Mark Chao

Mark Chao is a physician-scientist and biotech entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in oncology research. He was a co-founder and SVP of clinical development at Forty Seven, Inc., an immuno-oncology company developing macrophage-directed therapeutics which was acquired by Gilead Sciences for $4.9B in 2020. As one of the scientific pioneers discovering CD47, an anti-phagocytic signal, as a therapeutic target in oncology, Mark helped lead research and oversaw clinical development of magrolimab, a first-in-class CD47 targeting antibody across multiple cancers from early to late stage development.

He is currently VP in oncology clinical research at Gilead Sciences, where he is the global development lead for magrolimab. He received his PhD in cancer biology in the lab of Dr. Irving Weissman, MD and conducted his internal medicine and hematology training at Stanford University. He serves on the board of directors for Hepatx Corporation, the Silicon Valley chapter of the Leukemia Lymphoma Society and on the scientific advisory board of TigaTx.