Andrew B. Lassman, M.D., is the John Harris Associate Professor of Neurology and the Chief of Neuro-oncology at Columbia University. After earning B.S. and M.S. degrees in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry as part of a combined 4-year program at Yale University, he received his M.D. from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Lassman subsequently completed his residency at the Neurological Institute of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, and fellowship in Neuro-Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where he then joined the faculty and served as fellowship director.
In November 2011, Dr. Lassman became Chief of Neuro-Oncology at Columbia University Medical Center, and also serves as the Medical Director for the Clinical Protocol Data Management Office of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Dr. Lassman received the Preuss Award in Neuro-Oncology from the American Academy of Neurology, the Boyer Clinical Research Award from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and the Gary Lichtenstein Humanitarian Award from Voices Against Brain Cancer.
Jody M. Mason, B.Sc., Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Biochemistry in the Department of Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Bath, U.K. His research interests center on the employment of peptide-based libraries to identify stable and specific antagonists of key protein-protein interactions that are implicated in disease pathways. Dr. Mason has authored over 40 papers as well as book chapters and patents in the area of protein folding and interaction.
Dr. Mason earned his degree in Biochemistry from the University of Bristol, U.K. in 1997. In 2001, he completed a Ph.D. in protein folding at the Department of Biochemistry, the University of Bristol under the supervision of the late Professor Tony Clarke. Postdoctoral research at the University of Manchester focused on amyloid aggregation inhibitors with Professor Andrew Doig. He has since worked at the Universities of Freiburg, Germany and Essex, U.K. Since 2015, Dr. Mason is an Associate Professor at the University of Bath. Funding towards Dr. Mason’s research has included a Career Establishment Award from Cancer Research UK, in addition to major funding from the Wellcome Trust, and Alzheimer’s Research U.K. He is a member of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) pool of experts and the Alzheimer’s Research U.K. Grant Review Board.
Praveen B. Raju, M.D., Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and co-Director of the Mount Sinai Pediatric Brain and Spinal Tumor Center. He completed his MD at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where he also completed his PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology / Genetics. Following Pediatrics residency training at Babies & Children’s Hospital of New York / Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, he completed his Pediatric Neurology Fellowship training at Boston Children’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School.
Prior to joining Mount Sinai, he served on the faculty at Weill Cornell Medicine for 10 years where he received the Caryl & Israel A. Englander Clinical Scholar in Children’s Health Award and also cared for children with neurological issues on the Pediatric Cancer Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
In addition to his clinical responsibilities at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital, Dr. Raju directs an NIH-funded translational research laboratory focused on improving the outcomes of children afflicted with brain tumors. He is also the Director of the Mount Sinai Pediatric Neurology Residency Program and Associate Director of the Mount Sinai Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP).
Michael (Mike) Wittekind is the founder and CEO of Olympic Protein Technologies, a Seattle-based CRO specializing in protein sciences. Prior to founding Olympic Protein Technologies in 2017, Mike served as the CSO at ContraFect Corporation leading the team to build their discovery and development pipeline for the treatment of infectious diseases. Prior to that he served as the Executive Director of Research for Amgen Inc., where he directed the Protein Science Departments at the Amgen-Seattle and Amgen-Massachusetts sites leading discovery efforts for multiple protein therapeutics including antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates, bi-specifics, and protein fusions, as well as epitope mapping studies to support patent filings. Prior to that he held positions at Phylos Inc. and at Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute, directing groups at multiple sites leading protein expression and structural biology research for protein and small molecule therapeutic efforts. Mike received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison followed by postdoctoral studies at the University of Washington and is the author of over 40 peer-reviewed publications and 13 patents.