Board of Directors

Cheryl R. Blanchard, Ph.D.

Cheryl R. Blanchard, Ph.D. was appointed the Executive Chair of the Board of Directors of Anika Therapeutics in February 2026. Most recently, Dr. Blanchard served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Anika from February 2020 until January 2026. Dr. Blanchard joined the Board of Directors of Anika Therapeutics, Inc. in August 2018, serving on the Company’s Compensation Committee and Governance and Nominating Committee. Prior to her work as an executive officer with Anika, she served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Microchips Biotech, Inc., a venture-backed biotechnology company developing regenerative medicine and drug delivery products, from 2014 until its sale to Daré Bioscience, Inc. in November 2019. From 2012 to 2020, Dr. Blanchard was also a Principal at Blanchard Consulting, LLC which provided scientific, regulatory, and business strategy consulting services to medical device companies and private equity clients. From 2000 to 2012, she served in various officer positions of Zimmer, Inc. (now Zimmer Biomet), a medical device company focused on musculoskeletal products, including as the Senior Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer, and general manager of Zimmer Biologics. She was also a member of Zimmer’s executive committee and founded, built and led Zimmer’s Joint Preservation/Regenerative Medicine business. Prior to joining Zimmer, Dr. Blanchard built and led the medical device practice at Southwest Research Institute.

She served as a director of Vigil Neuroscience (NASDAQ: VIGL), a publicly held clinical-stage biotechnology company committed to harnessing the power of microglia for the treatment of neurogenerative diseases from November 2020 until its acquisition by Sanofi in August 2025, and served as a director of Daré Bioscience, Inc. (NASDAQ: DARE), a publicly held leader in women’s health innovation, from November 2019 until June 2024. In April 2026, Dr. Blanchard was named as a director of Xilio Therapeutics (Nasdaq: XLO), a publicly held clinical-stage biotechnology company discovering and developing masked immuno-oncology therapies for people living with cancer. 

Dr. Blanchard received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and received her B.S. in Ceramic Engineering from Alfred University