Daniel L. Flynn, PhD
Daniel L. Flynn PhD is recently retired from Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company he founded in 2003. While at Deciphera during 2003-2023, he held positions of Chief Executive Officer and more recently Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer. He has 40 years of experience within the pharma and biotechnology industry. His research interests are focused on therapeutic agents to treat cancer and immunology diseases. At Deciphera, Dr Flynn invented a kinase inhibitor platform called Switch Control Kinase Modulation. This unique platform led to the advancement of eight kinase modulators into clinical trials, of which two have led to regulatory approval: QINLOCK® for the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumors, and ROMVIMZA® for the treatment of tenosynovial giant cell tumors.
Before founding Deciphera, Dr. Flynn held senior roles with various biotechnology and pharma companies, including Senior Director of Chemistry with Millennium Pharmaceuticals; Director, Medicinal Chemistry at Amgen Inc.; Director of Medicinal Chemistry, Combinatorial Chemistry and Research Fellow at the Monsanto Company, G.D. Searle Unit; and Research Associate, Department of Chemistry at Warner Lambert/Parke Davis. Dr Flynn has authored or co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications and listed as an inventor in over 120 patent applications. Dr. Flynn received both his B.S. in pharmacy and Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry from the University of Kansas, and completed post-doctorate training in synthetic organic chemistry at Indiana University.
Dr. Flynn is currently Adjunct Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Kansas-Lawrence, has served as the National Chair for the Division of Medicinal Chemistry of the American Chemical Society, is an American Chemical Society Fellow, and Founder of the Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Foundation.
Daniel L. Flynn, PhD
BOD Chair, Former Founder, CSO, Deciphera Pharmaceuticals
Daniel L. Flynn PhD is recently retired from Deciphera Pharmaceuticals,...
Casey Cunningham, MD
Casey Cunningham, MD is the Chief Scientific Officer of Santé Ventures. Dr. Cunningham received his fellowship training in oncology and hematology at the Harvard Medical School, where he subsequently served on the faculty for a number of years. In 1999, he became the Associate Director of the Mary Crowley Cancer Research Institute in Dallas, Tx. The MCMRI performs early phase clinical trials in oncology and Dr. Cunningham had a particular focus on gene and immune approaches. During his time at MCMRI, Casey also provided consulting services to biotech and pharma companies, advising them on early stage drug development. Dr. Cunningham joined Santé Ventures in 2008 as CSO but has also served in operating roles for several of the fund’s portfolio companies.
Casey Cunningham, MD
Chief Scientific Officer, Santé Ventures
Casey Cunningham, MD is the Chief Scientific Officer of Santé...
Greg Hamilton
Greg Hamilton
President, Brightstar; CIO, Americo
Laurent Humeau, PHD
Laurent Humeau is Chief Scientific Officer at Inovio. He works to ensure continuous and strategic growth of INOVIO’s pipeline by introducing a constant flow of innovative concepts and cycling them from early-stage discovery and development through clinical application and patient monitoring. He provides technical and strategic leadership across multiple teams that are essential to upstream and downstream verticals of clinical development. Prior to INOVIO, Laurent was Senior Director of Translational Research, Human Therapeutics Division for Intrexon and previously Chief Scientific Officer, Vice President of R&D at VIRxSYS Corporation. Laurent holds a Ph.D., summa cum laude, from Denis Diderot/Paris 7 University and a MS degree from Pierre & Marie Curie/Paris 6 University, Paris, France.
Laurent Humeau, PHD
Chief Scientific Officer, Inovio Pharmaceuticals
Laurent Humeau is Chief Scientific Officer at Inovio. He works...
Jose Ochoa
José Ochoa is a Venture Partner at Flerie Invest, a European biotech and pharma investor managing a portfolio of more than 25 companies in the US, UK, Sweden and Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the life sciences sector, José has successfully executed a variety of transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and licensing agreements, in fields such as oncology, immunology, and manufacturing. His experience as a life sciences executive, legal counsel, and alliance manager has led him to senior roles at organizations like Altimmune, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALT), IDT Biologika, and Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS). José holds both Juris Doctor and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Virginia.
Jose Ochoa
Partner, Flerie Invest
José Ochoa is a Venture Partner at Flerie Invest, a...
Dennis Walsh
Dennis Walsh
CFO, Americo
Niranjan Y. Sardesai, PhD
Dr. Sardesai founded Geneos after building Inovio Pharmaceuticals into a Phase III cancer and infectious disease immunotherapy company serving as its Chief Operating Officer. He held positions of increasing responsibility after joining the company in 2006 where he helped formulate the company’s product development and growth strategies and reorganized the company into a DNA vaccine and immunotherapies company. For Inovio, Dr. Sardesai drove multiple M&A and licensing transactions to consolidate key technologies, establish the corporate footprint, and develop its immunotherapies platform and product pipeline. He led the strategic out-licensing of Inovio’s pipeline products to secure major licensing deals totaling over $1 Bn with pharma partners.
Dr. Sardesai was previously the founder and President of NVision Consulting Inc., a firm providing strategic counsel to entrepreneurial life sciences companies. He served as Director of Research and Development at Fujirebio Diagnostics, Inc., where he oversaw the expansion of the company’s oncology portfolio. Products developed under his leadership include groundbreaking new tests for mesothelioma (MESOMARKTM), bladder cancer and a multi-marker test for ovarian cancer (HE4).
Dr. Sardesai received a PhD in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology and a MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was the recipient of the Shils-Zeidman Award in Entrepreneurship. He was awarded fellowships at the Scripps Research Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Dr. Sardesai received his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. Dr. Sardesai has authored over 120 peer-reviewed manuscripts and was recognized by PharmaVoice magazine as one of the top 100 most influential and inspirational leaders across the life sciences industry (2015).
Niranjan Y. Sardesai, PhD
Founder, President & CEO
Dr. Sardesai founded Geneos after building Inovio Pharmaceuticals into a...
Board Observers
Omar H. Khalil
Omar H. Khalil manages Santé’s Boston Office and concentrates on biotechnology, where he partners with scientific founders and entrepreneurs across multiple therapeutic areas and modalities. Omar joined Santé in 2007 and rejoined in 2020 after holding various transactional and operational leadership roles within the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. He held senior leadership roles with Baxter International, Baxalta (now part of Takeda), and Kaléo, a commercial-stage biotech. In these positions, he led and managed businesses ranging from early clinical development to commercial launch, which scaled to more than $3 Billion in annual sales. Earlier in his career, he worked at McKinsey & Company in the healthcare practice, advising leading pharmaceutical and medical device companies on growth and M&A strategies. Omar serves as a board member, advisor, and mentor to several organizations focused on biotech entrepreneurship and is a member of the Leadership Advisory Board at the University of Michigan College of Engineering. He received his MSE and BSE in Biomedical Engineering summa cum laude from the University of Michigan with a concentration in Tissue Engineering.
Omar H. Khalil
Partner, Sante Ventures
Omar H. Khalil manages Santé’s Boston Office and concentrates on biotechnology,...
Sangwoo Lee
Mr. Lee is Head of Korea Investment Partners (KIP’s) US office based in Silicon Valley and actively explores cross-border investments to contribute to the global expansion of Korea Investment Partners. He is currently managing over 12 companies in his investment portfolio and participates actively on more than 7 boards. Portfolio companies range from biotech/healthcare companies such as Enlivex, Prokarium, PDC Line, Atrogi and KAHR to IT/Fintech companies such as Pavilion Data Systems and SecuLetter.
Before his career in Venture Capital, Mr. Lee spent 18 years in diverse positions and companies including his 12 years of entrepreneur experience in the IT industry including Samsung Electronics, Dasan networks, Neomtel and Polidigm. In the latter two, he cofounded the companies and led the teams as top management officer. The image compression algorithm for cell phone of Neomtel was de facto standard in Korea at early 2000s and the company went on to IPO at 2007.
Sangwoo Lee
Managing Director — Korea Investment Partners US Inc.
Mr. Lee is Head of Korea Investment Partners (KIP’s) US...
Scientific Advisors
Sam Broder, MD
Samuel Broder is the former head of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the largest and most important Agency for cancer research in the world. President Ronald Reagan appointed Dr. Broder to serve as Director of the NCI in 1989, and he held the position for six years. While at the NCI, he also oversaw the development of numerous anti-cancer therapeutic agents, such as TAXOL® . As NCI Director, Dr. Broder helped launch a number of large-scale clinical trials related to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer, and he inaugurated the highly successful SPORE Program.
Dr. Broder joined the Celera Corporation at its founding in 1998, as the Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer, and helped advance the human genome project, i.e., the elucidation of the 3 billion letters of code that make up human DNA. His most recent operational position was as SVP, Health Sector, Intrexon Corp, with responsibilities for gene therapy and synthetic biology. He has served on numerous BODs and SABs.
Dr. Broder spent his entire career in translational medicine, and his laboratory interests have included antiretroviral therapy, the relationship between immunodeficiency disorders and cancer, the human genome, and the proteomics of cancer cells. In the mid-1980s, in response to the AIDS pandemic, he focused his attention on HIV-1/AIDS. His laboratory played a major role in developing the first 3 agents approved by FDA specifically to treat the AIDS virus. These are the novel nucleosides Retrovir® (AZT), Videx ® (ddI), and HIVID ® (ddC).
Dr. Samuel Broder graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor in 1970. He did an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Stanford University in Palo Alto, and then did subspecialty training in medical oncology at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda. He is the author or co-author of over 340 scientific publications, and is an inventor on many patents. He has received numerous scientific awards related to his research in cancer and AIDS. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 1993.
Sam Broder, MD
Former Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Samuel Broder is the former head of the National Cancer...
David B. Weiner, PhD
Dr. David Weiner directs a translational research laboratory at The Wistar Institute in the area of Molecular Immunology. His group is one of the pioneering research teams in establishing the field of DNA vaccines and immunotherapies. Important reports from his lab include the first DNA vaccine studied for HIV as well as for cancer immunotherapy, the early development of DNA encoded genetic adjuvants including the particularly relevant IL-12, advances in gene optimization, and advances in electroporation (EP) technologies resulting in improved gene delivery among others. His group worked with collaborators to become the first to move DNA technology into human study. His laboratory’s work helped revitalize the field through advancement of new synthetic DNA design and modification of EP delivery approaches resulting in potent immune induction as well as the first successful Phase IIb DNA efficacy study (for HPV immunotherapy) in humans.
Dr. Weiner is the recipient of numerous honors including election as a fellow to both the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2011 and the International Society for Vaccines in 2012. He is the recipient of the NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award and received the Vaccine Industry Excellence Award for Best Academic Research Team in 2015 at the World Vaccine Congress. Weiner was honored with the prestigious Hilleman Lectureship in 2015 at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Grand Rounds session and received a Stone Family Award from Abramson Cancer Center for his groundbreaking work on DNA vaccines for cancer immunotherapy. In 2019, Dr. Weiner was honored with the Scientific Achievement Award from Life Sciences PA (LSPA).
Dr. Weiner returned to Wistar in 2016 from his position at The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine as professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. From 1990 to 1993, Weiner held a joint position as assistant professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at The Wistar Institute and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. Weiner is a co-founder of Inovio Pharmaceuticals and is a member of the Board of Directors.
Dr. Weiner graduated with a B.S. in biology from SUNY at Stony Brook, N.Y., a M.S. in biology from the University of Cincinnati and a Ph.D. in developmental biology from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.
David B. Weiner, PhD
W.W. Smith Endowed Chair in Cancer Research, The Wistar Institute
Dr. David Weiner directs a translational research laboratory at The...