Our Team

Robert Cobuzzi, Jr., PhD

President, Chief Executive Officer and Board Member

Dr. Cobuzzi has served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Board Member since September 2020 and as a director since January 2020. He has over 25 years of cross-functional leadership experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries across the areas of Corporate Development, Research & Development, and Operations.

  • From 2005 until 2018 Dr. Cobuzzi held a variety of senior roles in Corporate Development, R&D and Operations at Endo International Plc, including most recently as President, Endo Ventures Limited in Dublin, Ireland from 2015 until 2018. Prior to Endo, he was with Adolor Corporation from 2001 until 2005. He began his career in 1995 at AstraMerck in clinical operations before joining Centocor (a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson) in Worldwide Regulatory Affairs from 1999 to 2001. Dr. Cobuzzi currently serves as a Venture Partner for Sunstone Life Science Ventures and also is Chairman of Sunstone’s Business Development Board. He was previously a member of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Health/Science Products and Services, and served as a board member for two development-stage medical device companies. Dr. Cobuzzi holds an AB in Biochemistry and Art History from Colby College and a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry from Loyola University Chicago. He was a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Experimental Therapeutics at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y.

William Elder, JD

General Counsel

Bill Elder has served as General Counsel since September 2020. He is an attorney with nearly a decade of experience advising public and private companies in a variety of corporate, securities, governance, regulatory, and general commercial matters. He also previously served as a consultant to Diffusion from July 2020 to September 2020.

  • Prior to joining Diffusion, Bill spent eight years as an associate at the law firm of Dechert LLP, counseling clients in a broad range of transactions and other matters, including serving as outside counsel to Diffusion in connection with the Company’s reverse merger in 2016 and several subsequent financings. Bill received a JD from the University of Pennsylvania School in Law, a MSF (Master of Science in Finance) from Villanova University, and a BA in Economics from Tufts University. Bill is licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, where he lives with his dog, Stamos.

Bill Hornung

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Hornung has served as the Chief Financial Officer of Diffusion Pharmaceuticals Inc. since September 2018 and prior to that served as our Chief Business Officer from August 2017 to September 2018. Mr. Hornung has over twenty years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry.

  • As CBO of the Company, Mr. Hornung has responsibility for implementing the Company’s overall business development strategy and will manage investor, bank, and analyst relationships. Prior to joining Diffusion Pharmaceuticals Inc., Mr. Hornung held the position of Chief Financial Officer at Contravir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to Contravir, Mr. Hornung held positions of increasing responsibility with PTC Therapeutics Inc., most recently serving as Vice President of Finance. During his tenure at PTC Therapeutics (December 2002 through March 2014), Mr. Hornung oversaw the IPO process in which PTC became a publicly traded company. Mr. Hornung also held positions of increasing responsibility with Elan Pharmaceuticals (formerly The Liposome Company) from 1998 through 2002. At Liposome and Elan, he was responsible for strategic planning and operations of the company’s UK-based European headquarters. Earlier in his career, Mr. Hornung worked for a clinical research organization where he was responsible for project management and all financial aspects of the company. Mr. Hornung holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the William Paterson State University of New Jersey. He lives in Virginia with his wife Kristin.

Ted Crane

Senior Director of Financial Planning & Analysis

Ted Crane joined Diffusion as Senior Director of Financial Planning & Analysis in June of 2021. He has over 20 years of experience in senior finance roles across various industries and eight years of experience in pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies.

  • Ted joined Diffusion from Lannett, a generic pharmaceutical company, where he served as Director of Financial Planning & Analysis. While at Lannett, he worked on the acquisition and integration of Kremers Urban, assisted in various debt and equity capital transactions, and supported the Investor Relations activity in addition to leading the FP&A organization. Prior to Lannett, Ted worked as a contractor with various companies, such as CSL Behring, as financial support for CSL’s commercial organization. He began his career with Lockheed Martin as a member of their independent cost estimating (ICE) group before joining various companies such as Intuit, Medscape and The Corporate Marketplace (TCMPi) in financial leadership positions. Ted holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Rhode Island and an MBA from Babson’s Olin Graduate School of Business where he graduated Magna Cum Laude.

Laura Fowler, SHRM-SCP

Executive Administrator

Laura joined the Diffusion team as Executive Administrator in June 2022. She brings more than 15 years of organizational administration and project management experience from various industries, including biotech, financial services, and insurance.

  • Laura earned her SHRM-SCP credentials from the Society for Human Resource Management in 2022. She is based in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA where she lives with her feline friends, Ivy and Luna.

Jennifer Llewelyn, PhD


Sr. Director, Head of CMC

Dr. Llewelyn joined Diffusion as Senior Director and Head of CMC in September 2021. Jennifer brings over twenty years of technical and leadership experience from her roles in Research & Development and Operations.

  • Jennifer joined Diffusion from Incyte Corporation where she served as Senior Director of Analytical Development. While at Incyte, Dr. Llewelyn had the privilege of providing technical and leadership oversight to bring medicines to patients; from early phase clinical studies through to approval for commercialization, both in the US and globally. Dr. Llewelyn began her career at AstraZeneca in Analytical Research and Development where she gained extensive experience in drug development. Dr. Llewelyn received her B.S. in chemistry from Lindenwood College and a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from The Florida State University.

Rochelle Rivera


Staff Accountant

Rochelle Rivera has worked as a Staff Accountant for Diffusion since September 2021.

  • Before joining Diffusion, Rochelle was a staff accountant and accounting intern at various organizations throughout Philadelphia, PA. Rochelle received a BBA in Accounting with a concentration in Data Analytics from Temple University.

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