William P. Peters, MD, PhD, MBA (Chairman of the Board)
Dr. Peters has been the Chief Executive Officer of Adherex since March 2003, the Chairman of our Board since February 2004, and a member of the Board since November 2002.From March 2003 to February 2004, Dr. Peters served as the Vice Chairman of the Board.Dr. Peters has served on the faculty at Harvard University, Duke University and Wayne State University.He originated the solid tumor high-dose chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant program at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and was Director of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Professor of Medicine at Duke University from 1984 to 1995 and was an Associate Director of the Cancer Center.He then served as President, Director and CEO of the Karmanos Cancer Institute from 1995 to 2001.Simultaneously, he served as Associate Dean for Cancer at Wayne State University and Senior Vice President for Cancer Services at the Detroit Medical Center.In 2001, he organized the Institute for Strategic Analysis and Innovation at the Detroit Medical Center of which he served as President.Dr. Peters has three Bachelor degrees (Biochemistry, Biophysics and Philosophy) from Pennsylvania State University, received his MPhil, MD and PhD degrees from the Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons in New York and trained clinically at Harvard University Medical School’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.He is board certified in internal medicine and medical oncology.He earned his MBA at the Duke University Fuqua School of Business.
William G. Breen
Mr. Breen has served as a director of Adherex since April 2007.Mr. Breen has served as President of William G. Breen and Associates since 1999.From 1988 to 1999, he held various positions at Simware Inc., a producer of internetworking and connectivity software, including Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.Prior to Simware, Mr. Breen was Senior Vice President, Operations at Cognos Inc. and Vice President, Operations at Computel Systems Ltd.Mr. Breen has served on numerous Boards of Directors and began his career at IBM in 1966 following graduation from the University of Waterloo in Science.
Claudio F. Bussandri, B.Eng, MBA
Mr. Bussandri has served as a director of Adherex since April 2007.Mr. Bussandri is the immediate past CEO of McKesson Canada, a leading provider of logistics and products and services in the Canadian health care marketplace.Prior to his tenure at McKesson, Mr. Bussandri was President of Lantic Sugar Limited and has held senior executive positions at Nabisco Brands Limited of Canada and Coffee Club Companies.Mr. Bussandri graduated from McGill University with a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical), and subsequently obtained an MBA. Mr. Bussandri is a member of the Board of Directors of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and Patheon Inc., of the Executive Committee of the MUHC Foundation and of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE). He is past Chairman of the Board of the Montreal Children Hospital Foundation, former Chairman of CAPDM and of the Food and Consumer Products Manufacturers of Canada.
Robert W. Butts
Mr. Butts has served as a director of Adherex since April 2007.Mr. Butts is Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager of Southpoint Capital Advisors LP, a private investment partnership with more than $1 billion in assets under management.Prior to Southpoint, Mr. Butts was an analyst for Greenlight Capital, a value-oriented hedge fund.He began his career as a financial analyst in the mergers and acquisitions group at Merrill Lynch.Mr. Butts graduated from Amherst College, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree with a triple major in mathematics, physics and chemistry.
Donald W. Kufe, MD
Dr. Kufe has served as a director of Adherex since December 2003.Dr. Kufe is also the chair of the Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board of Adherex.Dr. Kufe received his MD in 1970 from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and postgraduate training at Harvard’s Beth Israel Hospital.Subsequently, he undertook extensive laboratory-based research in molecular virology at the Institute of Cancer Research of Columbia University.In 1979, he joined the faculty of Harvard’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute where he is now Professor of Medicine.He has served as Chief of the Division of Cancer Pharmacology, Deputy Director of the Dana-Farber Cancer Center, Director of the Harvard Phase I Oncology Group and Leader of the Experimental Therapeutics Program.He has served as the senior editor of Cancer Medicine, one of the major text books in oncology, and on the editorial board of multiple international cancer research journals.
Michael G. Martin
Mr. Martin has served as a director of Adherex since September 2006.He is Chief Executive Officer of BioEnergy of America, Inc., a company dedicated to developing renewable sources of energy.Prior to assuming his role at BioEnergy, Mr. Martin served as managing director of R&M Financial Associates, a merger & acquisition consulting firm specializing in small and mid-size companies across multiple industries.From 1991 to 1999, he was Chairman and President of Proformix, Inc., a publicly traded manufacturer of computer equipment.He has previously served as President of Centercore of NJ, a business-to-business consulting company, as well as President and Vice President of Centercore, Inc., a publicly traded manufacturing company.
Dr. Mermelstein has served as a director of Adherex since November 2002.Dr. Mermelstein is Founder and President of Javelin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and previously served as Director of Venture Capital at Paramount Capital Investments, LLC, a merchant banking and venture capital firm specializing in biotechnology, from 1998 to 2003.He has served as director and Chief Science Officer of PolaRx Biopharmaceuticals, and is a director of Cardiome Pharma and previously the Jordan Heart Foundation.Dr. Mermelstein holds a dual Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.He completed his post-doctoral training supported by two grant awards, a National Institutes of Health fellowship and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute fellowship in the department of biochemistry at UMDNJ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
Dr. Morand has served as a director of Adherex since December 1998. He is President of Peter Morand & Associates Inc. and from 1996 to 2005, Dr. Morand served as President, CEO and Director of the Canadian Science and Technology Growth Fund Inc., a venture capital fund that invests in the commercialization of the results of early-stage advanced technology companies. Dr. Morand is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute on Governance and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Institute on Biodiagnostics. Dr. Morand was a director of D-Box Technology Inc. from 2004 to 2006 and was a member of the Boards of Variations Biotechnologies Inc. and of the Ottawa Life Sciences Council (past Chair) until 2007. Dr. Morand is a past President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC, 1990-95), Canada’s federal agency that invests more than $600 million annually in support of university research and training. Prior to his NSERC appointment, Dr. Morand spent many years at the University of Ottawa as a Professor of Chemistry and occupied the positions of Dean of Science and Engineering and Vice Rector. Dr. Morand started his career in the pharmaceutical industry at Ayerst Laboratories.
Robin J. Norris, MD
Dr. Norris has been the Chief Operating Officer of Adherex since January 2002, President of Adherex since June 2002 and a member of the Board since November 2002.Prior to joining Adherex, Dr. Norris was Chief Operating Officer and Chairman of the Scientific Advisors Committee of PowderJect plc from March 1998 to December 2001 and Chief Operating Officer of Noven Inc. from March 1995 to March 1998.Dr. Norris received his medical education and degree in the United Kingdom with postgraduate qualifications in obstetrics, general medicine and pharmaceutical medicine.Following eight years of clinical practice, Dr. Norris has spent over 25 years in the pharmaceutical industry, predominantly based in the United States, but with global drug development responsibilities.During his career, Dr. Norris has been responsible for the successful development of a wide range of pharmaceutical products and devices moving and transitioning them from fundamental “bench-level” research and development through the regulatory process and into the global marketplace.
Arthur T. Porter, MD, MBA
Dr. Porter has served as a director of Adherex since February 2004 and was originally nominated to the Board pursuant to an arrangement between the Corporation and HBM BioVentures (Cayman) Ltd.Dr. Porter has served as the Executive Director of the McGill University Health Centre since January 2004.Dr. Porter was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Detroit Medical Center from 1999 to 2003.From 1991 to 1998, Dr. Porter served as the Chief of the Gershenson Radiation Oncology Center at Harper Hospital, Radiation Oncologist-in-Chief at the Detroit Medical Center.He has also served as Senior Radiation Oncologist at the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton, Alberta and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Alberta, Chief of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the London Regional Cancer Centre and Chairman of the Department of Oncology at Victoria Hospital Corporation.Dr. Porter serves as a director of Munder Funds and Air Canada.
