Maurice Zauderer, Ph. D. – Founder, President
& Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Zauderer co-founded Vaccinex and has served as President, Chief
Executive Officer and a director since its inception in 1997. He is
the inventor of core technologies for construction of representative
cDNA libraries in vaccinia virus and discovery of fully human monoclonal
antibodies. Prior to founding Vaccinex, Dr. Zauderer was a Professor
at the University of Rochester and has also held faculty appointments
at Columbia University. During his academic career, Dr. Zauderer held
the position of visiting scientist at the Laboratory of Cell Biology
(Rome, Italy), the Ontario Cancer Institute (Toronto, Canada), and at
the National Cancer Institute (Bethesda, Maryland). Dr. Zauderer holds
a Ph.D. in cell biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He is also a member of the board of directors of the New York Biotechnology
Association (NYBA).
Ernest Smith, Ph.D. – Senior Vice President,
Research & Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Smith joined Vaccinex at its inception in 1997 and was a key developer
of its core cDNA library and antibody discovery technologies. Previously
a research scientist at the University of Rochester, Dr. Smith is an
experienced molecular and cellular immunologist with the skills and
expertise to lead the company's research efforts. He is listed as an
inventor on Vaccinex patent applications covering novel gene discovery
methods, antigen delivery systems, and selection of fully human monoclonal
antibodies. Dr. Smith earned his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology
from the University of Rochester School of Medicine.
Raymond E. Watkins – Senior Vice President &
Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Watkins joined Vaccinex in 2001. He has over 25 years of management
experience in FDA-regulated biopharmaceutical and biotechnology businesses,
including Praxis Biologics (founding stage), Lederle-Praxis, Wyeth,
Invitrogen and Life Technologies. Mr. Watkins has held several functional
senior management roles in product and technology development, biologics
manufacturing, regulatory, and quality assurance. Immediately prior
to joining Vaccinex, he was Director of Operations, Australasia, for
Life Technologies (Invitrogen) where he was responsible for all aspects
of R&D, biomanufacturing, quality, FDA/TGA regulatory affairs, and
general business management. Mr. Watkins serves on the Advisory Board
of the Center for Biotechnology Education & Training at the Rochester
Institute of Technology and is a member of the Advisory Board of Vybion.
John E. Leonard, Ph.D. – Senior Vice President, Development
& Officer
Dr. Leonard has over 20 years of experience at Idec and Biogen-Idec
where he held Senior Director-level positions in Regulatory Affairs,
Quality, Project Management and Product Development, and Vice President-level
positions in Quality, Product Development and Program Management. While
at Idec, Dr. Leonard was a key executive leader in the development of
Rituxan, Zevalin and Tysabri, all highly successful therapeutic antibodies
with combined global sales of over $7 billion. Dr. Leonard is considered
a distinguished authority on therapeutic antibody development, having
extensive experience across numerous development programs encompassing
all stages of development - from lead selection and IND-directed non-clinical
studies, through clinical studies and, ultimately, FDA approval and
commercialization. Dr. Leonard serves on the Board of Advisors to the
Dean at the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University
of California, Riverside.
Robert B. Parker, Ph.D. – Director, Regulatory
Affairs and Quality Systems
Dr. Parker joined Vaccinex in 2006 as its Director of Regulatory Affairs
and Quality Systems. He has over 35 years of experience in the pharmaceutical
industry, sixteen of these years serving in senior management roles
in drug Regulatory Affairs for major pharmaceutical companies such as
Fisons and Celltech, and most recently as Senior Director, Regulatory
Affairs for Genzyme Corporation, one of the world's leading biopharmaceutical
companies. Dr. Parker also has extensive experience in both research
and applied pharmacology, serving in various scientific, development,
and senior management positions at Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis, Pennwalt,
Rorer Group and SmithKline Beecham.