Management & Advisors
Management Team
Brian H. Johnston, Ph.D., Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Johnston has over 30 years of experience in scientific innovation and product development. He holds a Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and did post-doctoral research at UCSF and MIT. Dr. Johnston was previously Director of the Nucleic Acids Program at SRI International and Consulting Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine. He has coauthored 56 scientific papers and 24 patents.
Sergei A. Kazakov, Ph.D., Vice President for Discovery Research
Dr. Kazakov has over 25 years of research experience and is a recognized authority in nucleic acid chemistry. He received his Ph.D. in bioorganic chemistry from Moscow State University and did post-doctoral research at Yale University. Dr. Kazakov has also been a research scientist at the University of Virginia. He is the author of 52 scientific papers and 20 patents.
Anne Scholz, MBA, Vice President for Business Development
Anne Scholz has 20 years experience in the areas of marketing and business development for biotechnology companies. She was Director Marketing, VP Business Development at Clontech Laboratories and subsequently VP/General Manager of BD Clontech (Becton Dickinson acquisition now Takara Clontech). Ms. Scholz also has experience in evaluating biotech investments and providing management support to portfolio companies. In this role she served as VP Business Development and Marketing for CelTor Biosystems as a Venture Consultant for Windamere Venture Partners. She has extensive experience in business and product development, marketing and technology commercialization. Ms. Scholz received her MBA from Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business, located in Silicon Valley.
Scientific Advisors
Thomas J. White, Ph.D
Dr. White received his B.A. in Chemistry from Johns Hopkins University and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of California at Berkeley. His postdoctoral research was carried out at the UCSF Medical Center and the University of Wisconsin in Madison. As VP of Research at Cetus Corporation, he directed R&D for multiple applications of PCR in basic research, forensics and diagnostics. He subsequently worked for Roche Molecular Systems as Senior VP of R&D and then was Senior VP of R&D and Chief Scientific Officer at Celera Corporation. His career involved the FDA registration of molecular diagnostic products, laboratory developed (CLIA) tests for complex common diseases, and basic research on the molecular evolution of fungi and HIV. He is a scientific advisor to the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND.org) in Geneva.
John J. Rossi, Ph.D.
Professor and Dean of the Graduate School, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope National Medical Center. Dr. Rossi is a pioneer in the therapeutic use of ribozymes and siRNAs against HIV and a prominent researcher in the biology of RNAi. He has been awarded the prestigious MERIT Award for the Division of AIDS at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
Harvey J. Cohen, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor and former Chairman, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine and Chief of Staff, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. A clinician and researcher in hematology and oncology, Dr. Cohen has studied the cellular biology and biochemistry of granulocyte function especially as they relate to the oxidative killing ability of phagocytic cells.
Gerald G. Krueger, M.D.
Professor of Dermatology, University of Utah School of Medicine. A recognized authority on psoriasis, Dr. Krueger has led many key clinical trials of psoriatic drugs. He was the recipient of the Taub International Award for Psoriasis Research and a National Psoriasis Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.
Board of Directors
Brian H. Johnston, Ph.D., Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Johnston has over 30 years of experience in scientific innovation and product development. He holds a Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and did post-doctoral research at UCSF and MIT. Dr. Johnston was previously Director of the Nucleic Acids Program at SRI International and Consulting Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine. He has coauthored 56 scientific papers and 24 patents.
Stephen T. Isaacs
Stephen T Isaacs has served as Aduro Biotech’s Chairman, Director, President and Chief Executive Officer since 2008. Aduro is a publicly traded clinical stage biotechnology company focused on immuno-oncology, with additional programs in autoimmunity and infectious disease. Prior to Aduro, Mr. Isaacs founded Cerus Corporation in 1991, a biomedical products company commercializing the Intercept Blood Systems. The Intercept systems are now globally available and used to prevent a variety of diseases from blood transfusion. He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Cerus from 1991 to 2004. Prior to Cerus, Mr. Isaacs founded and served as Chief Executive Officer and President of HRI Associates and HRI Research, both biotechnology companies focusing on research and development in various areas. He held a non-teaching faculty position in the Department of Chemistry at the University of California Berkeley from 1978 to 1986. Mr. Isaacs has published over 20 peer-reviewed scientific articles and is an inventor on over 40 issued patents.
In addition to leading multiple biotechnology companies, Mr. Isaacs has spent considerable time on the African continent working on various non-profit activities. With his family, he founded “A Better Education” (ABE) Club, which provides educational opportunities, microfinance training and healthcare for remote villagers in the south of Kenya. More recently, he founded the Alliance for Global Health and Science with the Department of Public Health at UC Berkeley, which undertakes capacity building at universities and medical schools in Uganda and Zimbabwe. He also established the Immunotherapeutics and Vaccine Research Initiative at UC Berkeley, which is an Aduro-sponsored campus-wide organization to promote immunological research for cancer and infectious disease.
Mr. Isaacs holds an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of California at Berkeley, where he also pursued Ph.D. studies in organic chemistry.