I am an
Innovator

My passion for creating life saving therapies has led to nearly 100 patents in immunotherapy, gene therapy, helping patients, young and old, with liquid cancers and solid tumors.

INNOVATOR

I am an Innovator

My passion for creating life saving therapies has led to nearly 100 patents in immunotherapy, gene therapy, helping patients, young and old, with liquid cancers and solid tumors.

I have directed multiple clinical trials under INDs in:

virotherapy
non-viral gene transfer and therapy
T cells
NK cells
chimeric antigen receptors (CARs)
T-cell receptors (TCRs)
cytokines

Developing these trials placed me in the laboratory and in the classroom. Implementing these trials placed me in discussions with regulators and administrators. Managing these trials and expectations placed me at the bedside and in the boardroom. I am a leader and a board-certified physician skilled in managing the complex medical needs of patients with life threatening illnesses.

In academia, I pioneered a research program translating cell and gene therapies into immunotherapies and led a large laboratory in developing and implementing cellular therapies. In industry, I built the tools and teams that can scale promising ideas to achieve global impact. My contributions have been published in multiple talks, abstracts, papers and books.

The discovery of new knowledge is at the heart of my endeavors.

I have translated scientific inquiry for human applications, whether it be at the bedside of a child undergoing bone marrow transplantation or leading the team to infuse genetically modified T cells. There are two themes that dominate my laboratory discoveries. These are adapting immunology for immunotherapy and developing new tools for gene transfer. Realizing these concepts requires the combined knowledge of large and experienced scientific teams skilled in harnessing biology at the single-cell level as well as understanding how cell and gene therapies are coordinated at the level of the organism.

I have been fortunate to have hired and led superb scientists and funded laboratories from federal, private, philanthropic and investor sources. Together, our science has made numerous contributions such as harnessing cytokine biology to improve persistence and effector functioning of immune cells, developing off-the-shelf T cells and NK cells and gamma-delta T cells, the application of nucleases to improve T-cell biology, undertaking the first human trials successfully testing transposition (non-viral) as a new approach to gene therapy, developing CARs that target malignancies and fungal diseases, evaluating genetic switches in humans, and the genetic modification of T cells to target neoantigens.

Scientist

Entrepreneur

I am an accomplished leader in business and comfortable working in the laboratory, the clinic, the executive suite, and the boardroom.

I have contributed to the development of many therapies and cutting-edge technologies including in immuno-oncology where I developed and implemented novel immunotherapies raising large amounts of capital through grants and philanthropy and from investors. I helped translate basic science into therapies by negotiating with large academic entities and strategic partners, building facilities, recruiting , hiring and retaining staff, establishing and maintaining intellectual property, and building a culture of trust and “can do” attitude.

While a public CEO and Director at Ziopharm Oncology, I helped develop viral-based therapies using genetic switches to control interleukins as monotherapy and in combinations as well as T-cell therapies based on non-viral gene transfer and cytokine-driven cell biology.

I have broad industry experience beyond public-traded company which includes entrepreneurial ventures as an investor, fundraiser, advisor and board member — providing solutions such as: NK-cell therapy for acute myelogenous leukemia at Kiadis; Solar power for vulnerable communities in Africa at Ignite Power; Financial tools and literacy using Fintech solutions at Chalice Network; Machine Learning and cellular Imaging at CellChorus; and the treatment and prevention of respiratory viruses at AuraVax. I have co-authored hundreds of peer-reviewed journal articles, abstracts, and book chapters.

I am an accomplished leader in business and comfortable working in the laboratory, the clinic, the executive suite, and the boardroom.

Clinician

Executive

I leaped from tenured professor at MD Anderson Cancer Center to CEO of Ziopharm Oncology, using my previous experience to lead a company.

I found that there are more similarities than differences between academia and biotechnology companies. In industry, I was fortunate to recruit an outstanding team to help drive the science and the business. I grew the company to ~100 employees recruiting across the US and established a joint venture (Eden BioCell) in Asia for CAR-T. I negotiated Ziopharm’s independence from their former partner. I raised ~$260 million from the capital markets.

I helped develop a new approach to genetic engineering of T cells and advanced the field of non-viral gene transfer based on next-day manufacturing of T cells and expressing T-cell receptors to target neoantigens in solid tumors. I advanced the use of IL-12 and in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors. These innovations were tested in multiple clinical trials. In addition, I established relationships with academia through a Collaborative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with Dr. Steven Rosenberg at National Cancer Institute and a comprehensive Research Agreements with MD Anderson Cancer Center.

I have had the privilege of training and working with extraordinary men and women and multiple points of their careers in academia and industry.

I have supervised medical students and graduate students including many who have obtained their doctoral degrees in my laboratory.

I have helped train postdoctoral scientists, medical residents and physicians in their fellowships. I have had mentoring relationships in industry with professionals embracing the spectrum of expertise including technical staff, manufacturing teams, regulatory personnel, human resources and managers, spanning experience from the newly promoted to seasoned executives. I have taught graduate school classes and lectured widely. These relationships are a highwater mark of my career.