AmMax Bio is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the
development of innovative therapeutics for cancer patients.

Scott Kopetz, MD is Professor and Deputy Chair for Translational Research, GI Medical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.  Dr. Kopetz graduated from Vanderbilt University with a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering/Electrical and received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He obtained his residency training in Internal Medicine at Duke University Medical Center, followed by a medical oncology fellowship at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Dr. Kopetz joined MD Anderson Cancer Center in 2006. He subsequently completed a Ph.D. at MD Anderson in cancer biology with thesis focus on mechanisms of chemotherapy resistance in colorectal cancer. He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles in respected scientific journals such as Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lancet, Cancer Research, Cancer, Clinical Cancer Research, and JAMA, and is a senior editor for Clinical Cancer Research, and editorial board member on Journal of Clinical Oncology and JNCI.  He is vice chair for colon cancer research in the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project/Radiation Therapy Oncology Group cooperative group, and member of the NIH Gastrointestinal Oncology Steering Committee. In addition, he was a recipient of peer-reviewed grants from American Society of Clinical Oncology and the National Institute of Health, among others. He is the principal investigator of several Phase I and II clinical trials. His research interests include the biology of refractory colorectal cancer and the development of novel therapeutics for molecularly distinct subsets of colorectal cancer patients.

Van Morris, MD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at the University of Texas – MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX.  Dr. Van Morris graduated from the University of North Carolina with a BS in Chemistry. He received his medical degree from the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, Memphis before receiving an MS in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center. He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Duke University before completing his Hematology and Medical Oncology fellowship at the University of Texas – MD Anderson Cancer Center.

His clinical practice focuses on the treatment of colorectal and anal cancers, and he has written multiple clinical trials which incorporate novel therapeutic approaches involving targeted therapies and immunotherapy.  His work has been featured in publications in the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet Oncology, Cancer Discovery, JAMA Oncology, and the Journal of Clinical Oncology.  His research has been supported as a recipient of the ASCO Young investigator Award, NIH/NCI K12 Award, Khalifa Scholar Award, SWOG Hope Foundation Award, NIH/NCI Colorectal Cancer SPORE Early Career Award, Sabin Family Foundation Award, and a CPRIT Individual Investigator Research Award.

Dr. Alan Venook is the Madden Family Distinguished Professor of Medical Oncology and Translational Research at UCSF and is the Shorenstein Associate Director for Program Development at the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCSF. He was the founding Chairman of the NCI’s Hepatobiliary Task Force, chaired the GI Committee of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology from 2010 – 2016 and was an Associate Editor of the Journal of Clinical Oncology from 2010 – 2015.  Dr. Venook earned his medical degree at UCSF in 1980. Following an internship at UCSF, he spent two years in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service. He completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of California, Davis, and a fellowship in hematology and oncology at UCSF. Venook has been on the medical staff at UCSF since 1988.

Dr. Venook’s research interests include the regional treatment of tumors in the liver and the development of new therapies for colorectal and liver cancers. It was his observation from data in the advanced colorectal cancer study — CALGB/SWOG 80405 – that helped define “sidedness”, the phenomenon that colon cancers arising in the right colon are biologically different than those that arise on the left side. Recently his group has turned its focus to understanding the interactions between immunotherapy and the microbiome and the marked increase in colorectal cancer in young adults.

Dr. Scott Paulson currently serves as the co-director of the Gastrointestinal Research Program for The US Oncology Network, as well as the medical director for the Neuroendocrine Research and Treatment Center at Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center. He received his medical degree from The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and his residency in Internal Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts before completing a medical oncology fellowship at UC San Francisco.

Dr. Paulson is active in clinical research focused on neuroendocrine tumors as well as cancers of the pancreas, liver, esophagus, stomach, and colon. Dr. Paulson has authored several publications in neuroendocrine tumors and GI malignancies.

Dr. Tyner is professor in the Department of Cell, Developmental & Cancer Biology, at Oregon Health & Science University where he directs the Cancer Biology Graduate Program and the Translational Oncology Program. Dr. Tyner earned his bachelor’s degree from Grinnell Collete and earned his PhD from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Dr. Tyner’s research is focused on implementing functional genomics to identify cancer-causing gene targets in heme malignancy patients and to parlay this information into patient-tailored, rational therapies. He has championed some of the research related to the role of CSF1 and CSF1R in AML.

Dr. Minden is Professor Emeritus, Medical Oncology and Medical Biophysics, Princess Margaret Cancer Center [and professor in the department of Medical Biophysics] at University of Toronto.

His lab has studied the role of the CSF1R (colony stimulating factor 1 receptor) expressed on AML cells and its interaction with CSF1 expressed on supporting stroma cells. Patients with high levels of CSF1R on their AML cells have a worse outcome, and the interaction of CSF1 and CSF1R is a potential therapeutic target. Another focus of the laboratory is the banking of primary leukemic cells from patients throughout the course of their disease.

Dr. Traer is Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Medical Oncology, at the at Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine. Dr. Tyner earned his MD and PhD from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. He then completed a residency in internal medicine and fellowship in hematology/oncology at Oregon Health & Science University.

Dr. Traer’s clinical focus is on treating patients with myeloid malignancies such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). He is actively involved in a number of clinical trials evaluating targeted therapy for these diseases. Dr. Traer also runs a translational lab investigating how the bone marrow microenvironment provides sanctuary to leukemia cells. His lab is working to develop novel drug combinations that more effectively target residual and resistant leukemia cells within the bone marrow microenvironment. Recent research relates to CSF1R as a target.

Dr. Lambert graduated from Christ’s College, University of Cambridge (England, UK), with a degree in Natural Sciences in 1972. He then went on to earn a Ph.D. in Biochemistry (1976) from the University of Cambridge, working on enzyme structures under the supervision of Professor Richard N. Perham.

Dr. Lambert’s postdoctoral training was at the University of California, Davis, working on ribosome structure in the laboratory of Dr. Robert R. Traut (1976-1980), and at the University of Glasgow, Scotland working on the arom multienzyme complex in the laboratory of Dr. John R. Coggins (1980 – 1982).

In 1982, Dr. Lambert joined the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, working on the ImmunoGen-funded programs to develop antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and immunotoxins as anti-cancer therapeutics. Dr. Lambert joined ImmunoGen in 1987 when the company established independent research laboratories in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After working in a variety of roles at the company, Dr. Lambert served as Chief Scientific Officer from 2008 until 2015. In 2016, he became a Distinguished Research Fellow at the company until his retirement at the end of 2017. He served on the Executive Committee of the company as Executive Vice President, Research, from 2008 until 2016, followed by a year (2017) on the Executive Committee in an Emeritus capacity. During Dr. Lambert’s tenure in leadership roles at ImmunoGen, the company invented the ADC technology that resulted in the Genentech/Roche drug, Kadcyla® (approved in 2013 for treating HER2+ breast cancer), as well as numerous other ADCs taken into clinical development. One of these is ImmunoGen’s promising drug candidate, mirvetuximab soravtansine, an ADC currently in a phase 3 trial for the treatment of platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.

Dr. Lambert is the author/co-author of over 120 peer-reviewed scientific publications. In 2016, Dr. Lambert was elected as a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). In 2018, he was appointed as an Honorary Professor of Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.