Episode #41 – Dr. Linda Black

Do you work in the animal health industry or veterinary profession? Have you ever wondered how people began their careers, and how they got to where they are today? Hi, everyone. I’m Stacy Pursell, the founder and CEO of the VET Recruiter, the leading executive search and recruiting firm for the animal health industry and veterinary profession. I was the first recruiter to specialize in the animal health industry and veterinary profession in the United States, and built the first search firm to serve this unique niche. For the past 25 plus years, I have built relationships with the industry’s top leaders and trailblazers.

The People of Animal Health podcast highlights the incredible individuals I have connected with throughout my career. You will be able to learn more about their lives, careers, and contributions. With our wide range of expert guests, you will be sure to learn something new in every episode. Thanks for tuning in, and enjoy the episode.

Welcome to the People of Animal Health podcast. On today’s show, we are talking with Dr. Linda Black. Dr. Black is the CEO of Gallant Therapeutics and Animal Health Biotech company pioneering off the shelf stem cell therapies for pets. This novel class of therapies harnesses the body’s natural healing mechanism to treat the root cause of disease. For more than 18 years, she has led the strategic and operational initiatives in the biotechnology industry, including corporate development, finance operations, and R&D, along with a track record in regenerative medicine with extensive experience in the development and commercialization of stem cell therapies for pets.

Before Gallant, Dr. Black served as president and chief scientific officer at Medicus Biosciences, a preclinical biotech firm focused on using polymer technologies for localized drug and stem cell delivery. Prior to Medicus, she served as the VP of Product Development for VetStem Biopharma, the first veterinary regenerative medicine company where she authored the first peer-reviewed publications describing the safety and efficacy of primary adipose-derived stem cells for osteoarthritis and muscle injury in working dogs. Prior to those roles, Dr. Black consulted exclusively for Merial, now Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health.

She’s a member of the board of directors for Gallant. She holds a DVM from University of Wisconsin Madison, a PhD in cell and molecular biology from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and she completed her postdoctoral fellowship at GlaxoSmithKline. Welcome onto the People of Animal Health podcast. How are you, Linda?

I’m great, Stacy. So great to be here with you. Thank you.

Well, we’re so glad to have you here, Linda. I’d love to start off at the beginning. What was your life like growing up, and where did you grow up?

I grew up riding and showing quarter horses in Southern California. My journey went from showing horses, et cetera, and becoming a veterinarian was all about the day that my childhood horse almost died.

Oh my goodness. Well, I’m sure that really impacted you. Linda, can you tell us about the moment you decided to become a veterinarian, and how that experience shaped your career path in animal health and regenerative medicine?

Sure. So, I had a horse. I was a girl. I was a horse girl who just… Everything revolved around the barn and riding, et cetera. My horse was everything to me. He colic one day, and it wasn’t your typical colic. It was pretty bad. Three or four days went by, and probably surgical looking back on that time, but I spent many nights at the barn, and fluids hanging everywhere in the stall, et cetera. On the fourth day, he got up and basically acted like nothing was wrong. So, it just became a transformational moment for me in watching the veterinarian treat him, and how dedicated that person was to helping him. I decided then to become a veterinarian.

Since then, I’ve realized it was probably a trauma-based decision at that time, but I loved him, and that’s my whole life became about that then becoming an equine veterinarian.

Wow. Well, what inspired you to transition from clinical veterinary practice to a focus on biotechnology and regenerative medicine?

My journey was actually quite long and circuitous. It wasn’t straight, and I didn’t really know at that period of time that that was where I was going. So, I went the traditional path of becoming a veterinarian, went to undergrad at UC Davis, then onto veterinary school, and my whole focus was becoming an equine practitioner. I did that. I held to that mission, but after that, I realized when I was an equine practitioner that I wasn’t really having or internally having the impact that I wanted to. While I was in veterinary school, I also did a lot of research. I worked in a research lab, and I fell in love with research.

So, about three years into practice, I decided I really wanted more, and so that’s when I did an internship, sorry, residency in comparative medicine in GlaxoSmithKline, where I learned a lot about human drug development. We’re helping MD, PhDs on the other side really with their translational models and things. Through that experience really is where I decided I wanted to get my PhD, and dive more deeply into science and research. So, that’s when I got my PhD. I had another life altering event right after my PhD, and that was when I had my son, and I didn’t want to leave him then to go back and do another postdoc. I stayed home with him, and created a science writing business for four years.

When he was older and in school, et cetera, is when I started to consult for Merial. It was from Merial that I actually transitioned into the first biotech role that I had, which was at VetStem Biopharma. That’s where I really fell in love with regenerative medicine and the space. I was in a position where I was able to use both my clinical degree and my scientific degree in unison every day working on the science of stem cells, and working on the clinical applications of those cells in dogs with osteoarthritis and other conditions, horses with osteoarthritis. That really is what set me up. It’s the moment I just loved that space, and decided, “Oh, this is where I’m going to spend my career.”

Fascinating. I think the first time you and I connected was when you were at Merial.

I think so, yes.

Well, Gallant Therapeutics is pioneering off the shelf stem cell therapies for pets. Can you explain what this means and how it harnesses the body’s natural healing mechanisms?

Sure. Off the shelf really refers essentially to universal cells in a bottle. They’re essentially ready to use. It refers to the allogeneic nature of them, where we have one donor animal who’s donating a tissue in this case, and our technology is all built around uterine derive stem cells, so essentially tissue that’s thrown away normally during a spay. We’ve taken that tissue, the uterus, and extracted stem cells from it and grown them up. So, one uterus, for example, can create more than 30 million doses. You are getting away from that early business model of autologous cells where you’re taking tissue from one dog extracting the stem cells, and giving it back to that one dog.

This is you’re taking stem cells from one tissue, growing them up, and are able to use them on any animal. They don’t have… The next natural question usually is, “Well, how come you don’t have… How come they don’t affect the other dog’s immune system?” That is really because allogeneic stem cells, when they’re grown on plastic after so many passages, don’t have MHC class two receptors, and so they don’t elicit an immune reaction in the animal that you’re giving it to. So essentially, you are able to have stem cells that are in a vial that are in the freezer. You can pull them out. You dilute them with saline, and give them intravenously to an animal when there’s no immune reaction in that animal, and they’re able to do their work in that animal.

What I mean by them being the body’s natural or harnessing the body’s natural healing mechanism is just that in all of our bodies, stem cells are the things in our body that are causing our healing in ourselves. So if you have a cut your arm, it’s stem cells in that tissue that are orchestrating the healing of that cut. So, we’ve taken stem cells out of the body, out of a healthy donor animal, grown them up and are giving them back to pets, and they exert different effects. Stem cells have a potent immunomodulatory function. They do this through a variety of mechanisms, specifically secreting different cytokines depending on what they face in the body, and are able to, for example…

I’ll just give you an example of how they work in our first product, which is for feeling chronic gingivitis stomatitis, which is a T-cell mediated disease. Essentially, they’re secreting factors that are directly interacting with t-cells, causing T cells to not proliferate as much and not become as active, and so rebalancing the immune system in those animals in a way that giving them steroids really can’t do. So, you’re harnessing something that is natural in their bodies to then give back to them that is helping to restore homeostasis in those pets.

Well, that is fascinating. 30 million doses, that’s a lot of doses. Well, how has your extensive experience in the development and commercialization of stem cell therapies influenced your approach at Gallant Therapeutics?

I think my past experiences helped me to know what hurdles that we really needed to overcome early. At Gallant, obviously, one of those is the technology is very important, because your source material is critical to your ability to have enough doses to be able to commercialize. I think the other big area is investing in manufacturing early. So, that early experience help me to understand like, “Gosh, if we don’t have many manufacturing really established very early, that’s going to become a tripping point later down the line when we have to check transfer or things like that to a contract manufacturing organization.”

So, I think other things too, like our relationship with the agency with the FDA has spanned more than 15 years, and some of the people are the exact same people that we knew way back when we were at stem. So, that’s been really important for continuity over the years. Our clinical experience with stem cells and conditions such as OA, CKT, et cetera, all, obviously, gave us a real headstart when we started Gallant.

Well, during your time at Medicus Biosciences and VetStem Biopharma, you worked on polymer technologies and stem cell delivery. How have these experiences shaped the innovations at Gallant Therapeutics?

So, I’d say that right now, we’re not working on any other ways in terms of stem cell delivery. So, I think it helped me to understand what other delivery systems are available. At that time, we were looking at polymers to hold stem cells in place and other things. But right now, we’re not focused on that at Gallant, but those are all interesting and good technologies as well.

Well, leadership and team dynamics are crucial in any industry. What are some of the key lessons that you’ve learned about leadership and building a strong team throughout your career?

I’ve really learned that people are the most important part of the equation. People, they want to feel cared for, valued, and like what they do matters. That’s my goal every day. I didn’t always experience that. I’m sure everybody has this story that they didn’t always experience that type of leadership throughout their career, and that certainly was the case for me. I find that this formula works very well, and ultimately, all business is really just about relationships. It sounds kind of cheesy, but if you apply this strategy, your success is just almost guaranteed in terms of your team and how they function together and how they feel together.

That seems to me a theme in my podcast that I did with Rob Best last week. He said the same thing, that people are the most important part of any business. So, you emphasized creating a values based culture and compassionate leadership. How do you implement these principles in your daily operations at Gallant Therapeutics?

So to quote, Simon Sinek, leadership is not about being in charge, but about taking care of those in your charge. So to follow that, compassionate leadership is really just about achieving your business outcomes or your business objectives while prioritizing your team’s wellbeing. It’s leading with humanity. The key skill that I have found over the years that’s required for this is really emotional intelligence. Everybody in our field is super smart with a really high IQ or cognitive intelligence, but 90% of high achievers have high emotional intelligence, and it requires a great deal of self-awareness and emotional regulation.

I’ve also learned or read… Travis Bradberry has a great book called Emotional Intelligence Habits, and it’s filled with really great tools to increase our EQ. I found that you can grow this skill. Where you can’t really grow how your IQ as much, you can grow your EQ, and that that’s super important. So, the way for me that I implement this is just with an intention every day of putting people at the center of all that I do. This can play out in a lot of different ways as problems come up. So for example, someone in the business might be having a health issue that is impacting their work.

I think as a leader of the business where you are the fiduciary steward and the steward of this business, it’s hard sometimes to realize that the people are at the core of it, and you’ve got to put aside the business part for a few moments, and focus on them and what’s going on with them. So, my first concern is for them personally, “Can we help them? Do they need time off? How best can I help their situation?” So, this week played out in a different way. This week, it was about helping an employee and their manager really be able to hear each other’s perspectives, and realizing that they had a shared concern for each other rather than a more negative interpretation of things that were going on that we can all make when we don’t communicate effectively.

So, I think it’s just about helping people every day overcome problems personally. That ultimately then helps make the business run more smoothly. For me, it’s also about controlling my own emotional reaction when things are going wrong or we have a setback, realizing that everything always works out for us really, and that we just have to find a way through the problem by working together in a calm and collaborative way. None of those things were things I’d really experienced a lot in the past, but I’ve been able to grow some skills on my own, and I really find that our team, it just comes together in a way when we all care and basically love each other in those ways.

I love that. Well, Linda, can you share some of the challenges that you have faced in developing stem cell therapies for pets, and how you’ve overcome them?

One of the biggest challenges that we had early was how to get more doses from the donor tissue. I mentioned that that was the uterus. Our CTO, Chief Technology Officer, really solved that problem coming in. We spent some time really optimizing our media with a proprietary formulation such that we can get more than 30 million doses from one uterus. That’s really unprecedented. I think one of the challenges for any animal health biotech company is keeping the business adequately capitalized. There’s not a lot of animal health investors. So, we have faced this challenge by really executing on our business plan, hitting our milestone targets on time and within budget, essentially by building trust, by doing what we say we will do.

We have an unparalleled team of pioneers in the space that we work well together. We have a great track record together. So, that has helped in raising capital because, again, this is something else I learned even with investors. It’s really all about trust. Do they trust the management team to do what they say they’re going to do? So, I’d say these are probably two of the… Every day, there’s challenges, but if I had to pick a couple, these would be them.

Yeah, trust is a foundation all relationships.

Yes.

Well, as someone passionate about personal development and wellbeing, how do you balance your professional responsibilities with your own personal life and interests?

This is a challenge and one that I’m constantly working on, and it takes a lot of intentionality for me to pull back from the business, especially in the last couple of years when we’ve really been on this fast track, and are very close to a conditional approval of the first product. So, it can lead to a place where I’ve been semi burned out at times, and I realize that when I start to lose productivity or lose focus or am not quite as happy every single day. So, it’s those times when I have to look at the situation, and say, “Okay, I have to force myself to pull back and walk on the beach, and put my feet in the sand, and just get back to me.”

So, it can be a little bit hard, but I try to focus on when it’s not feeling good like that, just focus on how can I restore my own self back to getting to a place where I can focus and have more product to do?

Well, looking ahead, what are your hopes and goals for the future of stem cell therapies in animal health? What role do you envision Gallant playing in this evolving field?

Our vision is big, Stacy. It’s that one day every veterinarian will have a vial of stem cells or vials of stem cells in their freezers to use on any pet, that it will really become part of the standard of care for animal health as the primary therapy that modifies disease rather than just treat symptoms. It should be part of the standard of health for pets, and that’s our vision.

Well, that’s an incredible vision, and I look forward to seeing that played out. So, what has been the most surprising thing to you during your career in the animal health industry or veterinary profession?

I think because I’ve lived it as well that there are so many career options that those trained as veterinarians can have besides clinical practice, which is most people likely start in clinical practice. So, many clinicians as they go through, they realize, “Ooh, clinical medicine might not be for them,” or in my case, where I was really longing for something deeper to make a different kind of impact. There are so many places for veterinarians to be able to add value, but they don’t always know those places. I don’t know if you’ve heard Megan Sprinkle’s podcast that life reimagined, but she does a really great job of showcasing those various careers.

Yes.

You, being in your role, probably obviously know a lot of those roles as well, but there’s certainly a lot of them and a lot of unconventional ones like science writing, et cetera. So, I love talking to people that want to transition from clinical medicine to something else, but don’t quite know, and just sharing with them how many other places that they can have value.

I know Megan. I love her podcast.

Yes.

Last year at the Veterinary Innovation Summit, which you and I will be going to, well, we’ll be going to the Animal Health Corridor event, and I’ll be at the VIS. But last year, Megan and I did a podcast about how to have a podcast, so-

Oh, that’s so cool.

That was a lot of fun. Well, how have you seen the profession change over the years that you’ve been involved?

I think the biggest thing is there’s more focus on corporate practices now and small clinic buyouts that are driven by a need for better business model to elevate both the level of practice as well as revenue. It’s just going to be interesting to see how that plays out over time here.

Well, what does your crystal ball say about the future of the veterinary profession?

Gosh, probably that we’re ready for a paradigm shift, a major paradigm shift in the way we approach prevention, diagnosing, and treating diseases. Just as there is a need for a greater business model to drive successful practices, there’s also a need for next generation therapies to keep up the evolution of medicine. That’s part of what Gallant really is bringing to the table is this new way of thinking about therapies, treating the root cause of disease, not just symptoms. We’re hoping to be part of that landscape, for sure.

Well, looking back to your own career, I’m curious, what are some of the daily habits that have allowed you to achieve success?

I think most of mine are habits that have to do with my own personal development. So, I have a menu of items every morning to choose from about how to keep up with this for myself. But on most days, I journal, so I can really understand like, “Hey, what am I feeling? What’s going on with myself personally today?” I do breath work in terms of controlling anxiety and visualization, visualizing how I want my life to be, how I want our business to be. Definitely exercising most days. These are all critical.

I think for me, it’s been about managing myself first before focusing on all the ways that I need to be giving to the business or giving to others. I find that if you can give with a full cup, it’s much easier.

That’s so important. Well, Linda, what has been the biggest adversity that you’ve had to fight with through your career?

I don’t know if I like to think about it as fighting through my career, but it’s been this. It’s been, “How do I grow personally?” It’s been, if you come from a past that’s been challenging in your childhood, et cetera, there’s always things to overcome personally for yourself. I think I’ve just been on this healing journey for a very long time now, and it’s included a lot of therapy, a lot of coaching and self-development work. So, I don’t really like to think of it as an adversity, but more as a healing journey or a journey that really, I think, everybody is on. Some people don’t know they’re on it though. I’m grateful for the journey, but there’s been some challenges through that time, too.

Well, it sounds like you’ve been very intentional about it.

Well, I think I have. I don’t know if it’s always been a choice, in other words. Sometimes you realize in your life that things are happening or choices that you’ve made that haven’t been great choices, et cetera, and you start to ask yourself, “Well, why is that happening? What’s going on with me?” Then you start to realize like, “Oh, it’s just a process like through therapy.” Just start to realize like, “Gosh, a lot of things have affected the way I look at things or the way I feel about things.” Then it’s just a process of healing that and changing that. That’s been a lifelong for me.

Yeah because some people get stuck.

Right.

I’m curious, what advice would you give for somebody like that that’s gotten stuck somewhere in their career?

I think you have to realize you’re stuck, right? I mean, awareness about that is probably key. Then just take one step in a direction that feels good to you. Listen to your heart. What is exciting? If it’s about your career and you’re stuck in your career, maybe exploring why that is, but also what makes you excited. Even as I look ahead to my future, I think to myself, “Well, what’s exciting to me outside of Gallant that I want to be doing in my life?” If you can listen for that place of excitement, and then take one step in that direction, all of a sudden, you’re not stuck anymore. So, I think it just starts right there with that baby step.

That’s good advice. Just one step. We don’t have to do all these things at once. Just take one step in the right direction.

Exactly.

Well, what advice would you give the younger version of yourself?

That’s a hard one, because I was in survival mode for a long time. But probably I think reassurance that in the end, it’s all going to be okay, and that it’s okay to slow down, that my identity is not tied to my accomplishments. But, I also look back at that time and the drive to be accomplished, et cetera, has led to a lot of my success, but I might’ve had more peace at that time had I known that I didn’t really have to do that, that I had value outside of these accomplishments, et cetera, so probably that.

I think that’s hard for some people to get to that place. I think so many people, their identity is tied to their accomplishments or to their work. So, I think that is a very good point, that you’ve got to have identity outside of your work accomplishments.

I think it’s natural, though, right? I think many people do it. Yes. We’re all, you included, are highly accomplished. Many of us, it just takes some time to get to that place.

Well, what message or principle do you wish you could teach everyone?

I think that mindset is everything. It continues to amaze me that when we expect the best, anticipate the best outcome, are deeply grateful for what we have in this moment, and look at the world as really an abundant and inherently good place that wants to give us what we want, that that belief pattern literally attracts the very best to us. So, maybe it’s help when you need it, or certain success you’ve been waiting for, or circumstances aligning for your highest good. So at Gallant, for example, we have this mantra that everything always works out for us, and we literally believe that.

Even through different setbacks, we continue to have that attitude like, “Okay, we’re in a setback, but everything always works out for us.” So, it’s, “Solution’s going to come, or we’re going to figure this out.” Essentially, that’s what happens. So, I would argue that that mindset is really key to so much of your wellbeing and so much of a person’s success, a team’s success, a company’s success.

That’s so good. Well, I know that you already mentioned one book by Travis Bradberry. Do you have any other books that have helped you change your mindset or your approach to success?

The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer is where I really started to learn to detach from the constant stream of thoughts and emotions that go through our minds, which are separate from our consciousness or who we truly are. It became a path to greater peace by understanding that our brain’s job is really to keep us safe, and it puts a lot of thoughts out there, all day long, going, going, going. They’re not necessarily in our highest good. They’re meant to protect us, and so when you can get to a place where you can recognize that that’s what’s happening, that your brain is essentially doing that, then you can choose consciously to detach from those.

It just leads to a lot greater peace and a lot less emotional reactivity and just really a better quality of life. That’s part of what meditation is about. It’s about trying to put a space between the thoughts and your reaction to the thoughts. I think when I read that book, and I started to really learn about that, it was a turning point for my emotional health and the way I operate as a human in the world.

Well, I think all of our listeners would agree that we’re all trying to have a better quality of life for ourselves and our family. I think what I’ve learned from talking to you is you have to be intentional about those things, like taking the one step forward or being very aware of your emotional or regulating your emotions. So, just being intentional about those things is what I’ve learned from you is very important. Well, Linda, you’ve got the mic. What is one thing that you’d like to share with our listeners of the People of Animal Health podcast before you drop the mic?

I think that we each can create the life that we want, and it’s up to each individual to create those results that they want, to be passionate about what’s important to you, to see that vision, and to make sure your choices then line up with the direction that you want to go, advocating for yourself, your loved ones and your pets, by the way. But we each have far more power and agency in our lives than we might be led to believe from the time that we’re children, so taking that agency and power back, I think, is so important to creating the life you want and the career that you want as well.

Well, I love that, and I love what you said earlier too about just all the different career opportunities for people in this profession and for veterinarians. So, there are so many interesting careers out there. Linda, you’ve certainly had an incredibly interesting career. I remember the first time we connected. I’ve always admired you and just really enjoyed following your career, and watching all the interesting things that you’re doing and continue to do along the way. So, I thank you for being here today with us on the People of Animal Health podcast.

Thank you so much. That was a loving thing to say. I’ve enjoyed knowing you, Stacy, and you’ve helped me at various times in those career junctions that I’ve had. So, thank you so much.