Gabriele M. Cerrone
Chairman of the Board of Directors. Non-independent Director
Director Since: 2003
Mr. Cerrone, Chairman of the Board of Directors, has served as a Senior Vice President of Investments of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., a financial services firm, since March 1999. Prior to such affiliation, Mr. Cerrone held the position of Managing Director of Investments at Barington Capital, L.P., a merchant bank, between March 1998 and March 1999. Between May 2001 and May 2003, Mr. Cerrone served on the board of directors of Siga Technologies, Inc.
Christoph Bruening
Independent Director
Director Since: 2003
Mr. Bruening, a Director of the company, organized Value Relations GmbH, a full service investor relations firm operating in Frankfurt, Germany in 1999 and currently serves as its Managing Partner. From 1998 to 1999, Mr. Bruening served as a funds manager and Director of Asset Management for Value Management and Research AG, a private investment fund and funds manager in Germany. From 1997 to 1998, Mr. Bruening was a financial analyst and Head of Research for Value Research GmbH. Mr. Bruening is currently a member of the advisory board of Clarity AG.
John P. Brancaccio
Independent Director
Director Since: 2004
Mr. Brancaccio is currently the chief financial officer of an incubator for venture backed medical device companies. He also serves on the boards of Alfacell Corporation and Xenomics, Inc. which are publicly traded biopharmaceutical companies where he is either the chairman or a member of their Audit Committees, Compensation Committees or Nominating Committees. He was formerly the secretary and treasurer of Memory Pharmaceuticals Corporation after serving in the capacity of their acting chief financial officer. Prior to Memory Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Brancaccio held the positions of chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Eline Group, a publicly traded entertainment and media company, where he oversaw the roll up of several related companies into the group and completed private equity financing placements. Prior to joining Eline Group, he held a number of senior executive positions in public and private companies including Atlantic Pharmaceuticals, Zambon Corporation, Deven International and Health Learning Systems. During his tenure with these companies he participated in initial public offerings and the negotiating of licensing and development agreements within both the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. He is a retired Certified Public Accountant and has a degree in Accounting from Seton Hall University.
Dr. Stephen K. Carter
Independent Director
Director Since: 2004
Dr. Carter joins Callisto after an extensive career in the area of cancer drug development and research, as both a senior executive and director, and as a medical researcher. Dr. Carter most recently served as Senior Vice President of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs for SUGEN, Inc., a San Francisco-based biotechnology and pharmaceutical company, now a subsidiary of Pfizer. Prior to SUGEN, he held positions including Senior Vice President, Research & Development, for Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Senior Vice President, Woldwide Clinical Research & Development, for Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. Dr. Carter, a former clinical professor of medicine at Stanford University and medical journal author, received a medical degree from New York Medical College, and a bachelor’s degree in American history from Columbia College. He is also a member of numerous cancer-related societies, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Association for Cancer Research, the Society for Surgical Oncology, and the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.
Dr. Riccardo Dalla-Favera
Independent Director
Director Since: 2005
Dr. Dalla-Favera is Director of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University, and the Percy and Joanne Uris Professor of Pathology and Professor of Genetics & Development. Dr. Dalla-Favera is an expert in the field of hematology malignancies, having received his medical degree and completed his training in hematology/oncology at the University of Milan, Italy. After a residency in hematology at the University of Milan and a visiting fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Dalla-Favera spent seven years on the New York University School of Medicine faculty, before joining Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in the Department of Pathology, where he presently heads the University’s Cancer Center and is the Director of the Specialized Center for Research on Lymphoma at Columbia funded by the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. Dr. Dalla-Favera is a distinguished investigator in the molecular genetics of cancer who has been recognized with several national awards, including the Stohlman Award from The Leukemia Society of America, and two NIH MERIT Awards, and he is an American Association of Physicians Fellow. Dr. Dalla-Favera is on the editorial board of a number of scientific journals, and has authored over 250 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Gary S. Jacob, Ph.D.
Inside Director, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer
Director Since: 2004
Gary S. Jacob, Ph.D. has served as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer since May 2003, and Chairman of Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc. since October 2003. Dr. Jacob formerly served as Chief Scientific Officer of Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc. from 1999 to 2003. From 1990 to 1998, Dr. Jacob served as a Monsanto Science Fellow, specializing in the field of Glycobiology. From 1997 to 1998, Dr. Jacob was Director of Functional Genomics, Corporate Science & Technology, Monsanto. From 1990 to 1997, Dr. Jacob was Director of Glycobiology, G.D. Searle Pharmaceuticals Inc. From 1986 to 1990, Dr. Jacob was Manager of the G.D. Searle Glycobiology Group located at Oxford University, England. Dr. Jacob received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his Bachelor of Science degree (with honors) in chemistry from the University of Missouri – St. Louis.
Dr. Randall K. Johnson
Independent Director
Director Since: 2005
Dr. Johnson joins Callisto after an extensive career in the area of cancer drug development. With over 30 years of experience in government and industry in cancer drug discovery and development, Dr. Johnson is also a co-author on 200 scientific papers and an inventor on 14 issued U.S. patents. During his 20 year career at SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals (eventually GlaxoSmithKline), Dr. Johnson headed the cancer drug discovery effort and also was responsible for setting up centralized high throughput screening. Dr. Johnson was responsible for the discovery and development of topotecan, which has been marketed worldwide for the treatment of ovarian and lung cancers. He is currently an independent consultant in oncology and has, in the past 3 years, provided advice and guidance to over 60 clients in the venture capital, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Dr. Johnson is a member of the Scientific Advisory Boards of seven biotechnology companies in the U.S., Europe and Asia.