Tatiana Novobrantseva, PhD is the Chief Scientific Officer at NextPoint Therapeutics. Most recently she served as the CSO of Immuno-oncology at Moderna. In the prior role, she co-founded Verseau Therapeutics and served as CSO, guiding programs from target identification to an advanced novel therapeutics pipeline. Dr Novobrantseva also consulted on drug development program for various companies throughout the years. At Jounce, she directed programs on immune system reactivation against cancer. Dr Novobrantseva held roles at Alnylam and Biogen, uncovering the critical role of B cells in fibrosis, advancing siRNA delivery, and leading a dendritic cell cancer vaccine initiative.

She earned her PhD in B cell immunology from the University of Cologne in Germany in the Laboratory of Klaus Rajewsky. She holds a Diploma in Engineering in Physics and a Master’s degree in Molecular Biology from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.

Zhen Su, MD, MBA is CEO of Marengo Therapeutics and a director of the company’s board. Dr Su brings nearly three decades of experience as a physician-scientist and biopharma executive, with expertise in building and leading both R&D and commercial organizations. During his tenure at Marengo, Dr Su has led the team’s progressing the company’s lead asset into clinical trials, grown its leading-edge pipeline, and established a $2.8B strategic partnership with Ipsen. Dr Su is also the Founding Chair for the Biotech Committee of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) and was recently appointed to the Board of Directors at Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: KPTI), CytomX Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CTMX) and Galvanize Therapeutics.

John Kurland, PhD, is a Global Product Leader for Immuno-Oncology with a focus on Gastrointestinal and Head and Neck Cancers. In this position, he has been accountable for leading IO development teams driving strategy, trial execution, and commercial launch preparation for durvalumab, tremelimumab, and other IO agents, and he has overseen the successful registration of immunotherapy regimens for hepatocellular carcinoma and biliary tract cancers.  Dr. Kurland brings some 14 years of IO development experience, having held prior IO-focused roles in commercial strategy and translational medicine at AstraZeneca and as a clinical biomarker lead working on pharmacodynamics and diagnostic strategies for ipilimumab and nivolumab at BMS.

Dr. Kurland earned a BS in Biochemistry at The Pennsylvania State University and a PhD in Cancer Biology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He completed his postdoctoral studies at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory where he was a Lymphoma Research Foundation Fellow.

Priya Singhal, M.D., M.P.H is an accomplished physician scientist and business C-suite leader committed to developing drugs across diverse therapeutic areas that can transform the lives of patients and their caregivers.  Since January 2023 she is the Executive Vice President (EVP), Head of Development for Biogen.  In this role Priya has accountability of the entire Biogen clinical and marketed portfolio.  Dr. Singhal rejoined Biogen in 2020 to lead Global Safety & Regulatory Sciences as well as Japan and China R&D.  She had several roles of increasing responsibility at Biogen during her prior tenure from 2012 – 2018 and made significant leadership and technical contributions to the Biogen portfolio, R&D strategy and governance as well as the filings and approvals of nine products.  Prior to her return to Biogen in 2020, Dr. Singhal served as Head of R&D and Manufacturing at Zafgen Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company leveraging its proprietary knowledge of MetAP2 systems biology to develop novel therapies for patients affected by a range of metabolic diseases.  From 2008-2012 she held roles of increasing seniority at Vertex Pharmaceuticals managing the Hepatitis C portfolio and served as the Vice President, Medical Affairs for HCV and Cystic Fibrosis portfolio.  She began her drug development career at Millenium Pharmaceuticals where she led benefit-risk for Velcade and other projects in the development portfolio.  Preceding her career in the Biotechnology Industry, Dr. Singhal completed her M.P.H. in International Health at Harvard School of Public Health and obtained her training in Internal Medicine in Mumbai, India.  Priya is an invited speaker at Academic and Industry Forums for Drug Development and a guest faculty member at Harvard Medical School. 

Dr. Wooldridge is the Chief Medical Officer for Immunitas Therapeutics and has 25 years of drug development experience in academia and industry. He received a medical degree from Tulane University and completed post-graduate training in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. He spent the first 7 years of his career as a clinical and translational cancer researcher in academia, followed by more than a decade in drug development at Eli Lilly and Company. At Lilly, he led several early phase cancer clinical research programs, Oncology US Medical Affairs, and ultimately served as the Chief Scientific Officer for Immuno-oncology Clinical Development. He was Chief Medical Officer for Aeglea BioTherapeutics, where he oversaw the cancer and rare disease clinical development of pegzilarginase, which received Breakthrough Designation for Arginase 1 Deficiency, and has since been approved in Europe. He was also Chief Medical Officer for Checkmate Pharmaceuticals, where he was integral in a Series C financing, taking the company public, and leading the development of vidutolimod in registration-directed and expanded proof-of-concept studies until the company was acquired in 2022.

Dan Stephens, Ph.D., is a Global Regulatory Fellow at Boston Scientific. He has twenty-five years of experience in product development and commercialization of medical devices. As a part of the Boston Scientific Global Advocacy Team, Dr Stephens is focused on Patient Science, Real-World Evidence, and Clinical Trial policies and strategies. Dr Stephens is the co-chair of the Science of Patient Input program with the Medical Device Innovation Consortium. He serves as the industry representative on two of FDA’s Patient Engagement Advisory Committees; Patient Preference Elicitation and Patient Engagement.

Gregory Frank, PhD, joined GE HealthCare in September 2023 to develop and lead partnering strategy for molecular imaging tracers in oncology. The goal is to leverage these PET tracers while they are in clinical development and make them available to biotech and pharma partners who want to use them for imaging in their own clinical trials.

Dr. Frank has deep domain experience building partnerships in research, biotech, pharma, healthcare, and medicine across all phases of development including research, discovery, preclinical, clinical, and commercial. Prior to GE HealthCare, Dr. Frank led licensing, business development, and strategic alliances at ImaginAb, 23andMe, Pure MHC, XBiotech, and SRI International. He started his career at DNAX.

Gregory received his PhD in Immunology from Stanford University School of Medicine and BA in Biology from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Christa Kerkorian is vice president of Patient Advocacy at Day One Bio, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on developing new, more effective, and safer treatments for children with cancer. Day One’s clinical programs are focused on pediatric low-grade glioma (pLGG) and other pediatric and adult solid tumors. Christa joined Day One in 2021 to establish the Patient Advocacy function and support Day One’s clinical programs in pLGG, as well as to lead outreach and support for the broader pediatric cancer patient community. Her approach to patient advocacy has centered around establishing trusting, long-term relationships with patients, families, and advocates, elevating their voices, and facilitating community and capacity building to advance shared goals.

Prior to joining Day One, Christa spent six years at Agios Pharma. At Agios, Christa established and led Patient Advocacy, covering oncology and rare genetic diseases. Her work in these therapeutic areas included advocacy at the grass-roots and grass-tops levels and creating international partnerships and coalition building.

Before joining Agios, Christa spent nine years in Managed Care at Genentech. Her area of expertise was patient access, first with Genentech’s patient assistance programs and then in managed care marketing, where she led brand strategy and communications.

Christa earned a BA in Communications Studies from UCLA and an MBA from St. Mary's College.

Rhoyge Traylor is a seasoned Advocacy Relations professional with extensive expertise in leveraging superior relationship-building skills to expand access to life-changing healthcare products. In his current role as Senior Director of Global Patient Engagement at Edwards Lifesciences, he focuses on fostering meaningful partnerships with patient advocacy organizations and ensuring the patient perspective is deeply embedded in the company’s initiatives. Rhoyge brings over 12 years of experience working directly with advocacy groups, aligning their needs with organizational goals to deliver patient-centered results.

Before joining Edwards Lifesciences, Rhoyge held leadership positions at Amgen and Pfizer. At Amgen, he served as Global Advocacy Relations Director for Cardiovascular & Neuroscience, where he led U.S. advocacy efforts for the first-in-class migraine therapy, Aimovig. He played a pivotal role in integrating advocacy considerations into commercial and medical strategies and streamlined operations through a local-to-global advocacy model.

During his tenure at Pfizer, Rhoyge was instrumental in championing legislation to broaden patient access in collaboration with physician and advocacy organizations. He skillfully aligned legislative goals with commercial objectives, leveraging his relationship-building expertise to create impactful media strategies targeting diverse audiences. His contributions ensured public policy initiatives resonated with both state and national advocates, resulting in significant advancements in patient access and awareness.

Rhoyge’s persistent, thoughtful approach to public policy and advocacy development has positioned him as a key influencer in driving meaningful, patient-centered healthcare solutions.

Alissa Hanna is Director, Patient Engagement at Edwards Lifesciences. Edwards is the global leader in patient- focused medical innovations for structural heart disease. Driven by a passion to help patients, Edwards collaborates with clinicians and researchers to address unmet healthcare needs, working to improve patient outcomes and enhance lives.

In her role at Edwards, she leads patient insight data collection and dissemination efforts. Focused on the science of patient input, she collaborates with trusted partners to implement qualitative and quantitative methods to elicit patient perspectives, preferences and values that can be incorporated into healthcare decision-making across all stages of the total product lifecycle. Alissa is passionate about giving patients a meaningful voice in medical technology product development.

Prior to joining Edwards, Alissa spent over a decade at the clinical research site level, functioning in several different roles during her time; Certified Clinical Research Coordinator, Manager of Clinical Operations and Manager of Patient Engagement.

Alissa received her Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion from Coastal Carolina University (Conway, SC). She currently lives in Cleveland, Ohio with her husband, son and two dogs.

Amanda Beasley is a Director in the Representation in Clinical Research (RISE) team at Amgen. She has been working in preclinical and clinical research for 18 years. She holds a Master's degree in Clinical Research Administration and a Doctorate in Human Services. Dr Beasley's passion to support marginalized and underrepresented individuals paired with her many years of study management experience help to move the RISE vision and mission forward. She specializes in collaborating cross- functionally to build internal infrastructure to make representative studies a part of Amgen’s everyday work. She also works outside of Amgen’s walls partnering with organizations that work directly in the communities where these people live, work, play, and pray to build sustainable presence and trust.

Dr Beasley joined Amgen in 2018 and has held positions of increasing responsibility. She has also been instrumental in improving Amgen’s informed consent template and process to be more patient-centric and efficient. She actively participates in multiple Employee Resource Groups as well and has held past leadership roles within.