Dusan Kostić, Ph.D.

Senior Vice President, Clinical & Medical Affairs, BioXcel Therapeutics

Dr. Kostic is SVP, Clinical and Medical Affairs at BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc, and has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including 18 years in global medical functions and 10 years in US medical leadership. He has experience in a number of therapeutic are-as, and has participated in all stages of development, from strategic leadership of early development programs to being the medical lead for global launch activities of several blockbuster products. Dr, Kostic is also experienced in building and leading teams developing talent and co-operating across the organization both with different functional teams and with affiliates and partners across the globe. He values a multicultural environment, collaboration, innovation, a global approach and being patient-focused. He earned a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Utah and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Belgrade. Some highlights of his experience include:

• Therapeutic areas of CNS, hematology, oncology, renal, cardiovascular, and diabetes.
• Close involvement with 8 U.S. product launches and four global launches.
• Development and management of clinical trials.
• Strategic leadership of early development programs in oncology, cardiovascular, diabetes and anti-infective.
• Success in building and developing effective teams.
• Past member of the Medical Executive Leadership Consortium of Medical Affairs Professional Society (MAPS).

He has played key leadership roles across all stages of drug development, from early discovery through global product launches, and is known for building high-performing, patient-focused teams.

Ph.D., Molecular Biology — University of Utah
B.S. — University of Belgrade

Vikrant Borse, Ph.D.

Scientific Advisor

Dr. Borse is a Senior Advisor to Eli Lilly & Co, He has over a decade of research and management experience in academia as well as in biopharmaceutical industry. His core competencies lie in lead-ing cross-functional teams and driving drug development and gene therapy programs to success. At Eli Lilly and Company, he is dedicated to innovation for improved patient outcomes. He contribute to the advancement of our research and development efforts in many ways, His expertise in preclinical drug development and gene therapy allows him to leverage his skills to further Eli objectives. Dr. Borse serves as a technical expert and mentor, fostering an environment where diverse perspectives culminate in technological breakthroughs in medicine. He leads multiple gene therapy projects, ensuring timely and organized execution of research. Including: managing direct report, collaborating with external groups, and steering complex studies. He is proficient in data analysis and interpretation, and is able to communicate complex results in an easy-to-understand way. He provides valuable guidance to stakeholders, mentors scientific staff and advocating for novel approaches and best practices.

Joshua Ghofrani, Ph.D.

Scientific Advisor

Dr. Ghofrani is a biomedical scientist with cross-disciplinary training in immunology, virology, and nanomedicine. His research has focused on elucidating Natural Killer (NK) cell effector mechanisms and enhancing the persistence and effector activity of NK cell therapies through nanoparticle-mediated immunomodulation. He received his doctorate from George Washington University’s Cell Enhancement and Technologies for Immunotherapy Program where his research centered on developing an off-the-shelf, allogeneic NK cell therapy platform for targeting HIV reservoirs, enabled by dual-cargo polymer nanocarriers. He has extensive experience optimizing preclinical immunoassays and establishing in vivo testbeds for combination therapies at the intersection of cellular immunotherapy and novel drug-delivery technologies. Dr. Ghofrani serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of LurexBio, advising on translational and early clinical development.

Andrej Jedinak, Ph.D.

Scientific Advisor

Dr. Jedinak is a R&D leader with over 20 years of experience in preclinical and translational research across immunology, oncology, and rare diseases. He is experienced in guiding multidisciplinary teams from target identification through IND-enabling studies and early clinical development. Proven leader with a track record of building high-performing teams and overseeing the development of research programs/pipelines towards IND/CTA filings and the early Phase 1 stage of clinical trials. He is a subject-matter expert in drug discovery and development, with broad experience across multiple therapeutic modalities, including biologics, mono- and bispecific antibodies, antibody fusions, cytokines, peptides, nanobodies (VHHs), antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), nucleic acids (RNAi), and small molecules. His background includes consulting and progressively senior roles at several small and mid-sized biotechnology companies, including Pledge Therapeutics, Agenus Inc., and Phio Pharmaceuticals Inc. Dr. Jedinak completed his postdoctoral training at the Methodist Research Institute, Indiana University, and at the Vascular Biology Program, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Maëlig Morvan, Ph.D.

Scientific Advisor

Dr. Morvan is a tumor immunologist with 18+ years of research experience. He is a trained in gene therapy and neurobiology, and has a passion for basic research. He has in interest in the immunobiology of Natural Killer and CD8+ T cells, and the role of their activating receptors in the context of innate immune response to pathologies. He has been working on models of viral infections and autoimmune diseases using a multidisciplinary approach, developing collaborative efforts, and thinking “outside the box”. He takes pride in training, supervising and mentored students at various levels from diverse backgrounds. Most recently he served as principal Scientist in the Discovery Research, Cell Therapy team at Senti Biosciences in South San Francisco, CA. He has Ph.D. in immunology from Nantes Universite and a Masters in cellular and Molecular Biology from Universite d’Angers.

Nicholas M. Valiante, Ph.D.

Scientific Advisor

Dr. Valiante is Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Innovac Therapeutics, Inc. He is an entrepreneurial and innovative leader with over 25 years of industrial R&D, clinical, regulatory, manufacturing, and business development experience. His vision centers on the precise pharmacological control of biological systems to improve prophylactic and therapeutic outcomes for patients.

• A proven thought leader in basic and industrial immunology research and clinical development.
• Author of scientific manuscripts with an h-index > 50, considered outstanding Inventor or co-inventor on more than 20 patents.
• Industry visionary with a proven track record of rapidly advancing projects to clinical trials and beyond.
• Initiated, coordinated, and led or co-led forward-leaning projects opening new medical fields and technology platforms requiring large, complex collaborations.
• Broad and deep experience across all drug and vaccine platforms, including small molecules, cell-based therapies, nucleic acids, live attenuated vectors, and protein biologics (e.g., therapeutic monoclonal antibodies).
• Extensive experience in vaccines, immuno-oncology, infectious disease immunotherapy, personalized medicine, autoimmunity, allergy and asthma, aging, immunotoxicity, and anti-drug antibody responses.

Dr. Valiante completed his postdoctoral fellowship in immunology at Stanford University (1994–1997). He holds a Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in Evolutionary Biology.

Abdull Massri, Ph.D.

Scientific Advisor

Dr. Abdull J. Massri, Ph.D is a research scientist and Bioinformatics expert based in Irvine, CA, He has over a decade of experience spanning genetics, genomics, and computational biology from previous roles at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Duke University, and the University of California, San Diego., Dr. Massri’s expertise lies in bridging the gap between experimental data and computational insight. He has extensive experience in single cell multiomics, statistical modeling, and machine learning. Dr. Massri has authored numerous publications in developmental and stem cell biology and currently advises on bioinformatic strategy and AI validation in the life sciences. He is a Ph.D. graduate in Biology from Duke University and a former National Science Foundation graduate research fellow specialized in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics and Biostatistics.