Management Team
Peter P. Lee, MD, Founder, Chairman and acting CEO. Dr. Lee is the founder of Osel, Inc. and inventor of the MucoCept technology. In addition to his role at Osel, he is also Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford University. Dr. Lee has published over 50 articles in journals such as Nature Medicine, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), Public Library of Science (PLoS), Medicine, and received many awards, including elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, Dept. of Defense Era of Hope Scholar Award for Breast Cancer Research, American Cancer Society Research Scholar, and the Damon Runyon Scholar Award.
William L. Heyward, MD, MPH, Vice President, Clinical Development. Dr. Heyward joined Osel in 2008. Prior to joining Osel, Dr. Heyward was co-founder and President of Quattro Clinical Research, a clinical research organization dedicated to assisting biotech and pharmaceutical companies with the design and implementation of clinical trials. From 2000-2004, Dr. Heyward served as VP of International Clinical Research for VaxGen, Inc. where he coordinated the first international phase III efficacy trial of a candidate HIV vaccine in Bangkok, Thailand. Prior to VaxGen, Dr. Heyward was a Commissioned Officer in the US Public Health Service with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for over 20 years. While at CDC, Dr. Heyward was involved in epidemiologic research and vaccine studies for a variety of infectious diseases including hepatitis B virus, Haemophilus influenzae type B, botulism, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and HIV/AIDS. Dr. Heyward was detailed from CDC to the HIV Vaccine Unit of the Global Programme on AIDS of the World Health Organization (later the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) to assist developing countries with the implementation of HIV vaccine trials. Dr. Heyward is the recipient of a number of awards and has co-authored over 100 scientific articles in the medical literature.
Qiang Xu, Ph.D, Vice President, Research. Dr. Xu has more than 10 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical indudstry working on innovative drug discovery and development. He joined Osel as a Senior Scientist and Group Leader in 2001. Before joining Osel, Dr. Xu was a key member of the Alzheimer Disease Discovery Program at Scios, Inc., a member of the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies. His post-doctorate work at multiple US institutes focused on genetic modification of bacteria, protein-protein interactions among membrane-bound protein complexes, and signal transduction. Dr Xu has authored and co-authored over 20 papers in peer-reviewed journals as well as more than 40 posters and talks at international and national meetings. He is the principal investigator of multiple NIH grants and a co-inventor of 8 patents or patent applications. Dr. Xu received his Ph.D. from Kansas State University.
Tom Parks, Ph.D, Director of Product Development. He is a 20 year veteran of the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. He had been the director of inflammation and vaccine research at Osel since 2002. He received his doctorate in physiology and pharmacology from UCSD and was a research fellow at Yale University in the laboratories of Jim Jamieson and Nobel laureate Paul Greengard prior to joining Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals in 1985. At Boehringer, Dr. Parks spearheaded several discovery programs in inflammation and autoimmune diseases, in the areas of lipid mediators, transcription regulation, and signal transduction, and served on a number of compound development teams. In 1998, Dr. Parks joined Cellegy Pharmaceuticals and served as the director of molecular biology and experimental therapeutics where he established research and drug development programs in the areas of skin inflammation and gastrointestinal diseases. At Osel, Dr. Parks has been involved in the development of genetically modified Lactobacillus as a novel mucosal delivery vehicle for vaccines, anti-toxins, and anti-viral proteins.
Board of Directors
- Peter P. Lee, MD, Chairman of the Board
- Michael Cannon, former Executive VP at SICOR Pharmaceuticals
- Sandy Chau, a software entrepreneur and private investor
- Robert Lee, CEO of Achievo Corporation
Scientific Co-Founders
- Peter P. Lee, MD, is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford University, specializing in cancer immunology. While a fellow at UCSF, Dr.Lee invented the MucoCept technology, upon which Osel was founded.
- David Ho, MD, is Director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York City. In 1996 Dr. Ho was named TIME magazine’s Man of the Year for his discovery of the current treatment regimen of AIDS patients. Dr. Ho is an expert in the field of HIV/AIDS research.
- Peter Kim, Ph D, is President of Merck Research Laboratories in West Point, PA. At the founding of Osel he was a member of The Whitehead Institute and investigator of Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Kim’s research was responsible for defining fundamental molecular mechanisms of viral entry, including HIV, into cells and tissues within the body.
- Gary Schoolnik, MD, is a Professor of Medicine at Stanford and former chief of infectious diseases. Dr. Schoolnik is an acknowledged expert in the infectious disease field. His research efforts have helped to define fundamental molecular mechanisms used by bacteria to interact with and invade host cells and tissues, including those associated with gastrointestinal disease.
