Geron Announces Senior Management Appointments
MENLO PARK, Calif., May 19, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Geron Corporation (GERN)
today announced the appointments of Stephen Kelsey, M.D., to Executive Vice
President, Head of Research & Development and Chief Medical Officer; Jane
Lebkowski, Ph.D., to Senior Vice President and Geron's Chief Scientific Officer;
and Melissa Kelly Behrs to Senior Vice President, Strategic Portfolio Management.
Drs. Kelsey and Lebkowski and Ms. Behrs will report to David Greenwood, Geron's
President and Chief Executive Officer.
"By appointing Dr. Kelsey, Dr. Lebkowski and Ms. Behrs to these roles with
functional responsibilities across Geron's programs, we leverage their
accumulated expertise and distinctive capabilities to direct the science and
clinical programs, and to integrate the strategic business plan," said Mr.
Greenwood. "Steve has a proven track record in clinical development and
leadership of research programs and in this capacity will manage to meet our
defined goals within defined timeframes. Under Jane's leadership, the Geron team
advanced hESC technology from initial discovery to a first product in the clinic,
with every step being an inventive step. Geron was founded on innovative and
excellent science, including telomerase and hESCs, leading to our products in the
clinic today. We want to maintain this tradition internally and build on our
external network of key thought leaders. Finally, it is imperative that a
technology rich company like Geron maintains the product development focus with
clearly defined strategies to progress products into and through clinical trials.
Melissa has well demonstrated capabilities to provide this leadership."
Dr. Kelsey joined Geron in 2009 as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical
Officer, Oncology. Previously, he held senior positions at Genentech and
Pharmacia (Sugen, Inc.), where he was responsible for a broad range of
development programs spanning pre-Phase 1 through marketed products. Dr. Kelsey
held positions as a clinician and researcher in hematology/oncology at St.
Bartholomews and the Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry. He earned his
M.D. in the U.K. at the University of Birmingham.
Dr. Lebkowski joined Geron in 1998 and has served as Senior Vice President and
Chief Scientific Officer, Cell Therapies. Prior to joining the company, Dr.
Lebkowski was Vice President, Discovery & Product Development at Rhone-Poulenc
Rorer, where she coordinated preclinical investigations of gene therapy
approaches for the treatment of cancer, cardiovascular disease and nervous system
disorders, and evaluated potential technology in-licensing opportunities. Dr.
Lebkowski graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.S. in Chemistry and Biology from
Syracuse University and received her Ph.D. from Princeton University.
Ms. Behrs joined Geron in 1998 and has served as our Vice President, Corporate
Development and Senior Vice President, Therapeutic Development, Oncology. Prior
to joining Geron, Ms. Behrs served in numerous roles at Genetics Institute. Ms.
Behrs received a B.S. from Boston College and an M.B.A. from Babson College.
About Geron
Geron is developing first-in-class biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer
and chronic degenerative diseases. The company is advancing anti-cancer therapies
through multiple Phase 2 clinical trials in different cancers by targeting the
enzyme telomerase and with a compound designed to penetrate the blood-brain
barrier. The company is developing cell therapies from differentiated human
embryonic stem cells for a range of indications, with the first product in a
Phase 1 clinical trial for spinal cord injury. For more information, visit
geron.com.
SOURCE: Geron Corporation
Geron Corporation
Anna Krassowska, Ph.D., 650-473-7765
Investor and Media Relations
info@geron.com |
