David Proia, Ph.D., is VP, Biology and Drug Discovery at Acrivon Therapeutics. David has extensive experience in developing small molecule therapeutics for various solid and liquid tumor indications and has contributed to projects advancing both early and later stage clinical development. Most recently, David served as VP of Oncology at ROME Therapeutics, where he was the biology lead for the development of agents targeting an endogenous reverse transcriptase. He served as Senior Director of In Vivo Pharmacology at C4 Therapeutics and project leader on multiple oncology programs, including CFT7455 (IKZF1/3 degrader), currently in clinical trials for patients with multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Prior to C4, he was the Director of Cancer Biology and In Vivo Pharmacology at Synta Pharmaceuticals and a Scientist at AstraZeneca. David has a B.S. in biochemistry from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology from Baylor College of Medicine.
Praveen Marapaka, Ph.D., is SVP, Global Regulatory Affairs at Acrivon Therapeutics, Inc. Prior to joining Acrivon, he held senior leadership roles at Merck KGaA, AstraZeneca, BICARA Therapeutics and was accountable for driving regulatory strategies for company’s product portfolio, leading to approvals of many oncology and immuno-oncology products. He has effectively led global teams at Schering-Plough, and other pharmaceutical companies, managing all aspects of a product life cycle, from pre-clinical to post-approval. He holds a Ph.D. in chemistry, was the Principal Investigator for several NIH grants (Oncology, CV and Neurology therapeutic area), a research fellow at Washington University, St. Louis and a Royal Society Fellow in the UK.
John van Duzer, Ph.D., is SVP, CMC at Acrivon Therapeutics, Inc. John is a senior pharmaceutical industry executive with over 30 years of proven expertise in medicinal chemistry research, chemical development and GMP manufacturing of both active pharmaceutical ingredients and drug products. Prior to Acrivon, he was the SVP of Chemistry and Manufacturing at Acetylon. John is the inventor of Ricolinostat and Citarisnostat, selective HDAC6 inhibitors studied in the clinic for the treatment of multiple myeloma. When Celgene acquired Acetylon, he led the CMC tech transfer team that integrated Acetylon’s manufacturing processes into Celgene. Previously, while at Novartis, he invented Lumarcoxib, a marketed selective COX-2 inhibitor. At Eloxx Pharmaceuticals, he was the VP of Technical Operations responsible for all aspects of chemical development. He also served as the VP of Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing at Collegium Pharmaceuticals where he oversaw tech transfer of the commercial product Nucynta to a new manufacturing site. He is also the co-inventor of 36 patents and has co-authored 18 peer-reviewed scientific papers. John received his Ph.D. in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from Yale University, and B.A. in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania.
James (Jim) Dunyak, Ph.D., is VP, Biostatistics at Acrivon Therapeutics, Inc. Previously, he was the Senior Director of Biostatistics at Certara. From 2015-2021, Jim served as the Senior Director of Clinical Pharmacometrics at AstraZeneca responsible for identifying opportunities to utilize innovative trial designs and statistical analysis methods in drug development. At Metamark Genetics, he held increasing roles of responsibility including most recently Head of Research and Development managing the R&D department. Earlier in his career, Jim held senior roles at Novartis, MITRE Corporation, and the Naval Research Laboratory. Additionally, he served as a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Texas Tech. Jim holds multiple degrees, including a B.S. from Virginia Tech, a M.S. in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute, a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics/Probability Theory from University of Maryland, a M.S. in Biostatistics from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and a M.S. in Regulatory Affairs from Northeastern University.
Joon Jung, Ph.D., is VP and Head, Data Science at Acrivon Therapeutics, Inc. Previously, he was the VP and Head of Data Science and Translational Discovery at Theonys where he led data science, bioinformatics, computational chemistry, biophysics and structural biology activities. From 2012-2021, Joon was the Head of Informatics & Translational Science Lead at Cyclerion Therapeutics/Ironwood Pharmaceutical. During his tenure, he developed a suite of web-based bioinformatic applications and a systems biology platform to identify novel indications by integrating -omics data, pathways and protein-protein interactome. Earlier in his career, Joon was a scientist at Merck Research Laboratories, Johnson & Johnson and Triad Therapeutics. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois, a Ph.D. in Computational Chemistry from U.C. Irvine and Hebrew University, and he completed his fellowship in Bioinformatics & Computational Biology at Columbia University.
Derek DiRocco is a Partner at RA Capital Management. Derek works on both public and private investments and serves as a Board Director for 89Bio, iTeos Therapeutics, Connect Bio, CANbridge, and Werewolf Therapeutics. Previously, Derek covered solid tumor oncology landscapes.
Derek holds a BA in Biology from Holy Cross College and a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Washington. He conducted his postdoctoral research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, where he researched the role of the Wnt signaling pathway in mouse models of kidney disease, and was part of a team that discovered a stem cell subtype responsible for solid organ fibrosis.
Dr. Abraham is Executive Vice President and Head of Cancer Biology at Odyssey Therapeutics. Before that, he was most recently Chief Scientific Officer at Vividion Therapeutics. Prior to Vividion, he was the Senior Vice President and World-wide Head of the Oncology R&D group at Pfizer. From 2005-2009, he was the Head of Oncology Discovery Research at Wyeth. During his tenure at Wyeth and Pfizer, Dr. Abraham contributed to the development of eight FDA-approved cancer drugs. Prior to joining industry, Dr. Abraham was a Professor at the Sanford-Burnham-Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBPMDI) in La Jolla, CA, where he served as the Director of the NCI-designated SBPMDI Cancer Research Center. Prior to SBPDMI, he was endowed Chair in the Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at the Duke University Medical Center. Prior to Duke University, Dr. Abraham held dual professorships in the departments of Immunology and Pharmacology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He maintains Adjunct Professor appointments at U.C. San Diego (Department of Pharmacology), and at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Institute.
Dr. Abraham began his career as an Academic Investigator, with enduring interests in cancer biology and immunology. His major research interests included characterization and functional analysis of the mammalian Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway, cancer metabolism, cellular signaling and DNA damage responses. Dr. Abraham has authored over 225 scientific publications, and his published work has been cited over 48,000 times.
Dr. Abraham received his B.S. in Biology from Bucknell University and his Ph.D. in Pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh, and he completed his postdoctoral training in Pharmacology and Immunology at the Mayo Clinic.
Michail Shipitsin, Ph.D., is VP, Biomarker Development at Acrivon Therapeutics, Inc. Michail has over 15 years of experience in translational and biomarker research and development. Previously, he headed biomarker development at Xtuit Pharmaceuticals with a focus on NASH liver disease and cancer. After joining the biotech industry, Michail led development of a first in kind multiplex immunofluorescence prognostic test for prostate cancer at Metamark Genetics.
Michail earned his Diploma in Molecular Biology from Novosibirsk State University. He completed Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Tufts University and conducted postdoctoral studies at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute with a focus on biomarkers in breast cancer.
Dr. Olsen is an Academic Co-Founder and Head of Phosphoproteomics at Acrivon Therapeutics, Inc. He is a Professor in Quantitative Proteomics at the University of Copenhagen and Vice Director of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research. Dr. Olsen is a pioneer in mass spectrometry based phosphoproteomics and its applications to decipher cell-signaling networks at a systems-wide scale, and his research interest is developing and applying phosphoproteomics technologies for comprehensive kinase drug profilings with clinical actionability. Dr. Olsen is one of the most highly cited authors in the study of protein phosphorylation and its impact on biology.
Dr. Olsen received his M.Sc. in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Southern Denmark and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the same place under the supervision of Professor Matthias Mann. Dr. Olsen completed his post-doctoral training in proteomics and cell signaling at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Munich. He is based in Copenhagen since 2009, where he joined the newly established Center for Protein Research, initially as Group Leader and since 2014 as Vice Director.
Eric Devroe, Ph.D., is Chief Operating Officer at Acrivon Therapeutics, Inc. Eric is an executive and entrepreneur with significant experience helping found, launch, and build new life science companies. Most recently, he served as Founder & CEO of Xione Therapeutics, Inc., an oncology focused spin-out of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Prior to Xione, he was Strategic Advisor, Therapeutics Discovery at MD Anderson Cancer Center, and the Founder and CEO of Opsonix, Inc., an infectious disease focused spin-out of the Wyss Institute at Harvard University. Prior to Opsonix, he served as Executive Director of Strategic Alliances at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Earlier in his career he served as VP, Business & Strategy Development at Metamark Genetics, Inc., and an Associate at Flagship Pioneering. He holds a B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Texas at Austin and a Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology from Harvard University.
