Scientfic Advisors
Daniel D. Von Hoff, M.D.
Dr. Daniel D. Von Hoff is currently Physician in Chief and Director of Translational Research at TGen (Translational Genomics Research Institute) in Phoenix, Arizona. He is also Chief Scientific Officer for US Oncology and for Scottsdale Healthcare’s Clinical Research Institute and holds an appointment as Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of Arizona, College of Medicine. Dr. Von Hoff’s major interest is in the development of new anticancer agents, both in the clinic and in the laboratory. Dr. Von Hoff has published more than 543 papers, 133 book chapters, and more than 950 abstracts. Dr. Von Hoff was appointed to President Bush’s National Cancer Advisory Board in June 2004 – March 2010 and is the past President of the American Association for Cancer Research (the world’s largest cancer research organization), a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a member and past board member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He is a founder of ILEX™ Oncology, Inc. (acquired by Genzyme after Ilex had 2 agents, alemtuzumab and clofarabine approved for patients with leukemia). He is founder and the Editor Emeritus of Investigational New Drugs – The Journal of New Anticancer Agent, co-founder of the AACR/ASCO Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshop, and Editor-in-Chief of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.
Frank J. Slack, Ph.D.
Dr. Frank Slack received his B.Sc from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, before completing his Ph.D in molecular biology at Tufts University School of Medicine. He started work on microRNAs as a postdoctoral fellow in Gary Ruvkun’s laboratory at Harvard Medical School, where he co-discovered the second known microRNA, let-7 and the first known human microRNA. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale University. The Slack laboratory studies the roles of microRNAs and their targets in cancer, development, and aging.
David Johnson, M.D., F.A.C.P.
Dr. David Johnson recently moved from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, to take the helm as the Donald W. Seldin Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine, and Chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine at the UT Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Johnson is the recipient of numerous honors and awards and served on the Board of Directors of several key institutions and associations, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the American Board of Internal Medicine, and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). Dr. Johnson also served for four years on the Oncology Drug Advisory Committee (ODAC) at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Johnson is a recognized specialist in the area of non-small cell lung cancer, and has published over 600 scientific papers, abstracts, books and monographs. Dr. Johnson completed his under-graduate (zoology) and graduate (physiology) studies at the University of Kentucky, and received his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia. Dr. Johnson received his internal medicine training at Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, New York, and completed his internal medicine residency at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama before joining the medical oncology faculty at the Vanderbilt University Medical School in Nashville, Tennessee.
Art Krieg, M.D.
Dr. Art Krieg serves as CEO of RaNA Therapeutics. Previously, he held the position of CSO of the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Unit at Pfizer where he was responsible for Pfizer’s RNAi, antisense, and other oligonucleotide-based programs and collaborations. He was formerly CSO, Executive Vice President Research and Development, and co-founder of Coley Pharmaceutical Group until its acquisition and incorporation into Pfizer in 2008. Dr. Krieg discovered the immune stimulatory CpG DNA motif in 1994, which led to a new approach to immunotherapy and vaccine adjuvants. Dr. Krieg co-founded the first antisense journal, Oligonucleotides, which he edited for 16 years, and co-founded the Oligonucleotide Therapeutic Society, which today has more than 400 members. Dr. Krieg graduated from Haverford College in 1979, received his MD from Washington University in 1983, and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Minnesota in 1986. He was a Staff Fellow at the NIH in the Arthritis Institute from 1986 to 1991, before joining the University of Iowa, where he became Professor of Internal Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology. He has published more than 200 scientific papers and is co-inventor on more than 20 issued and 100 pending US patents covering CpG technology.