Curt Bilby

Curt Bilby is the President and CEO of Terapio and has over twenty years of executive leadership experience in the biotechnology, healthcare and information technology sectors both domestically and in Europe. Previously, Dr. Bilby was President and CEO of Seahawk Biosystems Corporation which developed a multiplexed, microarray biosensor based magnetic biochip technology developed at the Naval Research Laboratory. Prior to that, he was the Chairman and CEO of Evacyte Corporation, a company developing laser-based cancer detection and cell diagnostics using the internationally recognized Optical Cell Stretcher technology developed at The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Bilby also served as the Président-Directeur Général of the multi-national healthcare company Eurimed, S.A. headquartered in Paris, France. Dr. Bilby has engineering degrees from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Auburn University and conducted his doctoral work at The University of Texas at Austin. Of note is his selection as a Distinguished Young Alumnus of Rose-Hulman where he was also awarded an honorary doctorate.

Casey Cunningham, MD

Casey Cunningham, MD is a co-founder of Terapio where he serves as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Cunningham received his fellowship training in oncology and hematology at Harvard Medical School, where he subsequently served on the faculty. He was also one of the founding members of the Division of Experimental Medicine at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, where he established a basic research laboratory in Cell and Molecular Biology. Dr. Cunningham returned to Texas and to serve as the Associate Director of the Mary Crowley Cancer Research Center as well as a clinical oncologist with the US Oncology network. The Mary Crowley Cancer Research Center performs early phase drug development and clinical trials and Dr. Cunningham was the principal investigator on numerous trials, with a particular emphasis on gene and cell-based therapies. He currently serves as the Chief Scientific Officer at Santé Ventures and has also served on the Scientific Advisory Board or Clinical Advisory Board of several biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies including Genzyme, Arqule, Point Therapeutics, Evacyte plus others and has acted as a technical consultant to several venture and equity firms. Dr. Cunningham received his medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School with a residency in Internal Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He has over 60 publications in peer-reviewed journals and many abstracts and meeting presentations.

Charles Dowding, PhD

Charles Dowding, PhD is Vice President, Preclinical Programs at Terapio. Dr. Dowding has over 15 years of experience in biopharmaceutical preclinical development of small molecule, cell and cell-based gene products. Dr. Dowding developed his managerial and scientific acumen working as Vice President of Research at The Assay Depot, Vice President of Hematology and Immunology at Hollis-Eden, Director of Cell Product and Process Development at SyStemix/Novartis and as a Research Scientist at QLT. Dr. Dowding received his BS is Applied Biology from Salford University (UK) and PhD in Tumor Stem Cell Biology from Imperial College, London (UK). Dr. Dowding continued his academic research on tumor stem cells as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of British Columbia (Canada). Dr. Dowding has significant experience and expertise in developing radiation countermeasures; while at Hollis-Eden he was responsible for all preclinical mechanism-of-action and in vivo efficacy studies for the candidate radiation countermeasure Neumune. Dr. Dowding led Hollis-Eden's radiation countermeasure project team for five years, advancing Neumune from drug candidate through human safety studies. 

Vadim Klyushnichenko, PhD

Vadim Klyushnichenko, PhD is Vice President, Drug Development at Terapio. Dr.Klyushnichenko has over 15 years of experience in biopharmaceutical project management, analytical development and formulation, process development, engineering and scale up from pilot to GMP, technology transfer and regulatory filing for oral, injectable, pulmonary drugs and drug/device combinations. His drug delivery experience includes formulation of proteins and small molecules in micro-crystals, micro-and nano-particles, liposomes, degradable matrixes as well as the development of controlled-release systems for oral, injectable, implantable and pulmonary delivery. Dr. Klyushnichenko developed his managerial and scientific capabilities working as Vice President of Pharmaceutical Development at Coldstream Laboratories, Inc., Principal Scientist at Wyeth BioPharma and senior scientist positions at Epic Therapeutics (Baxter), Altus Biologics and Aventis (Sanofi Pasteur). Dr. Klyushnichenko received his BS in Physics from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and PhD in Chemistry from Shemyakin & Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry (Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow). Dr. Klyushnichenko continued his academic research in Analytical Biochemistry and Process Development as a DAAD Postdoctoral Researcher at Humboldt University in Berlin and a Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at Dusseldorf University as well as Scientist at Biotechnology Research Institute, BioProcess Sector (Montreal, QC Canada). Dr. Klyushnichenko is a Certified Professional Project Manager and holds a Certificate of Special Studies in Administration and Management from Harvard University.