About Us
Advisors
Inflection Biosciences’ panel of advisors, comprising leading physicians and scientific leaders in the field of oncology, immunology and rheumatology along with technical, business and regulatory experts, has been assembled to strategically support development of the company’s innovative pipeline.
Dr Arthur Pratt - Rheumatology
Dr Arthur Pratt is Clinical Senior Lecturer in Rheumatology at Newcastle University, and Honorary Consultant Rheumatologist at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust, UK. His research focusses on the molecular and cellular pathogenesis of immune-mediated inflammatory arthritis, and he has experience in the design and delivery of investigator led and collaborative industry-led early phase trials in these conditions. He has previously published on the role of PIM kinases as mediators of immune dysregulation in rheumatoid arthritis.
Dr Andrew Leishman – Immune-mediated therapeutic development
Dr Andrew Leishman is Director at Immunoconsulting Limited with over 20 years small and large molecule drug discovery and development experience, from target identification through to clinical development. He has worked with several pharmaceutical companies including PPL Therapeutics, Grunenthal and AstraZeneca (MedImmune) to deliver therapies targeting components of the immune system that are undergoing clinical trials across several therapy areas.
Associate Professor Patrick Walsh – Inflammatory disease
Dr Patrick Walsh is an Associate Professor in Paediatric Immunology in the School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin. He earned a PhD in biochemistry at UCC in 2001, and conducted postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania where he was an American Society for Transplantation fellowship awardee. After a period in pharmaceutical drug development at GlaxoSmithKline, he joined the School of Medicine as a lecturer in Paediatric Immunology and Principal Investigator at the National Children’s Research Centre (NCRC), CHI-Crumlin. He has been awarded the Science Foundation Ireland President of Ireland Young Researcher award. The research conducted by Professor Walsh’s group investigates the mechanisms which control inflammation and immune tolerance, particularly in the context of autoimmune and inflammatory disease conditions.
Professor Funda Meric Bernstam - Oncology therapeutic development
Funda Meric-Bernstam is the Chair of the Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics - the Phase I Program at MD Anderson Cancer Center, the Medical Director of the Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy (IPCT), and Professor in the Divisions of Cancer Medicine and Surgery at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas. She has a basic and translational research program that is focused on molecular therapeutics, predominantly focused on PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling, to delineate the mechanism of action of each agent targeting this pathway and the molecular alterations useful to prospectively identify patients who will benefit most from each agent, and optimal combination therapies.
She has participated in, as well as led, trials including investigator-initiated trials, cooperative group trials, and industry sponsored trials. These trials have ranged from a window of opportunity trials, neoadjuvant therapy trials, a Phase I and II trials in the advanced cancer setting as well as new surgical techniques, new imaging devices and molecular diagnostics.
Professor Martin Dreyling MD- Oncology Therapeutic Development
Martin Dreyling is Professor of Medicine and head of the lymphoma programme in the Department of Medicine III, LMU Hospital, Munich. He studied at the Universities of Düsseldorf, Giessen, Tübingen and Würzburg, and completed his clinical training at the Universities of Bonn, Münster, Göttingen and Munich. In addition, he was visiting scientist at the University of Chicago. His scientific focus is on the molecular basis of malignant transformation, cell cycle dysregulation and secondary genetic alterations as well as biological prognostic factors in malignant lymphoma. He is also interested in innovative therapeutic approaches, including molecular targeted approaches like inhibitors of the B-cell receptor pathway and immunological approaches. Prof. Dreyling is coordinator of the European MCL Network and president elect of the German Lymphoma Alliance. He has co-authored numerous scientific papers, book chapters and abstracts in international peer-reviewed journals.
Professor Josep Tabernero, MD, Ph. D. - Oncology therapeutic development
Josep Tabernero is currently the Head of the Medical Oncology Department and Head of the Gastrointestinal Tumors and Phase I Unit at the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona and the Director of the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology. He is very actively involved in translational research and pharmacodynamic Phase I studies with molecular targeted therapies. He is especially devoted to Phase I and II studies with pharmacodynamic endpoints with novel agents directed to the membrane receptors, including PI3K and ERK signalling pathways.
Dr. Tabernero is a member of the Executive Board of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), currently holding the position of Treasurer and Chair of the Fellowships and Awards Committee. He is also member of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), participating in its International Affairs Committee. He is actively involved in different editorial boards including the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Clinical Cancer Research, Cancer Discovery, Clinical Colorectal Cancer and Annals of Oncology. Dr Tabernero holds MD and PhD degrees from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
Martin Buckland - Corporate and business development
Martin Buckland has more than 30 years of commercial, corporate and business development experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. He is currently Chief Corporate Officer of Astex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and was responsible for negotiating many of the company's collaboration and licensing agreements, as well as the merger of Astex Therapeutics Limited with SuperGen, Inc. and the subsequent sale of the company to Otsuka Pharmaceutical. He joined Astex from Elan Pharmaceuticals, where he held the position of Vice President of Global Business Development. His prior experience includes a variety of business development and commercial management roles with Quintiles, Xenova and Celltech. He has a BA in Chemistry and a DPhil from the University of Oxford, UK, and an MBA from the Open Business School.