SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD

Victor Ling, Ph.D., Terry Fox Research Institute, Vancouver, B.C. (Chair)

Dr. Ling is the President and Scientific Director of the Canada-wide Terry Fox Research Institute. He is a distinguished scientist at the BC Cancer Agency (BCCA) and Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Ling was formerly Vice President Discovery at the BCCA and Assistant Dean of Cancer Research at the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Medicine. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and has been awarded many honours including the General Motors Kettering Prize, the Dr. Josef Steiner Cancer Research Award, the Gairdner Foundation International Award, a Michael Smith Foundation Distinguished Scholar Award, the Order of British Columbia, and the Order of Canada.

Dr. Ling is best known for his discovery of P-glycoprotein (MDR), a major mechanism of resistance to anticancer drugs. He serves on the editorial board of five scientific journals, has served on a number of boards including: Governing Council of CIHR, Board of NCI Canada, Medical Advisory Committee of the Gairdner Foundation, Board of Scientific Counselors at NCI/NIH, and Scientific Advisory Committee of the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, and chairs the Governance and Oversight Committee of CTRNet. Dr. Ling is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Canadian Biochemical Society, the Canadian Society for Cell Biology, the American Society for Cell Biology, the Genetics Society of Canada, and the American Association for Cancer Research. Dr. Ling has authored over 180 peer-reviewed publications in the cancer field.

Jeffrey Ross, M.D., McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, Madison, Wisconsin

Dr. Ross is Professor of Oncology and Pathology at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research at the University of Wisconsin. He is the leading expert in the field of mRNA stability and the author of over 75 peer-reviewed publications in the field.
Dr. Ross's research is focused on c-myc and cancer-related mRNA stability issues. He earned his medical degree from the Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.

William Dalton, M.D., Ph.D., University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida

Dr. Dalton is Director and Chief Executive Officer of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute at the University of South Florida. He is both an excellent basic research scientist and an expert in clinical studies in the cancer field. Dr. Dalton serves on the editorial board of six scientific journals and is a member the American Association for Cancer Research. He serves as an external expert for many universities and research foundations.

Albert Leutwiler, Ph.D., Sandoz Research Institute, Bern, Switzerland, Retired

Dr. Leutwiler is a medicinal chemist who trained at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH, Zürich). After completing his Ph.D., Dr. Leutwiler received postdoctoral training at the University of British Columbia. Until his retirement in 1997, he was a Senior Chemistry Laboratory Head at the Sandoz Research Institute.

Rudolf Bechter, Ph.D., Novartis Pharma AG, Basel Switzerland

Dr. Bechter is Head Global Occupational Health, Novartis Pharma AG. As a EUROTOX registered Toxicologist, Dr. Bechter was Head of Reproductive Toxicology, Preclinical Safety, Novartis Pharma Ltd. (East Hanover, NJ) and Reproductive and Investigative Toxicology Group, Toxicology Department, Drug Safety (Sandoz Pharma Ltd., Basel).

Dr. Bechter has 25 years of Experience in Research, Preclinical Drug Development and Occupational Toxicology.and intimate knowledge in the management of the drug discovery and development process. He received his Ph.D. in Toxicology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. He obtained further training at the Laboratory of Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology N.I.E.H.S., National Institutes of Health Research (Triangle Park, NC), and as Visiting Scientist at Department of Pharmacology School of Medicine, University of Washington (Seattle, WA). Dr. Bechter is the author of more than 30 articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Heinz Gschwend, Ph.D.

Dr. Gschwend has held a number of positions with Ciba Pharma, including Head of Chemistry (Summit, NJ) and Head of Central Research (Basel, Switzerland). In 1991, he joined Arris Pharma (now AxYs) as Head of Research. Not only is he very knowledgeable about "Big Pharma", Dr. Gschwend has experience with early stage biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. He is an independent consultant and a member of a number of Scientific Advisory Boards for several biopharmaceutical and technology companies. During his career, he was responsible for the development of over eighty clinical candidates, resulting in two drugs currently on the market (Benazepril and Letrozole).

Georges Haas, Ph.D.

Dr. Haas is the former Head of Worldwide Research, Ciba-Geigy. With his background, Dr. Haas has extensive knowledge of the pharmaceutical business. He is involved with several biotechnology start-up companies and has served on the board of directors of Kinetix Pharmaceuticals Inc., Boston, MA.

Inder M. Verma, Ph.D., Salk Institute for Biological Studies, San Diego, CA

Dr. Verma is the Irwin and Joan Jacobs Chair in Exemplary Life Science and American Cancer Society Professor, Laboratory of Genetics, at the Salk Institute, and Adjunct Professor, Section of Molecular Biology, at the University of California San Diego. His major research interests are focused on cellular genes whose alteration lead to cancer and is one of the world's leading authorities on the development and use of engineered viruses for gene therapy. His research efforts are also directed to studying the role of inflammation in diseases such as diabetes and neurodegeneration. He has over 370 scientific publications.

Dr. Verma has been awarded numerous prestigious awards including the Pasarow Award in Cancer Research, the Spector Prize from Columbia University, the Irwin & Joan Jacobs Chair in Exemplary Life Sciences, the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American Society of Gene Therapy, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Association of Indian Scientists in Cancer Research, the Vilcek Foundation and Cozzarelli Prizes.

Among his many accomplishments, Dr. Verma was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Foreign Fellow to the National Academy of Sciences (India), Third World Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. In 2000, Dr. Verma became the founding Editor-in-Chief of Molecular Therapy, a journal of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy.

Dr. Verma was recently named Editor-in-Chief of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) where he has served on its Editorial Board since 2001.