Editorial Advisory Board

Jon Wigginton, MD

Chief Medical Officer, Cullinan Oncology; Advisor, MPM Capital

Jon Wigginton, MD currently serves as portfolio Chief Medical Officer, Cullinan Oncology and Advisor at MPM Capital. Dr. Wigginton most recently served as the Chief Medical Officer at MacroGenics, where he led the company's evolution of a fully-integrated, clinical-stage cancer immunotherapy organization. This included the translation of ten new molecules into the clinic, including early phase and/or proof-of-concept studies with bispecific molecules, checkpoint inhibitors, Fc-optimized antibodies and antibody drug conjugates, as well as the design and execution of registration-directed studies. Previously, he served as the Therapeutic Area Head, Immuno-Oncology, Early Clinical Research at Bristol-Myers Squibb. There, he oversaw early clinical development of the BMS Immuno-Oncology portfolio, served in governance role for discovery research, and co-led the BMS International Immuno-Oncology Network (II-ON). These efforts included several studies defining proof-of concept for both anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 antibodies in patients with a variety of solid tumors, and for the anti-PD-1/anti-CTLA-4 combination in patients with melanoma. During his academic career, Dr. Wigginton served as Head of the Investigational Biologics Section, Center for Cancer Research, NCI, where he led an integrated basic, translational and clinical research effort focused on combination immunotherapy in preclinical models and early clinical studies. Dr. Wigginton also served previously as president of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC). Dr. Wigginton received his M.D. and B.S. in Biology, with distinction, from the University of Michigan.

Renier J. Brentjens, MD, PhD

Deputy Director; The Katherine Anne Gioia Endowed Chair in Cancer Medicine; Chair, Department of Medicine; Professor of Oncology, Departments of Medicine and Immunology, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

Brentjens obtained an MD/PhD (microbiology) from SUNY Buffalo, completed residency in medicine at Yale New Haven Hospital, and a medical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). Currently, Dr Brentjens is an member on the faculty at MSKCC and an attending physician on the leukemia service. As a medical oncology fellow during his training at MSKCC, Dr Brentjens initiated the initial pre-clinical studies demonstrating the potential clinical application of autologous T cells genetically modified to target the CD19 antigen through the retroviral gene transfer of artificial T cell receptors termed chimeric antigen receptors (CARs). Following completion of his medical oncology training, Dr Brentjens became the principle investigator of his own laboratory. As a PI, Dr Brentjens successfully translated these studies to the clinical setting treating patients with relapsed CD19+ tumors including chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). Ongoing pre-clinical research in the laboratory is focused on the further development of CAR modified T cells designed to overcome the hostile immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment through the generation of “armored CAR T cells” currently being translated to the clinical setting as second generation CAR modified T cell clinical trials. Additionally, work in the Brentjens’ lab has expanded this CAR technology to target additional tumor antigens expressed on other malignancies including solid tumors.

Fernanda I. Arnaldez, MD

Executive Global Product Leader - Early Development, Oncology Research and Development, AstraZeneca

Drug Development and Experimental Therapeutics Senior Executive, with extensive leadership experience and proven success in clinical development (early and late stage, IND, BLA, regulatory interactions), pediatric hematology/oncology and molecular oncology. Trained in the US and Board Certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Hematology/Oncology; I hold over twenty years of expertise in rare diseases, oncology and IO, biologics and small molecules drug development experience in Government, Academia and Industry. In my current position, I lead teams are responsible for the development of Immunotherapy, Cell Therapy and ADC assets within the Early Oncology Research and Development Organization, from candidate lead selection to phase III-enabling clinical trials. I am responsible and accountable for strategy, development and execution of the portfolio across multiple line functions. My passion lies in improving outcomes for those affected by cancer and contributing to bring to the clinic new and better therapies, able to have a meaningful impact in their lives.

Roy D. Baynes, MD, PhD

Senior Vice President and Head, Global Clinical Development, Chief Medical Officer, Merck Research Laboratories

Roy Baynes is Senior Vice President Global Clinical Development and Chief Medical Officer at Merck Research Laboratories in Rahway, New Jersey. He was previously Senior Vice President of Oncology, Inflammation and Respiratory Therapeutics at Gilead Sciences and prior to that was Vice President Global Clinical Development and Therapeutic Area (TA) Head for Hematology / Oncology, at Amgen Inc. In the early years of his tenure at Amgen before becoming TA head of Hematology / Oncology in Clinical Development he was TA head for Hematology / Oncology in Global Medical Affairs. He graduated as a Medical Doctor and obtained a Master of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. He has had a long and distinguished career in the haematology-oncology-and stem cell transplantation fields, including drug development, basic research, clinical practice, clinical research, teaching and administration. He is a member of many international societies, including the American Society of Hematology (ASH) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and has authored some 150 publications. He has been recurrently named among America’s top physicians. Before joining Amgen in 2002, he was the Charles Martin Professor of Cancer Research at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, an NCI designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA.

Adam Brown, PhD

Lecturer in DNA Engineering, University of Sheffield

Yu Cao, PhD

Principal Scientist, Tessera Therapeutics

Yu Cao is an experienced scientist in the immuno-oncology R&D field; he is a research professional in cell and gene therapeutics with a well-demonstrated immunology background. Over the past 10 years, he has worked as research scientist and principal investigator in multiple academic and industrial organizations. He has 20+ peer reviewed research articles and reviews, and R&D experience in leading immuno-oncology, oncology, and hematology projects.

Preet M. Chaudhary, MD, PhD

Chief, Jane Anne Nohl Division of Hematology and Center for the Study of Blood Diseases; Director, Blood and Marrow Transplant Program; Professor of Medicine; Ronald Bloom Family Chair in Lymphoma Research, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine

Professor of Medicine, Chief of the Jane Ann Nohl Division of Hematology and Center for the Study of Blood Diseases and the Ronald Bloom Family Chair in Lymphoma Research at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. He is also the Director of USC Blood and Marrow Transplant Program. He is a nationally recognized physician-scientist with research interests in several areas of cancer including Chimeric Antigen Receptor modified T cells (CAR-T), cancer drug resistance, biology of normal and leukemic hematopoietic stem cells, programmed cell death and novel therapies for leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma and solid tumors. Dr. Chaudhary obtained his medical degree from Delhi University, Maulana Azad Medical College. He then received a PhD from the University of Illinois at Chicago where he did pioneering research in the isolation and characterization of bone marrow stem cells and mechanism of multi-drug resistance to cancer chemotherapy. Subsequently, Dr. Chaudhary did residency training in Internal Medicine at the Northwestern University in Chicago and fellowship training in Hematology-Oncology at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington, Seattle. As a part of his postdoctoral training, Dr. Chaudhary worked in the laboratory of Dr. Leroy Hood, where he was involved in the isolation and characterization of several novel genes involved in the regulation of apoptosis and immune response. His recent work is focused on developing next generation chimeric antigen receptors for the treatment of cancer. Dr. Chaudhary has authored or co-authored numerous publications in such outstanding journals as Cell, Immunity, JNCI, Blood and PNAS, and holds six US patents in the areas of hematopoietic stem cell purification, multi-drug resistance to cancer chemotherapy, and cellular signaling. A number of his patent applications in the areas of Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CAR-T) and cancer immunotherapy are pending. One of his patent applications (WO1999011791A2) was the top cited cancer related patent between1993-2013. Dr, Chaudhary has been continuously funded by NIH R01 grant since 2000 and has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigations (ASCI), an honor society of physician-scientists.

John Desjarlais, PhD

Senior Vice President, Research and Chief Scientific Officer, Xencor, Inc.

Desjarlais since joining Xencor in 2001, Dr. Desjarlais has overseen the company’s engineering, discovery, and preclinical work on antibodies and other proteins. With his coworkers, Desjarlais has developed several novel technologies for the optimization of antibodies and other proteins, including a platform for generation of bispecific antibodies, and has led the discovery of multiple therapeutic antibody candidates, including CD3 bispecific antibodies, checkpoint bispecific antibodies, and cytokine-Fc fusions for treatment of a variety of diseases. Desjarlais oversees all of Xencor’s discovery research and preclinical activities, from project conception and candidate generation through preclinical proof-of-concept and early development. Prior to Xencor, Desjarlais was an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Penn State University (1997–2001), where he developed and tested methods for the de novo design of protein sequences. He began his work in the field of protein design as a Jane Coffin Childs Fellow at U.C. Berkeley. Desjarlais holds a PhD in Biophysics from the Johns Hopkins University and a BSc degree in Physics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Patrick Hurban PhD

Senior Director and Global Head, Translational Genomics, Q2 Solutions 

Hurban is Senior Director and Global Head of Translational Genomics at Q² Solutions, a leading clinical trials laboratory services organization. In this role, he is responsible for the identification and implementation of new genomic capabilities, encompassing bioinformatics and wet-laboratory methods, as well as the development and validation of genomic assays to support research and clinical programs. These include broad-based screening assays, such as exome and RNA sequencing, to highly focused expression, genotyping and sequencing assay panels that target a smaller number of genes. Hurban has more than 25 years of experience in molecular genetics, including more than 18 years in positions of increasing responsibility in high-profile genomics-focused organizations. His research interests have focused on the genetic control of gene expression and have spanned diverse fields such as toxicology, developmental, and cancer biology.
Following a BSc in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he earned his PhD in Human Genetics from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City before serving as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow of the American Cancer Society in the Department of Developmental Biology at Stanford University.

Yisrael Katz, MD

Senior Medical Director, Viracta Therapeutics

Yisrael Katz is the Senior Medical Director of Clinical Development at Viracta Therapeutics, a San Diego based clinical-stage biotechnology company novel targeted therapies for virally-associated malignancies. Prior to joining Viracta, Katz was medical director at Exelixis, supporting clinical development of multiple solid tumor programs. Prior to that, he served as lead medical expert and medical director at Calviri, where he oversaw transition of the company’s preclinical portfolio of preventative and therapeutic cancer vaccines into initial clinical trials. He continues to practice medicine as an attending physician at the University of California San Diego Medical Center. Katz received his MD from the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and completed his internal medicine residency training at Georgetown University Hospital.

Anurag Khetan, PhD

Executive Director, Global Upstream and Cell Line Development, Biologics Development, Bristol Myers Squibb

Anurag Khetan heads the Global Upstream and Cell Line Development area of Biologics Development in Bristol-Myers Squibb based in New Jersey in USA.  His end-to-end team interfaces with Discovery and Manufacturing and carries out process development of biologics and viral gene therapy programs ranging from molecular biology and analytics, cell line development, and upstream process development. Anurag has a B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and a PhD from the Department of Chemical engineering at the University of Minnesota. Anurag has had sustained contributions over nearly two decades in the biotechnology industry at Merck, Biogen, Boehringer Ingelheim and BMS in areas ranging from early and late process development, post-approval development, manufacturing support, and GMP manufacturing.

Samir N Khleif, MD

Director of Jeannie and Tony Loop Immuno-Oncology Laboratory, Biomedical Scholar, Professor of Oncology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center

Samir N Khleif is currently the Director of the Loop Immuno-Oncology Laboratory and is a Biomedical Scholar and a professor in Medicine and Oncology at Georgetown University Medical School at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. He earned his medical degree from the University of Jordan, completed a residency in internal medicine from the Medical College of Ohio, and a fellowship in medical oncology from the National Cancer Institute.
Khleif is a pioneer and a leading researcher, as well as a Key Opinion Leader, in the field of immunotherapy. He was a NIH Scientist for more than 20 years and served as Chief of the Cancer Vaccine Section at the National Cancer Institute.
He previously served as the founding Director of the Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University - the Georgia University System’s only cancer center led in conjunction with the Medical College of Georgia. He also served as the Special Assistant to the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) where he led the FDA’s Transformational Critical Path Initiative for Oncology, a project that reformed the process of cancer drug development in the US.
Dr. Khleif was detailed by the US government to serve as the founder and CEO/Director General of the King Hussein Cancer Center (KHCC) in Jordan, the main cancer center in the Middle East. And then, at the request of the King of Jordan and the US government, he developed the King Hussein Institute of Biotechnology and Cancer (KHIBC) and helped Jordan reform health care and higher education.
He is an international leader and KOL on global health where he serves in an advisory capacity on both governmental and non-governmental expert bodies. He also sits on many national and international committees that are driving global oncology and the immune-oncology field forward.
Dr. Khleif has been the recipient of many national and international awards; amongst them include the National Cancer Institute’s Director Golden Star Award, the National Institutes of Health Award for Merit, the Commendation Medal of the US Public Health Service, the Georgia State Distinguished Cancer Scientists and Clinicians Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Jordan Medical Association/General Union of Physicians honoring the 10 most influential physicians who contributed the most for advancing the health care system in Jordan in 50 years.
He is the editor of 3 books, the author of many peer reviewed scientific research articles and the holder of more than 20 patents.