Technical Leadership

Michael Baltezor, Ph.D., is CritiTech’s Chief Scientific Officer. He provides leadership to our scientific and technical teams regarding all areas of drug development from POC through commercial manufacturing. He also provides hands-on assistance to our clients. 

For 35 years before Dr. Baltezor joined CritiTech in 2014, he spent his career in the pharmaceutical industry where he developed deep expertise in pharmaceutical chemistry and product development, analytical chemistry, toxicology, pharmacology, formulation, drug delivery, CMC, regulatory documentation, cGMP, Phase II and commercial production, quality operations and FDA audits. He has held numerous key leadership positions with Sandoz, Marion Labs, Quintiles, Aptuit, Medi-Flex and Cardinal Health. 

Dr. Baltezor has been involved with the development of over 20 drugs that have been approved by the FDA. He is the co-inventor of Cardizem CD, which generates over $2B in annual sales.

Dr. Baltezor earned his Ph.D. and M.S. in Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Kansas, as well as his B.S. in Chemistry from Missouri Western State University. He likes reading scientific journals, working on home projects and spending time with his family.

Gere diZerega is CritiTech’s Chief Medical Officer. He provides a physician’s perspective to our drug development programs from POC to clinical trials. He focuses on the patient and doctor experience to ensure our drug development produces meaningful outcomes for patients.

Prior to joining CritiTech in 2014, Dr. diZerega had over 40 years of medical experience including as founder and President of US BioTest, Professor at Keck School of Medicine as well as Professor at the University of Southern California, and an Instructor at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He is a Fellow with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. 

Dr. diZerega has over 260 publications, 5 books, has developed or invented 9 products and has 55 patents in the U.S. 

Dr. diZerega earned his M.D. at Baylor College of Medicine with his Internship and Residency at the University of Southern California. He also completed a Fellowship with NIH-NICHD. He earned his B.A. in Cell Biology from the University of Kansas. He loves to read, is a history buff, wine connoisseur, enjoys exercising outdoors and cooking with his wife, and is an avid KU basketball fan.

Mark Williams is Vice President of Technical Operations for CritiTech. He leads day to day activities for all technical operations including managing laboratory, analytical, drug development and production operations, cGMP compliance and ensures that all client projects are performed at the highest standards of quality and timeliness. 

Before joining CritiTech in 2015, Mark spent 25+ years in leadership roles across laboratory, analytical and quality operations with companies like Sanofi-Aventis, Merck Animal Health, Analytical BioChemistry Laboratories and Plastikon Industries. His expertise ranges from method development and validation, new product development, material characterization, supplier and FDA audits, quality systems, DQ/IQ/OQ/PQ, analytical services, stability testing and commercial production. 

Mark holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Emporia State University. He is a cowboy at heart, lives on a cattle ranch, loves country music and is a huge KC sports fan (Chiefs, Royals & Sporting KC).