David R. Parkinson, M.D.
Director
Dr. Parkinson has been one of our directors since June 2017. Dr. Parkinson has served as President and Chief Executive Officer Essa Pharmaceuticals, Inc. since 2016. Dr. Parkinson has served as a venture partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Inc. since 2012 and in 2016 moved to the role of venture advisor to NEA. From 2007 until 2012, Dr. Parkinson served as President and CEO of Nodality, a biotechnology company focused on the biological characterization of signaling pathways in patients with malignancy to enable more effective therapeutics development and clinical decision-making. Dr. Parkinson has previously led oncology clinical development activities at Novartis (1997-2003), Amgen (2003-2006) and Biogen Idec (2006-2007). He worked at the National Cancer Institute from 1990 to 1997, serving as Chief of the Investigational Drug Branch, and then as Acting Associate Director of the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP). Dr. Parkinson is a past Chairman of the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Biologics Advisory Committee, has also served on the FDA’s Science Board, and is a recipient of the FDA’s Cody Medal. He has held academic positions both at Tufts and at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications.
Independent Director
