J. Michael French
President and CEO
Mr. French joined Marina in June 2008 as Chief Executive Officer. He became a Director in September 2008 and President in October 2008. Mr. French was Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at Sirna Therapeutics from 2005 until 2007 when the company was acquired by Merck. Sirna was well-known as one of the leading RNAi companies. Earlier, Mr. French was Chief Business Officer at Entelos, Inc., a pre-IPO biotechnology company, as well as a variety of other positions at healthcare companies, including Health IQ and Bayer Pharmaceuticals. He also served for 13 years in the United States Army and Army Reserve. Mr. French holds a M.S. degree in physiology and biophysics from Georgetown University and a B.S. degree in aerospace engineering from the United States Military Academy.
Peter S. Garcia
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Garcia joined Marina in July 2009 as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Garcia has been Chief Financial Officer of both public and private life science and high technology companies for the past 13 years. From 2004 to 2008, Mr. Garcia served as Chief Financial Officer of Nanosys Inc., a privately held nanotechnology company based in Palo Alto, California, where he was responsible for finance, facilities, information technology, and investor and government relations. From 2001 to 2004, Mr. Garcia was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Nuvelo Inc., a publicly held biopharmaceutical company. During his tenure at Nuvelo, he helped raise over $150 million, acquired development stage products, and led the merger and acquisition strategy. Mr. Garcia has also served as Chief Financial Officer at Novacept, IntraBiotics, and Dendreon; and held senior financial roles at Amgen. Mr. Garcia has an M.B.A. from the Anderson School at University of California Los Angeles and a B.A. in Economics and Sociology from Stanford University.
Barry Polisky, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Polisky joined Marina as Chief Scientific Officer in January 2009. Previously, he served as Research Vice President at Merck & Co., from 2007 to 2008. Before joining Merck, Dr. Polisky was Chief Scientific Officer at Sirna Therapeutics, a leading RNAi company that was acquired by Merck in 2006. Earlier, Dr. Polisky served as Vice President of Research at ThermoBiostar, Inc., where he initiated and launched a SNP diagnostic platform. From 1992 to 1998, Dr. Polisky was Vice President of Research and Drug Discovery at NeXstar, Inc. where he developed several aptamer therapeutics (nucleic acid-based therapeutics including the VEGF aptamer currently maketed by Pfizer [as Macugen® (pegaptanib sodium injection)]). Prior to joining NeXstar, Dr. Polisky was Professor and Chairman of the Molecular Biology program at Indiana University. Dr. Polisky received his Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Colorado and conducted his post-doctoral work in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco.
Michael V. Templin, Ph.D., DABT
Senior Vice President, Preclinical Development
Dr. Templin joined Marina in December 2004. While at Marina (and its predecessors) he has served in a variety of management positions leading teams in the areas of discovery research and preclinical development. Before joining Marina he held research and development positions at Isis Pharmaceuticals, Amgen, and Zymogenetics. Dr. Templin's pharmaceutical development experience includes regulatory toxicology from bench research through IND and NDA filings for small- and large-molecule platforms (oligonucleotides, peptides, proteins, and antibodies). Dr. Templin received a Ph.D. in Pharmacology/Toxicology from Washington State University and completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology (RTP, NC Dr. Templin has held certification as a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology since 1998.
June D. Ameen, RN, MBA
Vice President of Corporate Development
Ms. Ameen joined Marina in September 2009. Ms. Ameen has held progressively responsible positions in both public and private life sciences companies for the past 20 years. Prior to joining Marina, Ms. Ameen served first as Vice President, Alliance Management and then Vice President, Business Development and Alliances of Entelos, Inc., a privately held systems biology company based in Foster City, California. While there, she was responsible for expanding the business from early-adopter technology-based research partnerships to therapeutic focused co-development collaborations with major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. As Vice President, Business Development and Alliances, annual revenues increased from less than $3 million to over $21 million in two years. Prior to Entelos, Ms. Ameen was with PAREXEL International Corporation in several positions focused on client relations and alliance management. Ms. Ameen has an M.B.A. from Babson College and a B.S.N., magna cum laude, from Boston College.
Michael Houston, Ph.D.
Vice President, Chemistry and Formulations
Dr. Houston joined Marina in February 2004. While at Marina (and its predecessors), he led both the RNAi and peptide chemistry efforts including both research and development activities. In June of 2008, he assumed the role of head of Formulations and Chemistry at Marina. Prior to joining Marina, he held the position of Director of Chemistry at Cytovax Biotechnologies where he led the research and manufacturing efforts of the company’s peptide-protein conjugate-based vaccine. Dr. Houston received his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Waterloo and completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Protein Engineering in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Hodges at the University of Alberta.
Alison D. Silva
Vice President, Drug Development
Ms. Silva was recently Vice President, Drug Development at Cequent Pharmaceuticals and joined Marina through its acquisition of Cequent Pharmaceuticals in July 2010. In August 2007, Ms. Silva joined Cequent where she was responsible for preclinical toxicology, manufacturing, regulatory affairs and clinical trial design and management. She successfully completed the Investigational New Drug (IND) submission for Cequent’s clinical candidate in Familial Adenomatous Polyposis in December 2009 - just nine months after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pre-IND meeting. Prior to joining Cequent, Ms. Silva was a Clinical Trials/Laboratory Manager at Pfizer where she was responsible for clinical-stage cardiovascular programs, dealing primarily with clinical trial management, investigator and site initiation, and regulatory and Institutional Review Board (IRB) submissions. In this position, she led a team of Clinical Research Associates, study monitors and study coordinators, to support Pfizer’s therapeutic heads in clinical trial strategy, design, and execution. Prior to Pfizer, Ms. Silva was Laboratory Manager of an infertility department at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Co-Principal Investigator and Study Head at the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory of University of Massachusetts – Worcester. Ms. Silva received her B.S. degree in Mathematics and Microbiology from Clark University and an M.S. degree in Cardiovascular Medicine from the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.