Advisors

Michael R. Blaese, M.D.
Formerly National Institutes of Health

Dr. Blaese was on the faculty of the National Institutes of Health for 33 years where his work spanned a range of areas from basic research in immunology, virology, cancer and molecular genetics to clinical investigation and the development of innovative new therapies. In 1984 he started work to develop the use of genes as medicines that ultimately led to the first successful human gene therapy in 1990. As Chief of Clinical Gene Therapy for the Human Genome Institute, Mike continued to lead the early development of gene therapy introducing clinical trials for inherited immunodeficiency, brain cancer and AIDS. He has served widely on Biotech SABs and government advisory committees and in 1999 he joined Kimeragen (later ValiGen) as Chief Scientific Officer and President of their Molecular Pharmaceuticals Division. He has published over 340 original research papers, holds 11 patents and was instrumental in policy formation governing gene technology in the U.S. at the NIH, FDA and the RAC (Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee) as well as consulting on these topics for the Parliaments of France and Denmark. Most recently Dr. Blaese serves as Research Director of the Fund for Inherited Disease Research, Founder and President of PreGentis and as Medical Director of the Immune Deficiency Foundation.


Robert Gerety, M.D., Ph.D.
MEND (Medicine in Need)

With 15 years of experience at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health and 14 years as an executive in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, Dr. Gerety brings a wealth of experience to his position as Vice President and Principal Fellow with Nektar. While with the FDA, Dr. Gerety served as associate director for medicine and science and chief of the infectious disease branch at the Office for Biologics Evaluation and Research. Dr. Gerety also has held executive positions in regulatory affairs and research and development at several pharmaceutical companies. Prior to joining Inhale Therapeutics Systems, Dr. Gerety was vice president of development and regulatory affairs at OraVax, Inc. a biotechnology company engaged in the discovery and development of vaccines and antibody products. At Merck & Co., he directed the licensing of the first recombinant human vaccine against hepatitis B and establishing Shionogi as the Japanese commercialization partner. As vice president of development operations at Biogen, Inc., he was instrumental in championing the development of AVONEX¨ (interferon beta-1a), the leading drug used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Dr. Gerety was executive vice president and later CEO of ImmuLogic Pharmaceutical Corporation. Dr. Gerety has been a member of the United States Public Health Service, the National Vaccine Advisory Committee of the U.S. government, US Japan Scientific collaboration of Hepatitis, and the AIDS Task Force and has served as a consultant to the NIAID, the NCI, the U.S. Army, the American Red Cross, and the World Health Organization. He received his MA and PhD from Stanford University Medical School and his MD from the George Washington University School of Medicine.


Carl June, M.D.
University of Pennsylvania

Carl H. June, M.D., currently serves as Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Director, Translational Research Programs at the Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. June is a 1975 graduate of the Naval Academy in Annapolis, and a graduate of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, 1979. He had graduate training in Immunology at the World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland from 1978-79, and post-doctoral training in transplantation biology at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle from 1983 Ð 1986. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology. He was a faculty member in the Departments of Medicine and Cell and Molecular Biology at the Uniformed Services University for the Health Sciences in Bethesda from 1987 to 1998. He is a member of the American Academy of Physicians, and a recipient of the Bristol Myers Squibb Freedom to Discover Award. Since moving to the University of Pennsylvania in 1999 as a Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Dr. June has established a facility to produce experimental cell based therapeutics. Currently, Dr. June is involved with several clinical trials that are testing various forms of cell based therapies for cancer and HIV infection. Dr. June is the scientific founder of Xcyte Therapies, Inc.


James Weaver, Ph.D.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

James C. Weaver, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Scientist in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology on the MIT campus. Dr. Weaver has published more than one hundred peer-reviewed scientific papers, has twenty-four issued patents, and in 2000 was elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. His research has emphasized electromagnetic field effects in cells and tissues, with a focus on the fundamental mechanism of cell electroporation and its biomedical applications. Dr. Weaver received his BA from Carleton College, and MS and PhD degrees in Physics from Yale University.


John Reardon, Ph.D.
Integrated Oncology Solutions, Inc.

John E Reardon is the Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Integrated Oncology Solutions, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Research Triangle Park, NC. Prior to joining IOS Dr. Reardon was the Senior Vice President of Discovery Research Biology at GlaxoSmithKline with responsibility for the majority of biological science supporting gene-to-function-to-target-to-lead activities in the international GSK R&D organization. Dr. Reardon received his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from The Ohio State University and did post-doctoral research with Dr. Robert Abeles at Brandeis University before beginning a career in the pharmaceutical industry. He joined Burroughs Wellcome Co. in 1987 as a Research Scientist where he contributed to the discovery and development of several anti-viral compounds.