Archives: Leaderships
Vincenzo Orlando, MSc
Vincenzo Orlando started working for Arog Pharmaceuticals in 2019 as a Clinical Research Associate.
Jiwon Lee, MHS
Jiwon Lee, MHS, joined DAVA CRO in July 2019 to serve as a Research Associate and member of the EU & US Clinical Operations team. Ms. Lee brings 3 years of heat shock protein characterization and therapeutics research experience. Prior to joining DAVA CRO, Ms. Lee recently graduated from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with a Master of Health Science degree. Ms. Lee received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Austin College in Biochemistry with double minors in Spanish and Public Health.
Linda Rehfeld, PhD
Dr. Linda Rehfeld has joined Arog Pharmaceuticals/ DAVA CRO as Clinical Research Scientist and
Mentrik Biotech as Project Manager in July 2019. Dr. Rehfeld brings 3 years of experience in
biomarker and therapeutic antibody development. Prior to joining Arog/ DAVA/ Mentrik Dr. Rehfeld
worked as Scientific Director at Sphingotec Therapeutics near Berlin, Germany. She received a PhD in
biochemistry and Alzheimer’s research, graduating summa cum laude from the Free University of
Berlin. She received her Bachelor and Master of Science in Molecular Biotechnology at the Technical
University of Munich.7
Antonio Lapenna, M.D., Ph.D.
Strong research professional with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) focused in Immunology from University of Roma La Sapienza. Experienced Postdoctoral Researcher with a wide knowledge in Immunology, Oncology and Hematology and experienced in GCP-compliant Clinical Trials in Onco-Hematology.
Costanza Carmi, M.S.
Costanza Carmi joined AROG Pharmaceuticals in January 2019 as a Clinical Research Associate Consultant for Italy and Europe. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Cognitive Science from Goucher College in Baltimore, MD and her Master’s degree in Neuroscience from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany.
Before joining AROG Pharmaceuticals, Costanza’s focus was mainly in research. She conducted her master’s thesis research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse in the Synaptic Plasticity Section where she used novel virus tools to disinhibit the pathway between the prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens in mouse models to test for its potential neuroprotective effect in mood disorders. She also had projects at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry and the Medical University of South Carolina as well as the University of Parma, where she worked on mirror neuron research.
Edward McDonald, J.D.
Edward McDonald serves dual roles as Sr Corporate Counsel and Director of Business Development for AROG. Edward oversees business development and AROG’s legal teams with regard to regulatory and IP matters. He joined AROG in 2013 after receiving his J.D. from Texas Wesleyan University School of Law. Mr. McDonald also has a background in biology.
Hui Tian, Ph.D., MSHM
Dr. Hui Tian joined Arog Pharmaceuticals in January 2018 and has been leading Arog’s China projects since May 2018. Dr. Tian brings over ten years of experience in biomedical and preclinical research, project management and protocol development. Prior to joining Arog, Dr. Tian worked at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas as a Research Scientist studying non-small cell lung cancers and signaling proteins, where she published her research in multiple peer-reviewed medical journals, including Cancer Research, Molecular Cancer Research, and Molecular Cell. Dr. Tian completed her Ph.D. training in Biochemistry at Florida International University in 2010 and finished her Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at UT Southwestern Medical Center in 2015 and received the Scholar-in-Training scholarship. She also received her M.S. in Healthcare Management from the University of Texas at Dallas with the recognition of Scholar with Distinction in 2016, and holds an ASQ certified Six Sigma Green Belt.
Yijia Wang, M.D., MPH
Boo Messahel, M.D.
Dr. Bothayna (Boo) Messahel has joined the Dava Oncology/Arog team in 2018 and is Medical Director with oversight into the global clinical trials portfolio. This includes site initiation, activation, recruitment, safety monitoring, data collection as well as clinical trials governance in accordance with good clinical practice. Dr Messahel is a Hematologist/Oncologist with 17 year experience in the United Kingdom having worked in clinical practice and translational research in both the Royal Marsden Hospital in London and Cambridge University Hospital, Cambridge. She was clinical director for the Hematology/Oncology/Bone Marrow Transplantation service for 4 years as well as Lead clinician for the East of England cancer network with responsibility for 11 satellite hospital patient pathways. Dr Messahel was also chair of the UK national Renal tumors group with oversight into both clinical and translational research. In Cambridge she was Principle investigator for several international European studies. Her passion to improve the quality of care, accessibility to novel drugs and outcome for patients with cancer led to her joining the Dava Oncology/Arog team whose dedicated team share the same commitment, passion and vision.