Dr. Hershko received his M.D. in 1965 and his Ph.D in 1969 from the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel. He is currently a Distinguished Professor at the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion in Haifa. Along with Aaron Ciechanover and Irwin Rose, he was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation. Through the research earning the Nobel Prize, the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway was demonstrated to have a critical role in maintaining the homeostasis of cells and to be involved in the development and progression of diseases such as cancer, muscular and neurological diseases, and immune and inflammatory responses. Importantly, Dr. Hershko also advised that the development of the proteasome inhibitor Velcade be turned towards cancer, where it was eventually approved as a treatment for Multiple Myeloma.

Dr. Zheng is a Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Ning Zheng seeks to understand the intricate interactions and coordinated functions of proteins and signaling molecules found in plants and animals, including humans. Using a structural biology approach, Zheng and his team conduct studies that span several interwoven research areas, including ubiquitination, transcription, plant biology, ion channels, circadian clocks, and drug discovery. Their overarching goal is to apply the underlying biological principles they learn to the development of novel therapeutics as well as to the planet’s ecological balance. Dr. Zheng pioneered the concept of Molecular Glue with his determination of the mechanism of action of the plant hormones auxin and jasmonate. Moreover, utilizing over 20 years’ experience discovering the structural biology of ubiquitin ligases, Ning demonstrated the potential to utilize high throughput screening of small molecule libraries to discover molecules that can induce productive protein-protein interaction between a ubiquitin ligase and a protein being targeted for degradation.

Dr. Pagano is the Chair of the Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology Department and the May Ellen and Gerald Jay Ritter Professor of Oncology at the New York University School of Medicine. He is also an Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Pagano studies the large family of human ubiquitin ligase enzymes, essential factors in the degradation of cellular regulatory proteins. His laboratory utilizes discovery-driven data analyses to explore new areas of research. As a result, he has expanded his work – initially focused on cell-cycle control – to encompass multiple aspects of cellular signaling involving ubiquitin ligase enzymes. Another major goal of his research team is to reveal key regulatory mechanisms underlying fundamental biological responses and behaviors for which dysregulation results in cancer. His long-term goal is to develop new anticancer therapies based on novel concepts of protein degradation. Dr. Pagano’s experience co-founding Mitotix Inc. and pioneering the concept of targeting CDK inhibitors for the treatment of cancer provide him with valuable insights into successful drug development out of basic research discoveries.

Dr. Huang is Founder, Chairman and CEO of BeyondSpring and SEED Therapeutics. Dr. Huang received scientific training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where her breakthrough research in solving the first E2-E3 ubiquitin ligase structure involving P53 degradation was published in Science. She received her PhD in Chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley, where she won the graduating PhD woman award from Soroptimist International. Her translational research in cancer signaling pathways involving Ras was published in two Nature papers.  Dr. Huang has more than a decade of entrepreneurial experience in the Chinese and U.S. biotechnology industry and invented and holds patents for a number of biotech products for oncology and dermatology indications. Prior to founding BeyondSpring and its pipeline of preclinical to Phase 3 assets, Dr. Huang co-founded WuXi MTLH Biotechnology Co. Ltd., and designed cancer peptide drug whose China rights were acquired in 2010 by Shanghai Pharmaceutical Group, one of the top three pharmaceutical companies in China. She also co-founded Paramax International, a clinical CRO company in China, sold to RPS (a global CRO), then to Warburg Pincus in 2011. At BeyondSpring, Dr. Huang has taken the company public (NASDAQ:BYSI) and advanced the main small molecule asset, plinabulin, through NDA filing in the US and China.

Dr. Lin is the Managing Director of Lilly Chorus, a full-service, autonomous R&D unit within Lilly that specializes in lean to clinical Proof of Concept (POC).  Previously at Lilly, he held the positions of Site Head & General Manager, Lilly China Research and Development Center (LCRDC), a diabetes focused R&D center based in Shanghai, and Head, Lilly China Innovation Partnerships (LCIP), an externally focused organization to engage biotech and academic collaborators in China.  Prior to Lilly, Dr. Lin led the Chemistry Service Unit at WuXi AppTec, after leading multiple drug discovery teams at Merck.  Dr. Lin received his BS in Chemistry from Peking University and obtained his PhD in Organic Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  He completed his NIH postdoctoral Fellowship with Nobel laureate Prof. E.J. Corey at Harvard University.

Mr. Tung has served as a director and strategic advisor to leading international corporations and advisory councils, including Eisai Co., Ltd., Hawaiian Airlines, and Kajima Corporation. Mr. Tung formerly served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the World Bank, Secretary General of the International Centre of the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), senior partner of O’Melveny & Myers, and Senior Counsellor at Morrison & Foerster.

Mr. Tung currently serves as a board member of the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT) in Japan with funding from the Gates Foundation, the Japanese government, Wellcome Trust, and large Japan pharmaceutical firms, including Takeda, Astellas, and Eisai. While at the World Bank, Mr. Tung provided legal advice in the establishment of the Global Fund for AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis. He has been at the lead of cross-border public policy, including as a member of the Trilateral Commission, U.S. Presidential Commission on United States Pacific Trade and Investment Policy, and Chairman of the Board of Governors of the East-West Center. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has been associated with the American Society of International Law, International Bar Association, and Bar of the City of New York. As a distinguished scholar, Mr. Tung has taught at Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, and NYU Law School for many years. Mr. Tung received his education at Harvard College (B.A. in physics, magna cum laude), Harvard Law School (J.D.), and University of Tokyo, Faculty of Law.

Mr. Tai has served as Non-Executive Director at several leading global companies, including Eli Lilly, HSBC (where he was Chairman of the Risk Committee), and Mastercard. He continues to serve as Board Member for Hong Kong Exchange listed Wuxi Biologics (where he is Chairman of the Audit Committee). He formerly served as Non-Executive Director for a number of companies, including Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, The Bank of China, Singapore Airlines, NYSE Euronext, and Royal Philips.

Mr. Tai also serves as a Board member of the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, as well as a member of the Harvard Business School Asia-Pacific Advisory Board and the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Tai obtained his Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard University in 1974 and Bachelor of Science degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1972.