Management
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Mireli Fino, MBA Executive Vice Chancellor |
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Yang Wang, MD, PhD Deputy Director, Product Discovery |  |
John Sullivan-Bolyai, MD, MPH Deputy Director, Clinical Affairs |
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Mark S. Klempner, MD
Mark S. Klempner, MD, is the Executive Vice Chancellor for MassBiologics of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he is professor of medicine. Dr. Klempner joined UMMS in July 1, 2012, from the Boston University School of Medicine, where he served as Associate Provost for Research, Conrad Wesselhoeft Professor of Medicine and the founding director of the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL).
Dr. Klempner is an internationally known figure at the intersection of basic infectious disease research and the development of therapeutics and vaccines to combat infections. Dr. Klempner discovered that inflammatory cells secrete & respond to proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1 and TNF) releasing reactive oxygen species & lysosomal contents. These observations have formed the basis for effective anti-cytokine treatments for inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. He engineered the first “reporter pathogens” demonstrating that intracellular changes were crucial to the pathogenesis of staphylococcal and plague infections & discovered the essential role of host plasminogen for transmission of the Lyme disease spirochete. Each of these discoveries have been coupled to translational clinical research including demonstration that lysosomotropic antibiotics eradicate intracellular staphylococci and reduce carriage of staph as well as the recurrence of staphylococcal skin and soft tissue infections. His clinical research on Lyme disease includes the pivotal treatment studies for post treatment chronic Lyme disease and trials of the Lyme vaccine. His research experience formed the basis for successful design and scientific program development for the NIH funded high containment NEIDL.
Dr. Klempner’s research interests include the molecular pathogenesis of Lyme disease, prevention and treatment of Lyme disease, strategies to interrupt transmission of vector transmitted infectious diseases, immune based prevention and treatment of hemorrhagic fever virus infectious diseases, bacterial antibiotic resistance and the role of bacterial subpopulations in hetero-resistance and the development of human monoclonal antibodies for the prevention and treatment of human diseases.
A graduate of the Cornell University Medical College, Dr. Klempner trained at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Laboratory of Clinical Investigation at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the National Naval Medical Center. He has held national leadership positions including the American Board of Internal Medicine Chair of the Infectious Diseases Board and member of the Board of Directors, President of the Association of Subspecialty Professors member of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the MA Governor’s Life Sciences Advisory Board, the Board of Scientific Counselors for the NIH Clinical Center. For over a decade he served as Associate Editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, selecting and refining the infectious diseases content of this leading clinical research journal.
Rebecca Cannon, PhD
Rebecca Dahn Cannon, PhD, is the Associate Deputy Director for Quality at MassBiologics of the University of Massachusetts Medical School. As the leader of the Quality Assurance, Quality Control, and Validation departments, she is responsible for ensuring that all MassBiologics and contract manufacturing activities meet Federal and EU regulations and guidances. In addition, Dr. Cannon’s groups apply phase-appropriate cGMPs for Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III studies in a manner that protects patient safety, scientific integrity, and consistency of clinical trial materials. Joining MassBiologics in 2002 as a staff Scientist, Dr. Cannon later served as Senior Manager in the Quality Control Department and as Senior Director, Quality Assurance before assuming her current position.
Dr. Cannon received her PhD in Physical Chemistry and Masters in Analytical Chemistry from Northwestern University. She completed a Post-Doctoral fellowship in Toxicology and Therapeutic Drug Monitoring at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Office of the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner. Prior to joining MassBiologics, Dr. Cannon was the Chief Toxicologist and Acting Director of Toxicology at the Center for Forensic Sciences, Syracuse, NY.
Yang Wang, MD, PhD
Yang Wang, MD, PhD is the Deputy Director of Product Discovery at MassBiologics and a Professor of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. As the head of the Product Discovery department, she leads a team of scientists and researchers with the goal of discovery and development of biological medicines. In the past decade, she has made major contributions to all discovery programs undertaken at MassBiologics including drug discovery against Rabies, HCV, Diphtheria, Lyme disease, Enterotoxigenic E.Coli and coronavirus. She has discovered and developed multiple biologics for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases that were selected for Investigational Drug Applications and advanced clinical development. She is the lead inventor of these high impact medicines and she oversees pre-clinical development activities with a diverse network of external national and international collaborations. She has a successful track record of program leadership from early stage discovery research through pre-clinical development to Investigational Drug Applications.
Dr. Wang has authored many peer-reviewed publications and patents in the field of therepeutic monoclonal antibodies, including original research on the structure and biology of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies, antibody and vaccine discovery and engineering, and nucleotide based delivery of biologics. She is the principle investigator for external grant-funded translational research and the support for her research has come from NIH, DOD, the BMGF, industry and philanthropy. Dr. Wang also leads the education and training programs at MassBiologics and has been an outstanding mentor to the discovery scientists, pre- and post-doctoral trainees, and students from the apprenticeship programs at Massachusetts Life Sciencecs Center
Dr. Wang received her PhD in Genetics from Tufts University School of Medicine. She also holds an MD degree and a MS degree in Immunology. She joined MassBiologics as an R&D Scientist in 2007, later served as Senior Director in Product Discovery before advancing to the Deputy Director position.
John Sullivan-Bólyai, MD, MPH
John Z. Sullivan-Bólyai, MD, MPH is the Deputy Director of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs at MassBiologics. Dr. Sullivan-Bólyai leads a team of experienced regulatory affairs and clinical trials scientists and managers responsible for life cycle management of MassBiologics licensed products and for translating and advancing MassBiologics science into clinical development.
Dr. Sullivan-Bólyai came to MassBiologics with over 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, ranging from large companies to start-ups; Hoffmann-La Roche, Merck, IPSEN, Valeant, Anadys, Idenix; most recently as the Chief Medical Officer of ContraVir Pharmaceuticals. He has had key roles in the filing and international regulatory approval of 15 IND/CTA applications for both small molecules and biologicals, as well as the licensing of five drugs. He has developed therapeutics for multiple indications, including infectious diseases (HIV, HCV, HBV), neuroendocrinology, gastroenterology (HGH, somatostatin) and coagulation (FVIII). His experience spans the evaluation of small molecules and biologicals for clinical and commercial potential; regulatory and commercial strategy; design of IND/CTA enabling preclinical programs; as well as hands-on clinical trials design and implementation from First-in-Human to Phase 4.
Dr. Sullivan-Bólyai received his MD and MPH from the University of Washington in Seattle, where he also completed specialty training in Pediatric Infectious Diseases. He served as an Epidemic Intelligence Officer with the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to joining industry, Dr. Sullivan-Bólyai held academic and clinical positions in the departments of pediatrics at the UCLA School of Medicine and the University of Illinois School of Medicine.