Athena Countouriotis, M.D.
Chairperson
Athena Countouriotis, M.D., is co-founder, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson of Avenzo Therapeutics. She most recently led Turning Point Therapeutics as President and Chief Executive Officer through its IPO in 2019 to its eventual acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb for $4.1 billion in August 2022. During the time period, she and her team raised more than $1.2 billion across multiple equity financings.
With over 20 years of industry experience, Dr. Countouriotis has served as an officer in both public and private companies, led multiple initial public offerings and acquisitions, and guided several development programs to approval in the U.S. and Europe. She previously served as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Adverum Biotechnologies and Halozyme Therapeutics. Dr. Countouriotis also served as Chief Medical Officer of Ambit Biosciences, where she helped lead the company’s initial public offering and was responsible for the clinical development of quizartinib until the company’s acquisition by Daiichi Sankyo in November 2014. Earlier in her career, Dr. Countouriotis led various clinical development organizations within Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb for oncology therapeutics including Sutent®, Mylotarg®, Bosulif® and Sprycel®.
Dr. Countouriotis also serves on the board of directors of Iovance Biotherapeutics, Passage Bio, Recludix Pharma, Leal Therapeutics and Capstan Therapeutics. She earned a B.S. from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an M.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine. She received her initial medical training in pediatrics at the University of California, Los Angeles, and additional training at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Program.
Athena Countouriotis, M.D.
Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer
Athena Countouriotis, M.D., is co-founder, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson of Avenzo Therapeutics. She most recently led Turning Point Therapeutics as President and Chief Executive Officer through its IPO in 2019 to its eventual acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb for $4.1 billion in August 2022. During the time period, she and her team raised more than $1.2 billion across multiple equity financings.
With over 20 years of industry experience, Dr. Countouriotis has served as an officer in both public and private companies, led multiple initial public offerings and acquisitions, and guided several development programs to approval in the U.S. and Europe. She previously served as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Adverum Biotechnologies and Halozyme Therapeutics. Dr. Countouriotis also served as Chief Medical Officer of Ambit Biosciences, where she helped lead the company’s initial public offering and was responsible for the clinical development of quizartinib until the company’s acquisition by Daiichi Sankyo in November 2014. Earlier in her career, Dr. Countouriotis led various clinical development organizations within Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb for oncology therapeutics including Sutent®, Mylotarg®, Bosulif® and Sprycel®.
Dr. Countouriotis also serves on the board of directors of Iovance Biotherapeutics, Passage Bio, Recludix Pharma, Leal Therapeutics and Biomarin. She earned a B.S. from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an M.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine. She received her initial medical training in pediatrics at the University of California, Los Angeles, and additional training at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Program.
Mohammad Hirmand, M.D.
Co-Founder, Chief Medical Officer
Mohammad Hirmand, M.D., serves as co-founder, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Avenzo Therapeutics, responsible for clinical development, clinical operations and regulatory affairs. Dr. Hirmand has more than 20 years of biotechnology clinical development experience, most recently as executive vice president and CMO for Turning Point Therapeutics, which was acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb in August 2022.
Prior to joining Turning Point, Dr. Hirmand was CMO of Peloton Therapeutics, which was acquired by Merck in July 2019. Prior to joining Peloton in 2017, Dr. Hirmand served as CMO of Medivation through its acquisition by Pfizer. He played a vital role in advancing XTANDI® (enzalutamide) through clinical trials that led to its approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. His responsibilities also included the in-licensing and global clinical development of the poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, talazoparib. Before his 10-year tenure at Medivation, he held clinical development roles of increasing responsibility at Nuvelo, Inc. (now ARCA Biopharma), SuperGen, Inc. (now Astex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.), Tularik, Inc. (now part of Amgen), and Theravance Biopharma, Inc.
Dr. Hirmand received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School and his B.A. in Biological Sciences and Economics from Cornell University.
Herb Cross
Chief Financial Officer
Herb Cross serves as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Avenzo Therapeutics, and oversees finance, investor relations and corporate communications, business development, information technology and facilities. He brings more than 25 years of experience in life sciences leadership roles having primarily served as the CFO at numerous public and private biotechnology companies.
Mr. Cross most recently served as CFO and Corporate Secretary for Jasper Therapeutics through the completion of their merger with Kira Pharma in 2026. He previously served as CFO of Atreca, Inc., a clinical stage antibody discovery company, leading multiple rounds of public financing, and prior to that served as CFO of ARMO BioSciences, leading their 2018 IPO and the subsequent sale of the company to Eli Lilly. Mr. Cross also served as CFO of Balance Therapeutics, a life sciences company developing CNS therapeutics, and served as interim Chief Executive Officer and CFO at KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, a monoclonal antibody company focused on oncology and respiratory diseases. Earlier in his career, Mr. Cross held the role of CFO at Affymax, Inc., a commercial stage biotech company focused on therapeutics for end stage renal disease patients, as well as senior finance roles at PDL BioPharma and Facet Biotech. He began his career in public accounting at Arthur Andersen LLP.
Mr. Cross served as a Member and Audit Committee Chair on the Board of Directors of Apexigen, Inc., a public clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on antibody therapeutics for oncology though their acquisition by Pyxis Oncology, and on the Board of Directors of DNAtrix, Inc., a privately held biotech company developing virus-driven immunotherapies to treat cancer.
Mr. Cross holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley and is a certified public accountant, currently inactive, in the state of California.
Brian Sun, J.D.
Chief Legal Officer
Brian Sun, J.D., serves as Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of Avenzo Therapeutics, leading the company’s legal functions. He has more than 15 years of experience representing public and private biotechnology companies in corporate, transactional and intellectual property matters. Mr. Sun most recently served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Turning Point Therapeutics, which was acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb in August 2022.
Prior to joining Turning Point Therapeutics, Mr. Sun served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Sorrento Therapeutics, where he was responsible for managing the company’s legal affairs. Prior to Sorrento Therapeutics, Mr. Sun worked at pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, Prometheus Laboratories and Hologic, and served as outside general counsel to early-stage biotechnology companies. Mr. Sun also previously worked in private practice at Foley & Lardner, serving clients in the life sciences arena.
Mr. Sun holds a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law, an M.S. in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University, and a B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Connie Wedel
Chief Human Resources Officer
Connie Wedel serves as Chief Human Resources Officer of Avenzo Therapeutics, where she leads the company’s Human Resources function and people strategy. She has more than 20 years of experience building and scaling global human resources functions across biotechnology, medical device, technology, and other highly regulated industries. Her experience includes organizational effectiveness, total rewards, executive compensation, talent acquisition, HR operations, and global compliance.
Prior to joining Avenzo, Ms. Wedel served as Chief People Officer at Cytek Biosciences, a publicly traded biotechnology company, where she partnered with the Chief Executive Officer, the Board of Directors, and the Compensation Committee on workforce strategy, executive compensation, and equity programs. She built a scalable HR infrastructure to support business operations across 23 countries, led the people aspects of three acquisitions, and implemented global compensation, leadership development, and talent programs.
Previously, Ms. Wedel held senior HR leadership roles at The Binding Site, Argen Corporation, and the Gemological Institute of America. During her career, she has led HR through rapid growth, public company readiness, and business transformation.
Ms. Wedel earned an Executive Master of Human Resource Management from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Iowa. She was also an adjunct instructor in organizational behavior at the University of California, San Diego. She holds the GPHR, SPHR, and SHRM-SCP professional certifications and has credentials in executive coaching, emotional intelligence, cultural intelligence, and leadership development.
Homa Yeganegi
Senior Vice President, Program and Portfolio Strategy and Medical Affairs
Homa Yeganegi serves as Senior Vice President, Program and Portfolio Strategy and Medical Affairs for Avenzo Therapeutics. She has more than 25 years of experience in global biopharmaceuticals, focusing in oncology, product strategy, program management and medical affairs.
Prior to Avenzo, Ms. Yeganegi served as Senior Vice President, Global Program Team Lead, Head of Medical Affairs and Site Head for Turning Point Therapeutics, where she responsible for the global submission plan for AUGTYROTM (repotrectinib) and leading the company’s post-merger integration with Bristol Myers Squibb. Ms. Yeganegi has also held similar roles at Halozyme, Clovis Oncology, Exelixis and Onyx Pharmaceuticals.
She received her B.S. in Biology from the University of Tehran, Iran, her M.S. in Neuroanatomy from the University of Western Australia and is completing her Ph.D. in Health Sciences.
Ryan Bloomer
Senior Vice President, CMC
Ryan Bloomer serves as the Senior Vice President, CMC for Avenzo Therapeutics. He has more than 25 years of experience in global technical operations across clinical and commercial-stage life sciences companies and deep expertise in biologics, antibody drug candidates and small molecule platforms. Mr. Bloomer most recently served as Senior Vice President, Technical Operations at Elevation Oncology.
Prior to Elevation Oncology, Mr. Bloomer was the Global Head, External Drug Substance Manufacturing for Genentech, where he led a team responsible for oversight of the company’s global product portfolio of 46 commercial small and large molecule products. Prior to Genentech, he served as Head of Operations/Manufacturing for Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Bloomer has also held technical operations roles at Biogen Idec, BioReliance and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.
Mr. Bloomer received his B.S. in Biology/Biochemistry from Nazareth College of Rochester in New York.
Annie Chang, M.B.A.
Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
Annie Chang, M.B.A. serves as Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications of Avenzo Therapeutics, where she leads the company’s investor relations and corporate communications functions. She has more than 20 years of experience across the biotechnology, technology, and finance industries. Her background spans investment banking, investment management, corporate development, and public company investor relations.
Prior to joining Avenzo, Ms. Chang served as Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at 89bio, which was acquired by Roche. Previously, she served as Vice President, Investor Relations at Sutro Biopharma, a clinical-stage oncology company developing antibody-drug conjugates. Her earlier experience includes investment banking at Morgan Stanley, investment management, corporate development, and advising life sciences companies at an investor relations and capital markets firm.
Ms. Chang earned an MBA from INSEAD and a B.S. in Finance from New York University.
Aaron Hasnain
Senior Vice President, Business Development
Aaron Hasnain serves as Senior Vice President, Business Development at Avenzo Therapeutics. He brings almost 15 years of progressive business development, strategic partnership, and alliance management experience in the biotechnology industry.
Mr. Hasnain has a proven track record of leading high-performing Business Development teams, structuring complex license and collaboration agreements, and driving cross-functional alignment across all functional areas. Mr. Hasnain joins Avenzo from Gossamer Bio after more than eight years in key business development and leadership roles of increasing responsibility. Most recently, he served as Vice President, Business Development & Alliance Management at Gossamer where he was responsible for all of the company’s business development initiatives, including the execution and management of a global collaboration with Chiesi Group to develop Gossamer’s lead asset in pulmonary disease. Prior to joining Gossamer, Mr. Hasnain was a founding employee and held leadership roles at SENTE Labs and previously worked in Investor and Public Relations at Russo Partners, LLC, serving clients in the life sciences arena.
Mr. Hasnain holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication from the University of California Santa Barbara.
Heather Sun
Chief of Staff
Heather Sun serves as Chief of Staff at Avenzo Therapeutics, where she works closely with the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Leadership Team to advance the company’s strategic priorities, drive cross-functional alignment, and support the execution of key corporate initiatives. She has more than a decade of experience in the biotechnology industry, spanning business development, corporate strategy, commercial insights and analytics, and competitive intelligence.
Prior to joining Avenzo, Ms. Sun held roles of increasing responsibility within the commercial organization at Turning Point Therapeutics, most recently as Director, Global Business Analytics, where she led commercial analytics, market assessment, and competitive intelligence across the company’s oncology portfolio. Turning Point Therapeutics was acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb in August 2022.
Earlier in her career, Ms. Sun worked as a life sciences strategy consultant, advising biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies on commercial strategy, market opportunities, and competitive dynamics. She began her career in oncology research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and has published in multiple peer-reviewed scientific publications.
Ms. Sun holds a B.A. in Chemistry and Biology from Boston University.