Jeffrey Stafford

Dr. Jeffrey Stafford is the CEO and cofounder of 858 Therapeutics. Jeff started his drug discovery career at Glaxo Research Institute in 1991 and has held research and executive management roles in both large pharma and privately held biotech. Prior to his role with 858, Jeff was the CEO of Jecure Therapeutics, a company focused on inhibiting the NLRP3 inflammasome and acquired in Genentech in 2018. Prior to his role with Jecure, he was the founding CSO of Quanticel Pharmaceuticals, a company pioneering a single cell genomics platform for precision targeting of cancer stem cells. In 2015, Celgene acquired Quanticel for its portfolio of novel epigenetics drug candidates and its platform technology, consummating a successful "build-to-buy" collaboration between the parties. Jeff's discovery teams have been responsible for the discovery of three FDA-approved drugs – Votrient™ (pazopanib); Nesina™ (alogliptin); and Byfavo™ (remimazolam) – and several others in clinical trials. He is a co-author of numerous peer review publications in the areas of organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and drug discovery.

Jeff received a B.S. in Chemistry from UCLA and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Cornell University. He completed an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at UC Berkeley.