Stephen Gillies, Ph.D.
Dr. Gillies is the past President of EMD Lexigen Pharmaceuticals, and has been responsible for advancement of all business and scientific endeavors at the research center since its founding in 1992. Previously, Dr. Gillies was vice president of research at Damon Biotech and Abbott Biotech, Inc., where he oversaw development of recombinant antibodies and pro-urokinase, an anti-clotting protein. As a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Dr. Gillies identified the first cellular enhancer sequences in 1983. Dr. Gillies received a Master of Science degree and a Ph.D. from Rutgers University in New Jersey and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts.

Stephen Heinemann, Ph.D.
Dr. Stephen Heinemann is a professor in the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA. His research is aimed at understanding the molecular basis of communication between brain cells and the molecular biology of learning. A leader in the field of molecular neuroscience, Dr. Heinemann has identified genes encoding major receptor systems in the brain, including receptors for glutamate and nicotine. Discoveries in Dr. Heinemann’s laboratory are currently being used by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to develop drugs for stroke, epilepsy, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, as well as mental conditions, such as nicotine addiction, depression and schizophrenia. Dr. Heinemann received a B.S. from the California Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Harvard University. Dr. Heinemann is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Institute of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Yasuo Irie
Mr. Irie is currently an operating officer of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. He has extensive management experience in the area of basic research for development of novel therapeutics and especially in the area of diagnostics, spanning research and development through clinical trials, and ultimately, successful FDA approval for clinical use.

Mark B. Benjamin
Mark comes to Galenea as President & CEO with 16 years of industry experience, 13 in business development. He was most recently the Chief Business Officer of Nura Inc., a neuroscience drug discovery company founded by 2004 Nobel laureate Dr. Linda Buck, which was acquired by Omeros Inc. in 2006. In previous positions, he served as Vice President of Global Business Development for Manteia SA, a Swiss-based subsidiary of Serono SA (now Merck KGaA) and was the senior business development executive at Rosetta Inpharmatics, a company founded by a team that included 2001 Nobel laureate Leland Hartwell. Rosetta was acquired by Merck & Company in 2001. Mark received a first class B.Sc. degree with honors from the University of London and a D.Sc. degree in Cancer Biology from Harvard University.

Masuhiro Yoshitake
Mr. Yoshitake is currently an executive operating officer of Global Project Leader of TB Projects & Licensing of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. He has extensive experience in management of multiple phases of drug discovery spanning basic research through clinical trials.