Experts in Preclinical Infectious Disease Research

Daniel Ross, LVT, LATG

Founder, President & CEO

Since 1996, Dan has worked in the field of research and development at both Wayne State University and Pfizer Global Research and Development. His vast experience includes veterinary surgery, model development, and designing/performing PK/PD and efficacy studies. He has served as president of the Michigan AALAS, and has extensive experience running animal research facilities in compliance with the requirements of USDA, AAALAC, and institutional IACUCs. Dan has provided exposure/activity data for preclinical packages on several drug candidates and has experience developing, validating, and optimizing a wide variety of disease models, with different model organisms and microbial pathogens for numerous indications. With his expertise in developing new techniques, Dan has designed and implemented new models to support Phase IV studies and subsequent approval for new indications of marketed drugs.

Samantha Ross, CHRS

COO

Since 2000, Samantha has been a Certified Human Resource Specialist with administrative experience in Research and Development. Her career spans Drug Safety Evaluation, Safety Sciences, and Drug Safety Research and Development. She has extensive experience and knowledge in business operations in the areas of finance, human resources, purchasing, facilities management, and legal activities.

Marci Peek, MT, LAT

CSO

Marci began her Medical Technology career in 1995 working as a general laboratory technician in a hospital. In 1999, she became a study coordinator at the Pfizer Phase I Unit, where she ran first-in-human, bioequivalent, food effect, proof-of-concept, and PK/PD studies. Her expertise includes project management, study scheduling, specimen collection and processing, institutional review board consulting, and protocol editing. She also has  a wealth of drug safety experience, including adverse event reporting to the FDA and other worldwide regulatory agencies for clinical studies and post-marketed drugs. Marci received her RLAT certification in 2012.

Kyle McCollum, BS, LAT

Principal Scientist, Lab Manager

Kyle graduated from Grand Valley State University in 2015 with a Bachelor’s degree in General Biology and began his career in preclinical research at TransPharm the same
year. Starting as an associate scientist, Kyle had limited lab experience outside of college but steadily grew into his new role as a monitor for a wide variety of efficacy,
PK/PD and LD50 studies, both in vitro and in vivo. He received his RLAT certification in 2017. In 2020, Kyle was promoted to Scientist/Lab Manager with the added responsibilities of overseeing the laboratory and ordering all supplies required for TransPharm to conduct its studies. Finally, in 2025 he accepted his current position as Principal Scientist charged with maintaining and updating all the AUP’s TransPharm utilizes for its in vivo studies and being named the Principal Investigator on all studies being run at TransPharm. He currently has 10+ years of experience working in a preclinical BSL2 infectious disease laboratory for novel drug development.

Jeremy Covell, BA, LAT

Director of Research, Biosafety Officer

Jeremy received his B.A. in Biology, with minors in both Chemistry and Psychology, from Albion College in 2011.  While at Albion, he worked for the Biology department tutoring students, assisting with labs, and helping with community programs at the Whitehouse Nature Center. Jeremy also performed research on the use of membrane-supported Palladium nanoparticles for the remediation of trichloroethene under the guidance of Dr. Kevin Metz. He presented his research at Albion College’s annual Elkin Isaac Symposium as well as the American Chemical Society Conference in 2011. After graduation, he worked for a clinical laboratory where he became proficient in the departments of urinalysis, chemistry, and special chemistry. He received his RLAT certification in 2017.

Michaley Vieau, BA

Associate Scientist, IACUC Administrator

Michaley graduated from Albion College in 2024 with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology. Her research experience is comprised of work in bioinformatics, microbiology, and organic chemistry. During her undergraduate work she became proficient in many skills such as pipetting, flash chromatography, annotating genes, and nuclear magnetic resonance. Michaley contributes to studies at TransPharm Preclinical Solutions, where she assists with animal care, tissue harvesting, and microbial plating. Additionally, she plays a key role in ensuring the ethical treatment of animals at TransPharm by organizing meetings to discuss policies, protocols, and safety measures.

Jade Clouse

Laboratory Technician, Vivarium Manager

Jade recently joined the TransPharm team with a strong history of teamwork and a desire to understand the world of drug discovery. Her hands on attitude is extremely valuable as most of her responsibility involves a complete understanding of IACUC, PHS and AAALAC guidelines and ensuring the vivarium is kept up to those high standards.

Brittany Dixon, MS

Scientific Writer

Brittany earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Alma College in 2012 and a Master’s degree in Molecular and Cellular Pathology from the University of Michigan in 2015. During her graduate education, Brittany served as President of her program’s student council and taught biochemistry to first-year medical students in Ethiopia. She joined the TransPharm team in 2016 and is responsible for writing content for our website and marketing materials.

IACUC Committee

Marci Peek, BS, MT, LAT (Chair)

Megan Nowland, BS, DVM, DACLAM (Attending Veterinarian)

Julie Rumble, PhD (Non-Affiliate Scientist & Vice-Chair)

Paul Domanski, BS (Scientist)

Jeremy Covell, BS (Bio-Safety Officer)

Michaley Vieau, BS (Administrator)

Dan Wymer, BS (Non-Affiliate Member)

Diana Redman, AA (Non-Scientific Member)