Transmucosis was founded by Dr. Herbert Heyneker and Dr. Xiaoping Zhu to pioneer a nasal vaccination platform
Dr. Herbert Heyneker (PhD from Leiden University, NL), did a post-doc with Herbert Boyer at UCSF, and became the first scientist at Genentech Inc in San Francisco. His lab pioneered recombinant DNA technology with the cloning and expression human insulin, hGH, IFN, urokinase and t-PA. In 1984, Dr Heyneker joined Genencor as VP research.
In the 90s, Dr Heyneker co-founded three biotechnology companies: GlycoGen (enzymatic synthesis of complex carbohydrates), Protogene (parallel oligo synthesis) and Eos (tumor-specific cell-surface markers).
Dr Heyneker was scientific advisor at Abingworth LLP from 2003-2010, and for Thuja Capital from 2008-2021. He served on the boards of Genpharm, Guava Technologies, Crystal Bioscience, Crucell, Pharming, Pepscan, Prosensa, Profibrix, and DC-Prime.
He has also authored more than 50 peer-reviewed papers and is an inventor on more than 30 US patents.
Dr. Xiaoping Zhu is a tenured Professor of Immunology and Virology at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he also serves as an Associate Dean and Department Chair. He is a Principal Investigator of the Laboratory of Mucosal Immunology.
Dr. Zhu focuses on the innate and adaptive immunity and inflammation at mucosal surfaces, host-pathogen interactions, and developing novel mucosal vaccines. His research is continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), USDA, and other funding agencies.
Dr. Zhu is a member of the American Society for Immunologists, American Society for Mucosal Immunology, and American Society for Virology. He was trained in Veterinary Medicine, Pathology (M.S.), and Virology (Ph.D.) at the University of Madison, WI. He later did his postdoctoral in Immunology at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Andre Hoekema retired in 2023 from Galapagos N.V. (Euronext and NASDAQ: GLPG) where he was the former Chief Business Officer since 2005, overseeing M&A, pharma partnering and IP. Over his forty-plus year biotech career Mr. Hoekema held positions at Invitrogen Corporation (MD Corporate Development Europe), Crucell (Business Development), DSM Life Sciences and Syngenta MOGEN (Research and Project Management) and Genentech Inc. (Research Scientist). Mr Hoekema received a masters and PhD from Leiden University and has authored over 30 peer-reviewed articles and is the inventor of over 20 series of issued patents. Mr. Hoekema also serves as a member of the supervisory boards of biotech start-up companies Fibrocor (Canada), and Mimetas BV and Sapreme BV (both located in Holland).
Maria Nichol is a qualified European and UK patent attorney with more than 20 years in the biotechnology industry providing commercially focused, strategic advice on IP and corporate development. From 2006-2022 Maria was VP, Corporate Development at Galapagos, leading the IP team and a key member of the corporate development department, where she was integral to the business development strategy and was involved in many of the major transactions. Since leaving Galapagos, Maria has been focusing on smaller biotechnology companies, including Artax, where she can bring value to drive their IP and BD strategies. Maria graduated with an MA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge (Girton College) and a DPhil from the University of Oxford (Linacre College).
Dr. Christine W. Czarniecki has over 40 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and Federal government, covering basic research through product development leading to license application, Regulatory Health Authority approval and post-marketing activities.
Dr. Czarniecki retired in 2023 from DAIT, NIAID, National Institutes of Health (NIH) where, as Branch Chief, she was responsible for Regulatory Affairs (RA) and Quality Assurance (QA); Sponsorship of Phase 2, 3 and 4 trials, conducted at global clinical sites; and negotiation of Clinical Trial Agreements with Pharma drug manufacturers.
Dr. Czarniecki received her PhD from Georgetown University (post-doc at NIH). Her scientific career included positions at Genentech (Research Scientist); ICOS and Arris (Director of RA and QA); and InterMune (VP of RA). She is author on over 50 published papers and 3 patents.
Dr. Richard Blumberg received his B.S. degree in Biological Sciences from Carnegie-Mellon University, his M.D. degree from Jefferson Medical College of the Thomas Jefferson University and training in internal medicine (The New York Hospital, Cornell Medical Center), infectious diseases (Massachusetts General Hospital), gastroenterology (Brigham and Women’s Hospital) and immunology (Dana Farber Cancer Institute). He is currently Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Vice-Chair for Research in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and past-Chief of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Endoscopy at BWH. Dr. Blumberg is also co-Director of the Harvard Digestive Diseases Center and has directed a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded laboratory since 1989.
He is the recipient of a NIH Method to Extend Research in Time (M.E.R.I.T) Award, the William Beaumont Prize from the American Gastroenterological Association, a Scientific Achievement Award in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Basic Research from the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America, a Lifetime Scientific Achievement Award from the Society for Mucosal Immunology, in which he served as President, and is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine in the United States and the Norwegian Academy of Sciences. He has served on many NIH committees including membership on the Board of Scientific Counselors at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
Dr. David M. Mosser is a Professor of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Maryland and the Founding Director of Maryland Pathogen Research Institute. Dr. Mosser received his Ph.D. from North Carolina State University and completed his post-doctoral training at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Mosser served on the NIH, NIAID Board of Scientific Counselors, the President of Society for Leukocyte Biology, and was Chair of ASM Division E (Immunology), and the Chair of the Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission. He has served on the editorial boards of several prestigious journals pertaining to infection and immunity.
Dr. Derry C. Roopenian is an Emeritus Professor in the Jackson Laboratory. Dr. Roopenian received his Ph.D. from University of Minnesota and his postdoctoral training as a Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School. He has published more than 210 peer-reviewed papers, books, book chapters and reviews pertaining to FcRn, autoimmune diseases, tissue transplantation and genetics. He has filed and been awarded several US patents. Dr. Roopenian was Merck Scholar in Immunology and was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the American Association of Immunologists.