Joshua R. Lamstein is our Chairman and a director. Mr. Lamstein is also Vice Chairman of HCFP and Co-Chairman and Co-Managing Partner of HCFP/Capital Partners. HCFP/Capital Partners is a co-founder of Scopus. Mr. Lamstein is also a senior officer and/or director of other portfolio companies of HCFP and a Venture Partner of an approximately $100 million seed-stage venture fund. Mr. Lamstein has worked in venture capital and private equity for over 20 years, including as a Managing Director of GF Capital Private Equity Fund, a $240 million middle market private equity fund, and as a Partner of LMS Capital, a FTSE 250 London Stock Exchange-listed investment trust. Mr. Lamstein initiated the trust’s presence in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. He began his career in private equity at Apollo Advisors, a global alternative investment manager now known as Apollo Global Management, Inc. Prior thereto he was an investment banker in New York and London at Lehman Brothers.
Mr. Lamstein is also a Senior Advisor to John Snow, Inc. and JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc., a non-profit global public health management consulting and research organization dedicated to improving the health of individuals and communities throughout the world. Mr. Lamstein is also on the Board of Trustees of World Education, Inc., a non-profit organization that provides training and technical assistance in literacy, health and HIV and AIDS education around the world.
Mr. Lamstein received his B.A., with honors, from Colgate University and his M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Robert J. Gibson, CFA is our Vice Chairman and a director. Mr. Gibson is also Executive Vice President of HCFP and Co-Chairman of HCFP/Capital Markets LLC, a middle-market investment bank. Mr. Gibson is highly experienced in investment banking and private equity, with a particular emphasis on biopharmaceutical, biotechnology, specialty pharmaceutical and other healthcare companies. Previously Mr. Gibson was a Senior Vice President – Investment Banking at CRT Capital Group LLC, a middle market investment bank, and a Senior Vice President at Balance Point Capital Partners, a middle market private equity fund. Mr. Gibson began his career in healthcare investment banking at Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc.
Mr. Gibson is a Chartered Financial Analyst. Mr. Gibson received his B.A., magna cum laude, from Amherst College.
Aharon Schwartz, Ph.D. is a member of our Scientific Advisory Board and Executive Chairman of Scopus Israel. Since 2004, Dr. Schwartz has been the Chairman of the Board of BioLineRx Ltd. (Nasdaq: “BLRX”), and is also currently a director of Protalix BioTherapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American: “PLX”). From 1975 to 2011, Dr. Schwartz served in various management positions at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NYSE: “TEVA”), most recently as Vice President — Head of Teva Innovative Ventures. Dr. Schwartz’s prior positions at Teva included Vice President — Strategic Business Planning and New Ventures; Vice President — Global Products Division; Vice President — Copaxone Division; Vice President — Business Development; and Head of the Pharmaceuticals Division.
Dr. Schwartz received his B.Sc. in Chemistry and Physics from Hebrew University, his M.Sc. in Organic Chemistry from the Technion and his Ph.D. from the Weizmann Institute of Science. Dr. Schwartz also holds an additional Ph.D. in history and philosophy of science from Hebrew University.
Hua E. Yu, Ph.D. is a member of our Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Yu is the Billy and Audrey L. Wilder Professor in Tumor Immunotherapy at City of Hope, Co-leader of the Cancer Immunotherapeutics Program, Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Associate Chair and Professor in the Department of Cancer Immunotherapeutics & Tumor Immunology, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope. Previously, Dr. Yu was Associate Professor, Immunology Program, at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute.
Dr. Yu’s laboratory was the first to validate STAT3, a critical regulator of tumor cell survival and proliferation, as a molecular target for cancer therapy in animal models. Dr. Yu’s team also unraveled a critical role of STAT3 in tumor angiogenesis and tumor immune evasion. Prior to joining Moffitt, Dr. Yu was a postdoctoral research scientist in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Yu received her B.A. in Biology and Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Columbia University, New York, New York.
Marcin Kortylewski, Ph.D. is a member of our Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Kortylewski is Associate Professor in the Department of Immuno-Oncology at City of Hope. Dr. Kortylewski’s laboratory focuses on the development of novel oligonucleotide therapeutics for cancer immunotherapy. Dr. Kortylewski’s two-step immunotherapeutic strategy is first to disarm tumor defense systems and then to activate immune attack from within using a single oligonucleotide molecule. Previously, Dr. Kortylewski was a research scientist in the Immunology Program at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute.
Dr. Kortylewski received his M.S. in Biotechnology from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland and his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University School of Medical Sciences in Poznan, Poland.