About Us
Our Leadership
Brian Dattilo
Interim Managing Director
Brian Dattilo, Ph.D. is the Interim Managing Director and Director of Business Development at Waisman Biomanufacturing. Dr. Dattilo received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Vanderbilt University where he focused on recombinant protein production, purification, and analytical characterization. Prior to Waisman Dr. Dattilo was in public service serving as a Program Manager at the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), where he was responsible for a multi-million dollar development budget supporting novel platform technologies and their application to vaccine, biological therapeutic, and diagnostic development for pandemic influenza and biodefense applications.
Since joining WB in 2012 he has led overall strategic portfolio management, business development/sales/marketing, technical and regulatory product development plan design, budgeting, and built business cases for new platform investment.
Scott Smith
Director of Operations
Scott Smith brings over two decades of progressive leadership in biomanufacturing and operations management within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors. With a Bachelor of Science in Management and an Associate of Applied Science in Biotechnology, Scott has cultivated deep expertise in upstream and downstream cGMP manufacturing, fermentation, and protein purification. His career spans key roles at Aldevron and Catalent Pharma Solutions, where he led cross-functional teams, managed large-scale production schedules, and oversaw tech transfers from pilot to GMP-grade manufacturing. Scott’s hands-on experience with E. coli fermentation, mammalian cell culture, and bioreactor systems has positioned him as a subject matter expert in regulated production environments.
As Director of Operations at Waisman Biomanufacturing (WB), Scott leverages his extensive background to drive operational excellence, ensure compliance with industry standards, and foster a culture of continuous improvement. His leadership style emphasizes mentorship, safety, and strategic planning, aligning with WB’s mission to deliver high-quality biomanufacturing solutions. Scott’s commitment to innovation and efficiency supports the organization’s growth and its ability to meet the evolving needs of clients in the biotech arena.
John Vedo
Director of Quality Assurance
John Vedo is the Director of Quality Assurance at Waisman Biomanufacturing. Mr. Vedo has a B.S. in Biology from Indiana University and a M.B.A. from DePaul University. Mr. Vedo has 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical and biotech cGMP environments. Prior to assuming his current role, Mr. Vedo served as the Manager of Quality Assurance at Stratatech Corporation (Madison, WI) and before that as Manager of Quality and Finance at Networked Robotics Corporation (Evanston, IL).
Mr. Vedo began his career at Searle Pharmaceuticals (Skokie, IL) where he managed a storage and distribution facility for active pharmaceutical ingredients, as well as the site’s reference standard collection, discovery chemistry collection, and the site controlled substance file. As Director of Quality Assurance at WB, Mr. Vedo leads a team of quality professionals to ensure operational regulatory compliance with federal guidances as well as internal standard operating procedures.
Rita Stiemke
Director of Quality Control
Rita Stiemke, Ph.D. is the Director of Quality Control at Waisman Biomanufacturing. Ms. Stiemke has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Ms. Stiemke has experience in leading quality control teams performing biopharmaceutical method development and method validation for product release and stability testing. Prior to her current role, Ms. Stiemke was a Research Scientist and Associate Group Leader at PPD (Madison, WI), as well as Scientist and Team Leader for DuPont (Madison, WI).
The emphasis of Rita’s experience is in leading cGMP compliant quality testing including cell-based bioassay potency, host cell protein, and viral replication competence method development. As Director of Quality Control at WB, Ms. Stiemke leads a team of QC specialists that develop and validate methods, as well as perform QC testing for product release and storage in collaboration with clients, the WB manufacturing team, the WB Quality Assurance team.