Team
The Revolution Medicines team consists of accomplished leaders in building and operating exceptional life science companies.
Management Team
Mark A. Goldsmith, M.D., Ph.D.
President, Chief Executive Officer and Board Chairman
Mark grew up around academic medical centers and knew early on that he would devote his professional life to medical science on behalf of patients. After studying biology and science in human affairs at Princeton University, he pursued a dual career in clinical medicine and scientific research through the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). After postgraduate training at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School and UCSF, Mark joined the faculty of the UCSF School of Medicine, led a dynamic research laboratory within the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology focused on the pathogenesis of and discovery of new treatments for life-threatening viral diseases, and taught and practiced medicine at the San Francisco General Hospital/UCSF. He co-authored 85 scientific publications and is co-inventor on multiple issued patents and applications. He also served as assistant director of the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology and was consultant and collaborator to a variety of small and large biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
Mark has also been active in business since childhood, negotiating his first significant technology deal while a graduate student. After a productive career in academia, he was recruited to the private sector, where he served in senior management roles in private and public biotechnology companies, including Genencor International and Constellation Pharmaceuticals, where he drove the development of an industry-leading strategic alliance with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group. Prior to Revolution Medicines, he served as chief executive officer of four companies spanning early discovery through full development. He also served as senior executive-in-residence at Prospect Venture Partners. In 2012, Mark joined Third Rock Ventures full-time to lead its West Coast operations and design, launch and build new biotech companies. As partner, he led the collaboration with David Pompliano, Marty Burke and others that gave rise to Revolution Medicines. From 2015-2018 Mark served as a part-time venture partner at Third Rock Ventures.
Mark holds an A.B. from Princeton University and an M.D. and Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from UCSF. He was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.
In addition to his role at Revolution Medicines, he serves as chairman of the board for Constellation Pharmaceuticals and is a board director for Nura Bio, a start-up in the field of neurodegeneration.
Steve Kelsey, M.D.
President, Research and Development
Realizing he wasn’t good enough to make a career out of playing rugby or soccer, Steve went to medical school. Training as an academic hematologic oncologist in London and working as a clinician scientist at Barts and The London before joining the pharmaceutical industry in 2000, Steve was always motivated to have science drive the discovery of novel therapies. In London, he ran a clinical practice treating patients with leukemias and lymphomas in a research-focused environment, ran a research laboratory doing both basic and translational research and taught hematology to medical students. After two years of leading the clinical development of Sutent® for Pharmacia/SUGEN, he joined Genentech where he became vice president of hematology/oncology, playing a significant role in the development of key products such as Perjeta®, Kadcyla® and Erivedge® as well as other molecules in the company’s oncology portfolio. He then led the development of imetelstat, a first-in-class telomerase inhibitor, at Geron where he served as head of research and development and chief medical officer. Following his time at Geron, Steve served as president of Onkaido Therapeutics, a Moderna Venture focusing on discovery and development of mRNA therapeutics for cancer. During his 17 years in the biotechnology industry, Steve has worked with small molecules, antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates, DNA oligonucleotides and mRNA platforms and has driven multiple industry and industry-academia collaborations as part of the mission to provide better drugs for patients with cancer. He has a passion for building and leading high-functioning teams doing groundbreaking cancer research.
Steve graduated with bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery degrees (MB ChB) and a doctorate of medicine (M.D.) from the University of Birmingham, U.K. He is a fellow of both the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) of London and the Royal College of Pathologists (FRCPath), U.K. He has over 100 peer-reviewed publications spanning cell biology, drug discovery, drug development and patient care, and is a named inventor on several patents. He now watches more soccer than he plays.
Margaret (Peg) Horn, J.D.
Chief Operating Officer
Peg initially studied pharmacy, but shortly into that five-year educational program decided to advance her education by attending either medical or law school. A lawyer-professor at her pharmacy school tailored an independent legal study course for her, sealing her fate. She completed pharmacy school and then studied law at Villanova Law School. While still in law school, she worked part-time in DuPont’s legal department and subsequently joined the company counseling its pharmaceutical division.
Led by an entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to see more of the country, she moved to San Francisco. Once there, she embarked on a 30-year adventure in biotechnology, working at both large/public companies (Genencor International and Kosan Biosciences) and small, privately held companies (Cogentus and ProLynx). Through years of biotech experience including international strategic transactions, worldwide litigation and multiple public and private financings, Peg’s role evolved from counsel to business and operational leadership positions.
Peg holds a B.S. in pharmacy and a J.D., as well as an executive M.B.A. She is a member of the Pennsylvania and California bars and is a registered patent attorney with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. She is a registered pharmacist in Pennsylvania.
Luan M. Wilfong
Chief Human Resources Officer
Luan enjoys working with people and building great teams. She knows it takes excellent leadership, ongoing collaboration and an engaging environment to build a successful organization and culture. Early in her career, with an economics degree fresh in hand, she was offered a position in a private banking training program with a financial services company. Instead, with the desire to learn about growing strong teams within an organization, she requested the operations/human resources program. From the financial services industry, she transitioned into technology, and eventually into biotechnology, joining Gilead Sciences where she oversaw talent acquisition by directly recruiting for the scientific and clinical functions, led the compensation and employee benefits programs, and managed the human resources due diligence and task integration group for an early acquisition target.
Since her work at Gilead Sciences, Luan has run her own full-service human resources consulting firm, working with numerous organizations across biotechnology, public health, non-profit and high technology fields. This work included growing their staff, coaching their leaders on the importance of leadership and communication, and implementing key human resources functions and processes for their unique business cultures. Luan has also held executive human resources roles, most recently with Audience, Inc., where she was vice president of human resources, leading the function from the pre-IPO stage through an IPO.
Luan received her professional coaching certification through New Ventures West and holds an economics degree from Santa Clara University and a master’s degree in business administration from Golden Gate University. Luan continues to read and study the art of building exceptional teams and cultures.
Daniel Simon
Chief Business Officer
Daniel is passionate about helping get great science to patients. Having fallen in love with molecular biology at an early age, he learned he’d most enjoy being on the business side of life sciences, and has spent the last 20 years in industry working across pharmaceuticals, biotech and diagnostics.
Previously, Daniel was responsible for leading Guardant Health’s biopharma business development. Over 7+ years he built a team supporting more than 100 companies and 400 clinical trials using Guardant’s liquid biopsy platform to help accelerate drug development. Daniel started his career at McKinsey & Company in London, working in the Pharmaceutical and Medical Products group, leading client work in business strategy, innovation, BD and operations. Daniel has also served in business development, strategy, and market planning roles at MyoKardia, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, and Genentech.
Daniel holds an M.A. Hons. in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge and an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.
Xiaolin Wang, Sc.D.
Executive Vice President, Clinical Development
Growing up next to a women and children’s hospital where her mother practiced, Xiaolin always wanted to be part of the healthcare industry. Leading a clinical development organization working on novel therapeutics is a perfect fit for her aspiration to help patients. With over 20 years of experience in all phases of clinical development across a wide range of therapeutic areas, including solid tumors, lymphoid and myeloid malignancies and others, she will be responsible for clinical science, clinical operations, biometrics, and pharmacovigilance.
Previously, Xiaolin was VP of Biometrics at Acerta Pharma, where she managed biostatistics, statistical programming, and data management, and was a member of the Senior Management Committee. She was a key contributor to the overall development strategy and approval of Calquence® (BTKi) for relapsed/refractory mantel cell lymphoma. Prior to Acerta, she was VP of Biometrics and Development Operations at Geron, where she managed biometrics, clinical operations, medical writing, and DMPK. Before Geron, she spent 11 years at Genentech, where she made significant contributions to Avastin®, Tarceva®, Herceptin®, and Xolair®. At Genentech, she held a number of leadership positions, including development team lead for Xolair and filing team lead for multiple BLA/sBLA’s.
Xiaolin started her industry career at Millennium Pharmaceuticals after receiving her Doctor of Science degree in Biostatistics from Harvard University. She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Probability and Statistics from Peking University in China and a Master of Science degree in Statistics from University of Washington, Seattle.
Adrian Gill, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President, Medicinal Chemistry
Adrian aspires to not only be a great medicinal chemistry leader, but a leader of great medicinal chemists. Adrian has over 23 years of drug discovery and development experience in senior roles across a diverse range of disease areas in both large pharma and biotech environments, having worked previously for Roche, Astex Therapeutics and AstraZeneca, where he was the head of medicinal chemistry for the CVMD iMed in Molndal, Sweden.
During his career to date, Adrian has been heavily involved in the identification of multiple clinical candidates across a variety of disease areas including RMC-4630, Revolution Medicines first development candidate selectively targeting SHP2 and more recently RMC-5552 which selectively targets mTORC1. Adrian was also a core member of the cell cycle kinase alliance between Astex and Novartis that ultimately led to the discovery of a dual kinase inhibitor approved by the FDA in combination treatment of HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer. In addition, Adrian has authored over 20 publications in peer-reviewed journals, is a named inventor on over 40 issued and pending small molecule patent applications and has given multiple invited presentations at national and international conferences. Adrian received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Sussex, U.K., where he focused on synthetic methodology towards the total synthesis of rapamycin, and has a bachelor’s degree in applied chemistry from the University of Salford, U.K. Adrian is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the American Chemical Society and an invited member of the AACR Chemistry in Cancer Research (CICR) Steering Committee.
Jan Smith, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President, Biology
Jan is an experienced molecular pharmacologist with a focus on, and a passion for, small molecule drug discovery and development. She has had the privilege of working on a range of target classes within several therapeutic areas including oncology, CNS/pain, gastrointestinal disorders and severe respiratory disease. Jan has over 20 years of experience in drug discovery R and D in the biopharmaceutical industry during which time she has been involved in the identification of multiple clinical candidates across a variety of disease areas. This includes Revolution Medicines' first development candidate RMC-4630, a selective, allosteric inhibitor of SHP2 and more recently RMC-5552, a selective inhibitor of mTORC1. Previously Jan was at Theravance Biopharma where she lead the advancement of several novel drug candidates (including ampreloxetine, a selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor; izencitinib/TD-1473, a gut-selective pan-Janus kinase inhibitor and velusetrag, a selective 5-HT4 receptor agonist) through discovery into early clinical Phase I/II development. Prior to that she was at Roche Bioscience (Palo Alto) where she contributed to new target identification and early lead discovery within the Analgesia Dept.
Jan has a passion for building and leading teams that can navigate tough problems, fostering both rigorous science and robust collaboration with colleagues and partners.
Jan graduated from University of Bath, U.K., earned a Ph.D. from University of Cambridge, U.K. and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of California, Irvine and at the Sandoz Institute for Medical Research, London, U.K. Jan is co-author on over 35 peer-reviewed publications and a named inventor on several issued patents and applications.
Walter (Wally) Reiher, Ph.D.
Chief Information Officer
Wally has spent the last 35 years leveraging technology to deliver insights, foster collaboration, enhance business processes and improve efficiency. He played a key role in the early development of a number of molecular modeling software companies and did research in computational chemistry as an independent contractor at Sterling Winthrop, Eastman Kodak, and Sanofi.
Seeking a broader impact on research, Wally moved into research informatics, leading the implementation of decision support systems for drug discovery at Chiron, Affymax and Exelixis. Most recently, he held the position of vice president of information technology (IT) at Exelixis, where he delivered a number of major infrastructure projects, including the successful reimplementation of the company’s SAP ERP system.
Wally earned his Ph.D. in computational chemistry from Harvard University in the laboratory of Martin Karplus, 2013 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of California, San Diego.
Jack Anders
Chief Financial Officer
Jack has always had a keen interest in numbers and analytics, but also wanted to be part of teams that focus on improving patients’ lives. Those interests led him into to focusing on the business aspects of biotech organizations.
Jack brings approximately 20 years of finance and accounting experience to Revolution Medicines. Before joining Revolution, Jack was Vice President of Finance at Depomed, Inc., where he spent the last 12 years in various roles with increasing responsibilities including financial planning and analysis, commercial finance, accounting operations and external reporting. At Depomed, Jack helped build and lead the finance and accounting organizations as the company transformed from a drug development company to a commercial pharmaceutical company which raised over $1 billion in financing, completed four asset acquisitions and grew to revenues of over $400 million. Prior to Depomed, Jack had various managerial roles in finance and accounting at Elan Pharmaceuticals, Yahoo! and Novellus Systems. He started his career in the life sciences practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers and is a former CPA.
Jack received his bachelor’s degree from UCLA in Economics with an emphasis in Accounting.
Jeff Cislini, J.D.
General Counsel
Jeff focused on corporate law early in his career because he was looking for an opportunity to bring legal expertise to complex business challenges. The ability to meet these challenges as part of a team that directly impacts the lives of patients drew Jeff to biotech.
He has approximately 20 years of experience and brings a pragmatic approach to practicing law, striving to interpret and discuss complex legal concepts in a coherent manner that results in actionable business advice.
Jeff comes to RevMed from Atara Biotherapeutics, where he most recently served as a Vice President and had responsibility for a broad range of legal matters, including corporate, contracts and employment. Prior to Atara, Jeff worked for a number of years as outside counsel focused on general corporate representation and transactional advice at the law firms of O’Melveny & Myers and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
Jeff holds a JD from Harvard Law School and a BAS from Stanford University with dual majors in Land Resources Planning and Economics. He is a member of the California bar.
Elena Koltun, Ph.D.
Vice President, Medicinal Chemistry
Elena is an experienced Medicinal Chemist and a leader with an impressive delivery track record across a variety of therapeutic areas, including oncology. With 20 years of experience in the biotech industry, Elena is passionate about small molecule drug discovery and early development. Having worked previously at Exelixis and Numerate, she has taken many programs from concept stage to first in human. Elena is a co-inventor of Cotellic® (Cobimetinib), a MEK inhibitor developed by Exelixis and marketed by Genentech.
Elena joined Revolution Medicines in 2015 and has made significant contributions to the company’s pipeline and development of its unique tri-complex platform. She led chemistry efforts for the RAS Companion Inhibitor RMC-4630, led the team that advanced the RAS(ON) Inhibitor RMC-6236 into development, and made pivotal contributions to the discovery of the clinical candidates RMC-6291 and RMC-5845.
Elena received her Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Minnesota and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Elena has authored multiple scientific publications and is a co-inventor on over 25 issued patents and applications.
Shaoling Li, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President, CMC & Quality
Throughout her career, Shaoling has been passionate about developing novel therapeutics to make a difference in patient’s lives. Shaoling started her career as a formulation scientist focusing on novel drug delivery technology and product development. With over 20 years of experience and a proven track record of developing drug products from early feasibility to clinical development and commercialization, Shaoling brings rich experience and expertise in various CMC functions including analytical development, pharmaceutical science and drug delivery, process development and manufacturing, cGMP compliance, and regulatory submission.
Prior to joining RevMed, Shaoling worked at various pharmaceutical and biotech companies including ALZA, J&J, Nanopax and Theravance. She made significant contributions to the design and development of the transdermal product (Duragesic®) led to commercialization. Shaoling is the author or co-author on more than 20 scientific publications and a named inventor on several patents and applications.
Shaoling received her BS degree in Pharmacy and MS degree in Pharmaceutics from China Pharmaceutical University in China, and Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics from the University of Iowa.
Mallika Singh, Ph.D.
Vice President, Translational Research
Mallika has almost 20 years of industry research and drug development experience across the spectrum of current oncology therapeutics. She is an acknowledged scientific and strategic thought leader in translational research and in the use of sophisticated mouse models of human cancer for oncology drug development. Her research endeavors have driven insights into determinants of therapeutic response to MAP kinase pathway inhibition in RAS and RAF mutant cancers. She has established and led scientific programs in small biotechnology as well as biopharmaceutical companies including Genentech and Novartis. Mallika has contributed to multiple investigational new drug applications including for vismodegib (Genentech/Roche) and the clinical-stage RAF inhibitor LXH254 (Novartis).
Since joining RevMed in 2017, Mallika has overseen the establishment of a world-class Cancer Pharmacology function which has had significant impact on all pipeline programs, including comprehensive pharmacology approaches and preclinical to clinical translation of our advancing pipeline. The Translational Research group she leads is also responsible for research diagnostics and combination strategies, all focused on driving RevMed’s pipeline assets towards clinical success and ultimately, patient benefit.
Mallika received a Ph.D. from the University of Utah and postdoctoral training at the University of California at San Francisco. She is a co-author on numerous publications and a named inventor on several patents and applications.
Zhengping Wang, Ph.D.
Vice President, Non-clinical Development and Clinical Pharmacology
Starting her career as a research scientist, Zhengping has always been fascinated by breakthroughs in basic research that lead to improved understanding, preventing, diagnosing, and treatment of many diseases. She is dedicated to helping patients by bringing scientific discoveries from “Bench to Bedside”.
During her 17 years in biotechnology industry, she has worked on drug discovery and development projects in all phases across a range of therapeutic areas, including oncology/hematology, cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases.
Previously, Zhengping worked at Amgen and Onyx Pharmaceutics, a subsidiary of Amgen. She acted as the interim head of research during the integration of Onyx into Amgen’s global organization. Zhengping was a key contributor to the nonclinical development, clinical pharmacology, and global approval of proteosome inhibitor Kyprolis® (carfilzomib) in multiple myeloma. She also made significant contributions to the discovery and development of oral proteasome inhibitor oprozomib. Prior to Onyx, she worked for Proteolix and Cytokinetics.
Zhengping received her Ph.D. In Chemistry from the University of Alberta, Canada. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and a Master of Science in Analytical Chemistry from Wuhan University in China.
Academic Founders
Martin Burke, M.D., Ph.D.
Co-Founder and Scientific Advisory Board Chairman
Marty grew up dreaming of becoming a doctor or a major league baseball player. The Orioles never called, but Johns Hopkins University did, and so he jumped at the chance. At Hopkins he also discovered a passion for chemistry and its interface with human health. So he next moved to Boston/Cambridge to pursue science and medicine in parallel at Harvard Medical School, Harvard University and MIT. He is now Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Marty’s lab is pioneering the development of molecular prosthetics, small molecules that serve as functional surrogates for missing proteins. To enable this research, he has developed a powerful Lego-like approach for making small molecules involving the iterative assembly of MIDA boronate building blocks, an approach that underlies Revolution Medicines’ product engine. Leveraging this platform, his group has synthesized, understood and/or improved a variety of complex natural products that perform protein-like functions. This includes discovering the mechanism of action of amphotericin B and an atomistic roadmap to improving its therapeutic index.
Marty is the recipient of a number of honors and awards, including the Thieme IUPAC Prize in Synthetic Organic Chemistry, the IOCF Lectureship Award, the Hirata Memorial Gold Medal from Japan, the Early Career Scientist Award from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the American Chemical Society Kavli Foundation Emerging Leader in Chemistry Lecturer, the American Chemical Society Elias J. Corey Award for Outstanding Original Contribution in Organic Synthesis by a Young Investigator, the American Chemical Society Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, the UIUC Innovation Discovery Award, the Novartis Chemistry Lectureship, the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation Young Investigator Award, a Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship, an NSF CAREER Award, the Dreyfus Foundation New Faculty Award, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Unrestricted Research Grant in Synthetic Organic Chemistry, the Eli Lilly Grantee Award, the Amgen Young Investigator Award and the AstraZeneca Excellence in Chemistry Award, and he has been named "one of the world's 35 top innovators under age 35" by MIT Technology Review.
He holds a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University, Ph.D. from Harvard University, and M.D. from Harvard Medical School and MIT.
Michael Fischbach, Ph.D.
Co-Founder and Scientific Advisory Board Member
Michael Fischbach is an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at Stanford University and a Stanford ChEM-H Institute Scholar. Fischbach is a recipient of the NIH Director's Pioneer and New Innovator Awards, an HHMI-Simons Faculty Scholars Award, a Fellowship for Science and Engineering from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, a Medical Research Award from the W.M. Keck Foundation, and a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease award. His laboratory uses a combination of genomics, microbiology, synthetic biology, and chemistry to study microbiome-host interactions and construct synthetic microbiomes with defined functions. Fischbach received his Ph.D. as a John and Fannie Hertz Foundation Fellow in chemistry from Harvard in 2007. Fischbach is a member of the board of directors of Achaogen, the scientific advisory board of NGM Biopharmaceuticals, and a co-founder of Revolution Medicines.
Kevan Shokat, Ph.D.
Co-Founder and Scientific Advisory Board Member
Kevan is professor and chair of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco and professor of chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. He is an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine.
Kevan is a pioneer in the development of chemical methods for investigating cellular signal transduction pathways—with a particular focus on protein kinases and lipid kinases. His laboratory uses a combination of chemical synthesis and protein engineering to create uniquely traceable and regulatable kinases, allowing the function of more than 100 different kinases to be uncovered across all disease areas including oncology, metabolism and infectious disease.
Kevan has received numerous awards for his work, including being named a Fellow of the Pew Foundation, Searle Foundation, Sloan Foundation, Glaxo-Wellcome Foundation and the Cotrell Foundation. He has also received the Eli Lilly Award, given to the most promising biological chemist in the country under the age of 37.
He is a founder of Intellikine (acquired by Takeda) and Cellular Genomics (acquired by Gilead), co-founder of Araxes Pharmaceuticals, eFFECTOR Therapeutics and Mitokinin, LLC and a scientific advisor at Kura Oncology.
Kevan received his B.S. in chemistry from Reed College and his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley.
Board of Directors
Alexis Borisy
Alexis Borisy is a leading life sciences entrepreneur and investor, focusing over the past 25 years on building, operating, and investing in breakthrough life science-based companies. He currently serves as the Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of EQRx, and has been the founder, chairman, CEO, or founding investor of eight NASDAQ listed companies. Alexis was also previously a partner at Third Rock Ventures, where he played key roles in launching and building many of Third Rock’s portfolio companies. He currently serves as Chairman of Relay Therapeutics (RLAY) and as a Director at Blueprint Medicines (BPMC), both companies he co-founded and served a turn as CEO. Previously he was chairman of the board, co-founder and the first chief executive officer of Foundation Medicine (acquired by Roche) and Director of Thrive Earlier Detection (acquired by Exact Sciences). Alexis also currently serves as chairman of privately held Celsius Therapeutics and as a director of Tango Therapeutics and Dascena.
Prior to joining Third Rock Ventures, Alexis founded CombinatoRx in 2000, serving as its chief executive officer and bringing the company public on the NASDAQ, and as a co-founder and chairman of FORMA Therapeutics. He has transacted tens of billions in financing, business development, and M&A deals, and has authored numerous scientific papers and patents. Trained in chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard where he was a Howard Hughes Predoctoral Fellow, Alexis was honored as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Technology Review Innovator of the Year. He was also chosen as the New England Entrepreneur of the Year in Life Sciences and was honored as a Presidential Scholar.
Alexis’ undergraduate degree in chemistry is from the University of Chicago, and he did his graduate work in the laboratory of Dr. Stuart Schreiber at Harvard University. Alexis previously was Chair of the National Venture Capital Association, served on the Board of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and is currently Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Boston Museum of Science.
Sushil Patel, Ph.D.
Dr. Patel is a seasoned operating executive who brings to our Board substantial experience and perspective on the precision oncology commercial landscape.
Dr. Patel has served as Chief Commercial Officer of Replimune Group, Inc., a biotechnology company, since May 2021. Prior to joining Replimune, he served as VP, Franchise Head for Lung, Skin, Tumor Agnostic, and Rare Cancers at Genentech, Inc. from April 2018 to May 2021, and previously held various positions at Genentech, Inc. from 2002 to April 2018, including global launch lead and lifecycle leader for Tecentriq in lung cancer. From 1999 to 2002, he was Senior Consultant at Front Line Strategic Management Consulting. Prior to this served as a Senior Research Executive at IMS Health in the Pharma Strategy Group from 1996 to 1999 and Clinical Research Scientist at the Central Public Health Laboratory from 1993 to 1996.
He obtained his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of London in 1999, his M.S. in Biotechnology from the Imperial College London in 1993, and his B.S. in Microbiology and Microbial Technology from the University of Warwick in 1992.
Mark A. Goldsmith, M.D., Ph.D.
President, Chief Executive Officer and Board Chairman
Mark grew up around academic medical centers and knew early on that he would devote his professional life to medical science on behalf of patients. After studying biology and science in human affairs at Princeton University, he pursued a dual career in clinical medicine and scientific research through the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). After postgraduate training at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School and UCSF, Mark joined the faculty of the UCSF School of Medicine, led a dynamic research laboratory within the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology focused on the pathogenesis of and discovery of new treatments for life-threatening viral diseases, and taught and practiced medicine at the San Francisco General Hospital/UCSF. He co-authored 85 scientific publications and is co-inventor on multiple issued patents and applications. He also served as assistant director of the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology and was consultant and collaborator to a variety of small and large biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
Mark has also been active in business since childhood, negotiating his first significant technology deal while a graduate student. After a productive career in academia, he was recruited to the private sector, where he served in senior management roles in private and public biotechnology companies, including Genencor International and Constellation Pharmaceuticals, where he drove the development of an industry-leading strategic alliance with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group. Prior to Revolution Medicines, he served as chief executive officer of four companies spanning early discovery through full development. He also served as senior executive-in-residence at Prospect Venture Partners. In 2012, Mark joined Third Rock Ventures full-time to lead its West Coast operations and design, launch and build new biotech companies. As partner, he led the collaboration with David Pompliano, Marty Burke and others that gave rise to Revolution Medicines. From 2015-2018 Mark served as a part-time venture partner at Third Rock Ventures.
Mark holds an A.B. from Princeton University and an M.D. and Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from UCSF. He was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.
In addition to his role at Revolution Medicines, he serves as chairman of the board for Constellation Pharmaceuticals and is a board director for Nura Bio, a start-up in the field of neurodegeneration.
Liz McKee Anderson
With degrees in engineering and finance and an early career in the chemicals industry, Liz soon discovered her passion for bringing innovative medicines to market to prevent or treat life-threatening disease. Applying a strong analytic framework, strategic discipline and commercial experience in leading high-growth businesses, she brings a deep commitment to partnerships with R&D and operating colleagues to benefit patients.
Liz previously served as the worldwide vice president and commercial leader in the infectious diseases and vaccines global commercial strategy organization at Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a Johnson & Johnson company. In this role, she led strategy, global commercialization and market access for the respiratory infections, HIV, sexually transmitted infections and bacterial pathogens portfolios. Liz also helped develop and execute Janssen’s first global vaccines strategy and played a key role in the acquisition of vaccines company Crucell N.V. She held several leadership positions within Johnson & Johnson, including worldwide vice president, immunology & respiratory, global strategic marketing, and worldwide vice president, global strategic marketing for the biotechnology, immunology and oncology business unit. Liz played key roles in the launch or life cycle management of important Janssen brands, including STELARA, SIMPONI, VELCADE and REMICADE, in the development of numerous early- and medium-stage compounds and in the advancement of therapeutic area and company strategies. During her tenure, she served on the Centocor, Inc. and Crucell management boards, the Centyrex and Betalogics internal venture boards, the BIO R&D management board and the Pharmaceuticals Group development committee.
Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson, Liz was the vice president and general manager of Wyeth Vaccines from 1997 to 2002, where she played a key role in the launch of PREVNAR, a first-in-class vaccine that achieved $1 billion in sales within 18 months of introduction, the most successful launch in the 75-year history of Wyeth and for which she received the President’s Award. Earlier in her career, Liz served as the vice president and general manager for the U.S. biopharmaceuticals business of Rhone Poulenc Rorer and as the vice president of plasma operations for the American National Red Cross.
Liz holds a B.S. in engineering from Rutgers College of Engineering and an M.B.A. in finance from the Sellinger School of Business and Management at Loyola University in Maryland. She is the Principal of PureSight Advisory LLC, serves on the board of directors of GSK, BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Inc., Aro Biotherapeutics Company, Insmed, Inc. and The Wistar Institute, a leading biomedical research organization, and the advisory board of Naxion, Inc.
Thilo Schroeder, Ph.D.
Thilo Schroeder, Ph.D. is a Partner at Nextech Invest and has a passion for precision medicines in cancer with a focus on identifying first and best-in-class targeted therapies.
Thilo has been a leading investor in several precision medicine oncology companies and is a board member of PMV Pharma, Circle Pharma, MOMA Therapeutics, Silverback Therapeutics and Black Diamond Therapeutics (BDTX). Past board seats include Blueprint Medicines (BPMC), Peloton Therapeutics (acquired by Merck), IDEAYA Bioscience (IDYA) and ImaginAb.
Thilo began his biotech career at the pioneering cancer immunology company Micromet (acquired by Amgen) while studying at Ecole Supérieure de Biotechnologie de Strasbourg, conducted research at the University of Sydney and obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Zurich, focused on protein engineering in the development of Designed Ankyrin Repeat Proteins (DARPins), a technology now commercialized by Molecular Partners (SWX:MOLN). He also holds a M.Sc. in biotechnology from the Ecole de Supérieure de Biotechnologie de Strasbourg in France, and a B.Sc. in biology from the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany.
Barbara Weber, M.D.
Barbara has been focused on making a difference for patients as long as she can remember – starting with childhood books about people whose lives were changed by medical advances and the exceptional people behind them. In medical school surgery was her specialty of choice, until a rotation at a renowned trauma center made it clear that her aversion to getting up early would be career-limiting. With the recent discovery of oncogenes, oncology merged her passion for genetics and patients.
Barbara served as Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan and Associate and then Professor of Medicine and Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania. She contributed to the identification of the breast cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 and is internationally recognized for her contributions to understanding their function, genetic epidemiology and clinical management.
In 2005, Barbara joined GlaxoSmithKline as Vice President Oncology Discovery and Translational Medicine with the goal of making a difference to cancer patients as genetically-targeted therapies were being developed. She subsequently served as Senior Vice President and Global Head of Oncology Translational Medicine at Novartis, with a single-minded focus on shortening drug development timelines, increasing success rates and implementing patient selection in phase I clinical studies. The highlight of this work was the FDA approval of the ALK inhibitor ceritinib based on the phase I study, three years after the first patient was dosed.
Barbara subsequently joined Third Rock Ventures. As an EIR and then Venture Partner, she played key leadership roles in the design and launch of Neon Therapeutics, Relay Therapeutics, and Tango Therapeutics. After serving as interim CEO for Tango, Barbara decided she couldn’t bear to hand the leadership role over to someone else and accepted appointment as the company’s long-term CEO; as a part-time Venture Partner, Barb continues to advise TRV on selected companies.
Barbara is an elected member of the honorary societies American Association of Physicians and the American Society for Clinical Investigation, of which she served previously as President. She also has served on numerous scientific advisory boards and on the Boards of Directors for both the ASCO and the AACR. Barbara earned a B.S. in chemistry and M.D. from the University of Washington, and completed residency in Internal Medicine at Yale University and fellowship in Medical Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Lorence Kim, M.D.
Dr. Kim is an accomplished healthcare industry leader who has made significant contributions across the biotechnology and financial industries during his career at Moderna and Goldman Sachs. He has extensive operational expertise and an extraordinary track record in raising capital for high-growth health care companies.
Dr. Kim has served as a venture partner at Third Rock Ventures since September 2020. Dr. Kim was previously the chief financial officer of Moderna, Inc., where over six years from April 2014 to June 2020, he was instrumental in raising $4.4 billion in capital to support the company’s platform efforts in mRNA therapeutics and the development of its pipeline of more than 20 drug candidates spanning oncology and other therapeutic areas. Before joining Moderna, Dr. Kim had a highly productive 14-year career at Goldman Sachs, where he advised numerous companies as a managing director and co-head of biotechnology investment banking.
Dr. Kim currently serves on the boards of directors of Cowen Inc., Flare Therapeutics, Inc., and Abata Therapeutics, Inc. and previously served on the board of directors of Seres Therapeutics, Inc. He is also on the Board of Governors of the American Red Cross. Dr. Kim received an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, an M.B.A. in healthcare management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an A.B. in biochemical sciences from Harvard University.
Eric T. Schmidt, Ph.D.
Eric T. Schmidt, Ph.D. currently serves as the chief financial officer of Allogene Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of allogeneic cell therapies for cancer. Previously, he was managing director and senior biotechnology analyst at Cowen and Company. During his two decades at Cowen, he was a highly trusted industry analyst whose work was recognized in polls conducted by The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Alpha Magazine, and Institutional Investor.
Prior to joining Cowen in 1998, Eric was vice president and research analyst covering the biotechnology sector at UBS Securities.
Eric also serves on the board of directors for Relmada Therapeutics, Inc. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he serves on the visiting committee for the department of biology.
Flavia Borellini, Ph.D.
Dr. Borellini brings extensive experience in the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries, including her track record in precision oncology, her experience as an executive and her service as a director for other biotechnology companies.
Dr. Borellini has served as a member of the board of directors of Kartos Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company, since February 2018 and as a member of the board of directors of Cantargia AB, a publicly traded biotechnology company, since October 2020. Dr. Borellini served as the Global Franchise Head, Hematology at AstraZeneca PLC, a pharmaceutical company, from September 2018 to January 2020. Dr. Borellini previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of Acerta Pharma LLC, a biotechnology company, from February 2016 to February 2019. Dr. Borellini has also led the global development, approval and launch of several oncology drugs, including a first-in-class EGFR T790M inhibitor (osimertinib, AstraZeneca), a first-in-class BRAF inhibitor (vemurafenib, Roche), and served as the program leader for a HER2 Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer inhibitor (trastuzumab) and an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (erlotinib) at Genentech. Dr. Borellini also previously held a Research Assistant Professor position at Georgetown University in Washington D.C.
Dr. Borellini received a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Modena in Italy and completed her post-doctoral training at the National Cancer Institute.
Advisors
Julian Adams, Ph.D.
Senior Advisor and Scientific Advisory Board Member
Dr. Adams has more than 30 years of experience in drug discovery and development with a strong focus on cancer research. Dr. Adams, recently joined Gamida Cell as CEO and Chairman, and also serves Clal Biotechnology Industries as its Scientific Advisor. He was previously president of research and development at Infinity Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining Infinity in 2003, Dr. Adams was the senior vice president of drug discovery and development at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, where he headed multiple global drug discovery and development programs, including the successful Velcade® (bortezomib) program. Dr. Adams also held senior positions in research and development at LeukoSite (acquired by Millennium) and at ProScript, as well as in medicinal chemistry at Boehringer Ingelheim, where he is credited with discovering Viramune® (nevirapine) for HIV.
Julian has received many awards, including the 2012 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize for his role in the discovery and development of bortezomib, the 2012 C. Chester Stock Award Lectureship from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and the 2001 Ribbon of Hope Award for Velcade® from the International Myeloma Foundation. He is an inventor on more than 40 patents and has authored over 100 papers and book chapters in peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Adams received his B.S. from McGill University and his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also received a Doctor of Science, honoris causa, from McGill University in 2012.
Trever Bivona, M.D., Ph.D.
Senior Advisor and Scientific Advisory Board Member
Trever is a professor at the University of California, San Francisco and a medical oncologist with a Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology. He maintains an active academic clinical practice and leads a basic and translational research laboratory focused on cancer genetics, precision medicine, and the molecular basis of targeted therapy response and resistance. Trever’s research has led to the discovery of several mechanisms of resistance to EGFR-targeted therapy, BRAF- and MEK-targeted therapy and ALK-targeted therapy in lung and other cancers.
Trever is the recipient of numerous awards including the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, the Pew-Stewert Scholar Award and the Searle Scholars Award, the Doris Duke Clinical Scientist Development Award and is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation.
Trever attended the New York University School of Medicine where he received his M.D. and Ph.D.
S. Gail Eckhardt, M.D.
Senior Advisor and Scientific Advisory Board Member
S. Gail Eckhardt is a tenured Professor, inaugural Director of the Livestrong Cancer Institutes, Chair of the Department of Oncology, and Associate Dean of Cancer Programs at the University of Texas at Austin’s Dell Medical School. Prior to joining UT Austin, Dr. Eckhardt was at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, where she was Division Head of Medical Oncology, Associate Director for Translational Research at the University of Colorado Comprehensive Cancer Center and Director of the Phase I Program and Fellowship. Dr. Eckhardt has served on numerous committees and study sections, including the ASCO Molecular Oncology Task Force, the ASCO Board of Directors, the FDA Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee, and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Centers Study Section. She is a member of the NCI Investigational Drug Steering Committee and serves on 11 external advisory boards of NCI-designated cancer centers, was a lead mentor in ASCO’s Leadership Development Program and currently is a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI).
Dr. Eckhardt is the Principal Investigator on grants involving early clinical trials and colorectal cancer research, has conducted numerous phase I and II clinical trials and has published over 200 manuscripts. Her area of interest is in the preclinical and early clinical development of combinations of molecularly targeted compounds, with a laboratory focus on colorectal cancer. Dr. Eckhardt earned her undergraduate degree in chemistry from Stephen F. Austin State University and her medical degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. She conducted her internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Virginia Medical School, followed by a post-doctoral research fellowship in Experimental and Molecular Medicine at Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, and a fellowship in Medical Oncology at the University of California San Diego.
Eric Gordon, Ph.D.
Senior Advisor and Scientific Advisory Board Member
Eric's mother was very afraid of the chemistry set he received as a gift. "This must be powerful stuff," Eric concluded. Thus, Eric began a lifelong love affair with chemistry, drug discovery and chasing innovation.
Eric became a well-known medicinal chemist, senior drug discovery executive, biotech entrepreneur, venture capital investor, science-stage biotech consultant and consulting Stanford professor. He now has 40 years of overall experience in the biotech/pharmaceutical industries, which includes 10 in biotech startups and 11 in venture investing. He has had close involvement in the discovery/development of five approved drugs (plus three in Phase 3 development) and has participated in the founding/co-founding of five companies, two of which were sold to big pharma.
Eric is an accepted authority on medicinal chemistry, antibiotic/natural product chemistry and creating drugs through enzyme inhibition. He has authored more than 200 scientific manuscripts and U.S. patents, and portions of three books, including editing a comprehensive book on combinatorial chemistry. He is the senior author of two manuscripts, which during 1994-1996 were the most frequently cited chemistry papers in the world. For the 32-year period 1975-2007, these two papers were the number two and three most cited papers to appear in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
In 1997 he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He received his Ph.D. and M.S. in medicinal chemistry from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and conducted postdoctoral work at Yale University. Eric is also a practicing artist who had his first exhibit in 2016. He is a lifelong Yankee fan, but is old enough to have attended Woodstock, the Beatles concert at Shea Stadium in 1965 and the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago.
John Kuriyan, Ph.D.
Senior Advisor and Scientific Advisory Board Member
John is a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Howard Hughes Investigator, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society, London (2015). John’s research focuses on the structure and mechanism of the enzymes and molecular switches that carry out cellular signal transduction.
John is the recipient of many awards, including the 2005 Richard Lounsbery Award, US National Academy of Science and the 2009 Merck Award, American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology for his contributions to structural biology. He is an academic founder of Nurix Pharmaceuticals and a member of the advisory board of Carmot Therapeutics and Amgen, Inc.
John received his B.S. from Juniata College and his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.