Mervyn Israel

Mervyn Israel, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, has been a leader in anthracycline drug design and development for over 50 years with extensive experience in both bench research and drug commercialization. He was Co-Founder and former Board Chairman of Anthra Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Dr. Israel was also the discoverer and developer of Valstar, an FDA-approved agent for the treatment of bladder cancer, and has extensive experience in FDA regulatory issues and clinical trial conduct. He holds four US and international patents for novel anthracycline agents.

Dr. Israel’s academic experience includes 30 years as Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy, member of the UT Center for Anticancer Drug Research, and member of the UT Center for Cancer Research, with a long track record of NIH funding resulting in over 350 publications in drug development Prior to this, Dr. Israel was a faculty member of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School, holding the position of Associate Chief for Drug Development, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He has been a member of numerous grant reviews and advisory panels for NIH.