Eckhard R. Podack, M.D., Ph.D. - Chairman
Dr. Podack is the inventor of the technology and will serve as Chairman of its Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Podack received his medical degree from the Johan Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt in 1968 and his Medical License in 1970. Following service in the German Army as Captain and Battalion Physician, he completed his Ph.D. in the field of Biochemistry at the Georg August University in Gottingen. From 1974-1984 he studied Immunology at the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla CA where he received an Established Investigatorship from the American Heart Association. Dr. Podack is the discoverer of Perforin and well recognized as the “Father” of the field of pore forming proteins. Dr. Podack is the Sylvester Distinguished Professor of Microbiology & Immunology and Medicine and Chairman of the Department of Microbiology at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Podack currently is directing three investigator initiated clinical vaccine trials; he has published extensively and currently is the principal investigator over $13 million in grant funding, primarily from the NIH.

James Allison, Ph.D.
Dr. Allison is a leader in the field of immunology, particularly in developing ways to help the immune system recognize and destroy cancer cells. His research is focused on the mechanisms that regulate the immunological response of T lymphocytes, especially strategies to manipulate those responses in clinically relevant areas, including autoimmunity, allergies, vaccinations, and tumor therapy.

Dr. Allison is Chairman of the Immunology Program, Director of the Ludwig Center for Cancer Immunotherapy, Attending Immunologist, and David H. Koch Chair in Immunologic Studies at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

Sol J. Barer, Ph.D.
Dr. Barer is chairman of Celgene Corp., a global biocharmaceutical company engaged in the distovery, development and commercialization of novel therapies for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases. Dr. Barer has spent the last 20 years with Celgene, and its predecessor Celanese Research Company, acting in various capacities as president, COO, CEO, senior vice president of science and technology, and vice president/general manager of the Chiral Products Division. Dr. Barer holds a PhD in organic chemistry from Rutgers University.  

John Nemunaitis, M.D.
Oncologist and Executive Medical Director of the Mary Crowley Cancer Research Centers (MCCRC), has been exploring novel targeted therapies for treating cancer patients for over 20 years. Dr. Nemunaitis received his B.A. and M.D. degrees from Case Western Reserve University. He completed his residency at Boston City Hospital and then performed his Hematology and Oncology fellowship at the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle from 1988 to 1993. Dr. Nemunaitis came to Dallas in 1993 to establish the clinical research program for Texas Oncology Physicians Association (TOPA). He later established a not-for-profit translational research program (the MCCRC). He is a committee member of the Western Institutional Review Board (WIRB) and recently co-founded a molecular therapeutic/vaccine biotechnology company with GMP manufacturing capacity called Gradalis, Inc. Dr. Nemunaitis has authored over 250 peer-reviewed publications and 36 book chapters. He has instituted study establishment of over 350 trials, overseen FDA sponsored experimental treatment of nearly 4000 cancer patients at MCCRC, and has carried out 14 government regulatory (FDA, RAC) presentations for biotechnology product development. He is also developer and holder of 8 new molecular and vaccine Investigational New Drug Applications (IND’s). His research focus is clinical in orientation and involves determination of molecular signals in order to optimize targeted therapy, development of RNAi based therapeutics, and cancer vaccine approaches.

Justin Stebbing, M.D., M.A., FRCP, FRC Path, Ph.D.
Dr Justin Stebbing is a member of the Royal College of Physicians, American Board of Internal Medicine and a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists. Originally, Justin trained in medicine at Trinity College Oxford, obtaining a triple first class degree. After completion of junior doctor posts in Oxford, he undertook a residency (junior doctor) training at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in the US, before returning to London to continue his training in oncology at The Royal Marsden. Justin then undertook a PhD, funded by the Medical Research Council, investigating the interplay between the immune system and cancer. Specifically, the role of heat shock proteins in viral infections and tumorigenesis were examined helping in the development of vaccines that are currently in clinical trials.

Justin has published over 300 peer-reviewed papers in journals such as the Lancet, New England Journal, Blood, PNAS, The Journal of Clinical Oncology and Annals of Internal Medicine, the majority as first or last author, as well as over 100 book chapters. They mainly focus on early and late stage trials of new drugs, mechanisms of disease, and prognostic indicators. He is on the scientific advisory board of a number of biotechnology companies and the editorial board of a number of world-leading journals such as the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Justin is now a senior lecturer at Imperial College, London.

Sandra Silberman, MD, Ph.D.
Dr. Silberman began her career in clinical development at Pfizer, Inc., where she initiated the Company's first program in clinical oncology and oversaw the introduction of Tarceva(TM) into clinical trials. She then served as Senior Director for Novartis Clinical Research, where she led the global development of Gleevec(TM), a highly innovative drug and the first targeted therapy for chronic myelogenous leukemia. Dr. Silberman then joined Eisai Medical Research as Global Therapeutic Area Head (Oncology), a role in which she advanced six novel compounds into Phases I through III in clinical development. As an independent industry consultant over the years, Dr. Silberman has advised Bristol-Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca, Imclone, Roche and GPC-Biotech in their various oncology programs. 

Dr. Silberman earned her Ph.D. in Tumor Immunology from Johns Hopkins University and her M.D. from Cornell University Medical College. She completed a fellowship in hematology/oncology at the Brigham & Women's and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. She has numerous publications and is named on several patents in the cancer drug development field, including novel anti-tubulin agents for advanced solid tumors. She is board certified in Internal Medicine and Hematology. Dr. Williams holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Notre Dame, a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of South Carolina, and did postdoctoral training at the University of South Carolina and the University of Michigan.

Daniel D. Von Hoff, M.D.
Daniel D. Von Hoff, M.D., is currently Physician in Chief and Director of Translational Research at TGen (Translational Genomics Research Institute) in Phoenix, Arizona. He is also Chief Scientific Officer for Scottsdale Healthcare’s Clinical Research Institute and Scientific Medical Officer for US Oncology. He holds an appointment as Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of Arizona, College of Medicine. Dr. Von Hoff’s major interest is in the development of new anticancer agents, both in the clinic and in the laboratory. He and his colleagues were involved in the beginning of the development of many of the agents we now use routinely, including: mitoxantrone, fludarabine, paclitaxel, docetaxel, gemcitabine, irinotecan, nelarabine, capecitabine, lapatinib and others. At present, he and his colleagues are concentrating on the development of molecularly targeted therapies particularly for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. Dr. Von Hoff has published more than 559 papers, 134 book chapters and over 1000 abstracts.

Dr. Von Hoff was appointed to President Bush’s National Cancer Advisory Board in June 2004 – March 2010. Dr. Von Hoff is the past President of the American Association for Cancer Research (the world’s largest cancer research organization), a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a member and past board member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He is a founder of ILEX™ Oncology, Inc. (acquired by Genzyme after Ilex had 2 agents, alemtuzumab and clofarabine approved for patients with leukemia). He is founder and the Editor Emeritus of Investigational New Drugs – The Journal of New Anticancer Agents; and, Editor-in-Chief of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. He is also proud to have been a mentor and teacher for multiple medical students, medical oncology fellows, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows. He is a co-founder of the AACR/ASCO Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshop. Dr. Von Hoff currently serves as Physician in Chief for the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, Arizona and Chief Scientific Officer of Scottsdale Healthcare and US Oncology.