Dr. Francois is a co-founder of Apellis and has served as a member of the board of directors and as President and Chief Executive Officer since September 2009. Prior to co-founding Apellis, Dr. Francois co-founded Potentia Pharmaceuticals, Inc., or Potentia, a private biotechnology company. Dr. Francois has served as President and Chief Executive Officer at Potentia since 2001. Dr. Francois received his M.D. from the University of Leuven in Belgium and his Ph.D. in physiology from the University of Louisville. Following postgraduate training in pediatric and transplant surgery, Dr. Francois was a member of the research team that performed the first successful hand transplantation and of the Louisville Face Transplant Team, whose work supported hand transplantation in Lyon, France in 2005.