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Management Team
Our passion for science and commitment to collaboration are the foundation for making a difference for patients in their fight against cancer.
close x 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.
close x Curtis C. Hecht
Chief Business Officer
Mr. Hecht is Chief Business Officer. Mr. Hecht brings over 25 years of broad pharmaceutical experience including business development, strategic planning and commercialization. He has led business and corporate development efforts since joining Calithera in 2014. Key contributions include the Mars in-licensing agreement for arginase inhibitors, clinical collaborations with Bristol-Myers Squibb, Exelixis and Pfizer and the co-development and commercialization agreement with Incyte for INCB001158. He has built strategic portfolio management and lifecycle team functions, and leads commercial planning. Prior to Calithera, Mr. Hecht was Vice President of Business Development for inVentiv Heath Commercial Solutions. Until 2011, Mr. Hecht was at Roche in commercialization and business development roles of increasing responsibility, including the Global Alliance Director of the Roche-Genentech collaboration. Mr. Hecht has a B.S. in Chemistry from California State University, Sacramento, and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.
close x Keith Orford, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Orford is Chief Medical Officer. Since joining Calithera in 2015, he has overseen clinical development activities, including Clinical Operations and Medical Affairs. Prior to joining Calithera, Dr. Orford was the Clinical Development Lead in the Immuno-Oncology and Combinations Development Performance Unit at GlaxoSmithKline, where he oversaw the clinical activities on multiple early stage clinical trials with targeted agents and novel immune-based therapies. Prior to GlaxoSmithKline, Dr. Orford was at Merck, where he worked on early clinical development programs across oncology and other therapeutic areas. Previously, Dr. Orford was a Research Fellow and Instructor at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where he completed clinical training in Internal Medicine, as well as postdoctoral work studying the epigenetic regulation of hematopoietic and embryonic stem cell differentiation. Dr. Orford received his undergraduate, M.D., and Ph.D. degrees from Georgetown University.
close x Christopher J. Molineaux, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President of Development
Dr. Molineaux has served as our Senior Vice President of Development since April 2013. Prior to joining Calithera, Dr. Molineaux served as President of INDStrat LLC, a consulting firm. Prior to INDStrat, Dr. Molineaux was Vice President of Development at Proteolix, where he led the team that developed Kyprolis through the completion of phase 2 clinical trials for accelerated approval in the United States for the treatment of refractory multiple myeloma. Previously, Dr. Molineaux led the oral anemia project team at FibroGen, and prior to that, led the team at Praecis that discovered and developed Plenaxis, which was approved for the treatment of prostate cancer. Dr. Molineaux received a B.S. in Zoology from University of Maryland, College Park, a Ph.D. in Immunology and Infectious Diseases from Johns Hopkins University, and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
close x Sumita Ray
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer
Ms. Ray has served as our Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer since September 2017. With more than 17 years of pharmaceutical and biotechnology experience, Ms. Ray brings a breadth of knowledge in FDA regulatory law, global health care law and compliance, brand support, product launches, collaborations and alliances. Prior to joining Calithera, she served as Chief Compliance Officer and Associate General Counsel, Head of Healthcare and Regulatory Law at Pharmacyclics, where she supported the company through the global approval and launch of Imbruvica in multiple indications. Previously, Ms. Ray served as Head of BioNeurology & Regulatory Law Group at Elan Pharmaceuticals, Corporate Counsel, Commercial Law Group at Genentech and Corporate Counsel at AstraZeneca. Ms. Ray started her career as a pharmaceutical and products liability litigator at Montgomery, McCracken, Walker and Rhoads LLP. Ms. Ray holds a J.D. from Temple University School of Law and a B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Arizona.
close x Eric B. Sjogren, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President of Drug Discovery
Dr. Sjogren has served as our Senior Vice President of Drug Discovery since June 2010. Dr. Sjogren has over 25 years of experience in small molecule drug discovery in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Calithera, Dr. Sjogren was Vice President and Head of Medicinal Chemistry at Roche Palo Alto, where he directed a small molecule drug discovery team in the areas of inflammation, virology, and central nervous systems disorders. Dr. Sjogren received a B.A. degree in Chemistry from the University of California, San Diego, and a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from Harvard University.
close x Sam Whiting, M.D., Ph.D.
Senior Vice President of Clinical Development
Sam Whiting, M.D., Ph.D. is Senior Vice President of Clinical Development. Dr. Whiting joined Calithera in May 2016. Prior to joining Calithera, Dr. Whiting served as Vice President of Research and Clinical Development at Gradalis. Dr. Whiting previously worked in development of small molecule targeted and immune-oncology agents at VentiRx Pharmaceuticals and Oncothyreon. Previously, Dr. Whiting served as Assistant Professor of Medical Oncology at the University of Washington, Assistant Member of Clinical Research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and Clinical Head of Gastrointestinal Oncology at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Dr. Whiting completed fellowship training in medical oncology at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. His training in internal medicine was at the ABIM Research Pathway at the University of Washington. Dr. Whiting received his B.S. with Honors in Chemistry from Lewis and Clark College, and his M.D. and Ph.D. as part of the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Washington Medical Center.
close x Stephanie Wong
Senior Vice President of Finance and Secretary
Ms. Wong is Senior Vice President, Finance. Prior to joining Calithera in 2014, she served as Vice President, Finance and Controller at SciClone Pharmaceuticals, a publicly traded, commercial-stage pharmaceutical company. Prior to SciClone, Ms. Wong was Senior Director, Finance at AcelRx Pharmaceuticals. Ms. Wong also held various positions at Kosan Biosciences, a publicly traded biotechnology company until its acquisition by Bristol-Myers Squibb. Ms. Wong has worked as an audit manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Ms. Wong received a B.S. degree in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of California.
close x Mark K. Bennett, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President of Research
Dr. Bennett has served as our Senior Vice President of Research since June 2010. Prior to joining Calithera, Dr. Bennett was Vice President of Research at Proteolix, where he led the research efforts in the discovery of carfilzomib, oprozomib, and PR-957. Dr. Bennett previously was Director of Cell Biology at Rigel Pharmaceuticals, and an Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Bennett received a B.S. degree in Biochemistry and Biophysics from Oregon State University, a Ph.D. degree in Neuroscience from the California Institute of Technology, and completed postdoctoral fellowships at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and Stanford University.
close x Susan B. Demo, Ph.D.
Vice President of Medical Affairs
Dr. Demo is Vice President of Medical Affairs. She joined Calithera in 2010 as Director of Cell Biology and has also served as Senior Director of Translational Research. From 2004-2009, Dr. Demo was at Proteolix, Inc, most recently as Director of Medical Affairs, where she managed investigator sponsored clinical studies, developed a publication plan for carfilzomib, worked as a liason to the commercial organization, and participated in patient advocacy. Dr. Demo previously was an Associate Director at Rigel Pharmaceuticals and served as a Scientist at Neurex. Dr. Demo received a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Simmons College, a M.S. in Chemistry from Syracuse University, a Ph.D. degree in Neurosciences from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco.
close x Jennifer McNealey
Vice President of Investor Relations and Strategy
Ms. McNealey is Vice President of Investor Relations and Strategy. Prior to joining Calithera in 2015, Ms. McNealey served as an advisor to biotechnology companies, and founded Laurient LLC, an independent research company focused on the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Prior to founding Laurient LLC, Ms. McNealey served as a portfolio manager and biotechnology analyst at various firms, including Franklin Templeton, Amerindo Investment Advisors and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Advisors. Ms. McNealey currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Enzon Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company. Ms. McNealey has a B.A. and an M.H.A. from Cornell University.
close x Frank Parlati, Ph.D.
Vice President of Research
Dr. Parlati joined Calithera in 2012 and currently serves as Vice President of Research. Prior to joining Calithera, Dr. Parlati was Founder and Senior Director of Biology at Cleave Biosciences, a biotechnology company developing novel protein degradation inhibitors for the treatment of cancer. Prior to Cleave Biosciences, Dr. Parlati was a visiting scientist at the California Institute of Technology. Previously, Dr. Parlati held various scientific roles at Proteolix, including Director of Biology. Prior to Proteolix, Dr. Parlati was a member of the scientific team at Rigel Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Parlati received a B.S. in Chemistry from Concordia University, a Ph.D. in Biology from McGill University, and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering.
Onco-Metabolism Platform
Our understanding of tumor metabolism and
tumor immunology drives our drug development.
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