Angiocrine Bioscience is a private, clinical-stage cell and gene therapy company harnessing the power of genetically modified human endothelial cells to regenerate tissues, restore function and rejuvenate patients with serious medical conditions.

Biotechnology

Angiocrine Bioscience

Dr. Rafii is the Arthur B. Belfer Professor of Genetic Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Rafii, a board-certified hematologist-oncologist, is engaged in basic and translational research as well as patient care. He is the director of the Ansary Stem Cell Institute at Weill Cornell and is a Howard Hughes investigator.

Dr. Rafii was the first to develop the innovative E4-ORF1 technology to generate abundant stable and functional endothelial cells. He received his M.D. degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine followed by a fellowship in Hematology-Oncology at Weill Cornell.

He carried out his post-doctoral training in vascular and hematopoietic stem cell biology under the supervision of Dr. Ralph Nachman and Malcolm Moore at Weill Cornell. He is the principal inventor in numerous patents on therapeutic uses of vascular cells for stem cell self-renewal and organ regeneration as well as tumor targeting.

Shahin Rafii

Ms. Breneman is Senior Director, Project Management at Angiocrine Bioscience. Margie has over 20 years of experience leading teams in the medical device, pharmaceutical, and biotech companies. As QA Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives at Illumina, Margie led the Quality Systems Improvement Program to ensure compliance to ISO and FDA requirements for DNA sequencing products, including the MiSeqDx System, the first FDA approved device for in vitro diagnostic (IVD) testing. Margie also headed teams at Guidant and Abbott in areas of process improvement (Lean, Kaizen, 5S), facility design, cost reduction, software development, and technology transfer. In 2007, she received the Abbott Vascular President’s Award for the implementation of the CAMSTAR MES system to capture cGMP data for XIENCE, the market-leading drug-eluting stent. Margie has a degree in Industrial Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, a professional certificate in Regulatory Affairs from San Diego State University, and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Margie Breneman

Dr. Cheresh is Distinguished Professor and Vice-Chair of Pathology at the Moores Cancer Center in the University of California, San Diego. He is also Director for Translational Research at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center. Prior to relocating his laboratory in 2005, Dr. Cheresh was a professor in the Departments of Immunology and Vascular Biology at The Scripps Research Institute, focusing on the role of adhesion receptors and growth factors in the angiogenesis of tumors. Dr. Cheresh received his doctorate in Immunology from the University of Miami in Florida. In 1982, he joined The Scripps Research Institute as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Immunology and moved up through the ranks where he became Professor in 1996. Dr. Cheresh is the recipient of various awards including the 15th Hans Linder Memorial Lecture from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, the XXIII Annual Myron Karon Memorial Lectureship from the University of Southern California, the Robert Flynn Professorship Award from Tufts University School of Medicine, the Judah Folkman lectureship, the Paget-Ewing award from the Metastasis Research Society/AACR and was a recipient of The American Cancer Society Faculty Research Award and a Merit Award from the National Cancer Institute.

Dr. Cheresh studies the mechanism of action of signaling networks that regulate angiogenesis, tumor growth, stemness, drug resistance and metastasis. He discovered that integrin ανβ3 is a functional marker of angiogenic blood vessels. His work is both basic and translational focusing on new strategies for biologically-based drug development including the development of several drugs now in various stages of clinical development. Dr. Cheresh’s research has been widely cited with seven of his peer-reviewed publications being cited over 1,000 times. Dr. Cheresh was the scientific founder of TargeGen, a San Diego-based biotechnology company, which developed a number of small molecules based in part on discoveries made in the Cheresh laboratory. TargeGen’s JAK2 inhibitor has shown clinical activity in patients with the myeloproliferative disease and has met its primary endpoint in a Phase III registration trial. Most recently, Dr. Cheresh and his colleagues have developed a novel scaffold-based chemistry approach to stabilize kinases in their inactive state. These studies have led to the discovery of a first-in-class RAF inhibitor that has distinct advantages relative to ATP mimetics of RAF.

David Cheresh

Mr. Jaskowiak is Chief Operating Officer at Angiocrine Bioscience responsible for overseeing the administration and operation of the business, as well as, leading the implementation of company strategies as it transitions into a clinical-stage company. Previously he held the title of Vice President, Corporate Development, assisting in numerous corporate financing and operational development activities to advance the company’s E-CEL™ platform. John comes to Angiocrine Bioscience with over 25 years of commercial experience within the Life Sciences and Diagnostics industries. Prior to joining Angiocrine Bioscience, he was Vice President of Marketing and Sales at SDIX, where he led the transformation of the commercial team into a focused life science organization, developing Go-To-Market strategies and supporting business plans for its core business and new business growth initiatives for its two complementary technologies for the generation and isolation of novel monoclonal antibodies. He has also held various management roles at Hewlett-Packard, Agilent Technologies, Affymetrix, ExonHit Therapeutics, and Meso Scale Diagnostics. John has a degree in Biology from Temple University, Philadelphia, PA.

John R. Jaskowiak

Dr. Landeen is Executive Director of Preclinical Development and is responsible for overseeing preclinical/nonclinical studies in support of filing Investigational New Drug (IND) applications for the company as well as new extramural grant applications. Previously, he held the title of Executive Director Cell Biology at Vital Therapies where his responsibilities included Phase 3/pre-commercialization CMC support, analytical development, and mechanistic understanding of the company’s extracorporeal cell-based liver treatment. He has held other management positions at cell-based/regenerative medicine companies including Organogenesis, Shire/Shire Regenerative Medicine, Advanced BioHealing, and Advanced Tissue Sciences, and has been involved with wound healing and cardiovascular repair products from development through commercialization. In addition, he has consulted for various early-stage biologics companies. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in microbiology from the University of Arizona and his Ph.D. in bioengineering from the University of California, San Diego.

Lee Landeen

John Lomoro is the CFO at [Angiocrine Bioscience](/org/angiocrine-bioscience). John has over 20 years of experience in finance and accounting, with a focus on middle-market companies. Prior to joining [Angiocrine Bioscience](/org/angiocrine-bioscience), John was the CFO at [Trackforce](/org/trackforce) Valiant, a private equity-backed, high growth SaaS company. At [Trackforce](/org/trackforce), John led the finance and accounting team of 10 and oversaw the HR and legal functions of the company. John was also responsible for the finance integration of two acquisitions of software companies. John has a proven track record of success in financial strategy, operations, and management. John is a strategic thinker who is able to see the big picture and make decisions that are in the best interest of the company. John is a strong leader who is able to motivate and inspire their team to achieve success.

John Lomoro has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from [St. Cloud State University](/org/st-cloud-state-university) and is certified by the California Board of Accountancy as a Certified Public Accountant.

John Lomoro reports to Paul Finnegan, CEO. John Lomoro works with Margie Breneman - Senior Director, Project Management, Daniel J. Nolan - Director, External Research, and Jeannette Filippone - General Counsel.

John Lomoro

John K. Fraser is currently the Chief Scientific Officer at [Angiocrine Bioscience](/org/angiocrine-bioscience). Prior to this, they were the Chief Scientist at StemSource/Macropore Biosurgery/Cytori Therapeutics for 18 years. Before that, they were an Adj Associate Professor at the Division of Hematology-Oncology, Dept of Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine for 7 years. 

Fraser received their undergraduate degree from [Harvard University](/org/harvard) and their MD from [Stanford University](/org/stanford). John did their residency in Internal Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital and their fellowship in Hematology-Oncology at the UCLA School of Medicine. 

Fraser's research interests are in the areas of umbilical cord blood banking and transplantation, stem cell biology, and regenerative medicine. John has published over 200 papers in these areas.

John K. Fraser has a PhD in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Biology from the [University of Otago](/org/university-of-otago). John also has a BSc (hons) in Biochem/Physiol from Victoria University of Wellington.

John K. Fraser reports to Paul Finnegan, CEO. John K. Fraser works with Daniel J. Nolan - Director, External Research, John Lomoro - CFO, and Lee Landeen - Executive Director, Pre-clinical Development.

John K. Fraser

Shawn Sheeron has over 25 years of experience in the clinical research and pharmaceutical industry. Shawn has worked in a variety of roles including research specialist, clinical program manager, senior clinical research associate, and executive director of clinical operations. In their current role as VP of Clinical Operations at [Angiocrine Bioscience](/org/angiocrine-bioscience), Shawn is responsible for the company's clinical strategy and execution. Shawn has a proven track record of successful project management and has played a key role in the development and commercialization of many new drugs and medical devices.

Shawn Sheeron has a MBA from [Aspen University](/org/aspen-university) in Project Management, a BSN from Graceland University in Nursing, and an AAS from [Community College of Philadelphia](/org/community-college-of-philadelphia) in Nursing.

and Gayle Bresnahan - Director, Clinical Operations reports to Shawn Sheeron. Their manager is Paul Finnegan, CEO. They are on a team with Daniel J. Nolan - Director, External Research, John K. Fraser - Chief Scientific Officer, and Michael Ginsberg - Senior Director, Product Development.

Shawn Sheeron

Gayle Bresnahan is currently the Director of Clinical Operations at [Angiocrine Bioscience](/org/angiocrine-bioscience). Gayle has over 15 years of experience in the clinical research field. Gayle began their career as a Clinical Project Associate at [Vical](/org/vical) in 2000 and has since held positions of increasing responsibility at Gen Probe, [Dexcom](/org/dexcom), Phenomix Corporation, Ambit Biosciences Corporation, Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc., [Intercept Pharmaceuticals](/org/intercept-pharmaceuticals), and [Travere Therapeutics](/org/travere-therapeutics) (formerly [Retrophin](/org/retrophin)). 

Gayle has overseen the management of several Phase 3 global clinical trials during their career. Gayle is experienced in managing clinical trials in a variety of therapeutic areas, including but not limited to: cardiovascular disease, diabetes, oncology, and rare disease. 

Gayle earned their Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of California, San Diego.

Gayle Bresnahan has a certification from [Emtrain](/org/emtrain) in preventing workplace harassment.

Their manager is Shawn Sheeron, VP, Clinical Operations.

Gayle Bresnahan

Martin (Marty) Silverstein, M.D., is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of MANA Therapeutics, an adoptive T-cell therapy company developing allogeneic, non-engineered, multi-tumor associated antigens targeting a range of liquid and solid tumors.  He joined MANA after its original seed round, and led the successful financing of their Series A round in 2021.  Prior to MANA, Dr. Silverstein was Executive Vice President, Strategy for [Gilead Sciences](/org/gilead-sciences), a leading biotechnology company, where his responsibilities included corporate strategy and planning, commercial planning, corporate development, and alliance management. He was an integral part of Gilead’s acquisition of Kite Pharma. Immediately prior to Gilead, Dr. Silverstein was Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at [Anthem](/org/anthem), the second-largest U.S. health insurer. His responsibilities at [Anthem](/org/anthem) included corporate strategy and innovation, corporate development, and enterprise marketing. Prior to [Anthem](/org/anthem), Dr. Silverstein was a Senior Partner and Managing Director at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where he was a founding member of its health care practice and recognized for his role in establishing its pharmaceutical practice. While at BCG, he held roles of increasing responsibility including Global Leader of the health care practice. Dr. Silverstein received his medical degree from [Yale University](/org/yale-university), and his MBA from the [Harvard Business School](/org/harvard-business-school). He graduated summa cum laude from the [University of Pennsylvania](/org/university-of-pennsylvania) with a degree in economics. Dr. Silverstein completed his internal medicine residency at Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital, a major teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, and is board certified in internal medicine.

Martin B. Silverstein

Ms. Filippone has served as General Counsel of [Angiocrine Bioscience](/org/angiocrine-bioscience) since December 2021. Prior to joining Angiocrine, Ms. Filippone was a partner at Solomon Ward Seidenwurm & Smith, LLP, where her practice focused on business and corporate matters, including financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions and technology licensing. She previously practiced corporate and securities law at the global law firm Morrison & Foerster LLP and in private practice with her own law firm, which focused on providing outside general counsel services to companies in the life science and technology industries. She also served as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Imprimis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. a publicly traded life science company. Ms. Filippone received her BA from University of Massachusetts Boston, her MA from University of California San Diego and her JD from University of San Diego School of Law.

Jeannette Filippone

After graduating from the University of Toronto, Dr. Kerbel commenced graduate studies receiving a Ph.D. in 1972; he then undertook postdoctoral training in London after which he started his independent research program in 1975 at Queen’s University in Kingston, in the Cancer Research Laboratories, becoming its Director in 1981. In 1985 he was recruited to develop and direct a cancer biology research division at Mt. Sinai Hospital Research Institute in Toronto; he then moved to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (where he is presently located) to do the same from 1991 until 2001. He currently holds a Canada Research Chair in Tumor Biology, Angiogenesis, and Antiangiogenic Therapy and is a professor in the Dept. of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto. Throughout his career, Dr. Kerbel’s main interest has been to devise new cancer treatment strategies having both improved efficacy and reduced toxicity. This culminated in his pioneering studies of lower dose frequently administered ‘metronomic’ chemotherapy and antiangiogenic drugs. A number of his findings are now being evaluated in Phase II and Phase III clinical trials, particularly in breast, ovarian, colorectal, and various pediatric cancers. His other contributions include developing improved preclinical models involving early stage or advanced metastatic disease for experimental therapeutic investigations, linking the fields of angiogenesis and oncogenes, uncovering mechanisms by which antiangiogenic drugs increase the efficacy of chemotherapy, or alter malignant tumor progression, especially in the adjuvant treatment setting, and elucidating mechanisms of resistance to antiangiogenic drugs.

Dr. Kerbel’s work has been supported by grants from four Canadian funding agencies and the US National Institutes of Health. He has published 372 papers, given over 750 invited lectures including numerous keynote and plenary presentations. Among the recent honors and awards, he has received include the Canadian Cancer Society Robert Noble Award for Excellence in Cancer Research, the Breast Cancer Research Award from the European Institute of Oncology, and a Man of Distinction Honor by the Israel Cancer Research Fund.

Robert S. Kerbel

Dr. Ellis graduated from the University of Virginia School of Medicine in 1983 and completed his residency in surgery at the University of Florida in 1990. Dr. Ellis went on to complete a surgical oncology fellowship at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC), where he has been on the faculty since 1993. Dr. Ellis has a clinical practice in Surgical Oncology, focused on patients with colorectal cancer and liver metastases. Academically, Dr. Ellis has established a reputation for expertise in the area of angiogenesis and growth factor receptors in gastrointestinal malignancies and is funded by several grants for research in this area. He has served on numerous NIH study sections and is a consultant to the National Cancer Institute, where he currently serves on the NCI GI Cancers Steering Committee. In 2000, Dr. Ellis was awarded the Faculty Scholar Award from the MDACC, and he was also the inaugural recipient of a grant from the George and Barbara Bush Endowment for Innovative Cancer Research. In 2007, he was awarded the William C. Liedtke, Jr., Chair in Cancer Research.

Dr. Ellis serves on 8 editorial boards, including the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer Research, and Clinical Cancer Research (Senior Editor). Dr. Ellis has also authored over 220 peer-reviewed publications, 90 invited reviews and editorials, three books, and 30 book chapters. In 2013, he published a seminal paper in Cancer Cellon Angiocrine signaling. In addition, he has published important editorials in journals such as the NEJM, Nature, Cell, Cancer Cell, Nature Medicine, JNCI, JCO, and The Lancet. Dr. Ellis has been a plenary discussant at ASCO in 2005 and 2009. He is co-chair of the largest clinical angiogenesis meeting in the world held annually in February. Dr. Ellis serves in a leadership role in the major cancer societies such as the American Society for Clinical Oncology (immediate past chair of the Cancer Research Committee, and a member of the Nominating Committee), and the American Association for Cancer Research (Chair of CME Committee). Dr. Ellis currently serves on the ECOG DMB. He was Chair of the 2007 GI Cancers Symposium and was Co-Chair of the 2009 and 2011 AACR annual meetings. Dr. Ellis chaired a Keystone Symposium on Angiogenesis in January 2009. In June 2008, he was appointed Chair, Ad Interim, Department of Cancer Biology at MDACC and served in that position until June 2012. He was Director of the Metastasis Research Center from 2010-2012. Dr. Ellis served as Co-Director for the ASCO/AACR Workshop on Methods in Clinical Cancer Research from 2010-2012. In May 2013, Dr. Ellis assumed leadership roles in SWOG including Vice Chair for Translational Medicine and serving as a member of the Executive Committee.

Lee M. Ellis

Dr. Port is a Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery and an Attending Surgeon in the Division of Thoracic Surgery at New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center within the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery. Dr. Port earned his medical school degree and also finished his general surgery residency at the New York University School of Medicine. He then completed his cardiothoracic surgical training at Weill Cornell Medical Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where he developed an interest in thoracic oncology, specifically in lung and esophageal cancer. As an Attending Thoracic Surgeon at Weill Cornell Medical Center, Dr. Port specializes in lung and esophageal cancers, mediastinal tumors, and Barrett’s Esophagus. He also specializes in the area of minimally invasive thorascopic pulmonary surgery and the treatment of emphysema patients who require lung volume reduction. Dr. Port has authored numerous journals and book chapters on immunotherapy for the treatment of lung and esophageal cancer, as well as the development of vaccines. Dr. Port has an ongoing research collaboration with Dr. Rafii in the area of tumor endothelium and lung regeneration. He is a member of the American College of Surgeons, American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Association for Cancer Research, American Association of Thoracic Surgery, and Society for Thoracic Surgeons. Dr. Port is Board Certified in Surgery and Thoracic Surgery. He is also the founder of RF Surgical Systems, Inc., a medical device company with headquarters in Bellevue, Washington, and engineering R & D facilities in San Diego, California. Today, RF Surgical Systems is the market leader in retained surgical sponge detection.

Jeffrey L. Port

Dr. Nolan is Director of External Research at Angiocrine Bioscience. Alumni of Stony Brook University, Daniel remained there for his graduate studies ultimately performing his research in the laboratory of Dr. Vivek Mittal. Dr. Mittal fostered Daniel’s interest in vascular biology with work centered on the temporal contribution of endothelial progenitor cells to tumor vasculature. His exposure to a wide range of technology led to his recruitment by Dr. Shahin Rafii at Weill Cornell Medical College. This became fertile grounds for advances as Dr. Rafii’s team was rapidly accelerating their understanding of the capacities of the E-CEL™ platform and Daniel was transforming the technological landscape of protocols within the laboratory to achieve these advances. His own work focused on the distinctions between the endothelial cells of the various tissues. The protocols he developed were the foundations to establish a series of tissue-specific microvascular endothelial cells. An accomplished flow cytometrist and microscopist, Daniel continues his characterizations of distinct populations of endothelial cells at Angiocrine Bioscience.

Daniel J. Nolan

Dr. Ginsberg is Director of Product Development at Angiocrine Bioscience. Following his post-doctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University, Michael undertook a post-doctoral position at Weill Cornel Medical College, where he was introduced into the world of vascular biology and hematopoiesis by Dr. Shahin Rafii. While under Dr. Rafii’s guidance, he gained tremendous knowledge and expertise in the study of endothelial cells, the predominant cell type that is necessary for the formation of the human vasculature. This work culminated in a seminal paper describing the manner in which amniotic cells could be reprogrammed into a functional, viable source of endothelial cells for potential therapeutic use. Through this work, Michael learned the intricacies involved in culturing and cultivating large quantities of endothelial cells in general, a process that would be necessary for their use in clinical applications. These experiences provided the foundation of his work that is now being done at Angiocrine Bioscience, as he is currently heading the manufacturing of GMP-grade E-CEL™ cells for their use in the clinic. Additionally, Michael is directing research aimed at identifying multiple indications for which these cells may have a beneficial therapeutic outcome. Dr. Ginsberg earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University, New York, and completed post-doctoral fellowships in the lab of Dr. James Darnell Jr at Rockefeller University, New York, and Shahin Rafii, MD at Weill Cornell Medicine.

Michael Ginsberg

Dr. Finnegan is Chief Executive Officer of Angiocrine Bioscience. He has more than 20 years of life science management experience in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and healthcare industries – including extensive operational and strategic leadership roles in venture-backed start-ups and multi-billion dollar publically listed global companies, complemented by service on boards of both private and public biotechnology companies. Most recently, Dr. Finnegan has been advising boards and senior management of emerging biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies on strategic, commercial, business development, clinical, and regulatory matters, including companies focused on cellular immunotherapy (for cancer) and cellular regenerative therapies.

From 2012-2014, Dr. Finnegan served as Vice President and General Manager, Asia-Pacific for ViroPharma, Inc., which was acquired by Shire PLC for $4.2 billion. In this role, he initiated ViroPharma’s business in the Asia-Pacific region, and launched and developed Cinryze® and commercialized Plenadren®. Dr. Finnegan concurrently served as Director (Board) of Imprimis Pharmaceuticals (2012-2013) and on the Audit, Compensation, and Nomination & Governance Committees.

From 2008-2011, Dr. Finnegan was retained exclusively to manage start-ups wholly funded by Avalon Ventures, where he was CEO of Avelas BioSciences and InCode Biotherapeutics, participated as board observer for various Avalon portfolio companies, and provided commercial, clinical and regulatory due diligence for new Avalon Fund investments. From 2007-2008, Dr. Finnegan served as founding CEO of Cecoura Therapeutics, a start-up wholly owned by Paramount BioSciences.

From 2001-2007, Dr. Finnegan served as Vice President of Commercial Operations and Development, and then later as Vice President of Global Strategic Marketing for Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. While at Alexion, Dr. Finnegan co-founded the paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria clinical program for eculizumab, built the first commercial organization, and initiated and led the global commercialization of Soliris® – the most successful ultra-orphan product launch in 2007.

From 1998-2000, Dr. Finnegan was Senior Director, Global Medical Marketing, APLAC Region for Searle, a division of Monsanto and then of Pharmacia Corp in 2000. While at Searle, Dr. Finnegan played key roles in his market region for the launch of Celebrex® – the most successful pharmaceutical product launch in 1999. Prior to Searle, Dr. Finnegan was a fellowship-trained interventional radiologist and an entrepreneur in the healthcare provider segment. Dr. Finnegan earned his M.D., C.M. from McGill University, Montreal, Canada, and his M.B.A. in Finance and Strategy from the University of Chicago, Booth Graduate School of Business and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Canada (FRCPC) and a Member of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

Paul Finnegan

Dr. Hans-Peter Kiem is a world-renowned pioneer in stem-cell and gene therapy and in the development of new gene-editing technologies. His focus has been the development of improved treatment and curative approaches for patients with genetic and infectious diseases or cancer. For gene editing, his lab works on the design and selection of enzymes, known as nucleases, which include CRISPR/Cas. These enzymes function as molecular scissors that are capable of accurately disabling defective genes. By combining gene therapy’s ability to repair problem-causing genes and stem cells’ regenerative capabilities, he hopes to achieve cures of diseases as diverse as HIV, leukemia, and brain cancer. With preclinical models of HIV, Dr. Kiem and his colleagues have demonstrated that they can modify a key viral entry gene and prevent it from working in transplanted blood stem cells. He also hopes to apply these technologies to cure genetic blood disorders such as Fanconi anemia and sickle cell disease. He is also pioneering in vivo gene therapy approaches to make gene therapy and gene editing more broadly available and accessible to patients and those living with HIV, especially in resource-limited settings.

Hans-Peter Kiem

Dr. Butler is the Director of Stem Cell Therapeutics and Professor of Medical Sciences at the Center for Discovery and Innovation at Hackensack Meridian Health, as well as an Associate Professor at Georgetown University. Dr. Butler obtained his B.S. in Zoology from the University of Florida in 2001 and continued his graduate education at UF where he completed his Ph.D. in stem cell biology in 2005. Dr. Butler completed his postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Shahin Rafii in stem cell and vascular biology at Weill Cornell Medical College in 2011.

Dr. Butler’s laboratory is dedicated to understanding the role of bone marrow endothelial cells (BMECs) in establishing unique instructive vascular niche cells that produce the correct milieu and stoichiometry of growth factors to support hematopoiesis during physiological aging and hematopoietic regeneration following hematopoietic insults, such as chemotherapy and inflammation. Research from Dr. Butler’s laboratory has shown that BMECs are indispensable for supporting hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) self-renewal and differentiation into lineage-committed progeny. Notably, they have recently demonstrated that aged BMECs can instruct young HSCs to function as aged HSCs, whereas young BMECs can rejuvenate aged HSCs. Building upon these findings, the Butler laboratory has identified the critical signaling pathways altered within the aged endothelial niche that impair their instructive capacity to support HSCs and hematopoiesis. They have also demonstrated that as little as one dose of sublethal chemotherapy leads to significant damage to the BM vascular niche and that regeneration of the vascular system is crucial for the recovery of the hematopoietic compartment. Dr. Butler has published data demonstrating that infusion of BMECs can restore and protect an aged BM microenvironment and improve the functional output of aged HSCs, as well as provide widespread vascular protection, following myelosuppressive injury. Indeed, these foundational pre-clinical studies led to Angiocrine Bioscience’s Phase 1b/2 clinical trial wherein endothelium are being infused during HSC transplants to accelerate the regeneration of vascular niches following myeloablation.

The overarching goal of Dr. Butler’s research program is to gain fundamental insights into how aging interferes with proper blood vessel function within the bone marrow microenvironment, which in turn impairs the vascular system’s ability to function as a supportive niche that regulates hematopoiesis. Dr. Butler’s laboratory is aiming to deconstruct the mechanisms guiding the interactions between the blood stem cell and the bone marrow vascular niche to reveal key molecular and cellular mechanisms that negatively impact the hematopoietic and cardiovascular systems. The Butler laboratory is currently developing protocols to modulate novel anti-aging targets for therapeutic rejuvenation of hematopoietic and vascular systems to enhance longevity and health-span.

Jason M. Butler

Dr. Parkinson has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of ESSA Pharma Inc. since January 2016, and as a Director of the company since June 2015. Prior to joining ESSA, he had been a Venture Partner at New Enterprise Associates, Inc. From 2007 until 2012, Dr. Parkinson served as President and CEO of Nodality, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the biological characterization of signaling pathways in patients with malignancy. Until October 2007 he was SVP, Oncology Research, and Development at Biogen Idec, where he oversaw all oncology discovery research efforts and the development of the oncology pipeline. Previously he had served as VP, Oncology Development, at Amgen, and VP, Global Clinical Oncology Development, at Novartis. In those roles, he oversaw the successful clinical development of a series of cancer therapeutics, including Gleevec, Zometa, Femara, and Vectibix. Dr. Parkinson worked at the National Cancer Institute from 1990 to 1997, serving as Chief of the Investigational Drug Branch and then as Acting Associate Director of the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP). He is a past Chairman of the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Biologics Advisory Committee, a past member of the FDA Science Board, and is a recipient of the FDA’s Cody Medal. He is a past editor of the Journal of Immunotherapy and past president of the Society of Biological Therapy. He has served on the National Cancer Policy Forum of the Institute of Medicine and is a past co-chair of the Cancer Steering Committee of the NIH Foundation Biomarkers Consortium. A past Board Director of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, he currently serves as a Board Director for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. He served as Chairperson of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Finance and Audit Committee for 15 years and is previously elected Board Director of AACR. Dr. Parkinson was a Director of Facet Biotech, Inc., until the acquisition by Abbott Pharmaceuticals, and was a Director of Ambit Biosciences until the acquisition by Daiichi Sankyo. He was also previously a Director at Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Cerulean Pharmaceuticals, and Tocagen, Inc (TOCA). He currently serves as Director on the Boards of 3SBio Inc (1530.HK), CTI Biopharma, Inc (CTIC), and is a Co-Founder and Director of Refuge Biotech, Inc. He has held academic positions both at Tufts and at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications.

David R. Parkinson

The executive team at Angiocrine Bioscience has a history of experience in the science, finance, and pharmaceutical industries. Many members of the team have worked together at previous companies, such as StemSource/Macropore Biosurgery/Cytori Therapeutics, Kyriba Corporation, and Transdel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The team is also well-educated, with degrees in fields such as Hematopoietic Stem Cell Biology, Biochemistry/Physiology, and Accounting.

CEO and Executive Team

About

Team members

Other teams at Angiocrine Bioscience

Leadership Team

Board of Directors

Discover similar companies