With over 15 years of experience driving Target-to-Clinic drug discovery projects, I have built and led high-performance discovery teams, establishing the cross-functional collaboration necessary to advance discovery pipelines through IND. My journey has taken me from startups to major pharmaceutical players, where I've fostered a culture of trust, respect, and results.At Fate Therapeutics, I served as Vice President of Preclinical Pharmacology & Toxicology. In this role, I oversaw all in vivo studies essential for advancing Fate’s pipeline of iPSC-derived, genome-edited cellular therapies. A highlight was coordinating research efforts between Fate and Janssen Pharmaceutical, delivering two clinical development candidates. I managed both in-house and outsourced studies, delivering over 200 in vivo studies annually to support six concurrent discovery and late preclinical development programs.Before Fate, I was Executive Director and Head of Biology & Pharmacology at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute. There, I set the vision and drove the execution of biology and pharmacology operations, advancing high-risk, high-reward drug discovery projects. Leading a team of 25 with a multimillion-dollar budget, I expanded therapeutic area capabilities and secured $5 million in new funding to support over ten new research projects. Cultivating a relationship with an international chemical vendor, I established a new revenue stream and enhanced SBP's reputation for collaboration.My tenure at Sanford Burnham began as Director and Site Head of Drug Discovery, where I led over 30 FTEs in advancing a deep portfolio of drug discovery initiatives. Balancing resources between bi-coastal sites, I positioned operations toward long-term sustainability and instilled an “innovation first” mindset. This resulted in a first-in-class pipeline based on ownership, empowerment, and accountability. Securing a multiyear partnership with a global pharma company to innovate novel heart failure treatments was a key accomplishment.My academic background includes a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and an M.S. in Clinical Investigation from Vanderbilt University, as well as a B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Tulane University. Throughout my career, I have partnered with and fostered a culture of trust, respect, and results among team members at all levels, consistently driving drug discovery projects to successful outcomes and advancing the pharmaceutical industry.