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Scientific Advisory Board

Members of the Scientific Advisory Board

Cellumen Inc. has brought together experts in cancer research and chemotherapy, molecular technology, pharmacology and fluorescence biosensor imaging. These distinguished leaders share their knowledge and experience to ensure that Cellumen Inc. maintains its unique cell-based systems approach that addresses the problems of efficacy and toxicity in drug discovery.



Alan S. Waggoner, Ph.D., Chairman

Dr. Waggoner is the Director of the Molecular Biosensor and Imaging Center and a Professor of Biological Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. His work is focused on combining the development of molecular and cellular biosensors with applications in cells, tissues, and whole organisms using imaging technologies and computation to understand biological functions. He developed the cyanine dye technologies that were licensed to Biological Detection Systems, Inc., a company that he co-founded with D. Lansing Taylor. The cyanine dyes have become a key detection technology in academic research and biotechnology. Dr. Waggoner was the Vice-Chairman of Biological Detection Systems and then joined Amersham Biosciences as Principal Scientist and Head of the Fluorescence division. Dr. Waggoner received his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon in physical organic chemistry and then did a post-doctoral fellowship at Yale with Dr. Luber Stryer.

Dr. Waggoner, who holds 15 patents, received the 1999 Technical Achievement Award from the Society for Biomolecular Screening, the 2001 Award of Excellence for Biomedical-Scientist/Engineer from the Carnegie Science Center and The Pittsburgh Technology Council, and the 2003 Innovators Award from Pittsburgh Magazine.

Leroy Hood, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Hood is recognized as one of the world's leading scientists in molecular biotechnology and genomics. Dr. Hood earned a medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University in 1964 and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1968. His research has focused on the study of molecular immunology and biotechnology. Dr. Hood has published more than 600 peer-reviewed papers, received 12 patents, and co-authored textbooks in biochemistry, immunology, molecular biology, genetics, and systems biology. Dr Hood is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the American Association of Arts and Sciences, and the Institute of Medicine. His professional career began at Caltech where he and his colleagues developed four instruments — the DNA gene sequence and synthesizer, and the protein sequencer and synthesizer — which comprise the technological foundation for modern molecular biology. In particular, the DNA sequencer has revolutionized genomics by allowing the rapid automated sequencing of DNA. In 2000, Dr. Hood founded the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, Washington, to develop systems approaches to biology and medicine. He serves as President of the Institute and continues to pursue his interests in biology, medicine, technology, development, and computational biology. Dr. Hood has played a role in founding numerous biotechnology companies and his lifelong contributions to biotechnology have earned him the 2003 Lemelson-MIT Prize for Invention and Innovation, the 2006 Heinz Medal, the 2002 Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology, and he was presented the Lasker Award in 1987 for his studies on the mechanism of immune diversity.

Joe Gray, Ph.D.

Dr. Joe Gray majored in engineering physics at the Colorado School of Mines and obtained his Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics from Kansas State University in 1972. He then joined the Biomedical Sciences Division of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, moving to UCSF as Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Radiation Oncology in 1991. He established and headed the Division of Molecular Cytometry in the Department of Laboratory Medicine until 1997. He was Interim Director of the UCSF Cancer Center from 1995 to 1997 and is now Program Leader for Cancer Genetics and Breast Oncology there. He has been Principal Investigator of the Bay Area Breast Cancer SPORE since 1996. Dr. Gray accepted a position as Division Director of Life Sciences and Associate Director of Biosciences at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in April 2003, and will continue as a member of the UCSF Cancer Center and as Principal Investigator of the Breast Cancer SPORE.

Paul A. Johnston, Ph.D.

Dr. Johnston is a research Associate Professor in the School of Pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Johnston was a Research Advisor at Eli Lilly and Co. from 1997 to 2004, where he was responsible for the development and implementation of cell-based assays for both high throughput and high content screening at Lilly's Center of Excellence in Research Triangle Park, NC. An innovator of cell-based approaches to lead generation and optimization, Dr. Johnston is a recognized leader in the application of high content imaging technology to drug discovery. Prior to joining Eli Lilly, Dr. Johnston led drug discovery research teams at Embrex Inc. and American Cyanamid. Dr. Johnston received his doctoral training in biochemistry from the University of East Anglia, in Norwich, England. He pursued post-doctoral training in the Department of Pathology at Duke University Medical Center and at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Dallas.

Ronald Herberman, M.D.

After receiving a medical degree from the New York University School of Medicine and being a resident at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Herberman began his career with the Immunology Branch of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). He continued at the NCI in various positions until 1985. Dr. Herberman's career at the NCI established him as an internationally renowned tumor immunologist. He came to Pittsburgh from the NCI in 1985 and has since served as founding director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. In 1995 he was appointed Associate Vice Chancellor for Research for the Health Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh. In 2002, with the opening of the Hillman Cancer Center and the expansion of the community network, he has taken on the responsibilities of Associate Vice Chancellor for Cancer Research, School of Medicine and Director of the UPMC Cancer Centers, a prestigious network of cancer care centers of the UPMC Health System. Dr. Herberman has served on numerous advisory and editorial boards throughout his career. Most recently, he has served on Board of Directors for the Society for Biological Therapy, the Society of Natural Immunity, and the Board of Directors of the American Association for Cancer Research, to name a few. Dr. Herberman has received many awards and honors over the years including the Award for Excellence in the Sciences by the governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; the Carnegie Science Center Award for Excellence in Biomedical Research; the Lifetime Science Award, Institute for Advanced Studies in Immunology and Aging; and in 2005 the Lifetime Achievement Award, Pittsburgh Business Times.

Paul Kornblith, M.D.

Dr. Kornblith trained in neurosurgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, joined the faculty of Harvard University, and became Principal Investigator of an NIH program project in brain tumor biology. He improved techniques for studying human brain tumors in tissue culture, defining their biochemical, biophysical and ultrastructural characteristics. As Chief of Surgical Neurology at NIH, his work led to the development of a chemosensitivity assay which was modified into the now-standard screen for studying new prospective chemotherapy agents. He was the leader of the NIH PET program and discovered its value in clinical cancer management. As the Bergstein Professor of Neurosurgery and Chairman at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, his group’s research led to the discovery of the role of B-FGG in promoting brain tumor growth. At the University of Pittsburgh, he was Professor of Neurosurgery and Vice Chairman, focusing his research on control of brain tumor invasiveness by growth factors and immunologically active cytokines. Presently, Dr. Kornblith is Adjunct Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. In 1995, he founded and served as President and CEO of Precision Therapeutics, Inc., a cancer chemoresponse company, where he is now the Founder and Chairman Emeritus. He is Western Pennsylvania Regional Director for PABiotech and was appointed by former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge to the Health Research Advisory Committee.

Richard A. Steinman, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Steinman is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Steinman's work has focused on the coordination of hematopoietic differentiation and cell cycle control, including a "hot paper" in cancer genetics on the p21WAF1 protein. Working with Dr. Mark Nichols, he has developed a random library-based method of RNAi. Dr. Steinman received his B.S. with Honors in Chemistry from Haverford College and his M.D. and Ph.D. (Biochemistry) degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Steinman also completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Presbyterian University Hospital in Pittsburgh. His postdoctoral work focused on G-CSF signaling and uncovered autoregulation of the G-CSF receptor and its suppression by leukemic oncoproteins. In 1992 he joined the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine as Assistant Professor of Medicine. He has received numerous awards for his research, teaching and clinical work including a commendation by the Pennsylvania State Senate and was a delegate to the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies. Dr. Steinman has received ongoing research support from the National Institutes of Health, as well as research grants from the American Cancer Society, American Institute for Cancer Research, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Mark Nichols, Ph.D.

Dr. Nichols is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, as well as a member of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. His work has focused on structure-function relationships for the estrogen receptors in breast and lung cancers, and development and study of various ligands that activate or block its function. He is also developing random library-based methods of RNA interference (RNAi) with Dr. R. Steinman. Dr. Nichols got his B.A. degree in Biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley and his Ph.D. in the Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University where he studied transfer RNA synthesis, RNA Polymerase III transcription, and tRNA suppressor genetics in yeast. His did post-doctorate work with Gunther Schutz at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg, Germany. There his EMBO Fellowship focused on identification and characterization of proteins that interact at a liver-specific enhancer upstream of the tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT) gene where cell-specific and hormone-inducible transcription signals act in liver cells. He then moved to the European Molecular Biology Lab (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany where he worked on the human Estrogen Receptor and FLP site-specific recombinases.