Our Leadership

Dr. Shefali Agarwal has served as a member of our Board of Directors since June 2021. Dr. Agarwal currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer at Valerio Therapeutics, a public clinical stage company specializing in the development of innovative drugs targeting tumor DNA damage response. Previously, Dr. Agarwal was the Executive Vice President and Chief Medical and Development Officer at Epizyme, Inc., a fully-integrated, commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company developing and delivering novel epigenetic therapies. Prior to joining Epizyme in 2018, Dr. Agarwal held leadership positions across medical research, clinical development, clinical operations and medical affairs. Dr. Agarwal also served as Chief Medical Officer at SQZ Biotech, where she built and led the clinical development organization, which included clinical research operations and the regulatory function. Before SQZ Biotech, Dr. Agarwal held leadership positions at Curis and Tesaro. At Curis, she oversaw the Phase 2 study for its dual HDAC/PI3K inhibitor in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and the Phase 1 study in solid tumors for its oral checkpoint inhibitor. At Tesaro, she led the NDA and EMA submissions for ZEJULA® (niraparib) in ovarian cancer. Dr. Agarwal has also held positions of increasing responsibility at Covidien, AVEO Oncology and Pfizer. In addition to receiving her medical degree, Dr. Agarwal holds a Master’s of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University and a Master’s of Science in Business from University of Maryland. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of Fate Therapeutics (Nasdaq: FATE).

Andrew Allen, M.D., Ph.D., is co-founder of Gritstone bio, and has served as President, CEO and a member of the BoD since August 2015. Prior to Gritstone bio, Dr.. Allen co-founded and was CMO at Clovis Oncology and prior to that served as CMO at Pharmion (acquired by Celgene in 2008 for $2.9B). He also led oncology development at Chiron Corp (including hi-dose IL-2) global project head at Abbott Labs. He trained in Medicine at Oxford University, practiced as an academic nephrologist for several years, obtained a PhD in Immunology at Imperial College, and worked for several years at McKinsey & Company. He serves on the Board of Directors of Adaptimmune (NASDAQ:ADAP), Verge Genomics, Peptone and Revitope Oncology. He previously served on the Board of Directors of Epizyme (acquired by Ipsen in 2022), Sierra Oncology (acquired by GSK in 2022), TCR2 (acquired by Adaptimmune) and Cell Design Labs, Inc (acquired by Gilead in 2017).

Dr. Lawrence “Larry” Corey has served as a member of our Board of Directors since August 2022. An internationally renowned expert in virology, immunology and vaccine development, Dr. Corey is a former President and Director of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center (“Fred Hutch”), a world-leading institution focused on prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer, HIV/AIDS and other diseases. He is also a longtime principal investigator of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN). A distinguished expert in the design and testing of vaccines with over 30 years’ experience in both therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines against viral diseases, Dr. Corey has pioneered the development of several safe and effective antivirals. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, he helped design and coordinate a global strategic response, working closely with National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and other entities to test vaccines within the COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN), a network modeled upon HVTN. He is one of the most highly cited biomedical researchers in the last 20 years and is the author, coauthor, or editor of over 1,000 scientific publications. Dr. Corey received his B.S. and M.D. from the University of Michigan and his infectious diseases training at the University of Washington.

Clare Fisher has served as a member of our Board of Directors since January 2022. Ms. Fisher currently serves as SVP of Business Development and Mergers & Acquisitions at BeiGene, a global, science-driven biotechnology company focused on developing innovative and affordable medicines to improve treatment outcomes and access for patients worldwide. Ms. Fisher has over 20 years of experience in healthcare corporate and business development, leading collaborations, licensing, M&A, investments and divestments across many technologies and therapeutic areas. Prior to joining BeiGene, Ms. Fisher was Chief Business Officer of Kaleido Bioscience, a company dedicated to targeting the microbiome to treat a variety of diseases, and held senior global roles at Shire plc, Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Blueprint Medicines, and Genzyme Corporation. Ms. Fisher holds a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Bath, as well as an M.B.A. from Henley Management College in the U.K.

Elaine V. Jones, Ph.D. has served as a member of our Board of Directors since September 2019. From 2008 to 2019, Dr. Jones was Vice President, Worldwide Business Development and Senior Partner at Pfizer Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Pfizer Inc. During her tenure at Pfizer Ventures, Dr. Jones was responsible for managing biotechnology and healthcare investments for Pfizer, as well as serving on the board of directors for several biotechnology companies. Prior to joining Pfizer, Dr. Jones held the position of General Partner at EuclidSR Partners, a venture firm specializing in private investment in both private and public equity within the health sciences, healthcare, biopharmaceutical sectors. Dr. Jones began her investing career in 1999 at S.R. One, the corporate investment fund of GlaxoSmithKline. During her venture career, she served on the boards of more than 20 early to mid-stage biotechnology, therapeutic and pharmaceutical companies. Prior to this, Dr. Jones served as Director of Scientific Licensing at SmithKline Beecham and a research scientist in the Research and Development division of SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals. She received a B.S. in Biology from Juniata College and a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Naiyer A. Rizvi co-founded Gritstone bio, Inc. and has served as a member of our Board of Directors since June 2021. Dr. Rizvi is Chief Medical Officer at Synthekine, a private, engineered and synthetic cytokine therapeutics company. Until May 2021, he was the Price Family Professor of Medicine, Director of Thoracic Oncology and Co-Director of Cancer Immunotherapy at Columbia University Medical Center He received an M.D. at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, and completed a fellowship in medical oncology at Beth Israel Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Rizvi was an attending physician in thoracic oncology and early drug development at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where his translational research focused on immune-checkpoint blockade drug development. His research studies were integral to the approval of immune-checkpoint blockade in lung cancer, including approval of nivolumab in squamous lung cancer and pembrolizumab in non-small cell lung cancer. He authored a publication in Science of data from a landmark trial -- the first study to demonstrate a statistically significant correlation between mutations and neoantigens with durable benefit to immune-checkpoint blockade – and also has been published in Nature and the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Rizvi received an M.D. at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, and completed a fellowship in Medical Oncology at Beth Israel Hospital/Harvard Medical School.

Stephen Webster has served as a member of the Board of Directors since April 2024. A veteran finance executive in the biotechnology industry, Mr. Webster sits on several company boards and served as the Chief Financial Officer of Spark Therapeutics, Inc. from July 2014 until its acquisition by Roche Holding AG for $4.8 billion in December 2019. Prior to Spark, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Optimer Pharmaceuticals Inc. from July 2012 until its acquisition by Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. in October 2013. Prior to joining Optimer, Mr. Webster served as SVP and Chief Financial Officer of Adolor Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, from 2008 until its acquisition by Cubist Pharmaceuticals in 2011. In addition to Gritstone, Mr. Webster currently serves on the Board of Directors of Cullinan Therapeutics and NextCure, Inc. He previously served on the Board of Directors of TCR2 Therapeutics. He received an A.B. in Economics from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.