ACHELOIS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
Dr. Yee is a pioneer in adoptive cell transfer (ACT) immunotherapy, which involves taking anti-cancer T cells from patients and then enhancing their anti-tumor capabilities before putting them back into patients. He pioneered several seminal first-in-human studies using a well-defined, uniform population of ex vivo expanded antigen-specific T cells to delineate the requirements for effective immune-based therapies. He helped establish standards for the process, demonstrated that these T cells can confer durable anti-tumor memory, and showed how checkpoint immunotherapy can enhance ACT's effects. Dr. Cassian Yee is the director of Solid Tumor Cell Therapy in the Center for Cancer Immunology Research and a professor in the Department of Melanoma Medical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He has received numerous awards, including Clinical Translation Scientist Award from the Burroughs Welcome Fund and the Cancer Research Institute Immunotherapy Dream Team.
Before starting Achelois, Dr. Chang-Zheng (Eric) Chen was on the faculty at Stanford University School of Medicine. He made pioneering contributions in the fields of microRNA, stem cell biology, cancer, and immunology. He was awarded the Director's Pioneer Award by the National Institute of Health and Distinguished Young Scholar in Medical Research by the W.M. Keck Foundation. Dr. Chen holds numerous patents and is widely published in many prestigious peer-reviewed journals. He also co-founded Ab-Mart Inc., antibody discovery and therapeutic company based in Shanghai. He completed his postdoctoral training with Professor Harvey Lodish at Whitehead Institute/MIT and received his Ph.D. from Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Job Titles:
- Chairman, Scientific Advisory Board
Dr. Allison pioneered the study of immunotherapy. His research led to the clinical development of ipilimumab (Yervoy™), the first FDA-approved immunotherapy for cancer. He was awarded the Lasker Award in 2015 and Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine in 2018. Dr. Allison currently serves as the founding director of James P Allison Institute, vice president of Immunobiology and chair of Immunology at MD Anderson, and the executive director of MD Anderson's immunotherapy platform. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine and a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has served as president of the American Association of Immunologists. Dr. Allison received his B.S. in microbiology and his Ph.D. in biological sciences from the University of Texas.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
- Physician - Scientist
Dr. Sharma is a renowned physician-scientist who is a pioneer of immune checkpoint therapy, leading some of the earliest clinical trials in the field. She currently serves as the scientific director of James P Allison Institute, associate vice president of Immunobiology, and professor of Genitourinary Medical Oncology with a dual appointment as professor of Immunology at MD Anderson. Dr. Sharma also holds the T.C. and Jeanette D. Hsu Endowed Chair in Cell Biology and is scientific director of MD Anderson's immunotherapy platform. She has received numerous awards, including the Emil Frei III Award for Excellence in Translational Research in 2016 and the Coley Award for Distinguished Research for Tumor Immunology in 2018. Dr. Sharma holds a Ph.D. in immunology and an M.D. from Pennsylvania State University. She also has a B.A. in biology and an M.A. in biotechnology from Boston University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
Dr. Colonno is an internationally recognized drug developer with over 40 years of experience in antiviral drug discovery and development. He recently served as Chief Science Officer at Assembly Bio and Presidio Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for providing scientific strategies, oversight, and direction for virology programs pursued, in addition to discovery, early development, and clinical support of novel antiviral agents. Prior to these experiences, he served as Vice President, Infectious Diseases Drug Discovery, at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., and was instrumental in building and creating its antiviral franchise that led to the regulatory approval of the HBV nucleoside analog Baraclude (entecavir), the HIV protease inhibitor Reyataz (atazanavir), and HCV NS5A inhibitor ravidasvir. Dr. Colonno received a BA in Biology and Chemistry from Kansas Wesleyan University and a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Kansas. He is internationally recognized as an expert in viral resistance and antiviral drug discovery, presented original research findings at numerous national and international meetings, and has co-authored more than 160 scientific articles.