Scientific Advisory Board
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Carlos L. Arteaga, M.D.
Dr. Arteaga currently holds the Vice Chancellor’s Chair in Breast Cancer Research and is Professor of Medicine and Cancer Biology, and member of the Division of Hematology-Oncology at Vanderbilt University. He is also Director of the Breast Cancer Research Program and Breast Cancer SPORE of the NCI-designated Vanderbilt-Ingram Comprehensive Cancer Center.Dr. Arteaga obtained his M.D. degree with honors in 1980 at the University of Guayaquil in Guayaquil, Ecuador, trained in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology at Emory University and the University of Texas Health Sciences Center, respectively. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Internal Medicine and in Medical Oncology and has over 150 peer-reviewed publications relevant to his research in the molecular and cell biology of mammary neoplasia. His laboratory is funded by the NIH/NCI, the American Cancer Society (ACS), the US Army Breast Cancer Research Program, the Susan G. Komen and the Breast Cancer Research foundations, and biotechnology industry to study the role of signaling by the TGF and erbB receptors in tumor and non-tumor mammary epithelial cells as well as their therapeutic projections. In 1998 he was elected into the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI) and in 2005 into the Association of American Physicians (AAP). He serves (or has served) as member of the NIH Parent Committee for Review of Cancer Centers (Subcommittee A; 2004-2008), the Board of Scientific Advisors of the National Cancer Institute (1999-2004), the Breast Cancer Core Committee of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG), and the Board of Directors of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR; 2004-2007). He co-chaired the Developmental Therapeutics Committee of ECOG and chairs the Special Conferences Committee of the AACR (2002-). He is the recipient of the 2003 AACR Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award for innovative work leading to progress in clinical breast cancer and more recently received the 2007 ACS Clinical Research Professorship Award. He chaired the 1st and 2nd AACR Special Conferences Advances in Breast Cancer Research in 2003 and 2005, respectively, and will chair the 3rd one in 2007. He is Deputy Editor of Clinical Cancer Research and Associate Editor or member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Mammary Gland Biology & Neoplasia, Breast Cancer Research, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Clinical Proteomics, and Cancer Biology & Therapy.
J. Donald Capra, M.D.
Dr. Capra serves as President Emeritus of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF). For nine years (1997-2006) Dr. Capra served OMRF as President and oversaw an impressive period of growth and new scientific discovery including significant increases in external research funding, scientific faculty and facility improvements. In addition to his current duties as President Emeritus, he continues his research projects in the laboratory as Member and Head of the Molecular Immunogenetics Research Program at OMRF. Prior to OMRF, he served as professor of microbiology and internal medicine and was the Edwin L. Cox Distinguished Chair in Immunology and Genetics of University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Director of Southwestern’s Molecular Immunology Center. Dr. Capra is also well known for his studies of antibody genes and how they are mutated in autoimmune disorders and was an early leader in the field of monoclonal antibodies. Early in his career he was instrumental in defining the association of immunoglobulin hypervariable regions with the antibody combining site. More recently he has made contributions to our understanding of human B cell development. Along the way he has been a major contributor to our understanding of the various mechanisms of antibody diversity.Judith James, M.D.
Dr. James is the Lou Kerr Chair in Biomedical Research at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation and Professor of Medicine/Adjunct Professor of Pathology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Dr. James’ research interests focus on understanding the etiology and pathogenesis of lupus and related disorders, the evolution and pathogenic mechanisms of antibodies in systemic rheumatic disease, and development of diagnostic assays for autoimmune disorders. Her work has made seminal contributions to understanding how autoimmune diseases start and the concept of humoral epitope spreading. She has published over 80 articles concerning these and related topics in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Medicine, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Immunological Reviews and the Journal of Clinical Investigation to name a few. A sought-after speaker, Dr. James has conducted lectures for the American College of Rheumatology, International Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Meetings, and the International Vasculitis Meeting, among others. Dr. James has received several prestigious awards including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists. She serves in national/international leadership positions with the American College of Rheumatology and the Lupus Foundation of America. She is a study section member with the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She has also served on several NIH advisory committees and provided testimony supporting the NIH at the Noel Laureates’ Hearing.Dr. James received her Medical Degree and PhD in Immunology from the Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and is board certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology. She continues to practice adult rheumatology, focusing on the systemic rheumatic diseases and her NIH grants include Principle Investigator (PI) of a newly funded Rheumatic Disease Research Cores Center, PI of a Center of Biomedical Research Center of Excellence in Mentoring Immunology, co-PI of a Specialized Center of Research in SLE, co-PI of an NIAID contract to understand influenza vaccination responses in immunosuppressed SLE patients and PI of a Native American Research Health Center project to understand rheumatic disease in American Indians.
Thomas Kindt, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer
Thomas Kindt, Ph.D. was most recently Director of Intramural Research, NIAID, NIH, Bethesda, MD and Chief of Laboratory of Immunogenetics, NIAID, NIH and spent a year as Visiting Scientist, Analytical Immunochemistry Laboratory at the Institute Pasteur, Paris. Prior this he was with the Rockefeller University in New York and the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, CA. Dr. Kindt has served on Advisory Boards and Committees of the Institute Pasteur, Tunis, Tunisia; Hematech LLC, Massachusetts; Institute for Medical Sciences, University of Tokyo; REDI Center, Singapore; NIH Facilities Working Group and Blue Ribbon Panel on Bioterrorism and implications for biomedical research. He has authored and co-authored 225 publications, two books and three patents; currently he is an active biomedical consultant, immunology textbook author and adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico’s Department of Biology.Ronald Levy M.D.
Ronald Levy, M.D., is Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Oncology at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is the Robert K. Summy and Helen K. Summy Professor at Stanford, as well as the Frank and Elsie Schilling American Cancer Society Clinical Research Professor.Dr. Levy earned his AB at Harvard University and his M.D. at Stanford. He conducted his internship and residency at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He was clinical associate in the immunology branch of the National Cancer Institute and served fellowships in the Dept. of Oncology at Stanford and the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation; the Dept. of Chemical Immunology at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot Israel.
Dr. Levy has had strong ties with Stanford University since receiving his MD from the institution in 1968 and currently serves as the Stanford University School of Medicine Chief of the Division of Oncology, a position he has enjoyed since 1993.
Among his many honors and awards, Dr. Levy has been the recipient of the Damashek Prize from the American Society of Hematology, the Jeffrey A. Gottlieb Memorial Award from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the Evelyn Hoffman Memorial Award from the Lymphoma Research Foundation of America, and the Key to the Cure Award from the Cure For Lymphoma Foundation. Dr. Levy received his AB in Biochemistry from Harvard University and is the author of more than 250 articles that have appeared in various publications and peer-reviewed journals.
John D. Minna, M.D.
Dr. Minna is Director of the Nancy B. and Jake L. Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research and the W.A. “Tex” and Deborah Moncrief, Jr. Center for Cancer Genetics at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. He holds the Max L. Thomas Distinguished Chair in Molecular Pulmonary Oncology and the Sarah M. and Charles E. Seay Distinguished Chair in Cancer Research. He received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Stanford University and was an intern and resident in medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. He then went to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a Research Associate with Dr. Marshal Nirenberg and became first Chief of the Section of Somatic Cell Genetics, and then Chief of first the NCI-VA and then NCI-Navy Medical Oncology Branches at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Later he joined the faculty at UT Southwestern Medical Center.Dr. Minna’s work has focused on understanding the molecular pathogenesis of lung cancer and translating this into the clinic. He has led a joint Lung Cancer NCI Special Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant between UTSW and the MD Anderson Cancer Center and is currently discovering the molecular signatures in lung cancer predictive of response to therapy as well as how to target this therapy. He has also authored and co-authored significant publications, including the Harrison’s Textbook of Medicine Chapter on Lung Cancer, and Focus on Lung Cancer; Tumor Suppressor Genes on Chromosome 3p Involved in the Pathogenesis of Lung and Other Cancers; Molecular Pathogenesis of Lung Cancer and Potential Translational Applications and has authored or co-authored over 500 publications, review articles and editorials. He has served on the Scientific Advisory Board for the National Cancer Institute (NCI), as well as on the Board of Directors for AACR and ASCO.
Jur Strobos, M.D., J.D., Vice President of Clinical & Regulatory Affairs
Dr. Jur Strobos brings with him extensive experience as Director of Policy Research in the office of the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and a diverse background in drug law, medical product development, and health care. Most recently, he was Vice President of Clinical Research and Regulatory Affairs for Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation (NYSE: MRX). His prior medical background and four years of residency training in general surgery training enabled him to engage in policy development across the broad array of FDA activities from foods, devices, drugs, to biological products. His areas of expertise include food and drug law, clinical study design and good manufacturing practices. He has been the successful steward of multiple drugs and devices through the FDA and will be working closely with Dr. Thomas Kindt, InNexus' Chief Scientific Officer and previous Director of Intramural Research at the National Institute of Health. After law school, a federal court clerkship, and an associate position at a large national law firm, Dr. Strobos received his appointment to the FDA where he worked closely with FDA Commissioner Kessler on regulatory policies. He gained significant experience in regulatory affairs and then served as Clinical Program Development and Regulatory Consultant for Greenberg Traurig, LLP, and Olson, Frank & Weeda, PC, in Washington, DC. He also served as Vice President of Clinical Research and Regulatory Affairs for R&D Laboratories, Inc. Dr. Strobos received his medical training at the University of Chicago, his legal training at the University of Pennsylvania and is admitted to practice in both Washington, DC and California. He has numerous publications and awards including the PHS Special Recognition Award, the FDA Award of Merit and two Commissioner Special Citations.Ellen S. Vitetta, Ph.D.
In addition to Dr. Vitetta’s current positions as Professor of Microbiology and Director of the Cancer Immunobiology Center, she is holder of the Sheryle Simmons Patigian Distinguished Chair in Cancer Immunobiology and a Distinguished Teaching Professor. As an immunologist who does translational ("bench to bedside") research, she has published 475 papers, edited several books, and is a co-inventor on 13 issued patents. Over the past two decades Dr. Vitetta has developed antibody-based "biological missiles" (immunotoxins) to destroy cancer cells and cells infected with HIV. These novel therapeutics have been evaluated in tissue culture, in animals and, since 1988, in >300 humans. She is the PI on 10 FDA INDs for Phase I and II clinical trials. In 2001, Dr. Vitetta’s group developed a recombinant protein vaccine against ricin which completed testing in human volunteers in 2005. The vaccine was safe and elicited neutralizing antibodies.Dr. Vitetta is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Science, the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Academy of Cancer Immunology. She is among the 100 most cited biomedical scientists and the 10 most cited women of the past several decades. She has been the recipient of the Pierce Immunotoxin Award, an NIH Merit Award, 16 Faculty Teaching Awards, the FASEB Excellence in Science Award, the American Society of Microbiology Abbott Clinical Immunology Award and the American Association of Cancer Research Rosenthal Prize. Dr. Vitetta was the 1993-94 President of the American Association of Immunologists and in 2002 was awarded its Mentoring Prize. In 2005, she became a founding member of UT Southwestern’s newly established Southwestern Academy of Teachers and was elected to the UT-system wide Academy of Health Science Education, 2006. In 2006, Dr. Vitetta was inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame by Governor Rick Perry. In 2007 the American Association of Immunologists awarded her its highest honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Daniel Von Hoff, M.D., FACP
Dr. Von Hoff is Physician in Chief of The Translational Genomics Institute (TGen), Executive Vice President and Director of TGen’s Translational Drug Development Division and Head of TGen’s Pancreatic Cancer Research Program. He is also Professor of Medicine, Molecular and Cellular Biology and Pathology at the University of Arizona and served as director of the Arizona Cancer Center. He is also Chief Scientific Officer for U.S. Oncology.Dr. Von Hoff's career is focused on the discovery and development of new anticancer agents. He has been deeply involved in the development of many agents, including: mitoxantrone, fludarabine, paclitaxel, docetaxel, gemcitabine, CPT-11, and others.
Dr. Von Hoff's present focus is the development of molecularly targeted therapies, especially the discovery of new targets in pancreatic cancer and the discovery and development of drugs to treat this lethal disease. Dan's basic laboratory focus is in vitro drug sensitivity testing to individualize treatment for the patient, mechanisms of gene amplification, particularly of extrachromosomal DNA, and understanding of and targeting telomere maintenance mechanisms.
Dr. Von Hoff is past President of the American Association for Cancer Research, a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a member and past board member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He is founder and board member of ILEX Oncology and founder and Editor Emeritus of Investigational New Drugs – The Journal of Anticancer Agents; Co-Editor of ONE, ONcology Economics; and, Editor of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. Dan was appointed to President Bush's National Cancer Advisory Board in June 2004. He has published more than 515 papers, 127 book chapters, and more than 949 abstracts.
Martin Weigert, Ph.D.
Dr. Weigert is Professor of Pathology and Director of the Knapp Center for Lupus and Immunology, University of Chicago. He received his BA in Biology from Haverford College and his Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of Pennsylvania. He has held numerous positions of honor in research during his professional experience, including Henry L. Hillman professor in the Life Sciences, Dept. of Molecular Biology, Princeton University; Senior member, The Institute for Cancer Research; Member, Basel Institute for Immunology; Professor of Human Genetics, University of Pennsylvania; Research Associate, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA; Postdoctoral research on the mode of action of 5-fluorouracil, Yale University; Predoctoral research on the genetic code; Undergraduate work on metabolic effects of purine analogs, metabolism of 6-methylaminopurine in Salmonella typhimurium, and mating type substances in paramecium and chlamydomonas.Dr. Weigert has also received numerous appointments, awards and fellowships, including the Carol Nachman Award, Member, National Academy of Sciences, Merit Award, National Institute of General Medicine; Chairman and Member, Allergy and Immunology Study Section; Chairman, Gordon Conference on Immunochemistry and Immunology; Board of Reviewing Editors, Science; Associate Editor, Autoimmunity – Journal of Molecular & Cellular Immunology – Immunogenetics – Journal of Immunology – Immunochemistry; American Cancer Society Faculty Research Award; Jane Coffin Childs Fellowship; USPHS Post- and predoctoral Fellowships; German Fulbright Fellowship. He has also authored and co-authored numerous publications.
Maurizio Zanetti, M.D.
Dr. Zanetti is a professor with the University of California San Diego, Department of Medicine, Tumor Growth, Invasion & Metastatis Program and a member of the Cancer Center and the Center for Aids Research. He received his undergraduate degree in Classical Studies from Lyceum Marcantonio Flaminio of Vittorio Veneto in Treviso, Italy. He then went on to obtain his M.D. degree at the University of Padova Medical School, Italy, graduating “summa cum laude” and joining their Board in Nephrology.Along with his extensive education, Dr. Zanetti served for eighteen years as a Career Scientist of INSERM (National Institute of Medical Research) of France and an Assistant Member, Division of Immunology, Medical Biology Institute, La Jolla, CA. Dr. Zanetti has belonged to numerous Honorary and Professional organizations, including Associate Editor of The Journal of Immunology and Cellular Immunology and a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and Clinical Immunology Society. Throughout his years he has also written and published over 150 books, textbooks and publications.