About Us > Management

Susan M. Molineaux, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and Founder
Dr. Molineaux has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Proteolix since January, 2006. From the company’s founding in December, 2003 through December, 2005, she served as the Chief Scientific Officer of Proteolix. Prior to joining Proteolix, Dr. Molineaux was at Rigel Pharmaceuticals in South San Francisco, CA from 2000 to 2003, where she was Vice President, Biology. Before that, she was Vice President, Biology at Praelux in Lawrenceville, NJ. From 1994 through 1999, Dr. Molineaux served as Vice President of Drug Development at Praecis Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, MA and from 1989 until 1994 she was a scientist in the Immunology group at Merck, in Rahway, NJ. Dr. Molineaux received a B.S. in Biology from Smith College, a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Johns Hopkins University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University.

Lori A. Kunkel, M.D., Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Kunkel has served as Chief Medical Officer of Proteolix since April 2007. From 2005 until 2007, Dr. Kunkel served as Vice President of Clinical Development of Xencor , Inc. Prior to her tenure with Xencor, Inc., Dr. Kunkel was an independent clinical oncology and immunology consultant, offering strategic clinical, regulatory and technical advice to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Dr. Kunkel has also held senior positions at Genentech, Chiron Corporation (now Novartis) and Genitope Corporation. Dr. Kunkel received her M.D. at the University of Southern California and completed her internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. Subsequently, Dr. Kunkel completed Hematology and Oncology Fellowships at the University of Southern California and University of California, Los Angeles, respectively. She is board certified in internal medicine, hematology and oncology.

Matthew B. Ferguson, Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Ferguson has served as Chief Financial Officer at Proteolix since January 2008.  Prior to joining Proteolix, Mr. Ferguson held senior level positions at FoxHollow Technologies, Inc. from July 2002 to December 2007.  He most recently served as Chief Financial Officer at FoxHollow, where he was responsible for the company’s 2004 initial public offering and played a significant role in the company’s 2007 merger with ev3 inc.  Prior to his tenure at FoxHollow, Mr. Ferguson held several positions at ChannelPoint, Inc., including Director of Finance and Director of Corporate Development.  Prior to ChannelPoint, Mr. Ferguson worked in financial planning at Hewlett-Packard. Mr. Ferguson holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Stanford University, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley.

Thomas Kassberg, Executive Vice President of Corporate Development

Mr. Kassberg has served as our Executive Vice President, Corporate Development since May, 2008. From August 2004 to July 2007, Mr. Kassberg served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Commercial Operations and prior to that as Senior Vice President, Business Development at InterMune, Inc. From December 2000 to July 2004, Mr. Kassberg served as co-founder and Vice President of Business and Corporate Development of Plexxikon, Inc. From 1996 to 1999, Mr. Kassberg worked as Senior Director, Business Development at SUGEN, Inc., and later as Senior Director, Corporate Licensing for Pharmacia, Inc. following the acquisition of SUGEN by Pharmacia in August 1999 until December 2000. Mr. Kassberg began his career at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company where he served in various commercial functions, including strategic planning, financial analysis, business development and managed care sales. Mr. Kassberg holds a Masters in Management degree from Northwestern University.

Mark K. Bennett, Ph.D., Vice President, Research
Dr. Bennett has served as the Vice President of Research at Proteolix since January, 2006. From the company’s founding in December, 2003 through December, 2005, he was Director of Biological Research. Prior to joining Proteolix, Dr. Bennett was Director of Cell Biology at Rigel Pharmaceuticals in South San Francisco, CA from 1999 to 2003. From 1993 through 1999, Dr. Bennett was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Bennett received a B.S. in Biochemistry and Biophysics from Oregon State University, a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the California Institute of Technology, and completed postdoctoral fellowships at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and Stanford University.

Christopher J. Molineaux, Ph.D., Vice President, Development
Dr. Molineaux has served as the Vice President of Development at Proteolix since July, 2004. Prior to joining Proteolix, Dr. Molineaux was Sr. Director of Drug Development at FibroGen, Inc.in South San Francisco, CA from 2000 to 2004. From 1999 to 2000, Dr. Molineaux was Research Manager of Toxicology at J&J Pharmaceutical Research and Development facility in Raritan, NJ. From 1994 to 1999, Dr. Molineaux was Sr. Director of Pharmacology at Praecis Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, MA and from 1991 until 1994 he held staff scientist positions at Enzon in Piscataway, NJ and Merck, in Rahway, NJ.  Dr. Molineaux was an Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City from 1985 until 1991. Dr. Molineaux received a B.S. in Zoology from University of MD, College Park and a Ph.D. in Immunology and Infections Diseases from Johns Hopkins University. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

Stephen R. Brady, J.D., LL.M., Executive Director, Business Development & Legal Affairs Mr. Brady has served as Executive Director, Business Development & Legal Affairs of Proteolix since April 2007. From 2001 until 2007, Mr. Brady served as Senior Corporate Counsel at Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he served in business development, communications and corporate legal capacities. Prior to his tenure with Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Mr. Brady was a Vice President with Lazard Venture Advisors, a division of Lazard Freres & Co., LLC, and an associate in the New York and San Francisco offices of Morrison & Foerster LLP. Mr. Brady received a B.A. in English from the University of Oregon, a J.D. from the University of the Pacific and a LL.M. from the New York University School of Law.