Penrose has assembled an advisory board of some of the most experienced and establish healthcare and business advisors in the world.
Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Dr. Chandel is a Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine with over 25 years of experience focused on understanding mitochondria as signaling organelles.
Dr. Navdeep Chandel is the David W. Cugell, M.D. Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine where he also established his laboratory focused on understanding how mitochondria work as signaling organelles to regulate physiology and pathology. It was there that Dr. Chandel began understanding the mitochondria’s role in cancer cells.
Dr. Chandel’s work established that mitochondrial metabolism and reactive oxygen species (ROS) are necessary for tumorigenesis in vivo which led to the current understanding that both aerobic glycolysis and mitochondrial metabolism are essential for tumor growth. He has also shown that the mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) is necessary for tumor growth and its inhibition has demonstrated anti-tumor efficacy in combination with targeted therapies. Additionally, Dr. Chandel’s lab has identified that mitochondria release the metabolite L-2HG, which increases histone and DNA methylation to control hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) differentiation and regulatory T cell (Treg) function, respectively.
Dr. Chandel graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.S. in mathematics in 1991. He earned his doctoral degree with Paul T. Schumacker, Ph.D. in Cell Physiology at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine in 1996. Dr. Chandel’s doctoral work was on kinetics of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase during hypoxia. He completed his post-doctoral work on mitochondrial dependent oxygen sensing and mitochondrial dependent apoptosis at the University of Chicago in 1999 with Paul T. Schumacker and Craig B. Thompson, respectively. He joined the Penrose TherapeuTx advisory board in 2021.
Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Indiana School of Medicine
Dr. Ivan is a microbiologist and immunologist whose research contributed to a Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology in 2019. He is a leading researcher in hypoxia, having pioneered the study of noncoding RNAs regulated by oxygen deprivation. He is also focused on combinatorial therapeutic approaches in oncology and tumor metabolism.
Dr. Mircea Ivan is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Indiana School of Medicine whose research contributed to the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2019. At the Ivan Lab at the University of Indiana, his team studies the metabolic branches of the hypoxic response and how they can be exploited for synergistic anticancer combinations in solid tumors, with emphasis on glioma and glioblastoma. Dr. Ivan’s team is working to develop new combinatorial therapeutic approaches based on rational interference with tumor metabolism.
Dr. Ivan’s lab is currently performing therapeutic targeting of brain cancer metabolism using combinations of specific metabolic inhibitors and antiangiogenic agents with hopes to better understand and exploit the vulnerabilities generated by the tumor microenvironment. In 2007 they were the first to identify microRNAs induced by decreased oxygen tension, including miR-210, now widely recognized as the prototypical “hypoxia-miR”. In parallel, the lab is developing new combinatorial therapeutic approaches based on rational interference with tumor metabolism, with a focus on high-grade glioma.
Dr. Ivan received his M.D. from the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest, Romania in 1993. He then continued on to receive his Ph.D. from the Department of Pathology at Cardiff University in Cardiff, Wales, UK. Dr. Ivan has won many awards in oncology including the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) Research Scholar Award, the Association for International Cancer Research Award and the American Association for Cancer Research Career Development Award from the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Dr. Ivan joined the Penrose TherapeuTx Advisory Board in 2021.
Joseph B. Kirsner Professor Chair, Chief of the Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and the Co-Director, Digestive Diseases Center at the University of Chicago Medicine
Dr. Rubin has over 30 years’ experience in the gastroenterology field with particular expertise in high-risk cancer syndromes and inflammatory bowel diseases.
Dr. David T. Rubin is a renowned gastroenterologist at the University of Chicago Medicine who specializes in the treatment and assessment of digestive diseases. His clinical expertise includes high-risk cancer syndromes and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), specifically Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis (UC). Dr. Rubin is also an international thought leader and clinical trial designer.
Dr. Rubin performs clinical research related to outcomes in IBD, with particular interest in prevention of cancer associated with these gastrointestinal (GI) diseases. He is also interested in new therapies for IBD, better screening tools for colorectal cancer, and the genetics of IBD. Dr. Rubin has authored or coauthored over 200 peer-reviewed articles on treatment and management of IBD, cancer in IBD and novel paradigms, as well as the first author of the 2019 American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) Guidelines for UC. His current research is in the area of biosensor monitoring of IBD, prevention of progressive complications from uncontrolled inflammation, and a variety of collaborative studies related to the microbiome and causes of IBD and its complications.
Among numerous awards and honors, Dr. Rubin was chosen by his peers as a member of Best Doctors, recognized for superior clinical ability, and America’s Top Physicians in gastroenterology. Additionally, he received the Cancer Research Foundation Young Investigator’s Award (2004) and twice received the ACG’s Governor’s Award of Excellence in Clinical Research (2003 and 2013).
Dr. Rubin is also the Joseph B. Kirsner Professor Chair, Chief of the Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and the Co-Director, Digestive Diseases Center at the University of Chicago Medicine. Prior to his current appointments, Dr. Rubin served for 11 years as Director of the Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition fellowship program. He also currently serves as an associate faculty member at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics and an associate investigator at the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Rubin joined Penrose TherapeuTx in 2021.
Chief Executive Officer and Founder, MyOwnMed
Dr. Seyfert-Margolis has decades of regulatory and research leadership experience at both the U.S. FDA and NIH, where she oversaw development of agency wide regulatory plans and integrating emerging technologies into research programs.
Dr. Vicki Seyfert-Margolis is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of MyOwnMed, a clinical medical research organization focused on using real-world evidence to drive healthcare innovation. Prior to building this database and launching the company, Dr. Seyfert-Margolis served for a decade as a Senior Advisor for Science Innovation and Policy in the Office of the Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) where she oversaw development and execution of an agency-wide strategic plan for regulatory science in addition to personalized medicine and scientific computing and informatics.
Prior to her tenure at the FDA, Dr. Seyfert-Margolis served as the Director of the Office of Innovative Scientific Research Technologies at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institute of Health (NIH), where she worked alongside Dr. Anthony Fauci to integrate emerging technologies into existing immunology and infectious disease programs. She also worked as the Chief Scientific Officer at the Immune Tolerance Network (ITN), an international, nonprofit research consortium seeking new treatments for diseases of the immune system and supported by the NIAID and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, of the NIH, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International.
Dr. Seyfert-Margolis completed her Ph.D. in immunology at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine and her post-doctoral fellowship work at Harvard University and the National Cancer Institute. She joined Penrose TherapeuTx Advisory Board in 2021.
Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Baylor University
Dr. Farmer has extensive chemical and biochemical expertise, with research programs on metalloproteins and enzymes redox catalysis, metal-based therapies for melanoma and most recently on enzymes that target flavonols and similar antioxidants.
Dr. Patrick Farmer has been a chemist for over 30 years, for the last 12 he has been Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Baylor University. Dr. Farmer founded his research group on electrochemical studies of heme enzymes involved in the nitrogen cycle, which ultimately led to investigations of nitric oxide and nitrosyl hydride (HNO) related to cardiovascular diseases. Additionally, his research group’s early study of the pigment melanin as a means of targeting melanoma led to chelator-based therapies that are currently in clinical trial for several types of cancer.
Dr. Farmer received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Texas, San Antonio in 1988. In 1993, he completed his Ph.D. program at Texas A&M University and was awarded a NATO Postdoctoral Fellow at École Normale Supérieure in Paris, and subsequently an NSF Fellow at Caltech. In 1995, Dr. Farmer joined the faculty of the chemistry department at University of California, Irvine until 2009. Currently, Dr. Farmer is a Professor and Chair of Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Baylor University. Dr. Farmer joined Penrose TherapeuTx in 2018.
Professor of Otolaryngology, Loyola University Medical Center
Dr. James Stankiewicz’s clinical activities include diagnosis, medical and surgical treatment of nasal sinus disorders. Dr. Stankiewicz graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in biology and earned his medical degree from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine (1974). His residency in otolaryngology was served at the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics (1974-1978). He served a two-year military obligation in Oakland, CA, where he was on the faculty at UC San Francisco.
Dr. Stankiewicz has been with Loyola University Medical Center since 1980. In 1985, he started the Nasal Sinus Center at Loyola, the first in the area. He has performed more than 15,000 nasal or sinus procedures and is nationally and internationally recognized for his experience and expertise particularly in complications of endoscopic sinus surgery. He recently held the position as Chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery (ENT) for 10 years before stepping down in 2015. Dr. Stankiewicz remains an active professor in the department and retains his position as the Director and Founder of the Nasal Sinus Center at Loyola.
Dr. Stankiewicz is the author of more than 300 articles, chapters, and books and has delivered more than 500 presentations, mostly dealing with nasal and sinus disorders. Dr. Stankiewicz is certified in Otolaryngology by the American Board of Otolaryngology and was elected to and served on the American Academy Board of Directors. He was also president of the American Rhinologic Society (ARS). Dr. Stankiewicz joined Penrose TherapeuTx in 2016.
CEO and Managing Director, Illinois Ventures
Ms. Sullivan has a wealth of experience in commercialization and entrepreneurship in the biotech industry and has been a key advisor to startups in obtaining venture capital funding, recruiting management teams, and advising on business development.
Nancy Sullivan is the CEO and Managing Director of Illinois Ventures. She built the firm’s team of top-tier investment and operations professionals and leads them in managing fundraising, investment strategy, and limited partner relationships. She has deep experience in commercialization and entrepreneurship, specifically in the biotech and therapeutics industries, and has been a key advisor to many startups, assisting companies in obtaining venture capital funding, recruiting management teams, and advising on business development and commercialization matters. She serves on the board of Diagnostic Photonics.
A Chicago native, Ms. Sullivan is an active member of the Illinois healthcare and tech communities. She serves on the boards of iBio, a life sciences industry association that represents the 85,000 life sciences employees at member companies, universities, service providers and venture firm; Cures Within Reach, a research nonprofit that brings stakeholders together to undertake repurposing research opportunities; and MATTER a Chicago-based health tech accelerator. Ms. Sullivan is also a German Marshall Fellow and participated in Leadership Greater Chicago.
Prior to taking the helm at Illinois Ventures, Ms. Sullivan served as the Director of the Office of Technology Management at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and as Senior Director of Strategic Planning and Business Development for a biotechnology startup.
Senior Vice President, McKesson Pharmaceutical Solutions and Services
Dr. Schrepfer has decades of experience in pharmaceutical business development with specialty knowledge advising healthcare start-ups.
Robert Schrepfer is the Senior Vice President of McKesson Pharmaceutical Solutions and Services. Over the course of his career, he has developed a wealth of specialty knowledge advising healthcare start-ups including capital raising/funding, strategy, and finance. Prior to joining McKesson, Mr. Schrepfer was the Senior Vice President of Business Development & Specialty Sales and the Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, while also serving on the Audit and Compensation Committees, at ANI Pharmaceuticals. He has also served as an Assistant Portfolio Manager at Healthcare Value Capital, LLC, a private investment firm where he oversaw public and private investments in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and health care services from 2005–2013.
Mr. Schrepfer has authored numerous medical articles, including three peer-reviewed research papers and a chapter in a leading therapeutic exercise text. He has also served as a founding member of Fuqua’s Health Care Alumni Advisory Board, adjunct professor at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), and guest lecturer at the Duke University School of Medicine and The Fuqua School of Business. Mr. Schrepfer received an M.B.A. in Finance and Health Sector Management from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and an M.S. in Physical Therapy from the University of Indianapolis.
University of California, Irvine
Dr. Van Vranken earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Stanford University in 1991 as an NSF predoctoral fellow developing new ligands for asymmetric catalysis and applying them to the synthesis of natural product glycosidase inhibitors. After completing his Ph.D., he carried out postdoctoral work at UC Berkeley as an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow developing antibody-catalyzed reactions for conjugate addition and carbamate hydrolysis.
Dr. Van Vranken began his independent career in the Department of Chemistry at the University of California at Irvine (UCI) in 1994 developing carbon-carbon bond forming reactions of peptides. His research has spanned natural product synthesis, new transition metal catalyzed reactions, and synthesis of bioactive compounds. He has been a Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Awardee, a Glaxo-Wellcome Chemistry Scholar, an Eli Lilly Faculty Grantee, a Fellow of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and a recipient of the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award. Dr. Van Vranken is currently a Professor of Chemistry at UCI.
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