Who we are

Bio:

Scott Lampe is a proven business leader, driven to create sustainable companies that last throughout all phases of the business cycle, with an emphasis on operational excellence and the creation of fortress balance sheets.

After several decades as controller, chief financial officer and later, executive vice president at Hendrick Motorsports, Scott joined forces with Harry Smith and Travis Stephenson to form Rise Capital in 2019. Rise Capital launched Asterra Labs in 2020 and Scott was named CEO of the company.

Scott started his career in public accounting with Dixon Hughes Goodman in Raleigh, NC.

Scott earned his Bachelors of Science in Accounting from Appalachian State University. He is chair of the Cabarrus County Economic Development Board and a former member of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors. He currently serves as vice-chair of the Appalachian State University Board of Trustees.

Bio:

Mr. Rogers career began with constructing pharmaceutical facilities. He has overseen the design, installation, and qualification of numerous life sciences, pharmaceutical and gene therapy manufacturing and laboratory projects across the United States.

As his career continued to progress, Mr. Rogers became facilities director for a global pharmaceutical company. There, he helped create the site master plan and designs, specifying mechanical, electrical and process equipment criteria for a brand-new, 126,000-square-foot commercial drug manufacturing facility and 17,000-square-foot stability storage facility.

Mr. Rogers helped co-found Asterra Labs and he is currently responsible for managing the day to day operations at Asterra Labs.

Bio:

An inventor cited on three U.S. patents, Joe Cascone is a formulation scientist who created new drug-delivery mechanisms, and formulated 20-plus prescription medications for global drug companies. Many of his drugs were tested for the first time — safely — in human patients during clinical trials, meeting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s stringent criteria for an Investigational New Drug.

As Mr. Cascone’s career advanced, drug companies recruited him to apply his expertise to creating safer and more effective drug operations, including:

- Managing the highly regulated and difficult “tech transfer” process, which is how drugs are passed from one company to the next,
- Designing and overseeing the construction of facilities for highly potent drug compounds; it is critical that oft-toxic compounds are handled in ways that protect employees and reduce risk from cross-contamination,
- Overseeing the “reverse engineering” of drugs whose brand patents had expired, offering patients more accessible and affordable generic alternatives, and
- Developing a master plan, conceptualizing designs, and overseeing construction of a brand-new, 126000-square-foot commercial drug manufacturing facility.

As cofounder of Asterra Labs, Mr. Cascone sought to apply high scientific standards for quality and safety to CBD and other complementary medicine products. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Virginia Tech and a master’s degree in business administration from East Carolina University.

Bio:

Melissa Cromer brings to Asterra a wealth of knowledge about quality control, quality assurance, sales and marketing, with over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry.

A scientist by training, Ms. Cromer began her career testing individual drug products in a microbiology lab to ensure their safety, purity and efficacy. As her career advanced, she took on leadership responsibilities for quality assurance oversight for manufacturing operations.

Ms. Cromer later moved into a project management function coordinating research and development efforts, to include management of clinical trials and selecting new products to be added to the development pipeline. Most recently, Ms. Cromer has been in a sales position, maintaining relationships with regional and national retailers and wholesalers in the pharmaceutical industry.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and is currently completing requirements for her master’s of business administration degree at North Carolina State University.

Bio:

With more than 20 years of pharmaceutical industry experience, Mr. Warren brings to Asterra expertise in managing laboratory operations, client services and software development.

Mr. Warren began his career as an analytical chemist, building expertise in pharmaceutical method development and validation to ensure safety and efficacy in drug products. As his career progressed, Mr. Warren moved into leadership roles overseeing other scientists and laboratory operations, and in managing relationships with clients.

Most recently, Mr. Warren worked as head of special projects and software engineering validation manager, shepherding improvements and progress into all aspects of pharmaceutical operations.

He holds a bachelor’s of science degree in chemistry from East Carolina University.