Our outside science advisors provide insight and recommendations on the strategic direction and plans we should
pursue to advance our technology and scientific goals.
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Jonathan Smith, Ph.D
Jonathan Smith is one of our founding scientists and is the Chairman of our Scientific Advisory Board.
Read Dr. Smith's full bio.
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Charles Rice, Ph.D.
Dr. Charles Rice is a Maurice R. and Corinne P. Greenberg Professor at Rockefeller University, where he serves as
the Head of the Laboratory of Virology and Infectious Disease and as the Scientific and Executive Director of the
Center for the Study of Hepatitis C. A preeminent expert in the field of animal RNA virus replication and pathogenesis,
Dr. Rice has made important contributions to the understanding of the mechanisms regulating RNA virus replication and
transcription, building on alphavirus models. He has also worked on flaviviruses such as the yellow fever and hepatitis
C viruses, and successfully made the first functional cDNA clone of the latter. Dr. Rice recently accepted a position
at Rockefeller University to direct a new clinical and basic science research center being established to concentrate
on hepatitis C. Dr. Rice earned his undergraduate degree in zoology from the University of California, Davis and later
completed his Ph.D. in biochemistry and postdoctoral work at Cal Tech. He is now a Member of the National Academy of Sciences (2005).
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Marc Collett, Ph.D.
Dr. Collett is currently Vice President of Research at Acambis Inc., a developer of vaccines, President and
Founder of ViroDefense Inc, a private antiviral research, development and consulting firm, and Adjunct Professor
in the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, Institute of Human Virology. Previously, he was a co-founder
of ViroPharma Incorporated, a publicly traded antiviral pharmaceutical company, and served as its Vice President
of Discovery Research from 1994 to 2004. Prior to ViroPharma, Dr. Collett served in various Research Director
positions at PathoGenesis Corporation, MedImmune, Inc. and Molecular Genetics, Inc. Dr. Collett has also served
on the faculty of the Department of Microbiology, University of Minnesota Medical School and the Department of Large
Animal Clinical Sciences, University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Collett received his BS and PhD
degrees from the University of Michigan and conducted postdoctoral studies at the University of Colorado.
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Myron M. Levine, M.D., D.T.P.H.
Dr. Myron M. Levine is Director of the Center for Vaccine Development at the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine,
Baltimore, MD. During his 28 years at the University, he has fostered the discipline of vaccinology including: basic
research on the pathogenesis of bacterial enteric infections and on the construction of vaccine candidates, clinical
research to assess the safety and immunogenicity of candidate vaccines in adult and pediatric populations and epidemiological
field research. He has also served the University of Maryland in many other capacities including Head of the Division of
Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine since 1985. His scientific credits encompass manuscripts, books, national and
international committees/collaborations and numerous awards including a Life Science Achievement Award by the University
of Maryland and the Gold Medal Award of the Albert B. Sabin Foundation. Dr. Levine received his M.D. from the Medical
College of Virginia and completed a pediatric residency and pediatric infectious disease fellowship at the Albert Einstein
College of Medicine. In 1974, he received a D.T.P.H. from the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
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H. Kim Lyerly, M.D.
Dr. Kim Lyerly is a professor of surgery at Duke University School of Medicine and the Director of the Duke Comprehensive
Cancer Center, which fosters an active research program in cancer immunotherapies. Dr. Lyerly's overall research approach
is to identify those therapies that generate sufficient T cell responses to specific tumor-associated antigens to inhibit
the progression and metastases of the targeted cancer. He currently sits on the editorial boards of several peer-reviewed
journals, including Cancer Investigation, Clinical Cancer Research, and Cancer Gene Therapy. He received his M.D. from the
University of California, Los Angeles.
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Peter Sarnow, Ph.D.
Dr. Sarnow is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University School of Medicine. His
laboratory is studying the mechanism by which certain microRNA molecules regulate expression of cellular and viral mRNAs,
particularly in diseases such as hepatitis C. Dr. Sarnow received his Ph.D. in 1982 from the State University of New York
at Stony Brook, working on the functions of the adenovirus tumor antigens in the laboratory of Dr. Arnold J. Levine. He
subsequently completed Post-Doctoral studies in the laboratory of Dr. David Baltimore at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, MA. There he studied virus-host interactions
in poliovirus-infected cells. Dr. Sarnow is an editor of Virology and is on the editorial board of Genes & Development,
Journal of Virology and Molecular & Cellular Biology.
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Steve Udem, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Udem is Senior Vice President Vaccine Development and Chief Scientific Officer at IAVI,
the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, and is an internationally recognized virologist
and vaccinologist. Previously, he was Vice President of Vaccine Discovery Research at
Wyeth where he led a department of 150 researchers. Prior to joining industry, Dr. Udem
held senior academic positions at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the New
Jersey Medical School. He received his undergraduate degree from City College of New York
and his Ph.D. and M.D. from Albert Einstein College of Medicine.