PROMETHEUS BIOSCIENCES - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Chief Medical Officer
- Member of the Management Team
Allison Luo, M.D. has served as our Chief Medical Officer since August 2018. Prior to that, Dr. Luo concurrently served as Chief Medical Officer at Oppilan Pharma and Escalier Pharma since March 2017, and as Senior Vice President of Clinical Development for Gastroenterology at Progenity Inc. since June 2017. Before that, Dr. Luo was Vice President of Clinical Development at Ophthotech Corp., now Iveric bio, Inc., since September 2015. She was an Executive Director at Bristol Myers Squibb Company from September 2006 to October 2014, where she was responsible for inflammatory bowel disease and led the Phase 3 program for Orencia (abatacept) and the Phase 2 programs for eldelumab (anti-IP10 antibody) for ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Earlier in her career, Dr. Luo was a Medical Director at Abbott Laboratories where she submitted the Japanese NDA for Humira in rheumatoid arthritis and developed the clinical trial protocols for Humira in ulcerative colitis. Dr. Luo holds a B.S. in Biochemistry and an M.D. from Northwestern University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
- Scientific Advisor
Dr. Brian G. Feagan is a gastroenterologist, epidemiologist, and Senior Scientific Director at Alimentiv. He is the recipient of the 2013 Senior Achievement Award from the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) and Dean's Award of Excellence in 2013 from the University of Western Ontario. He has authored over 400 articles.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
- Chairman of Scientific Advisory Board
- Head of the Division of Gastroenterology
Dr. Bruce E. Sands is the head of the Division of Gastroenterology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, NY. He also serves as the Dr. Burrill B. Crohn's Professor and Chief of Gastroenterology at Mount Sinai. Prior to joining Mount Sinai, Dr. Sands was Medical Co-Director of the Crohn's & Colitis Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, where he also served as the hospital's Acting Chief of the Gastrointestinal Unit as well as Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology and the American Gastroenterological Association and is reviewer for the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Sands received his medical degree at Boston University School of Medicine and completed a residency in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He then completed clinical and research fellowships at Massachusetts General Hospital. In 2001, Dr. Sands also earned a Master of Science in Epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
- Scientific Advisor
Dr. Dermot McGovern is a gastroenterologist and preeminent geneticist in the IBD field. Dr. McGovern completed his GI fellowship and obtained a Ph.D. in complex disease genetics at the University of Oxford, England, before moving to Cedars-Sinai. Dr. McGovern is Director of Translational Medicine at Cedars-Sinai, Co-Director of the Cedars-Sinai IBD Repository (MIRIAD) and IBD Database, and was recently appointed the Director of Precision Health at Cedars-Sinai. Dr. McGovern serves on both the Steering Committee of the NIDDK IBD Genetics Consortium and on the Management Committee of the International IBD Genetics Consortium. Dr. McGovern is one of the founding members of Precision IBD, the predecessor of Prometheus Biosciences, and serves as the consulting geneticist and provides input on the patient selection criteria.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
- Scientific Advisor
Dr. Donna Griebel is former Director of the Division of Gastroenterology and Inborn Errors Products (DGIEP) with the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As acting Director, she regulated Investigational New Drug Applications (NDAs) and Biologics Licensing Applications (BLAs) for drugs and therapeutic biologics intended for the treatment and prevention of gastrointestinal, hepatic, and nutritional disorders and inborn errors of metabolism. In her prior position, Dr. Griebel was Deputy Director of the Division of Reproductive and Urologic Products, where she oversaw the safety and efficacy of drugs and therapeutic biologics aimed to improving reproductive and urologic health. She has extensive regulatory experience in drug development and served on CDER's Medical Policy Council (MPC) and MPC's Subcommittee on Safety Outcome Trials.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
- Scientific Advisor
- Chief Scientific Officer of the La Jolla Institute for Immunology
Dr. Mitchell Kronenberg is the Chief Scientific Officer of the La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), where he served as President for 18 years (2003-2021). Dr. Kronenberg's diverse research interests in immunology include mucosal immunology and inflammatory bowel disease pathogenesis. Dr. Kronenberg received a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology and was on the faculty of the UCLA School of Medicine before joining LJI. He has co-authored more than 375 publications and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), a Distinguished Fellow of the American Association of Immunologists, recipient of an NIH MERIT award, and is an Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) Highly Cited Scientist. He is an advisor to a number of non-profit organizations including service as a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Cancer Institute.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
- Scientific Advisor
Dr. Stephan Targan is one of the founding members of Precision IBD, the predecessor of Prometheus Biosciences, and is currently the Director of the Inflammatory Bowel and Immunobiology Research Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Targan began his career at UCLA School of Medicine in 1978 and then moved his laboratories and practice in 1992 to establish the IBD Center at Cedars-Sinai. Dr. Targan has focused on identifying drivers of IBD pathogenesis which, in the context of such a genetically heterogenous disease, involves numerous biological and molecular pathways and compromises complex relationships between the intestinal microenvironment and the immune response. With over 4 decades of experience in treating IBD patients and over 300 peer-reviewed articles, Dr. Targan is a recognized leader in inflammatory bowel diseases. He was previously a co-founder of Santarus and Prometheus Laboratories.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Helen C. Adams, CPA, has been a member of our Board of Directors since February 2021. From January 2013 to March 2018, Ms. Adams was the San Diego Area Managing Partner for Haskell & White LLP, a regional certified public accounting firm. Previously, Ms. Adams was a certified public accountant at Deloitte & Touche LLP from 1982 to 2009, serving most recently as a Partner in the Life Sciences and Technology Group. From 2010 to 2013, Ms. Adams was a member of the Board of Directors of Genasys Inc. (formerly known as LRAD Corporation), serving as the Audit Committee Chair and member of the Compensation Committee. In addition to her public company board service, Ms. Adams has served on the Boards of Directors of several organizations, including Athena San Diego, the Athena Foundation, Make A Wish San Diego and the California State University at San Marcos Foundation.
James Laur has served on our Board of Directors since April 2020, and through his work leading Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Technology Transfer Office, Mr. Laur played a role in our founding. Mr. Laur currently serves as Vice President, Intellectual Property for Cedars-Sinai, and, in addition to his role with Cedars-Sinai's Technology Transfer Office, Mr. Laur helps lead the Cedars-Sinai Accelerator program and Cedars-Sinai Health Ventures, Cedars-Sinai's venture fund. Mr. Laur has served in a variety of business roles at Cedars-Sinai since originally joining its Legal Affairs Department in 1991. Mr. Laur is a member of the California State Bar and holds a dual degree B.A. in Political Science and Philosophy from the University of California, Los Angeles, as well as a J.D. from Boston College Law School.
Joseph C. Papa has served on our Board of Directors since August 2020 and has been Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Bausch Health Companies Inc. since May 2016. Mr. Papa has more than 35 years of experience in the pharmaceutical, healthcare, and specialty pharmaceutical industries, including 20 years of branded prescription drug experience. He served as the CEO of Perrigo Company plc from 2006 to April 2016, where he also served as Chairman from 2007 to April 2016. Prior to joining Perrigo, Mr. Papa served from 2004 to 2006 as Chairman and CEO of the Pharmaceutical and Technologies Services segment of Cardinal Health, Inc. From 2001 to 2004, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to joining Watson, Mr. Papa held management positions at DuPont Pharmaceuticals, Pharmacia/Searle, and Novartis AG. Mr. Papa served as a director of Smith & Nephew plc, a developer of advanced medical devices, from 2008 to April 2018.
Judith L. Swain, M.D., has served as a member of our Board of Directors since February 2021, and is the Chief Medical Officer of Physiowave, Inc., a medical device company, a role she has held since July 2016. She has also served as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Medicine at the National University of Singapore since July 2017. Prior to these roles, Dr. Swain was Executive Director of the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, a research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, and Professor, National University of Singapore, from 2006 to 2017. Dr. Swain served as Dean for Translational Medicine at the University of California San Diego from 2005 to 2006 and as Chair and Professor of Medicine at Stanford University from 1996 to 2005. Dr. Swain is a co-founder of Synecor, LLC and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Upstream Medical Technologies, Ltd, and the Institute for Life Changing Medicines. She previously served on the Boards of Directors of the National Healthcare Group (Singapore) and the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine of Nanyang Technological University. Dr. Swain earned an M.D. from the University of California San Diego, and a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of California Los Angeles.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Member of the Management Team
Keith W. Marshall, Ph.D., has served as our Chief Financial Officer since August 2020. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Financial Officer of Conatus Pharmaceuticals from 2017 to 2020 and as Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development at Torque Therapeutics, now Repertoire Immune Medicines, from 2015 to 2017. Before moving into industry, Dr. Marshall spent 15 years in healthcare investment banking primarily focused on financings and M&A.
Dr. Marshall holds an A.B. from Washington University in St. Louis, a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of California, San Francisco, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Chief Executive Officer
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Member of the Management Team
Mark McKenna serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Prometheus Biosciences (Nasdaq: RXDX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company creating the first precision therapeutics for immune-mediated diseases. He brings more than 20 years of strategic leadership from the consumer, MedTech, pharmaceutical, and diagnostics sectors. Since joining Prometheus in 2019, Mr. McKenna has raised nearly $500 million in equity capital for the Company and led the top-performing biotech IPO of 2021, creating more than $2.5 billion of equity value and delivering a 20x return for early investors. Previously, Mr. McKenna was a corporate officer of Bausch Health Companies and served as President of the subsidiary Salix Pharmaceuticals. There, he revitalized the gastroenterology business with a series of strategic acquisitions and product launches, doubling revenue to exceed $2 billion while enhancing operating margin. Earlier, Mr. McKenna served at Bausch + Lomb for more than a decade, most recently as SVP and General Manager of the US Vision Care business where he deployed more than $100 million in strategic investment, which led to 22% revenue CAGR in an otherwise mature market. Prior to Bausch + Lomb, he held several roles of increasing responsibility at Johnson & Johnson. Mr. McKenna holds a degree in Marketing from Arizona State University, earned an MBA from Azusa Pacific University, and was a Fellow at the Wharton School.
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer
- Member of the Management Team
Mark Stenhouse has served as our Chief Operating Officer since March 2021. Previously, Mr. Stenhouse served as a member of our Board of Directors from April 2018 to October 2020 and then as an advisor to our company through February 2021. Mr. Stenhouse served as General Manager, Screening at Exact Sciences Corporation from November 2019 to January 2021 and as an advisor to the company through February 2021. Mr. Stenhouse served as President, Cologuard at Exact Sciences Corporation from April 2018 until November 2019. From October 2016 until March 2018, Mr. Stenhouse served as Vice President, U.S. Immunology at AbbVie, Inc., where he oversaw U.S. expansion into the immunology marketplace. From April 2010 until September 2016, Mr. Stenhouse served as Vice President and Vice President/General Manager, U.S. Immunology-Gastroenterology Franchise at AbbVie. From September 2006 through March 2010, Mr. Stenhouse held various senior management, marketing, and sales positions within Abbott Laboratories' U.S. Immunology division. Mr. Stenhouse holds a B.B.A. from the College of Charleston.
Martin Hendrix, Ph.D., has served as a member of our Board of Directors since October 2020. He joined Nestlé Health Science US in April 2012, and currently serves as its Head of Global Business Development and M&A. In this position, Dr. Hendrix oversees all deal flow of Nestlé Health Science and is also responsible for its venture capital partnerships and direct equity investments. Dr. Hendrix has represented Nestlé on the boards of Enterome, Microbiome Diagnostic Partners, Procise Dx, Bodymed AG, as well as board observer roles for Evelo, Kaleido, and Senda. Prior to joining Nestlé, from January 1998 to March 2012 Dr. Hendrix was a research chemist and subsequently a member of the Strategic Planning Group, as well as a Senior Director of Business Strategy at Bayer AG. Dr. Hendrix currently serves on the Board of Directors of Procise Dx, Bodymed AG, and Senda (observer). Dr. Hendrix holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from The Scripps Research Institute and an M.S. in Chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of Our Board of Directors
Mary Szela has served as a member of our Board of Directors since February 2021. Ms. Szela also currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer and President of TriSalus Life Sciences, Inc. (formerly Surefire Medical, Inc.), a privately held medical device company. From January 2016 to November 2016, Ms. Szela served as Chief Executive Officer and a director of Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In November 2016, Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. merged with QLT Inc. to form Novelion Therapeutics Inc. where Ms. Szela served as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of its Board of Directors until November 2017. Ms. Szela served as the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Melinta Therapeutics, Inc., an antibiotic development company, from April 2013 to August 2015. Ms. Szela held ascending management positions at Abbott Laboratories from 1987 to 2012, including President of the company's U.S. pharmaceutical business from January 2008 to December 2010. Ms. Szela has served as a member of the Boards of Directors of Kura Oncology, Inc. since November 2018, Alimera Sciences Inc. since June 2018, and TriSalus Life Sciences, Inc. since January 2018. She also previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of Receptos, Inc. from June 2014 to July 2015, Novo Nordisk from March 2014 to March 2017, and Macrolide Pharmaceuticals, from March 2018 to July 2019. She earned an M.B.A. in Business and a B.S. in nursing, both from the University of Illinois.
Job Titles:
- Chief Business Officer
- Member of the Management Team
Mr. Chris Doughty serves as our Chief Business Officer. Mr. Doughty joined Prometheus in February 2021 from Strata Oncology, a precision oncology company, where he served as Vice President of Strategy and Business Development and led the organization's pharma business development efforts. Before pursuing opportunities focused in precision medicine, Mr. Doughty began his career in strategy consulting, most recently serving as an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company and also having spent time at Kaufman Hall and Deloitte. Mr. Doughty holds an MBA from the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business and a B.S.E. in Industrial & Operations Engineering from the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Member of Our Board of Directors
Mr. Fred Hassan has served as a member of our Board of Directors since May 2021. Mr. Hassan joined Warburg Pincus LLC, a global private equity investment institution, in 2009 and currently serves as Director. Previously, Mr. Hassan served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Schering-Plough from 2003 to 2009. Before assuming these roles, from 2001 to 2003 Mr. Hassan was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pharmacia Corporation, a company formed through the merger of Monsanto Company and Pharmacia & Upjohn, Inc. He joined Pharmacia & Upjohn, Inc. as Chief Executive Officer in 1997. Since July 2015 and June 2016, Mr. Hassan has served as a director of Amgen, Inc. and Precigen, Inc., respectively. Previously, Mr. Hassan served as a director of Time Warner Inc. (now Warner Media, LLC) from October 2009 to June 2018. Mr. Hassan received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Imperial College of Science and Technology at the University of London and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Job Titles:
- Chief People Officer
- Member of the Management Team
Ms. Nori Ebersole has served as Chief People Officer since April 2021. Prior to joining Prometheus Biosciences, Ms. Ebersole served as EVP & Chief Human Resources Officer for Urovant Sciences, Inc (Nasdaq: UROV) from 2017 to 2021 until its $681M enterprise value take private merger with Sumitomo Dainippon at a 96% premium. In this role, she was instrumental in their 2018 IPO, building the board, executive, and senior leadership teams. She also led the development and execution of their diversity, equity and inclusion strategy, employment brand, talent acquisition, mission, vision and values strategies, and the build of the field sales and market access teams for commercial launch. Prior to Urovant, she was the Chief Human Resources Officer at Paul Hastings, LLP from 2015 to 2017. Ms. Ebersole also served 18 years at Allergan Inc., from 1994 to 2015, until their sale to Actavis for $70.5B. Ms. Ebersole earned a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business and serves on the board of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Orange County.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Management Team
- Senior Vice President, Finance
Ms. Vika Brough has over 15 years of experience in public and private accounting roles. She started her career as an auditor at Ernst & Young Assurance practice in San Diego, California. During her 10 years as an auditor, Ms. Brough served many multinational public and private clients in life science, medical devices, and technology industries. After Ernst & Young, Ms. Brough was Head of Finance at Human Longevity, Inc., a genomics-based company in San Diego, where she oversaw financial planning, accounting, treasury, and procurement functions. Ms. Brough graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelor of Accounting degree.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Management Team
- Chief Scientific Officer / Head of R & D
Olivier Laurent, Ph.D., has served as our Chief Scientific Officer and Head of R&D since December 2021, having served as Chief Technology Officer and Head of R&D since joining our company in 2020. Previously, Dr. Laurent was Chief Scientific Officer at Intrepida Bio, an immuno-oncology company focused on developing novel antibodies for the treatment of fibrotic solid tumors. Before that, Dr. Laurent was Chief Scientific Officer at Dauntless Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage company developing products in the metabolic and oncology therapeutic areas. Dr. Laurent has 25 years of experience in scientific roles of increasing responsibility, including at Sanofi, Bayer Biotech, Genentech, and Pfizer. While at Pfizer, he was Director of Protein Science and Target Identification and built the company's peptide bioinformatics group. Dr. Laurent holds a Ph.D. in Cell Biology from the University of Grenoble and is a graduate of the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon in France.
Job Titles:
- General Counsel
- Member of the Management Team
Timothy K. Andrews has served as our General Counsel since November 2020. From October 2016 through December 2019, he served as General Counsel and Secretary for Sienna Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly traded, clinical-stage biotech company. Mr. Andrews served as the Head of Legal at Whitecap Biosciences LLC, a start-up company founded by former Allergan, Inc. research and development executives, from July 2015 to October 2016. Mr. Andrews served as Senior Corporate Counsel and Assistant Secretary at Allergan, Inc. from 2011 through 2015, where he had legal responsibility for U.S. and international business development transactions, including acquisitions, licensing, and partnerships, as well as corporate governance and securities law compliance. From 2006 to 2011, Mr. Andrews was a corporate attorney at Latham & Watkins LLP. He was previously a Business Analyst at Deloitte Consulting. Mr. Andrews holds a B.A. in Political Economy from the University of California, Berkeley and a J.D. from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.