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Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) |
Robert C. Gallo, MD
SAB Chair
Robert Gallo is currently the Director of
the Institute of Human Virology and Division of Basic Science at the
University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute. Prior to becoming
director of the Institute in 1996, Dr. Gallo spent 30 years at the
National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute (NCI), where
he was head of its Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology.During his time at
the NCI, Dr. Gallo and his team were not only co-discoverers of HIV but
pioneered the development of the HIV blood test. The AIDS virus blood
screen now allows more rapid diagnosis of infection while simultaneously
protecting patients receiving blood transfusions. In 1996, Dr. Gallo and
his team his discovered that a natural compound known as chemokines can
block the HIV virus and halt the progression of AIDS.Prior to the AIDS
epidemic, Dr. Gallo and his team identified the human leukemia
retrovirus HTLV, one of few known viruses shown to cause a human cancer.
Dr. Gallo is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the
Institute of Medicine. He holds 19 honorary doctorates and has been
awarded the Albert Lasker Award in Medicine twice (1982 and 1986). Dr.
Gallo was the most referenced scientist in the world in the 1980s and
1990s, and is the author of more than 1,100 scientific publications and
the book “Virus Hunting - AIDS, Cancer & the Human Retrovirus: A Story
of Scientific Discovery.” |
Yuan Chang, MD
SAB Member
Yuan Chang is a professor in the Department
of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr.
Chang, along with her husband, Patrick Moore, M.D., discovered Kaposi's
sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), also called human herpesvirus 8.
KSHV causes Kaposi's sarcoma, the most common malignancy occurring in
AIDS patients. Prior to their discovery, scientists had worked for 20
years to find an infectious agent associated with Kaposi's sarcoma. Dr.
Chang received her medical degree from the University of Utah College of
Medicine. Prior to her position at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr.
Chang was a professor of pathology at Columbia University. Along with
Dr. Moore, She has published more than 90 articles and reviews in the
medical literature. She serves on the editorial boards of the American
Journal of Pathology and the Journal of Human Virology, and has received
numerous awards, including the Meyenburg Foundation Award for Cancer
Research, the Robert Koch Prize and the New York City Mayor's Award for
Excellence in Science & Technology. |
Roger D. Kornberg, PhD
SAB Member
Roger Kornberg is a professor of
structural biology and the Mrs. George A. Winzer Professor in Medicine
at the Stanford University School of Medicine where his research is
focused on understanding the fundamental workings of gene regulation.
Prof. Kornberg was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his
seminal studies of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription, the
biological process by which genetic information from DNA is copied to
RNA. Prof. Kornberg obtained his PhD from Stanford University and did
his postdoctoral studies with Aaron Klug and Francis Crick at the
Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology in
Cambridge (UK) where he discovered the nucleosome. His Nobel
Prize-winning work included discovery of Mediator, a protein complex
required to facilitate gene transcription, as well the solution of the
three-dimensional crystal structure of RNA polymerase II, the most
complex protein structure solved to date. Kornberg’s research has
provided new insights into the mechanism of disease when transcription
goes awry and offers the potential for unlocking new therapeutic
approaches. From 1984 to1992, Kornberg served as chair of the Department
of Structural Biology at Stanford. Kornberg is a member of the National
Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences. In addition to the Nobel Prize, Prof. Kornberg has been
honored for his work with the Eli Lilly Award, the Passano Award, the
Ciba-Drew Award, the Gairdner International Award (shared with R.
Roeder), the Hoppe-Seyler Lecture Award, the Harvey Prize from the
Technion (Israel Institute of Technology), the ASBMB-Merck Award, the
Pasarow Award in Cancer Research, the Le Grand Prix Charles-Leopold
Mayer, and the 2005 Alfred P. Sloan Jr. Prize. |
Ernest Mario, PhD
SAB Member
Dr. Mario has 40 years of experience in the
pharmaceutical industry. He began his career in 1966 as a pharmaceutical
researcher at Strasenburgh Laboratories in Rochester, NY. He later held
various management positions within SmithKline and Squibb, and joined
Glaxo PLC in 1986, rising to the position of Chief Executive and Deputy
Chairman. During his tenure at Glaxo, Dr. Mario oversaw the launch of
five major brands that grew the company's sales and profits by nearly 15
percent annually. In 1993, Dr. Mario became CEO of ALZA Corporation,
which was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2001 in one of the largest
mergers in the pharmaceutical industry. He then went on to serve as
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Reliant Pharmaceuticals which
was aquired by GSK for $1.65 billion in 2007. Dr. Mario currently is the
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Capnia, Inc. a privately-held
drug development company focused on developing novel treatments for
migraine, rhinitis and other conditions.
Dr. Mario is an adjunct professor of pharmacy at the University of Rhode
Island and a Venture Partner with Pappas Ventures, a North Carolina
based Life Sciences Venture Capital Firm. He is a former trustee of Duke
University and past Chairman of the Duke University Health System Board.
Dr. Mario received a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from Rutgers
University and a Ph.D. in Physical Sciences from the University of Rhode
Island. He also holds honorary doctorates from Rutgers University and
the University of Rhode Island. |
Patrick S. Moore, MD, MPH
SAB Member
Patrick Moore is a professor in the
Department of Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry at the University of
Pittsburgh School of Medicine and leader of the molecular virology
program at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI). Dr.
Moore focuses his research on the link between viruses and cancer. Dr.
Moore, along with his wife, Yuan Chang, M.D., discovered Kaposi's
sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), also called human herpesvirus 8.
KSHV causes Kaposi's sarcoma, the most common malignancy occurring in
AIDS patients. Prior to this discovery, scientists had worked for 20
years to find an infectious agent associated with Kaposi's sarcoma. Dr.
Moore received his medical degree from the University of Utah College of
Medicine. Along with Dr. Chang, he has published more than 90 articles
and reviews in the medical literature. He currently serves on the
editorial board of Virus Research, Emerging Infectious Diseases and the
Epstein-Barr Virus Report. He has received numerous awards, including
the Meyenburg Foundation Award for Cancer Research, the Robert Koch
Prize and the New York City Mayor's Award for Excellence in Science &
Technology. |
Pat Scannon, MD, PhD
SAB Member
Pat Scannon is the Company Founder,
Executive Vice President, Chief Biotechnology Officer, and a member of
the Board of Directors, of XOMA Ltd. Since 1980, Dr. Scannon has
directed the Company's product identification, evaluation, and clinical
testing programs. As Chief Biotechnology Officer, he heads the clinical
and preclinical research programs, evaluating several classes of
biologic compounds, and conducting clinical studies for infectious,
oncologic, and immunologic indications. Dr. Scannon holds a Ph.D. in
organic chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and a
medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia. He completed his
medical internship and residency at the Letterman Army Medical Center in
San Francisco. A Board-certified internist, Dr. Scannon is also a member
of the American College of Physicians. He has served as a Trustee of the
University of California Berkeley Foundation and is a member of the
University of California Berkeley Chancellor's Community Advisory Board.
He has served or is serving on the Boards of several companies and
institutions, and is currently a member of the DSRC (Defense Sciences
Research Council), an advisory board for DARPA (Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency). Dr. Scannon is inventor or co-inventor of
several issued U.S. patents, and he has published numerous scientific
abstracts and papers. |
Hans Wigzell, MD, PhD
SAB Member
Hans Wigzell was the President
of the Karolinska Institute between 1995 - 2003. He graduated from the
Karolinska Institute as a Physician (MD). He also attained a DSc and
took a post as a special cancer scientist with the Swedish Cancer
Society. In 1971 he returned to the Karolinska as Acting Associate
Professor in the Department of Tumor Biology. After two years he became
a Professor in the Department of Immunology at Uppsala University
Medical School. In 1982 he returned again to the Karolinska as a
Professor in the Department of Immunology and in 1988 he became Director
General of the National Bacteriological Laboratory in Stockholm. In 1990
he was elected Chairman of the EU Concerted Research Programme into AIDS
vaccination and from 1990-1992 he was Chairman of the Nobel Committee.
In 1993 he was appointed Secretary-General of the Swedish Institute for
Infectious Disease Control. Since 1999 he has been a Chief Scientific
Advisor to the Swedish Government, and he is one of eleven appointed
advisors to the EU-commissioner for research Philippe Busquin on life
science issues.He was appointed Chairman of the Nobel Assembly in 2000
and in 2002 he has been appointed Chairman for the WHO-UNAIDS Vaccine
Advisory Committee. Professor Wigzell is an elected member of the Royal
Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering
Sciences, the Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters, the Danish
Academy of Sciences and Letters, EMBO, Academia Europea and honorary
member of the American Society for Immunology. Professor Wigzell has
been awarded a number of prizes including the Anders Jahre Medical
Prize, the Erik Fernstrom's Prize for Young Scientists, the Russel
Weiser Lecturer Prize and the Smith Lecture Award. He has published over
600 articles and is a member of the editorial boards of several
international journals. |
Howard J. Worman, MD
SAB Member
Howard Worman is Professor of
Medicine and Anatomy and Cell Biology at Columbia University’s College
of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Worman received his B.A. from Cornell
University and M.D. from the University of Chicago. He did clinical
training in internal medicine at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical
Center and postdoctoral research training in cell biology at Rockefeller
University. His laboratory research is focused on the cell biology of
cancer, the effects of the hepatitis C virus on liver cells and the
characterization of antibodies in autoimmune liver diseases. Dr.
Worman’s clinical practice is devoted to consultation in liver diseases.
He has also been principal investigator and FDA Sponsor of
investigational new drug trials for patients with chronic hepatitis C.
In 1998, Dr. Worman was elected to membership in the American Society
for Clinical Investigator. Dr. Worman has published more than 70 medical
and scientific papers and serves on the Editorial Board of Hepatology,
the official journal of the American Society for the Study of Liver
Diseases, and the World Journal of Gastroenterology. He also has
numerous publications on liver diseases for the lay audience. He is
author of The Liver Disorders Sourcebook (Lowell House, 1999) and
creator of the popular Diseases of the Liver Web site. |
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