Management Team
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| Thomas W. Chalberg, Jr., Ph.D. Founder & Chief Executive Officer | |
| Dr. Chalberg is a co-founder of Avalanche and has been a member of our board of directors since July 2006. He has also served as our President and Chief Executive Officer since October 2010. Prior to joining Avalanche, from December 2005 to October 2010, Dr. Chalberg worked at Genentech, a publicly-traded biotechnology company, where he held a number of roles in ophthalmology and oncology, including Market Development Senior Manager for Lucentis and Avastin, Group Manager leading the Lucentis strategy team and Global Business Lead for Lucentis. From September 2001 to December 2005, Dr. Chalberg was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellow at Stanford University, where his research focused on retinal diseases and new technologies for gene therapy. Dr. Chalberg is currently a member of the Board of Visionary Scientists for Hope for Vision, a nonprofit charity supporting vision research. Dr. Chalberg holds an A.B. in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard University, a Ph.D. in Genetics from the Stanford University School of Medicine and an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Chalberg has been chosen to serve on our board of directors due to his role as our President and Chief Executive Officer, as well as his many years of experience in ophthalmology research and development and commercialization. | |
| Linda C. Bain Chief Financial Officer | |
| Ms. Bain has served as our Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer since April 2014. Linda has more than 20 years of finance, strategic business partner and audit experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, in both large and small company settings. Prior to joining Avalanche, she served in a variety of senior finance management roles, most recently at bluebird bio where she helped lead the company through a successful IPO process. Preceding her tenure at bluebird bio, Ms. Bain was at Genzyme Corporation, Fidelity Investments and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. Linda began her career as an auditor at Deloitte & Touche. She received her B.S. in Accounting and Business Administration and an Honors Degree in Accounting and Business Administration from the University of the Free State in South Africa. Ms. Bain is a Certified Public Accountant. | |
| Samuel B. Barone , M.D. Chief Medical Officer | |
| Dr. Barone has served as our Chief Medical Officer since June 2014. Previously, he worked for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a Medical Officer in the Office of Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies from October 2009 to June 2014. Concurrent with his work at the FDA, Dr. Barone active in clinical practice as an ophthalmologist and vitreoretinal surgeon at Retina Associates, P.C., from October 2010 to June 2014. Prior to that, Dr. Barone served on active duty as a Flight Surgeon for United States Air Force service members at Andrews Air Force Base and at bases in Korea, Afghanistan, and Iraq until 2004. He received his B.S. in Biology from Boston College and his M.D. from The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. Following his military service, Dr. Barone completed a residency in ophthalmology at The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary where he served as Chief Resident, as well as a medical and surgical retina fellowship at the University of California, San Diego. | |
| Mehdi Gasmi, Ph.D. Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development | |
| Dr. Gasmi has served as our Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development since November 2013, and leads manufacturing and quality control efforts for our gene therapy product candidates. Previously, Dr. Gasmi oversaw production of clinical batches of recombinant AAV and lentiviral gene therapy products for both Généthon, a gene therapy company, where he served as Vice President of Biomanufacturing from July 2009 to December 2011, and for Ceregene, a gene therapy company, where Dr. Gasmi served as Senior Director, Product Development from December 2001 to June 2009. Dr. Gasmi obtained his M.S. and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Claude Bernard University in Lyon, France. He is a member of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy. | |
| Hans P. Hull, J.D. Senior Vice President, Legal and Corporate Development | |
| Mr. Hull has served as our Vice President, Legal and Corporate, since February 2012. From March 2005 to April 2008, he served as General Manager and then Chief Executive Officer of Orthobond Corporation, a medical device company. From May 2008 to December 2011, he served as a legal and business development consultant for life sciences companies, including Second Genome, Inc., a biotechnology company, and Aprecia Pharmaceuticals Company, a pharmaceutical company. Mr. Hull began his career in life sciences as a strategy consultant to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for ZS Associates, Inc. from September 1997 to April 2000 and also worked as an attorney at Heller Ehrman White & McAullife LLP from September 2003 to March 2005. Mr. Hull received a A.B. in Chemistry from Princeton University and a J.D. from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. | |
| Roman G. Rubio, M.D. Senior Vice President & Head of Translational Medicine | |
| Dr. Rubio has served as our Senior Vice President and Head of Translational Medicine since September 2014. Previously, Dr. Rubio spent more than 11 years at Genentech, Inc., a member of the Roche Group, most recently serving as Global Head of Ophthalmology where he was responsible for leading Clinical Development and overseeing Medical Affairs for the Lucentis® and lampalizumab programs. Prior to that, Dr. Rubio served in numerous leadership positions with increasing responsibility in Genentech's Immunology, Infectious Diseases & Ophthalmology business unit including Group Director, Global Development Team Leader, Clinical Team Leader and Medical Director. Dr. Rubio received his M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco, a Masters of Business Administration from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, an M.S. from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Notre Dame. | |
