About Us
About SynDevRx
We are dedicated to making Metabo-Oncology a new cancer treatment modality.
The SynDevRx team includes an impressive roster of well-respected business leaders, clinical oncologists, leaders in academic research, professors from premier institutions and experienced drug development professionals.
Cancer is a complex, multifaceted disease that demands an inter-disciplinary approach to effectively address it. We’re founded on the principals of collaboration and integrated, multi-disciplinary teamwork.


Cancer demands extraordinary resources to grow and to spread.
The Hallmarks of Cancer teaches us that starving cancer makes targeted treatments more effective.
Our goal is to break cancer’s supply chain of blood, oxygen, and nutrients that enable cancer cells to proliferate and spread.
We aim to accomplish this with our lead drug candidate evexomostat, which combines two clinically-validated approaches in cancer treatment (Anti-angiogenesis and metabolic control) into one well-tolerated, convenient and effective drug.
Combining these effects into one easy treatment is expected to work hand-in-hand with other cancer treatment modalities to attack cancer from multiple directions and improve patient outcomes.
Vision - Metabo-Oncology as a Backbone treatment
We see metabo-oncology – and evexomostat – as a backbone treatment for any cancer patient with systemic metabolic dysfunction (obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance) and/or highly vascularized tumors.
Used in combination with standard-of-care therapies, evexomostat complements the vision of integrated cancer treatment described long ago in “The Hallmarks of Cancer“.

Our Team
SynDevRx is led by biotech business veterans with deep experience in drug development, corporate governance, operations, finance and business development.
We take pride in running an innovative, results-oriented business in a cash-efficient manner. Since launching the company in 2007, the co-founders have surrounded themselves with an experienced and dedicated team of brilliant people who share their passion for bringing life-changing therapeutics to patients.

Bradley Carver
Co-Founder, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer

Bradley Carver
Co-Founder, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer
Brad has over 25 years experience as a biotech senior executive and has led teams that have developed and advanced two novel cancer drugs deep into clinical trials.
Prior to SynDevRx, Brad was president (1993-2006), CEO (2000-2006), chairman of the board (2003-2006) and director (1993-2006) at GlycoGenesys (Russell 2000 and NASDAQ). Under his leadership, the company raised over $80 million in equity financing and co-development funding, completed a partnership deal with Elan Pharmaceuticals, developed one of the first complex carbohydrate cancer drug candidates to be tested clinically and conducted five clinical trials in cancer patients. He grew GlycoGenesys to over 55 employees at its peak, including a subsidiary that developed novel products for the agricultural, consumer and industrial markets.
Brad earned a B.A. degree from the College of Business at Michigan State University.

James M. Shanahan
Co-Founder, Chief Business Officer and Director

James M. Shanahan
Co-Founder, Chief Business Officer and Director
Jim has over 20 years of business start-up and operational experience with biotech and technology companies.
At SynDevRx, Jim in responsible for developing the company’s business plans, strategic direction and outreach, operations, IP, and funding. Previously, Jim co-founded JAM Technologies, a fabless semiconductor company serving the consumer electronics and specialty electronics markets, where he served as vice president of corporate development (1998-2006) and on the board of directors (1998-2003). There, he focused on fundraising, executing licensing transactions and forming strategic co-development partnerships, including with AKM, Intel and Apple. Previously, he has served as a consultant to Ariana Pharmaceuticals, which provides healthcare data analytics to the pharmaceutical and biotech markets.
Jim is a member of the BIO trade organization’s tax and finance committee, a regular mentor at MassBio MassConnect, founding member of the French-American Biotech Springboard, a professional association working under the auspices of the French-American Chamber of Commerce. He is also an active coach and mentor to numerous startups in the Boston area. Jim has many issued patents, studied engineering and French at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and attended L’Universite Catholique (Angers, France) in 1983.
Senior Management
SynDevRx operates a lean organization.
Our team members have large-pharma, biotech, start-up and CRO experience giving SynDevRx well-balanced, professional guidance and program execution.

Peter Cornelius, Ph.D.
Senior Director, Translational Research

Peter Cornelius, Ph.D.
Senior Director, Translational Research
Dr. Cornelius earned his B.A. in biology from Skidmore College and his Ph.D. in biochemistry from East Carolina University School of Medicine, where he studied the regulation of lipid and glucose metabolism by inflammatory cytokines. Following postdoctoral work at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he studied the development and function of adipose cells, he joined the Department of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Diseases at Pfizer. During his career at Pfizer (1995-2011), he initiated numerous projects and led successful teams that identified clinical candidates targeting diverse pathways impacting dyslipidemia, obesity and type 2 diabetes. Prior to joining SynDevRx in 2015, Dr. Cornelius held senior positions at two startup biotech companies, SystaMedic and Wellomics, where he made significant contributions to each company’s pipeline. Throughout his career, he has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and presented frequently at both national and international conferences.

David Neafus, MBA, CPA
Consulting Chief Financial Officer

David Neafus, MBA, CPA
Consulting Chief Financial Officer
David is a seasoned financial and operating executive specializing in startups, turnarounds, IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, debt financings and equity financings. He has substantial experience working with boards of directors for biotechnology companies, high technology, clean technology and others. At SynDevRx, he and his team focus on company finances, including reporting, budgeting, business strategy and funding.
Since 1992 David has operated his own consulting firm, providing executive services and specializing in interim executive management, IPOs, turnarounds, strategic analysis, and mergers and acquisitions. Previous clients include Padlock Therapeutics (where as CFO, he helped the company complete its $600M acquisition by BMS), Stromedix (where as CFO, he helped the company complete its $500M+ acquisition by Biogen), GlycoFi (where as CFO, he helped the company complete its $400M acquisition by Merck), Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (where as VP of finance, he led the company to a successful IPO), Infinity Pharmaceuticals (where he served as VP of finance and administration) and Millennium Pharmaceuticals (where he served as corporate controller). Earlier in his career, he spent four years as an auditor at KPMG.
David received his B.S. degree in accounting from the University of Minnesota and MBA from Bentley University. He is also a certified public accountant.

Benjamin Mayes, Ph.D.
Director, Process Development

Benjamin Mayes, Ph.D.
Director, Process Development
Dr. Mayes has worked in the biopharmaceutical industry since 2004. Prior to joining SynDevRx in 2015, he spent 11 years at Idenix Pharmaceuticals working in the field of direct-acting antivirals for the treatment of HBV, HIV and HCV. As director of chemistry, manufacturing and controls, he was responsible for a wide range of activities, including API process R&D, solid-state chemistry, API production, formulation development and CTM manufacturing to enable the rapid progression of Phase 1 and 2 studies. Additionally, he was responsible for leading a focused discovery program into novel nucleosides and nucleotide prodrug inhibitors targeting HCV NS5B polymerase.
Dr. Mayes is the principal inventor of the prodrug technology for IDX21437 (now MK-3682), the key asset within an anti-HCV portfolio for which Idenix was acquired by Merck for $3.85 billion in 2014. He obtained his M.Chem. and D.Phil. (Ph.D.) degrees in synthetic organic chemistry from the University of Oxford under the supervision of Professor G.W.J. Fleet. He is co-author or co-inventor on many journal articles, presentations and patent applications.

David M. Browning, M.T., MBA
Consulting Clinical Operations Manager

David M. Browning, M.T., MBA
Consulting Clinical Operations Manager
David has over two decades of clinical drug development experience. Prior to joining SynDevRx in 2016, he helped start and build the international oncology-focused clinical research organization, Medelis. As COO and vice president of clinical operations, he made key contributions to the company’s growth by closing over $50 million in research service agreements; managing worldwide clinical operations; establishing a global network of medical, regulatory, safety and quality assurance experts; and ensuring clinical trial compliance with ICH/GCP principles.
While at the NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, David oversaw the daily operations of the Clinical Trials Office, which was responsible for 175+ oncology clinical trials and 13 investigational new drugs. He has directly managed over 30 Phase 1 through 3 clinical trials worldwide from research through drug approval. Most of these trials were oncology studies, but he also has experience in the infectious disease, cardiovascular, ophthalmology, central nervous system and dental therapeutic areas.
David holds an MBA in marketing and new venture analysis and a bachelor’s degree in biology/biological science from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, as well as a master’s degree in theology/theological studies from Lipscomb University.

Pierre J. Dufour, M.S.
Senior Director, Data Analytics

Pierre J. Dufour, M.S.
Senior Director, Data Analytics
Pierre is responsible for designing and building SynDevRx’s data warehouse and data mining solutions. He brings 30 years of accomplishment and invention in the areas of data management, data warehouse design and implementation, and advanced data analytics.
After earning a B.S. in computer science from MIT, Pierre was one of the early employees at Oracle and worked with the database development team as a development manager. Over a 17-year period, he invented or co-invented numerous technologies that proved of enormous benefit to Oracle’s clients, including the PL/SQL language and parts of the JDBC specification. He also invented and built foundational technologies for Oracle’s eBusiness suite that enabled the development of robust eCommerce applications and avoided the necessity of rewriting millions of lines of code. In addition, he led multiple teams that have designed and built the industry standards for database-tier programming and in supporting highly scalable web servers (e.g. Amazon.com), which must handle tens of thousands of concurrent transactions.
Over his career, Pierre has designed and built data analytics solutions on a wide variety of topics, including bioinformatics and genomics, and corporate client analysis (using cluster analysis and neural networks, etc.). His research has included genetic algorithms and web scraping of social media. In 2016, he completed a master’s in business data analytics from Bentley University.

Lisa Koch-Hulle, RAC
co-Founder, Essential Regulatory

Lisa Koch-Hulle, RAC
co-Founder, Essential Regulatory
Lisa was a Principal at LKH & Associates. Previously, she was the Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Clinical Operations at La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company. Also, she was the Vice President of Clinical Operations and Regulatory Affairs for Light Sciences Oncology.
The SynDevRx Board of Directors includes our two co-founders along with outside board members who provide valuable insights into financing, clinical development and other aspects of our business.
All board members play an active role in shaping the direction and strategy of the company.

Michael Clifford
Director

Michael Clifford
Director
Mike has over 20 years’ experience launching and advising global brands from start-up phase through IPO.
Mike began his career in corporate finance at JP Morgan, advising clients on a wide variety of transactions. At J. Walter Thompson, he was involved in the creation of global marketing strategies for multi-national clients. He subsequently founded Clifford Public Relations, LLC to deliver public relations, branding, and strategic marketing services to a broad range of B2B and B2C clients, including: Nike, AT&T Wireless, Visa, OpenTable, Hachette, Starwood, and Land Rover, among others. Clifford PR was acquired by MDC Partners, LLC, a NASDAQ company.
Mike continues to work closely with entrepreneurs as an angel and early-stage investor and serves on a variety of corporate and non-profit boards. Mike graduated from The Lawrenceville School and received a B.A. cum laude from Cornell University.

Charles Flynn
Director

Charles Flynn
Director
Charles Flynn is a portfolio manager for North Channel, a single family office, where he has responsibility for investments in all asset classes.
Before North Channel, he was Co-Portfolio Manager of the Mariner Explorer Fund, a fund of hedge funds focusing on non-traditional investment strategies such as insurance-linked securities, commodities and royalty assets. Prior to joining Mariner Mr. Flynn was a Director and Portfolio Manager for K2 Advisors, a fund of hedge funds firm. Before joining K2, Mr. Flynn worked for Securitas Capital, LLC, a private equity firm focusing on investments in the financial services industry. Mr. Flynn graduated from Yale University in 2000 with a B.A. degree in Economics.

James M. Shanahan
Co-Founder, Chief Business Officer and Director

James M. Shanahan
Co-Founder, Chief Business Officer and Director
Jim has over 20 years of business start-up and operational experience with biotech and technology companies.
At SynDevRx, Jim in responsible for developing the company’s strategic business plans, strategic direction and outreach, operations, IP, and funding. Previously, Jim co-founded JAM Technologies, a fabless semiconductor company serving the consumer electronics and specialty electronics markets, where he served as vice president of corporate development (1998-2006) and on the board of directors (1998-2003). There, he focused on fundraising, executing licensing transactions and forming strategic co-development partnerships, including with AKM, Intel and Apple. Previously, he has served as a consultant to Ariana Pharmaceuticals, which provides healthcare data analytics to the pharmaceutical and biotech markets.
Jim is a member of the BIO trade organization’s tax and finance committee, a regular mentor at MassBio MassConnect, founding member of the French-American Biotech Springboard, a professional association working under the auspices of the French-American Chamber of Commerce. He is also an active coach and mentor to numerous startups in the Boston area. Jim has many issued patents, studied engineering and French at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and attended L’Universite Catholique (Angers, France) in 1983.
At SynDevRx, Jim in responsible for developing the company’s strategic business plans, strategic direction and outreach, operations, IP, and funding. Previously, Jim co-founded JAM Technologies, a fabless semiconductor company serving the consumer electronics and specialty electronics markets, where he served as vice president of corporate development (1998-2006) and on the board of directors (1998-2003). There, he focused on fundraising, executing licensing transactions and forming strategic co-development partnerships, including with AKM, Intel and Apple. Previously, he has served as a consultant to Ariana Pharmaceuticals, which provides healthcare data analytics to the pharmaceutical and biotech markets.
Jim is a member of the BIO trade organization’s tax and finance committee, a regular mentor at MassBio MassConnect, founding member of the French-American Biotech Springboard, a professional association working under the auspices of the French-American Chamber of Commerce. He is also an active coach and mentor to numerous startups in the Boston area. Jim has many issued patents, studied engineering and French at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and attended L’Universite Catholique (Angers, France) in 1983.

Bradley Carver
Co-Founder, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer

Bradley Carver
Co-Founder, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer
Brad is co-founder, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of SynDevRx, Inc. He has 28 years of experience as a senior biotech executive, leading both public and private companies.
He has successfully built and financed two biotechnology companies from inception through to mid-stage clinical trials, raised over $100 million, and has experience in successfully forging a broad array of strategic partnerships including with pharma, premier research institutions, manufacturing, and research companies. Mr. Carver is the co-creator of the drug development concept and founding principles from which SynDevRx was formed.
Previously, Mr. Carver was co-founder, President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of GlycoGenesys, Inc. ($GLGS), formerly SafeScience, Inc. (NASDAQ: $SAFS/Member of the Russell 2000), serving as President from 1993 to 2006, President and CEO from 2000 to 2006 and President, CEO and Chairman of the Board from 2003 to 2006. Under Mr. Carver’s leadership, the oncology-focused company raised >$80 million in equity financing, completed a strategic oncology partnership with Elan Plc, grew its market cap to over $500 million and developed one of the first galectin inhibitors for cancer. The lead drug candidate, GCS-100 based on novel carbohydrate chemistry, advanced to clinical trials for patients with solid and blood borne cancers. Mr. Carver grew the company to 55 employees, which included a division called SafeScience Products, Inc. that developed and launched novel products for the agricultural and consumer markets including a carbohydrate-based product, Elexa®- Plant Defense Booster – a safer – chemical alternative anti-fungal targeting high value crops that successfully received US EPA registration.
Mr. Carver’s career exemplifies the meaning of a true entrepreneur: identifying novel opportunities that are patient and product focused, applying a clear understanding of the market and building efficient, focused companies through the careful use of investor capital and with skill in the “art of execution”. Mr. Carver is co-author on several scientific publications (abstracts, journal articles), co-inventor on multiple patent applications and advises early-stage companies including those that are considering locating to the US. Mr. Carver is a member of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) Finance and Tax Committee in Washington D.C. that provides input on legislative issues to Congress.
Brad earned a B.A. degree from the College of Business at Michigan State University.
The SynDevRx Scientific Advisory Board consists of world-renowned oncologists, clinical trial researchers and academic researchers whose collective expertise spans drug development, MetAP2 biology, oncology, metabo-oncology and angiogenesis.
The board members play a very hands-on role in our drug development program and clinical trials, offering crucial guidance on clinical trial strategy and design, indication selection, biomarker identification and end-point definition.
Breast Cancer Medical Advisors

Hope S. Rugo, M.D.
Professor, Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics, Research Division Chief, Breast Medical Oncology, Women's Cancers Program Director, City of Hope

Hope S. Rugo, M.D.
Professor, Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics, Research Division Chief, Breast Medical Oncology, Women's Cancers Program Director, City of Hope
Dr. Hope S. Rugo is a medical oncologist and hematologist at UCSF specializing in breast cancer research and treatment. A Clinical Professor of Medicine, Dr. Rugo joined the Breast Care Center in 1999 after a decade of experience at UCSF in malignant hematology and bone marrow transplantation for a variety of diseases, including breast cancer. She entered the field of breast cancer in order to incorporate novel therapies based on an understanding of the biology of cancer with excellent quality of care into the treatment of women with breast cancer.
Dr. Rugo is the Director of the Breast Oncology Clinical Trials Program, and is the principal investigator of multiple clinical trials focusing on combining novel targeted therapeutics with standard treatment to improve the treatment of both early and late stage breast cancer. In addition, Dr. Rugo is working on studies to evaluate novel ways to reduce toxicity from therapy. She is an active member of the national cooperative group, CALGB, and a is a founding member of the Breast Cancer Research Consortium, as well as serving as an investigator in the UCSF Breast SPORE (the Bay Area Specialized Program of Research Excellence in Breast Cancer). Dr. Rugo teaches medical students and physicians, and regularly lectures locally, nationally and internationally on subjects relating to the treatment of breast cancer.

Joyce O’Shaughnessy, M.D.
Director, Breast Cancer Research Program Texas Oncology, US Oncology

Joyce O’Shaughnessy, M.D.
Director, Breast Cancer Research Program Texas Oncology, US Oncology
Joyce A. O’Shaughnessy, M.D. specializes in medical oncology with board certification in both internal medicine as well as medical oncology. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine with subspecialty certification in medical oncology. Dr. O’Shaughnessy focuses on breast cancer prevention and treatment. She is Co-Chair of Breast Cancer Research and Chair of Breast Cancer Prevention Research at Baylor-Sammons Cancer Center and for The US Oncology Network and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for US Oncology Research Network. Dr. O’Shaughnessy received her M.D. from Yale University Medical School. Her internship and residency in internal medicine were completed at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1985. She concluded a fellowship in medical oncology at the National Cancer Institute in 1987 and was a Senior Investigator there until 1995.

Neil M. Iyengar, MD
Co-Director, Breast Medical Oncology, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine

Neil M. Iyengar, MD
Co-Director, Breast Medical Oncology, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine
Neil M. Iyengar, MD, is a board-certified medical oncologist who specializes in treating patients with breast cancer. His primary practice location is Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University’s Clifton campus.
Dr. Iyengar serves as director of survivorship services at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University and is a clinical member of Winship’s Glenn Family Breast Center. He is also an associate professor and co-director of the Breast Medical Oncology Program in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine.
As director of survivorship services, Dr. Iyengar leads the strategic direction, operations and integration of survivorship care across Winship and Emory Healthcare. He oversees a comprehensive, personalized program that supports patients with wellness plans tailored to needs such as exercise, nutrition and supportive care. He also directs research initiatives and evidence-based practices in survivorship.
Dr. Iyengar earned his undergraduate and medical degrees through the accelerated program at the University of Illinois at Chicago, graduating with the university’s highest honors. He completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Chicago Medical Center and a fellowship in medical oncology and hematology at Memorial Sloan Kettering.

Lajos L. Pusztai, MD, DPhil
Chair of the Breast Cancer Research Committee of the South West Oncology Group (SWOG)

Lajos L. Pusztai, MD, DPhil
Chair of the Breast Cancer Research Committee of the South West Oncology Group (SWOG)
Lajos Pusztai, MD, DPhil, is a medical oncologist who specializes in breast cancer. He is the co-director of the Genomics, Genetics, and Epigenetics Program at the Yale Cancer Center.
He says he enjoys the delicate work of helping patients overcome the fear and shock of a breast cancer diagnosis. “I ensure that they maximize their chance of cure through the best available treatments,” he says. “I also love the research component of my job, to push the boundaries of existing knowledge and developing new therapies.”
Dr. Pusztai says he gravitated to medical oncology at the beginning of his career because of an inspiring mentor, and that the best part of his job is seeing patients remain disease-free for years and continuing with their life.
He is chair of the Breast Cancer Research Committee of the South West Oncology Group (SWOG), a global cancer research community that designs and conducts publicly funded clinical trials. His research group has made important contributions to establish that estrogen receptor-positive and-negative breast cancers have fundamentally different molecular, clinical, and epidemiological characteristics.
He has been a pioneer in evaluating gene expression profiling as a diagnostic technology to predict chemotherapy and endocrine therapy sensitivity and has shown that different biological processes are involved in determining the prognosis and treatment response in different breast cancer subtypes. Dr. Pusztai is also the principal investigator of several clinical trials investigating new drugs, including immunotherapies for breast cancer.
Prostate Cancer Medical Advisors

David M. Nanus, MD
Professor of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College

David M. Nanus, MD
Professor of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College
Dr. Nanus is an internationally recognized leader in the treatment and care of patients with genitourinary (GU) cancers, including cancers of the prostate, kidney, bladder and testes. He is actively involved in clinical, translational and basic research in GU malignancies, serving as principle or co-investigator on a variety of clinical research trials that incorporate novel targeted therapies for his patients. Since 2004, Dr. Nanus who is The Mark W. Pasmantier Professor of Hematology and Oncology in Medicine, has served as Chief of the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Weill Cornell Medical College. He is the recipient of numerous awards including membership in the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the American Association of Physicians.
Dr. Nanus is a graduate of the University of Illinois and the Chicago Medical School. After completing clinical training in Medicine at Albert Einstein and Medical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and research training at the Sloan Kettering Institute, he was invited to join the faculty at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in 1989. Developing a program in GU cancer, he made several important contributions to clinical and basic research in kidney and prostate cancer. He was recruited to the full-time faculty of Weill Cornell Medical College in 1998.
At Weill Cornell, Dr. Nanus helped develop the Genitourinary Oncology Research Program focused on understanding the events that contribute to the progression of urologic cancers, and on developing new and more effective therapies to treat advanced prostate, kidney and bladder cancer.

Ganesh Palapattu, MD, FACS
George F. and Sandy G. Valassis Professor and Chair of the Department of Urology, University of Michigan

Ganesh Palapattu, MD, FACS
George F. and Sandy G. Valassis Professor and Chair of the Department of Urology, University of Michigan
Ganesh S. Palapattu, MD, FACS is The George F. and Sandy G. Valassis Professor and Chair of the Department of Urology. He joined the University of Michigan Department of Urology as Associate Professor and Chief of Urologic Oncology in the Fall of 2012. Prior to this he was the Chief of Urologic Oncology at Houston Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. Dr. Palapattu has held faculty appointments at the University of Rochester School of Medicine in Rochester, NY where he was also Assistant Residency Program Director and Weill Cornell Medical College/The Houston Methodist Hospital.
Dr. Palapattu was born in Toronto, Canada where he developed a passion for street hockey. At the age of 9, his family moved to Houston, Texas where he picked up playing the French horn. Dr. Palapattu graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. degree in the Humanities and subsequently attended Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Palapattu received his surgical/urological training at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and further specialty training in urologic oncology at Johns Hopkins.

Andrew L. Laccetti, MD
Associate Clinical Professor of Genitourinary Medical Oncology at NYU Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center, NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Andrew L. Laccetti, MD
Associate Clinical Professor of Genitourinary Medical Oncology at NYU Langone Perlmutter Cancer Center, NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Dr. Andrew Laccetti specializes in Medical Oncology, with a special focus on Prostate Cancer and Genitourinary Cancer. He practices primarily in New York, NY, and is affiliated with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Laccetti graduated from Albany Medical College in 2012, and completed his training at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology.
- Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Medicine at NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine
- Medical Director, Quality for Hematology and Medical Oncology, Perlmutter Cancer Center Long Island
Board Certifications
- American Board of Internal Medicine (Hematology), 2019
- American Board of Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology), 2019
- American Board of Internal Medicine – Internal Medicine, 2015
Education and Training
- Fellowship, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Hematology & Medical Oncology, 2019
- Residency, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Internal Medicine, 2015
- MD from Albany Medical College, 2012

Philip Kantoff, MD
CEO, co-Founder, Convergent Therapeutics

Philip Kantoff, MD
CEO, co-Founder, Convergent Therapeutics
World-renowned medical oncologist and scientist
Prior to joining Convergent Therapeutics, Dr. Kantoff spent six years as Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he directed a department of approximately 500 physicians and physician-scientists, caring for cancer patients and developing biomarkers and cancer therapies.
He is the Emeritus Jerome and Nancy Kohlberg Chair in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. At the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), he was the Chief of the Solid Tumor Oncology Division, and he served as Director of the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology. In those positions, Dr. Kantoff created robust programs of clinical care and research as well as laboratory research. During this time, he served as a clinical researcher and principal investigator in significant trials devoted to the development of new therapeutic targets for men with advanced prostate cancer and, throughout his tenure at DFCI, he helped to set broad clinical research priorities.
Dr. Kantoff is a member of numerous professional societies and editorial boards, has written more than 500 articles and books, and has lectured throughout the world. Among his significant accomplishments, Dr. Kantoff was honored with the Baruj Benacerraf Clinical Investigator Award from 1994 to 1997 and the Harvard Medical School Kantoff-Sang Lectureship Award from 2011 through the present time. He was also recognized with the first Prostate Cancer Foundation
Scientific Advisory Board (Chair, Bruce R. Zetter, PhD, Harvard Medical)

Andrew Dannenberg, M.D.
Medical Advisor (and SAB)

Andrew Dannenberg, M.D.
Medical Advisor (and SAB)
Dr. Dannenberg was the founding director of the Weill Cornell Cancer Center. He has authored 200+ scientific articles and edited several books and journals. Dr. Dannenberg’s team was the first to show that obesity causes an inflammatory state with related molecular changes in the human breast. More recently, he focused on the relationship between metabolic obesity and increased risk of cancer among normal weight postmenopausal women.
Dr. Dannenberg received his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis and served as a medical resident and fellow at New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center. He is a member of the Association of American Physicians, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the American Association for Cancer Research. In 2011, he was awarded the American Association for Cancer Research/Prevent Cancer Foundation award for excellence in cancer prevention research.

Emily J. Gallagher, MD, PhD
Medical Advisor (and SAB)

Emily J. Gallagher, MD, PhD
Medical Advisor (and SAB)
Dr. Gallagher earned her MB BCh BAO (MD equivalent) with honors from University College Dublin, Ireland and her PhD in Physiology from the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland. She is a member of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (MRCPI), is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology. Dr. Gallagher trained in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology at the Mater Miseriordiae University Hospital, Dublin, and completed her postgraduate training in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology at Mount Sinai. She was Chief Fellow in Endocrinology, and was subsequently appointed Assistant Professor of Medicine Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Diseases. In 2017 she received a Mount Sinai Department of Medicine Junior Faculty Translational Collaborative Research Pilot Award to study the mechanisms underlying the development of endocrine immune related adverse events in oncology patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Her main research and clinical interests lie in understanding the links between obesity, type 2 diabetes and cancer, specifically the roles of hyperinsulinemia and hyperlipidemia.

Roy S. Herbst, M.D., Ph.D.
Medical Advisor (and SAB)

Roy S. Herbst, M.D., Ph.D.
Medical Advisor (and SAB)
Dr. Herbst is recognized for his leadership and expertise in lung cancer treatment and research. His work involves developmental therapeutics and the personalized therapy of non-small cell lung cancer, in particular the process of linking genetic abnormalities of cancer cells to novel therapies. He is the Ensign Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology) and Professor of Pharmacology, chief of medical oncology, Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven; the associate director for translational research, Yale Cancer Center; and the translational working group leader, Thoracic Oncology Program, Yale Cancer Center.
As a member of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), Dr. Herbst has chaired the Tobacco Task Force as well as the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Institute of Medicine’s National Cancer Policy Forum. Currently a fellow of the American College of Physicians, he has also been a vice chair of the Southwest Oncology Group’s lung committee, a member of the medical advisory committee for the Lung Cancer Research Foundation and chair of the communications committee for the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. He has authored 200+ peer-reviewed papers and has current grant funding for his work from sources including the National Cancer Institute, AACR and multiple charitable foundations.
After receiving B.S. and M.S. degrees from Yale University, Dr. Herbst earned his M.D. at Cornell University Medical College and his Ph.D. in molecular cell biology at The Rockefeller University. His postgraduate training included an internship and residency in medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and he completed his clinical fellowships in medicine and hematology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, respectively. Most recently, he completed an M.S. degree in clinical translational research at Harvard University.

Donald E. Ingber, M.D., Ph.D.
Medical, Scientific Advisor

Donald E. Ingber, M.D., Ph.D.
Medical, Scientific Advisor
A pioneer in the field of biologically inspired engineering, Dr. Ingber has authored 400+ publications, is a named inventor on 125 patents, has founded four companies and has been a guest speaker at 450+ events internationally.
Dr. Ingber is the founding director of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, the Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at Harvard Medical School and the Vascular Biology Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, and professor of bioengineering at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. At the Wyss Institute, he leads a multifaceted effort to develop breakthrough bioinspired technologies to advance healthcare and improve sustainability. His work has led to advances in mechanobiology, tumor angiogenesis, tissue engineering, systems biology, nanobiotechnology and translational medicine.
Dr. Ingber is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Inventors, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was named one of the Top 20 Translational Researchers worldwide in 2012 (Nature Biotechnology journal) and a Leading Global Thinker of 2015 (Foreign Policy magazine). In addition, he has received honors in a broad range of disciplines, including the Robert A. Pritzker Award and the Shu Chien Award from the Biomedical Engineering Society, the Rous Whipple Award from the American Society for Investigative Pathology, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of In Vitro Biology, the Leading Edge Award from the Society of Toxicology, and the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Innovator Award.
Among Dr. Ingber’s most recently developed technologies: an anticoagulant surface coating for medical devices that replaces the need for dangerous blood-thinning drugs; a dialysis-like sepsis therapeutic device that clears blood of pathogens and inflammatory toxins; a shear stress-activated nanotherapeutic that targets clot-busting drugs to sites of vascular occlusion; and human organs-on-chips created with microchip manufacturing methods and lined by living human cells, which are being used to replace animal testing as an in vitro platform for drug development and personalized medicine. In 2015, Dr. Ingber’s organs-on-chips technology was named Design of the Year by the London Design Museum and was also acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City for its permanent design collection.
Dr. Ingber received his B.A., M.A., M.Phil., M.D. and Ph.D. from Yale University.

Rakesh K. Jain, Ph.D.
Scientific Advisor

Rakesh K. Jain, Ph.D.
Scientific Advisor
Dr. Jain is the Andrew Werk Cook Professor of Radiation Oncology (Tumor Biology) at Massachusetts General Hospital in the Harvard Medical School and the director of the E.L. Steele Laboratories for Tumor Biology at Mass General. His research findings have been summarized in 600+ publications.
He serves or has served on advisory panels to government, industry and academia, and is a member of editorial advisory boards of 22 journals, including Nature Reviews Cancer and Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology. The recipient of more than 75 awards from engineering and medical professional societies/institutions, he is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and all three branches of the U.S. National Academies — the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences.
In 2014, Dr. Jain was chosen as one of 50 Oncology Luminaries on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. In 2015, he received his B.Tech in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (Kanpur, India) and his M.S. and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware.

Daniel D. Von Hoff, M.D., FACP, FAACR, FASCO
Medical Advisor

Daniel D. Von Hoff, M.D., FACP, FAACR, FASCO
Medical Advisor
Dr. Von Hoff is the physician in chief, distinguished professor at the Translational Genomics Research Institute. Previously, he served as chief scientific officer for HonorHealth Clinical Research Institute, medical director of research at US Oncology Research (supported by McKesson Specialty Health) and professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Dr. Von Hoff’s major interest is the development of new anticancer agents, both in the clinic and the laboratory. He and his colleagues were involved in the beginning of the development of many FDA-approved agents that are now used routinely, including mitoxantrone, fludarabine, paclitaxel, docetaxel, gemcitabine, irinotecan, nelarabine, capecitabine, lapatinib, vismodegib, nab-paclitaxel and nal-IRI. His clinical trial work has led to the approval of three of the four drugs approved by the FDA for treatment of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. Presently, he and his colleagues are concentrating on the development of molecularly targeted therapies, particularly for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.
Dr. Von Hoff is a founder of ILEX Oncology, which was acquired by Genzyme after two ILEX agents, alemtuzumab and clofarabine, were approved by the FDA for patients with leukemia. He has published upwards of 675 papers, 140 book chapters and 1,170 abstracts.
Dr. Von Hoff is the past president of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), a fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a member and past board member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). He is founder and editor emeritus of Investigational New Drugs – The Journal of New Anticancer Agents, past editor-in-chief of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics and a co-founder of the AACR/ASCO Methods in Clinical Trial Cancer Research Workshop.
From 2004 to 2010, Dr. Von Hoff served on President George W. Bush’s National Cancer Advisory Board. He received the David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award from the ASCO for his outstanding contributions to cancer research leading to significant improvement in patient care in 2010.
After graduating cum laude from Carroll University, Dr. Von Hoff earned his M.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and a medical oncology fellowship at the National Cancer Institute. He then moved to the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, where he rose to professor in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Cellular and Structural Biology. In 1989 he became founding director of the Institute for Drug Development at the Cancer Therapy and Research Center in San Antonio. In 1999 he became director of the Cancer Center and professor of medicine at the University of Arizona.
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