Richard H. Scheller, Ph. D., Executive Vice President, Research
Vishva Dixit, M.D., Vice President, Early Discovery Research
Markus Gemuend, Senior Vice President, Biochemical Manufacturing
Suzy Jones, Senior Director, Business Development
Kent E. Lieginger, Pharm.D., Vice President, Managed Care and Customer Operations
Walter K. Moore, Vice President, Government Affairs
Todd Pierce, Vice President, Corporate Information Technology
Denise Smith-Hams, Vice President, Human Resources
Christine Castro, Vice President, Corporate Relations
Richard Scheller is executive vice president, Research at Genentech. In this role he is responsible for setting strategy for Genentech's research and drug discovery activities. He also serves on Genentech's Research Review Committee, Product Portfolio Committee and Capital Governance Committee. Scheller is a member of Genentech's executive committee.
Scheller joined Genentech in 2001 as senior vice president, Research and was promoted to executive vice president, Research in September 2003.
Prior to joining Genentech, Scheller was appointed to the esteemed position of professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology and Biological Sciences in 1993 and as an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in 1994. Scheller received his first academic appointment to Stanford University in 1982.
Scheller's work has earned him numerous awards, including the 1997 National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology. He is a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences, and has served on numerous advisory boards, including the National Advisory Mental Health Council of the National Institutes of Health. He has published more than 200 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
He received his Bachelor of Science in biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and was awarded his doctorate in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology where he was also a postdoctoral fellow, Division of Biology. Scheller was also a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University, College of Physicians & Surgeons.
Vishva Dixit was named vice president, Research - Molecular Oncology in September 2003. In this position, he is responsible for overseeing Genentech's research programs focused on understanding the biology of cancer, discovering novel oncology therapeutics and moving projects into the drug development pipeline. Dixit's laboratory is currently working on characterizing the components of the apoptotic or cell death pathway as well as members of the tumor necrosis factor family of ligands and receptors.
Dixit joined Genentech in 1997 as the director of the Molecular Oncology department. He was promoted to senior director of Molecular Oncology in 2000.
Prior to joining Genentech, Dixit joined the Department of Pathology at the University of Michigan Medical School as an assistant professor before being appointed to full professor in 1995. His laboratory published a series of groundbreaking papers in the mid-nineties that defined the molecular components of the cell death receptor pathway. Dixit was awarded the Warner-Lambert/Parke David Award in Experimental Pathology in 1996, has published more than 100 scientific articles and holds a significant number of patents. Dixit continues to teach as an adjunct professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of California, San Francisco.
Dixit received his medical degree from the University of Nairobi in Nairobi, Kenya. Following an internship at Kenyatta National Hospital, he pursued further medical training as a resident at the Department of Laboratory Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine and as a postdoctoral fellow in the University's Department of Biological Chemistry.
Markus Gemuend is senior vice president, Biochemical Manufacturing at Genentech. In this role, Gemuend is responsible for all of Genentech's biochemical manufacturing of bulk product.
Gemuend joined Genentech in 2004 as vice president, Manufacturing Collaborations and Contract Manufacturing. Prior to joining Genentech, he spent 16 years at Lonza Group, Ltd., where he served as chief executive officer from 2002 to 2004. While at Lonza, Gemuend held several other leadership roles, including senior vice president and sector head for Lonza Biologics as well as vice president for Exclusive Synthesis US. Gemuend joined Lonza in 1988 as legal counsel.
Gemuend holds a law degree from the University of Basel, Switzerland.
Suzy Jones is Senior Director of Business Development at Genentech, Inc. Her group is responsible for identifying new licensing opportunities that support the company's short- and long-term strategic objectives and negotiating and structuring collaboration agreements to support the newly formed strategic alliances.
Jones' career includes 18 years of biotech experience, all at Genentech. She spent seven years conducting basic Immunology Research — evaluating the role of adhesion molecules in inflammation, four years in Product Development where she managed several pipeline products at various stages of their lifecycles; including Rituxan, Avastin, and Raptiva, and seven years in business development overseeing Genentech's licensing efforts in Immunology, Infectious Diseases, Ophthalmology, Neurobiology, Tissue Growth and Repair, New Therapeutic Areas and Technology Licensing.
Kent Lieginger joined Genentech in December 2004 as vice president, Managed Care and Customer Operations.
In this role, Lieginger leads the Managed Care and Commercial Operations Support Service (COSS) operating groups. Managed Care focuses on creating and maintaining access to Genentech products. The COSS group responsibilities include product distribution and patient support programs. Additionally, the COSS organization manages the Genentech Access to Care Foundation, contracts administration, government programs, customer service and reimbursement.
Prior to joining Genentech, Lieginger was vice president, National Insurer and Employer Segment, Managed Markets division at GlaxoSmithKline. Lieginger also served for four years as assistant clinical professor of Medicine at the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine.
Lieginger received his Pharm.D. from the University of the Pacific, and completed his residency in Clinical Pharmacy at the University of California, San Francisco.
Walter Moore is vice president, Government Affairs at Genentech.
Moore joined Genentech in 1993 as senior director, Government Affairs. Prior to joining Genentech, Moore served as manager of Government Relations for Eli Lilly and prior to that as director, Congressional Relations for Pfizer, Inc. Moore held several other positions of increasing responsibility in the U.S.-based qualified non-profit and legislative sectors, which included the American Hospital Association and the Federal Election Commission. Early in his career he worked as a special assistant for Senator Lloyd Bentsen. Moore was appointed to his current position in 1998.
Moore received a bachelor's degree from Princeton University, and received a master's degree in public affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.
Todd Pierce is vice president, Corporate Information Technology (CIT) at Genentech. In this role, Pierce manages Genentech's CIT group, including information technology (IT) strategy, planning, application development, operations and networking. In addition, he chairs the company's IT Strategy Council. Pierce reports to Louis J. Lavigne, Jr., executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Pierce joined Genentech in May 2002 as senior director, CIT Operations, and was promoted to the head of CIT in October 2002. While at Genentech, Pierce established a clear blueprint for CIT's mission, strategies, projects, and communication channels. He has also enhanced the company's IT systems by upgrading its corporate-wide email system; improving customer communications at the management, desktop and call-center levels; and implementing a cellular data service network on all Genentech campuses. In addition, he helped form the IT Strategy Council, a cross-functional team of senior executives who coordinate and set direction for all of the company's IT activities.
Prior to joining Genentech, Pierce was chief information officer and director of information systems for the Santa Clara County Social Services Agency. He has more than 15 years of IT leadership experience from a broad range of industries, including commercial software products, health insurance, clinical care and government.
Pierce holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Finance from Austin College and a Master of Arts in Health Policy and Administration from the University of California, Berkeley.
Denise Smith-Hams is vice president, Human Resources at Genentech. In this role, she provides day-to-day leadership, management and oversight to Genentech's human resources organization.
Smith-Hams joined Genentech in 2002 as interim vice president of Human Resources. Prior to joining Genentech, Smith-Hams consulted with clients such as Affeymetrix, Hewlett-Packard, and Levi Strauss & Co.
Smith-Hams past appointments include, vice president, Human Resources, Monsanto Company; director, Human Resources, The Learning Company, director, Human Resources, 3Com Corporation; and manager, Strategy Development at Hewlett Packard. Overall, she has more than twenty years of human resources management and organizational development experience in technology, life sciences and biotechnology sectors.
Smith-Hams holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master's degree from Mills College.
Chris oversees the efforts of the Corporate Relations group, including corporate public relations, product communications and advocacy relations, internal communications, and community and patient programs.
Chris has 17 years of corporate communications/public relations experience. Most recently she was senior vice president of communications for Bank of America. Previously she served for nearly five years as chief communications officer for Yahoo! Inc. Chris joined Yahoo! from Disney, where she was vice president, corporate communications. She started her career as a reporter/editor in the Bay Area.
Chris has a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and a Master of Arts degree in communications management, both from the University of Southern California.
