Window Therapeutics, A Boston Company
Window Therapeutics is committed to discovering and developing transformational therapeutics to address critical unmet patient needs in cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
Founded and based in Boston, MA, Window Therapeutics began operations in 2021. The company’s core Brush-Analogue Conjugate (BAC) technology is based on over ten years of progressive research and development from the laboratory of Dr. Jeremiah Johnson, Professor of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
By continually advancing and applying leading-edge research in the fields of molecular chemistry and biology, Window Therapeutics technologies can ‘power’ the development of breakthrough therapies, accelerate their progression to the clinic, and improve the lives of patients worldwide.
Jeremiah Johnson, PhD
Co-Founder, Chair – Scientific Advisory Board, Director
Director Professor, Department of Chemistry Program in Polymers and Soft Matter (PPSM) Member, Koch Institute at MIT Associate Member, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Johnson is the inventor of the novel, modular, proprietary Brush-Polymer Based technology licensed exclusively by Window Therapeutics from MIT.
Dr. Johnson conducted undergraduate research with Professor Karen L. Wooley at Washington University in St. Louis, where he received a BS in Biomedical Engineering with a second major in Chemistry. He then moved to Columbia University, where he received a PhD in Chemistry under the mentorship of Professor Nicholas J. Turro. Later, he held a Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship at California Institute of Technology under the guidance of Professors David A. Tirrell and Robert H. Grubbs. Dr. Johnson joined in July, 2011 and is a recognized leader in polymer research with over 80 publications, over 6,000 citations, and an h-index of 39. The Johnson Lab and Research Group at MIT is focused on the development of methods and strategies for macromolecular synthesis and surface functionalization.
Chih-Kao Hu, PhD
Interim CEO and Director
Chih-Kao is the founder of Qral Group, a life-sciences management consulting firm that helps pre-commercial companies build commercial strategy and operations, with a focus on specialty therapeutics and rare diseases. Chih-Kao and his team have helped with the successful launches of dozens of novel pharma products, including some of the first to market gene therapy and ex-vivo cell therapy products.
Prior to his consulting career, Chih-Kao conducted a significant amount of scientific research for EGF-like peptides with Nycomed Pharma AS. His work’s fundamental concept led to the discovery of the anticoagulant Angiomax (bivalirudin). In addition, Chih-Kao worked on evaluating the pharmacokinetic properties of the anti-fibrinolytic protein, Retavase (BM06.022, recombinant tissue plasminogen activator). Chih-Kao is an experienced biotech professional working for over 30 years with top pharmaceutical and biotech companies across more than 50 countries. He received an MBA from Tepper Business School and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Carnegie Mellon University.
Hung Nguyen, PhD
Co-Founder & Director, Therapeutics Development
Hung’s expertise in synthetic chemistry is elemental in his role as leader of the therapeutic development of the company’s novel drug programs spanning from immuno-modulators to targeted therapeutics across several classes of inhibitors, including Proteosome Inhibitors, BET, PARP, and Pi3Ki, as well as immuno-oncology targeted therapies such as TLR7-8, PD(L)-1, TIMM, HER2 as well as antibody-brush-conjugate candidates. Hung has also led all in vitro & in vivo evaluation and advancement of Window’s drug therapeutics pipeline.
Yivan Jiang, PhD
Co-Founder & Director of Research and Development
Yivan is a drug discovery chemist and leads the pharmaceutics development of the company’s novel drug programs. He is responsible for identifying effective lead candidates from initial lab scale research and validating their large-scale manufacturing. Yivan co-created a broad range of Window Therapeutics pipeline candidates and early target programs across a range of drug classes including immunomodulatory drugs, bromodomain inhibitors, DNA-damage-repair inhibitors, and other molecularly targeted therapies.
Jun Wang, PhD
Senior scientist
Jun works on the synthesis and development of BAM platform. He joins Window Therapeutics with decades of experience in chemistry including solid phase, solution phase, peptides and small organic molecules. His most recent roles included working at ACS Scientific and Affinity Research Chemicals, which provide CRO/CDMO services of building blocks, custom synthesis, and process development to research, academic and industrial communities. Jun completed his BS and MS in chemistry at Wuhan University in China, and received his PhD from Saga University in Japan.
Elisa Ghelfi, PhD
Senior Scientist
Elisa is an expert in angiogenesis, pulmonary pathophysiology, and lung development biology. She applied reverse engineering in projects leading to pathway discovery in lung development and regeneration. She led studies on angiogenetic factors VEGF and FABP4 in cancer biology and in pathologies of the premature. Elisa brings to Window Therapeutics her expertise in 3D models of cell organoids and complex transgenic in-vivo models.
Jie Wang, PhD
Senior Scientist
Jie is a biologist in both in vivo and invitro work. His work specialized in tumor treatment, such as tumor cell culture, flowcytometry, immunostaining, especially molecular biology, like cloning work and qPCR, gene knock in and knock out , western, IP. He graduated from Anhui Medical University as Master and from Peking Union Medical college, got Ph.D degree.
Sanjana Hemdev, MS
Associate Scientist
Sanjana is a biologist who routinely conducts in vivo and in vitro biological evaluations of Window's therapeutic candidates. Her expertise in biochemical techniques, cell culture, and ex vivo analysis has been integral in establishing and advancing the drug development pipeline at Window
Kenneth C. Anderson, MD
Director, Window Therapeutics, Inc.
Physician and Professor, Harvard & DFCI, Co-founder of Acetylon, Oncopeptides, etc. Dr. Anderson is a pre-eminent research clinician in the field of hematologic malignancies. After graduating from Johns Hopkins Medical School, he trained in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and then completed hematology, medical oncology, and tumor immunology training at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Over the last four decades, he has focused his laboratory and clinical research studies on multiple myeloma. He has developed laboratory and animal models of the tumor in its microenvironment which have allowed for both identifications of novel targets and validation of novel targeted therapies and has then rapidly translated these studies to clinical trials culminating in FDA approval of novel targeted and immune therapies. His paradigm for identifying and validating targets in the tumor cell and its milieu has transformed myeloma therapy and markedly improved patient outcomes.
James Lu, MBA, JD
Director, Window Therapeutics, Inc.
Mr. Lu is a founder of a new venture focused on incubating and investing in early stage regenerative medicine companies. He was formerly a Managing Director of WI Harper, a U.S.-Greater China cross border venture capital firm, where he led and managed a number of successful investments in healthcare and technology startups, including Kindstar Globalgene (HKEX: 9960). Previously, Mr. Lu co-founded and was a General Partner of iD Ventures America (formerly Acer Technology Ventures), which managed several funds that were early investors in companies such as iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT); Harmonix Music (acquired by MTV/Viacom (NYSE:VIA)); and Monolithic Power Systems (NASDAQ:MPWR). Mr. Lu graduated with a BA from Yale College, an MBA from Harvard Business School and a JD from UC Berkeley School of Law.
Raju Kucherlapati, PhD
Advisor, Window Therapeutics, Inc.
Professor, Harvard & Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Kucherlapati is a renowned leader in the field of human genomics. He was the first Scientific Director of the Harvard Medical School-Partners Healthcare Center for Genetics and Genomics where his research focused on gene mapping, gene modification, and cloning disease genes. He has chaired numerous NIH committees and served on the National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research and the NCI Mouse Models for Human Cancer Consortium.
He is also a member of the Cancer Genome Atlas project of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Kucherlapati received his B.S. and M.A. in Biology from universities in India, and he received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana, as well as conducting post-doctoral work at Yale University. Dr. Kucherlapati is also a founder of several biotechnology companies including Cell Genesys, Abgenix (acquired by AMGEN), and Millennium (acquired by Takeda). He serves on the Boards of several privately-held biotechnology companies and is a Board member of a publicly-traded company called Puretech Health. He has been active in promoting Precision Medicine in China and is the co-Chair of the International Cancer Precision Medicine Conference that just held its fourth annual meeting in Chongqing.
Sujuan Ba, PhD
Advisor, Window Therapeutics, Inc.
Dr. Sujuan Ba currently serves as President and CEO of the National Foundation for Cancer Research. She is the founding President and CEO of the AIM-HI Translational Research Fund, and the Founder and CEO of the Asian Fund for Cancer Research. In addition, Dr. Ba co-founded and serves as a founding board member of the Global Coalition for Adaptive Research (GCAR).
She is also the former President of the Chinese Biopharmaceutical Association and serves on the International Consulting Committee of the China National Research Center for Translational Medicine (Shanghai). She also sits on the Scientific Advisory Boards of Medelis, Inc. (Fountain Hills, Arizona) and Immunicom Inc. (San Diego). Dr. Ba was named as one of the “Top 300 Women Leaders in Global Health” in 2015 by the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies’ Global Health Programme and was awarded the 2014 Public Service Award from the Chinese Biopharmaceutical Association–USA. Dr. Ba received her B.S. in radiochemistry from Peking University and her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania.
Dennis Benjamin, PhD
Advisor, Window Therapeutics, Inc.
Dr. Dennis Benjamin is a scientist with over 25 years of experience in drug discovery and development with a particular focus on targeted therapies. He was most recently SVP of Research at Seagen where he was a key contributor to the company’s ADC technology platform and clinical pipeline including ADCETRIS, PADCEV and TUKYSA. Prior to SeaGen he worked at Praecis Pharmaceuticals and Genetics Institute, advancing DNA encoded libraries and working in protein and small molecule discovery. Over his career he has led teams that have discovered over 25 biologics and small molecules that entered clinical trials and contributed to 4 drug approvals. He is currently an advisor and SAB member at several start-up biotechnology companies. Dr Benjamin earned his B.S. in Chemistry at M.I.T., a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry at U.C.S.F. and was a Hitchings-Elion Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oxford.