Company Leadership
Ananda M Chakrabarty Ph.D., Founder, is currently a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the University of Illinois, Chicago College of Medicine. He is most notable for his work in directed evolution and his role in developing a genetically engineered organism using plasmid transfer while working at General electric (GE), the patent for which led to landmark Supreme Court case, Diamond v. Chakrabarty. He currently serves as an advisor to judges, governments, and the UN as one of the founding members of a UNIDO Committee that proposed the establishment of the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) and is a member of its Council of Scientific Advisors. He also served as a member of the Board on Biology of the National Academy of Science and Committee on Biotechnology of the National research Council (USA).
Prof. Chakrabarty received his Ph.D. from the University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal.
Tapas K. Das Gupta, M.D.(Calcutta) ,Ph.D., D.Sc. (University of London) Founder and Chairman Emeritus, is an internationally recognized surgical oncologist and physician scientist in the Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, University of Illinois, Chicago, College of Medicine. The author of more than 440 publications, and numerous clinical trials he continues to serve as the guiding light in clinical and basic science research and development. [email protected]
David R. Volk, President and Chief Executive Officer. Previously, Mr. Volk was a founder and principal of White Oak Advisors, a consulting firm providing financial and strategic advisory services to start-up and emerging growth life sciences companies. Prior to White Oak Advisors, Mr. Volk was managing director and Head of Life Sciences Investment Banking for RBC Capital Markets. In that capacity, Mr. Volk managed an investment banking group which raised private and public growth capital for companies ranging from early-stage through initial public offering and thereafter.
Mr. Volk received his B.A. in economics from the University of California at Berkeley, and his MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University. [email protected]
Steven E. Fleck, Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining CDG in 2005, Mr. Fleck served as Director of Accounting for Northfield Laboratories Inc., where he served in various roles in the company’s accounting, finance and IT departments dating back to 1988. [email protected]
Craig W. Beattie, Ph. D., Chief Science Officer. From 2000 through 2005, Dr. Beattie served as Professor, Biotechnology, Department of Animal Biotechnology University of Nevada at Reno, Chair of the Department (2000–2003) and Director of the Nevada Genome Center (2000-2005). Dr. Beattie has held numerous academic, corporate and governmental appointments as professor, Director and Research Leader, respectively and is the author of over 200 scientific publications. He received his B.S. and M.S in Biological Sciences from Fairleigh Dickinson University, and his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Delaware. [email protected]
Tohru Yamada, Ph.D., Director of Drug Development. From 2005 through 2015, Dr. Yamada also served as Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgical Oncology, University of Illinois, Chicago College of Medicine. Prior to that appointment, Dr. Yamada was a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the school’s Department of Microbiology & Immunology. (AM Chakrabarty). He is an author of over ~30 azurin/p28 related publications. Dr. Yamada received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in Biotechnology from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan. [email protected]
Scientific Consultants
Ralph Weichselbaum MD. Dr. Weichselbaum specializes in Radiation Oncology. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, Daniel K. Ludwig Distinguished Service Professor of Radiation Oncology and Chairman, Department of Radiation and Cellular Oncology, at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, and Head of the University of Chicago Center for Radiation Therapy, and the director of the Chicago Tumor Institute. Dr. Weichselbaum is also Co- Director of the Ludwig Center for Metastasis Research at the University of Chicago. He is listed on hundreds of patents and pending patents, is an author on more than 790 publications and has been cited over 1600 times on a famous Head and Neck Cancer article in the New England Journal of Medicine. He is also co-editor of Cancer Medicine, a comprehensive textbook on cancer.
Stewart Goldman MD. Division Head, Hematology, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplant; Medical Director, Neuro-oncology, Gus Foundation Chair of Neuro-oncology; Professor of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; Director, Center for Clinical Trials Research; Co-director, Falk Brain Tumor Center, Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute Dr. Goldman is an author on more than 25 scientific articles on neuro oncology. Dr. Goldman has a special interest in developing new therapies for the treatment of brain stem gliomas.