Leadership Team

Denis Johnson brings extensive life sciences leadership and manufacturing experience to his role as CEO, including significant prior sterile fill-finish experience. He has led operations and commercial senior leadership roles in the biologics, pharmaceutical, and combination devices for over 25 years. Before being appointed CEO at Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing, his prior roles include Head of Global Manufacturing and Technical Operations at Biogen as well as leadership roles at Catalent, Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson. He started his career in the U.S. Army managing logistics and operations. 

Denis earned a B.S. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin Madison and an MBA from the University of South Carolina.

Nick Bykerk, chief financial officer, applies his vast leadership experience to develop and execute strategic growth initiatives.

Part of GRAM since 2012, Nick held positions overseeing supply chain, finance, and business development before his current role leading the finance and accounting departments. Nick maintains a critical role in the executive team leading the company through several years of high growth and substantial industry partnerships.

Before joining GRAM, Nick worked at Plante & Moran where he focused on manufacturing and service companies and served in technical, management, and advisory positions. After leaving public accounting, he joined a local manufacturing company as a member of the executive management team to run the finance and accounting departments.

Nick is a CPA and graduated from Calvin College with a degree in public accounting.

Steve Nole serves as vice president of MSAT, responsible for all manufacturing and packaging operations and facility engineering. He has more than 20 years of industry experience with biologics and small molecule aseptic manufacturing, lyophilization, technical transfer, new facility startup and contract manufacturing organization management. 

Prior to joining GRAM in 2015, Steve held roles of increasing responsibility at Pfizer’s pharmaceutical sciences biotherapeutics group in technology transfer and scale-up of biosimilars. Most recently at Pfizer, Steve was senior manager of liquid dose manufacturing at its Andover facility, working with engineering and validation to commission and start up a new sterile fill/finish facility. In his career, he also worked at Anika Therapeutics and King Pharmaceuticals. Steve graduated from Oakland University with a degree in biology. 

Jennifer is a seasoned quality and regulatory leader with more than 25 years of experience supporting pharmaceutical manufacturing operations. Throughout her career, she has developed deep expertise in quality systems, regulatory compliance, GMP operations, product lifecycle management, and cross-functional leadership within highly regulated pharmaceutical environments.

During her eight-year tenure at GRAM, Jennifer has served in several quality leadership roles, most recently as Director of Quality & Regulatory Affairs, where she provided strategic oversight of quality operations, including product disposition and release activities, incoming quality systems, deviation and CAPA management, and regulatory compliance across the GRAM portfolio of products and manufacturing sites.

Prior to joining GRAM, Jennifer spent 20 years at Pfizer, where she held progressive leadership positions spanning quality assurance, analytical sciences, and pharmaceutical development. Her extensive experience includes oversight of site compliance programs, regulatory inspections, product quality systems, process improvement initiatives, and customer quality support.

Wendy Turner brings invaluable experience and leadership to GRAM's executive team as Vice President of Project Management and Client Relations. Wendy has over 30 years of pharmaceutical industry expertise, with a remarkable 23+ years dedicated to various Contract Development and Manufacturing Organizations (CDMOs) such as Baxter Pharmaceutical Solutions, Alcami, and Patheon Pharma Services. Her focus has been on the development and commercial supply of sterile injectable products in multiple presentations.

Throughout her career, Wendy has excelled in Project Management leadership roles, where she has been instrumental in growing businesses, developing personnel, and delivering on customer commitments. Most recently, she spent over six years at CSL, a leading global biotech company, as Sr. Director of R&D Project and Portfolio Management.

Wendy is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Indiana University. She has also completed executive business certification courses at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University.

Kelly is a goal-focused operations professional with over 30 years of experience in the life sciences manufacturing environment. He has a strong background in Lean Six Sigma methodologies and consistently demonstrates his commitment to continuous improvement in productivity, quality, safety, and processes through innovation and customer commitment.

Prior to joining GRAM, Kelly served as Vice President and General Manager at Emergent BioSolutions in Rockville, MD, where he led the fill/finish manufacturing site responsible for producing liquid/lyophilized aseptic viral products. Before that, he was the Sr. Director of Operations at Curia, where he led 24/7 site operations for contract manufacturing and was responsible for technical operations, training and development, and operational excellence teams. Additional experience includes time at Evonik Corporation, Endo Pharmaceuticals, and Abbott Laboratories.

With a bachelor's degree in business administration from Carthage College in Kenosha, WI, and a Six Sigma Green Belt Certification from Edgecombe Community College in Rocky Mount, NC, Kelly brings a unique blend of academic and practical knowledge to his role. His high-integrity leadership and proven track record of success make him a significant contributor to GRAM’s leadership team.

Dave Powell brings over 28 years of industry experience in aseptic manufacturing, drug delivery, technical transfer, project management, marketing and business development to his role as GRAM’s vice president, business development. Prior to joining GRAM, Dave held various leadership roles within the CDMO organizations at Abbott, Hospira, and Pfizer.

Most recently, Dave led the Development Services and Commercial Accounts organizations of the Pfizer CentreOne contract development and manufacturing business, including accountability for customer management. Over his career, Dave has led global teams of Business Development and Program Management professionals. Part of the GRAM team since 2019, Dave earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from Marquette University.