Dr. Milburn serves as CEO and President at GeneCentric, joining the company in 2018 as Chief Scientific Officer. Prior to joining GeneCentric, Dr. Milburn was the CSO at Metabolon since 2005, leading the development and growth of the company’s successful research and development organization. In addition to overseeing R&D, he played an integral role in establishing high value scientific and commercial partnerships. Prior to Metabolon, he served as Senior Vice President of Research and Corporate Development at Sirtris Pharmaceuticals and Senior Vice President of Research at Plexxikon. He also held senior research positions at Structural Genomix (VP of Structural Biology); and GlaxoWellcome (Department Head of Structural Chemistry). Dr. Milburn has published over 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles and received his PhD in Biophysical Chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley and was a post-doctoral research fellow at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Kirk Beebe is the Chief Scientific Officer at GeneCentric. Prior to joining GeneCentric, Dr. Beebe headed the translational science group that focused on pharmaceutical partnerships at Metabolon. He and his colleagues pioneered the analysis of large scale datasets to generate insights that enabled Pharmaceutical R&D and precision medicine. His team’s work led to a wide range of advances such as deeper understanding of drug resistance mechanisms and discovery of pathways that drive prognosis and response. Prior to Metabolon, he was a scientist at Talecris Biotherapeutics (formerly Bayer HealthCare), contributing to development of new pipeline products.  His passion for translational research and technology innovation was honed as a post-doctoral scientist and senior research associate at the Scripps Research Institute where he uncovered mechanistic links between genetic code fidelity and disease and, prior to that, as a PhD student at Ohio State University where he pioneered an innovative chemical biology approach to finding ligands for signaling proteins (an approach that paved the way for finding leads for untargetable proteins such as KRas). Dr. Beebe’s work has been published in top journals including Science and Nature and reprinted as a classic to celebrate the century of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Chenyqua Shepard is the Chief Operating Officer.    Mrs. Shepard has over 30 years of experience in accounting and finance within various industries including pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, real estate, construction and retail/manufacturing and has more than 15 years in various leadership roles in the life sciences industry.  She has been responsible for various functions including technical accounting, financial and SEC reporting, financial planning and analysis, internal controls, information technology, human resources, and has been involved in several start-ups and emerging businesses.  Prior to joining GeneCentric, Mrs. Shepard was a partner with Rankin-McKenzie where she served several emerging companies as their part-time or interim Chief Financial Officer or Controller.  Prior to her partnership with Rankin-McKenzie Mrs. Shepard was the Chief Financial Officer of Praelia Pharmaceuticals and the Vice President of Finance and Chief Accounting Officer at Cornerstone Therapeutics, which was later acquired by Chiesi USA.  She began her experience in life sciences as a Director of Accounting and Finance with Biovail Pharmaceuticals, a Canadian pharmaceutical company, which later merged with Valeant Pharmaceuticals.  She has been licensed as a certified public accountant since 1991 and began her accounting career with Deloitte Touche in 1989.  She earned both her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Masters of Accountancy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Eisner serves as Senior Vice President of Clinical & Corporate Development at GeneCentric. Previously he was a co-founder of Innocrin Therapeutics and served as Vice President of Clinical Operations and Vice President of Medical and Scientific Affairs.  Prior to Innocrin, he served as Director of Product Development at Viamet Pharmaceuticals.  He also was a Principal at Cato BioVentures where he held senior management positions in several portfolio companies.  He also served as a Clinical Research Scientist at Insmed, Inc.  Dr. Eisner received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in Endocrinology and Physiology and conducted clinical research at Northwestern University Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Brian Kelly is Senior Vice President of Business Development at GeneCentric and is responsible for spearheading the Company’s global business growth strategy, with a focus on diagnostic partnering and biopharmaceutical alliance programs.  A business leader in cancer research and genomic analysis technologies, Mr. Kelly has more than 15 years’ experience in global business and market development, companion diagnostics and biomarker strategies. Prior to joining GeneCentric, he most recently served as Vice President, Global Biopharma and Companion Diagnostics Strategy at Caris Life Sciences and Global Director, Diagnostic Partnering at Thermo Fisher Scientific. Prior to that, he held various clinical market development and commercial roles at Life Technologies, Pacific Biosciences and Affymetrix. Prior to his time in industry, he held research positions at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he focused on biomarker discovery in oncology. Mr. Kelly holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Towson University and a master’s degree in biology with a bioinformatics concentration from Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Lai-Goldman is a Co-Founder and Executive Chairperson of GeneCentric Therapeutics. She served as CEO and President from the company’s founding in 2011 through 2018.      Dr. Lai-Goldman spent more than 18 years at Laboratory Corporation of America, Holdings (LabCorp), the last 10 years as Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Officer. She served on LabCorp’s Executive and Management Committees, with strategic and operations responsibilities for 3 major genomic laboratories comprising more than 700 people. During her tenure at the Company, she led all clinical, scientific and medical activities, including the introduction of more than 400 clinical assays. Her experience includes the development of partnerships, licensing, and acquisitions. After leaving LabCorp, Dr. Lai-Goldman became a Venture Partner at Hatteras Venture Partners and is the managing partner of Personalized Science, LLC, a consulting company founded to assist customers achieve successful adoption of innovative diagnostics. Dr. Lai-Goldman received her BS from the University of Pennsylvania and MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Lai-Goldman is board-certified in anatomic and clinical pathology.

Dr. Levine has made significant contributions in the field of oncology in his research on the causes of cancer in both humans and animals. He was the first to discover the p53 tumour suppressor gene, which acts to protect individuals from developing cancer. Following his discovery, thousands of researchers have followed in Dr. Levine’s footsteps, seeking to focus on the p53 gene, which is the most commonly mutated gene in cancer.

Dr. Levine is currently a Professor at The Simons Center for Systems Biology at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and a joint professor in the Pediatrics and Biochemistry Departments at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. He received his PhD in microbiology from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Later he was a post-doctoral fellow of the Public Health Service at the California Institute of Technology.

Dr Levine also holds honorary degrees from, among other institutions, Rider University, the Weizmann Institute of Science, the University Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He has received many honours; most recently including the 2012 Onsager Medal, the Vallee Foundation Visiting Professorship, Harvard Medical School (2012), the Steven C. Beering Award for Advancement of Biomedical Science (2010), the American Cancer Society Medal of Honor (2009), the Kirk A. Landon-AACR Prize for Basic Cancer Research (2008), the Award for Basic Research from the Surgical Society of Oncologists (2003), the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research (2001), and the Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Biomedical Research from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (2000).

Ellen Lubman is a director of GeneCentric Therapeutics and currently Chief Business Officer at Werewolf Therapeutics.  She joined Werewolf from Impel NeuroPharma, where she was Chief Business Officer.  Prior to Impel, she was the Vice President of External Science & Innovation at Allergan, where, through two mergers from Forest Labs and Actavis, she was responsible for strategic expansion of the company’s diverse pipeline of therapeutics in a variety of disease areas. Ms. Lubman has held numerous executive and leadership roles at Kadmon Pharmaceuticals, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celtic Pharma Management, L.P., Robertson Stephens Investment Bank, and Abbott Labs. Ms. Lubman frequently advises emerging companies on business development strategy and fundraising. She serves on the Board of Directors of IntrepidaBio, as well as the Advisory Board of TMRW.org.  Ms. Lubman also currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Daedalus Innovation Fund of Weill-Cornell and Board of Directors of Gilda’s Club of NYC. Ms. Lubman earned her M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business with a focus on Global Management and her B.A. in Biology from Rutgers College.

Dr. Milburn serves as CEO and President at GeneCentric, joining the company in 2018 as Chief Scientific Officer. Prior to joining GeneCentric, Dr. Milburn was the CSO at Metabolon since 2005, leading the development and growth of the company’s successful research and development organization. In addition to overseeing R&D, he played an integral role in establishing high value scientific and commercial partnerships. Prior to Metabolon, he served as Senior Vice President of Research and Corporate Development at Sirtris Pharmaceuticals and Senior Vice President of Research at Plexxikon. He also held senior research positions at Structural Genomix (VP of Structural Biology); and GlaxoWellcome (Department Head of Structural Chemistry). Dr. Milburn has published over 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles and received his PhD in Biophysical Chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley and was a post-doctoral research fellow at Harvard Medical School.

The May Goldman Shaw Distinguished Professor of Molecular Oncology
Professor of Genetics, and of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
Member of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Dr. Perou’s research crosses the disciplines of genomics, cancer biology, bioinformatics, epidemiology, and clinical trials. Among the numerous, transformational advances led by Dr. Perou has been in the characterization of the genomic diversity of breast tumors, which resulted in the discovery of the Basal-like/Triple-Negative Breast Cancer subtype. He and his colleagues demonstrated that breast cancers can be classified into at least five molecular subtypes, with his lab focusing particular attention on the Basal-like subtype.  He is also elucidating the genetic causes that give rise to each subtype, modeling these events in Genetically Engineered Mouse Models, and then using these models to investigate tumor biology and the efficacy of new drugs and new drug combinations.

Dr. Perou has authored more than 330 peer reviewed articles, and is an inventor on multiple USA and European patents. He is the Faculty Director of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center (LCCC) Bioinformatics Group, and Co-Director of the LCCC Breast Cancer Research Program. He is a member of the ALLIANCE/CALGB Breast Committee, and Co-Chair of the Triple-Negative Working Group of the Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium. In order to fulfill the vision of bringing genomic assays into the everyday cancer clinic to make improvements in personalized patient care, Dr. Perou co-founded Bioclassifier LLC, in addition to GeneCentric Therapeutics, Inc.

Dr. Perou earned his BA in Biology from Bates College, his PhD in Cell Biology from the University of Utah and completed his postdoctoral work in David Botstein’s laboratory while at Stanford University.  He joined the faculty at UNC in 2000 and has received numerous awards since including the 2009 AACR Outstanding Investigator Award for Breast Cancer Research, the 2011 Danaher Scientific and Medical Award, the 2012 European Institute of Oncology Breast Cancer Therapy Award, the 2013 Hyman L. Battle Distinguished Cancer Research Award from UNC, the 2016 Jill Rose Award for Distinguished Biomedical Research from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and the 2016 Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction from the Susan G. Komen. Lastly he has been named a Thomson Reuters Most Highly Cited Researcher in Clinical Medicine for 2014-16.

Clay is an entrepreneur turned venture capitalist. Since 1995, he has co-founded eight companies in the life science arena and in 2000 co-founded Hatteras Venture Partners, a venture capital partnership that manages over $700 million across six vintages. Clay has led investments and numerous strategic transaction processes in a range of life science companies, including biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostics, and research informatics. Some of these companies include: G1 Therapeutics (GTHX), Clearside Biomedical (Nasdaq: CLSD), Lysosomal Therapeutics, Inc., Asthmatx, Inc., PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals (PHAS), ArtusLabs, Embrella, Kymera Therapeutics (KYMR), and Synthematix, Inc.

Mr. Thorp currently serves as Chairman of PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: PHAS), and as a member of the board of directors of Clearside Biomedical, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLSD), StrideBio, Inc., Vigil Neuroscience, Inc., GeneCentric Therapeutics, Inc., and Seaport Diagnostics, Inc. He is also on the Strategic and Scientific Advisory Board of Brii Biosciences. Mr. Thorp serves on the Chancellor’s Philanthropic Committee at University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, the Board of Visitors of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at UNC-Chapel Hill and on the board of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Foundation. He holds a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from Harvard University and a B.A. in mathematics and art history from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Scientific Director, University of Tennessee/West Institute for Cancer Research, and the Van Vleet Endowed Professor in Medical Oncology in the Department of Medicine (Division of Hematology‐Oncology).

Dr. Hayes’ research converges interests in multidisciplinary clinical care, clinical trials, translational cancer research, genomics, and model systems of cancer, with a focus on lung and head and neck cancers.  In the lab, he uses genetic and genomic techniques to characterize molecular alterations of cancer for the purposes of describing new patterns of clinically relevant disease and translating into includes biomarker discovery and validation.  Dr. Hayes currently is in his 10th year as a leader in efforts surrounding the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), the pivotal genomic sequencing project of the decade.  His most notable accomplishments in this area include co‐leading the sequencing of RNA for most of the project, and playing a senior role in more than 20 manuscripts reported in Cell, Nature, and the New England Journal.

Early work by Dr. Hayes, performed in collaboration with his mentor Dr. Matthew Meyerson on human lung adenocarcinoma expression arrays from the National Cancer Institute revealed three reproducible molecular tumor subtypes of lung adenocarcinoma that are otherwise indistinguishable by routine clinical evaluation.  These subtypes possess statistically significant survival differences, independent of disease stage and are comprised of tumors with differing underlying rates of mutations in key lung cancer genes including KRAS and EGFR.  Similar findings for four subtypes of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung were also discovered and published.

Dr. Hayes most recently served as co‐leader of the University of North Carolina (UNC) Lineberger Clinical Research Program, professor in the Division of Hematology/Oncology and the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Cancer Surgery, and director of Clinical Bioinformatics at UNC.  Dr. Hayes lists more than 120 peer‐reviewed manuscripts in the last decade in the field of cancer research.  He received his BS from Davidson College, his MD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, his MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health and his MS from Tufts New England Medical Center. He completed his residency training in Internal Medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine, and additional fellowships in Hematology/Oncology at Tufts New England Medical Center and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

Hatteras Venture Partners is a venture capital firm that builds transformational companies in the areas of biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostics, healthcare IT, and related opportunities in human medicine. We typically invest in companies built on cutting-edge science from leading academic institutions. The firm has invested in companies across the United States in most of the major hotspots for health innovation. Given our headquarters location in RTP, NC, Hatteras plays a leadership role in building companies in North Carolina and the Southeastern United States, where technology is plentiful but resident venture capital is limited.

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Bristol-Myers Squibb is a differentiated company, led by our unique BioPharma strategy that leverages the reach and resources of a major pharma company paired with the entrepreneurial spirit and agility of a biotech firm. We work every day to deliver innovative medicines for patients with serious and life-threatening diseases.

Each day, our employees around the world work together for patients – it drives everything we do. We are focused on helping millions of patients around the world in disease areas such as oncology, cardiovascular, immunoscience and fibrosis. Through our R&D organization, we have built a sustainable pipeline of potential therapies, and actively partner to access external innovation to broaden and accelerate our work.

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