Leadership Team
Scientific Advisory Board
Daniel Meruelo, PhD
Member, Scientific Advisory Board
Dr. Daniel Meruelo, Ph.D. is the Chair of Cynvec’s Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Meruelo, is a Professor in the Experimental Pathology Department, and the Director of NYU’s Gene Therapy Center. Dr. Meruelo received his PhD in Biochemistry/Immunology from John Hopkins University in 1974, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Immunogenetics at Stanford University. Dr. Meruelo has received funding from the Company and has received various grants from the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) and others to fund his research efforts on Sindbis viral vectors. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles in leading medical and research journals.
David Sidransky, MD
Member, Scientific Advisory Board
David Sidransky M.D. is a Professor of Oncology, Urology, Cellular & Molecular Medicine, Pathology, Otolaryngology and Genetics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He also serves as Director of the Head and Neck Cancer Research Program at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Sidransky has nearly 20 years of experience in the practice and instruction of medicine with expertise in oncology and molecular pathology, as well as in providing scientific guidance to institutions and corporations. Dr. Sidransky has served as an Advisor to the scientific boards of corporations and institutions including Amgen, Medimmune and Roche, is a member of numerous National Institutes of Health Working Groups, serves on the editorial boards of several research publications, including serving as Senior Editor of “Clinical Cancer Research” and is named on twelve patents. He has been Chairman of Champions Biotechnology, Inc. since October 2007 and its Director since August 14, 2007. He has been Vice chairman of ImClone Systems since June 15, 2006 and Director since January 2004. He serves as Chairman of Scientific Advisory Board of Alfacell Corp., and Cangen Biotechnologies, Inc. He has been Vice Chairman and Lead Independent Director of Alfacell Corporation since January 2007 and its Director since May 2004 He has been Member of Scientific Board of Optimata Ltd. since August 14, 2006. He has been Lead Director of ImClone Systems Inc. since January 26, 2004. He has been Director of Morria Biopharmaceuticals Plc since September 25, 2007. He served as Director of Zila, Inc. from October 24, 2007 to August 1, 2007. Dr. Sidransky has been Member of Scientific Advisory Board of Gammacan International Inc. since April 28, 2005 and serves as a Member of Scientific Advisory Board of Aureon Biosciences Corporation. He is a member of the American Association of Cancer Research, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the New York Academy of Sciences. Dr. Sidransky joined Johns Hopkins in 1988 from Baylor College of Medicine where he served his residency. He was formerly on the board of scientific counselors at the National Association of Dental and Craniofacial Research (“NIDCR”) and was previously a member of the Recombinant DNA advisory committee at the National Institute of Health National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) (RAC). He received his B.S. from Brandeis University and his M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine. Among other awards and honors, Dr. Sidransky has been the recipient of many awards and honors, including the 1997 Sarstedt International prize from the German Society of Clinical Chemistry, the 1998 Alton Ochsner Award Relating Smoking and Health by the American College of Chest Physicians and the 2004 Hinda and Richard Rosenthal Award from the American Association of Cancer Research.
Herman Yee, PhD, MD
Member, Scientific Advisory Board
Herman Yee, PhD, MD is an Associate Professor at NYU School of Medicine and an attending physician at Bellevue Hospital Center, where he is the Director of Immunohistochemistry and the Flow Cytometry Lab for Bellevue and the NYU Cancer Institute. Dr. Yee’s interests are immunohistochemistry as an assay in clinical and translational research; the relationship between CXCR4 and SDF-1 in tumor development of variable anatomic sites as well as motility protein expression of tumors; and the fluorescence and infrared spectroscopic evaluation of proteins in relation to structural differences between “normal” and “cancer” cells. In addition to his work directing the Immunohistochemistry and Flow Cytometry Labs, Dr. Yee has published extensively, and has authored (or co-authored) over 120 papers in medical and scientific journals. Dr. Yee graduated from the University of Southern California with a BS in chemistry and a PhD in Physical Chemistry. He received his MD from McGill University, and held postdoctoral positions at Columbia University Presbyterian Hospital and at NYU before joining the NYU staff.
Steven Larsen, MD
Member, Scientific Advisory Board
Steven Larsen, MD is a nuclear medicine physician at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital whose clinical interests focus on the use of positron emission tomography (PET) for diagnostic and molecular imaging. In addition to being Chief of the Nuclear Medicine Service, he is the Director of the Laurent and Alberta Gerschel Positron Emission Tomography Center and Head of the Nuclear Medicine Research Laboratory. He is also a member of the Executive Council for the Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics Program of the Sloan-Kettering Institute. My research interests involve PET and targeted therapy in oncology. Sponsored by the US Department of Energy and in collaboration with Radiochemistry/Cyclotron CORE leader Dr. Ronald Finn, Dr. Larsen led an effort to develop novel radiopharmaceuticals for implementation in research in both animals and humans. During the last ten years, this effort has resulted in the introduction of more than 40 new radionuclides and compounds for implementation in animal research at MSKCC. Dr. Larsen has served as chairman of the Radioactive Drug Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration and was part of a team that developed the 21CFR361.1 Radioactive Drug Research Committee regulations. Dr. Larsen has received a number of awards in nuclear medicine, including the Hevesy Award from both the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) and the European Society of Nuclear Medicine, the Pendergrass Award and the Radiologic Researcher of the Year Award from the Radiological Society of North America, and the Wagner Lecture Award from SNM. He has also received the Wiley Medal from the FDA, for distinguished service. Dr. Larsen received his MD from the University of Washington School of Medicine (Seattle). He held residencies at Virginia Mason Hospital (Seattle) and a fellowship at the NIH. Dr. Larsen is board certified in Nuclear Medicine and Internal Medicine.
Yuman Fong, MD
Member, Scientific Advisory Board
Yuman Fong, MD is Vice Chair, Technology Development, Department of Surgery, and the Murray F. Brennan Chair in Surgery at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital. The main focus of his laboratory of Hepatic Oncology centers on the use of various viral vectors for the treatment of cancer including herpes simplex virus, vaccinia virus, myxoma virus and vesicular stomatitis virus. The majority of the efforts are directed at designing and testing oncolytic viral therapies in the treatment of a variety of malignancies. Dr Fong received his MD from Cornell University Medical College. He held residencies at The New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center, and fellowships at Cornell University Medical College; Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Judith Wolf, MD
Member, Scientific Advisory Board
Judith Wolf, MD is Associate Professor and Co-Director, Blanton-Davis Ovarian Cancer Research Program at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Wolf has been with M. D. Anderson since 1991, when she began her gynecologic oncology fellowship. Dr. Wolf's research interests have focused on developing new molecular-based therapies for treatment of gynecologic malignancies. Specifically, she has been involved in pre-clinical and clinical research for using gene therapy and targeted therapies, both alone and in combination with chemotherapy to treat gynecologic cancers. Currently Dr. Wolf is involved in laboratory research to improve gene therapy delivery systems and targeting, and is involved in several clinical trials evaluating chemotherapy agents, as well as anti-angiogenic agents in the treatment of gynecologic malignancies. Dr. Wolf is active in local and national societies, including the Society of Gynecologic Oncology, The American Society of Clinical Oncology, The American Association of Cancer Research, The Houston Gynecologic and Obstetrics Society, of which she is President in 2003. She heads the Board of Directors of the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition. As Co-Director of M.D. Anderson's Blanton-Davis Ovarian Cancer Research Program, Dr. Wolf administrates program funds, oversees the program's special events and conferences, and coordinates the program's research activities. Dr Wolf received her B.S. degree from the University of Akron, and her M.D. from Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine. She completed residencies in Obstetrics/Gynecology at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio, and held fellowships in Gynecologic Surgery at the University of Minnesota, Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. She is board certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
