ANN ARBOR, Mich. & CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Penrose TherapeuTx, a pharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative small-molecule therapies for the treatment of advanced cancers, has welcomed three new leading oncology researchers to serve on the company’s advisory board. Penrose’s deep bench of scientific advisors will now also include Mircea Ivan, M.D., Ph.D., a microbiologist and immunologist whose research contributed to the 2019 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for the discovery of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability, David Rubin, M.D., a gastroenterologist with expertise in high-risk cancer syndromes, inflammatory bowel diseases and clinical trial design, and Patrick Farmer, M.D., a chemical and biochemical expert whose research includes metal-based therapies for melanoma.
“Drs. Ivan, Rubin and Farmer all bring world-class experience across the many interconnected fields of oncology research,” said Mark de Souza, CEO of Penrose TherapeuTx. “With unique backgrounds in microbiology, gastroenterology and chemistry, we believe their expertise will propel and expedite our novel mitochondrial research platform through the next stages of development.”
Dr. Mircea Ivan is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Indiana School of Medicine and a leading researcher in hypoxia, having pioneered the study of noncoding RNAs regulated by oxygen deprivation. He is also focused on combinatorial therapeutic approaches in oncology and tumor metabolism. Dr. Ivan’s research with Dr. William Kaelin (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute) showing how normal oxygen levels control rapid HIF-1α degradation with the help of oxygen-sensitive enzymes contributed to the 2019 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology.
Dr. David Rubin is an international thought leader in the field of gastroenterology and the Joseph B. Kirsner Professor Chair, Chief of the Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, and the Co-Director of the Digestive Diseases Center at the University of Chicago Medicine. His 30 plus years of clinical expertise includes high-risk cancer syndromes and inflammatory bowel diseases (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis) with particular interest in the prevention of cancer associated with these gastrointestinal (GI) diseases, as well as better screening tools for colorectal cancer.
Dr. Patrick Farmer is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Baylor University who has extensively researched melanoma and brings over 30 years of chemical and biochemical expertise to the scientific advisory board. His research group’s early study of the pigment melanin as a means of targeting melanoma led to chelator-based therapies that are currently in clinical trial for several types of cancer.
Drs. Ivan, Rubin and Farmer join current board members Dr. Navdeep Chandel, a Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine with over 25 years of experience focused on understanding mitochondria as signaling organelles, Dr. Bhardwaj Desai, Chief Development Officer at Penrose TherapeuTx and a leader in oncology clinical drug development across all classes of medication and phases of development, and Dr. James Stankiewicz, a Professor of Otolaryngology at the Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago for over four decades.
About Penrose TherapeuTx
Penrose TherapeuTx is a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative small-molecule therapies for the treatment of advanced cancers. Penrose has pioneered the development of a novel Mitochondrial Modifying Agent (MMA) therapeutic platform designed to generate therapies for difficult to treat cancers through a unique cooperative mechanism of action. Our approach has potential broad applicability across both hematologic and solid tumors. Learn more at https://penrosetherapeutx.com.
