Equipped with advanced cognitive computing technologies, we are able to aggregate and mine disparate types of biomedical datasets to reveal novel contextual vulnerabilities in cancer, and collaborate with leading universities to exploit those vulnerabilities with cutting-edge agents.
We then invest in the most promising experimental agents to demonstrate their therapeutic potential. Finally, we partner with pharmaceutical companies to transform innovative new agents into the breakthrough cancer therapies.
Our approach to cancer research is revolutionary. Applying the exponential power of our cognitive computing platform and a unique multi-scalar systems modeling approach, our team of scientists are able to extract much deeper insights into the molecular contexts that represent the best therapeutic vulnerabilities in cancer. Modeling multi-dimensional disease mechanisms is critical to our ability to discover truly novel therapeutic opportunities. Understanding these mechanisms also allows us to resolve clinical heterogeneity in drug development. Taken together, this unique process empowers us to discover and develop the next generation of cancer therapies with unprecedented speed and precision.
In silico discovery research
Use in silico insights to predict and prioritize
In-licensing of top candidates
Invest in studies to demonstrate safety, efficacy & mechanism
Out-licensing of products
Industry Innovators with Deep Experience
Dr. Mousses is widely recognized as a leading scientist in the application of genomics, RNAi, systems biology, and machine learning to improve and accelerate cancer drug discovery and development. He has published more than 60 patents, scientific articles, and book chapters. He served as Director of the Pharmaceutical Genomics Division at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), where he led 8 laboratories to develop more than 30 programs and collaborated with pharmaceutical partners to accelerate cancer drug development. Prior to that, he served as Staff Scientist at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), NIH, leading a program in cancer genome scanning and high throughput technology.
As a successful entrepreneur, Dr. Mousses has previously founded several biotech and IT companies, including Systems Medicine (acquired by Cell Therapeutics), MedTrust Online (acquired by Annai Systems), and Systems Imagination, which offers advanced cognitive computing technology to translate big data into biomedical insights.
Dr. Mousses received his PhD in Molecular Pathogenesis and Genetics of Cancer from the University of Toronto. He can be reached by contacting his EA, Courtney Villani, at cvillani@systemsoncology.com.
Language: English
Dr. Von Hoff has been instrumental in the development and approval of many life-saving cancer therapies including gemcitabine, fludarabine, paclitaxel, docetaxel, topotecan, irinotecan, mitoxantrone,vismodegib, nab-paclitaxel and others. He is currently Physician-in-Chief and Distinguished Professor at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, and the Virginia G. Piper Distinguished Chair for Innovative Cancer Research at Honor Health Research Institute.
Dr. Von Hoff is a former member of the FDA’s Oncology Drug Advisory Committee (ODAC) and served on President Bush’s National Cancer Advisory Board. He was previously the Director of the Arizona Cancer Center and former president of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR). He is a past member of the Board of Scientific Advisors of the National Cancer Institute, as well as a former board member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Dr. Von Hoff co-founded ILEX Oncology, Inc. in 1993, which was later acquired by Genzyme Corp. in 2004 for $1 billion.
Dr. Von Hoff has published more than 730 papers, 141 book chapters and over 1165 abstracts. Dr. Von Hoff received the 2010 David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award from ASCO for his outstanding contributions to cancer research leading to significant improvement in patient care. He has also edited the Cancer Chemotherapy Handbook and has had seats on the editorial board of 12 scientific journals, including the founding Editor-in-Chief of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. Dr. Von Hoff is also currently the Team Leader for the Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C Sponsored) Dream Team focused on developing new agents targeting pancreatic cancer.
Language: English
Gavin has more than 20 years of global licensing and legal experience across sectors with an emphasis on cross-border business and intellectual property strategy issues. His experience includes corporate transactions, such as acquisitions, financings, licensing and divestitures, managing intellectual property holdings and devising intellectual property strategies. Gavin is a US patent attorney and a Canadian trademark agent. He has significant experience in life sciences law and licensing, including pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and nutritional supplement matters. Gavin has a JD, an MBA and an MS.
Gavin was General Counsel at Iovate, a mid-sized private Canadian company; Patent Counsel at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge MA; Senior Patent Attorney at Genetics Institute in Cambridge MA; and a patent attorney at a major New York IP firm. Gavin also held a clerkship at the Tax Court of Canada.
Language: English
Andrew has 20 years of private equity and healthcare industry experience. As Managing Partner of Lakeshore Capital Partners, Andrew is responsible for evaluating potential investment opportunities, structuring and executing transactions and portfolio company oversight. In his role at Lakeshore, Andrew also provides financial consulting and executive-level management services.
Prior to founding Lakeshore Capital Partners, Andrew worked in brand management at Amgen. While at Amgen, he took on increasing levels of responsibility in the sales and marketing organization. In his most recent role, he directed the strategic planning and operations function for a groundbreaking oncology product launch.
Previously, Andrew worked as an investment banking analyst for Credit Suisse First Boston, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions advisory and debt and equity financings.
Andrew holds a BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, with a concentration in Health Sector Management.
Language: English
Dr. Azorsa is an accomplished scientist with over 20 years of experience in cancer research. He was previously a Senior Scientist in the Institute of Molecular Medicine at Phoenix Children’s Hospital and a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Child Health at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix. He also headed the Biological Therapeutics Laboratory at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGEN). Dr. Azorsa has authored over 45 papers and has expertise in cellular and molecular biology, antibody development, functional genomics screening, drug screening, and assay development.
Dr. Azorsa received his PhD in Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the INSERM U.311 in Strasbourg, France and the National Human Genome Research Institute at the NIH.
Language: English
Dr. Kiefer is an accomplished scientist spanning the intersection of cancer biology and genomic technologies. Prior to joining Systems Oncology, he spent 14 years at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) beginning as a postdoctoral researcher and progressing to the level of Research Associate Investigator. During his time at TGen, he was deeply embedded in numerous major research initiatives involving internal programs and collaborations with industry partners. His multidisciplinary research talents in the areas of cancer biology, systems biology, informatics, and knowledge mining were leveraged to support investigators across the institute and across therapeutic areas. Dr. Kiefer was instrumental in developing interpretation systems, rules and methods for the development of devices to enable multiple precision medicine initiatives involving interactions with the FDA.
Dr. Kiefer received his PhD from the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.
Language: English
Lee has over 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry. He is a successful entrepreneur, having founded, acquired and run multiple companies; including Data Management, Inc. (acquired by MedData), On Point Technology, GrandStay Hospitality and Lakeshore Capital Partners.
Lee’s responsibilities have included executive operating roles, business development, sourcing and evaluating investment opportunities, structuring and executing transactions, portfolio company management, capital raising, and fund management.
Prior to co-founding Lakeshore Capital Partners, Lee spent 12 years at St. Jude Medical. In his most recent role as a Field Clinical Engineer, his responsibilities included designing, implementing, and managing clinical trials for next-generation Cardiac Rhythm Management products, including implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD), cardiac pacemakers, and delivery tools.
Lee is a named author on multiple scientific papers and is a graduate of Marquette University.
Language: English
Dr. Barnhart is an accomplished biotechnology development entrepreneur, specializing in designing and directing programs for developing novel scientific discoveries into groundbreaking therapeutic products, particularly in oncology.
Prior to joining Systems Oncology Dr. Barnhart was most recently Vice-President of Clinical Development at Lantern Pharma, and previously was Senior Vice-President of Development at CerRx, Inc., both Texas-based clinical oncology drug development companies. From 2002 to 2014 Dr. Barnhart founded or was on the original management teams of a variety of both private and public biotechnology companies including Rigid Solutions LLC (as Chief Executive Officer), Transmed Oncology, Inc. (as CEO and President), Bradmer Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (as President and Chief Scientific Officer), and Aptamera, Inc. (as Chief Scientific Officer). Prior to joining Aptamera and since 1994, Dr. Barnhart held various research and business management positions in San Diego at both start-up and public biotech companies, including Vical, Inc. and Imgenex Corporation. Dr. Barnhart has published over 25 research papers in peer-reviewed journals, has been the recipient of multiple small business grants from the National Institutes of Health, and has served as chairperson for review committees of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Dr. Barnhart received a BS degree in chemistry and a MS degree in toxicology from the University of Arizona and completed doctoral studies in molecular biology at the Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City while enrolled in the Cornell University Graduate School of Medical Sciences. Dr. Barnhart conducted post-doctoral studies at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and at the University of California, San Diego. He can be reached at kerry.barnhart@systemsoncology.com
Language: English
Dr. Weiner is an accomplished medicinal chemist with over 20 years of experience in both industry and academia. He most recently worked at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix on anticancer synthetic peptides. Prior to this, he principally worked on anticancer, antibacterial and Alzheimer’s disease programs at Northeastern University, the University of Kansas, Myriad Pharmaceuticals and OSI Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Weiner received his BA degree in Chemistry from Bowdoin College and his PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh. He conducted postdoctoral work at the University of Pittsburgh and at New Mexico State University.
Language: English
Dr. Rasale is a senior scientist with more than 6 years of experience in nucleic acid oligonucleotides chemistry. He has previously worked with industry and academia, published 21 research articles and has expertise in oligonucleotide and peptide chemistry, and chemical biology. At Systems Oncology, he is involved in advancing the research and development of technologies and agents related to Systems Oncology’s new class of multimodal RNA therapeutics. He is also involved in the design, synthesis, analysis, and purification of oligonucleotides for RNA therapeutics.
Dr. Rasale received his PhD in peptide Chemistry from Indian Institute of Technology, India. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship at University of Basel, Switzerland and at the University of California, Irvine.
Language: English
As the Associate Director, Immunobiology, Dr. O’ketch applies his expertise in molecular biology, cellular biology, and immunology to novel cancer targets identification and targeted therapeutics development.
Dr. O’ketch received his PhD in Immunobiology from the University of Arizona under the mentorship of Dr. Dominik Schenten. His graduate research investigated innate immune mechanisms of regulating adaptive immune responses.
Language: English
Katy is the Director, Business Development Operations at Systems Oncology. Her key responsibilities include staff, facilities, and document management and oversight. She also supports business development, coordinates corporate meetings and conference calls, and arranges travel and conference attendance. In addition, Katy supports all discovery research efforts including target identification and validation, as well as facilitating contact with external investigators.
Katy received her BS in Molecular Genetics from The Ohio State University.
Language: English
Melissa Griffin is the Payroll & Accounting Manager at Systems Oncology. Melissa brings to Systems Oncology over 20 years’ experience in accounting and administrative roles. She is responsible for a diverse set of duties including accounts payable, GAAP compliance, financial reporting, internal payroll processing and compliance. Before joining Systems Oncology, Melissa worked for Tetra Tech Rooney in various roles, including spearheading their company wide SRP conversion in 2015 and Payroll time management conversion in 2016.
Melissa received her BS in Accounting from Colorado State University.
Language: English
David has nearly 40 years of experience in research science. Immediately prior to joining Systems Oncology, he was the Lab Manager/Sr. Researcher in the Institute of Molecular Medicine at Phoenix Children’s Hospital and the Department of Child Health at the University of Arizona for the past 7 years. Prior to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, David worked at the Whittier Institute for Diabetes and Endocrinology at Scripps Memorial Hospital. He also investigated pediatric cancers at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and at Johns Hopkins University.
David attended the University of California-San Diego and has an extensive working knowledge of gene expression, DNA cloning, molecular and cellular biology, and assay development.
Language: English
Nathalie is a Research Associate in the Bioengineering Laboratory at Systems Oncology. She has experience in laboratory research and analytical analysis of biomolecules. She currently supports the ongoing research and development of new cancer therapeutics.
Nathalie graduated from the University of Arizona and received her Bachelor of Science in Molecular and Cellular Biology.
Language: English
As a Research Associate II at Systems Oncology, Lizette supports the Bioengineering Team with her specialization in RT-qPCR, protein expression analysis, and cell-based experimentation of new cancer therapeutics.
Lizette received her Bachelor of Science in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Seattle University.
Language: English
Dr. Petit is an experienced C-suite executive, drug developer, innovator, team and company builder. An Immuno-Oncologist who excels in translational medicine, experienced in leading public and private oncology and immunology therapeutics companies.
He has been integral to 6 NDA/BLA filings for immunology and oncology products, developed and executed development plans for dozens of therapeutics. He is a co-founder of public and private biotech companies, CEO of RGP Biotech Consulting and an advisor to biotech investment funds. He has over 100 patents and invented a technology that was out-licensed to big biotech. Dr. Petit chairs 2 Scientific Advisory Boards and has worked with most technologies in the immunology-oncology space, including cancer vaccines, monoclonals, small molecules, engineered cells, checkpoint inhibitors, hybrid immunomodulator/targeted biologics, live engineered vectors, RNA/DNA and combination I/O-medical devices. Robert had successful development tenures at Adria-Pharmacia, Pharmacia Upjohn and Bristol-Myers Squibb where he was the US Medical Lead for Yervoy, the first checkpoint inhibitor. He has been CSO and EVP for Advaxis Inc, CMO/CSO for Aesgen Inc., CMO/CSO for OS Therapies, acting CSO for Carisma, and CEO of RGP Biotech.
Robert has a Ph.D. in Immunology and in Viral Oncology with medical training from The Ohio State University and co-founded an immunotherapy program at St. Luke’s Medical Center with an appointment at the University of Wisconsin College of Medicine in pathology and laboratory medicine.
Language: English
Dr. Tarasow is an accomplished R&D executive and entrepreneur with more than 24 years of experience in both drug and diagnostic development. He has built and led successful multidisciplinary teams to develop innovative drug discovery technologies, optimize lead compounds, and scale up and transfer synthetic processes for cGMP production and first in human clinical trials. In addition, he has developed novel diagnostic platforms and products, and implemented those products in clinical laboratories.
Dr. Tarasow was a founder of Vanquish Oncology, Invenux Pharmaceuticals, and Transverse Medical. He has also served in executive or leadership roles at HealthTell, Tethys Biosciences, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and NeXstar Pharmaceuticals, as well as on the Scientific Advisory Boards for Systems Oncology and AccelaPure Corporation.
Dr. Tarasow received his PhD in Organic Chemistry from The Scripps Research Institute and his BS in Chemistry from the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Summa Cum Laude). He has published more than 25 scientific articles and has received 8 issued US patents.
Language: English
Dr. Bruckheimer is a Drug Development Advisor at Systems Oncology, as well as Vice President of Drug Development at Cancer Prevention Pharmaceuticals (CPP). Her professional career spans 20 years in oncology research, biotech/ pharmaceutical industry, and contract research organizations. In those endeavors, she led cross-functional preclinical and translational drug development programs, laboratory and organizational operations, project management, and business development activities. Dr. Bruckheimer is currently the VP of Drug Development at Cancer Prevention Pharmaceuticals. Previously, she served as Vice President of Scientific Operations at Champions Oncology leading development of its TumorGraft™ platform and oversaw all scientific operations and project management for Champions’ Translational Oncology Solutions division. Prior to that, Dr. Bruckheimer served as Associate Director and Manager at Systems Medicine, LLC., Senior Scientist at MedImmune, Inc., and Scientist II at Targeted Genetics Corporation where she led the pre-clinical and translational research programs and supported business development opportunities for these organizations. Her expertise and research interests include translational research, oncology drug development, and personalized medicine.
Dr. Bruckheimer received her PhD from the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.
Language: English
Dr. Yoo has over 25 years of experience in advancing cutting-edge biomedical information technology. He is the founder and CEO of Systems Imagination, Inc., which offers advanced cognitive computing technology to translate big data into valuable insights. At IBM, he was instrumental as Head of Strategy and Planning for IBM’s Information Based Medicine business, a new unit that pioneered the infusion of high performance computing and research into the nascent fields of personalized medicine and molecular therapeutics based on genomics. Throughout his career, he has also held leadership positions at Cisco, Oracle, and Applied Biosystems.
As a serial entrepreneur, Dr. Yoo has created value in new companies that accelerate the adoption of smarter, technology-based systems such as cognitive computing, big data analytics, and knowledge engineering. He has founded and successfully engineered the exit of startups including MedTrust Online, the world’s first and largest online community of cancer doctors treating difficult cases with molecular medicine knowledge. He has also founded Golden Gateway Partners, a trans-Pacific technology consulting company, TransMed Partners, the first boutique consultancy for translational medicine, and LabBook, the first electronic laboratory notebook for HCLS researchers.
In addition to his leadership roles at Systems Oncology and Systems Imagination, Dr. Yoo is also a Faculty Associate in the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University. Dr. Yoo received his PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from Yale University, and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley.
Language: English
Ron has had a distinguished career for the past five decades in the healthcare industry. From 1993 to 2002, he led St. Jude Medical, Inc. in roles of President, CEO, and Chairman. Prior to that, he spent 23 years at Eli Lilly and Company, serving in various roles including President of its pharmaceutical division in North America, Lilly International, and its medical device division. In addition, he served on the board of numerous public and private companies, including Home Depot, Life Technology, Kinetic Concepts, Phoenix Children’s Hospitals, as well as many others.
Ron is currently Chairman of the Board for Systems Oncology and Orthofix International N.V. He is also a Limited Partner at Lakeshore Capital Partners, LLC.
Ron holds a BS degree from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, and was awarded an honorary Doctor degree in Pharmacy. He also earned a Life Time Achievement award for his significant contributions to the healthcare industry.
Language: English
Dr. Mousses is widely recognized as a leading scientist in the application of genomics, RNAi, systems biology, and machine learning to improve and accelerate cancer drug discovery and development. He has published more than 60 patents, scientific articles, and book chapters. He served as Director of the Pharmaceutical Genomics Division at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), where he led 8 laboratories to develop more than 30 programs and collaborated with pharmaceutical partners to accelerate cancer drug development. Prior to that, he served as Staff Scientist at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), NIH, leading a program in cancer genome scanning and high throughput technology.
As a successful entrepreneur, Dr. Mousses has previously founded several biotech and IT companies, including Systems Medicine (acquired by Cell Therapeutics), MedTrust Online (acquired by Annai Systems), and Systems Imagination, which offers advanced cognitive computing technology to translate big data into biomedical insights.
Dr. Mousses received his PhD in Molecular Pathogenesis and Genetics of Cancer from the University of Toronto. He can be reached by contacting his EA, Courtney Villani, at cvillani@systemsoncology.com.
Language: English
Dr. Von Hoff has been instrumental in the development and approval of many life-saving cancer therapies including gemcitabine, fludarabine, paclitaxel, docetaxel, topotecan, irinotecan, mitoxantrone,vismodegib, nab-paclitaxel and others. He is currently Physician-in-Chief and Distinguished Professor at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, and the Virginia G. Piper Distinguished Chair for Innovative Cancer Research at Honor Health Research Institute.
Dr. Von Hoff is a former member of the FDA’s Oncology Drug Advisory Committee (ODAC) and served on President Bush’s National Cancer Advisory Board. He was previously the Director of the Arizona Cancer Center and former president of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR). He is a past member of the Board of Scientific Advisors of the National Cancer Institute, as well as a former board member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Dr. Von Hoff co-founded ILEX Oncology, Inc. in 1993, which was later acquired by Genzyme Corp. in 2004 for $1 billion.
Dr. Von Hoff has published more than 730 papers, 141 book chapters and over 1165 abstracts. Dr. Von Hoff received the 2010 David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award from ASCO for his outstanding contributions to cancer research leading to significant improvement in patient care. He has also edited the Cancer Chemotherapy Handbook and has had seats on the editorial board of 12 scientific journals, including the founding Editor-in-Chief of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. Dr. Von Hoff is also currently the Team Leader for the Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C Sponsored) Dream Team focused on developing new agents targeting pancreatic cancer.
Language: English
Gavin has more than 20 years of global licensing and legal experience across sectors with an emphasis on cross-border business and intellectual property strategy issues. His experience includes corporate transactions, such as acquisitions, financings, licensing and divestitures, managing intellectual property holdings and devising intellectual property strategies. Gavin is a US patent attorney and a Canadian trademark agent. He has significant experience in life sciences law and licensing, including pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and nutritional supplement matters. Gavin has a JD, an MBA and an MS.
Gavin was General Counsel at Iovate, a mid-sized private Canadian company; Patent Counsel at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge MA; Senior Patent Attorney at Genetics Institute in Cambridge MA; and a patent attorney at a major New York IP firm. Gavin also held a clerkship at the Tax Court of Canada.
Language: English
Dr. Yoo has over 25 years of experience in advancing cutting-edge biomedical information technology. He is the founder and CEO of Systems Imagination, Inc., which offers advanced cognitive computing technology to translate big data into valuable insights. At IBM, he was instrumental as Head of Strategy and Planning for IBM’s Information Based Medicine business, a new unit that pioneered the infusion of high performance computing and research into the nascent fields of personalized medicine and molecular therapeutics based on genomics. Throughout his career, he has also held leadership positions at Cisco, Oracle, and Applied Biosystems.
As a serial entrepreneur, Dr. Yoo has created value in new companies that accelerate the adoption of smarter, technology-based systems such as cognitive computing, big data analytics, and knowledge engineering. He has founded and successfully engineered the exit of startups including MedTrust Online, the world’s first and largest online community of cancer doctors treating difficult cases with molecular medicine knowledge. He has also founded Golden Gateway Partners, a trans-Pacific technology consulting company, TransMed Partners, the first boutique consultancy for translational medicine, and LabBook, the first electronic laboratory notebook for HCLS researchers.
In addition to his leadership roles at Systems Oncology and Systems Imagination, Dr. Yoo is also a Faculty Associate in the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University. Dr. Yoo received his PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from Yale University, and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley.
Language: English
Neil Torres is an investment professional at The Pritzker Organization (TPO), the family merchant bank for the Tom Pritzker family. Neil received his AB in economics with general and departmental honors from The University of Chicago.
Language: English
Alex is Chairman and CEO of Tissue Differentiation intelligence (TDi). He is a serial entrepreneur and immediate past Chairman and CEO of NuVasive, Inc. (de facto founder). He has over 35 years of medical technology industry experience, serving as a senior executive at Medtronic Sofamor Danek, BackCare Group, Smith and Nephew Orthopedics, and a Meadox/Stryker joint venture. He is a long standing orthopedic industry expert, and has received multiple achievement awards in entrepreneurship and leadership, as well as many public appearances at conferences, panels, TV, media, and in Washington, DC.
Alex served on a variety of public, private and not for profit boards including California Health Institute, BIOCOM, Medical Device & Manufacturers Association, Volcano, etc. Currently, he is serving on the public company board of Orthofix, several private and not for profit boards including Chairman and CEO (co-founder) of TDi, Systems Oncology, OnPoint, Holy Trinity Seminary, Chairman of St Photios Orthodox Theological Seminary, and Chairman and CEO of Patriarch Tikhon Russian-American Music Institute.
Alex directs his focus largely on developing new businesses, investments, and proliferation of the arts. He studied at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
Language: English
Professor Hergenrother’s research focuses on the design and evaluation of novel small molecules for the treatment of intractable diseases. He is the co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Vanquish Oncology, and an anticancer compound discovered by his lab is being evaluated in clinical trials in cancer patients.
Professor Hergenrother joined the faculty at the University of Illinois in 2001. At the University, he is the Leader of the Theme “Anticancer Discovery from Pets to People” at the Institute for Genomic Biology, and is the Director of the NIH Chemistry-Biology Interface Training Grant. He was the recipient of the 2016 Innovation Transfer Award from the University, was named as an American Cancer Society Research Scholar, and was named by Technology Review magazine as one of the top innovators under the age of 35. More recently, he was named as the recipient of the 2016 UCB-Ehrlich Award for Excellence in Medicinal Chemistry, a 2017 ACS Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, and the 2018 ACS Sosnovsky Award for Cancer Research.
Professor Hergenrother received his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin, and completed an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard University.
Language: English
Dr. Munk has extensive experience in drug discovery, development, and manufacturing. Before joining the Biodesign Institute at ASU in 2017, he was the CEO and President of Ash Stevens Inc., a full service Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) development and manufacturing organization. Under his leadership, Ash Stevens received 12 FDA approvals to manufacture innovator drug substances including 6 oncology drugs. Ash Stevens won 6 NIH research contracts during his tenure. Prior to that, he worked at Allergan, initially as a medicinal chemist and subsequently, the co-team leader of the adrenergic drug discovery team.
Dr. Munk’s work has been summarized in a number of publications and patents. He is a co-author of the 2016 book – Managing the Drug Discovery Process: How to Make It More Efficient and Cost-Effective. He served as an Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Wayne State University, as well as on the Steering Committee of the Chemistry in Cancer Research Working Group of the American Association for Cancer Research (CICR-AACR), and the Board of Directors of MichBio (Michigan BIO) affiliate.
Dr. Munk holds a PhD in Organic Synthesis from The University of California at Berkeley and a BS in Chemistry from ASU. He also completed an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship at Purdue.
Language: English
Dr. Gately is the President and CEO of Translational Drug Development (TD2). Prior to joining TD2, and adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Prior to joining TD2, Dr. Gately served as a consultant to Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Medical and Scientific Affairs group where he was responsible for the integration of research and regulatory data on portfolio compounds for commercial planning. He was also involved in the scientific due diligence for oncology business development opportunities.
Prior to that, he served as Executive Director of Translational Medicine at NeoPharm, and was in charge of the design and implementation of research to enhance the understanding of existing products and development candidates for optimal positioning.
Prior to joining NeoPharm, Dr. Gately was a Research Assistant Professor at Northwestern University where he focused on developing pharmacologic and endogenous inhibitors of angiogenesis. During this time, he served as a consultant to the Oncology Clinical Research team at Searle/Monsanto (now Pfizer), and was responsible for scientific input on clinical trial designs to rapidly assess the utility of antiangiogenic compounds.
Dr. Gately obtained his PhD from McGill University in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital.
Language: English
Dr. Borad is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. He also serves as the Director of the Cancer Cell, Gene and Virus Therapy Lab, Director of the Liver and Biliary Cancer Research Program and Deputy Director, Biomarker Discovery Program at the Center for Individualized Medicine at Mayo Clinic. Dr. Borad concurrently serves on the National Cancer Institute’s Hepatobiliary Task Force, an appointment he has held since 2011. Prior to joining Mayo Clinic, he spent three years as a Drug Development Scholar/Genomics Medicine Scholar at the Translational Genomic Research Institute, where he worked closely with world-renowned experts, including Dr. Daniel D. Von Hoff.
Dr. Borad earned his BS in Biomedical Engineering (summa cum laude) from Boston University and his MD from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Subsequently, he obtained his internal medical training at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and completed his Medical Oncology Fellowship at Tulane University School of Medicine.
Dr. Borad holds a Certification in Medical Oncology from the American Board of Internal Medicine and is a member of more than 20 professional organizations and committees, including presently being seated as Vice Chairman of the International Cholangiocarcinoma Research Network. Dr. Borad has a long and distinguished list of accolades and accomplishments, such as earning a 2014 New Innovator Award from the National Institute of Health and being named 2011 Paul Calabresi Scholar in Clinical-Translational Research by Mayo Clinic.
Language: English
Dr. Brun is the President of Gold Mast Consulting, LLC, and is currently serving in several board and advisory positions within the academic, VC, and biopharmaceutical industry communities. In 1997, Dr. Brun joined Abbott Laboratories, where he held positions of increasing leadership responsibility in drug development within the R&D organization. When AbbVie launched as an independent biopharmaceutical company in 2013, he was named Corporate Vice President and Head of Pharmaceutical Development. Dr. Brun oversaw a global organization with responsibilities for AbbVie’s entire portfolio of early and late stage clinical preregistration pipeline compounds as well as marketed compounds within oncology, neurology, immunology, renal, infectious disease, and women’s and men’s health therapeutic areas. A variety of phase 2 and 3 programs initiated and executed during his tenure resulted in multiple therapies being introduced to the clinic, including Mavyret (leading global curative therapy for HCV infection), Venclexta (first in class BCL-2 inhibitor for hematologic malignancies), Orilissa (first in class GnRH antagonist for endometriosis), and Rinvoq (selective JAK-1 inhibitor for rheumatoid arthritis).
More recently, Dr. Brun served as Vice President of Scientific Affairs and Head of AbbVie Ventures, a corporate venture fund responsible for investment opportunities within the company’s current R&D therapeutic areas as well as technology platforms of interest. Under his leadership, the group expanded its investment portfolio to include over 20 active companies, leading to Abbvie Ventures being identified as one of the top most active corporate and institutional new venture investors.
Dr. Brun received his BS degree in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and an MD degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in ophthalmology at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary/Harvard Medical School.
Language: English
Dr. O’Shaughnessy specializes in medical oncology with board certification in both internal medicine and medical oncology. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine with subspecialty certification in medical oncology. She is also Director of Breast Cancer Research at Baylor-Sammons Cancer Center and Chair of Breast Cancer Research for The US Oncology Network. Dr. O’Shaughnessy focuses her clinical research on breast cancer treatment, especially in Genotype-Phenotype correlations for high risk breast cancers and immunotherapy for triple negative breast cancer.
Dr. O’Shaughnessy has received numerous awards and honors, including Giants of Cancer Care: Community Outreach/Education Award; Baylor University Medical Center: Staff Chief’s award; Holy Cross College: Santae Crucis Award (Distinguished Alumni Award): Public Health Service Special Service: Development of the Consensus Statement on Cancer Drug Approval Endpoints Award; Yale Medical School: Francis Parker Award (Faculty Choice for Most Promising Clinician). She is also Associate Editor for Clinical Breast Cancer Journal, and Founder of The School of Breast Oncology.
Dr. O’Shaughnessy received her M.D. from Yale University Medical School. Her internship and residency in internal medicine were completed at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1985. She concluded a fellowship in medical oncology at the National Cancer Institute in 1987 and was a Senior Investigator there until 1995.
Language: English
Dr. Laszlo Radvanyi is currently the President & Scientific Director of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR; https://oicr.on.ca/), bringing over 30 years of strong oncology research background in academia as well as leadership experience in international pharma and biotech. Dr. Radvanyi joined OICR from EMD Serono (Merck KGaA), where he was Senior Vice President Global Head of the Immuno-Oncology (IO) Translational Innovation Platform (TIP) and Senior Scientific Advisor for Immunology and IO. While at EMD Serono, he rebuilt and re-organized the IO research platform and rejuvenated its target pipeline. Prior to joining EMD Serono, he was a Professor in the Department of Melanoma Medical Oncology at the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for 10 years. While at MD Anderson, he ran an integrated clinical and basic research program in adoptive T-cell therapy for solid tumours and is an expert in the field of tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy.
Dr. Radvanyi was also the founding CSO for Iovance Therapeutics, commercializing TIL therapies for melanoma and other cancers and led research and development activities leading to two active Phase 2 INDs leading to regulatory approval. He also has 7 patents in the cancer immunotherapy and cell therapy field. He has been the recipient of numerous scientific awards and is a member of a number of scientific advisory boards, such as Keystone Conferences, and editorial boards, such as the Journal of Immunotherapy for Cancer (JITC). He also sits on a number of biotech advisory boards, such as Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners (formerly MaRS Innovation) and other biotech companies and organizations.
Dr. Radvanyi was educated at the University of Toronto, earning a PhD in Clinical Biochemistry in 1996.
Language: English
Dr. David J. Bearss is an experienced entrepreneur and drug developer who currently serves as the Senior Managing Director, UTAH Therapeutics Accelerator at the University of Utah.
Dr. Bearss has a consistent and successful track record of drug discovery and development that spans the last 20 years in both academic and industrial settings. He is an expert in small molecule drug development and in the use of genetic model systems in drug discovery. He has deep experience in translational research focused on drug development and the use of genetic markers to predict drug sensitivity. Dr. Bearss has discovered 15 compounds that have INDs filed and moved forward in clinical development and has been a founder of 5 biotech companies. Dr. Bearss served as Chief Scientific Officer at Montigen Pharmaceuticals and SuperGen Inc. overseeing early drug discovery and development. He was the founding Co-Director of the Center for Investigational Therapeutics at the Huntsman Cancer Institute as well as an Associate Professor in the Department of Oncological Sciences at the University of Utah and Associate Professor of Physiology & Developmental Biology at Brigham Young University. Dr. Bearss was the founder and CEO of Tolero Pharmaceuticals which he led through its acquisition by Sumitomo DaiNippon Pharma in 2017. He stayed on after the acquisition as CEO of Tolero and as Global head of Research and CSO of SDP Oncology.
Dr. Bearss has published more than 80 manuscripts and book chapters, has over 50 patents issued or pending and has won several awards for his scientific achievements.
Language: English
Prof. Lukas Bubendorf is a surgical pathologist and head of cytopathology at the Institute for Pathology of the University Hospital Basel. He completed a post-doctoral research fellowship at the National Human Genome Research Institutes at the NIH, Bethesda, from 1998-2000.
He is a member of numerous national and international scientific societies, the Steering Committee of the ETOP Lungscape project, the IASLC Pathology Committee and the editorial boards of several journals including Journal of Thoracic Oncology, Lung Cancer, Pathobiology, Cancer Cytopathology, Diagnostic Cytopathology, and Acta Cytologica.
Professor Bubendorf is the author of more than 250 papers in peer-reviewed journals and several book chapters. His major interests and diagnostic expertise lie within lung pathology and uropathology, and in the general field of cytopathology. His research group currently investigates the role of genomic evolution and heterogeneity in solid tumors, including lung cancer and prostate cancer. In cytology, he aims at translating molecular techniques and assays to clinical routine application.
Language: English
Dr Sarah Shigdar is currently the Senior Lecturer in Medical Science at Deakin University and the current President of the International Society of Aptamers. She is also the executive editor of the Aptamers Journal. She has over 20 years’ experience as a biomedical scientist, completing her Bachelor of Biomedical Science in 1995, Masters in Medical Laboratory Science in 2004 at RMIT and her PhD in Haematology in 2009 at Deakin University. Her career has so far contributed over 60 papers to the science community.
Dr Shigdar leads the Laboratory of Aptamer Theranostics at Deakin University, leading a large research team that focuses on the development of synthetic antibodies called aptamers. Aptamers are made of sequences of RNA/DNA that fold into 3D structures that can find and target cells/proteins and bind to them to block their function or create easier access for other drugs to those cells. She has an interest in aptamers because their properties and nano size could be utilised to treat cancers more effectively as current drug methods struggle to cross through the blood brain barrier. While her major focus is on developing therapeutics that can cross the blood brain barrier to specifically target and treat brain cancers and brain metastases, she champions the use of aptamers and is collaborating on a number of projects worldwide to aid researchers to switch to aptamers for their applications and assays.
Language: English
Dr. Ariazi brings over a dozen years of drug discovery and development experience to Systems Oncology, having led and supported preclinical programs from target identification and validation to candidate selection and early clinical development in multiple therapeutic areas, including oncology, supportive care, and metabolic disease. At GlaxoSmithKline, Dr. Ariazi was responsible for providing in vivo pharmacology and efficacy data for various oncology and supportive care programs, as well as leading internal and external international cross-functional teams, one of which produced Duvroq, a treatment of anemia of chronic kidney disease approved in Japan.
Dr. Ariazi earned her PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Language: English
We welcome opportunities to collaborate with leading pharmaceutical companies to advance innovative multi-targeting therapies. Please email us to schedule an introductory meeting: katy@systemsoncology.com.
