- Develop new therapies and diagnostics to provide personalized treatments for patients with immune-mediated diseases- Project lead, monoclonal antibody drug discovery (drive activities to support target validation, lead selection and IND filing)- Translational lead (design clinical biomarker plan, oversee assay development, implementation, clinical execution and data analysis; design strategy to support FIH/FIP dose selection; build scientific data package to support indication selection)- Supervise a group of scientists, directly and in a matrix- Lead cross-functional working groups to achieve program milestones - Lead work performed at CROs

- Develop new therapies and companion diagnostics to provide personalized treatments for patients with immune-mediated diseases- Translational biology / in vitro pharmacology group leader- Project lead, mAb drug discovery

• Conceptualize and oversee the execution of IND-enabling studies, including mechanism of action (MOA) studies, biomarker discovery, and pharmacodynamic assay development for programs aiming at regulating the activity of the immune system, including antibodies targeting immune checkpoint receptors (anti-PD-1 agonists and anti-BTLA modulators)• Responsible for planning and overseeing in vitro and in vivo studies performed at CROs and for sourcing critical reagents, including patient samples, for the Translational Medicine Department• Manage direct reports and cross-functional teams of scientists to conduct complex studies• Provide input in the design of proof of concept studies to support indication selection for immuno-regulatory programs• Provide immunology expertise for the evaluation of new therapeutic targets to treat severe autoimmune / inflammatory diseases

Abreos France is a French subsidiary of Abreos Biosciences and serves the same mission, which is to develop diagnostic tests enabling personalized dosing of monoclonal antibody therapeutics. After managing remotely the setup of the lab hosted at the Institut Paoli-Calmettes (IPC), in Marseille, France, my roles have been primarily to:• oversee the R&D department, which includes defining assay development plans and validation plans for assay transfer, and directing their execution• develop collaborations with local physicians to conduct clinical trials using Abreos tests to monitor biologic drug pharmacokinetics (PK) and established PK-based dosing strategies; • prepare, in concert with the IPC team, clinical protocols and related documents (French or English) to conduct clinical trials in France using Abreos’ tests.

Abreos Biosciences is an early stage biotechnology company with a proprietary peptide-based reagent platform named Veritope, amenable for the detection and quantitation of biologic drugs, such as monoclonal antibodies, in patients’ blood via lab-based tests and point-of-care tests. These tests are designed to implement a personalized dosing strategy of these expensive drugs to optimize patients’ clinical outcome, minimize side effects and cost. I was primarily in charge of the Assay Development and Clinical Development departments, overseeing assay design, assay development and clinical testing of new products, including lab-based tests (ELISAs) and point-of-care devices (lateral flow assays). I was also involved in fundraising activities, including grant writing, as well as in regulatory compliance, IP, and business development.

Abreos Biosciences is an early stage biotechnology company with a proprietary peptide-based reagent platform named Veritope. These reagents can be used for quality assurance, pharmacokinetic monitoring, and authentication in field, forensic, or point of care settings. They deliver value by enhancing brand protection, improving patients’ outcomes, and enabling rapid authentication for counterfeit prevention and end user confidence. Abreos Biosciences is the first mover in the field of lab-free biologic analysis and will capitalize on the rapidly growing problems of drug counterfeiting and non-optimal dosing.

In the laboratory of Dr. Thomas J. Kipps, I contributed to the drug discovery efforts of industry leaders, such as Celgene, Bayer and Roche, and internal collaborators, by leading pre-clinical studies defining drug activity, mechanism of action (MOA) and associated biomarkers for small molecules (immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) and kinase inhibitors), therapeutic monoclonal antibodies and enzymes as potential new treatments of cancer:• Uncovered the first direct MOA of lenalidomide in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) and identified associated biomarkers (Celgene)• Participated in MOA studies for the development of monoclonal antibodies targeting the oncofetal antigen ROR1, showing the importance of ROR1 in cancer metastasis and the pre-clinical efficacy of anti-ROR1 mAbs in mouse models of breast cancer (paving the way for cirmtuzumab, Oncternal Therapeutics)• Deciphered the MOA of an anti-CD44 therapeutic antibody in CLL (RG7356; Roche)• Wrote grants, various proposals for collaborations with industry, and correlative study sections in clinical protocols• Secured funding from Celgene to further develop biomarkers of drug response and predictive biomarkers for lenalidomide in CLL • Managed all Material Transfer Agreements for the lab in concert with UCSD Legal DepartmentDuring my appointment at UCSD:• Mentored more than a dozen graduate students, foreign exchange students and visiting scholars• Published 11 manuscripts (5 with lead authorship)

In the laboratory of Dr. Thomas J. Kipps, expert in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL): • Developed physiologically relevant in vitro models of the tumor microenvironment using primary immune cells (leukemic cells, T cells, monocytes / macrophages / nurse-like cells) and mesenchymal stem cells to test new compounds and identify new therapeutic targets• Demonstrated the importance of oxygen concentration for the in vitro propagation of mesenchymal stem cells derived from the marrow of CLL patients• Demonstrated an association between CLL aggressiveness and enhanced response to the chemokine CXCL12 produced in the microenvironment and showed inhibition by sorafenib• Generated a pre-clinical data package to support an industry funded phase I/II clinical trial to investigate the safety and efficacy of sorafenib in CLL patients at UCSD (Bayer, NCT01510756)• Contributed to MOA studies (signal transduction in primary dendritic cells) for the development of a new vaccine adjuvant (HMGB1 peptide)• Contributed to studies showing the enhancing effect of high levels of miR-155 on B cell receptor (BCR) signaling in CLL and its association with disease aggressiveness

• Performed research in the regulated R&D department of a blood bank, Héma-Québec.• Discovered a new subset of memory B cells expressing IgG in human blood.• Developed a patented in vitro culture system for the production of polyclonal human IgG preparations from blood memory B cells.

• Designed novel experiments to expand curriculum• Supervised and trained students in laboratory (60 students).• Graded student’s assignments, laboratory notebooks and exams.

• Constructed recombinant fluorescent Hepatitis A virus.

• Instrumental in the construction and expression of recombinant antibodies (scFvs) targeting tumor specific antigens, to be used as diagnostic tool for primary tumor and metastasis detection.