Mr. Mathias has more than 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry as an entrepreneur, investor and banker. Over the course of his career, he has raised over $250 million in debt and equity for pharmaceutical and healthcare technology and services companies. For 15 years prior to joining Thetis full-time as CEO, Mr. Mathias was a senior partner at the investment bank Carter Morse & Mathias (Southport, Connecticut), where he led the bank’s Healthcare Group. He previously was a senior vice president in the Healthcare Group at GE Equity Capital, Chief Operating Officer of Diabetes Support Systems, and executive vice president of Premier Healthcare, a healthcare focused private equity firm.
He has served on the board of various organizations in the healthcare space, including the Connecticut Venture Group, Western Connecticut Health Network, Diabetes Support Systems and Dome Imaging Systems. He also served as Chairman of the Alliance of International Corporate Advisors (AICA), a network of investment banks in the Americas, Europe and Asia focused on mid-market M&A transactions and capital raises.
Mr. Mathias has an MBA from the Yale School of Management, a BA in Economics from Harvard College, and was a Fulbright Fellow in economic development.
Dr. Sciavolino has extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including a distinguished 35 year career at Pfizer Global R&D. At Pfizer, Dr. Sciavolino held various management roles and responsibilities in drug discovery, development, registration and licensing, culminating in a role as Vice President of R&D Operations, in which he oversaw a team of 1,000 scientists in the United States, Europe and Asia. He was the enabling force behind two of Pfizer’s most notable franchises, Zithromax and Celebrex. After leading the discovery chemistry team responsible for the initial macrolide antibiotic research, he served as principal investigator leading the Phase I evaluation of 11 compounds in first-in-human (FIH) studies, which led to the identification and development of Zithromax, an antibiotic considered one of the most important new drugs of the 20th century. He also played a major role in the licensing of Celebrex, a COX-2 inhibitor that reached $3 billion in peak annual sales globally.
Dr. Sciavolino has served on numerous editorial boards including Annual Reports in Medicinal Chemistry, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy and the Journal of Antibiotics. Dr. Sciavolino has more than 30 issued patents and has a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Michigan and B.S. in Pharmacy from St. John’s University.
Mr. Wurzer is Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer at Connecticut Innovations Inc., a leading early stage life science investor nationwide. Prior to joining CI, Mr. Wurzer had extensive senior-level experience in operations and finance, including more than 10 years as executive vice president, treasurer and CFO of CuraGen Corporation (NASDAQ: CRGN), where he guided the company through its initial public offering, raising more than $700 million, and through the negotiation of strategic and business development alliances with Roche, Bayer and Abgenix. He helped to grow CuraGen and its technology development subsidiary into an operation with more than 500 employees and a market capitalization as high as $5.3 billion. Dave began his professional career with Coopers & Lybrand in Hartford, Connecticut.
Walter Ogier co-founded Harvard-affiliated Acetylon Pharmaceuticals (Boston MA, oncology and neurodegeneration) in 2008 and served as its President & CEO until its sale to Celgene in 2016. He subsequently served as founding President & CEO of Regenacy Pharmaceuticals (neuropathy and hemoglobinopathies), which was spun out of Acetylon at the time of the Celgene acquisition. In addition to continuing to serve a Director and consultant/advisor to Regenacy, Mr. Ogier currently serves as a Director of Thetis Pharmaceuticals (Branford CT, gastroenterology), a Director of privately-held Biothera Pharmaceuticals (Eagan MN, immuno-oncology), and as an advisor/mentor to several emerging biopharmaceutical companies. Mr. Ogier brings more than 30 years of biopharmaceutical / biomedical industry experience to his Board and advisory roles, including a decade with Baxter Healthcare Corporation (Deerfield IL, stem cells, immuno-oncology, cell therapy and medical devices) in product management and business development executive roles, with Aastrom Biosciences (Ann Arbor MI, cell therapy) as VP Marketing leading to a successful IPO, and in subsequent President & CEO roles with Eligix (Medford MA, stem cells and cell therapy, sold to BioTransplant), Genetix/bluebird bio (Cambridge MA, stem cell gene therapy, Nasdaq: BLUE), and Arbios Systems (Waltham, MA, liver dialysis). Mr. Ogier received a BA magna cum laude in chemistry from Williams College and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.
Dr. Lennox has been an active investor and entrepreneur in early stage life science companies for over twenty five years. He has served on the boards of over eighteen companies including General Surgical Innovations, Inc (acquired by Tyco International Corp), GeneOhm Sciences, Inc. (acquired by Becton Dickinson and Co.) and Applied Molecular Evolution, Inc. (acquired by Eli Lilly Corp.). He has been involved in the founding of seven companies, six of which were successful. He was founding CEO of Protometrix, Inc. (acquired by Life Technologies, Inc.), and also of CGI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (acquired by Gilead Sciences, Inc.). He was founding Chairman of Amicus Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FOLD). He was a founder and served as Executive Chairman of Bikam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., engineering the sale of the company to Shire Pharmaceuticals PLC in 2014. He also helped found polyGenomics, Inc., American Renal Associates, Inc., and Biorelix, Inc. Eleven additional companies he led investments in had successful IPOs including i-STAT Corp, Cephalon, Inc., British Biotechnology, Ltd., and Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Ron began his venture capital career with Hancock Venture Partners (now Harbourvest Partners). He was a founding partner at CHL Medical Partners which raised three successive funds from institutional investors. He is an Entrepreneur in Residence with Yale University’s Office of Co-operative Research and Mount Sinai Innovation Partners. In addition to his role at Thetis, he is a director of RadImmune Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Ron holds a B.Sc. in Molecular Biology from the University of Glasgow, a D.Phil in Cell Biology from Oxford University and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Willson is President & CEO of ITF Pharma, Inc. and is co-founder and chairman of Hsiri Therapeutics, LLC, a start-up company focused on the development of new antibiotics for drug-resistant infections. He was formerly the President & CEO of Cytokine PharmaSciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on women’s health, inflammation and cancer. As one of Cytokine founders, Mr. Willson spent 19 years in leadership positions managing the successful development and licensing of several products, including Cervidil, one of the world’s leading obstetric products. In October 2011, Mr. Willson led the company in a strategic sale to Ferring S.A. Before joining Cytokine, Mr. Willson held management, finance and business development positions at Abbott Laboratories Rorer International, and Carrington Laboratories. Mr. Willson graduated summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in psychology and modern languages and has a law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.
Dr. Colgan is the Director of the Mucosal Inflammation Program and Vice Chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of Colorado. Dr. Colgan’s research focuses on the identification of novel anti-inflammatory molecules associated with mucosal inflammation. He is one of world’s leading experts on Specialized Proresolving Mediators (SPMs), having served on the faculty at Harvard Medical School in the Center for Experimental Therapeutics under the tutelage of Dr. Charles Serhan, who created the modern field of resolution biology. Dr. Colgan has published more than 170 original papers, served as a Section Editor for the Journal of Immunology, and is a standing member of the GMPB study section at the NIH. He is the previous chairman of the Research Fellowship Award study section for the CCFA and presently serves as the chairman of the CCFA Senior Research Award study section.
Dr. Asma Nusrat is a leading research clinician in the field of epithelial wound healing in the context of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Asma trained and became certified in Anatomic Pathology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH)/Harvard Medical School after which she completed a fellowship in Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary pathology, as well as a postdoctoral research fellowship in epithelial cell biology at the same institution. While at BWH, she began investigating fundamental mechanisms of epithelial barrier regulation and wound repair. During this time, she was successful in obtaining NIH funding, advancing from NRSA to K08 grants and rose to the rank of Assistant Professor. She left BWH to join the faculty at Emory University to continue developing a highly successful research program centered on mucosal pathobiology in the gut, training fellows and graduate students and performing clinical service as a gastrointestinal pathologist. At Emory, Asma was highly successful in obtaining multiple NIH grants while remaining clinically active in gastrointestinal surgical pathology. She rapidly rose through the ranks and was promoted to professor with tenure in 2007. In 2015, Asma left Emory to join the faculty in the department of pathology at the University of Michigan where she was appointed as the Aldred Scott Warthin Professor and Director of Experimental Pathology.
In her lab, Asma continues a long standing quest to elucidate the pathologic mechanisms of chronic inflammatory diseases of the gut and mucosal wound repair. She has published more than 150 papers, many in high profile journals, regularly speaks at national and international symposia related to her field, and has served as an Associate Editor for leading journals in the field for over a decade. In addition to her robust research program, Asma remains clinically active as a practicing Gastrointestinal and Liver Pathologist while enjoying mentoring and teaching graduate and medical students, residents, postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty.
Charles Nicholas Serhan is the Simon Gelman Professor of Anaesthesia (Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology) at Harvard Medical School and also Professor of Oral Medicine, Infection and Immunity at Harvard School of Dental Medicine; He is Director of the Center for Experimental Therapeutics and Reperfusion Injury at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Serhan’s pioneering studies on the chemistry-medicine interface have resulted in the discovery of the Specialized Pro-resolving Mediators (SPMs), a super-family of biochemical mediators that actively orchestrate the resolution of inflammation and provide the molecular underpinnings for a new era in inflammation resolution pharmacology.
Charles received a BS in biochemistry from Stony Brook University followed by a Doctorate in experimental pathology and medical sciences from New York University School of Medicine. He was a visiting scientist and post-doctoral fellow at the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm with Professor Bengt Samuelsson (Nobel Laurate Medicine 82). In 1987, he joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School and received an honorary degree from Harvard University (1996).
He has received several awards including an NIH MERIT award and has delivered > 50 keynote and plenary lectures. Among these recent awards are: the 2008 William Harvey Outstanding Scientist Medal and AAAS Fellow in 2011. In 2010, he received the Society for Leukocyte Biology Bonazinga Award, The American College of Rheumatology Hench (Nobel Laurate) Award Lecture in 2011 presented by the Mayo Clinic Hench Society, and Mérieux 2013 Laureate.
In 2016, he received the IUBMB Lecture Metal and the Ross Prize in Molecular Medicine. Recently, he received the International Eicosanoid Research Foundation’s 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award and the American Society of Investigative Pathology 2018 Rous Whipple Award and the 2018 Gaddum International Prize and Award Lecture from the British Pharmacology Society.
Dr. Hanauer is an internationally recognized expert on the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. He currently serves as the medical director of the Digestive Disease Center at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and as the Clifford Joseph Barborka Professor of Medicine. After earning his medical degree from the University of Illinois, Dr. Hanauer completed his internship and residency in internal medicine followed by a fellowship in gastroenterology at the University of Chicago. There Dr. Hanauer was mentored by one of the great clinicians in American gastroenterology, the legendary Dr. Joseph B. Kirsner. Dr. Hanauer held a Professorship in Medicine at Chicago named for Dr. Kirsner.
As Chairman of the Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee at the US Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Hanauer authored the FDA’s “Guidelines for Clinical Evaluation of Drugs for Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease”. From 2014-2015, he served as president of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), where he has been a member of the ACG Board of Trustees since 2006, an officer of the ACG since 2010 and a contributing committee member since 1989. He has represented the ACG at the FDA related to development of end-points for IBD in a series of “GREAT” meetings. He edited Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology and chaired the ACG Finance Committee from 2011 to 2012. Dr. Hanauer has also held leadership positions in the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) as chair of the Sections on Infection, Immunology and Inflammatory Bowel Disease as well as Clinical Practice, and served on the AGA Governing Board as a Counselor for Clinical Research. Internationally, he is a member of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization (ECCO) and is a former chairman of the International Organization for IBD (IOIBD).
Dr. Hanauer was awarded the AGA Fiterman Foundation Joseph B. Kirsner Award in Gastroenterology in 2001 and the AGA Janssen Award for Clinical Excellence in GI in 2004. He is currently an Associate Editor for Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. In addition, Dr. Hanauer has worked with the American Board of Internal Medicine serving on the Gastroenterology sub-specialty. He has also held leadership positions within the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of American and in 2011 received CCFA’s Scientific Achievement Award for Clinical Research. Over the course of his career, Hanauer has authored or co-authored hundreds of peer-reviewed journal articles, books, book chapters, monographs, and editorials.
Dr. Hyams is one of the world’s leading experts in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. As Head of the Division of Digestive Diseases, Hepatology, and Nutrition at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, he has led pivotal clinical trials for therapeutic agents in IBD and directed a long-term natural history registry that has described the course of almost 2000 children newly diagnosed with IBD. Dr. Hyams is the recent recipient of a $10.4M grant from the National Institutes of Health investigating the response of children newly diagnosed with ulcerative colitis to standardized therapies. He has worked with the FDA developing endpoints for pediatric clinical trials, has published more than 250 peer reviewed articles, and is the co-editor of one of the standard pediatric digestive disease textbooks, Pediatric Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. Dr. Hyams was the first pediatrician to ever receive the prestigious Scientific Achievement in IBD Clinical Research Award from the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America. He graduated from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and conducted his residency and fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Joshua R. Korzenik, one of the leading IBD researchers and key opinion leaders in the country, is director of the Brigham & Women’s Hospital Crohn’s and Colitis Center and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Korzenik has been involved in IBD research and care of patients for almost 25 years, with his research focusing on 1) translational research in IBD and 2) investigating environmental influences in IBD, with a focus on their common nexus of the intestinal microbiome. Dr. Korzenik is the author of almost 60 peer-reviewed articles and research papers. He speaks frequently at professional meetings and is an active member of many professional committees. Dr. Korzenik has been the principal investigator of over a dozen research projects, ranging from studies of diet and probiotics to international comparisons of IBD. Dr. Korzenik earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College in 1980 and his medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, in 1987. He was a resident at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston from 1987 to 1990 and fellow in gastroenterology and clinical epidemiology at Yale University School of Medicine Hospital from 1991 to 1994. He is a longstanding member of the medical advisory committee for the New England chapter of Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America.
Dr. Rieder is an investigator at the Department of Pathobiology and an Associate Staff at the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland. His clinical focus is patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) with a special emphasis on the field of pathogenesis, prediction and therapy of IBD.
Dr. Rieder has published more than 60 articles and book chapters and has been recognized for his expertise and he serves on multiple committees, speakers’ panels, steering committees and editorial boards. He is a member of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization (ECCO), the German Gastroenterology Association, the American Gastroenterology Association, the America Physiological Society, the American College of Physicians, and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. He is the associate editor of Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology, section editor of Annals of Gastroenterology, on the editorial boards of the Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, BMC Gastroenterology, American Journal of Physiology: Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology and Gastroenterology and Hepatology Journal. Dr. Rieder is the senior author of the new ECCO guidelines for Ulcerative colitis, the first author of the ECCO consensus on Fibrostenosing IBD and co-author of the new ECCO guidelines in Crohn’s disease.
He received his medical degree from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Medical School in Germany. He underwent training in Internal Medicine / Gastroenterology at the Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin I, Universitätsklinikum Regensburg, Germany and a residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Rieder has performed research fellowships at Harvard Medical School and the Cleveland Clinic.
William Sandborn, MD, is a board-certified gastroenterologist and one of the world’s top experts in the management of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. He directs the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Center at UC San Diego Health and is chief of the Division of Gastroenterology, vice chair of clinical operations for the Department of Medicine, and a member of the Clinical Practice Oversight (CPO) Board for UC San Diego Health. Dr. Sandborn is internationally recognized for his contributions in the fields of biotechnology therapy, clinical pharmacology, conduct of clinical trials and endoscopic and radiographic imaging techniques, and several clinical trials that he has led have been instrumental in developing breakthrough treatments for IBD. Dr. Sandborn has published more than 600 articles in prestigious journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, JAMA, the Annals of Internal Medicine, and Gastroenterology. Prior to joining UC San Diego Health, Dr. Sandborn worked in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Dr. Sandborn completed his fellowship at Mayo Clinic and completed his residency and earned his medical degree at Loma Linda University School of Medicine.
Bruce Sands, MD, MS is the Dr. Burrill B. Crohn Professor of Medicine. Dr. Sands is an expert in the management of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and has earned an international reputation for his care of patients with complex and refractory disease. He joined Mount Sinai in 2010 as Chief of the Dr. Henry D. Janowitz Division of Gastroenterology. Prior to joining Mount Sinai, Dr. Sands was Medical Co-Director of the Crohn’s & Colitis Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where he also served as the hospital’s Acting Chief of the Gastrointestinal Unit as well as Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
A longtime advocate for the continued translational research in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, Dr. Sands is widely recognized for his innovative treatment of IBD and for his clinical investigations of new therapeutics. He was among the first to report the efficacy of infliximab-a drug used to treat autoimmune diseases-in ulcerative colitis, a result later confirmed in large, multi-center randomized controlled trials. Dr. Sands was also principal investigator for the landmark ACCENT II study, an international project that demonstrated the efficacy of the anti-tumor necrosis factor antibody infliximab as a long-term treatment for fistulizing Crohn’s disease.
Dr. Sands’ research also explores IBD epidemiology and includes the creation of a population-based cohort of IBD in Rhode Island, a project that is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.,
A leader in several major professional organizations, Dr. Sands has served as the chair of the Clinical Research Alliance of the Crohn’s Foundation of America, Chair of the Immunology, Microbiology and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Section of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), and chair of the International Organization for the Study of IBD. He is an AGA Fellow (AGAF) and a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology (FACG). In 2006 he was named Humanitarian of the Year by the New England Chapter of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America, and the Massachusetts General Physician Organization honored him for “Excellence in Action” in recognition of his distinguished patient care.
His work has appeared in several leading peer-reviewed journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Gastroenterology and Gut. Dr. Sands is also a reviewer for many prominent publications, including the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Sands served as an Associate Editor for the field’s leading journal, Gastroenterology, from 2011 to 2016.
Dr. Sands received his medical degree at Boston University School of Medicinein Massachusetts and completed a residency in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He then completed clinical and research fellowships at the Massachusetts General Hospital. In 2001 Dr. Sands also earned a Master of Science in Epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health.
Dr. Diehl is a leading researcher in the field of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) with a long standing interest in liver injury and repair. She is currently the Director of the Duke Liver Center and the Florence McAlister Professor of Medicine at the Duke University School of Medicine.
Dr. Diehl has conducted seminal research in many areas, including liver regeneration, the role of cytokines in liver disease, and hepatocellular cancer. In addition, she has conducted the definitive work in understanding the important role of Hedgehog signaling proteins in liver pathobiology, from liver regeneration, to hepatic fibrosis, to activation of stellate cells, growth of progenitor cells, and development of cirrhosis. Dr. Diehl was also one of the first researchers to demonstrate that fatty liver is not a reversible innocuous condition, but a frequent cause of severe liver damage, evolving into non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), cirrhosis, and liver cancer.
Dr. Diehl has been an active participant in the NIDDK-funded Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Research Network (NASH CRN), a national consortium comprised of 8 university medical centers selected to generate a national registry for patients with NAFLD and to conduct multicenter treatment trials for this disorder. Diehl has received extensive grant funding from the National Institutes of Health and has authored more than 250 peer-reviewed articles. She is a recipient of numerous awards, including the Leon Schiff Award, the Hans Popper Award, the Sheila Sherlock Award from the British Society of Gastroenterology, and the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Distinguished Achievement Award.
She received her M.D. from Georgetown University, followed by residency and a fellowship in gastroenterology at Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Mary Rinella is a Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. For more than 15 years, she has worked on both basic mechanisms of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and clinical aspects of NASH. Her current interests are in clinical trial development, the association between NASH metabolic comorbidities, and the recurrence of NASH after liver transplantation. Her work has earned her recognition as a global authority in these fields.
Dr. Rinella currently serves as Chair of the NASH American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) Task Force and is past Chair of the NAFLD/NASH Special Interest Group at the AASLD. She is the Director of the Northwestern Fatty Liver Program.
She received her medical degree from the University of Illinois, Chicago, fulfilled her residency at the University of Chicago Hospitals, and completed her fellowship at Northwestern University McGaw Medical Center.
Dr. Brian Harvey has extensive industry, regulatory and clinical expertise in gastrointestinal and liver diseases. He previously was Vice President of U.S. Regulatory Strategy at Pfizer (2012-2015) and Vice President of U.S. Regulatory Policy at Sanofi Aventis (2007-2012). Prior to joining industry, Dr. Harvey worked at the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, most recently as director of FDA’s Division of Gastroenterology Products. Dr. Harvey led the regulatory review for NDA and BLA submissions of major breakthrough drugs for the treatment of IBD in adults and children, including adalimumab (Humira®), infliximab (Remicade®), and mesalamine (Lialda®). He is currently Senior Vice President of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs at the Global Liver Institute, a non-profit organization focused on improving the lives of patients with liver diseases.
Dr. Harvey graduated with honors from Middlebury College in Vermont. He earned his Ph.D. in lipid biochemistry and M.D. degree at the University of Connecticut. Prior to joining the FDA, he conducted post-doctoral research at Harvard Medical School, followed by his internal medicine internship and residency at Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital and a three-year gastroenterology fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD. Throughout his FDA career, Dr. Harvey remained a practicing clinician at the Anne Arundel Medical Center in Maryland.
Dr. Van Zandt is an accomplished synthetic organic and medicinal chemist with more than 20 years of experience in large and small pharmaceutical company environments. Before founding New England Discovery Partners through which he supports Thetis, Michael was a department head for The Institute for Pharmaceutical Discovery (IPD), where he co-led the aldose reductase project team which ultimately resulted in the identification and clinical development of lidorestat for treatment of diabetic complications (Phase II). Before joining IPD, Michael was a medicinal chemist at the pharmaceutical division of Bayer, where he played a prominent role in the discovery of tanomastat, a first-in-class MMP inhibitor for treatment of osteoarthritis and cancer that progressed through Phase III clinical development. Michael is an inventor on more than 30 issued patents and author on more than 20 publications in peer-reviewed journals. He is a frequent reviewer for the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry and Bioorganic Medicinal Chemistry Letters. Michael received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry with a minor in Biochemistry while working with Professor Carl R. Johnson at Wayne State University.
Aaron Mathias has been working at Thetis since 2016. Prior to joining, he was a life science strategy consultant at the Monitor Group (Deloitte Consulting), where he focused on R&D strategy, project management and analytics in the pharmaceutical industry. He is currently a master’s student in biomedical engineering at Yale University.
Dr. Christopher Cimarusti brings strong leadership experience in pharmaceutical discovery, development and manufacturing gained over a 37 year career at Squibb Corporation and Bristol-Myers Squibb. As a discovery chemist, Dr. Cimarusti synthesized the anti-hypertensive nadolol and the antibiotic aztreonam for the first time and designed their commercial processes. As a discovery leader, he co-led the antibiotic effort with Richard Sykes and became Director of Organic Chemistry for the Squibb Institute for Medical Research. Subsequently, he was responsible for all biological and chemical process development within Squibb Corporation, including technology transfer directly to manufacturing, monitoring ongoing production and optimization of existing processes. After the merger with Bristol-Myers, he became Vice President of Process R&D within the Pharmaceutical Research Institute. He was appointed Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development and led a global staff of 1,200 engaged in the CMC disciplines for small and large molecules. He also had responsibility for global Clinical Supply Operations, Project Management and Portfolio Management.
Dr. El-Hage was a pharmacology/toxicology reviewer and supervisor in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at FDA. Leadership positions included supervisory pharmacologist in the Division of Metabolism and Endocrinology Products (DMEP), and Associate Director of Pharm/Tox. Dr. El-Hage is an expert on drugs indicated for the treatment of endocrine and metabolic diseases and has extensive experience with biotechnology, biosimilar products, and carcinogenicity study evaluation and planning. Her consultation as a regulatory toxicologist covers all CDER divisions.
Dr. Lipper has 30+ years of experience in research and development in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to his present consulting work, Dr. Lipper held international line-management responsibility for Pharmaceutics R&D with Bristol Myers Squibb over a 24 year career. His experience spans the entire R&D pipeline, from compound selection through technology transfer and marketed product support. Dr. Lipper began his industrial career with Pfizer Central Research, Groton, CT, where he was primarily involved with liquid and sterile product development for human and veterinary pharmaceutical products. Dr. Lipper has a PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Michigan and B.S. in Pharmacy from Purdue University.
Dr. Moehlenkamp brings over 16 years of development experience with Bristol-Myers Squibb. He has a PhD in pharmacology and is a board certified toxicologist. He has extensive study director/monitor experience, led or supported multiple small and large molecule development programs within diverse therapeutic areas, demonstrated expertise in developing compounds in virology, performed nonclinical safety due diligence reviews, and played pivotal operational and managerial roles in both nonclinical toxicology study conduct and CRO oversight. At Aclairo, Jeff is a senior consultant who designs and support nonclinical safety programs including regulatory document preparation and design, monitor, and interpret GLP studies.
Dr. Albert is a member of the Department of Medicine Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine at University of Colorado School of Medicine and is the department’s Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs. Albert’s decades-long research program has focused on laboratory and clinical studies targeting the pathophysiology and treatment of ARDS, and clinical trials aimed at trying to reduce and treat acute exacerbations of COPD. In ARDS, Dr. Albert has led research on the use of intermittent sighs incorporated into mechanical ventilation based on the idea that stretching the lung causes the type 2 pneumocytes to secrete surfactant. Dr. Albert graduated from the University of Colorado School of Medicine
Dr. Bruce Levy is a leading expert on Resolvin pharmacology in pulmonary diseases, and his seminal research on Resolvin E1 in ARDS and asthma models laid the foundation for Thetis’ TP-317 program. Dr. Levy is the Division Chief of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and on faculty at Harvard Medical School. The Bruce Levy Air Inflammation and Resolution Lab focuses on endogenous mechanisms for resolution of lung inflammation and injury. The lab seeks to identify novel pathways and cellular targets that promote resolution of pulmonary inflammation or injury and to determine roles for naturally-derived, specialized pro-resolving mediators in lung health and disease. Dr. Levy is board-certified in critical care medicine and pulmonary disease. He has written more than 120 peer-reviewed publications, and currently serves as associate editor of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and The New England Journal of Medicine’s clinical problem-solving interactive case series. Dr. Levy received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (now the Perelman School of Medicine) and completed a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at BWH.
Joel E. Lavine, MD, PhD, is tenured Professor of Pediatrics, also in the Institute of Human Nutrition, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. A noted physician-scientist, his research centers around the etiopathogenesis, genetics, natural history, environmental provocation, biomarker/bioimaging development and treatment of particular pediatric liver diseases, with emphasis on fatty liver.
Since 2002, Prof. Lavine has been the sole Pediatric Principal Investigator funded by the NIDDK for the Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Research Network (NASH CRN). He is the sole pediatric co-author for the Guidelines for NASH from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), as well as the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) and American College of Gastroenterology (ACG). Prof. Lavine has served as the primary author on numerous clinical trials in adult and pediatric NAFLD/NASH, and along with Dr. Vos (primary author), served as corresponding author for the manuscript published in 2020 in Gastroenterology on “Factors to Consider in the Development of Drugs for Pediatric NAFLD”, along with representatives from the FDA, EMA, and numerous industry partners.
He chaired and co-chaired numerous NIH committees, including the NASH CRN Steering Committee, the NASH CRN Database Committee, and the NASH CRN Pediatric Committee. He has Chaired numerous NIH Grant Review Panels, the NIDDK Data and Safety Monitoring Board of the Cholestatic Liver Disease Research and Education Network (ChiLDReN), and TEEN-LABS (Longitudinal Assessment for Bariatric Surgery.
Prof. Lavine earned his doctorate in Molecular Biology in 1980 at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his Medical Degree from the University of California, San Diego, in 1984. He is board certified in pediatrics and pediatric gastroenterology, where he trained at the University of California, San Francisco. He has been a Division Chief at UC San Diego and Columbia University for 25 years.
Dr. Michael Davidson is an experienced pharmaceutical executive and clinician with deep expertise in Omega-3 fatty acids and metabolic disease. He is currently the CEO of New Amsterdam Pharma and was founder and Chief Medical Officer of Corvidia Therapeutics which sold to Novo Nordisk in July 2020.
Michael was the co-founding Chief Medical Officer of Omthera Pharmaceuticals in 2008, which was later acquired by Astra Zeneca Pharmaceutical in 2013 for $443M. He also founded the Chicago Center for Clinical Research, which became the largest investigator site in the United States and was acquired by Pharmaceutical Product Development in 1996.
His research background encompasses both pharmaceutical and nutritional clinical trials including extensive research on statins, novel lipid-lowering drugs, and omega-3 fatty acids. Michael is board-certified in internal medicine, cardiology, and clinical lipidology and served as President of the National Lipid Association from 2010 to 2011. Michael received his BA/MS from Northwestern University and MD from The Ohio State University School of Medicine.
Dr. Guttendorf has over 25 years of experience directing preclinical and clinical DMPK programs, including regulatory interactions, in large pharmaceutical and small biotech companies. He has directed ADME/PK/Clinical Pharmacology from discovery through NDA, across therapeutic areas, with numerous regulatory submissions. He held leadership positions at Parke-Davis and Pfizer, and most recently was Vice President at Advancis and Sequoia Pharmaceuticals. He has expertise in developing unique strategies to most efficiently and cost-effectively selects and develop drug candidates.
Dr. Singh is a Pharmaceutical R&D executive with over 30+ years of experience in all phases of product development including discovery, development, technology transfer, and product life-cycle management. As a Vice President, Quality Operations & CMC Regulatory at Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, she was responsible for the overall strategic and operational activities in ensuring quality and regulatory compliance in the production and analysis of clinical trial materials. She was also responsible for all aspects of CMC documentation and regulatory activities in support of investigational and registrational submissions.
As an Executive Director at Bristol-Myers Squibb, she led a diverse organization requiring detailed and thorough review of technical information for Quality and GMP Compliance, CMC Technical Documentation, and Environment, Health & Safety. She provided strategic thinking and long range planning for groups involved in strategic planning and development portfolio analysis.
Dr. Singh has extensive experience in the preparation of CMC section of global investigational (IND/CTA), registrational (NDA/MAA/BLA) and LCM submissions for small molecules and biologics, regulatory agency interactions such as end-of-phase 2 and pre-NDA meetings with the FDA, and regulatory agency inspections.
Dr. Singh received her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and subsequently did postdoctoral work at Oxford University. She has published 17 papers and holds 5 patents.
Dr. Panigrahy is the world’s leading expert in Resolvin pharmacology in cancer. He is an Assistant Professor of Pathology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), a teaching hospital affiliated with Harvard Medical School. His laboratory, which is located in the Center for Vascular Biology Research at BIDMC, has deep expertise in multiple animal models of cancer including pancreatic cancer. From 1996 to 2008, Dr. Panigrahy led angiogenesis and cancer animal modeling in the Judah Folkman laboratory. The Panigrahy Laboratory has won 50+ awards for its studies on lipid autacoids in cancer. Dr. Panigrahy was awarded the 2015 ASIP Cotran Early Investigator Award and a Young Investigator Award in 2015 at the 14th International Conference on Bioactive Lipids in Cancer, Inflammation, and Related Diseases (Budapest, Hungary). Dr. Panigrahy’s seminal research regarding apoptosis in cancer and tumor dormancy escape provides the mechanistic foundation for our understanding of Resolvin pharmacology in cancer. In collaboration with the Serhan Laboratory, Dr. Panigrahy conducted the initial proof-of-concept studies for RvE1 in cancer.
Dr. Klohs is an R&D executive and scientist with thirty-five years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry with increasing levels of responsibility held in positions across the drug development and discovery spectrum. He is currently a consultant for several companies including the SAB for Aeglea Therapeutics, SAB and DOB for MAIA Biotechnology, Chairman of the BOD for Xennials Therapeutics. He also serves as a consultant for Tieos Therapeutics, Kymeris Therapeutics, Petra Pharma, Third Coast Therapeutics, RJS Biologics, and Alacrita Consulting. Dr. Klohs retired from Astellas Pharma Inc. as a Senior Vice President and Therapeutic Area for Oncology for Astellas Pharmaceutical, Inc in June, 2013. In five years, he built Astellas Oncology from 5 people in oncology to ~ 500 and built the oncology pipeline at Astellas from zero compounds to a robust pipeline through internal discovery, in-licensing of key compounds, and the acquisition of OSI Pharmaceuticals. Headed the Global Oncology Strategy team that set the global direction and strategies for oncology at Astellas.
He successfully filed NDAs and MAAs for Xtandi (enzalutamide) and Tarceva. Previously, he served as acting head of Oncology Clinical Sciences at Takeda Global R&D and Executive Director of Drug Development at Pfizer, Inc. At Takeda, he lead both early and late-stage Development Teams in Oncology and was a member of Takeda’s Global Oncology Licensing Team. At Pfizer, he led development from mid-Discovery through POC with additional experience in NDA filings including pentostatin/Nipent and suramin/Metaret. During that time, he led development teams to more than 14 successful IND filings and Phase 1 starts including a pan-erbB irreversible tyrosine kinase inhibitor, two MEK inhibitors for both oncology and inflammation, a cell cycle inhibitor, several P38 inhibitors among others. Prior to heading up drug development for oncology and inflammation at Pfizer, he led discovery efforts at Warner-Lambert/Parke Davis Pharmaceutical Research in oncology in a number of areas including antiangiogenic agents, multiple drug resistance, histone deacetylase inhibitors, and antifolates.
Manuel Hidalgo, M.D., Ph.D., a leading physician-scientist specializing in pancreatic cancer and drug development, is the Chief of the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology and E. Hugh Luckey Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine/New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Dr Hidalgo is also Associate Director for Clinical Services at the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center. His research has included development of several anti-cancer drugs including erlotinib, nab-paclitaxel and temsirolimus. Dr. Hidalgo received his M.D. from the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain in 1992, and Ph.D. from University Autonoma of Madrid in 1997. He trained in medicine and medical oncology at Hospital “12 de Octubre” in Madrid and at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas. He also completed a fellowship program in anticancer drug development at the Institute of Drug Development in San Antonio. Prior to this position, he served as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. In 2001, Dr. Hidalgo become the Director of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Program at the Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University, where he also held the title of Associate Professor of Oncology. Dr. Hidalgo became Director of the Clinical Research Program at the Spanish National Cancer Center in 2009 and Vice Director of Translational Research in 2011. In 2015, he became the Chief of the Division of Hematology and Oncology and Director of the Rosenberg Clinical Cancer Center at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. During his time at Beth Israel, Dr. Hidalgo served as the Theodore W. and Evelyn G. Berenson Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Green is managing director at Connecticut Innovations (CI), Connecticut’s strategic venture capital arm and the leading source of financing and ongoing support for innovative, growing companies in CT. Previously, Cyndi led Search and Evaluation in Worldwide Business Development at Pfizer with responsibility for anti-infectives and vaccines; prior to that she was a lead scientist, then business and investor relations/marketing manager at CuraGen. Her technical leadership at Pfizer led to the formation of Pfizer/GSK spin-out ViiV Healthcare, as well as the acquisitions of an anti-infective franchise from AZ and vaccine portfolios from Baxter and GSK. Cyndi’s expertise spans the spectrum of drug development in preclinical to marketed assets, technologies, diagnostics and research platforms. In addition to support of CI, she also mentors and provides consultant expertise for a variety of organizations, including ABCT, eLabNYC, Springboard Enterprises and Endless Frontier Labs. Cyndi is a board member at CaroGen Corporation and a board observer for a variety of CI portfolio companies. Prior to relocating back to Connecticut, she was on the board of NewYorkBIO for over a decade and was instrumental in helping foster the growth of biotech in the area. Cyndi received a doctorate in molecular biology at SUNY Buffalo, completed postdoctoral work at Yale University and received an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Dr. Patricia LoRusso has been a practicing academic medical oncologist performing clinical/translational research in early phase clinical trials for 30 years, spending the first 25 years at Wayne State University/Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, MI and transitioning to Yale University/Yale Cancer Center in 2014. Both institutions have NCI comprehensive designation status. She has had continuous NIH/NCI peer review funding for 28 years, having held a U-grant for early phase clinical trials through the NCI Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP) for 26 years. She has also collaborated on numerous other grants and have been an investigator in P01 and P30 funding mechanisms. Understanding the need for team science, she has participated in P50 mechanisms and has been awarded team science grants through such organizations as Stand Up to Cancer (Co-Leader: Melanoma Dream Team), the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Komen Foundation (Co-leader, KG111063:Targeting Stem Cells in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) in Different Racial Populations).
Dr. LoRusso has also been involved in many service disciplines at the NCI. She has reviewed grants for many study sections and has either been an ad hoc (e.g. CCSG, NeXT study sections) or permanent study section member (e.g. Program Project Subcommittee D and Clinical Oncology study sections). She has served on the Investigational Drug Steering Committee (IDSC) since inception (2005-present) and served as its chair from 2011-2013. She was a member of the steering committee that convened after the Blue-Ribbon Panel to execute on their recommendations. She served a 4-year term (2015-2019) on the Board of Scientific Council (BSC), reviewing the intramural programs for quality, content, productivity and funding.
In addition to serving in NCI positions, Dr. LoRusso has served in leadership positions of several other organizations. She has served on the Board of Directors and numerous scientific and education committees of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the education and scientific committees of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and the steering committee for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Accelerating Anticancer Agent Development and Validation Workshop, as examples. Internationally, she has taught several clinical trials educational workshops, educating many physicians and scientists across the globe. She understands how critically important it is to train the next generation of early career investigators to be knowledgeable and proficient in clinical and translational research by providing them leadership opportunities and mentoring. She has worked closely with Cancer Research United Kingdom (CRUK), a UK Welcome Trust which is the second largest funding agency for cancer research. She is currently serving a 3-year term as the chair of their New Agents Committee (NAC), reviewing international proposals relative to drug development of novel agents.
Working closely over the past 3 decades with patients suffering from advanced malignancies, Dr. LoRusso has become an advocate, not only for cancer researchers and clinicians, but more importantly for the patients and their caregivers. Having experienced at a young age the death of her own parents from cancer, she understands the urgent need for new cancer discoveries and the potential for longevity and quality of life.
Dr. Eileen M. O’Reilly holds the Winthrop Rockefeller Endowed Chair in Medical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK). She serves as the Section Head for Hepatopancreaticobiliary/ Neuroendocrine Cancers, Gastrointestinal Oncology Service, Co-Director for Medical Initiatives at the David M. Rubenstein Center for Pancreatic Cancer and is an Attending Physician and Member at MSK and Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College.
Dr. O’Reilly received her medical degree at Trinity College (Dublin University) in Ireland. She completed her residency training in Ireland and Fellowship training at MSK. Dr. O’Reilly has pancreatic and hepatobiliary malignancies as the major focus of her research and clinical activities. Research directions include integration of molecular and genetic-based therapies for the treatment of pancreas cancer along with development of adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapies and identification of biomarkers for therapy selection. Dr. O’Reilly teaches and mentors junior faculty, oncology fellows, residents and medical/other students and has numerous teaching and other awards. Dr.
O’Reilly is the Principal Investigator of multiple trials in pancreas cancer and has authored/co-authored > 300 articles, editorials and book chapters.
Dr. O’Reilly’s other MSK responsibilities include: Chair of the Human Subjects Research Program (HRPP), Chair of the Institutional Review & Privacy Board (IRB) and Chair of the Continuing Medical Education (CME) committee.
Nationally Dr. O’Reilly is Co-Chair of the NCI Alliance Co-Operative Group Gastrointestinal Cancers Committee and serves on the NCI Gastrointestinal Cancers Steering Committee (GISC), Medical and Scientific Advisory Board of Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Guidelines Committee and the Board of the National Pancreas Foundation.
Dr. Parkinson has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of ESSA Pharma Inc. since January 2016, and as a Director of the company since June 2015. Prior to joining ESSA he had been a Venture Partner at New Enterprise Associates, Inc. From 2007 until 2012, Dr. Parkinson served as President and CEO of Nodality, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the biological characterization of signaling pathways in patients with malignancy. Until October 2007 he was SVP, Oncology Research and Development at Biogen Idec, where he oversaw all oncology discovery research efforts and the development of the oncology pipeline. Previously he had served as VP, Oncology Development, at Amgen and VP, Global Clinical Oncology Development, at Novartis. In those roles he oversaw the successful clinical development of a series of cancer therapeutics, including Gleevec, Zometa, Femara, and Vectibix. Dr. Parkinson worked at the National Cancer Institute from 1990 to 1997, serving as Chief of the Investigational Drug Branch and then as Acting Associate Director of the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP).
He is a past Chairman of the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Biologics Advisory Committee, a past member of the FDA Science Board, and is a recipient of the FDA’s Cody Medal. He is a past editor of the Journal of Immunotherapy and past president of the Society of Biological Therapy. He has served on the National Cancer Policy Forum of the Institute of Medicine and is a past co-chair of the Cancer Steering Committee of the NIH Foundation Biomarkers Consortium. A past Board Director of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, he currently serves as a Board Director for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. He served as Chairperson of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Finance and Audit Committee for 15 years and is a previous elected Board Director of AACR. Dr. Parkinson was a Director of Facet Biotech, Inc., until the acquisition by Abbott Pharmaceuticals, and was a Director of Ambit Biosciences until the acquisition by Daiichi Sankyo. He was also previously a Director at Threshold Pharmaceuticals and Cerulean Pharmaceuticals. He currently serves as Director on the Boards of CTI Biopharma, Inc (CTIC), 3SBio Inc (1530.HK) and is a Co-Founder and Director of Refuge Biotech, Inc. He has held academic positions both at Tufts and at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications.
Mr. Mathias has more than 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry as an entrepreneur, investor and banker. Over the course of his career, he has raised over $250 million in debt and equity for pharmaceutical and healthcare technology and services companies. For 15 years prior to joining Thetis full-time as CEO, Mr. Mathias was a senior partner at the investment bank Carter Morse & Mathias (Southport, Connecticut), where he led the bank’s Healthcare Group. He previously was a senior vice president in the Healthcare Group at GE Equity Capital, Chief Operating Officer of Diabetes Support Systems, and executive vice president of Premier Healthcare, a healthcare focused private equity firm.
He has served on the board of various organizations in the healthcare space, including the Connecticut Venture Group, Western Connecticut Health Network, Diabetes Support Systems and Dome Imaging Systems. He also served as Chairman of the Alliance of International Corporate Advisors (AICA), a network of investment banks in the Americas, Europe and Asia focused on mid-market M&A transactions and capital raises.
Mr. Mathias has an MBA from the Yale School of Management, a BA in Economics from Harvard College, and was a Fulbright Fellow in economic development.
Dr. Sciavolino has extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including a distinguished 35 year career at Pfizer Global R&D. At Pfizer, Dr. Sciavolino held various management roles and responsibilities in drug discovery, development, registration and licensing, culminating in a role as Vice President of R&D Operations, in which he oversaw a team of 1,000 scientists in the United States, Europe and Asia. He was the enabling force behind two of Pfizer’s most notable franchises, Zithromax and Celebrex. After leading the discovery chemistry team responsible for the initial macrolide antibiotic research, he served as principal investigator leading the Phase I evaluation of 11 compounds in first-in-human (FIH) studies, which led to the identification and development of Zithromax, an antibiotic considered one of the most important new drugs of the 20th century. He also played a major role in the licensing of Celebrex, a COX-2 inhibitor that reached $3 billion in peak annual sales globally.
Dr. Sciavolino has served on numerous editorial boards including Annual Reports in Medicinal Chemistry, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy and the Journal of Antibiotics. Dr. Sciavolino has more than 30 issued patents and has a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Michigan and B.S. in Pharmacy from St. John’s University.
Mr. Wurzer is Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer at Connecticut Innovations Inc., a leading early stage life science investor nationwide. Prior to joining CI, Mr. Wurzer had extensive senior-level experience in operations and finance, including more than 10 years as executive vice president, treasurer and CFO of CuraGen Corporation (NASDAQ: CRGN), where he guided the company through its initial public offering, raising more than $700 million, and through the negotiation of strategic and business development alliances with Roche, Bayer and Abgenix. He helped to grow CuraGen and its technology development subsidiary into an operation with more than 500 employees and a market capitalization as high as $5.3 billion. Dave began his professional career with Coopers & Lybrand in Hartford, Connecticut.
Walter Ogier co-founded Harvard-affiliated Acetylon Pharmaceuticals (Boston MA, oncology and neurodegeneration) in 2008 and served as its President & CEO until its sale to Celgene in 2016. He subsequently served as founding President & CEO of Regenacy Pharmaceuticals (neuropathy and hemoglobinopathies), which was spun out of Acetylon at the time of the Celgene acquisition. In addition to continuing to serve a Director and consultant/advisor to Regenacy, Mr. Ogier currently serves as a Director of Thetis Pharmaceuticals (Branford CT, gastroenterology), a Director of privately-held Biothera Pharmaceuticals (Eagan MN, immuno-oncology), and as an advisor/mentor to several emerging biopharmaceutical companies. Mr. Ogier brings more than 30 years of biopharmaceutical / biomedical industry experience to his Board and advisory roles, including a decade with Baxter Healthcare Corporation (Deerfield IL, stem cells, immuno-oncology, cell therapy and medical devices) in product management and business development executive roles, with Aastrom Biosciences (Ann Arbor MI, cell therapy) as VP Marketing leading to a successful IPO, and in subsequent President & CEO roles with Eligix (Medford MA, stem cells and cell therapy, sold to BioTransplant), Genetix/bluebird bio (Cambridge MA, stem cell gene therapy, Nasdaq: BLUE), and Arbios Systems (Waltham, MA, liver dialysis). Mr. Ogier received a BA magna cum laude in chemistry from Williams College and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.
Dr. Lennox has been an active investor and entrepreneur in early stage life science companies for over twenty five years. He has served on the boards of over eighteen companies including General Surgical Innovations, Inc (acquired by Tyco International Corp), GeneOhm Sciences, Inc. (acquired by Becton Dickinson and Co.) and Applied Molecular Evolution, Inc. (acquired by Eli Lilly Corp.). He has been involved in the founding of seven companies, six of which were successful. He was founding CEO of Protometrix, Inc. (acquired by Life Technologies, Inc.), and also of CGI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (acquired by Gilead Sciences, Inc.). He was founding Chairman of Amicus Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FOLD). He was a founder and served as Executive Chairman of Bikam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., engineering the sale of the company to Shire Pharmaceuticals PLC in 2014. He also helped found polyGenomics, Inc., American Renal Associates, Inc., and Biorelix, Inc. Eleven additional companies he led investments in had successful IPOs including i-STAT Corp, Cephalon, Inc., British Biotechnology, Ltd., and Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Ron began his venture capital career with Hancock Venture Partners (now Harbourvest Partners). He was a founding partner at CHL Medical Partners which raised three successive funds from institutional investors. He is an Entrepreneur in Residence with Yale University’s Office of Co-operative Research and Mount Sinai Innovation Partners. In addition to his role at Thetis, he is a director of RadImmune Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Ron holds a B.Sc. in Molecular Biology from the University of Glasgow, a D.Phil in Cell Biology from Oxford University and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Willson is President & CEO of ITF Pharma, Inc. and is co-founder and chairman of Hsiri Therapeutics, LLC, a start-up company focused on the development of new antibiotics for drug-resistant infections. He was formerly the President & CEO of Cytokine PharmaSciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on women’s health, inflammation and cancer. As one of Cytokine founders, Mr. Willson spent 19 years in leadership positions managing the successful development and licensing of several products, including Cervidil, one of the world’s leading obstetric products. In October 2011, Mr. Willson led the company in a strategic sale to Ferring S.A. Before joining Cytokine, Mr. Willson held management, finance and business development positions at Abbott Laboratories Rorer International, and Carrington Laboratories. Mr. Willson graduated summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in psychology and modern languages and has a law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.
Dr. Colgan is the Director of the Mucosal Inflammation Program and Vice Chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of Colorado. Dr. Colgan’s research focuses on the identification of novel anti-inflammatory molecules associated with mucosal inflammation. He is one of world’s leading experts on Specialized Proresolving Mediators (SPMs), having served on the faculty at Harvard Medical School in the Center for Experimental Therapeutics under the tutelage of Dr. Charles Serhan, who created the modern field of resolution biology. Dr. Colgan has published more than 170 original papers, served as a Section Editor for the Journal of Immunology, and is a standing member of the GMPB study section at the NIH. He is the previous chairman of the Research Fellowship Award study section for the CCFA and presently serves as the chairman of the CCFA Senior Research Award study section.
Dr. Asma Nusrat is a leading research clinician in the field of epithelial wound healing in the context of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Asma trained and became certified in Anatomic Pathology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH)/Harvard Medical School after which she completed a fellowship in Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary pathology, as well as a postdoctoral research fellowship in epithelial cell biology at the same institution. While at BWH, she began investigating fundamental mechanisms of epithelial barrier regulation and wound repair. During this time, she was successful in obtaining NIH funding, advancing from NRSA to K08 grants and rose to the rank of Assistant Professor. She left BWH to join the faculty at Emory University to continue developing a highly successful research program centered on mucosal pathobiology in the gut, training fellows and graduate students and performing clinical service as a gastrointestinal pathologist. At Emory, Asma was highly successful in obtaining multiple NIH grants while remaining clinically active in gastrointestinal surgical pathology. She rapidly rose through the ranks and was promoted to professor with tenure in 2007. In 2015, Asma left Emory to join the faculty in the department of pathology at the University of Michigan where she was appointed as the Aldred Scott Warthin Professor and Director of Experimental Pathology.
In her lab, Asma continues a long standing quest to elucidate the pathologic mechanisms of chronic inflammatory diseases of the gut and mucosal wound repair. She has published more than 150 papers, many in high profile journals, regularly speaks at national and international symposia related to her field, and has served as an Associate Editor for leading journals in the field for over a decade. In addition to her robust research program, Asma remains clinically active as a practicing Gastrointestinal and Liver Pathologist while enjoying mentoring and teaching graduate and medical students, residents, postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty.
Charles Nicholas Serhan is the Simon Gelman Professor of Anaesthesia (Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology) at Harvard Medical School and also Professor of Oral Medicine, Infection and Immunity at Harvard School of Dental Medicine; He is Director of the Center for Experimental Therapeutics and Reperfusion Injury at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Serhan’s pioneering studies on the chemistry-medicine interface have resulted in the discovery of the Specialized Pro-resolving Mediators (SPMs), a super-family of biochemical mediators that actively orchestrate the resolution of inflammation and provide the molecular underpinnings for a new era in inflammation resolution pharmacology.
Charles received a BS in biochemistry from Stony Brook University followed by a Doctorate in experimental pathology and medical sciences from New York University School of Medicine. He was a visiting scientist and post-doctoral fellow at the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm with Professor Bengt Samuelsson (Nobel Laurate Medicine 82). In 1987, he joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School and received an honorary degree from Harvard University (1996).
He has received several awards including an NIH MERIT award and has delivered > 50 keynote and plenary lectures. Among these recent awards are: the 2008 William Harvey Outstanding Scientist Medal and AAAS Fellow in 2011. In 2010, he received the Society for Leukocyte Biology Bonazinga Award, The American College of Rheumatology Hench (Nobel Laurate) Award Lecture in 2011 presented by the Mayo Clinic Hench Society, and Mérieux 2013 Laureate.
In 2016, he received the IUBMB Lecture Metal and the Ross Prize in Molecular Medicine. Recently, he received the International Eicosanoid Research Foundation’s 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award and the American Society of Investigative Pathology 2018 Rous Whipple Award and the 2018 Gaddum International Prize and Award Lecture from the British Pharmacology Society.
Dr. Hanauer is an internationally recognized expert on the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. He currently serves as the medical director of the Digestive Disease Center at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and as the Clifford Joseph Barborka Professor of Medicine. After earning his medical degree from the University of Illinois, Dr. Hanauer completed his internship and residency in internal medicine followed by a fellowship in gastroenterology at the University of Chicago. There Dr. Hanauer was mentored by one of the great clinicians in American gastroenterology, the legendary Dr. Joseph B. Kirsner. Dr. Hanauer held a Professorship in Medicine at Chicago named for Dr. Kirsner.
As Chairman of the Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee at the US Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Hanauer authored the FDA’s “Guidelines for Clinical Evaluation of Drugs for Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease”. From 2014-2015, he served as president of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), where he has been a member of the ACG Board of Trustees since 2006, an officer of the ACG since 2010 and a contributing committee member since 1989. He has represented the ACG at the FDA related to development of end-points for IBD in a series of “GREAT” meetings. He edited Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology and chaired the ACG Finance Committee from 2011 to 2012. Dr. Hanauer has also held leadership positions in the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) as chair of the Sections on Infection, Immunology and Inflammatory Bowel Disease as well as Clinical Practice, and served on the AGA Governing Board as a Counselor for Clinical Research. Internationally, he is a member of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization (ECCO) and is a former chairman of the International Organization for IBD (IOIBD).
Dr. Hanauer was awarded the AGA Fiterman Foundation Joseph B. Kirsner Award in Gastroenterology in 2001 and the AGA Janssen Award for Clinical Excellence in GI in 2004. He is currently an Associate Editor for Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. In addition, Dr. Hanauer has worked with the American Board of Internal Medicine serving on the Gastroenterology sub-specialty. He has also held leadership positions within the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of American and in 2011 received CCFA’s Scientific Achievement Award for Clinical Research. Over the course of his career, Hanauer has authored or co-authored hundreds of peer-reviewed journal articles, books, book chapters, monographs, and editorials.
Dr. Hyams is one of the world’s leading experts in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. As Head of the Division of Digestive Diseases, Hepatology, and Nutrition at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, he has led pivotal clinical trials for therapeutic agents in IBD and directed a long-term natural history registry that has described the course of almost 2000 children newly diagnosed with IBD. Dr. Hyams is the recent recipient of a $10.4M grant from the National Institutes of Health investigating the response of children newly diagnosed with ulcerative colitis to standardized therapies. He has worked with the FDA developing endpoints for pediatric clinical trials, has published more than 250 peer reviewed articles, and is the co-editor of one of the standard pediatric digestive disease textbooks, Pediatric Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. Dr. Hyams was the first pediatrician to ever receive the prestigious Scientific Achievement in IBD Clinical Research Award from the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America. He graduated from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and conducted his residency and fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Joshua R. Korzenik, one of the leading IBD researchers and key opinion leaders in the country, is director of the Brigham & Women’s Hospital Crohn’s and Colitis Center and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Korzenik has been involved in IBD research and care of patients for almost 25 years, with his research focusing on 1) translational research in IBD and 2) investigating environmental influences in IBD, with a focus on their common nexus of the intestinal microbiome. Dr. Korzenik is the author of almost 60 peer-reviewed articles and research papers. He speaks frequently at professional meetings and is an active member of many professional committees. Dr. Korzenik has been the principal investigator of over a dozen research projects, ranging from studies of diet and probiotics to international comparisons of IBD. Dr. Korzenik earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College in 1980 and his medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, in 1987. He was a resident at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston from 1987 to 1990 and fellow in gastroenterology and clinical epidemiology at Yale University School of Medicine Hospital from 1991 to 1994. He is a longstanding member of the medical advisory committee for the New England chapter of Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America.
Dr. Rieder is an investigator at the Department of Pathobiology and an Associate Staff at the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland. His clinical focus is patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) with a special emphasis on the field of pathogenesis, prediction and therapy of IBD.
Dr. Rieder has published more than 60 articles and book chapters and has been recognized for his expertise and he serves on multiple committees, speakers’ panels, steering committees and editorial boards. He is a member of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization (ECCO), the German Gastroenterology Association, the American Gastroenterology Association, the America Physiological Society, the American College of Physicians, and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. He is the associate editor of Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology, section editor of Annals of Gastroenterology, on the editorial boards of the Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, BMC Gastroenterology, American Journal of Physiology: Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology and Gastroenterology and Hepatology Journal. Dr. Rieder is the senior author of the new ECCO guidelines for Ulcerative colitis, the first author of the ECCO consensus on Fibrostenosing IBD and co-author of the new ECCO guidelines in Crohn’s disease.
He received his medical degree from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Medical School in Germany. He underwent training in Internal Medicine / Gastroenterology at the Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin I, Universitätsklinikum Regensburg, Germany and a residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Rieder has performed research fellowships at Harvard Medical School and the Cleveland Clinic.
William Sandborn, MD, is a board-certified gastroenterologist and one of the world’s top experts in the management of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. He directs the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Center at UC San Diego Health and is chief of the Division of Gastroenterology, vice chair of clinical operations for the Department of Medicine, and a member of the Clinical Practice Oversight (CPO) Board for UC San Diego Health. Dr. Sandborn is internationally recognized for his contributions in the fields of biotechnology therapy, clinical pharmacology, conduct of clinical trials and endoscopic and radiographic imaging techniques, and several clinical trials that he has led have been instrumental in developing breakthrough treatments for IBD. Dr. Sandborn has published more than 600 articles in prestigious journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, JAMA, the Annals of Internal Medicine, and Gastroenterology. Prior to joining UC San Diego Health, Dr. Sandborn worked in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Dr. Sandborn completed his fellowship at Mayo Clinic and completed his residency and earned his medical degree at Loma Linda University School of Medicine.
Bruce Sands, MD, MS is the Dr. Burrill B. Crohn Professor of Medicine. Dr. Sands is an expert in the management of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and has earned an international reputation for his care of patients with complex and refractory disease. He joined Mount Sinai in 2010 as Chief of the Dr. Henry D. Janowitz Division of Gastroenterology. Prior to joining Mount Sinai, Dr. Sands was Medical Co-Director of the Crohn’s & Colitis Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where he also served as the hospital’s Acting Chief of the Gastrointestinal Unit as well as Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
A longtime advocate for the continued translational research in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, Dr. Sands is widely recognized for his innovative treatment of IBD and for his clinical investigations of new therapeutics. He was among the first to report the efficacy of infliximab-a drug used to treat autoimmune diseases-in ulcerative colitis, a result later confirmed in large, multi-center randomized controlled trials. Dr. Sands was also principal investigator for the landmark ACCENT II study, an international project that demonstrated the efficacy of the anti-tumor necrosis factor antibody infliximab as a long-term treatment for fistulizing Crohn’s disease.
Dr. Sands’ research also explores IBD epidemiology and includes the creation of a population-based cohort of IBD in Rhode Island, a project that is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.,
A leader in several major professional organizations, Dr. Sands has served as the chair of the Clinical Research Alliance of the Crohn’s Foundation of America, Chair of the Immunology, Microbiology and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Section of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), and chair of the International Organization for the Study of IBD. He is an AGA Fellow (AGAF) and a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology (FACG). In 2006 he was named Humanitarian of the Year by the New England Chapter of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America, and the Massachusetts General Physician Organization honored him for “Excellence in Action” in recognition of his distinguished patient care.
His work has appeared in several leading peer-reviewed journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Gastroenterology and Gut. Dr. Sands is also a reviewer for many prominent publications, including the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Sands served as an Associate Editor for the field’s leading journal, Gastroenterology, from 2011 to 2016.
Dr. Sands received his medical degree at Boston University School of Medicinein Massachusetts and completed a residency in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He then completed clinical and research fellowships at the Massachusetts General Hospital. In 2001 Dr. Sands also earned a Master of Science in Epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health.
Dr. Diehl is a leading researcher in the field of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) with a long standing interest in liver injury and repair. She is currently the Director of the Duke Liver Center and the Florence McAlister Professor of Medicine at the Duke University School of Medicine.
Dr. Diehl has conducted seminal research in many areas, including liver regeneration, the role of cytokines in liver disease, and hepatocellular cancer. In addition, she has conducted the definitive work in understanding the important role of Hedgehog signaling proteins in liver pathobiology, from liver regeneration, to hepatic fibrosis, to activation of stellate cells, growth of progenitor cells, and development of cirrhosis. Dr. Diehl was also one of the first researchers to demonstrate that fatty liver is not a reversible innocuous condition, but a frequent cause of severe liver damage, evolving into non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), cirrhosis, and liver cancer.
Dr. Diehl has been an active participant in the NIDDK-funded Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Research Network (NASH CRN), a national consortium comprised of 8 university medical centers selected to generate a national registry for patients with NAFLD and to conduct multicenter treatment trials for this disorder. Diehl has received extensive grant funding from the National Institutes of Health and has authored more than 250 peer-reviewed articles. She is a recipient of numerous awards, including the Leon Schiff Award, the Hans Popper Award, the Sheila Sherlock Award from the British Society of Gastroenterology, and the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Distinguished Achievement Award.
She received her M.D. from Georgetown University, followed by residency and a fellowship in gastroenterology at Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Mary Rinella is a Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. For more than 15 years, she has worked on both basic mechanisms of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and clinical aspects of NASH. Her current interests are in clinical trial development, the association between NASH metabolic comorbidities, and the recurrence of NASH after liver transplantation. Her work has earned her recognition as a global authority in these fields.
Dr. Rinella currently serves as Chair of the NASH American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) Task Force and is past Chair of the NAFLD/NASH Special Interest Group at the AASLD. She is the Director of the Northwestern Fatty Liver Program.
She received her medical degree from the University of Illinois, Chicago, fulfilled her residency at the University of Chicago Hospitals, and completed her fellowship at Northwestern University McGaw Medical Center.
Dr. Brian Harvey has extensive industry, regulatory and clinical expertise in gastrointestinal and liver diseases. He previously was Vice President of U.S. Regulatory Strategy at Pfizer (2012-2015) and Vice President of U.S. Regulatory Policy at Sanofi Aventis (2007-2012). Prior to joining industry, Dr. Harvey worked at the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, most recently as director of FDA’s Division of Gastroenterology Products. Dr. Harvey led the regulatory review for NDA and BLA submissions of major breakthrough drugs for the treatment of IBD in adults and children, including adalimumab (Humira®), infliximab (Remicade®), and mesalamine (Lialda®). He is currently Senior Vice President of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs at the Global Liver Institute, a non-profit organization focused on improving the lives of patients with liver diseases.
Dr. Harvey graduated with honors from Middlebury College in Vermont. He earned his Ph.D. in lipid biochemistry and M.D. degree at the University of Connecticut. Prior to joining the FDA, he conducted post-doctoral research at Harvard Medical School, followed by his internal medicine internship and residency at Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital and a three-year gastroenterology fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD. Throughout his FDA career, Dr. Harvey remained a practicing clinician at the Anne Arundel Medical Center in Maryland.
Dr. Van Zandt is an accomplished synthetic organic and medicinal chemist with more than 20 years of experience in large and small pharmaceutical company environments. Before founding New England Discovery Partners through which he supports Thetis, Michael was a department head for The Institute for Pharmaceutical Discovery (IPD), where he co-led the aldose reductase project team which ultimately resulted in the identification and clinical development of lidorestat for treatment of diabetic complications (Phase II). Before joining IPD, Michael was a medicinal chemist at the pharmaceutical division of Bayer, where he played a prominent role in the discovery of tanomastat, a first-in-class MMP inhibitor for treatment of osteoarthritis and cancer that progressed through Phase III clinical development. Michael is an inventor on more than 30 issued patents and author on more than 20 publications in peer-reviewed journals. He is a frequent reviewer for the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry and Bioorganic Medicinal Chemistry Letters. Michael received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry with a minor in Biochemistry while working with Professor Carl R. Johnson at Wayne State University.
Aaron Mathias has been working at Thetis since 2016. Prior to joining, he was a life science strategy consultant at the Monitor Group (Deloitte Consulting), where he focused on R&D strategy, project management and analytics in the pharmaceutical industry. He is currently a master’s student in biomedical engineering at Yale University.
Dr. Christopher Cimarusti brings strong leadership experience in pharmaceutical discovery, development and manufacturing gained over a 37 year career at Squibb Corporation and Bristol-Myers Squibb. As a discovery chemist, Dr. Cimarusti synthesized the anti-hypertensive nadolol and the antibiotic aztreonam for the first time and designed their commercial processes. As a discovery leader, he co-led the antibiotic effort with Richard Sykes and became Director of Organic Chemistry for the Squibb Institute for Medical Research. Subsequently, he was responsible for all biological and chemical process development within Squibb Corporation, including technology transfer directly to manufacturing, monitoring ongoing production and optimization of existing processes. After the merger with Bristol-Myers, he became Vice President of Process R&D within the Pharmaceutical Research Institute. He was appointed Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development and led a global staff of 1,200 engaged in the CMC disciplines for small and large molecules. He also had responsibility for global Clinical Supply Operations, Project Management and Portfolio Management.
Dr. El-Hage was a pharmacology/toxicology reviewer and supervisor in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at FDA. Leadership positions included supervisory pharmacologist in the Division of Metabolism and Endocrinology Products (DMEP), and Associate Director of Pharm/Tox. Dr. El-Hage is an expert on drugs indicated for the treatment of endocrine and metabolic diseases and has extensive experience with biotechnology, biosimilar products, and carcinogenicity study evaluation and planning. Her consultation as a regulatory toxicologist covers all CDER divisions.
Dr. Lipper has 30+ years of experience in research and development in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to his present consulting work, Dr. Lipper held international line-management responsibility for Pharmaceutics R&D with Bristol Myers Squibb over a 24 year career. His experience spans the entire R&D pipeline, from compound selection through technology transfer and marketed product support. Dr. Lipper began his industrial career with Pfizer Central Research, Groton, CT, where he was primarily involved with liquid and sterile product development for human and veterinary pharmaceutical products. Dr. Lipper has a PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Michigan and B.S. in Pharmacy from Purdue University.
Dr. Moehlenkamp brings over 16 years of development experience with Bristol-Myers Squibb. He has a PhD in pharmacology and is a board certified toxicologist. He has extensive study director/monitor experience, led or supported multiple small and large molecule development programs within diverse therapeutic areas, demonstrated expertise in developing compounds in virology, performed nonclinical safety due diligence reviews, and played pivotal operational and managerial roles in both nonclinical toxicology study conduct and CRO oversight. At Aclairo, Jeff is a senior consultant who designs and support nonclinical safety programs including regulatory document preparation and design, monitor, and interpret GLP studies.
Dr. Albert is a member of the Department of Medicine Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine at University of Colorado School of Medicine and is the department’s Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs. Albert’s decades-long research program has focused on laboratory and clinical studies targeting the pathophysiology and treatment of ARDS, and clinical trials aimed at trying to reduce and treat acute exacerbations of COPD. In ARDS, Dr. Albert has led research on the use of intermittent sighs incorporated into mechanical ventilation based on the idea that stretching the lung causes the type 2 pneumocytes to secrete surfactant. Dr. Albert graduated from the University of Colorado School of Medicine
Dr. Bruce Levy is a leading expert on Resolvin pharmacology in pulmonary diseases, and his seminal research on Resolvin E1 in ARDS and asthma models laid the foundation for Thetis’ TP-317 program. Dr. Levy is the Division Chief of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and on faculty at Harvard Medical School. The Bruce Levy Air Inflammation and Resolution Lab focuses on endogenous mechanisms for resolution of lung inflammation and injury. The lab seeks to identify novel pathways and cellular targets that promote resolution of pulmonary inflammation or injury and to determine roles for naturally-derived, specialized pro-resolving mediators in lung health and disease. Dr. Levy is board-certified in critical care medicine and pulmonary disease. He has written more than 120 peer-reviewed publications, and currently serves as associate editor of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and The New England Journal of Medicine’s clinical problem-solving interactive case series. Dr. Levy received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (now the Perelman School of Medicine) and completed a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at BWH.
Joel E. Lavine, MD, PhD, is tenured Professor of Pediatrics, also in the Institute of Human Nutrition, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. A noted physician-scientist, his research centers around the etiopathogenesis, genetics, natural history, environmental provocation, biomarker/bioimaging development and treatment of particular pediatric liver diseases, with emphasis on fatty liver.
Since 2002, Prof. Lavine has been the sole Pediatric Principal Investigator funded by the NIDDK for the Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Research Network (NASH CRN). He is the sole pediatric co-author for the Guidelines for NASH from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), as well as the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) and American College of Gastroenterology (ACG). Prof. Lavine has served as the primary author on numerous clinical trials in adult and pediatric NAFLD/NASH, and along with Dr. Vos (primary author), served as corresponding author for the manuscript published in 2020 in Gastroenterology on “Factors to Consider in the Development of Drugs for Pediatric NAFLD”, along with representatives from the FDA, EMA, and numerous industry partners.
He chaired and co-chaired numerous NIH committees, including the NASH CRN Steering Committee, the NASH CRN Database Committee, and the NASH CRN Pediatric Committee. He has Chaired numerous NIH Grant Review Panels, the NIDDK Data and Safety Monitoring Board of the Cholestatic Liver Disease Research and Education Network (ChiLDReN), and TEEN-LABS (Longitudinal Assessment for Bariatric Surgery.
Prof. Lavine earned his doctorate in Molecular Biology in 1980 at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his Medical Degree from the University of California, San Diego, in 1984. He is board certified in pediatrics and pediatric gastroenterology, where he trained at the University of California, San Francisco. He has been a Division Chief at UC San Diego and Columbia University for 25 years.
Dr. Michael Davidson is an experienced pharmaceutical executive and clinician with deep expertise in Omega-3 fatty acids and metabolic disease. He is currently the CEO of New Amsterdam Pharma and was founder and Chief Medical Officer of Corvidia Therapeutics which sold to Novo Nordisk in July 2020.
Michael was the co-founding Chief Medical Officer of Omthera Pharmaceuticals in 2008, which was later acquired by Astra Zeneca Pharmaceutical in 2013 for $443M. He also founded the Chicago Center for Clinical Research, which became the largest investigator site in the United States and was acquired by Pharmaceutical Product Development in 1996.
His research background encompasses both pharmaceutical and nutritional clinical trials including extensive research on statins, novel lipid-lowering drugs, and omega-3 fatty acids. Michael is board-certified in internal medicine, cardiology, and clinical lipidology and served as President of the National Lipid Association from 2010 to 2011. Michael received his BA/MS from Northwestern University and MD from The Ohio State University School of Medicine.
Dr. Guttendorf has over 25 years of experience directing preclinical and clinical DMPK programs, including regulatory interactions, in large pharmaceutical and small biotech companies. He has directed ADME/PK/Clinical Pharmacology from discovery through NDA, across therapeutic areas, with numerous regulatory submissions. He held leadership positions at Parke-Davis and Pfizer, and most recently was Vice President at Advancis and Sequoia Pharmaceuticals. He has expertise in developing unique strategies to most efficiently and cost-effectively selects and develop drug candidates.
Dr. Singh is a Pharmaceutical R&D executive with over 30+ years of experience in all phases of product development including discovery, development, technology transfer, and product life-cycle management. As a Vice President, Quality Operations & CMC Regulatory at Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, she was responsible for the overall strategic and operational activities in ensuring quality and regulatory compliance in the production and analysis of clinical trial materials. She was also responsible for all aspects of CMC documentation and regulatory activities in support of investigational and registrational submissions.
As an Executive Director at Bristol-Myers Squibb, she led a diverse organization requiring detailed and thorough review of technical information for Quality and GMP Compliance, CMC Technical Documentation, and Environment, Health & Safety. She provided strategic thinking and long range planning for groups involved in strategic planning and development portfolio analysis.
Dr. Singh has extensive experience in the preparation of CMC section of global investigational (IND/CTA), registrational (NDA/MAA/BLA) and LCM submissions for small molecules and biologics, regulatory agency interactions such as end-of-phase 2 and pre-NDA meetings with the FDA, and regulatory agency inspections.
Dr. Singh received her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and subsequently did postdoctoral work at Oxford University. She has published 17 papers and holds 5 patents.
Dr. Panigrahy is the world’s leading expert in Resolvin pharmacology in cancer. He is an Assistant Professor of Pathology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), a teaching hospital affiliated with Harvard Medical School. His laboratory, which is located in the Center for Vascular Biology Research at BIDMC, has deep expertise in multiple animal models of cancer including pancreatic cancer. From 1996 to 2008, Dr. Panigrahy led angiogenesis and cancer animal modeling in the Judah Folkman laboratory. The Panigrahy Laboratory has won 50+ awards for its studies on lipid autacoids in cancer. Dr. Panigrahy was awarded the 2015 ASIP Cotran Early Investigator Award and a Young Investigator Award in 2015 at the 14th International Conference on Bioactive Lipids in Cancer, Inflammation, and Related Diseases (Budapest, Hungary). Dr. Panigrahy’s seminal research regarding apoptosis in cancer and tumor dormancy escape provides the mechanistic foundation for our understanding of Resolvin pharmacology in cancer. In collaboration with the Serhan Laboratory, Dr. Panigrahy conducted the initial proof-of-concept studies for RvE1 in cancer.
Dr. Klohs is an R&D executive and scientist with thirty-five years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry with increasing levels of responsibility held in positions across the drug development and discovery spectrum. He is currently a consultant for several companies including the SAB for Aeglea Therapeutics, SAB and DOB for MAIA Biotechnology, Chairman of the BOD for Xennials Therapeutics. He also serves as a consultant for Tieos Therapeutics, Kymeris Therapeutics, Petra Pharma, Third Coast Therapeutics, RJS Biologics, and Alacrita Consulting. Dr. Klohs retired from Astellas Pharma Inc. as a Senior Vice President and Therapeutic Area for Oncology for Astellas Pharmaceutical, Inc in June, 2013. In five years, he built Astellas Oncology from 5 people in oncology to ~ 500 and built the oncology pipeline at Astellas from zero compounds to a robust pipeline through internal discovery, in-licensing of key compounds, and the acquisition of OSI Pharmaceuticals. Headed the Global Oncology Strategy team that set the global direction and strategies for oncology at Astellas.
He successfully filed NDAs and MAAs for Xtandi (enzalutamide) and Tarceva. Previously, he served as acting head of Oncology Clinical Sciences at Takeda Global R&D and Executive Director of Drug Development at Pfizer, Inc. At Takeda, he lead both early and late-stage Development Teams in Oncology and was a member of Takeda’s Global Oncology Licensing Team. At Pfizer, he led development from mid-Discovery through POC with additional experience in NDA filings including pentostatin/Nipent and suramin/Metaret. During that time, he led development teams to more than 14 successful IND filings and Phase 1 starts including a pan-erbB irreversible tyrosine kinase inhibitor, two MEK inhibitors for both oncology and inflammation, a cell cycle inhibitor, several P38 inhibitors among others. Prior to heading up drug development for oncology and inflammation at Pfizer, he led discovery efforts at Warner-Lambert/Parke Davis Pharmaceutical Research in oncology in a number of areas including antiangiogenic agents, multiple drug resistance, histone deacetylase inhibitors, and antifolates.
Manuel Hidalgo, M.D., Ph.D., a leading physician-scientist specializing in pancreatic cancer and drug development, is the Chief of the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology and E. Hugh Luckey Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine/New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Dr Hidalgo is also Associate Director for Clinical Services at the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center. His research has included development of several anti-cancer drugs including erlotinib, nab-paclitaxel and temsirolimus. Dr. Hidalgo received his M.D. from the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain in 1992, and Ph.D. from University Autonoma of Madrid in 1997. He trained in medicine and medical oncology at Hospital “12 de Octubre” in Madrid and at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas. He also completed a fellowship program in anticancer drug development at the Institute of Drug Development in San Antonio. Prior to this position, he served as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. In 2001, Dr. Hidalgo become the Director of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Program at the Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University, where he also held the title of Associate Professor of Oncology. Dr. Hidalgo became Director of the Clinical Research Program at the Spanish National Cancer Center in 2009 and Vice Director of Translational Research in 2011. In 2015, he became the Chief of the Division of Hematology and Oncology and Director of the Rosenberg Clinical Cancer Center at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. During his time at Beth Israel, Dr. Hidalgo served as the Theodore W. and Evelyn G. Berenson Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Green is managing director at Connecticut Innovations (CI), Connecticut’s strategic venture capital arm and the leading source of financing and ongoing support for innovative, growing companies in CT. Previously, Cyndi led Search and Evaluation in Worldwide Business Development at Pfizer with responsibility for anti-infectives and vaccines; prior to that she was a lead scientist, then business and investor relations/marketing manager at CuraGen. Her technical leadership at Pfizer led to the formation of Pfizer/GSK spin-out ViiV Healthcare, as well as the acquisitions of an anti-infective franchise from AZ and vaccine portfolios from Baxter and GSK. Cyndi’s expertise spans the spectrum of drug development in preclinical to marketed assets, technologies, diagnostics and research platforms. In addition to support of CI, she also mentors and provides consultant expertise for a variety of organizations, including ABCT, eLabNYC, Springboard Enterprises and Endless Frontier Labs. Cyndi is a board member at CaroGen Corporation and a board observer for a variety of CI portfolio companies. Prior to relocating back to Connecticut, she was on the board of NewYorkBIO for over a decade and was instrumental in helping foster the growth of biotech in the area. Cyndi received a doctorate in molecular biology at SUNY Buffalo, completed postdoctoral work at Yale University and received an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Dr. Patricia LoRusso has been a practicing academic medical oncologist performing clinical/translational research in early phase clinical trials for 30 years, spending the first 25 years at Wayne State University/Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, MI and transitioning to Yale University/Yale Cancer Center in 2014. Both institutions have NCI comprehensive designation status. She has had continuous NIH/NCI peer review funding for 28 years, having held a U-grant for early phase clinical trials through the NCI Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP) for 26 years. She has also collaborated on numerous other grants and have been an investigator in P01 and P30 funding mechanisms. Understanding the need for team science, she has participated in P50 mechanisms and has been awarded team science grants through such organizations as Stand Up to Cancer (Co-Leader: Melanoma Dream Team), the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Komen Foundation (Co-leader, KG111063:Targeting Stem Cells in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) in Different Racial Populations).
Dr. LoRusso has also been involved in many service disciplines at the NCI. She has reviewed grants for many study sections and has either been an ad hoc (e.g. CCSG, NeXT study sections) or permanent study section member (e.g. Program Project Subcommittee D and Clinical Oncology study sections). She has served on the Investigational Drug Steering Committee (IDSC) since inception (2005-present) and served as its chair from 2011-2013. She was a member of the steering committee that convened after the Blue-Ribbon Panel to execute on their recommendations. She served a 4-year term (2015-2019) on the Board of Scientific Council (BSC), reviewing the intramural programs for quality, content, productivity and funding.
In addition to serving in NCI positions, Dr. LoRusso has served in leadership positions of several other organizations. She has served on the Board of Directors and numerous scientific and education committees of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the education and scientific committees of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and the steering committee for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Accelerating Anticancer Agent Development and Validation Workshop, as examples. Internationally, she has taught several clinical trials educational workshops, educating many physicians and scientists across the globe. She understands how critically important it is to train the next generation of early career investigators to be knowledgeable and proficient in clinical and translational research by providing them leadership opportunities and mentoring. She has worked closely with Cancer Research United Kingdom (CRUK), a UK Welcome Trust which is the second largest funding agency for cancer research. She is currently serving a 3-year term as the chair of their New Agents Committee (NAC), reviewing international proposals relative to drug development of novel agents.
Working closely over the past 3 decades with patients suffering from advanced malignancies, Dr. LoRusso has become an advocate, not only for cancer researchers and clinicians, but more importantly for the patients and their caregivers. Having experienced at a young age the death of her own parents from cancer, she understands the urgent need for new cancer discoveries and the potential for longevity and quality of life.
Dr. Eileen M. O’Reilly holds the Winthrop Rockefeller Endowed Chair in Medical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK). She serves as the Section Head for Hepatopancreaticobiliary/ Neuroendocrine Cancers, Gastrointestinal Oncology Service, Co-Director for Medical Initiatives at the David M. Rubenstein Center for Pancreatic Cancer and is an Attending Physician and Member at MSK and Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College.
Dr. O’Reilly received her medical degree at Trinity College (Dublin University) in Ireland. She completed her residency training in Ireland and Fellowship training at MSK. Dr. O’Reilly has pancreatic and hepatobiliary malignancies as the major focus of her research and clinical activities. Research directions include integration of molecular and genetic-based therapies for the treatment of pancreas cancer along with development of adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapies and identification of biomarkers for therapy selection. Dr. O’Reilly teaches and mentors junior faculty, oncology fellows, residents and medical/other students and has numerous teaching and other awards. Dr.
O’Reilly is the Principal Investigator of multiple trials in pancreas cancer and has authored/co-authored > 300 articles, editorials and book chapters.
Dr. O’Reilly’s other MSK responsibilities include: Chair of the Human Subjects Research Program (HRPP), Chair of the Institutional Review & Privacy Board (IRB) and Chair of the Continuing Medical Education (CME) committee.
Nationally Dr. O’Reilly is Co-Chair of the NCI Alliance Co-Operative Group Gastrointestinal Cancers Committee and serves on the NCI Gastrointestinal Cancers Steering Committee (GISC), Medical and Scientific Advisory Board of Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Guidelines Committee and the Board of the National Pancreas Foundation.
Dr. Parkinson has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of ESSA Pharma Inc. since January 2016, and as a Director of the company since June 2015. Prior to joining ESSA he had been a Venture Partner at New Enterprise Associates, Inc. From 2007 until 2012, Dr. Parkinson served as President and CEO of Nodality, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the biological characterization of signaling pathways in patients with malignancy. Until October 2007 he was SVP, Oncology Research and Development at Biogen Idec, where he oversaw all oncology discovery research efforts and the development of the oncology pipeline. Previously he had served as VP, Oncology Development, at Amgen and VP, Global Clinical Oncology Development, at Novartis. In those roles he oversaw the successful clinical development of a series of cancer therapeutics, including Gleevec, Zometa, Femara, and Vectibix. Dr. Parkinson worked at the National Cancer Institute from 1990 to 1997, serving as Chief of the Investigational Drug Branch and then as Acting Associate Director of the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP).
He is a past Chairman of the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Biologics Advisory Committee, a past member of the FDA Science Board, and is a recipient of the FDA’s Cody Medal. He is a past editor of the Journal of Immunotherapy and past president of the Society of Biological Therapy. He has served on the National Cancer Policy Forum of the Institute of Medicine and is a past co-chair of the Cancer Steering Committee of the NIH Foundation Biomarkers Consortium. A past Board Director of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, he currently serves as a Board Director for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. He served as Chairperson of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Finance and Audit Committee for 15 years and is a previous elected Board Director of AACR. Dr. Parkinson was a Director of Facet Biotech, Inc., until the acquisition by Abbott Pharmaceuticals, and was a Director of Ambit Biosciences until the acquisition by Daiichi Sankyo. He was also previously a Director at Threshold Pharmaceuticals and Cerulean Pharmaceuticals. He currently serves as Director on the Boards of CTI Biopharma, Inc (CTIC), 3SBio Inc (1530.HK) and is a Co-Founder and Director of Refuge Biotech, Inc. He has held academic positions both at Tufts and at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications.
