Adolfo García-Sastre, PhD, Advisor & Collaborator, is Professor in the Departmentsof Microbiology and Medicine and in the TischCancer Center at Icahn School of Medicine Mount Sinai (ISMMS) in New York,. He is also Director of the Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute at ISMMS, and Principal Investigator for the Center for Research on Influenza Pathogenesis (CRIP), one of five NIAID Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance (CEIRS). For the past 30 years, his research interest has been focused on the molecular biology, virus-host interactions, innate immunity and pathogenesis of influenza viruses and several other RNA viruses, as well as on the development of new vaccines and antivirals.  In 2019, he was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Jason Luke, M.D., FACP, Advisor, is a medical oncologist at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Center who cares for patients with melanoma and advanced solid tumors. Dr. Luke's research focuses on translational therapeutic advances for melanoma and early phase drug development, particularly immunotherapy. He is Study Chair for the only on-going national clinical trial for patients with advanced uveal (ocular) melanoma and is the principal investigator of several clinical trials of immunotherapy and targeted molecular therapies for melanoma and advanced cancer. Dr. Luke was at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School where he treated patients with melanoma and performed early phase clinical trials. Dr. Luke has received several awards for his research, including a Young Investigator Award from the Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO, an ASCO Merit Award and others.

Jeffrey K. Actor, PhD, Advisor & Collaborator, is a Professor and Master Educator at the McGovern Medical School of the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, TX. He has high expertise in immunology of tuberculosis disease, designing vaccines and therapeutics to reduce Tubercuolsis related pathology. He received multiple grant awards from the National Institutes of Health focusing on molecules to modify inflammation. Dr. Actor has authored immunology texts, and over 100 peer reviewed publications examining immune response to pathogenic infections. He serves on NIH vaccine review panels, and on journal Editorial Boards, including Frontiers (Immunology) and International Immunopharmacology. He earned a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Massachusetts, and completed post-doctoral training at NIAID. He has been a scientific advisor for biotech since 1995.

Darren Woodside, PhD, Scientific Advisory Board Chairman, is a co-founder, investor, and an inventor of 7HP technology. He is an experienced pharmaceutical executive and immunologist.  As the Associate Director of Drug Discovery, Biological Sciences at Encysive Pharmaceuticals, he directed drug discovery efforts targeting cell adhesion molecule signaling and function. Dr. Woodside is an author of numerous peer reviewed publications, and has been a Principal Investigator on a number grants from the National Institutes of Health.  Dr. Woodside has served on a number of Editorial Review Boards, including Nature Journal Genes and Immunity, and review panels for the NIH. He has a Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Joseph Bailes, MD, Advisor & Manager, is a medical oncologist with substantial experience in legislation, public policy and advocacy, as well as the business aspects of the practice of oncology and medicine. Dr. Bailes has served in various executive leadership capacities for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), including terms as President, Interim Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, and Chair of the ASCO Government Relations Council. He has also served as the Executive Vice President of Clinical Affairs for US Oncology, Inc. Dr. Bailes received his medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas.

Rachel Humphrey, PhD, Advisor​, is a medical oncologist currently serving as an Independent Board Director at Xilio Therapeutics.  Among her many prior roles, she has served as both Board Director and as Chief Medical Officer for CytomX.   She’s also held various senior level roles in cancer drug development including AstraZeneca (SVP, Head of the Immuno-oncology department), and Bristol Myers Squibb (VP, Clinical Development).   Dr. Humphrey’s career is notable for, among other things, overall supervision of the (early and late-stage) clinical development of ipilimumab (Yervoy) at BMS and sorafenib (Nexavar) at Bayer.  She is also the lead singer and one of the co-founders of the band, The Checkpoints, a blues band made up of luminaries in immuno-oncology, including the Nobel Laureate, Jim Allison. She is also featured in the movie “Jim Allison: Breakthrough”, which was released in the fall of 2019.

Scientific Advisory Board

F. Stephen Hodi, MD, Advisor​, is the Director of the Melanoma Center and the Center for Immuno-Oncology at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center, the Sharon Crowley Martin Chair in Melanoma at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.  Dr. Hodi is an internationally recognized leader in the development of immune therapy and melanoma therapeutics. In particular, he is known for the clinical development of immune checkpoint inhibitors.  His clinical investigation efforts have pioneered the use of immune checkpoint blockade and combinatorial approaches to treat cancer.  His publications include articles in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Clinical Oncology and the New England Journal of Medicine.  Dr. Hodi is a founding member of the Society for Melanoma Research.  Dr. Hodi is a graduate of Harvard University and Cornell University Medical College.  He completed his postdoctoral training in In­ternal Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and his medical oncology training at Dana-Farber cancer Institute, where he joined the faculty in 1998.

Peter Vanderslice, PhD, Advisor & Collaborator, ​is a co-founder, investor, and an inventor of 7HP technology. He is an experienced pharmaceutical executive that has identified and developed four clinical stage compounds, managed joint ventures, and helped raise $100 million in equity financing at Encysive Pharmaceuticals, Inc.  He has translated numerous approaches targeting cell adhesion molecules into pharmaceutical development programs. Dr. Vanderslice has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications focusing on the biological function and therapeutic targeting of cell adhesion and trafficking.  The extensive experience in cell adhesion is critical to validating the 7HP lead compounds for use in hematologic cancers, and stem cell transplant and other indications. He has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Texas at Austin. 

Robert Kramer, PhD, Advisor​, has 24 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry and is the former Head of Oncology Discovery Research at both Bristol-Myers Squibb and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, part of the Johnson & Johnson group of companies. He has been responsible for enabling the transition of 35 drugs from discovery into the clinic. Rob championed immunotheraphy at Bristol-Myers Squibb, resulting in the acquisition of Medarex, Inc. in 2009 and its portfolio of immune therapeutics that included Ipilimumab and Nivolumab. He received his PhD in pharmacology from the University of Vermont and undertook his post doctorate studies at the US National Cancer Institute. Rob held an Assistant Professorship at the Harvard Medical School.