Tammy Lee

Board Member Since 2023

Tammy Lee is the founder and CEO of Xena Therapies, a Class 1 medical device company based in Red Wing, Minnesota. The company began manufacturing in February 2020, just prior to the start of the global pandemic.

Xena manufactures two brands of FDA-registered wearable therapies, Opal and ONYX COOL. Both brands feature a plant-based cooling technology with specialized manufacturing processes that are trade secrets.

ONYX COOL’s 58° wearable therapies are safe to wear directly on the skin and designed for faster, active recovery from orthopedic and sports injuries and total joint replacements. ONYX COOL’s 80° products are formulated for cool comfort and safety and can be used to prevent heat stress and related injuries.

ONYX COOL’s sister company, Opal, uses the same technology to make Cool Products for Hot Women at every age and stage of life – from motherhood through menopause and to treat MS and heat stress.

Prior to founding Xena Therapies, Tammy served as President and CEO of Recombinetics, a biotech company that uses gene editing tools and precision breeding for pigs to find cures for human diseases. As CEO, she raised their $34 million Series A round.

Before that, Tammy held senior executive positions in large, complex, multinational businesses including Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Carlson Companies and Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Delta Air Lines during the Northwest-Delta merger. She also served as a corporate officer at Northwest Airlines and Sun Country Airlines.

Tammy was named to Twin Cities Business Magazine Top 100 People to Know in 2018. She is a member of the Women Presidents Organization and Minnesota Women’s Economic Roundtable.

Tammy received her MBA from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. and serves on the Board of Regents for her alma mater, Concordia College, where she received Bachelor of Arts degrees in political science and communications.

Tammy’s daughter, Lissa, is sophomore at Concordia College, majoring in biology with an interest in becoming a physician’s assistant. Both mother and daughter are passionate about finding breakthrough discoveries in healthcare – especially for hydrocephalus. Lissa was diagnosed with hydrocephalus and had her first shunt surgery at age 2 ½. She’s had seven revision surgeries since but has been blessed with fast recovery and good outcomes.