Emil Kuriakose

Emil Kuriakose, M.D. has served as the Chief Medical Officer, Oncology since May 2023. Dr. Kuriakose joins Terns with more than a decade of biopharmaceutical industry experience, leading clinical development strategy and execution of therapeutics across multiple indications. In his most recent role as chief medical officer at Calithera Biosciences, Inc. Dr. Kuriakose led the transition of two mid-stage clinical programs with subsequent rapid initiation of two phase 2 studies.

Previously, Dr. Kuriakose served as global clinical program lead at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR), where he was the global head of early development for MDM2 inhibitor (targeted therapy) and adenosine inhibitor programs in solid and hematologic malignancies. In this role, he was responsible for the development and execution of the clinical development for new oncology agents from the candidate selection process to clinical proof-of-concept stage and integrated development plan including design and execution of phase 1 and 2 clinical trials of novel compounds in the oncology and immuno-oncology portfolio.