Executive Team
Meet the Executive Team
Anita Thigpen Perry
Chief Executive Officer
Anita Thigpen Perry, the longest-serving First Lady of Texas, has been a visionary leader helping Texans through her initiatives on health care and professional development. She has been involved in the health care field for more than 40 years, having worked as a nurse, instructor and supervisor in the nursing field.
Read Full BioAnita Thigpen Perry
Chief Executive Officer
As First Lady, Mrs. Perry championed a number of healthcare-related issues, including domestic violence awareness, breast cancer awareness, childhood immunizations and the critical nursing shortage.
Among her many honors, Mrs. Perry was inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame for Leadership in 2014. Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center recognized her contributions to health care by renaming its nursing school the Anita Thigpen Perry School of Nursing in 2008. She was also honored by West Texas A&M University with the establishment of the Anita Thigpen Perry Nursing Excellence Scholarship. The March of Dimes tapped Mrs. Perry as its National Chair for Childhood Immunization in 2004.
In 2001, The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio established the Anita Thigpen Perry Endowment to help support the Center for Community-Based Health Promotion, focusing on improving areas in nutrition, cardiovascular disease, health education and early childhood development for women and children in South Texas. Mrs. Perry earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from West Texas State University in Canyon and a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.
Dr. Stanley Jones, M.D.
Co-Founder, Director & Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Stanley Jones is an orthopedic spine surgeon who has an active spine practice in the state of Texas and is a board-certified member of the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery. Dr. Jones received a B.A. in chemistry from Texas Tech University and an M.D. from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. He completed an internship at the University of Utah and an orthopedic residency at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston. He then served in the U.S. Army as a Captain in the Medical Corps.
Read Full BioDr. Stanley Jones, M.D.
Co-Founder, Director & Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Stanley Jones is an orthopedic spine surgeon who has an active spine practice in the state of Texas and is a board-certified member of the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery.
Dr. Jones received a B.A. in chemistry from Texas Tech University and an M.D. from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. He completed an internship at the University of Utah and an orthopedic residency at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston. He then served in the U.S. Army as a Captain in the Medical Corps.
Dr. Jones has served as President of the International Intradiscal Therapy Society, President of the Texas Spine Society and previously as Director of Memorial Hermann Hospital Systems Spine Surgery program. He is an active member of the North American Spine Society and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery.
Dr. Jones’ current interests are in the fields of minimally invasive spine surgery and pain management and in the use of adult autologous mesenchymal stem cells for medical benefits to patients.
In 2009, Dr. Jones suffered from a sudden onset of debilitating autoimmune psoriatic arthritis. Although he continued to see patients, his condition prevented him from performing surgery at his full capacity. Dr. Jones located a company in Seoul, South Korea, that had developed a state-of-the-art technology that allowed him to receive the treatment of his own stem cells. Four months after receiving his stem cells, he was able to return to a normal surgery schedule and a life without pain. Dr. Jones is responsible for bringing stem cell technology to Texas from overseas.
David Erik Eller
Sr. Vice President of Operations
Mr. Eller has over 20 years of experience in starting, building and selling businesses. His general experience includes managing several different and diverse enterprises, including biotechnology, communications, asset holdings and veterinary therapeutic medicine. His relevant experience includes corporate finance, capital raise, P&L management, strategy formulation, planning and implementation, project management, operations management, cGMP laboratory management, marketing, sales and overall general management.
Read Full BioDavid Erik Eller
Sr. Vice President of Operations
Mr. Eller has over 20 years of experience in starting, building and selling businesses. His general experience includes managing several different and diverse enterprises, including biotechnology, communications, asset holdings and veterinary therapeutic medicine. His relevant experience includes corporate finance, capital raise, P&L management, strategy formulation, planning and implementation, project management, operations management, cGMP laboratory management, marketing, sales and overall general management. He has had broad-based leadership roles in most of his endeavors and continues on that path with Celltex as the head of Operations. He is currently involved with, or worked for, Anistem LLC in veterinary stem cell therapy, Enron Corp.–Asia Pacific, AT&T Global Markets, Cobalt Broadband Corporation and Bechtel, among others. Mr. Eller received his B.S. in political science and business administration from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.
Candy Eller
Vice President of Client Services and Mexico Operations
As Vice President of Client Services, Candy Eller’s dynamic leadership over the past six years has propelled Celltex from a young startup into a premier transnational science-based biotechnology company in the commercial adult stem cell domain. Mrs. Eller received her B.A. in business management from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. She also attended law school for several years before returning to Houston, where she worked at the Vinson & Elkins and Baker McKenzie law firms, respectively.
Read Full BioCandy Eller
Vice President of Client Services and Mexico Operations
As Vice President of Client Services, Candy Eller’s dynamic leadership over the past six years has propelled Celltex from a young startup into a premier transnational science-based biotechnology company in the commercial adult stem cell domain.
Mrs. Eller received her B.A. in business management from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. She also attended law school for several years before returning to Houston where she worked at the Vinson & Elkins and Baker McKenzie law firms, respectively.
In 2008, she returned to the field of international sales and marketing and formed an international brokerage company serving the United States, Central America, Europe and Asia.
In 2011, she began working at Celltex Therapeutics and developed its Client Services department. With an extensive background in international sales and marketing, she regularly travels between Houston and Mexico to ensure the quality of the client experience.
Fully bilingual in English and Spanish, she plays an instrumental role in forging Celltex’s relationships with regulatory agencies, hospitals and physicians in the United States and abroad. She is also responsible for the management of Celltex’s subsidiary, Stem Cells Cancun, whose offices are in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico.
Dr. Jane S. Young, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Young is a medical doctor with over 20 years of clinical, laboratory, research and product development experience. She has extensive academic experience in cell biology, molecular biology, protein science, biochemistry and animal models. Prior to joining Celltex, she served as the senior scientist and associate research scientist for PPD Inc., a leading global contract research organization, where she expanded her industry GMP experience doing drug analysis.
Read Full BioDr. Jane S. Young, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Young is a medical doctor with over 20 years of clinical, laboratory, research and product development experience. She has extensive academic experience in cell biology, molecular biology, protein science, biochemistry and animal models. Prior to joining Celltex, she served as the senior scientist and associate research scientist for PPD Inc., a leading global contract research organization, where she expanded her industry GMP experience doing drug analysis. Dr. Young has a track record of performing and leading projects in areas of genetic mutation and deletion analysis, molecular hematology, FISH probe design and analysis, recombinant protein and kinetics analysis, development and optimization of laboratory assays, cell sorting and flow cytometry analysis, drug trials, and animal models. She has demonstrated her comprehensive knowledge through chapters in two scientific books and 25 publications she has authored. Dr. Young graduated from Zhejiang University School of Medicine in China and has practiced internal medicine for four years. She received her Ph.D. in 1999 from Lund University in Sweden. Dr. Young completed a postdoctoral fellowship and served as a research specialist at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology.
Jackie Sherrill
Manager, Sports Program
Jackie Sherrill has more than 35 years of experience in collegiate sports. Prior to joining Celltex as sports manager, Sherrill served as head football coach of Mississippi State University, Texas A&M, University of Pittsburgh and Washington State University. Sherrill’s personal connections with professional athletes as well as his athletic expertise make him a significant asset to the Celltex team.
Read Full BioJackie Sherrill
Manager, Sports Program
Jackie Sherrill has more than 35 years of experience in collegiate sports. Prior to joining Celltex as Sports Manager, Sherrill served as head football coach of Mississippi State University, Texas A&M, University of Pittsburgh and Washington State University. Sherrill’s personal connections with professional athletes as well as his athletic expertise make him a significant asset to the Celltex team.
He is currently managing long-term sports studies with former and current professional athletes and a team of medical researchers in the Texas Medical Center that will explore the benefits of Celltex’s stem cell technology for a range of conditions, from sports injuries to dementia and CTE.
Aside from his accomplished career in football, Sherrill was President and CEO of GameOn Sports Nutrition, where he oversaw the development and creation of GameOn Sports products. Sherrill has also served as an analyst and talk show host for Fox Sports South Network.