Dr. Dina has been our President and a member of our Board of Directors since May 1997 and our Chief Executive Officer since May 1998. From 1982 until he joined us in 1997, Dr. Dina was an employee of Chiron Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company. At Chiron, Dr. Dina held a series of positions with increasing responsibility. He ultimately served as president of Chiron Vaccines (formerly Biocine Company), which he directed from its inception in 1987. Under Dr. Dina's direction, Chiron Vaccines received the first-ever approval of an adjuvanted influenza vaccine in Italy, successfully completed development of the first genetically engineered pertussis vaccine, and conducted clinical trials for vaccines to prevent HIV, herpes simplex type II, cytomegalovirus, and hepatitis B infections. The virology group he directed was responsible for several key scientific findings, including the discovery, cloning, and sequencing of the hepatitis C virus, and the cloning and sequencing of the viral genomes for HIV and hepatitis A viruses. Prior to joining Chiron, Dr. Dina was employed at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York, as an assistant professor of genetics from 1977 to 1982. He received his M.D. from the University of Genoa Medical School in Italy.
J. Tyler Martin, M.D.
President, Chief Medical Officer and Director
Dr. Martin is the President, Chief Medical Officer and a member of our Board of Directors. Dr. Martin has nearly 20 years of drug development experience. Before joining Dynavax in 2009, Dr. Martin was President of Humabs LCC. Previously, Dr. Martin worked at Chiron as the Vice President, Development from 2004 until 2006 and the Director, Clinical Research from 1994 until 1997. In his 7 years at Chiron, Dr. Martin led the team responsible for the development of the novel vaccine adjuvant MF59, the first vaccine adjuvant licensed by regulatory agencies since alum, and approved as FLUAD influenza vaccine in Europe. He has also held senior development and research positions at Sangamo, Inc., Valentis, Inc. and SyStemix/GTI. Dr. Martin received a B.S. in Chemistry and an M.D. from the University of Nebraska. He completed his fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases and molecular microbiology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Brant Biehn
Vice President and Chief Commercial Development Officer
Mr. Biehn joined Dynavax in January 2010 as our Vice President and Chief Commercial Development Officer. Prior to joining Dynavax, Mr. Biehn held increasingly senior sales and marketing positions during his 21 year tenure at Merck. Since 2005, he has had responsibility for many adult vaccine products, including Merck's hepatitis A, hepatitis B and pneumococcal vaccines. Most recently, he served as International Market Lead for ZOSTAVAX®, a vaccine launched in the US in 2005 for the prevention of herpes zoster, or shingles as well as Merck's other adult vaccines. Prior to 2009, in his role as a global brand leader, he designed and managed marketing and sales programs, including distribution channels; targeted marketing to customer groups, payers, healthcare professionals, and consumers; and led country-specific marketing for ex-US markets. Over the past two years he worked with countries worldwide to supply pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine to help prevent secondary bacterial infections that may result from pandemic flu infection. This program extended to both large public health programs as well as private health groups, with an emphasis on prevention of pandemic flu impacts. Earlier in his career Mr. Biehn created and led national sales organizations and directed multiple marketing efforts aimed at commercialization planning for new vaccine and human health products. Mr. Biehn earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the Memorial University of Newfoundland.
Robert L. Coffman, Ph.D.
Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Coffman has been our Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer since December 2000. Dr. Coffman joined Dynavax from the DNAX Research Institute where he had been since 1981, most recently as Distinguished Research Fellow. Prior to that, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University Medical School. Dr. Coffman has made fundamental discoveries about the regulation of immune responses in allergic and infectious diseases. He shared the William S. Coley Award for Research in Immunology for discovery of the Th1 and Th2 subsets of T lymphocytes, the two major types of T cells that control most immune responses. Dr. Coffman received his Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego and his AB from Indiana University. In 2006, Dr. Coffman was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
William Heyward, M.D., M.P.H.
Vice President, Clinical Research
Dr. Heyward is our Vice President, Clinical Research. Dr. Heyward is a distinguished epidemiologist and specialist in the design and conduct of licensure-directed clinical trials. Dr. Heyward brings to Dynavax an expertise in hepatitis B that reflects a distinguished public health service career as well experience in the management of large clinical trials for new vaccine and antiviral products. Prior to joining Dynavax in 2010, he was Vice President, Clinical Development at Osel, Inc., a bacterial therapeutics company and prior to that, a Founding Member and President of Quattro Clinical Research, a clinical research organization providing clinical research services to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies developing therapeutics and anti-viral products. From 2000 to 2004, Dr. Heyward was Vice President of International Clinical Research at VaxGen, Inc. where he provided oversight for two major Phase 3 clinical trials evaluating an HIV vaccine in 7500 subjects at over 60 U.S. and international sites. Over a period of 20 years, Dr. Heyward was a Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Public Health Service with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where he was involved in epidemiologic and vaccine studies on a number of different infectious diseases including hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b, pneumococcal disease, botulism, Ebola, and HIV/AIDS. Most notably, he led a research team in Alaska that demonstrated the role of universal immunization in the eradication of hepatitis B infection in an endemic population. Dr. Heyward has served on a number of national and international vaccine advisory committees and is the recipient of a number of awards. Dr. Heyward holds a M.D. from the Medical College of Georgia, a M.P.H. in Epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, and a B.A. in Chemistry from Emory University.
Zbigniew Janowicz, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer, Dynavax Europe
Dr. Janowicz joined Dynavax in April 2006 when Dynavax acquired Rhein Biotech GmbH ("Dynavax Europe"). In July 2006 Dr. Janowicz was appointed CEO of Dynavax Europe. Dr. Janowicz holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry. He was one of the co-founders of Rhein Biotech GmbH in 1985 and laid the foundation for the development and commercialization of the Hansenula polymorpha technology platform used in the production of vaccine antigens and other proteins. He also led the successful development of the hepatitis B franchise of the Rhein Biotech GmbH group. From 1996 until 1999, Dr. Janowicz served as R&D Director in the tissue repair business of Curative Technologies. He rejoined Rhein Biotech GmbH in 1999 where he held the position of R&D Director for the Rhein Biotech Group.
Michael S. Ostrach
Vice President, Chief Business Officer and General Counsel
Mr. Ostrach joined Dynavax in October 2006 as Vice President, Chief Business Officer and General Counsel. Previously he was Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel at Threshold Pharmaceuticals. From 1997 to 2004, Mr. Ostrach was at Kosan Biosciences, most recently as President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Ostrach began his corporate career at Cetus Corporation, where he served in several capacities between 1981 and 1991, initially as general counsel and finally as Senior Vice President of corporate affairs and General Counsel. Following the acquisition of Cetus by Chiron Corporation in 1991, Mr. Ostrach became President of Chiron Technologies. He holds an AB from Brown University and a JD from Stanford Law School.
Jennifer Lew
Vice President, Finance
Ms. Lew joined Dynavax in December 2004 and is the Company's Vice President, Finance and Principal Accounting Officer. With 15 years of experience in finance and accounting, Ms. Lew most recently served as Senior Director and Corporate Controller for Dynavax. Prior to joining the Company, Ms. Lew was with QRS Corporation, a e-commerce provider for the retail industry, as Assistant Controller from 2002 until 2004 and Director of Finance from 2000 until 2002. From 1994 to 1999, Ms. Lew worked for Ernst & Young LLP, most recently as Manager. She earned a BA in Economics/Accounting and Government from Claremont McKenna College and is a Certified Public Accountant.
William D. Turner
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Global Quality
Mr. Turner came to Dynavax in August 2006 from Neosil, where he was Vice President, Regulatory Affairs. Bill was also a Senior Consultant with the Biologics Consulting Group and Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs with MedImmune Vaccines (formerly Aviron), and has worked with Allergan, Alpha Therapeutic Corporation, Watson Laboratories, and Gensia Laboratories. He has a BS in Medical Microbiology with a minor in Chemistry from California State University at Long Beach.
Cecilia Vitug
Vice President, Human Resources
Ms. Vitug has been our Vice President of Human Resources since October 2006. She previously served as Senior Director of Human Resources and Director of Human Resources since joining us in June 2000. From 1997 to 2000, Ms. Vitug was employed by Collagen Aesthetics, Inc., where she was Director of Human Resources, Payroll and Administrative Services. Ms. Vitug brings to Dynavax more than 20 years of human resources and administrative services experience, including positions at Somatix Therapy Corporation, Chiron Corporation, and Wells Fargo Bank.
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