Leadership Team

Dr. Jeffrey Stafford is the CEO and cofounder of 858 Therapeutics. Jeff started his drug discovery career at Glaxo Research Institute in 1991 and has held research and executive management roles in both large pharma and privately held biotech. Prior to his role with 858, Jeff was the CEO of Jecure Therapeutics, a company focused on inhibiting the NLRP3 inflammasome and acquired by Genentech in 2018. Prior to his role with Jecure, he was the founding CSO of Quanticel Pharmaceuticals, a company pioneering a single cell genomics platform for precision targeting of cancer stem cells. In 2015, Celgene acquired Quanticel for its portfolio of novel epigenetics drug candidates and its platform technology, consummating a successful "build-to-buy" collaboration between the parties. Jeff's discovery teams have been responsible for the discovery of three FDA-approved drugs – Votrient^™ (pazopanib); Nesina^™ (alogliptin); and Byfavo^™ (remimazolam) – and several others in clinical trials. He is a co-author of numerous peer review publications in the areas of organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and drug discovery.

Jeff received a B.S. in Chemistry from UCLA and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Cornell University. He completed an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at UC Berkeley.

Dr. James Veal is the CSO and a cofounder of 858 Therapeutics. Jim began his drug discovery career in 1991 at Glaxo Research Institute. While at Glaxo (now GSK), he worked on a range of receptor and enzyme targets, including protein kinases, for the treatment of inflammation and cancer and established himself as an industry leader in the area of applied computational chemistry. In 2003, he joined Serenex Inc. as Senior Director of Structural Chemistry and Informatics, and in 2008, Serenex was acquired by Pfizer for its proteomics platform and drug discovery programs. In 2012, he joined Quanticel Pharmaceuticals as a VP of Drug Discovery and played an integral role in the discovery of multiple development candidates that target cancer stem cells through distinct mechanisms. Following Celgene's acquisition of Quanticel in 2015, Jim was the founding CSO of Jecure Therapeutics, which was acquired by Genentech in 2018 for its NLRP3 discovery program. Jim has contributed to the discovery of several compounds that have advanced to clinical trials including Votrient^™ (pazopanib), Tykerb^™ (lapatinib), SNX-5422, CC-90010, and CC-90011. He has co-authored numerous scientific publications and is an inventor on multiple issued patents.

Jim received a B.A. in Chemistry from Duke University and a Ph.D. from the Institute of Molecular Biophysics at Florida State University.

Dr. Gretchen Bain is the SVP of Biology and a cofounder of 858 Therapeutics with 20 years of drug discovery research experience leading all aspects of biology and non-clinical pharmacology. Gretchen began her career at Merck Research Labs and transitioned into biotech in 2005 as Executive Director of Biology at Amira Pharmaceuticals. At Amira, Gretchen contributed to the development of several clinical-stage small molecule therapeutics to treat inflammation and fibrosis and directed the efforts of the LPA1 receptor antagonist program that led to the acquisition of Amira by BMS. In 2012, Gretchen joined PharmAkea Therapeutics as a founding scientist where she and her team contributed to the discovery and development of anti-fibrotic therapies, including small molecule inhibitors of LOXL2 and Autotaxin that were acquired by Galecto Biosciences and Blade Therapeutics, respectively. Prior to 858 Therapeutics, Gretchen was VP of Biology at Jecure Therapeutics, a company that was acquired by Genentech in 2018 for its NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitor program.

Gretchen received a B.A. in Biology from Pomona College and a Ph.D. in Biology from University of California, San Diego.

Dr. Katherine Bell-McGuinn is the CMO of 858 Therapeutics. Kathy began her career on faculty at Memorial Sloan-Kettering focused on developmental therapeutics and gynecologic malignancies. She has been in the pharmaceutical industry since 2016, when she joined Lilly. During her time at Lilly, she served in roles of increasing responsibility across early and late stage programs and worked closely with Lilly Oncology leadership on business development and committees focused on discovery and early oncology strategy. In 2020, she joined AbbVie as a group medical director where she worked closely with the veliparib team on regulatory submissions for simultaneous NDAs in breast and ovarian cancer. While at AbbVie, she led the clinical science group in early development in oncology as well as the Oncology Early Development (OED) cross-functional organization prior to joining 858.

Kathy received a B.S. in Chemistry and a B.A. in Mathematics from Texas Lutheran University and a M.D. and Ph.D. in pharmacology from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She completed her residency in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital and medical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Mr. Sanjay Trehan is the SVP of Business Development of 858 Therapeutics. Sanjay joined 858 Therapeutics from Genentech, where he served as Business Development Project Leader and led the evaluation and execution of multiple drug discovery collaborations, including partnerships with Ribometrix and Atalanta Therapeutics. Prior to joining Genentech, he held business development roles of increasing responsibility at Sanofi Genzyme, including Director and Head of Business Development and Licensing for Rare Diseases. During his time at Sanofi, Mr. Trehan successfully led numerous transactions, including product licenses, co-developments, co-promotions, drug discovery collaborations and strategic alliances.

Sanjay received a B.S. in Computational Biology from Brown University and an M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Ms. Angie Vassar is the Head of Program Management and Leadership of 858 Therapeutics with over 20 years of drug discovery and clinical development experience. Angie joined 858 Therapeutics from Kinnate BioPharma, where she served as the Development Lead and led multiple IND submissions, including development strategy and global Phase 1 execution of the FGFR asset for bladder cancer and cholangiocarcinoma. Prior to joining Kinnate, she held program management roles of increasing responsibility at Gossamer Bio, including clinical planning and execution for the company lead asset, a Phase 2 stage oral DP2 antagonist for eosinophilic asthma, and a Phase 1 stage PDGF kinase inhibitor for pulmonary arterial hypertension. Prior to Gossamer Bio, Angie was a program manager at Intercept Pharmaceuticals, where she managed a portfolio of indications in the cholestasis franchise spanning from IND-enabling to post-market product lifecycle management. Prior to Intercept, Angie spent over 10 years in drug discovery and vendor management at large and mid-size pharmaceutical companies.

Angie received a MS in Organic Chemistry from University of California, Riverside and a MS in Regulatory Affairs from San Diego State University.

Ms. Umi Chong is the Senior Director of Finance and Controller of 858 Therapeutics. Umi started her career in public accounting at Ernst & Young. Prior to joining 858, Umi was an early employee of Syrrx, a structure-based drug discovery company acquired by Takeda in 2005. Umi was responsible for building finance and accounting infrastructure, operations and reporting at Syrrx and led the transition and integration of accounting and finance operations upon acquisition by Takeda. Umi served as the Finance Site Head of Takeda San Diego. Prior to Syrrx/Takeda, Umi held various financial positions in SEC reporting, international consolidations and reporting and mergers and acquisitions.

Umi is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a B.S. in Accounting from Indiana University.

Ms. Kimberly Russell is the Director of Human Resources and Site Manager of 858 Therapeutics. Kimberly has over 20 years of administrative experience working with leadership in both the finance and biotech industries. At 858 she is responsible for managing all company HR functions. In addition to HR, Kim oversees day-to-day site management at 858, including AR/AP. Prior to 858, Kimberly was the Human Resources and Site Manager at Jecure Therapeutics, a Versant Ventures-backed company that was acquired by Genentech in 2018 for its NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitor program.

Kimberly received her B.S. in Business Administration from SUNY Farmingdale. She also holds the PHRca and SHRM-CP professional HR certifications.