team – Abilita Therapeutics

OUR TEAM

Mauro Mileni, PhD

Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Mauro Mileni, PhD

Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Mauro is the founder of Abilita Therapeutics, Inc. and inventor of its core EMP™ technology. He has gained significant experience over 20 years of conducting academic membrane protein research and contributing to industry drug discovery projects. Mauro has authored eighteen peer-reviewed scientific articles, including publications in Cell, Nature, PNAS, and JACS. He received his Ph.D. from the Max Planck Institute under Nobel laureate Prof. Hartmut Michel and carried out his postdoctoral studies as a Pfizer fellow at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in one of the world’s top lab for GPCR structural studies. Prior to founding Abilita Bio in 2014, Mauro worked as a Structural Biologist at Receptos, Inc. and has consulted for Eli Lilly & Company.

Joel Edwards, MBA

Chief Business Officer

Joel Edwards, MBA

Chief Business Officer

Joel is the Chief Business Officer of Abilita Therapeutics. He has 23 years of industry experience ranging from established biopharma to startup companies in the areas of corporate strategy and development, business development, and alliance management. In his previous role as Chief Business Officer at Biosion, Joel played a pivotal role in closing their B round of financing and two material partnerships. He previously worked at Ionis, most recently as Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Operations, where he led material corporate strategy initiatives. He also helped bring in over $3.5B in partnering revenue, managed collaborations resulting in two drug approvals, and supported one drug launch during his 13 years at the company. Prior to that, he held business and scientific roles at Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Lexicon Pharmaceuticals. Joel earned an M.B.A from Colorado State University and holds a B.S. in Psychology from Ball State University.

Jim Schmidt

Chief Financial Officer

Jim Schmidt

Chief Financial Officer

Jim Schmidt serves as Chief Financial Officer of Abilita Therapeutics. He has over 30 years of executive financial experience in the biomedical and technology sectors. Since 2013, he has worked with companies as consulting CFO ranging from private, early formation to publicly traded. He served as Vice President of Finance and Administration at Receptos, Inc. from founding until successful IPO. He was formerly Senior Director of Finance and Operations at Conforma Therapeutics until its acquisition by Biogen Idec in 2006, where he assisted in the transition and integration of the companies. Prior to that, Mr. Schmidt served in various financial and operational roles. He started his career with Coopers Lybrand and received his B.S. in Accounting and Corporation Finance from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

Arshan Amiri, JD

General Counsel

Arshan Amiri, JD

General Counsel

Arshan Amiri is General Counsel to Abilita Therapeutics. Arshan has more than a decade of experience in biotech spanning corporate, M&A and financing, FDA regulatory procedures, licensing, compliance matters, and due diligence. In addition to serving as Abilita’s General Counsel, he has his own private practice providing a wide variety of life science, tech and other emerging companies with personalized and effective representation from startup to maturity. Arshan obtained his JD from the University of San Diego School of Law and holds a BS in Chemistry from the University of Utah.

Christopher B. Roth, PhD

Vice President, Research

Christopher B. Roth, PhD

Vice President, Research

Chris brings more than twenty years of innovation in membrane protein engineering, structural biology and drug discovery to Abilita Therapeutics. He most recently served as a Research Scientist at Receptos, Inc. from 2009 to 2015, where he was a founding member of the scientific team and the lead inventor of critical GPCR protein engineering technologies that were patented and licensed to domestic and international industry partners. Prior to joining Receptos, Dr. Roth conducted postdoctoral research in GPCR structural biology at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), where he also earned his PhD. Dr. Roth earned his B.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Pia Kuss, Ph.D.

Director of Pharmacology

Pia Kuss, Ph.D.

Director of Pharmacology

Pia has broad experience in pre-clinical drug discovery and development, with expertise in both antibody and small molecule projects. Her skills encompass target identification and validation, assay development, miniaturization, screening, optimization, biomarker development, and in vitro and in vivo pharmacology. Before joining Abilita, Pia worked at Novartis and Travere Therapeutics, accumulating 10 years of experience in developing comprehensive data packages, advancing assets through the drug discovery pipeline from target identification to IND, and overseeing IND-enabling studies. She holds a PhD from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Genetics and conducted postdoctoral research there and at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute.

Alexander Alexandrov, PhD

Associate Director

Alexander Alexandrov, PhD

Associate Director

Among his many contributions to the field of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) drug discovery, Alexander’s most pivotal was the personal conception and development of a generic membrane protein stability assay known as the CPM assay, widely regarded by many in the field to be transformational for the measurement of thermostability. Prior to Abilita Therapeutics, he served in Scientific positions of increasing responsibilities at Takeda San Diego and Heptares Therapeutics, and completed his postdoctoral studies at the Scripps Institute (TSRI), and David Bredt’s lab at University of California, San Francisco. Alexander received his PhD in Biophysics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Roberto Jappelli, PhD

Principal Scientist

Roberto Jappelli, PhD

Principal Scientist

Roberto brings a strong research background and track record of working for top laboratories, most recently for Dr. Rusty Gage at the Salk Institute, where he contributed to projects in Parkinson’s disease animal modeling, viral gene delivery and CRISPR-Cas9 editing technologies. He completed his postdoctoral training with Nobel laureate Prof. Sydney Brenner at The Scripps Research Institute, where he developed a novel genetic system to analyze the interactions between soluble and membrane proteins. Roberto has previously held research scientist positions at Lynx Therapeutics, Acidophil, and Salgomed.

Karen Chiang, PhD

Senior Research Scientist

Karen Chiang, PhD

Senior Research Scientist

Karen brings over 10 years of molecular and cell biology experience to the team and has a broad background in the fields of plant biology, HIV and neurodegenerative diseases. She completed her postdoctoral training in Dr. Edward H. Koo’s laboratory at UCSD, after earning her Ph.D. in Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

Riccardo Contu, PhD

Senior Research Scientist

Riccardo Contu, PhD

Senior Research Scientist

Riccardo joined Abilita Therapeutics as a Senior Scientist, where he contributes to the growing activities of the Cellular Biology team. He brings advanced expertise in human stem cell-derived cultures, cellular quality control, and assay development for drug discovery, focusing on both chemical compounds and biologics. Riccardo earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Medicine from the University of Milan, Italy, and completed his postdoctoral training in the Cardiology Division at UC San Diego School of Medicine. Prior to joining Abilita, he held progressively senior research scientist positions at StemoniX, and was then a key member of the High-Throughput Screening group at Ferring Pharmaceuticals. At Abilita, Riccardo’s current work centers on developing cell-based assays to evaluate the functionality of the company’s drug candidates.

Sunghoon Kim, PhD

Senior Research Scientist

Sunghoon Kim, PhD

Senior Research Scientist

Sunghoon adds to the core strengths of the company through his research into the structure, biochemistry and biophysical properties of ion channels and other challenging membrane proteins. He developed an outstanding expertise in the study of membrane proteins through his Ph.D. research in Biophysics at Vanderbilt University and Postdoctoral training at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Le Li, PhD

Senior Research Scientist

Le Li, PhD

Senior Research Scientist

Le recently joined Abilita Therapeutics as a Research Scientist and brings key expertise in membrane protein biophysical characterization, purification and formulation. Previously, she worked as an Analytical Scientist at Catalent Pharma Solutions. Le completed her postdoctoral studies at Oak Ridge National Lab after earning a Ph.D. in Chemistry from North Carolina State University.

Prasenjit Saha

Research Scientist

Prasenjit Saha

Research Scientist

Dr. Prasenjit Saha completed his doctoral research at the Department of Biochemistry at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, India, in 2016. Following the completion of his doctoral research, he joined the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, USA, initially as a Post-doctoral Fellow and later as a Staff Research Scientist (2016-2023). During his time at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Saha authored papers in top-tier journals, including a first-author paper in Cell and co-authorship in Nature Medicine and PNAS, among others. His research explored novel agonists, antagonists, inverse agonists, and allosteric modulators of GPCRs, shedding light on cardio-metabolic disorders. His work at Abilita involves developing innovative tools and technologies for challenging membrane proteins, including GPCRs and ion channels.

Kin Moy, BSc

Lab Manager/Research Associate

Kin Moy, BSc

Lab Manager/Research Associate

Prior to joining the company, Kin worked at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) focusing on a range of research methods in molecular biology from vector construction to protein expression and cell culture. He played a major role in the lab’s high-throughput GPCR initiative and contributed to over 40 publications.

Mark Gustinic

Senior Research Associate

Mark Gustinic

Senior Research Associate

Mark Gustincic recently joined the Abilita team to bolster protein engineering and production operations. Mark is skilled in molecular biology, protein purification, assay development, and data analysis. He is also an adept bioinformatician with experience in data processing/analysis, mathematical modeling, and machine learning. Previously, Mark worked as part of the Protein Engineering group at PacBio, where he worked on optimizing DNA polymerase performance for the Onso short-read genomic sequencing system. Mark has a MSc in Bioengineering from UC San Diego, and a BSc in Molecular Biology from UC Santa Cruz.

Nael Mohammed Mousa

Senior Research Associate

Nael Mohammed Mousa

Senior Research Associate

Nael Mohammed Mousa, a seasoned Senior Research Associate, joined Abilita Therapeutics in early 2023. Nael brings key expertise in protein biochemistry, with a focus on purification, formulation, and protein biophysical characterization. Prior to Abilita, Nael made significant contributions as part of the protein engineering team at Element Biosciences and conducted structural biology research for his Masters studied at the University of California San Diego.

Jeffrey Cho

Research Associate

Jeffrey Cho

Research Associate

Jeffrey Cho, a UC San Diego General Biology graduate, joined Abilita Therapeutics as a Research Associate in January 2023. His previous roles at Viacyte, ImmunityBio, and Illumina have equipped him with diverse skills in quality assurance, analytical development and tissue culture. At Abilita, Jeffrey applies these competencies towards mammalian cell preparations and molecular biology, playing a significant role in advancing the company's research initiatives.

DIRECTORS OF THE BOARD

Daniel Bradbury

Director of the Board

Daniel Bradbury

Director of the Board

Mr. Bradbury has over 35 years of experience leading global, fast-growing life sciences companies. Since January 2020 Mr. Bradbury has served as Executive Chairman of Equillium, Inc., a public biopharmaceutical company he co-founded in 2017 and led as CEO until the end of 2019. In addition, Mr. Bradbury has been Managing Member of BioBrit, LLC, a life-sciences consulting and investment firm, since 2012. Mr. Bradbury is the former President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Amylin Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company based in San Diego, CA, focused on metabolic diseases. During his 18-year tenure at Amylin, the company launched three first-in-class medicines, including the first once-a-week therapy to treat diabetes, and was listed on the Nasdaq 100. He served as Amylin’s Chief Executive Officer from March 2007 until its acquisition by Bristol-Myers Squibb Company in August 2012. Prior to joining Amylin, Mr. Bradbury worked at SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals and its predecessor companies for ten years in various sales and marketing positions. Mr. Bradbury serves on the Board of Directors of Biocon Limited (NSE: BIOCON), Castle Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTL), Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ: EQ), Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ICPT) and a number of private companies and philanthropic organizations. Mr. Bradbury received a Bachelor of Pharmacy from Nottingham University and a Diploma in Management Studies from Harrow and Ealing Colleges of Higher Education in the United Kingdom.

Michael Goguen

Director of the Board

Michael Goguen

Director of the Board

Michael Goguen is the founder and managing partner of Two Bear Capital, a venture capital firm headquartered in Whitefish, Montana with offices in Boston, San Diego, and the San Francisco Bay area. With $275 million under management, Two Bear Capital focuses on early stage startup companies in the areas of biotechnology, bioinformatics, artificial intelligence/machine learning, enterprise software and cybersecurity. The firm has invested in companies solving difficult problems in everything from neurodegenerative disease to precision oncology, from advanced network architecture to data analytics. Previously, Mike spent 20 years as a partner at Sequoia Capital where he led 54 company investments to a combined market value exceeding $64 billion and had 26 exits above $100 million. Mike holds a B.S. from Cornell University and an M.S. from Stanford University, both in Electrical Engineering.

Mauro Mileni

Founder & CEO

Mauro Mileni

Founder & CEO

Mauro is the founder of Abilita Therapeutics, Inc. and inventor of its core EMP™ technology. He has gained significant experience over 20 years of conducting academic membrane protein research and contributing to industry drug discovery projects. Mauro has authored eighteen peer-reviewed scientific articles, including publications in Cell, Nature, PNAS, and JACS. He received his Ph.D. from the Max Planck Institute under Nobel laureate Prof. Hartmut Michel and carried out his postdoctoral studies as a Pfizer fellow in the Stevens lab at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), widely regarded as the world’s top lab for GPCR structural studies. Prior to founding Abilita Bio in 2014, Mauro worked as a Structural Biologist at Receptos, Inc. and has consulted for Eli Lilly & Company.

SCIENTIFIC ADVISORS

Anke Kretz-Rommel, PhD

Antibody Development Advisor

Anke Kretz-Rommel, PhD

Antibody Development Advisor

Anke Kretz-Rommel, Ph.D. has followed her passion for the discovery and development of biologics to improve patients’ lives for over 25 years. She is highly versed in all aspects related to biologics, including toxicology, pharmacology, CMC and early clinical development. She has innovated cancer and autoimmune disease vaccines, brought multiple first in class and best in class antibodies from discovery through Phase 1 clinical trials in oncology, rheumatology and metabolic diseases. She has been part of founding teams in multiple successful biotech companies, as well as gained experience in larger companies such as Alexion Pharmaceuticals. She has obtained her Ph.D. at the Institute of Toxicology/ETH Zurich, Switzerland, followed by a post-doc at The Autoimmune Disease Center at The Scripps Research Institute. As CTO at Bird Rock Bio, Inc, she built out a GPCR antibody discovery platform and successfully brought the first in class anti-CB1 GPCR antibody nimacimab from discovery to Phase 2 clinical trials. She is highly experienced in putting together strategies for INDs, overseeing IND-enabling studies, CMC and early clinical trials. She has built teams in the US and China, is well at home at many CROs and CDMOs all over the world with her hands on approach of leveraging external teams. She loves the work hard, play hard, fast paced biotech environment to bring forward novel medicines.

Tom Boone

Antibody Discovery Advisor

Tom Boone

Antibody Discovery Advisor

Tom Boone has more than 37 years of accomplishments in the discovery and development of protein therapeutics. Tom worked at Amgen for 28 years and served in positions of increasing responsibility in growing Amgen Protein Sciences to an organization of over 300 researchers across five different sites while maintaining a long tradition of industry excellence. His career at Amgen began in 1981 as a bench scientist with the isolation and cDNA cloning of novel cytokines and growth factors including G-CSF. He was also responsible for purifying many of Amgen’s recombinant proteins. Tom’s responsibilities grew from Scientist to Director and he developed proprietary processes used to produce recombinant G-CSF and other therapeutic candidates for clinical applications. His continuing success led to leadership of all research protein technologies, and the evolution of Protein Sciences as an independent organization. Tom was the first Vice President of Amgen Protein Science and his teams were responsible for the majority of the current Amgen product portfolio and late stage clinical programs. Tom was the lead scientist in the development of Nplate®, a treatment of thrombocytopenia. His critical role in the discovery and process development of G-CSF (Neupogen) is widely recognized. Tom has recently helped start several companies and has helped them license in clinical stage molecules. He is also currently a consultant or scientific advisor for more than 25 companies.

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Tom, an extraordinarily gifted scientist, whose generosity and passion inspired us all. We are grateful for his invaluable guidance and support in helping the company reach where it is today.

Fred Ramsdell, PhD

Oncology Advisor

Fred Ramsdell, PhD

Oncology Advisor

Dr. Ramsdell received his Ph.D. from UCLA and did post-doctoral work at the National Institutes of Health, then joined Immunex Research Corporation to characterize T cell activation and tolerance, including the cloning and characterization of a variety of TNFR family members and their respective ligands. In 1995, he joined Darwin Molecular Inc. (later acquired by Celltech R&D, Inc.) to establish and lead its immunology program. At Darwin Molecular, Dr. Ramsdell developed programs in immunology and genetics that led to the discovery of Foxp3 and determined this to be the defining gene for regulatory T cells, the absence of which leads to the fatal human autoimmune syndrome, IPEX. After moving to ZymoGenetics, Inc. in 2004, Dr. Ramsdell identified and characterized several novel proteins with regulatory activity in lymphoid cells. In 2008, he moved to Novo Nordisk to establish the Inflammation Research Center in Seattle, where he led the Discovery Immunology group. In 2014, he joined aTyr Pharma as VP of Immunology and in 2016 joined The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI).

OUR TEAM

Mauro Mileni, PhD

Joel Edwards, MBA

Jim Schmidt

Arshan Amiri, JD

Christopher B. Roth, PhD

Pia Kuss, Ph.D.

Alexander Alexandrov, PhD

Roberto Jappelli, PhD

Karen Chiang, PhD

Riccardo Contu, PhD

Sunghoon Kim, PhD

Le Li, PhD

Prasenjit Saha

Kin Moy, BSc

Mark Gustinic

Nael Mohammed Mousa

Jeffrey Cho

DIRECTORS OF THE BOARD

Daniel Bradbury

Michael Goguen

Mauro Mileni

SCIENTIFIC ADVISORS

Anke Kretz-Rommel, PhD

Tom Boone

Fred Ramsdell, PhD

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