PAUL L. HALLENBECK — FOUNDER, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER

Dr. Hallenbeck is the Founder, President and Chief Scientific Officer of Seneca Therapeutics.  He is a multiple award winning, serial entrepreneur who has dedicated over 28 years of research to provide a treatment for patients with the most aggressive therapeutic-resistant solid cancers. Dr. Hallenbeck has R&D expertise in all phases of cancer immuno-therapeutics. Prior to Seneca Therapeutics, he was the sole founder of Neotropix, where he raised $30M in VC, then successfully led SVV (NTX-001) through IND approval, and completed several Phase I/II clinical trials, establishing an excellent safety record & compelling evidence of efficacy. Dr. Hallenbeck earned his PhD in Microbiology from the University of Illinois-Urbana.

James M. Hussey — Chief Executive Officer

Jim Hussey is the Chief Executive Officer of Seneca Therapeutics. He is a Pharmacist with an MBA who has spent the last 25+ years in pharma & biotech C-suite positions. He was most recently the acting US President at Morphosys.  Mr. Hussey joined Seneca Therapeutics in August 2020. Mr.Hussey and Dr. Hallenbeck expect to have the company’s lead product, SVV-001, in clinical trials by late 2023.

Mark Kerschner - chief financial officer

Mr. Kerschner is the Chief Financial Officer of Seneca Therapeutics. He began his career with PWC in New York City and has held various corporate finance positions, including General Auditor, Controller, Treasurer, and CFO in companies that include ITT, BASF, Elemica, Schering Plough, CDI, and Excelis.  His experience includes seven years of on-the-ground assignments in the UK, The Netherlands, and Germany.

Janice Ingram — Corporate Secretary

As Corporate Secretary for Seneca, Ms. Ingram is working closely with Dr. Hallenbeck and Mr. Hussey as a liaison between the investors and the Board of Directors.  She has over 15 years of Human Resource Management with a concentration in Corporate Governance and Equity Incentive Plan Design and Implementation.   She collaborated with Dr. Hallenbeck at Neotropix where they successfully led a team of 15 scientists in a GMP facility and completed murine studies to support the first-in-human clinical trial using SVV-001 as an immunotherapeutic  treatment for cancer.  Seneca Therapeutics has an open IND to begin a clinical trial in late 2023. 

LINA FRANCO ACHURY — ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Lina Franco Achury completed multiple Bachelor Degrees in Microbiology and Chemistry, a PhD in Biochemistry as well as a Postdoctoral position in Immunotherapy.  She currently serves as the Associate Director of Research & Development for Seneca Therapeutics where she is currently leading the armed construct program and the multiple IV programs.  Prior to joining Seneca Therapeutics, Ms. Franco Achury led pre-clinical and pharmacological studies for different leading programs using a variety of murine mouse models including osteosarcoma and melanoma at Oncomyx Therapeutics.  Ms. Franco Achury is a multifaceted scientist with experience in research and drug discovery in oncolytic virotherapy, using a variety of technical skills in immunology, biochemistry and molecular biology to design and analyze animal studies. 

Sunil Chada — SENIOR Vice President of Research & Development 

Sunil Chada, Ph,D is the Vice President of Research and Development  Dr. Chada's drug development expertise includes antibodies, cell and gene therapies and small molecules for oncology, genetic diseases and immunotherapy. He is an expert in translating product concepts into clinical trials: >15 INDs; >20 Phase I-III. Dr. Chada is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Experimental Therapeutics at MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas. He is also a special advisor to the chief scientific officer of MDACC Moonshots Initiative.

James Wechuck — Vice President of Manufacturing

Dr. Wechuck, PHD is a biochemical engineer with 15 years of experience in recombinant protein production, viral vector manufacturing, and biologics testing. He has developed and advanced the proprietary cGMP manufacturing production, purification, and formulation methodologies for Type 1 Diabetes drug products and viral vectors for gene therapy products. He has led CMC regulatory elements for several investigational drug applications in the US & Europe.

Sarath Kanekal —Vice President of Regulatory Affairs

Dr. Kanekal, DVM, PhD, DABT, RAC is a Board Certified Regulatory Affairs Professional experienced in both early & late stage NDA & 505b2 filings. He has a track record of FAST successful INDs—5-6 months from candidate nomination to FDA ‘hold’ resolutions. He has represented sponsors at various stages: preIND, EOPII, pre-NDA & Advisory Committee meetings. He has a sound understanding of US and European Regulatory requirements based on real-life hands on experience: FDA, CDER, CBER, EMEA, BfARM, AFSSAPS, MHRA etc. He has also authored regulatory documents, briefing documents, investigator brochures, clinical protocols, and annual reports.

MICHAEL J. LACY — vice president of immunology

Dr. Michael Lacy has an exquisite background in Zoology, Botany, Microbiology and Immunology. Dr. Lacy is involved in Seneca Therapeutics multiple IV program.

Neil Sankar — Chief Medical Officer 

Dr. Sankar, MD, MPH, CCRP is the Chief Medical Officer of Seneca Therapeutics.  He is President & Founder of SwanBio, LLC, a BD & Clinical Strategy consultancy firm that facilitates the translation of scientific discoveries into cancer therapeutics. An expert in global clinical development & regulatory strategies for therapeutic drugs; he has led numerous clinical trials in oncology (Genentech & Pharmacyclics) therapy ranging from breast, ovarian, pancreatic, liver, lung, and connective tissue tumors, to a range of hematological malignancies.

Igor Puzanov, MD, MSci, FAACP

Clinical Professor of Medicine, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo

In his professional career, he has worked on developing precision medicine agents as well as immunotherapies. In the first in human trial of PLX4032/vemurafenib we provided critical PK/PD data that led to the first in class/ first in human FDA- approved BRAF inhibitor. His team was instrumental in the development of talimogene laherparepvec, the first in human oncolytic virus therapy for patients with melanoma. Recently, he has explored immunotherapy combinations with targeted agents as well as combinations of oncolytic viruses with checkpoint inhibitors.

E. Antonio Chiocca, MD, PhD

Chair, Department of Neurosurgery, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Chiocca’s research has focused on how viruses with specific gene mutations will replicate selectively in tumors with a specific defect in a tumor suppressor pathway. His research has also included how modulation of innate immunity will improve replication of these tumor-selective viruses. More recently, Dr. Chiocca has elucidated how specific microRNAs (mir128 and mir451) regulate cellular target transcripts to permit tumor cell self-renewal and invasion into brain. He also has been the principal investigator of three multi-institutional clinical trials of gene-, viral-therapies for malignant gliomas and has been a permanent member of NIH study sections (NCI DT and NCI P01-D clinical studies).

Dr. Zachary Morris

Department of Human Oncology at The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

As a physician-scientist, his current clinical focus is on the treatment of patients with melanoma and soft tissue sarcomas. His independent translational research laboratory focuses on the mechanisms whereby radiation may enhance the response to immunotherapies.