Executive Team
PAUL GRAYSON
President and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Grayson is the president and CEO of Fate Therapeutics. Mr. Grayson was previously managing director of Sanderling Ventures. Over the last ten years, he has completed both private and public capital fundraising, delivering more than $200 million for emerging companies. Transactions completed under Mr. Grayson’s watch produced more than $150 million in recognizable revenue with an announceable value in excess of $1 billion dollars and included agreements with BMS, Lilly, Warner Lambert, Merck, F. Hoffmann La Roche, Pharmacia Upjohn, Kraft Foods, Campbell's Soup, Nestle and the Coca Cola Company. Mr. Grayson was a founding member of the management team of Aurora Biosciences and the founding chairman, CEO and president of Senomyx, Inc. He is on the board of directors for Receptos, a structure-based drug discovery company, Taligen Therapeutics and REN Pharmaceuticals and was previously chairman of the board of directors for Naviscan PET Systems and CalciMedica. Mr. Grayson received his M.B.A. from the University of California, Irvine and his B.A. in computer science and biochemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles.
DAN SHOEMAKER, PH.D.
Chief Technology Officer
Dr. Shoemaker is the chief technology officer and is leading the development of quantitative cell state analysis for the Company's therapeutic development and iPSC technology. Dr. Shoemaker was most recently chief scientific officer of ICxBiosystems, which develops advanced detection technologies for use in biodefense, cancer and prenatal diagnostics. He led the technology team in establishing molecular tools to enrich and analyze rare cell populations. From 2003 to 2005, he was chief scientific officer of GHC Technologies and led the research and development of rapid ultrasensitive detection assays for biodefense and clinical point-of-care diagnostics. From 1998 to 2003, Dr. Shoemaker held several positions at Merck Research Laboratories, including director of Target Discovery, senior director at Rosetta Inpharmatics and research fellow in the Department of Molecular Neurosciences, where his main focus was on target identification and biomarker discovery. Dr. Shoemaker’s research at Merck achieved publications in top journals, including Nature, Science and Nature Biotechnology. Dr. Shoemaker received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Stanford University and his B.S. in biochemistry from University of California, Santa Barbara.
SCOTT WOLCHKO
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Wolchko is the chief financial officer of Fate Therapeutics and is responsible for the Company’s financial and business development activities. Mr. Wolchko began his career as an investment banker with Morgan Stanley & Co., where he served for six years in the firm’s New York City and Menlo Park, California offices. As a member of the firm's Investment Banking Health Care Group, he assisted emerging growth companies in the health care technology sector complete capital-raising and strategic transactions. Prior to joining Fate Therapeutics, Mr. Wolchko served as the chief financial officer of Bocada, Inc., where he oversaw all financial, legal, human resource and information technology operations, and was previously the senior director of corporate development at drugstore.com, where he was responsible for evaluating and executing financial and business development opportunities. Mr. Wolchko holds an M.S. in biochemical engineering from the University of Virginia, and a B.S. in biomedical engineering from the University of Vermont.
TOM NOVAK, PH.D.
Senior Vice President of Research & Development
Dr. Novak is the vice president of research and development at Fate Therapeutics. Dr. Novak was most recently senior director and head of discovery technologies at Roche where he directed novel target discovery and assessment and formed and led Stem Cells for Research, a team designed to implement the use of stem cells as a drug discovery platform. Prior to Roche, he worked at Wyeth where he held the positions of senior research scientist and associate director. At Wyeth, Dr. Novak coordinated research for ion channel modulation and orphan G protein-coupled receptor identification and established a transcriptional profiling lab to apply leading gene expression technologies to exploratory research efforts. Dr. Novak performed his post-doctoral training at Yale University School of Medicine in immunobiology, received his Ph.D. in biology from California Institute of Technology, and graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College in Massachusetts with a B.A. in biology and chemistry. He is the author of more than 45 scientific abstracts and publications.
PRATIK MULTANI, M.D., M.S.
Vice President of Clinical Development
Dr. Multani is the vice president of clinical development at Fate Therapeutics. Prior to joining Fate Therapeutics, Dr. Multani was vice president of translational medicine at Kalypsys, Inc. since 2007, where he advanced the development of multiple compounds in the therapeutic areas of pain and inflammation and metabolic diseases. From 2005 to 2007 as senior vice president of clinical development and then chief medical officer at Kanisa Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Multani led the clinical development of zosuquidar as well as a companion diagnostic in acute myeloid leukemia. From 2004 to 2005 as vice president of clinical development at Salmedix, he led three clinical development programs in hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. From 1999 to 2004 advancing from associate director of oncology and hematology to senior director of medical research at Biogen-Idec, Dr. Multani led or provided strategic direction for multiple drug development programs in Phase 1 to Phase 4 clinical trials, including Zevalin® and Rituxan®.
SCOTT THIES, PH.D.
Senior Director of Stem Cell Biology
Dr. Thies is the senior director of stem cell biology at Fate Therapeutics and has been a cell biologist in the biotech industry for 20 years. Most recently, he was the director of cell technology at Geron Corporation. There, he led the assay development effort to characterize cell therapeutics derived from embryonic stem cells, devised differentiation strategies for neural lineage cell therapeutics and played a pivotal role in filing an IND for the first embryonic stem cell-derived therapeutic. Prior to joining Geron, Dr. Thies was a senior scientist in Regenerative Medicine at Genetics Institute and, subsequently, at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals when it acquired Genetics Institute. His research there focused on members of the BMP family and included identifying novel receptors and developing proprietary assays for discovering the therapeutic potential of this protein family. Dr. Thies is an author on 30 papers and an inventor on eight patents. He completed postdoctoral training in biological chemistry and endocrinology at the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of California, San Diego, respectively. Dr. Thies earned a Ph.D. in physiology from Duke University and a B.S. in biology and chemistry from the University of Miami.
FRANCINE FAROUZ, PH.D.
Senior Director of Medicinal Chemistry
Dr. Farouz is senior director of medicinal chemistry at Fate Therapeutics and has been a medicinal chemist in the biotech industry in increasing roles of responsibility for 14 years. Most recently, she was director of medicinal chemistry at ICOS Corporation, where she managed teams of medicinal chemists focused on the design of small molecules for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases who under her leadership delivered two NCE’s that moved forward into Phase 1 trials. Prior to joining ICOS, Dr. Farouz was principal scientist at Elan Pharmaceuticals and scientist at Athena Neurosciences, working in a number of therapeutic areas, including pain, Alzheimer’s disease and inflammation. During that time, she made key contributions to several projects bringing forward two compounds into clinical trials. She is a co-inventor on 36 issued patents. Dr. Farouz completed postdoctoral training in medicinal chemistry at the University of Minnesota and received her Ph.D. in organic chemistry from University of Notre Dame and a B.S in chemical engineering from Ecole Superieure de Chimie Industrielle de Lyon.
PETER FLYNN, PH.D.
Senior Director of Protein Discovery
Dr. Flynn is the senior director of protein discovery and iPSC technology at Fate Therapeutics and has been involved in biotechnology start-ups with a focus on biologic therapeutics for more than 10 years. Prior to joining Fate Therapeutics, Dr. Flynn was vice president of research for Ren Pharmaceuticals, where he led the R&D effort to identify biologic therapeutics to treat renal disease and hypertension. Prior to Ren, Dr. Flynn was director of biochemistry research at KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, an antibody therapeutics company. He was a member of the KaloBios team from incorporation and was integral in the development of the platform antibody HumaneeringTM technology. Dr. Flynn played a major role in the identification and preclinical development of KaloBios’ three initial therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of infectious disease, inflammation and cancer. In 2007, the combination of technology development and client relationship building led to the non-exclusive license of the platform technology to Novartis. Prior to the formation of KaloBios, Dr. Flynn was a researcher at UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Flynn earned a Ph.D. from the ICRF London (Cancer Research UK) and a first class BSc in molecular biology from University College London. He is the author of many publications and patents in the areas of cellular signal transduction and antibody engineering.