently, she leads corporate communications and media relations at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals where she infuses energy, purpose, and collaboration into her work to tell the company’s story as a leader in the gastrointestinal (GI) pharmaceutical space. Ms. Calitri believes that all effective communications start with compelling storytelling and is proud to serve as Ironwood Pharmaceuticals’ chief storyteller.

Ms. Calitri’s extensive experience as a team leader and communicator, as well as her focus on driving businesses forward, have helped propel companies to achieve their goals and create committed, purpose-driven workplace cultures. Ms. Calitri is an advocate of authentic employee engagement, patient-focused communications, and creating workplace cultures that are based on values and ethics.

Before joining Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Ms. Calitri used her deep expertise in corporate and brand communications, media relations, issues management, employee engagement and narrative building to help companies as Head of R&D Site Communications at Pfizer, Deputy Head of Global Media Relations at Novartis and part of the Brand Communications team at AstraZeneca, tell their stories in impactful and meaningful ways. Her experience in the GI space includes leading communications for blockbuster drugs such as Nexium, Zelnorm and Prilosec. While at Novartis, she was a founding team member of the vaccines division where she played a critical role in global communications and crisis management around the H1N1 virus. She was a member of the company’s Americas management committee and later, Deputy Head of Global Media Relations.

Ms. Calitri is on the advisory board of the Harrington School of Communication and Media at the University of Rhode Island where she graduated with a B.A. in Communications and Public Relations. She also serves on the advisory board for WEST – Women in the Enterprise of Science and Technology. She earned a degree in Spanish Studies at the Universidad de Salamanca in Spain and studied nutrition and chemistry at Hunter College, New York. She has lived and worked internationally, including the UK and Switzerland.

Mike Nanfito is Vice President of Sales and Sales Excellence at Ironwood. He joined the company in May 2012 as Executive Regional Sales Manager and became Vice President of Field Sales in 2016. Prior to joining Ironwood, Mr. Nanfito was most recently Managing Director at Novartis where he also held various sales and marketing positions spanning 18 years. From 2005 to 2009, Mr. Nanfito was Director of Marketing at Amgen. Mr. Nanfito earned a B.S. in operations management and an M.B.A. from California State Polytechnic University-Pomona.

Rosario Lobrutto, PhD, MBA, MS has served as Vice President, Global Head of Technical Operations since April 2024. Dr. Lobrutto has over 25 years of global leadership experience across R&D, Manufacturing/Technology, Business Development & Licensing (BD&L), and strategic growth in Fortune 200/500 companies such as Merck, Novartis, TEVA, and Sandoz.

Prior to joining Ironwood, he served as Head of Pharmaceutical Sciences/CMC and Global Expansion at Radius Health, where he played a key role in advancing patient-centric innovative medicines. His career includes the successful development and launch of both innovative and generic medicines, with a particular focus on injectables. Dr. Lobrutto has contributed to over 40 regulatory submissions and numerous product launches, demonstrating deep expertise in API and Drug Product Development, including small molecules, peptides, and proteins. He has a proven track record in driving innovation, portfolio strategy, operational excellence, and implementing QbD/Lean initiatives.

Dr. Lobrutto completed his undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Drexel University and Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Seton Hall University. He completed his MBA from the Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management with distinction and his MS in Health Care Policy and Leadership from the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences.