The Cullinan
Oncology
Leadership
Team
Diverse Teams Fuel Innovation
With backgrounds as varied as our pipeline, the Cullinan Oncology leadership team’s collective yet distinct experiences are focused on leading through drug discovery, development, and delivery.
Nadim Ahmed
Chief Executive Officer
Leadership
Chief Human
Resources Officer
Chief Technical
Operations Officer
Kevin holds an M.S. in Chemistry from Northeastern University, Boston and a B.S. in Chemistry from Lafayette College, Easton, PA.
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Jeffrey Jones has over 15 years of clinical development experience in academia and industry, with skills ranging from clinical trials, drug development, medical education, and healthcare management. Previously, Dr. Jones served as Vice President, Global Drug Development, Lymphoma and Myeloid Diseases at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he led the development and lifecycle management strategy for Reblozyl®. Earlier, Dr. Jones was Clinical Strategy Lead for Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Global Clinical Research and Development at Celgene, where he shaped clinical and business development strategy across a diverse portfolio of small and large molecules in early- through late-stage development.
Before joining the industry in 2017, Dr. Jones was Associate Professor of Internal Medicine in the Division of Hematology at The Ohio State University. While at Ohio State, Dr. Jones led the Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia clinical research program and represented the Division of Hematology as Clinical Research Leader in the OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Jones holds an M.B.A. from The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business, an M.P.H. from the University of Texas School of Public Health and an M.D. from the University of Michigan Medical School, completing his residency in internal medicine at McGill University.
Chief Scientific Officer
Jennifer Michaelson is a biotech executive with 20+ years of industry experience in oncology, immunology, and immune-oncology drug development. Prior to joining Cullinan, Jennifer participated in the launch of Jounce Therapeutics, where she built and led multiple departments, including Tumor Immunology, Pharmacology, and Preclinical Development, and went on to serve as the Executive Program Leader for the lead program, JTX-2011. Jennifer’s prior roles in industry include a 10-year tenure at Biogen, where she served as project leader for several monoclonal antibody and bispecific antibody programs in both the oncology and immunology therapeutic areas. Jennifer has also served as a consultant at Third Rock Ventures for multiple stealth stage immune-oncology companies.
Jennifer earned her B.A. in Biology from Princeton University and Ph.D. from the Department of Cell Biology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Philip Leder’s laboratory in the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School.
Chief Business Officer
Corinne is highly accomplished in pharmaceutical research and development, oncology and international business development. Prior to joining Cullinan Oncology, Corinne served as Global Head, Business Development and Licensing for Novartis Pharma. In this role, Corinne oversaw the execution and management of over 20 major transactions across multiple therapeutic areas including in-licensing, option and equity deals, spin-outs, and divestments. Corinne started her career as a researcher at AstraZeneca and Imutran, a UK-based biotech company, where she was Research Director. Novartis acquired Imutran in 1996 and Corinne was promoted to CEO of Imutran. Since 2001, Corinne continued to hold increasingly senior leadership positions within Novartis. She was the European Head of the Transplant and Immunology Business, the Global Head Search and Evaluation for Business Development and prior to her last role the Global Head of Pricing and Market Access where she was responsible for the price and access strategies for the entire Novartis portfolio.
Corinne received a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Manchester (UK) and conducted her postgraduate research at University College and Middlesex School of Medicine (Ph.D.) and the Charing Cross Sunley Research Centre in London.
Chief Compliance Officer,
and Corporate Secretary
Jackie began her legal career at Kaye Scholer, LLP, and clerked for the Honorable Gladys Kessler of the United States District Court in Washington, D.C. She holds a J.D. and a L.L.M. in international and comparative law from Duke University School of Law and a B.A. from Bucknell University.
Chief Financial Officer
Senior Vice President, Communications
Rose is an expert communications professional in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Prior to joining Cullinan Oncology, she held roles of increasing responsibility in Corporate Affairs at Bristol Myers Squibb, with leadership positions in Science and Commercial Communications, Global Hematology, and Corporate Communications. Rose joined Bristol Myers Squibb after leading communications for the U.S. site for Otsuka. Previously, Rose held business communications roles at Sanofi. Rose earned her Master’s degree in Finance from La Salle University in Philadelphia.
Board of Directors
President and Chief Executive Officer
Nadim has more than twenty-five years of leadership experience in oncology across a range of development and commercialization roles, including recently at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), where he served as President, Hematology and at Celgene Corporation (Celgene) where he served as President, Global Hematology & Oncology. As President, Hematology at BMS, Nadim oversaw multiple product launches and served as a member of the company’s Leadership Team. Prior to BMS, Nadim served in leadership roles at Celgene across both development and commercialization functions. Nadim has expertise in various treatment modalities, including small molecules, biologics, and cell therapy in hematology and solid tumors. Nadim holds a Master of Science degree from Loughborough University, UK and a Bachelor of Science degree from University College London, UK.
Nadim currently serves on the Board of Directors for Family Promise, a national non-profit organization helping families impacted by homelessness.
After earning a degree in psychology in Hamburg, Thomas began his career with Reemtsma in 1987, where he served as the product manager responsible for the “West” brand, among other duties. In 1991, he moved to Pepsi-Cola Germany, where he served as a marketing manager. In 1993, he was appointed Marketing Director for the entire beverage portfolio. Starting in 1994, he was National Sales and Franchise Director for the retail and restaurant sales of Pepsi-Cola. In 1996, he was appointed General Manager of Pepsi-Cola Germany.
In 1997, Thomas moved to Novartis, where he served as General Manager of Novartis Nutrition for Germany and Austria. In 1998, he assumed worldwide leadership of the Novartis Nutrition Division. In this position, he headed the three business units Medical Nutrition, Health Nutrition, and Consumer Retail Brands, where, among other duties, he was responsible for the leading U.S. baby food brand Gerber. In 1998, he was appointed to the Novartis Executive Committee and from 2000 to October 2007, he served as CEO of the global Novartis pharmaceuticals business. Under his leadership, the company’s revenues more than doubled from U.S. $11 billion to US $22.6 billion, after which he was CEO of the Novartis Consumer Health Division from 2007 to 2009.
From 2009 to 2018, Thomas served as CEO of ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE, and has been a member of the supervisory board of Bayer AG since 2012 as well as a member of Board of Directors at Sivantos (Hearing Aids) since 2016 and GFK since 2017.
David holds a doctoral degree in medicine from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. After completing his degree, David began his career at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center as an intern in Internal Medicine and became chief resident in the Internal Medicine department during his postdoctoral training. David joined Massachusetts General Hospital in 1998, where he has held positions of increasing responsibility over the past two decades, specializing in the research and treatment of patients with cancer.
Along with his professional experience, David has held many academic posts, including his current position of Shelby Memorial Professor of Medicine in the field of cancer therapeutics at Harvard Medical School. The principal focus of David’s research is the design and implementation of clinical trials in gastrointestinal malignancies.
In addition to his professional, academic, and leadership roles, David devotes much of his time to numerous medical and hospital associations and committees. David is a member of the American Society for Clinical Oncology.
Anne-Marie has more than 20 years of medical experience in experimental medicine and research. She is an internationally trained scientist, thought leader, and senior pharmaceutical executive. She has a successful track record in drug development, companion diagnostic development, and translational medicine across numerous therapeutic areas. Her experience in global regulatory science, medical affairs, business development, alliance management, and global commercial insights conveys her passion for people development, organizational culture, inclusion, and diversity.
Previously, Anne-Marie was Senior Vice President, Global Head of Precision Medicine at Novartis and Vice President, Head of Biomarker Research and Diagnostics at Adaptimmune. In addition to these roles, Anne-Marie’s career also includes a number of university appointments inclusive of teaching and research positions.
She received her undergraduate degree in biomedical sciences from Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK and a Ph.D. in Immunogenetics from MCP-Hahnemann University in Philadelphia.
Previously, Tony was Global Head, M&A, and Licensing (Corporate) for Novartis (NVS), based in Basel, Switzerland. In this role, he oversaw the Novartis portfolio transformation, a comprehensive set of transactions announced in 2014 to focus Novartis on its global businesses in innovative pharmaceuticals, eye care, and generics.
Tony brings more than 30 years of biotech operations and strategic management experience to Cullinan Oncology. He joined Novartis' predecessor company Sandoz in the U.K. in 1980, where he held diverse leadership positions across sales and marketing, business development, and strategic planning. He moved to Basel in 1994, assuming roles of increasing responsibility, and in 2000 was appointed Global Head of the Transplantation and Immunology Business Unit. In 2005, Tony was appointed Global Head of Business Development and Licensing (Pharma) and managed over 30 major in-licensing transactions across therapeutic areas as well as numerous divestments. In 2010, he assumed added responsibility leading the Molecular Diagnostics Group.
Tony has a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Leicester and an M.S. in Physiology from the University of London.
Tony currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Oculis SA and is on the Board of Directors of argenx BV. Tony also serves as an advisor to PJT Ltd, UK.
He was previously Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Optimer Pharmaceuticals Inc. from July 2012 until its acquisition by Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. in October 2013. Stephen currently serves on the Board of Directors of NextCure, Inc., Nabriva Therapeutics AG (formerly Nabriva Therapeutics plc) and TCR2.
Stephen received an A.B. in Economics from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. We believe Stephen is qualified to serve as a member of our Board of Directors due to his extensive experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including his prior experience as a chief financial officer and other management positions.
Scientific Advisory Board
Dr. Bahija Jallal is Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Board of Immunocore, a commercial-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of a novel class of T cell receptor (TCR) bispecific immunotherapies designed to treat a broad range of diseases, including cancer, infectious diseases and autoimmune conditions.
Prior to taking the helm at Immunocore in January 2019, Bahija was President of MedImmune, the global biologics research and development unit of AstraZeneca. She was also Executive Vice President of AstraZeneca and was a member of its senior executive team reporting to the CEO. Dr. Jallal joined MedImmune in March 2006. Under her leadership, MedImmune/AstraZeneca developed and launched ten new biologic medicines in three therapeutic areas.
Bahija has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed publications and has more than 15 patents. She serves on the Board of Elevance Health and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Johns Hopkins University and the Board of Directors of the University of Maryland Health Sciences Research Park Corporation. Bahija is also a member of the Women in Cancer Research Council of the American Association of Cancer Research; and the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. She is a past President of the Association of Women in Science and was named the 2017 Woman of the Year by the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association.
Bahija received a master’s degree in biology from the Universite de Paris VII in France and her doctorate in physiology from the University of Pierre & Marie Curie in Paris. She conducted her postdoctoral research at the Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany.
Dr. Patricia LoRusso has been a practicing academic medical oncologist performing clinical/translational research in early phase clinical trials for 30 years, spending the first 25 years at Wayne State University/Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, MI and transitioning to Yale University/Yale Cancer Center in 2014. Both institutions have NCI comprehensive designation status. She has had continuous NIH/NCI peer review funding for 28 years, having held a U-grant for early phase clinical trials through the NCI Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP) for 26 years. She has also collaborated on numerous other grants and have been an investigator in P01 and P30 funding mechanisms. Understanding the need for team science, she has participated in P50 mechanisms and has been awarded team science grants through such organizations as Stand Up to Cancer (Co-Leader: Melanoma Dream Team), the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Komen Foundation (Co-leader, KG111063:Targeting Stem Cells in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) in Different Racial Populations).
Dr. LoRusso has also been involved in many service disciplines at the NCI. She has reviewed grants for many study sections and has either been an ad hoc (e.g. CCSG, NeXT study sections) or permanent study section member (e.g. Program Project Subcommittee D and Clinical Oncology study sections). She has served on the Investigational Drug Steering Committee (IDSC) since inception (2005-present) and served as its chair from 2011-2013. She was a member of the steering committee that convened after the Blue- Ribbon Panel to execute on their recommendations. She served a 4-year term (2015-2019) on the Board of Scientific Council (BSC), reviewing the intramural programs for quality, content, productivity and funding.
In addition to serving in NCI positions, Dr. LoRusso has served in leadership positions of several other organizations. She has served on the Board of Directors and numerous scientific and education committees of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the education and scientific committees of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and the steering committee for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Accelerating Anticancer Agent Development and Validation Workshop, as examples. Internationally, she has taught several clinical trials educational workshops, educating many physicians and scientists across the globe. She understands how critically important it is to train the next generation of early career investigators to be knowledgeable and proficient in clinical and translational research by providing them leadership opportunities and mentoring. She has worked closely with Cancer Research United Kingdom (CRUK), a UK Welcome Trust which is the second largest funding agency for cancer research. She is currently serving a 3-year term as the chair of their New Agents Committee (NAC), reviewing international proposals relative to drug development of novel agents.
Working closely over the past 3 decades with patients suffering from advanced malignancies, Dr. LoRusso has become an advocate, not only for cancer researchers and clinicians, but more importantly for the patients and their caregivers. Having experienced at a young age the death of her own parents from cancer, she understands the urgent need for new cancer discoveries and the potential for longevity and quality of life.
Dr. Tolcher is the CEO and Founder of NEXT OncologyTM, a Phase I group that seeks to transform early clinical trials. NEXT Oncology’s mission is to accelerate the next breakthrough medicines for cancer and to be the most successful and respected Phase I program in oncology research. The NEXT Oncology sites include San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Fairfax, Virginia, Barcelona, and Madrid, Spain. Dr. Tolcher served as President and Co-Founder of START LLC from 2009- 2018, one of the world’s largest Clinical Phase I and early drug development operations in cancer medicine, with 5 locations across the US, Spain and China. Dr. Tolcher is a medical oncologist with over 25 years of experience in early drug development and clinical trials. He has been involved in many of the initial Phase I studies of new agents that subsequently were FDA approved for the treatment of cancer, including pembrolizumab (Keytruda), copanlisib (Aliqopa), trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla), regorafenib (Stivarga), liposomal vincristine (Marqibo), cabazitaxel (Jevtana), carfilzomib (Kyprolis), gefitinib (Iressa), erlotinib (Tarceva), and eribulin (Halaven). He is currently the principal investigator on 40 Phase I clinical studies and is a reviewer for the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Clinical Cancer Research, and Annals of Oncology. He has chaired the Developmental Therapeutics Review Committee for the American Association of Clinical Oncology Annual Scientific Program. Dr. Tolcher has over 100 peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals, including Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Clinical Cancer Research and is the author of nine book chapters.