B-Cell Function Modulation In Multiple Sclerosis: A New Therapeutic Paradigm

Abstract

Andrew Chan MD, PhD obtained his bachelor‘s and master‘s degrees in chemistry from Northwestern University in Evanston (IL, USA) and his medical degree and doctorate in cellular and developmental biology from the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis (MO, USA). He completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at Barnes Hospital at Washington University School of Medicine before becoming a postdoctoral clinical and research fellow at the University of California, San Francisco (CA, USA). Dr Chan is Senior Vice President of Research Biology of Genentech Inc (CA, USA). Dr Chan‘s current focus is to ensure that we are at the forefront of discovering new biologies, dissecting the heterogeneous causes of human disease, and developing new therapies to attack the dominant pathogenic pathways of disease. Dr Chan‘s laboratory is currently working on defining the role of immune cells in autoimmune disease, as well as understanding the mechanisms of action of anti-CD20 and other B-cell modulatory therapies. His research interests include basic discovery in understanding the underlying pathogenesis of human autoimmune and inflammatory disorders. He is also a frequent lecturer and has authored or coauthored more than 100 scientific articles. Prior to joining Genentech in 2001, Dr Chan was an associate professor in the Division of Rheumatology and the Departments of Medicine, Pathology and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine, where he was also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute associate investigator. Dr Chan is a member of the American Association of Immunologists, the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the American Association of Physicians.

In 2008 Albert joined F Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd in Basel (Switzerland) from Schering-Plough/Organon (NJ, USA) to take over the leadership of the Ocrelizumab Multiple Sclerosis Life Cycle team. Since February 2013, he is the Global Medical Director for Neuroscience and Cardiometabolism. Albert qualified as an MD at the Free University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and worked several years in Internal Medicine in Amsterdam. He started his career in pharma as a Medical Advisor CNS with Solvay Pharma (Weesp, The Netherlands). He then joined Solvay Pharma International where he, as Medical Manager, was responsible for the Middle East and Asian Pacific Region. In 1998, he joined Organon International (NJ, USA) where he worked almost exclusively in neuroscience (depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia). In 2002, he joined the US Headquarters, where he was Executive Director Neuroscience, acting both as Global Marketing Director and Global Medical Science Lead.

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The opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the views of Future Medicine Ltd.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

A Chan is an employee of Genentech, Inc. AJ Schutte is an employee of F Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. The interviewees have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

A Chan is an employee of Genentech, Inc. AJ Schutte is an employee of F Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. The interviewees have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.