About Larad Vaccines™

Larad was founded in 2013 to commercialize a virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine for avian infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV), developed by company founder, Daral Jackwood, at The Ohio State University.

IBDV and other viral diseases are detrimental to animal agriculture. Even with the commercial vaccines available, disease challenges persist because the vaccines are limited to specific virus strains and do not provide adequate protection against virus mutations. Current solutions include the use of autogenous vaccines, but they are tightly regulated and cost-prohibitive for many producers.

Dr. Jackwood knew his innovative VLP technology, which, unlike traditional vaccines, is easily modifiable, would be a powerful solution to combat evolving viruses. Changes in USDA-CVB licensing requirements allowing for minor alterations in vaccine antigens without requiring product relicensure created the opportunity to commercialize the platform VLP technology. This customizability allowed by the CVB is game-changing and had not been previously possible in the animal vaccine industry.

Today, Larad remains dedicated to reducing the impacts of animal disease outbreaks and preparing the industry for future challenges by offering practical vaccine and diagnostic solutions of the highest quality. Since its inception, the company's portfolio has grown to include VLP and subunit vaccines for a number of viruses significantly impacting poultry and aquaculture, antigens for diagnostic assays, diagnostic testing services, and custom research and development. As a B2B company, Larad aims to be the go-to solutions provider for vaccine manufacturers, diagnostic product suppliers, and producers alike.

Management Team / Board of Directors

Management Team

Dr. Daral Jackwood, Chief Science Officer
Dr. Jackwood received his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University (OSU) in the fields of microbiology and molecular virology. Following a post-doctorate in Biotechnology at Battelle Columbus Laboratories, he joined the OSU faculty in the Food Animal Health Research Program at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) in Wooster, OH. For over 30 years his research has focused on the molecular characteristics of Birnaviruses. He is the inventor on 6 issued patents. He, along with PD Dr. Linda Michel, received the 2016 OARDC Director's Innovator of the Year Award for their work on development and commercialization of VLP vaccines. In 2018, Jackwood was also the recipient of the Charles Beard Research Excellence Award presented by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association.

Rachelle Howman, Business Development
Rachelle Howman is the Business Development lead for Larad. She received her BS in Agribusiness and Applied Economics from The Ohio State University in 2019 with a dual minor in both Agronomy and Sustainability. Her work at Larad includes identifying and evaluating commercial opportunities, establishing strategic industry relationships, fundraising, and more.

Board of Directors

Dr. Shauna R Brummet is former President & CEO of BioHio Research Park, College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), The Ohio State University (OSU). Dr. Brummet has broad experience in life science and agbioscience research, product development, start-up, and global companies, open innovation and technology commercialization, and technology-based economic development. She is highly collaborative and connected in the innovation ecosystem. Dr. Brummet fosters an intentional culture of innovation with the faculty, staff, and students of OSU CFAES and builds public-private partnerships to achieve organizational goals. She has experience developing new teams and organizations within existing companies as well as being a founder and early-stage member of three companies and a consultancy. Dr. Brummet holds a BS from Purdue, and MS/PhD from the University of Akron, post-doctoral work at OSU. Dr. Brummet currently serves on the governance board of I-Corps@Ohio, the board of directors of BioOhio – the Ohio life sciences industry advocacy organization and the Alpaca Research Foundation.

Russ Donda is an entrepreneur-in-residence for GLIDE. Among several startup projects, Mr. Donda was the founding CEO and chairman of the board for ViewRay Inc., which was subsequently funded by OrbiMed Advisors, Fidelity Biosciences, Aisling Capital, Kearny Venture Partners, and Siemens Venture Capital (SVC) GmbH, and is now publicly traded. He was a founding member and co-chair of investment review for the Emergent Growth Fund, an angel investment fund focused on technology businesses. Mr. Donda is versed in start-up operations, strategic planning, development-related issues, marketing, patent law, intellectual property management, and strategic alliance structuring and is, himself, named as an inventor on 15 patents.

Dr. Keith Rushlow has 39 years of experience in conducting and managing discovery and applied R&D programs in academia and industry. He is a specialist in immunology and pathogenesis of infectious diseases of both human and veterinary importance, Dr. Rushlow is an inventor on 22 issued U.S. patents. Prior employment included 13 years with Abbott Laboratories, having joined the Ross Products Division of Abbott as Senior Manager, Vaccines R&D, and then as Senior Manager, Science and Technology Assessment. Dr. Rushlow also served as VP of R&D at Heska Corporation. He held the positions of Research Associate Professor in Biochemistry at Louisiana State University, and in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine. His experience also includes managing multidisciplinary research programs as a Senior Research Scientist at Battelle Columbus Laboratories, and as Senior Scientist at Syngene Products and Research.