LEADERSHIP
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Management

Founder, Chairman & CEO
Thomas Butler

Founder, COO & President
Ramses Erdtmann

Chief Technical & Quality Officer
Heow Tan

Chief People Officer
Naomi Cretcher

Chief Financial Officer
Franco Valle

Chief Medical Officer
Steve Morris M.D.

Executive Vice President of Chemistry
Thorsten Kirschberg Ph.D.

EVP, Intellectual Property
Ravi Upasani

Vice President of Drug Discovery
Jim Palmer Ph.D.

Vice President of Clinical Operations
Priyanka Mandava

VP, Contracts
Caroline Perez- Dupont

Executive Director, Regulatory Affairs
Hanna Cho

Founder, Chairman & CEO
Thomas Butler
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” – Charles Darwin
Prior to founding Biomea Fusion in 2017, Ramses and Tom built-up Point Sur Investors, a long-only biotech investment fund focused solely on innovative therapies that significantly improve the standard of care where Tom serves as Managing Partner. Before forming Biomea, Tom managed Investor Relations at Pharmacyclics Inc., where he helped grow the company from a market cap of $6.74B to over $21B, which included the execution of one of the largest biotech acquisitions to date. Prior to Pharmacyclics, Inc., Tom spent 6 years as a medicinal chemist at Gilead Sciences Inc. engaging in novel drug design and drug development of HCV polymerase and protease inhibitors. Tom is co-inventor of VEKLURY (Remdesivir), a polymerase inhibitor for the treatment of COVID-19 infection. Remdesivir generated revenue in 2021 of $5.6B. Tom holds an M.B.A. from the University of California Los Angeles (2012) and a master’s degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of California Santa Barbara (2007). As a research scientist, Thomas Butler has been awarded numerous patents in the U.S. and internationally, as well as published in top academic journals such as the American Chemical Society Journal of Medicinal Chemistry and Angewandte Chemie.

Founder, COO & President
Ramses Erdtmann
“Never regret yesterday, life is in you today and you determine your tomorrow.” – Hubbard
Prior to founding Biomea Fusion in 2017, Ramses and Tom built-up Point Sur Investors, a long-only biotech investment fund focused solely on innovative therapies. Ramses also worked together with Tom at Pharmacyclics, where he most recently served as the Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs. Ramses helped grow the company from approximately 40 employees with a market cap of $40M in 2009 to 650 employees and a market cap of $21B in 2015, when the company merged with AbbVie, Inc. He was involved in the operational expansion of the company and oversaw various departments during the growth phase including Finance, HR, Legal, Communications, IR, Facilities, Events, and IT. Prior to joining Pharmacyclics, Inc., Ramses managed assets for US high net-worth equity investors and large European closed-end funds. Ramses began his career at Commerzbank AG in Germany, where he was an investment banker and portfolio manager for international clients. He earned the Diplom Kaufmann degree with distinction in Finance and Banking from the Westfaelische Wilhelms Universität of Muenster, Germany.

Chief Technical & Quality Officer
Heow Tan
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” – Colin Powell
Heow joined Biomea Fusion, Inc. in November 2020. At Biomea, Heow is the Chief Technical & Quality Officer and is responsible for all aspects of CMC development, manufacturing, supply chain and Quality Operations. Heow brings 37 years of pharmaceutical industry experience in these areas. Prior to Biomea, Heow was the CTO for Pharmacyclics with similar responsibilities and was instrumental in scaling-up and getting the CMC section of Imbruvica NDA, with its 4 Breakthrough Therapy Designations approved. He helped grow Imbruvica to more than USD 5 billion worldwide revenue. Prior to Pharmacyclics, he was at Collegium Pharmaceutical where he served as Senior Vice President, Technical Operations. Before that, he was the Vice President, Industrial Operations and Development at Praecis Pharmaceuticals. Throughout his career, he has served in similar roles at many biopharmaceutical companies throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Heow received his BS in Industrial and Systems Engineering and an MS in Engineering from The Ohio State University. He also holds an MBA from Santa Clara University.

Chief People Officer
Naomi Cretcher
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.“ – Marie Curie
Naomi brings over 15 years of operational experience to biomea fusion. Prior to joining the company, Naomi was one of the first hires at Kartos Therapeutics where she served as Executive Director overseeing operations in the early stages of the company. At Kartos she helped grow operations and established systems and processes. She also was one of the early employees of Pharmacyclics Inc, where she headed the meetings, events and media department which led to 4 FDA labels, with three Breakthrough Therapy Designations within 14 months. She worked closely with CEO and COO on AbbVie’s $21B acquisition of Pharmacyclics; one of the largest biopharma sales ever. Pharmacyclics also received the prestigious Prix Galien for Best Pharmaceutical Agent, which Naomi helped coordinate. Before joining Pharmacyclics, Naomi spent 5 years at Genentech in Medical Communications.

Chief Financial Officer
Franco Valle
“Concentrate all of your thoughts upon the work in hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.“ – Alexander Graham Bell
Franco joined Biomea Fusion as Chief Financial Officer in July 2021. He brings over 16 years of progressive experience in Biotech and Pharmaceutical industry, with public and private experience. Prior to joining us, Franco was with Graphite Bio as the Senior Vice President, Finance. Previously, he held finance and leadership positions at various biotechnology companies, including Eidos Therapeutics, Inc. where he served as Senior Vice President, Finance, Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc., as Controller, and Pharmacyclics, Inc. as Senior Director of Accounting. Franco began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he worked in the Life Science and Venture Capital Group. He received a B.S. in Corporate Finance from San Jose State University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Chief Medical Officer
Steve Morris M.D.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” – Aristotle
Steve joined Biomea Fusion as Chief Medical Officer in February 2022, after having served as a clinical consultant since 2020. He brings over 35 years of experience as a physician-scientist and life sciences executive. Notably, Dr. Morris served on the staff at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for 25 years. In addition to working as a clinician, he led a basic and translational research laboratory at St. Jude, which discovered and characterized oncogenes that cause a variety of human cancers, most notably anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK). Prior to joining full time, Dr. Morris has served as a consultant or CMO for multiple oncology-focused biotech startups, including Biomea. Steve is a member of the medical honor society Alpha Omega Alpha, an American Society of Clinical Oncology Young Investigator Award winner, and an inductee into the American Society for Clinical Investigation. Dr. Morris earned his MD from Louisiana State University Health Science Center, completed an internal medicine residency at the University of Texas Southwestern Health Science Center, and completed training in medical oncology at Yale University School of Medicine.

Executive Vice President of Chemistry
Thorsten Kirschberg Ph.D.
“The doer alone learneth.“ – Friedrich Nietzsche
Thorsten received his chemistry training at the universities of Münster/Germany, Osaka/Japan and at Stanford University/USA. He has extensive experience leading teams to discover and develop small molecule drug candidates. He spent more than a decade at Gilead Sciences and contributed to the company’s drug portfolio and pipeline. With his team, he synthesized ledipasvir, a component of Harvoni®, to cure HCV infections. He led research to the discovery of GS-4875, a COT inhibitor in advanced clinical studies for the treatment of IBD. More recently at Terns Pharmaceuticals, his chemistry leadership provided multiple optimized candidates and identified TERN-501, a selective THR- b agonist for the treatment of NASH.

EVP, Intellectual Property
Ravi Upasani
The world is the great gymnasium where we come to make ourselves strong – Swami Vivekananda
Ravi joined Biomea Fusion as Executive Vice President of Intellectual Property in April 2021. He brings over 30 years of experience in Biotech and the Pharmaceutical industry. Ravi earned his Ph.D. in small molecule chemistry and his qualifications include a unique combination of extensive experience in medicinal chemistry and expertise in Intellectual Property. Prior to joining us, Ravi was with Protagonist Therapeutics as the Vice President of Intellectual Property. Previously, he held senior level Intellectual Property positions at Pharmacyclics, Evotec, AG, and Renovis. In this capacity, Ravi was responsible for the management of IP functions, including the development and implementation of patent strategy; drafting and prosecution of patent applications, and managing the company’s extensive patent portfolio. He is registered before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as a patent agent. Ravi has authored over 35 publications and is an inventor on more than 15 United States patents.

Vice President of Drug Discovery
Jim Palmer Ph.D.
“Whosoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved the entire world.“ – Rabbi Hillel the Elder
Based in Melbourne, Australia, Jim brings over 30 years of experience of drug discovery programs targeting oncology, cardiovascular, inflammation, joint and bone disease, and infectious diseases.
Formerly, Jim was employed by Biota Pharmaceuticals as Director, Drug Discovery, responsible for coordinating Biota’s antibacterial research discovery program in Australia and the UK. Prior to this he was Head of Chemistry at Cytopia, from 2007-2009. Before joining Cytopia, Jim was Senior Director, Medicinal Chemistry, at Celera Genomics, in San Francisco, where he led the team that discovered Imbruvica® (ibrutinib), now approved for CLL and other indications. Jim’s teams have contributed to the discovery and development of several other clinical and late-stage preclinical candidates, including odanacatib (Phase III, Merck, osteoporosis), momelotinib (Phase III, Gilead/Sierra Oncology, myelofibrosis), abexinostat (Phase II, Pharmacyclics, oncology), and K11777/SLV213 (Phase II, Selva Pharmaceuticals, Covid-19).
He undertook post-doctoral studies at Purdue University, having obtained a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry (1979, Old Dominion University) and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry (1985, Purdue University), and has co-authored over 60 peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations, and is an inventor on over three dozen issued patents and published applications. In 2019 he was awarded the American Chemical Society Heroes of Chemistry Award for his role in the development of Imbruvica by Pharmacyclics.

Vice President of Clinical Operations
Priyanka Mandava
“The best innovation comes from inclusive work environments that foster diverse ideas, nurture people with diverse talents and backgrounds, and create strong relationships with diverse communities.“ – Mark Parker
With over 16 years of Clinical Research/Development Experience, Priyanka joined Biomea Fusion in March of 2022 as Vice President, Clinical Operations. Priyanka brings with her in-depth knowledge of clinical research operations, including the interpretation and implementation of ICH/GCP guidelines as well as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and other Health Authority (HA) regulations. Throughout her career, Priyanka has contributed to the global approval of two blockbuster drugs (Imbruvica and Sofosbuvir) and several sNDAS.
Priyanka holds a Master’s Degree in Biotechnology and was most recently the Vice President, Global Clinical Operations at Summit Therapeutics where she provided leadership and strategic direction to the Clinical Operations team and oversaw the Phase III and Phase II studies in C.Diff. Prior to Summit, Priyanka worked at AbbVie/Pharmacyclics as the Director, Clinical Operations/Program Development where she oversaw and lead multiple hematology and solid tumor early to late phase programs with Imbruvica and multiple early phase molecules. In addition, Priyanka managed multiple collaborations with pharmaceutical companies and cooperative groups. Priyanka also worked on infectious disease (Hepatitis B & Hepatitis C) Phase III & IV studies at Gilead with Truvada, Tenofovir, and sofosbuvir.

VP, Contracts
Caroline Perez- Dupont
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” – Paulo Coelho
Caroline joined Biomea in March 2021 as a consultant and in July 2021 as our Vice President of Contracts. As a California licensed attorney and French in-house counsel, Caroline brings over 20 years of experience in the biotechnology/pharmaceutical and medical device industries. Prior to Biomea, Caroline served as the Senior Director of Contracts at Dermira, a biotechnology company focused on medical dermatology from 2015 to 2021 until its acquisition by Eli Lilly and Company, and as the Associate Director, Corporate & Commercial Transactions at Pharmacyclics, a biotechnology company focused on the development of cancer therapies, from 2013 to 2015. Caroline also worked at Perseid Therapeutics-Astellas, Accuray, Maxygen, Versata and Sequoia Law Group.
Caroline holds a L.L.M in US Law from Florida Coastal School of Law and a J.D. from University of Toulouse, France.

Executive Director, Regulatory Affairs
Hanna Cho
“I believe that success is achieved by ordinary people with extraordinary determination” – Zig Ziglar
Hanna brings over 20 years of drug discovery and development and regulatory strategy experience to Biomea Fusion. Prior to joining Biomea, Hanna worked as a global regulatory lead at various biopharma companies including BioMarin, Iovance, Clovis Oncology, and Genentech. She successfully led cross functional global teams for various products including approvals of vosoritide (first and only therapy for achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism) and rucaparib (for ovarian cancer with germline and somatic BRCA mutations diagnosed by a companion diagnostic). Hanna has diverse experiences in various functions of regulatory affairs including clinical/nonclinical, CMC, labeling, and international regulatory. Also, her regulatory strategy experience extends from pre-clinical to post-market life cycle management. Prior to switching her career to regulatory affairs, Hanna was a medicinal chemist at Plexxikon (acquired by Daiichi Sankyo) and Pharmacia (acquired by Pfizer). As a medicinal chemist, Hanna designed and synthesized the active moiety of vemurafenib (the first personalized/precision medicine targeting melanoma) that is globally marketed as Zelboraf®, and it is considered as the first drug designed using fragment-based lead discovery to be approved and marketed. Hanna earned her Ph.D. in medicinal organic chemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Board of Directors
Thomas Butler – CEO, Co-Founder, Chairman of the Board
Thomas Butler co-founded Biomea Fusion in August 2017 and has served as our Chief Executive Officer and as a member of our board of directors since August 2017. He has also been a Managing Member of Point Sur Investors LLC, a biotech investment fund, since January 2016. From 2013 to 2015, Mr. Butler was Senior Manager of Investor Relations at Pharmacyclics Inc., a publicly-traded pharmaceutical company. Prior to joining Pharmacyclics, Mr. Butler was a medicinal chemist at Gilead Sciences Inc., a publicly-traded company, engaging in novel drug design and drug development of HCV polymerase and protease inhibitors, from 2007 to 2013. Mr. Butler holds a B.S. in Chemistry from California State University, Chico, an M.B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an M.S. in Organic Chemistry from the University of California, Santa Barbara. We believe that Mr. Butler is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to the valuable expertise and perspective he brings in his capacity as a co-founder and our Chief Executive Officer and because of his extensive experience and knowledge of our industry.
Ramses Erdtmann – President, COO, Co-Founder
Ramses Erdtmann co-founded Biomea Fusion in August 2017 and has served as our President and as a member of our board of directors since August 2017. He has also served as our Chief Operating Officer since February 2021. He has also been a Managing Member of Point Sur Investors LLC, a biotech investment fund, since January 2016. From 2008 to 2016, he held a number of leadership roles at Pharmacyclics Inc., a publicly-traded pharmaceutical company, including as the Principal Financial and Accounting Officer, and most recently, Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs. Prior to joining Pharmacyclics, Mr. Erdtmann founded the asset management firm United Properties Immobilien and Anlagen Gmbh and Oxygen Investments, LLC, which he ran from its founding in 1995 to 2009. From 1992 to 1995, Mr. Erdtmann worked at Commerzbank, Germany, where he was an investment banker and portfolio manager for institutional international accounts. Mr. Erdtmann currently serves on the board of directors of Summit, Inc., a publicly-traded biotechnology company and previously served on the board of directors of PolarityTE, Inc., a publicly-traded biotechnology and regenerative biomaterials company. Mr. Erdtmann holds a Diplom Kaufmann degree in Finance and Banking from the Westfaelische Wilhelms Universität of Muenster, Germany. We believe that Mr. Erdtmann is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his perspective, experience and leadership as a co-founder and the President of our company.
Eric Aguiar, M.D. – Lead Director, Chair of the Audit Committee, Member of the Compensation Committee
Eric Aguiar, M.D. has served as a member of our board of directors since December 2020. Dr. Aguiar has been a partner at Aisling Capital, a healthcare-focused venture fund, since January 2016. Prior to Aisling Capital, from October 2007 to December 2015, he was a partner at Thomas, McNerney and Partners, a healthcare venture capital and growth equity fund. From 2001 to 2007, Dr. Aguiar was Managing Director of HealthCare Ventures, a healthcare-focused venture capital firm. Previously, Dr. Aguiar was Chief Executive Officer of Genovo, Inc., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company, from 1998 to 2000. Dr. Aguiar currently serves on the board of directors of Invitae Corporation and BridgeBio Pharma, Inc., both publicly-traded pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Aguiar previously served on the board of directors of numerous publicly-traded life sciences companies, including Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Eidos Therapeutics, Inc. (prior to its merger with BridgeBio), and Amarin Corporation plc. Dr. Aguiar also served on the board of directors of privately-held Oriel Therapeutics, Inc. (prior to its acquisition by Novartis). Dr. Aguiar is also a member of the board of overseers of the Tufts School of Medicine and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Dr. Aguiar holds a B.A. in College Scholar from Cornell University, a M.D. from Harvard Medical School and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. We believe that Dr. Aguiar is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his medical background and his extensive experience as an investor in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
Bihua Chen – Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, Member of the Compensation Committee
Bihua Chen has served as a member of our board of directors since December 2020. Ms. Chen is the founder of Cormorant Asset Management, LP, an investment firm focused on innovative biotechnology, medical technology and life science companies, and has managed Cormorant’s hedge fund, as well as its private equity funds since its founding in February 2013. Prior to founding Cormorant, from 2005 to 2010, Ms. Chen served as a sub-adviser to Millennium Management LLC, a multi-strategy hedge fund. Previously, from 2001 to 2002, Ms. Chen was a healthcare analyst and sector portfolio manager for investment advisor American Express Asset Management. Ms. Chen also served as a portfolio manager for the Asterion Life Science Fund from 2001 to 2002, an equity analyst and portfolio manager for Bellevue Research from 2000 to 2001 and an equity analyst for Putnam Investments from 1998 to 2001. Ms. Chen currently serves on the board of directors of Atia Vision, U.S., a privately-held medical innovation hub. Ms. Chen holds a B.S. in Genetics and Genetic Engineering from Fudan University, Shanghai, China, an M.S. in Molecular Biology from the Graduate School of Biomedical Science at Cornell Medical College and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business. We believe that Ms. Chen is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to her demonstrated leadership in her field, her experience as a board member of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and her experience as an investor in life sciences companies.
Michael J.M. Hitchcock, Ph.D. – Chair of the Compensation Committee, Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, Member of the Audit Committee
Michael J. M. Hitchcock, Ph.D. (Mick) has served as a member of the board since March 2021. Dr. Hitchcock is currently Past Chair of the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) Foundation and Adjunct Professor of Microbiology at UNR Medical School, a position in which he has served since July 2016. Dr Hitchcock’s career in pharmaceutical research and development initially began with Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he served in several infectious disease research and project planning roles from 1980 through 1993. He joined Gilead Sciences, Inc. in 1993 and during his 27 years with the Company, he held a variety of positions, including vice president roles with responsibility for project and portfolio management, alliance management, strategic planning, medical affairs and specific areas of research. He also served as Senior Advisor at Gilead from 2009 through November 2019. During his career, he was involved in the development and commercialization of a number of anti-infective agents, primarily antivirals (tenofovir, adefovir, cidofovir, elvitegravir, oseltamivir, stavudine, didanosine) for treatment of HIV, HBV, influenza, CMV and other viral diseases. Dr. Hitchcock holds a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Melbourne, Australia and B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in biochemistry from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, England. He also conducted post-doctoral research at Georgetown University and NIH prior to joining industry. We believe that Dr. Hitchcock is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his academic background and his experience as a senior executive in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
Sumita Ray, J.D. – Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Sumita Ray, J.D. has served as a member of the board of directors since June, 2021. Ms. Ray serves as Chief Legal, Compliance & Administrative Officer and Corporate Secretary (CLAO) at Instil Bio (NASDAQ: TIL), an oncology cell therapy company in the tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TILs) space. Prior to her current role, Sumita served as CLAO at Calithera for 5 years. Before her time at Calithera, Ms. Ray served on the Executive Management Team of Pharmacyclics, as Chief Compliance Officer and Associate General Counsel, Head of Healthcare and Regulatory Law, until its acquisition by Abbvie. Prior to Pharmacyclics, she served in leadership roles as in-house counsel for Elan Pharmaceuticals, Genentech and AstraZeneca. Ms. Ray started her legal career as a litigator at Montgomery, McCracken, Walker and Rhoads LLP. Ms. Ray has more than 20 years of life science, pharmaceutical and biotechnology experience, spanning private practice and in-house legal and operational roles in various therapeutic areas including Oncology, Neurology and Primary Care. She has legal expertise in FDA regulatory law, global health care law, compliance, privacy, brand support, product launches, collaborations and alliance management, as well as extensive experience leading and managing business functions in these industries. Ms. Ray holds a Juris Doctor from Temple University School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology with a minor in Chemistry from the University of Arizona. We believe that Ms. Ray is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to her extensive legal background and experience as a senior executive in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
Elizabeth Faust, Ph.D. - Member of the Board
Elizabeth Faust, Ph.D. has served as a member of our board of directors since June 2022. Dr. Faust is the principal and owner of Faust Consulting LLC where she works with start-up and bio-pharmaceutical companies. Most recently, she served as the Executive Vice President of Medical Affairs at Tricida Inc where she built and led Medical Affairs and oversaw the Safety and Pharmacovigilance functions. Previously, Dr. Faust was the Vice President of Medical Affairs at Kite Pharma where she built and led the Medical Affairs function supporting the launch of Yescarta, the first cell therapy for lymphoma before transitioning her responsibilities to Gilead after the acquisition. Before that, she was the Vice President of Medical Affairs at Pharmacyclics where she built and led Medical Affairs through 4 launches for Imbruvica and the Abbvie acquisition. Dr. Faust has also served in senior roles in Medical Affairs at Celgene and Gloucester Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Celgene). She was at Amgen for 12 years in the Research, Development and Medical Affairs departments. Dr. Faust has over 26 years in the bio-pharmaceutical industry. She was a key contributor to the launch of 9 new molecular entities (small molecules, biologics and cell therapy) and 4 successful BLA/NDA submissions. Dr. Faust holds a B.S. in Microbiology from Auburn University and a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from UCLA. Dr. Faust is qualified to serve on the board of directors due to her extensive experience in drug development and her background as a senior executive in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
Scientific Advisory Board
Jeffrey Rubnitz, M.D., Ph.D. – Director of the Leukemia/Lymphoma Division, Dept. of Oncology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Jeffrey Rubnitz, M.D., Ph.D. is the director of the Leukemia/Lymphoma Division in the Department of Oncology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Dr. Rubnitz completed his M.D. and Ph.D. at the UCSD School of Medicine and his Pediatrics residency and Hematology/Oncology fellowship at Stanford Children’s Hospital. Dr. Rubnitz has a wealth of experience in leading and participating in clinical trials in pediatric leukemia. Over the past few years, Dr. Rubnitz led early phase studies of selinexor, panobinostat, and venetoclax for children with relapsed leukemia. Since becoming Director of the Leukemia/Lymphoma Division in 2014, he focused on expanding St. Jude’s efforts in developmental therapeutics for childhood leukemia. In 2002, he became director of the acute myeloid leukemia (AML) clinical program and subsequently led 3 multi-institutional clinical trials (AML02, AML08, and AML16) that were designed to improve the outcome of children with newly diagnosed AML. Dr. Rubnitz’s research initially focused on the characterization of prognostic factors in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Xianxin Hua, M.D., Ph.D. – Professor of Cancer Biology, Department of Cancer Biology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
Xianxin Hua, M.D., Ph.D., is a tenured professor of cancer biology, Department of Cancer Biology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine since 2014. He is also an investigator at Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute (AFCRI), Penn Diabetes Research Center (DRC), and Institute of Translational Medicine and Therapeutics (ITMAT). Dr. Hua holds a medical degree from Hubei Medical college, and Ph.D. degree from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. At University of Pennsylvania, he initiated his research program on investigating the molecular biology and physiology of the pathways regulated by the menin protein, which is encoded by the MEN1 gene whose loss of function mutation is associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1(MEN1) syndrome. His group was the first to propose that menin acts as a scaffold protein, controlling multiple functions including epigenetics, gene transcription, and cell signaling. Findings from his group also helped to elucidate the menin pathway as a hub that control cell proliferation in a context-dependent manner, suppressing growth of endocrine cells such as insulin-secreting beta cells, but promoting growth of a subset of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and colorectal cancer (CRC). Dr. Hua’s group is instrumental in demonstrating that inhibition of the menin gene reverses pre-existing diabetes or prevents the development of diabetes in various preclinical models. Discoveries from Dr. Hua’s group led to multiple patents involving the menin pathways, including some licensed for clinical trials. Dr. Hua has over 100 peer-reviewed publications including over 50 publications in the field of menin biology.
Rohit N. Kulkarni, M.D., Ph.D. – Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Margaret A. Congleton Chair and Co-Head of the Section on Islet & Regenerative Biology at Joslin Diabetes Center
Rohit Kulkarni M.D. Ph.D. is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Margaret A. Congleton Chair and Co-Head of the Section on Islet & Regenerative Biology at Joslin Diabetes Center. He holds a M.D. and Ph.D. from St. John’s Medical College and Royal Postgraduate Medical school in London. His research lab at Harvard focuses primarily on the study of a specific type of cell in the pancreas called islet cells, including but not limited to studying how islet cells behave in various environments and discovering and developing therapeutic treatments for both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. He has been on the Faculty of the Joslin Diabetes Center since 1999 and is currently a Senior Investigator and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Kulkarni is the recipient of the Endocrine Society’s Ernst Oppenheimer Award, the Merck Frosst Distinguished Lectureship and James H. Horner Distinguished Visiting Professorship and is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and Association of American Physicians.
Dave Ball Ph.D. – Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at CSU, Chico
David B. Ball, Ph.D. has been a retired Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at CSU, Chico since 2010. He received a B.S. in chemistry from UC, Berkeley and a Ph.D. from UC, Santa Barbara. He had a post-doctoral appointment at Boston University, taught at the University of Chile, Santiago, and had a teaching-research postdoctoral position at UCSB before starting his independent career at Chico State in 1974. During his academic career at Chico State, Dr. Ball has been recognized as a Retired Faculty Hall of Fame inductee (2019); the Distinguished Emeritus Faculty in the College of Natural Sciences (2018); the Outstanding Research Mentor Award (2008, initial awardee); the Professional Achievement Award (2005); and the CSU Research Award (1998). Dr. Ball has also received several national research awards (NSF, ACS-PRF) on sabbatical leaves at UC Davis, UCSB, and UCSC (1996, 1995, 1992, and 1983). Since 2012, Dr. Ball and his undergraduate co-workers have been involved in collaboration with Professor Ron Tjeerdema, an environmental toxicologist at UC Davis, synthesizing degradation products of herbicides and pesticides used to evaluate their environmental outcome in California rice fields. During his academic career at Chico State, Dr. Ball has mentored fifty plus research students who have gone on to post-graduate studies in organic chemistry with most receiving a Ph.D.
Bruce Lipschutz, Ph.D. – Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at UC Santa Barbara (UCSB)
Bruce Lipshutz is a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at UC Santa Barbara (UCSB). Dr. Lipshutz received his Ph.D. at Yale in 1977, after which he moved as an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Research Fellow to Harvard University to work with Nobel Laureate E. J. Corey. After two years he relocated to southern California at UCSB, taking an Assistant Professor position, and in 1989 became a full Professor of Chemistry. After over 25 years on the faculty at UCSB, his research group left traditional organic synthesis and began the journey of converting organic chemistry into a sustainable discipline, focused on the “switch” to Nature’s chosen medium: water. The Lipshutz research group continues to develop new technologies in green chemistry, with the specific goal being to get organic solvents out of organic reactions, as organic solvents are, by far, responsible for most of the organic waste created by the chemical enterprise and derive mainly from the world’s finite petroleum reserves. To accomplish this goal, the concept of “designer” surfactants has been introduced within the area of aqueous micellar catalysis. For these efforts over the past 15 years, several awards both in traditional and green chemistry have been received, most notably the EPA’s Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award, the American Chemical Society’s Green Chemistry Institute’s Peter Dunn Award, and the H. C. Brown Award for Creativity in Organic Synthesis.
David Smith, Ph.D. – Former Professor at City of Hope Cancer Research Hospital in Los Angeles
David Smith, Ph.D. was Senior Biostatistician at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane Australia from 2015 to 2017. Dr. Smith holds a B.A. in Mathematics and a Ph.D. in Statistics. Dr. Smith has decades of experience as a biostatistics expert, with his career spanning clinical research from regulatory, academic, and industry points of view. Most notably, Dr. Smith served as a biostatistical reviewer for the Division of Oncology Drug Products at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for three years, during which time he reviewed more than 40 oncology INDs and NDAs. Dr. Smith was a Professor and Assistant Director of Biostatistics at City of Hope cancer research hospital in Los Angeles from 2000 to 2015, during which time he was a co-investigator on grants from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. He has designed and analyzed over 50 solid tumor and hematology protocols at all levels of development, from pre-clinical and genomic studies to Phase II/III trials. He served on the board of directors at Pharmacyclics from 2008 to their acquisition in 2015. Dr. Smith is an author and coauthor of over 100 papers in peer-reviewed biostatistics, oncology, surgery, radiation, and immunology journals.
Margaret Tempero, M.D. – Professor of Medicine, gastrointestinal oncologist, director of the UCSF Pancreas Center, leader of the UCSF Pancreas Cancer Program and editor-in-chief of the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (JNCCN)
Margaret Tempero, M.D., is a Professor of Medicine, gastrointestinal oncologist, director of the UCSF Pancreas Center, leader of the UCSF Pancreas Cancer Program and editor-in-chief of the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (JNCCN). Her research career has focused on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, especially in the area of investigational therapeutics. Dr. Tempero has served on the ASCO Board of Directors and as ASCO President. She currently serves on the ASCO Conquer Cancer Foundation Board. She codirected the AACR/ASCO Methods in Clinical Cancer Research and taught this course and similar courses in Europe and Australia. She was founding Chair of the NCI Clinical Oncology Study Section and served as a member and Chair of the NCI Board of Scientific Counselors Subcommittee A. She is a member of the Scientific Steering Committee and Chair of the Clinical and Translational Study Section for the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas. She is or has been on the Scientific Advisory Boards of the Lustgarten Foundation, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, the V Foundation, The Alberta Canada Cancer Board, and the EORTC. She served as a member of the Oncology Drug Advisory Committee for the FDA. She has served as Deputy Director and Interim Director for the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center. She is Chief Emeritus of the Division of Medical Oncology at UCSF. She served as the founding Deputy Director and was later Director of Research Programs at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Juan Pablo Frias, M.D. – Medical Director and Principal Investigator of Velocity Clinical Research (formerly National Research Institute) in Los Angeles
Juan Pablo Frias, M.D., is Medical Director and Principal Investigator of Velocity Clinical Research (formerly National Research Institute) in Los Angeles, CA. He received his medical degree from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and completed his Fellowship in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Frías has held academic positions at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes) and the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, where he is currently on the clinical faculty. He has been involved in diabetes and metabolism-related research for over 25 years and has authored numerous publications in this field, including first author publications in New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, Diabetes, Diabetes Care, and Cell Metabolism.
Jeremy Pettus, M.D. – Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology at UC San Diego (UCSD)
Jeremy Pettus, M.D. is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Diego. After being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes himself at the age of 15, Dr. Pettus has dedicated his career toward treating and educating others with the disease. He now specializes in type 1 diabetes clinical and translational research with studies utilizing metabolic techniques such as glycemic clamps to quantify insulin resistance. He also has experience in immunotherapeutics for recently diagnosed patients, islet cell encapsulation/transplantation, and technology-based approaches such as artificial pancreas and continuous glucose monitoring. In addition to his clinical research at UCSD, Dr. Pettus has interests in patient empowerment through education and works with the not-for-profit organization Taking Control of Your Diabetes. With this organization, Dr. Pettus produces educational content for patients living with diabetes.