Management Team

Dajun Yang, M.D., Ph.D., our co-founder, Chairman and CEO, has dedicated over 30 years to the research in oncology, the apoptosis pathway, as well as the R&D of innovative drugs. Since co-founding Ascentage Pharma in 2009, he made major breakthroughs in drug development and advanced multiple drug candidates with global first-/best-in-class potentials into clinical development in China, US, Australia and Europe. Prior to co-founding our company, Dr. Yang co-founded Ascenta Therapeutics, Inc. Prior to that, Dr. Yang was a part-time professor and supervisor of doctoral students at the Cancer Center at Sun Yat-sen University from 2003 to 2006 and an Associate Professor and Senior Investigator at the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown University from 1995 to 2001

Dr. Yang has led nearly 10 National Science & Technology Major Projects including the National High-tech R&D Program (863 Program) and “Major New Drug Development” projects. Being highly recognized for his work, Dr. Yang serves a range of positions outside his primary responsibilities, including professor and Ph.D. supervisor at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, deputy director of the Drug R&D Specialty Committee of China Pharmaceutical Innovation and Research Development Association, and part-time researcher in Pharmaceutical Innovations at Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences. In addition, Dr. Yang has served as the 8th president (2005-2006) of the Chinese Biopharmaceutical Association (CBA), USA. He and his team, widely respected in field of novel drug development, have received a series of high profile recognitions and prominent awards, including the Team for Major Innovations designations by both Suzhou municipality and Jiangsu province; the first ever Award for Teams Pioneering Innovations in Jiangsu province; the 2022 Team of Excellence in Science and Technology of Suzhou; the Tan Jiazhen Life Science Industrialization Award; Top 10 Business Leaders in the Pharmaceutical Industry, by the 14th Health China Forum organized by the People’s Daily; and the Dushu Lake Cup Award for Most Innovative Figure of Drug R&D.

Dr. Yang received his Bachelor’s in Medicine and his Master’s in Oncology from Sun Yat-sen University in China and his Ph.D. in Genetics from Michigan State University. Dr. Yang has published more than 70 articles including peer-reviewed articles and is an inventor of 22 issued U.S. patents.

Shaomeng Wang, Ph.D. is our co-founder and chief scientific advisor and has served as a member of our board of directors since 2017 and Clinical Advisory Board since 2010. Dr. Wang joined the University of Michigan in 2001 as a tenured faculty and is currently a Warner-Lambert/Parke Davis Professor in Medicine at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he also serves as director of the Michigan Center for Therapeutic Innovation. Prior to that, he served as an Assistant Professor from 1996 to 2000 and as Associate Professor from 2000 to 2001 at the Georgetown University Medical Center. Dr. Wang received his Bachelor’s in Chemistry from Peking University in China, his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Case Western Reserve University and did his postdoctoral training at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health. Dr. Wang served as the Editor-in- Chief for the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, American Chemical Society from 2011 to 2020.

Dr. Wang has been working on the discovery and development of novel small molecules therapeutics for more than 25 years, with focus on targeting protein-protein interactions using small-molecule inhibitors and degraders and has advanced 9 compounds into clinical development. Dr. Wang has published more than 340 peer-reviewed papers and is an inventor of more than 72 issued U.S. patents and hundreds of international patents. Dr. Wang has co-founded 5 biotech companies.

Simon Dazhong Lu, Ph.D. has served as a member of our board of directors since 2018. Since 2009, Dr. Lu has
served as the Managing Director and Partner of SDIC Fund Management Company Ltd., a PRC-based private equity fund manager. From 2008 and 2009, Dr. Lu worked at CEL Partners, a private equity firm. From 2002 to 2007, Dr. Lu served as the Investment Manager and Partner of Shanghai Newmargin Ventures, a venture capital management company based in the PRC. Prior to that, Dr. Lu worked in a number of financial institutions, including China International Capital Corporation Limited, an investment bank based in the PRC, and as a financial analyst at Scotiabank in Toronto, Canada. Early in his career, he worked as an auditor and audit and business consulting supervisor at Arthur Andersen in Shanghai and Chicago. Dr. Lu received his Bachelor’s in Economics from Nankai University in China. He received his Master’s in Business Administration from McGill University in Canada, and his Ph.D. in Economics from Nankai University in China.

Wei Ren has served as a member of our board of directors since June 2019. Mr. Ren has been a lawyer at Jingtian & Gongcheng, a law firm in the PRC, since 2003, where he has served as a Partner since 2009. Mr. Ren received his Bachelor’s in Law and his Bachelor’s in Economics from Peking University in China. He has been qualified to practice law in China.

Changqing Ye has served as a member of our board of directors since June 2019. From 2011 to 2015, Mr. Ye served as the Managing Director, Chief Financial Officer and a member of the investment committee at CITIC Private Equity Funds, a PRC-based private equity fund. Prior to that, from 1993 to 2011, Mr. Ye worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers Zhong Tian LLP, most recently as the Partner and Service Line Leader of the firm’s advisory services and transaction services at the firm’s Shanghai Office. Mr. Ye currently serves as an independent non-executive director of Baozun Inc. (Nasdaq: BZUN), Niu Technologies (Nasdaq: NIU), VNET Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: VNET) and NWTN Inc. (Nasdaq: NWTN), Jinxin Fertility Group Limited (HKEX Stock Code: 1951) and Hygeia Healthcare Holdings Co., Limited (HKEX Stock Code: 6078). He previously served as an independent non-executive director of Luzhou Bank Co., Ltd. (formerly known as Luzhou City Commercial Bank Co., Ltd. (HKEX Stock Code: 1983)). Mr. Ye received his Bachelor’s in Journalism from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China, and his Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. Mr. Ye has been a Certified Public Accountant of the PRC since 1994.

David Sidransky, M.D. has served as a member of our board of directors since March 2021. Dr. Sidransky currently serves as the director of the Head and Neck Cancer Research Division, Professor of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and Professor of Urology and Genetics at The Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Sidransky also currently serves as Professor of Oncology at the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center.

Dr. Sidransky completed a fellowship in Oncology at The Johns Hopkins University and Hospital in 1992 and was appointed to its faculty that year. Dr. Sidransky is a member of the American Association of Cancer Research and the American Society of Clinical Oncology and has received certifications from the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Medical Oncology. In addition, Dr. Sidransky currently sits on the National Board of Scientific Advisors of the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Sidransky is a founder of Champions Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSBR) and serves as a director of Galmed Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Nasdaq: GLMD), Orgenesis Inc. (Nasdaq: ORGS) and Ayala Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCQX: ADXS). He is also Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board of the Flight. Attendants Medical Research Foundation and the Adenocystic Carcinoma Research. Dr. Sidransky has received numerous honors, such as the Israel Cancer Research Fund Osserman Award, the AACR-Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award, the Toby Comet Award Bar Ilan University and the AACR Team Award Theme Circulating DNA. Dr. Sidransky received his Bachelor’s in Chemistry from Brandeis University and his M.D. from the Baylor College of Medicine

Ms. Marina S. Bozilenko is currently the President, Chief Executive Officer & Director at Biothea Pharma, Inc. She is also an Independent Director at Talphera, Inc. (NASDAQ: TLPH) In her former positions, Ms. Bozilenko served as Managing Director of William Blair & Co. LLC from 2010 to 2021, as Senior Managing Director at Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc. from 2003 to 2008, and as Managing Director at Banc of America Securities LLC from 2000 to 2003. Additionally, Ms. Bozilenko held various positions at Vector Securities International, Inc from 1988 to 1999, including Managing Director & Head of West Coast; she was also Senior Managing Director at Prudential Vector Healthcare Group from 1999 to 2000. Ms. Bozilenko was also a Principal at Kidd & Co., a private equity firm, from 2008 to 2010. Ms. Bozilenko served as a Director at Olema Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: OLMA) from 2010 to 2020 and as a Director at SynAct Pharma AB (Nasdaq Stockholm: SYNACT) from 2021 to 2024.

Ms. Bozilenko completed her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and master’s degree in social sciences at The University of Chicago in 1986 and 1987, respectively.

Dr. Debra Yu is currently the chief operating officer and partner at Panacea Venture. She also serves as a board member at MeiraGTx Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: MGTX) and an independent non-executive director of JW (Cayman) Therapeutics Co. Ltd, a company listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (Stock Code: 2126). She served as the president at LianBio from 2019 to 2022, and initially also as the chief business officer from 2019 to 2021 and then as the chief strategy officer from 2021 to 2022. She was the managing director and head of cross border healthcare investment banking at China Renaissance Securities (U.S.) from 2016 to 2019. Since 2009, she is the managing director of Labrador Advisors, LLC, where she advised numerous cross-border partnerships and licensing transactions from 2009 to 2016. Earlier, she was vice president, strategy at WuXi AppTec, Inc. from 2008 to 2009, and a senior director and team leader at Pfizer, Inc. from 2004 to 2008 in the venture capital team and the Worldwide Business Development organization. She was a general partner of Delphi Ventures from 1995 to 1998 and the managing director of Bay City Capital from 1998 to 2001. She held positions at McKinsey & Co. between 1992 and 1995 and at Morgan Stanley from 1987 to 1988.

She received a bachelor’s degree with high honors in molecular biology from Princeton University in 1986 and earned a medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 1992.

Shaomeng Wang, Ph.D. is our co-founder and chief scientific advisor and has served as a member of our board of directors since 2017 and Clinical Advisory Board since 2010. Dr. Wang joined the University of Michigan in 2001 as a tenured faculty and is currently a Warner-Lambert/Parke Davis Professor in Medicine at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he also serves as director of the Michigan Center for Therapeutic Innovation. Prior to that, he served as an Assistant Professor from 1996 to 2000 and as Associate Professor from 2000 to 2001 at the Georgetown University Medical Center. Dr. Wang received his Bachelor’s in Chemistry from Peking University in China, his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Case Western Reserve University and did his postdoctoral training at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health. Dr. Wang served as the Editor-in- Chief for the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, American Chemical Society from 2011 to 2020.

Dr. Wang has been working on the discovery and development of novel small molecules therapeutics for more than 25 years, with focus on targeting protein-protein interactions using small-molecule inhibitors and degraders and has advanced 9 compounds into clinical development. Dr. Wang has published more than 340 peer-reviewed papers and is an inventor of more than 72 issued U.S. patents and hundreds of international patents. Dr. Wang has co-founded 5 biotech companies.

Allen S. Lichter, M.D., chairman of our clinical advisory board, is the former CEO of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Previously, Dr. Lichter held leadership roles at the University of Michigan, including Chair and Professor of Radiation Oncology and Dean of the Medical School, and at the National Cancer Institute, including Director of the Radiation Therapy Section of the Radiation Oncology Branch.

Paul A. Bunn, M.D. is a Distinguished Professor of Medicine and James Dudley Chair in Cancer Research, Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and founding director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center.

Arul Chinnaiyan, M.D., Ph.D., Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, American Cancer Society Research Professor, and S.P. Hicks Endowed Professor of Pathology and Urology at the University of Michigan, is also the inaugural Director of the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology, which is comprised of a multi-disciplinary team of investigators focused on translating “—omic” technologies to patient care in terms of biomarkers and novel therapeutics

Hagop M. Kantarjian, M.D. is professor and chair of the Department of Leukemia at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he is also the Samsung Distinguished Leukemia Chair in Cancer Medicine. Dr. Kantarjian’s research focuses on translational-clinical developmental therapeutics in leukemia.

Asher A. Chanan-Khan, M.D. is a Professor of Medicine & Oncology at Mayo Clinic School of Medicine. Dr Chanan Khan has been principal investigator or co-principal investigator on numerous clinical trials for patients with CLL, MM and Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM) and has authored more than 200 publications related to CLL and MM.

Jedd Wolchok, M.D., Ph.D. is the Meyer Director of the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Wolchok was most recently Chief of the Immuno-Oncology Service and held The Lloyd J. Old Chair in Clinical Investigation at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and remains Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College.