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Board of Directors
Calithera’s diverse Board of Directors provides the governance and expertise to guide our discovery and development efforts for our investigational onco-metabolic therapies.
Susan M. Molineaux, Ph.D.
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Susan M. Molineaux, Ph.D.
Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Molineaux has served as our President, Chief Executive Officer, and as a member of our board of directors since she co-founded Calithera in 2010. Dr. Molineaux co-founded Proteolix, a biopharmaceutical company, where she served in various roles, including Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Scientific Officer until Proteolix’s acquisition by Onyx Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Proteolix, Dr. Molineaux served as Vice President of Biology at Rigel Pharmaceuticals, a drug development company. Dr. Molineaux began her career as a scientist in the Immunology group at Merck. Dr. Molineaux currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Geron Corporation, Theravance Biopharma, and Smith College. She formerly served as member of the board of directors of We Teach Science, and the California Life Sciences Association. Dr. Molineaux holds a B.S. in Biology from Smith College and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Johns Hopkins University, and she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University.
Jean M. George
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Ms. George is a General Partner at Advanced Technology Ventures, and also serves as a General Partner for Lightstone Ventures. Prior to ATV, Ms. George served as director of BancBoston Ventures, a venture capital fund. Previously, she spent ten years at Genzyme in a variety of operational roles in marketing, product development and business development, including Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing. She also worked as Vice President and Founder of Genzyme’s Tissue Repair Division, where she was responsible for identifying new product opportunities and potential acquisition candidates. Ms. George currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Acceleron Pharma, and Catabasis Pharmaceuticals. Ms. George holds a B.S. degree in Biology from the University of Maine and an M.B.A. from Simmons College Graduate School of Management.
Deepa R Pakianathan, Ph. D.
close xDeepa R Pakianathan, Ph. D.
Dr. Pakianathan is a Managing Member at Delphi Ventures, a venture capital firm focusing on healthcare investments. Prior to joining Delphi, Dr. Pakianathan served as a Vice President in the healthcare group at JP Morgan Chase & Company from 1998-2001. Before joining JP Morgan, Dr. Pakianathan served as a postdoctoral scientist in the Immunology Department at Genentech. Dr. Pakianathan currently serves on the board of directors of Alder Biopharmaceuticals, Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Karyopharm Therapeutics and OncoMed Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Pakianathan holds an M.S. and a Ph.D. from Wake Forest University, a B.Sc. from the University of Bombay, India and an M.Sc. from The Cancer Research Institute at the University of Bombay, India.
Jonathan Drachman, M.D.
close xJonathan Drachman, M.D.
Dr. Drachman is Chief Executive Officer at Neoleukin Therapeutics. Previously, Dr. Drachman has served in a number of roles at Seattle Genetics, including Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Research and Development, where he played a key role in clinical development and advancing the pipeline of antibody-drug conjugates and immuno-oncology drug candidates. Dr. Drachman also served as a faculty member in the Hematology Division, Department of Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, and as a Senior Investigator in the Division of Research and Education at the Puget Sound Blood Center. Dr. Drachman received a B.A. in Biochemistry from Harvard University and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Medical Oncology at the University of Washington.
H. Ward Wolff
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Mr. Wolff was most recently Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Sangamo Therapeutics, serving at the company from December 2007 until his retirement in March 2017. Prior to joining Sangamo, he was Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer at Nuvelo. Before his work at Nuvelo, Ward was Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President, Finance, at Abgenix, Inc. until April 2006 when Abgenix merged with Amgen Inc. Prior to joining Abgenix, Mr. Wolff held financial management positions in both public and private emerging growth companies, including serving as SVP and CFO of DoubleTwist, a life sciences company integrating genomic information and bioinformatics analysis tools. He began his career with Pricewaterhouse, where he held a number of positions as a certified public accountant, including senior audit manager. Mr. Wolff is a member of the board of directors of Portola Pharmaceuticals and Sunesis Pharmaceuticals. He received a B.A. degree in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley, and an M.B.A. degree from Harvard Business School.
Sunil Agarwal, M.D.
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Dr. Agarwal is Chief Development Officer and Head Portfolio Strategy at Sana Biotechnology. Previously, Dr. Agarwal was President of Research and Development at Juno Therapeutics, where he was responsible for the company’s drug development pipeline and the integration of translational insights into ongoing programs. Prior to his role at Juno Therapeutics, Dr. Agarwal was Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President at Ultragenyx where he was responsible for the company’s clinical development. Dr. Agarwal also served in various leadership capacities at Genentech for 11 years, he held the position of Senior Vice President and Global Head of Clinical Development for OMNI (Ophthalmology, Metabolism, Neuroscience, Immunology and Infectious Diseases). He was responsible for the development of programs in these areas from proof of concept through Phase IV. Dr. Agarwal currently serves on the board of directors of Myocardia, Vitrisa Therpeutics and Clinica Verde – Health and Hope. Dr. Agarwal received his bachelor of science in Neuro-Biology at Cornell University and earned his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine. He completed his residency at Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, D.C., and subsequently joined the faculty at George Washington University School of Medicine.
Suzy Jones
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Suzy Jones is currently Founder and Managing Partner of DNA Ink, a boutique life sciences advisory firm. Prior to founding DNA Ink, Ms. Jones spent 20 years at Genentech in various roles in immunology research, product development managing cross functional teams for RITUXAN® and AVASTIN®, and business development where she was Head of Non-Oncology Licensing and later Interim Head of Partnering and Head of Business Development. Suzy’s group helped to diversify Genentech’s portfolio through licensing. During her time in business development, the group was recognized in an independent IBM survey as the number one deal making and sourcing group in the world. In 2010, she was named by Black Health Magazine as one of the “Top 25 Most Influential African Americans in Healthcare, Medicine, Pharmaceutical and Food Industries.” Suzy serves as a member of the board of directors of Patrys, an ASX listed Australian biotechnology company. She received a degree in biology from University of California, Santa Cruz.
Blake Wise
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Mr. Wise is Chief Executive Officer at Novome Biotechnologies. Previously, Mr. Wise served as Chief Executive Officer of Achaogen, and previously as President and Chief Operating Officer, where he oversaw the development and FDA approval of ZEMDRI (plazomicin) for adults with complicated urinary tract infections. Prior to joining Achaogen, Mr. Wise spent 13 years at Genentech, in multiple leadership positions of increasing responsibility, including Vice President in Genentech’s BioOncology business unit. Prior to joining Genentech, Mr. Wise worked in consumer marketing, e-commerce and online marketing in leadership positions at Gap, Inc. and Webvan. Mr. Wise serves on the board of directors of Achaogen. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Economics from University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Masters of Business Administration degree from University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business.
Onco-Metabolism Platform
Our understanding of tumor metabolism and
tumor immunology drives our drug development.
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