Laurence Marton, M.D. – Chair
Dr. Marton is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and serves as a consultant to industry and to governmental and academic institutions. In recent years he has been a founder, director, CEO, CSO, and CMO of the SLIL Biomedical Corporation, and CSO of both Cellgate and Progen Pharmaceuticals. These companies were or are focused on the discovery and development of novel compounds for the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases.
Before moving from academia to industry, Dr. Marton was Dean of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical School and previously Chaired the Department of Laboratory Medicine at UCSF, where he was a Professor in the Departments of Laboratory Medicine and Neurological Surgery. He is a leading expert with extensive experience in the fields of cell growth and drug development. His work is focused on the use of polyamine analogs in treating human diseases related to aberrant cell growth and epigenetics, including cancer and other diseases. His research has resulted in more than 190 original publications, 60 scientific reviews and chapters, four books, and numerous patents, and his work has been acknowledged internationally.
Dr. Marton serves on the Board of the California Heart Center Foundation and was appointed by the Governor of Wisconsin to the Wisconsin Technology Council. He is Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of PharmaJet, is on the Advisory Board of Ruga Corp, and is a member of the Advisory Board of Silicom Ventures. He also consults for the American Association for Cancer Research and Panasonic. Dr. Marton received his MD from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and his BA from Yeshiva University.
Joel Palefsky, M.D.
Professor of Medicine. He is an internationally recognized expert on the molecular biology, treatment, pathogenesis and natural history of anogenital human papillomavirus infections. He is Director of the world’s first clinic devoted to prevention of anal cancer, at UCSF. He is the chair of the HPV Working Group of the National Cancer Institute AIDS Malignancy Consortium and is the founder and president of the International Anal Neoplasia Society.
Cornelia L. Dekker, M.D.
Medical Director, Stanford-LPCH Vaccine Program and Professor of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine. Vaccine development, clinical research and vaccine safety are core elements of Corry’s 32-year career. The first two decades were spent with Wellcome Research Labs, Lederle Biologicals and finally a nine-year term with Chiron Corporation, where she served as Medical Director, then VP, Clinical Research and Medical Affairs for the Vaccine Division. Corry then blended her vaccine background with an academic position at Stanford in 1999 where she does applied research in vaccines through NIH-sponsored clinical trials and conducts vaccine safety research funded by CDC.
Paul Mendelman, M.D.
As a physician/scientist Paul has researched and published extensively on the role antibiotic resistance mechanisms play in infectious disease, particularly with Haemophilus influenza. As a pediatrician, his contributions include vaccine safety, efficacy, effectiveness and immunogenicity studies in influenza, hepatitis B, Haemophilus type B, pneumococcal conjugate and other vaccines. While serving as VP Clinical Research at Aviron, then VP and Group Leader, Clinical Development at MedImmune, Paul was integral to the clinical and commercial development of the intranasal influenza vaccine FluMist. He currently serves as Chief Medical Officer and Executive VP of LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biologic drug development company focused on respiratory and gastrointestinal indications utilizing a proprietary virus-like particle (VLP) technology.
