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Navigating new territory in targeted oncology

Ikena is redefining the targeted oncology landscape and envisioning a world in which every cancer patient has a cure, guided by a deep understanding of the patient experience and what drives disease.

Our Focus

We develop therapies that have potential as single agents and in combination to directly target underlying mechanisms driving cancer survival and growth. Our approach enables us to evolve and follow a path guided by translational approaches. See our unique process below.

A Multifaceted Approach

1. Analyze cancer-driving targets in patients with significant therapeutic needs
We employ our insight and a wide array of technologies to identify genetic and signaling dependencies that enable cancer initiation, progression, metastasis, and therapeutic resistance. We are unconstrained to any single platform or method.
2. Identify patients that have specific cancer-driving targets
We leverage a diversity of translational approaches to identify patients that have cancer-driving mutations. We respond with flexibility and creativity to a growing body of data based on an array of biological markers, including creating novel assays as companions to our development candidates.
3. Employ tailored combination of capabilities to discover and develop therapies that target key drivers of cancer progression
Using a fit-for-purpose approach, we leverage our deep expertise in medicinal and computational chemistry and structural biology. With a platform-agnostic strategy, we let the biology determine the technologies we use to discover and develop clinical candidates.
4. Advance therapies that are guided by the patient–our North Star–from beginning to end
Our expertise, diverse processes, and dedication to evolving with science enable us to generate robust data and expand the toolbox of targeted therapies. Through this process, we are closer to achieving our mission of shifting the oncology treatment paradigm to a personalized, biology-driven approach for physicians and their patients.
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Pipeline

We are advancing a diverse array of therapies targeting cancer’s underlying drivers through clinical development.

TARGET ONCOLOGY Program Target Indication Discovery Ind Enabling Phase 1 Late-StageDevelopment IK-930 TEAD Hippo-mutated cancers ERK5 KRAS-mutated cancers Multiple RAS Pathway Targets Multiple Solid tumors TUMOR MICROENVIRONMENT AHR Bladder Cancer IK-412 Kynurenine Multiple Solid Tumors IK-007 + Pembrolizumab 2 EP4 MSS-CRC Phase 1/1b Phase 1/1b Rights & Partnerships 3 BMS 3 BMS 2 IK-175 + Nivo 4
Program Target Indication Discovery IND Enabling Phase 1 Late-Stage Development IK-930 TEAD Hippo-Mutated Cancers Multiple RAS Pathway Targets; Including ERK5 RAS-Mutated Cancers Bladder Cancer Additional Tumor Types IK-412 Kynurenine Multiple Solid Tumors IK-007 + Pembro EP4 MSS-CRC AHR IK-175 + Nivo BMS BMS
  1. Ikena has a worldwide exclusive license except China and Taiwan from AskAt.
  2. Pembrolizumab provided through a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with Merck.
  3. BMS has the right to exclusively license under a master collaboration agreement.
  4. Nivolumab provided through a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with BMS.

View the research behind our pipeline

See our Resources
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We are ever-evolving

Visit our site in the near future for a deeper look at our team, our approach and our pipeline of oncology therapies.

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Team

At Ikena, we strive to see, know, and understand what drives every patient’s cancer so we can make an impact at its root. Every member of our team has something important to contribute to this goal.

Management Team

Mark Manfredi, Ph.D.

Mark Manfredi, Ph.D.

PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Douglas R. Carlson

Douglas R. Carlson

Chief Operating Officer & EVP, Finance

Jeffrey Ecsedy, Ph.D.

Jeffrey Ecsedy, Ph.D.

Chief Development Officer

Sergio Santillana, M.D., M.Sc., MBA

Sergio Santillana, M.D., M.Sc., MBA

CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER

Maude Tessier, Ph.D.

Maude Tessier, Ph.D.

CHIEF BUSINESS OFFICER

Michelle Zhang, Ph.D.

Michelle Zhang, Ph.D.

Chief Scientific Officer

Alfredo Castro, Ph.D.

Alfredo Castro, Ph.D.

SENIOR Vice President, DISCOVERY

Alexander Constan, Ph.D.

Alexander Constan, Ph.D.

SENIOR Vice President, NON CLINICAL SAFETY AND DMPK

Ikena team placeholder

Holly K. Koblish, Ph.D.

Vice President, Cancer Biology

Ikena team placeholder

Karim S. Malek, M.D.

Vice President, Clinical Development

Karen McGovern, Ph.D.

Karen McGovern, Ph.D.

Vice President, R&D Collaborations

James Nolan, M.S., MBA

James Nolan, M.S., MBA

Vice President, THERAPEUTICS DEVELOPMENT & MANUFACTURING

Ikena team placeholder

Francisco Oliveira

Principal Accounting Officer and Vice President of Finance

Ikena team placeholder

Jennifer Schroeder, PMP

Senior Vice President, Clinical Development Operations

Board of Directors

Ron Renaud

CHAIRMAN

David Bonita, M.D.

Director

Iain D. Dukes, D. Phil.

Director

Jean-François Formela, M.D.

Director

Maria Koehler, M.D., Ph.D.

Director

Mark Manfredi, Ph.D.

President, chief executive officer and director

Otello Stampacchia, Ph.D.

Director

Richard Wooster, Ph.D.

Director

Scientific Advisory Board

George D. Demetri, M.D.

Chair

Kevan M. Shokat, Ph.D.

Josep Tabernero, M.D., Ph.D.

Do you envision a world in which every cancer patient has a cure?

If you’re passionate about advancing cutting edge therapies for cancer patients, join our team.

Careers

Contact Us

At Ikena, we’re excited about our work and passionate about our mission.

Please get in touch to learn more:
info@ikenaoncology.com

Interested in partnering with us? Please contact: BD@ikenaoncology.com

Ikena Oncology
645 Summer Street
Suite 101
Boston, MA 02210

Ikena Oncology
645 Summer Street
Suite 101
Boston, MA 02210

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Mark Manfredi, Ph.D.

PRESIDENT AND CHEIF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Mark Manfredi is a founding member of Ikena Oncology and has over two decades of experience in cancer drug discovery and translational research. He previously served as Chief Scientific Officer of Raze Therapeutics and as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Atlas Venture, and prior to that served as Vice President of Oncology at Takeda Pharmaceuticals where he was a member of the senior R&D management team responsible for global oncology R&D strategy. During his time at Takeda, the Oncology organization advanced eight novel mechanisms into the clinic, including ixazomib, which was recently approved by the FDA for the treatment of multiple myeloma. Mark is currently an advisor at Atlas Venture. He earned his B.S. from the University of Rhode Island and his Ph.D. in Biology from Boston College.

Douglas R. Carlson

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER & EVP, FINANCE
Doug Carlson brings 20 years of experience with a multi-disciplinary background in corporate finance, venture capital, M&A, business development and commercial operations with both large and emerging growth healthcare companies. Most recently, Doug served as Vice President of Commercial Operations, Corporate Strategy & Business Development for Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. (NASDAQ: COLL). Doug was a member of the founding management team that transformed Collegium from a privately-held, clinical development stage company into a publicly-traded, commercial business. Prior to joining Collegium, Doug was Senior Director of Business Development at BTG International, Inc. where he was responsible for global specialty pharmaceutical M&A and licensing. Prior to BTG, Doug was Senior Director and Head of U.S. Business Development for Lundbeck A/S. Prior to Lundbeck, Doug was Director of Corporate Development and M&A at Ovation Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he played an integral role in the sale of Ovation to Lundbeck in 2009. Prior to Ovation, Doug was an Associate in the healthcare group at Pequot Ventures, the venture capital arm of Pequot Capital Management, Inc. Doug started his career in the healthcare investing banking group of Cowen & Co. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.

Jeffrey Ecsedy, Ph.D.

Chief Development Officer
Jeff Ecsedy has over 20 years of experience in cancer research. Most recently, Jeff served as the Head of Oncology Translational Medicine at Takeda Pharmaceuticals where he and his team led translational science for a diverse portfolio of molecules spanning all stages of development, including pre-IND activities, first-in-human studies, regulatory approvals and life-cycle management. As a member of Oncology R&D leadership at Takeda, Jeff helped to shape a renewed strategic vision for Takeda Oncology. Prior to that, Jeff led numerous projects from the discovery phase into clinical development at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Jeff received a B.S. from the University of Connecticut, earned his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at Boston College and trained as a post-doctoral fellow in Genetics at Harvard Medical School.

Sergio Santillana, M.D., M.Sc., MBA

CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER

Sergio Santillana is a medical oncologist with more than 25 years of oncology drug development and clinical practice experience. Prior to providing strategic consultancy services to a variety of life science companies, including Ikena Oncology, he was Chief Medical Officer for Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, focused on developing biologics and nanotherapeutics for solid tumors. Before joining Merrimack, he was Chief Medical Officer for ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, a commercial-stage biotechnology company that was acquired by Takeda. Under Sergio’s leadership, ARIAD obtained US regulatory approval of Brigatinib for the treatment of ALK+ NSCLC, and had continued growth of its portfolio of targeted agents in solid tumors. Preceding his executive role at ARIAD, he served in various oncology clinical development leadership roles at Takeda, GlaxoSmithKline and Eli Lilly. Before entering the biopharma industry, he was a practicing board-certified medical oncologist for 15 years, including tenure at the National Cancer Institute of Peru (INEN) where his research focus was in clinical studies of novel agents. He holds an M.D. and B.S. from the Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal School of Medicine in Lima, Peru and a M.Sc. in Experimental Therapeutics from Kellogg College at the University of Oxford. He also holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Maude Tessier, Ph.D.

CHIEF BUSINESS OFFICER
Maude Tessier brings over 15 years of business development, licensing and alliance management experience in pharma, biotech and academia. Most recently, she served as Executive Director, Business Development & Licensing at Merck & Co, leading oncology partnering in the Boston Innovation Hub. Prior to joining Merck, Maude was Assistant Director, Business Development and Strategic Initiatives in the Technology and Innovation Development Office at Boston Children’s Hospital. In this role, she forged discovery alliances with industry partners and also built and managed the Marketing & Communications team. Maude began her career at Xanthus Pharmaceuticals, a small venture-backed oncology biotech company in Cambridge, Mass., where she had key roles in Business Development and Program Management of a Phase 3 asset leading to its eventual FDA approval. Maude is a MassConnect mentor at MassBio and a Board Member for the Brown University Biomedical Innnovation Fund and for the Canadian Entrepreneurs in New England organization. She holds a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from McGill University and a Ph.D. from the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto.

Michelle Zhang, Ph.D.

Chief Scientific Officer

Michelle Zhang has nearly 20 years of oncology drug discovery and development experience in both biotech (Curis and Biomed Valley Discoveries) and big pharma (Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research). Her R&D expertise spans across small molecule, antibody, antibody-drug-conjugate, protein and radiopharmaceutical therapeutic and diagnostic modalities. She has led numerous programs from early discovery, translational research, non-clinical evaluations into clinical development, including a number of clinical candidate selections, IND submissions and Phase 1/2 clinical studies. Michelle received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Harvard University.

Alfredo Castro, Ph.D.

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, DISCOVERY
Alfredo Castro is an experienced drug hunter with more than 20 years of small molecule drug discovery and development experience, having previously served as VP of Medicinal and Process Chemistry at Infinity Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Infinity, Alfredo held various positions initially at Biogen, ProScript, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, and then Syntonix Pharmaceuticals. Over the course of his career, Alfredo has played a significant role in the discovery and/or development of over 10 different clinical candidates, with the most advanced currently in Phase 3 clinical development in oncology. Alfredo received his B.S. from Clark University and Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Dartmouth College.

Alexander Constan, Ph.D.

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, NON CLINICAL SAFETY AND DMPK
Alex Constan has over 20 years of experience in nonclinical safety assessment and drug development. Most recently, Alex was Vice President of Nonclinical Safety at Decibel Therapeutics, where he was responsible for the safety evaluation of small molecule and gene therapy programs targeting hearing loss disorders. Prior to that, Alex was head of the Toxicology and DMPK functions at Infinity Pharmaceuticals, overseeing oncology programs from early discovery through late stage development. In addition, Alex has driven nonclinical development strategy and risk management as a toxicologist at Pfizer and Rhône-Poulenc Rorer Pharmaceuticals. Alex received a B.S. from Michigan State University, earned his Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology at Colorado State University and trained as a post-doctoral fellow at the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology (CIIT) in Research Triangle Park, NC. He also serves as a member on the Board of Health for the town of Boxford, MA.

Holly K. Koblish, Ph.D.

Vice President, Cancer Biology

Holly Koblish has over 20 years of experience in oncology and immuno-oncology with an extensive background in drug discovery. As a seasoned discovery scientist, Holly has been a key contributor to advancing nearly a dozen molecules into the clinic, including two FDA-approved medicines. Previously, she served as Senior Director of Pharmacology at Incyte, where, in addition to leading a team of scientists, she managed programs, asset development through both internal and external collaborations, and regulatory activities. Holly holds a B.S. in biology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology from the University of Pennsylvania. She completed her postdoctoral training in molecular biology at Princeton University.

Karim S. Malek, M.D.

Vice President, Clinical Development

Karim Malek is a quadruple board-certified medical oncologist and hematologist with over 30 years of experience both in the clinic and in research and development. Previously, he served as a Senior Medical Director at the Oncology Therapeutic Area Unit at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, where he was the Global Clinical Lead on multiple immune-oncology platforms. He also served a Senior Medical Director at ImmunoGen where he led the execution of clinical trials across early and late phases of development. Before joining industry, Dr. Malek was the Chief of Hematology-Oncology at the Good Samaritan Medical Center for nearly 10 years where he pioneering the participation of the community hospital in robust clinical research. Karim has authored over 30 scientific publications and book chapters and has held various academic and teaching positions. Dr. Malek trained at University of Alexandria, Faculté de Médecine Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, Faculté de Médecine Paris-Bobigny and Boston University School of Medicine.

Karen McGovern, Ph.D.

Vice President, R&D Collaborations
Karen McGovern has more than 20 years of small molecule drug discovery experience, leading multiple programs from the non-clinical stage to IND and clinical development. Prior to joining Ikena, Karen served as Senior Director of Biology and Pharmacology at Infinity Pharmaceuticals, where she led early discovery oncology projects including the PI3K Gamma and Hedgehog programs. Karen directed the biology and pharmacology group where the immuno-oncology approaches were established, in collaboration with academic leaders in the field, that led to key mechanistic understanding and strategies for clinical development for the PI3K gamma program. Prior to that, Karen was at Millennium Pharmaceutics in both the systems biology and anti-infective groups, including leading projects in the Pfizer-Millennium partnership. Karen received her B.S. from Boston College and earned her Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School.

James Nolan, M.S., MBA

VICE PRESIDENT, THERAPEUTICS DEVELOPMENT & MANUFACTURING

Jim Nolan has over 18 years of industry experience in biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical development, and leads the process development, manufacturing analytical sciences and quality functions for Ikena’s portfolio of biologics and small molecule programs. Jim was previously at Pfizer where he was Director, Nanomedicine Development and Manufacturing, and BIND Therapeutics where he was Director of Process and Analytical Development, where he led the technical development of clinical stage nanoparticle therapeutics. Prior to BIND, he was with EMD/Merck Serono for over ten years in various leadership positions within bioprocess development, while serving on global development teams for early phase clinical programs. Jim has led the technical development of a variety of clinical stage therapeutics modalities, including recombinant biologics, PEG conjugates and polymeric nanoparticle drug products. Jim received his B.S. in biology from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, an M.S. in Biological Sciences from University of Massachusetts-Lowell and holds an M.B.A. from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Francisco Oliveira

Principal Accounting Officer and Vice President of Finance

Francisco Oliveira joined Ikena in 2019 and has held positions of increasing responsibility, currently as the Principal Accounting Officer and Vice President of Finance. Francisco has over a decade of biotech industry experience. He has played a key role in multiple financings and transactions, including Ikena’s initial public offering, Series B, and acquisition of Amplify Medicines. Prior to Ikena, Francisco held roles across the finance departments of Akcea Therapeutics and Dimension Therapeutics. He began his career in finance in the audit practice of the accounting firm PwC, LLP, where he specialized in emerging life science, medical devices, and higher education.

Francisco is a certified public accountant in the state of Massachusetts and received his M.S. in Accounting from Bridgewater University and his B.S. in Business Administration from Bryant University.

Jennifer Schroeder, PMP

Senior Vice President, Clinical Development Operations

Jennifer Schroeder is a seasoned executive with nearly 25 years of experience in research and developing across biotech and big pharma. Most recently, Jennifer served as SVP of Program Management and Technology at Odonate Therapeutics where she drove long-term strategy for clinical programs and oversaw project management at all stages of development, as well as owned and implemented their full clinical systems suite and technological infrastructure. She served nearly two decades with Pfizer providing in-depth and strategic project management across a suite of oncology products through international clinical trials to registration, business process development and improvement, and building and training teams to support and expedite development. Jennifer is a certified project manager and holds a BA and MA in English.

Ron Renaud

CHAIRMAN

Ron Renaud has served as Chairman of Ikena’s board of directors since March 2018. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Translate Bio, serving in that role since 2014. Formerly, Ron was at Idenix Pharmaceuticals (2007-2014), where he served as Chief Financial Officer, Chief Business Officer and finally, President and Chief Executive Officer. Under his leadership, Idenix refocused its drug-discovery and development efforts and streamlined operations to better enable cross-functional collaboration and employee engagement, which culminated in its acquisition by Merck for $3.85 billion in August 2014. Prior to joining Idenix, Ron served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Keryx Biopharmaceuticals. Before joining Keryx, Ron was a biotechnology equity research analyst at J.P. Morgan, Schwab Soundview, and Bear Stearns. He also spent more than five years at Amgen, where he held positions in clinical research, investor relations and finance. Ron holds a B.A. from St. Anselm College and an M.B.A. from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. In addition to serving on the Ikena board of directors, Ron is a board member of Chimerix and Axial Biotherapeutics. Ron also serves on the Board of Overseers at Newton-Wellesley Hospital and the Board of Trustees at Saint Anselm College.

David Bonita, M.D.

DIRECTOR
David Bonita is a General Partner at OrbiMed Advisors. David currently serves on the boards of directors of Acutus Medical Inc. (Nasdaq: AFIB), IMARA Inc. (Nasdaq: IMRA), Prelude Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: PRLD), Repare Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: RPTX), and Tricida, Inc. (Nasdaq: TCDA), as well as several private companies. David also previously served on the boards of directors of Clementia Pharmaceuticals Inc., Loxo Oncology, Inc., SI-BONE, Inc., and ViewRay Inc. Prior to OrbiMed, David worked as a corporate finance analyst in the healthcare investment banking groups of Morgan Stanley and UBS. He has published scientificarticles in peer-reviewed journals based on signal transduction research performed at Harvard Medical School. He received his B.A. in biology from Harvard University and his joint M.D./M.B.A. from Columbia University.

Iain D. Dukes, D. Phil.

DIRECTOR
Iain D. Dukes is a Venture Partner with OrbiMed Advisors. He also serves as Chairman of Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASQ: IOVA) and is CEO of Viriom Inc. and Theseus Pharmaceuticals. In addition, Iain is a co-founder and President of Kartos Therapeutics and serves on the Boards of ReViral Limited, NeRRe Therapeutics, KaNDy Therapeutics (where he was formerly Chairman) and ENYO Pharma. Most recently Iain was a Senior Vice President, Business Development & Licensing at Merck & Co. where he oversaw all licensing and M&A deals for Merck Research Laboratories. Iain has more than 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical research, drug discovery, scientific and technology licensing, start-up company leadership, as well as consulting for numerous biotech and venture capital organizations. Before joining Merck, Iain served as vice president of External Research and Development at Amgen. He has also held positions as President and Chief Executive Officer of Essentialis Therapeutics and as Vice President, Scientific and Technology Licensing at GlaxoSmithKline. Iain received his D.Phil. degree from the University of Oxford where he also received a B.A. in Jurisprudence.

Jean-François Formela, M.D.

DIRECTOR
Jean-François Formela is a partner and focuses on novel drug discovery approaches and therapeutics. He joined Atlas Venture in 1993 to build the U.S. life sciences franchise. He is a director and co-founder of IFM Therapeutics, Intellia Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NTLA), Korro Bio, and Triplet Therapeutics. Jean-François also serves on the boards of Ikena Oncology (NASDAQ: IKNA), Scorpion Therapeutics and Spero Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SPRO). Some of his prior investments include Arteaus Therapeutics (acquired by Eli Lilly), CoStim Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Novartis), Exelixis (NASDAQ: EXEL) and Translate Bio (NASDAQ: TBIO, acquired by Sanofi). Jean-François received his M.D. from Paris University School of Medicine and his M.B.A. from Columbia University.

Maria Koehler, M.D., Ph.D.

DIRECTOR
Maria Koehler is the Chief Medical Officer at Repare Therapeutics (NASDAQ: RPTX). Prior to joining Repare, Maria was the Chief Medical Officer at Bicycle Therapeutics (NASDAQ: BCYC). Maria joined Bicycle from Pfizer, where she was Vice President of Strategy, Innovation and Collaborations for the Oncology Business Unit. Prior to Pfizer, she served in leadership roles at GlaxoSmithKline and at AstraZeneca. She is board certified in hematology and oncology. She began her career as a practicing physician and served as the clinical director of Bone Marrow Transplantation at University Hospital in Pittsburgh as well as the director of the Bone Marrow Transplant Program and associate professor at St. Christopher’s Hospital in Philadelphia. Maria has co-authored over 150 publications, book chapters, and patents. She received her M.D. and Ph.D. from the Silesian Medical School in Poland.

Otello Stampacchia, Ph.D.

DIRECTOR

Otello founded Omega Funds in 2004 and leads the firm’s investor relations and strategic initiatives. He is a member of the firm’s investment committee and is also heavily involved in a number of Omega’s therapeutic areas of interest, particularly in oncology, rare diseases and inflammatory disorders. Previously, Otello was in charge of life sciences direct investments and diligence for healthcare venture fund of fund investments at AlpInvest Partners, one of the largest private equity asset managers worldwide. Before AlpInvest, he was the portfolio manager of the Lombard Odier Immunology Fund, a $3 billion listed investment vehicle in Geneva, Switzerland, investing in public and private healthcare companies worldwide. Previously, Otello was a member of the HealthCare corporate finance and M&A team at Goldman Sachs (London and New York offices). Before Goldman, he helped co-found the healthcare investment activities at Index Securities (now Index Ventures). Otello has a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Geneva, holds a European Doctorate in Biotechnology from the EU, and obtained an M.Sc. in Genetics from the University of Pavia.

Richard Wooster, Ph.D.

Director

Dr. Wooster is a veteran in the drug discovery industry with more than 15 years of experience leading oncology programs for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. He most recently served as the Chief Scientific Officer at Translate Bio, which was acquired by Sanofi in September 2021. Dr. Wooster joined Translate Bio from Tarveda Therapeutics where he was Chief Scientific Officer and President of R&D. In addition to advancing multiple programs from early-stage discovery into the clinic, Dr. Wooster helped the company raise multiple rounds of private funding to advance the business. Prior to Tarveda, he was Vice President and Discovery Performance Unit Head in Oncology at GlaxoSmithKline. Dr. Wooster began his career in academia at the Institute of Cancer Research where he discovered the BRCA2 gene and as a founder of the Cancer Genome Project at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute where mutations in BRAF were first discovered. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Dundee in the UK and has co-authored over 100 publications, book chapters, and patents.

George D. Demetri, M.D.

CHAIR
Dr. Demetri currently serves at the Quick Family Chair in Medical Oncology and Director of the Sarcoma Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, as well as Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Co-Director of the Ludwig Center at Harvard. He has dedicated his career to translational and clinical research aimed at developing clinical therapeutics from scientific mechanisms to treat life-threatening cancers. He is a pioneer in the development of multiple targeted cancer therapies, and research from his collaborative efforts has resulted in FDA and worldwide regulatory approvals of several cancer therapies, including imatinib (Gleevec®), sunitinib (Sutent®), regorafenib (Stivarga®), pazopanib (Votrient®), trabectedin (Yondelis®), and tazemetostat (Tazverik®). Dr. Demetri received his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Harvard College and medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine, after which he completed his internal medicine residency and chief residency at the University of Washington Hospitals in Seattle, and subsequently trained in Medical Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. He is also Chair of the Science Policy and Government Affairs Committee of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Kevan M. Shokat, Ph.D.

Dr. Shokat currently serves as Professor, Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco, and Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Shokat is an innovator in the development of chemical methods for investigating cellular signal transduction pathways, with a particular focus on protein kinases and lipid kinases. After receiving his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at UC Berkeley with Professor Peter Schultz, and post-doctoral work in immunology at Stanford University with Professor Chris Goodnow, Dr. Shokat began his independent research career at Princeton University. He has been an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute since 2005.

Josep Tabernero, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Tabernero currently serves as Head of the Medical Oncology Department at the Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital and the Director of the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology. His research group aims at potentiating molecular therapies targeting specific oncoproteins and accelerating more effective personalized cancer medicines for patients displaying genetic lesions or pathway dysregulation. Dr. Tabernero has held leadership positions in many other organizations devoted to advancing cancer research, including Past President of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) from 2018-2019. He holds M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.