Executive Team

James-Breitmeyer

James Breitmeyer, MD, PhD

President and CEO

Dr. Breitmeyer has served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Oncternal Therapeutics, Inc. since September 2015. Dr. Breitmeyer is a veteran biotech executive with experience successfully starting and growing biotechnology organizations. He has been responsible for both the development and implementation of both operational and drug development strategies, as well as supervising and managing both large organizations and emerging biotechnology companies. Dr. Breitmeyer served as President of Bavarian Nordic, Inc. and Executive Vice President of Bavarian Nordic A/S, a multinational corporation headquartered in Denmark, from February 2013 to July 2015 where he oversaw business operations and development strategy both for Bavarian Nordic, Inc. and Bavarian Nordic A/S. He served as a director of Zogenix, Inc., then a public pharmaceutical company, from March 2014 until it was acquired by UCB S.A. in March 2022 and was the acting Chief Medical Officer of Zogenix from August 2012 to February 2013 where he was responsible for clinical development and regulatory strategy. He previously served as the Executive Vice President of Development and Chief Medical Officer of Cadence Pharmaceuticals Inc., a public pharmaceutical company, from August 2006 to August 2012, and the Chief Medical Officer of Applied Molecular Evolution Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Co., a global pharmaceutical company, from December 2001 to August 2006. Dr. Breitmeyer was also the founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Harvard Clinical Research Institute, and Chief Medical Officer and Head of Research & Development for North America at Serono Laboratories Inc., an international biopharmaceutical company. Dr. Breitmeyer served as a founding collaborator and scientific advisor to Immunogen Inc., a biotechnology company, and held clinical and teaching positions at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Breitmeyer earned his B.A. in Chemistry from the University of California, Santa Cruz and his M.D. and Ph.D. from Washington University School of Medicine and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Oncology. He holds an active California medical license.

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Richard-Vincent

Richard Vincent

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Vincent has served as Oncternal’s Chief Financial Officer since April 2017. Mr. Vincent served as an independent Chief Financial Officer to multiple pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies, including Avalyn Pharma (co-founder), Meritage Pharma, and Elevation Pharmaceuticals from 2012 through 2017. Mr. Vincent was the Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of Sorrento Therapeutics from January 2011 through February 2015. Mr. Vincent served as Chief Financial Officer for Verus Pharmaceuticals from 2004 to 2008, and Women First Healthcare from 2003 to 2005. Mr. Vincent’s areas of responsibility have spanned all areas of finance, treasury, investor and public relations, human resources, information technology, facilities and project management. From 1987 to 1995, Mr. Vincent held a number of positions with Deloitte & Touche LLP, the last of which was senior manager, where he specialized in emerging growth and publicly-reporting companies. Mr. Vincent became a Certified Public Accountant in California in 1989 and holds a B.S. degree in business with an emphasis in accounting from San Diego State University.

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Salim-Yazji

Salim Yazji, MD

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Yazji brings to Oncternal over 20 years of experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, including successful registrations. Most recently, he was the co-founder and CEO of Ajuta Therapeutics, Inc. and the founder of Elpida Therapeutics. Dr. Yazji held multiple seats as a board member and scientific advisory board member at several biotech companies. Past leadership roles include Chief Medical Officer at PMV Pharma, Inc. and Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Calimmune, Inc., Vice president and Global Therapeutics Head at Baxalta, Inc., and Vice President and Therapeutic Area Head of Oncology at Baxter. Dr. Yazji has also held multiple leadership positions at Novartis Pharmaceutical, Exelixis, Inc., PDL BioPharma, Inc., and Johnson & Johnson. Dr. Yazji obtained his medical degree from the Pavlov School of Medicine, University of St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Russia, and completed his postgraduate training at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Park Plaza  Hospital,  Houston and Almozov Hospital, St.  Petersburg, Russia.

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Rajesh-Krishnan

Rajesh Krishnan, PhD

Chief Technical Officer

Dr. Krishnan has over 20 years of experience across CMC, technology transfer, and manufacturing sciences for U.S. and international manufacturing sites, involving both internal and partnered programs. From 2018 until 2019, he served as Vice President, Process Development and Manufacturing Sciences at Dynavax Technologies Corporation, where he led manufacturing, drug process development, process validation, analytical sciences and technology transfer efforts for commercial and clinical development programs. From 2012 through 2017, Dr. Krishnan served in several positions at Gilead Sciences, Inc., most recently as Head, Biologics Drug Substance Process Development, leading upstream and downstream process development for multiple clinical biologics programs. From 2000 to 2012, he served in positions of increasing responsibility at Merck & Co., Inc., Amgen Inc. and Pfizer, with a consistent leadership role across process development, technology transfer and CMC for clinical and commercial biologics programs. Dr. Krishnan holds a B.S.E. degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University, a M.S. degree in chemical engineering from the University of California, Davis, and a Ph.D. degree in Biochemical Engineering from the University of California, Davis.

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Chase-Leavitt

Chase Leavitt

General Counsel

Chase Leavitt joined as our General Counsel in April 2021 and previously served as General Counsel of Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company, from May 2019 to April 2021. From June 2018 to May 2019, Mr. Leavitt served as Vice President of Legal Affairs of Tang Capital Management, LLC, a life sciences-focused investment company, and its affiliate Odonate Therapeutics, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company. From May 2017 to May 2018, Mr. Leavitt served as the Deputy General Counsel of Switch, Inc., a publicly traded technology company, and previously served as its Associate General Counsel from July 2014 to May 2017. From 2007 to 2014, Mr. Leavitt was a corporate attorney at Latham & Watkins LLP, where his practice focused on public company representation, mergers and acquisitions and capital markets, serving life sciences and technology companies. Mr. Leavitt received a B.S. degree in business administration and a J.D. from the University of Southern California and is admitted to practice law by the State Bar of California.

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Anita-Wiseth

Anita Wiseth

SVP Human Resources

Ms. Wiseth joined as our Senior Vice President of HR in March 2021, bringing over 20 years of experience in increasing roles of responsibility in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. Prior to Oncternal she led an Executive HR Consulting firm, providing services to private and public life science companies from 2015-2021. Past leadership roles include Vice President, HR at Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc., a publicly traded life sciences company from 2006-2015, where she drove all aspects of HR and organization capability while helping  grow the company from 30 to over 200 employees; Senior Director, Human Resources at X-Ceptor Therapeutics, Inc. a privately held biotech company from 1999 until the company was aquired; and Director, HR at Sequana Therapeutics, Inc., from 1994 until the company was aquired in 1998, driving organization capability and change management during extensive growth and IPO, helping grow the company from 2 to over 200 employees. Ms. Wiseth earned a Baccalaureate in International Business and foreign languages in Norway.

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Pablo-Urbaneja

Pablo Urbaneja

SVP Corporate Development

Pablo Urbaneja joined as our SVP, Corporate Development in July 2021. He previously served as Vice President, Corporate Development at Coherus Biosciences, where he helped transform its biosimilars and immuno-oncology late-stage pipeline. Previously, Mr. Urbaneja was in the pharmaceuticals and medical products practice of McKinsey & Company, where he advised clients on business strategy, operational performance, commercialization, and mergers and acquisitions, on a global scale.

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Angela-Pietrofeso

Angela Pietrofeso

VP Clinical Development Operations

Ms. Pietrofeso joined Oncternal in September 2021 as Senior Director Clinical Operations and was promoted to VP Clinical Development Operations in September 2022. Ms. Pietrofeso has over 20 years of extensive global expertise in biopharmaceutical and medical device industries. She has a broad range of therapeutic experience in oncology, ulcerative colitis, cardiovascular medical devices, acute pain, and infectious diseases. Before joining Oncternal, Ms. Pietrofeso held positions of increasing responsibility at Pfizer, Valeant, Metabasis, Cadence Pharmaceuticals, Lithera, W.L Gore & Associates, and Gossamer Bio. Her career highlights include contributions to the successful NDA for Sutent® at Pfizer; the NDA submission for Ofirmev® at Cadence Pharmaceuticals; and the PMA approval of GORE® VIABAHN® VBX Balloon Expandable Endoprosthesis (VBX Stent Graft) at W.L Gore & Associates. Prior to joining industry Ms. Pietrofeso worked as a Research Nurse Manager at the Royal Free Hospital (London UK) and as a Registered Nurse in South Africa and UK. Ms. Pietrofeso holds a Bachelor of Social Science ( Nursing) from University of Natal ( Durban South Africa).

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Brad-Webre

Brad Webre, CPA

VP Finance

Mr. Webre has served as Oncternal’s Vice President, Finance since February 2021.  From 2016 to 2021, Mr. Webre served as Chief Financial Officer for Suneva Medical.  From 2013 to 2016, Mr. Webre served as Chief Financial Officer for NEHP and Diversified Fluid Solutions.  From 2002 to 2013, Mr. Webre served in various financial roles at manufacturing, risk consulting, and consumer product companies.  Mr. Webre’s areas of responsibility have spanned all areas of finance, treasury, investor relations, human resources, information technology, and project management. Mr. Webre started his career at Deloitte & Touche LLP, where he specialized in device manufacturing and publicly-traded companies. Mr. Webre is a Certified Public Accountant in California and holds a B.S. degree in business with an emphasis in accounting from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

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yisrael-katz

Yisrael Katz, MD

VP Clinical Development

Dr. Katz joined Oncternal Therapeutics in July 2023 as VP of Clinical Development and serves as medical lead on the ONCT-534 and ONCT-808 programs as well as head of pharmacovigilance. Prior to joining Oncternal, Dr. Katz was Senior Medical Director of Clinical Development at Viracta Therapeutics, a San Diego based clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel targeted therapies for virally-associated malignancies; in this capacity he led the company’s solid tumor portfolio and global safety efforts. He had also led and supported several late-phase programs across multiple solid tumor indications as Medical Director at Exelixis. Prior to this, as Medical Director at Calviri, Dr. Katz oversaw the company’s transition of a robust preclinical theranostics portfolio into initial cancer vaccine clinical trials. He continues to practice inpatient medicine as an attending physician at the University of California San Diego Medical Center, and is a renowned clinical educator having delivered hundreds of invited lectures across dozens of US medical programs. Dr. Katz was recently featured on the “Top 25 Healthcare Technology Leaders of San Diego” report in 2022. Dr. Katz received his B.S. in Neuroscience from Washington University in St. Louis, M.D. from the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, and completed his internal medicine residency at Georgetown University Hospital.

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Board of Directors

David-F.-Hale

David F. Hale

Chairman

David F. Hale has served on our board of directors since the completion of the Merger in June 2019. He was a co-founder and served as a member of the board of directors of Private Oncternal since 2013, and Chairman of the Board of Private Oncternal from December 2018 until the Merger. Since May 2006, Mr. Hale has served as Chairman & CEO of Hale Biopharma Ventures, LLC. He is a serial entrepreneur who has been involved in the formation and development of numerous life sciences companies. He was previously President and CEO of CancerVax Corporation, a cancer therapeutic company from October 2000 through May 2006 when CancerVax merged with Micromet, Inc. He became Chairman of Micromet, Inc. until the sale of the company to Amgen Inc. in 2012. After joining Hybritech, Inc., in 1982, he was President & Chief Operating Officer and became CEO in 1986, when Hybritech was acquired by Eli Lilly and Co. From 1987 to 1997 he was Chairman, President and CEO of Gensia, Inc. He was a co-founder and Chairman of Viagene, Inc. from 1987 to 1995. He was President and CEO of Women First HealthCare, Inc. from January 1998 to June 2000. Prior to joining Hybritech in 1982, Mr. Hale was Vice President and General Manager of BBL Microbiology Systems, a division of Becton, Dickinson & Co. and from 1971 to 1980, held various marketing and sales management positions with Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation, a division of Johnson & Johnson, Inc. Mr. Hale previously served as Chairman of a number of companies, including Santarus, Inc., Somaxon, Inc., SkinMedica, Inc., CRISIMed, Inc., Agility Clinical, Inc., Zerigo Health, Inc., Neurana, Inc., and Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc. He is a Co-founder and currently serves as a Director of Neurelis, Inc and Dermata, Inc. Mr. Hale also is a co-founder and serves on the Board of Directors of BIOCOM and Connect, is a former member of the board of The Biotechnology Industry Organization or BIO, and the San Diego Economic Development Corporation. Mr. Hale also serves as a board trustee of Rady Children’s Hospital of San Diego, and Chairman of the board of Rady Children’s Institute of Genomics Medicine and serves as a member of the board of the University of San Diego. Mr. Hale holds a B.A. in Biology and Chemistry from Jacksonville State University.

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James-Breitmeyer

James Breitmeyer, MD, PhD

Director

Dr. Breitmeyer has served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Oncternal Therapeutics, Inc. since September 2015. Dr. Breitmeyer is a veteran biotech executive with experience successfully starting and growing biotechnology organizations. He has been responsible for both the development and implementation of both operational and drug development strategies, as well as supervising and managing both large organizations and emerging biotechnology companies. Dr. Breitmeyer served as President of Bavarian Nordic, Inc. and Executive Vice President of Bavarian Nordic A/S, a multinational corporation headquartered in Denmark, from February 2013 to July 2015 where he oversaw business operations and development strategy both for Bavarian Nordic, Inc. and Bavarian Nordic A/S. He served as a director of Zogenix, Inc., then a public pharmaceutical company, from March 2014 until it was acquired by UCB S.A. in March 2022 and was the acting Chief Medical Officer of Zogenix from August 2012 to February 2013 where he was responsible for clinical development and regulatory strategy. He previously served as the Executive Vice President of Development and Chief Medical Officer of Cadence Pharmaceuticals Inc., a public pharmaceutical company, from August 2006 to August 2012, and the Chief Medical Officer of Applied Molecular Evolution Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Co., a global pharmaceutical company, from December 2001 to August 2006. Dr. Breitmeyer was also the founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Harvard Clinical Research Institute, and Chief Medical Officer and Head of Research & Development for North America at Serono Laboratories Inc., an international biopharmaceutical company. Dr. Breitmeyer served as a founding collaborator and scientific advisor to Immunogen Inc., a biotechnology company, and held clinical and teaching positions at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Breitmeyer earned his B.A. in Chemistry from the University of California, Santa Cruz and his M.D. and Ph.D. from Washington University School of Medicine and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Oncology. He holds an active California medical license.

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Michael-G.-Carter

Michael G. Carter, MD, ChB, FRCP

Director

Dr. Carter has served as a member of our board of directors since June 2019. Dr. Carter was a non-executive director of Santarus, Inc. from 2004 to 2013, served as a non-executive director of Micromet AG from 2001 to 2005 and of MICROMET, Inc. from 2006 to March 2012, and served as a non-executive director of Fulcrum Pharma, PLC from 2005 to 2010. Dr. Carter was a member of the Advisory Board of Paul Capital Royalty Fund from 2005 to 2008, and was a venture partner with SV Life Sciences Advisors, LLP from 1998 to 2016. He has served as a member of the strategic advisory board of Healthcare Royalty Partners (HCRP) since September 2009 and a member of the HCRP Investment Committee since 2015. Dr. Carter was the non-executive chairman of Metris Therapeutics, Ltd., a biotechnology firm specializing in women’s healthcare from 1999 to 2008. He was also a non-executive director of ONCOETHIX from June 2013 until its sale to Merck & Co., in December 2014. Dr. Carter served on the Pharmaceutical Board of I.C.I. Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, a predecessor company of AstraZeneca, and held various positions with I.C.I. Zeneca from 1984 to 1998, including International Medical Director and International Marketing Director. From 1985 to 1995, Dr. Carter served as a member of the U.K. Government’s Medicines Commission. Dr. Carter is an Elected Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, and of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. Dr. Carter holds a degree in pharmacy from London University (U.K.) and a medical degree from Sheffield University Medical School (U.K.).

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Jill-DeSimone

Jill DeSimone

Director

Ms. DeSimone was most recently President of U.S. Oncology at Merck & Co., Inc., where she built the company’s oncology division, growing it to over a $9 billion business in just eight years. She led three key product launches and more than 45 indication launches, including Keytruda®. Prior to joining Merck, she served as senior vice president of Global Women’s Health at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd from 2012 to 2014. Prior to her time at Teva, Ms. DeSimone served in several roles of increasing responsibility at Bristol Myers Squibb from 1980 to 2012, including senior vice president of U.S. Oncology & Commercial from 2010 to 2012 and senior vice president of U.S. Virology/HIV from 2006 to 2010. Ms. DeSimone currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Praxis Precision Medicines, Inc. and Affini-T Therapeutics Inc. She also serves as a board member for the Florida Cancer Specialists Foundation, a nonprofit organization that delivers non-medical aid for individuals undergoing cancer treatment. Ms. DeSimone received a B.S. in pharmacy from Northeastern University and completed a fellowship with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

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Bill-LaRue

Bill LaRue

Director

William R. LaRue has served as a member of our board of directors since December 2017. Mr. LaRue currently serves as an independent board member for multiple public and private companies in the life science industry. He served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Cadence Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, starting in June 2006, and expanded his role to serve as Assistant Secretary at Cadence in April 2007, serving in both capacities until the company’s acquisition by Mallinckrodt plc in March 2014. At Cadence, Mr. LaRue was a member of the Executive Committee with direct responsibility for the company’s financial leadership including corporate financing, investor relations, financial planning and reporting, SEC reporting, accounting, treasury, risk management, tax and information technology. During his tenure, Cadence raised over $375 million in public and private equity and senior debt, including an IPO in October 2006 as the company transitioned from a development stage to a commercial stage company. Prior to joining Cadence, Mr. LaRue served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of CancerVax Corporation, a biotechnology company, from 2001 until its merger with Micromet, Inc. in May 2006. Mr. LaRue currently serves as a member of the board of directors and chair of the Audit Committee of Tracon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Conatus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Alastin Skincare, Inc. He previously served on the boards of directors of Applied Proteomics, Inc., Neurelis, Inc. and Cadence Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Mr. LaRue received a B.S. in business administration and an M.B.A. from the University of Southern California. 

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Xin-Nakanishi

Xin Nakanishi, PhD

Director

Xin Nakanishi, Ph.D. has served as a member of Oncternal’s board of directors since November 2018. She has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Shanghai Pharma Biotherapeutics USA Inc since July 2018. Dr. Nakanishi previously served as a venture partner at Yuansheng bioVENTURE from 2017-2018, and was CEO and founder of Sunvita Therapeutics, LLC from 2009- 2018 a company that provided cross border business development for various US and Chinese biopharmaceutical companies. She was also the Director of Biology at Phenomix Inc, a senior scientist at Pfizer, and a group leader at Immusol Inc. Dr. Nakanishi holds a B.A. in Virology from Wuhan University and a Ph.D in Biochemistry from the University of Kansas. 

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Charles-Theuer

Charles Theuer, MD, PhD

Director

Dr. Theuer has served as a member of Oncternal’s board of directors since March 2018. He has been President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of TRACON Pharmaceuticals, Inc. since July 2006. From 2004 to 2006, Dr. Theuer was the Chief Medical Officer at TargeGen, Inc., a biotechnology company. Prior to joining TargeGen, Inc., Dr. Theuer was Director of Clinical Oncology at Pfizer, Inc., a pharmaceutical corporation, from 2003 to 2004. Dr. Theuer has also held senior positions at IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corp. from 2002 to 2003 and at the National Cancer Institute from 1991 to 1993. In addition, he has held academic positions at the University of California, Irvine, where he was Assistant Professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology and Department of Medicine. Dr. Theuer currently serves as a director at 4D Molecular Therapeutics, a position he has held since January 2016. Dr. Theuer received a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco, and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine. He completed a general surgery residency program at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and was board certified in general surgery in 1997. 

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Robert-J.-Wills

Robert J. Wills, PhD

Director

Dr. Wills has served as a member of our board of directors since June 2019. Dr. Wills has over three decades of experience as a leader in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. Dr. Wills joined GTx as the Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors and as Chairman of the Board’s Scientific and Development Committee on March 2, 2015. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of CymaBay Therapeutics, as Board member at Parion Sciences, Inc, as Board member at Go Therapeutics and as a member of the Emerging Companies Section Governing Board of Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO). Prior to these roles, Dr. Wills spent over 25 years at Johnson & Johnson. Most recently he was Vice President, Alliance Management, Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. He also served as Senior Vice President Global Development, where he was responsible for the R&D pipeline and a member of the R&D Board of Directors. In addition he served on several of the commercial Operating Company Boards and key pharmaceutical group decision-making committees. Dr. Wills began his career at Hoffmann-LaRoche where he spent 10 years in several roles of scientific responsibility. He holds a BS in Biochemistry and an MS in Pharmaceutics from the University of Wisconsin and a PhD in Pharmaceutics from the University of Texas. 

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Daniel-Kisner

Daniel Kisner, MD

Director

Dr. Kisner has served as a member of our board of directors since June 2019. Dr. Kisner currently serves as an independent consultant in the life science industry. He was a partner at Aberdare Ventures from 2003 to 2011. Dr. Kisner served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Caliper Life Sciences from 2002 to 2008, and as President and CEO of its predecessor company, Caliper Technologies, from 1999 to 2002. He held positions of increasing responsibility at Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., from 1991 to 1999, most recently as President and COO. Dr. Kisner previously served in pharmaceutical research and development executive positions at Abbott Laboratories from 1988 to 1991 and at SmithKline Beckman Laboratories from 1985 to 1988. He held a tenured faculty position in the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Texas, San Antonio School of Medicine until 1985 after a five-year advancement through the Cancer Treatment Evaluation Program of the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Kisner is board certified in internal medicine and medical oncology. Dr. Kisner holds a B.A. from Rutgers University and an M.D. from Georgetown University. Dr. Kisner currently serves as a director at Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc., Zynerba Pharmaceuticals and Dynavax Technologies Corporation, and has extensive prior private and public company board experience, including serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors at Tekmira Pharmaceuticals. 

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Rosemary-Mazanet

Rosemary Mazanet, MD, PhD

Director

Dr. Mazanet has served since June 2015 as the Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board and since September 2017 as Chief Science Officer for Columbia Care, Inc. She has served as Clinical Advisor to many companies and funds through her consultancy business, R Mazanet LLC, which she has managed as President since May 2004. Dr. Mazanet also has experience in public equity markets as the Managing Partner at Apelles Investment, LLC from 2007 to 2014, and as the Head of Research at Oracle Partners LP from 1998 to 2004. Prior to her public equity work, Dr. Mazanet worked at Amgen, Inc., where she led Clinical Development teams that conducted successful development programs leading to product approvals. Dr. Mazanet served as a director of GTx, Inc. from January 2002 to June 2010, prior to the completion of its merger with the Company in June 2019. Dr. Mazanet has served as a Trustee at the University of Pennsylvania Health System since July 2002, and as the Chair, Executive Advisory Board for the Wharton Leonard Davis Institute since December 2020. Dr. Mazanet holds a B.A. in biology from the University of Virginia, and an M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Mazanet trained as an internist and oncologist in the Harvard Hospitals.

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Scientific Advisors

Jeffrey-Toretsky

Jeffrey Toretsky, MD

Dr. Jeffrey Toretsky received his MD in 1988 from the University of Minnesota. He completed his pediatric residency at the Medical College of Virginia in 1991, and his pediatric oncology fellowship at the National Cancer Institute Pediatric Branch in 1997. In 2002, Dr. Toretsky was recruited from the University of Maryland to Georgetown University; where he was promoted to full professor with tenure in 2011. He was inducted into the American Society of Clinical Investigation in 2007 and received the Burroughs-Wellcome Clinical Scientist Award in Translational Research in 2008. He is a co-founder of Tokalas, Inc. (2014), now Oncternal Therapeutics, Inc. In 2018, Dr. Toretsky was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors.

Dr. Toretsky actively pursues research that will lead to new and more specific therapies for a very rare cancer, Ewing sarcoma. His work focuses on Ewing sarcoma, since the tumors contain a unique target that is not found in non-tumor cells. This unique target offers an opportunity to create new medicines that will more specifically eliminate tumor growth while sparing normal cells. In 2009, Dr. Toretsky and his team revealed the molecule called YK-4-279 that targets Ewing sarcoma with an article in Nature Medicine. YK-4-279 has the potential to be a potent new strategy in the fight against not only Ewing sarcoma, but also other cancers and diseases with similar characteristics. A deeper investigation into the mechanism of YK-4-279 has led Dr. Toretsky into the world of phase separation and soft matter. He is particularly interested in understanding how protein complexes he called ‘assemblages’, now also referred to as biomolecular condensates, occur and how they function in oncogenic RNA processing.

Dr. Toretsky is now the Division Chief of Pediatric Adolescent and Young Adult Hematology/Oncology at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital. He continues to be the principal investigator of his NIH-funded laboratory group, leads the Molecular Oncology Program of the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, and co-leads a multidisciplinary sarcoma clinic at Children’s National Medical Center. He enjoys teaching science and medicine from high school through medical as well as graduate school. His wife, three children, dogs (Lucy and Greta), a passion for SCUBA diving and a clarinet support him in these endeavors.

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Thomas-Kipps

Thomas Kipps, MD, PhD

Thomas Kipps, MD, PhD, is Professor of Medicine, Evelyn and Edwin Tasch Chair in Cancer Research, and Deputy Director of Research Operations at the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center. He received his Ph.D. in Immunology and M.D. from Harvard University and had his residency and fellowship training in Internal Medicine, Hematology, and Genetics at Stanford University.

Dr. Kipps has a national and international reputation for his work in cancer research, immunology, and gene therapy. He has been a leader in the field for many years, and has helped to develop standardized treatment protocols. He is the author of more than 300 publications and is the PI on several peer-reviewed grants, including an award from NCI/NIH to fund the Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Research Consortium (CRC). The CRC involves collaboration with eight other Cancer Centers around the United States and the UK. Dr. Kipps is also the Director of the Blood Cancer Research Fund at the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center. The Blood Cancer Research Fund concentrates on developing cures for all types of blood related cancers, specifically Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL).

Associated Links:

Thomas Kipps, University of California San Diego

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