MEET THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dr. Selick has served on our board of directors since February 2009. He is currently Chief Executive Officer and board member of Hinge Bio, Inc., a private biotechnology company focused on developing therapeutics for patients living with cancer. He previously served as Vice Chancellor of Business Development, Innovation and Partnerships at the University of California, San Francisco, from April 2017 to December 2022. Dr. Selick was a Venture Partner at Mission Bay Capital, a venture capital firm, from 2018 until his resignation at the end of 2022. Previously, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company, from June 2002 until the company’s merger with Molecular Templates Inc. in April 2017. From June 2002 until July 2007, Dr. Selick was also a Venture Partner of Sofinnova Ventures, Inc., a venture capital firm. From January 1999 to April 2002, he was Chief Executive Officer of Camitro Corporation, a biotechnology company, which was acquired two years after its founding. From 1992 to 1999, he was at Affymax Research Institute, the drug discovery technology development center for Glaxo Wellcome plc, most recently as Vice President of Research. Prior to working at Affymax he held scientific positions at Protein Design Labs, Inc. and Anergen, Inc. Dr. Selick serves as Chairman of the board of directors of Molecular Templates, Inc. (Nasdaq: MTEM), a biopharmaceutical company. Dr. Selick previously served as Lead Director and then Chairman of PDL BioPharma, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, from 2009 to December 2019, and served as Chairman of the board of directors of Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Inc. until it merged with Molecular Templates Inc. in April 2017. Dr. Selick received a B.A. in Biophysics and a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania and was a Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Fund Fellow and an American Cancer Society Senior Fellow at the University of California, San Francisco.
Mr. Giraudo has served on our board of directors since May 2018. He has served as both Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Gossamer Bio, Inc. (Nasdaq: GOSS), a biotechnology company, since September 2021, and as Gossamer’s Chief Financial Officer since May 2018. Prior to joining Gossamer Bio, Mr. Giraudo was a Senior Managing Director at Leerink Partners from 2009 to April 2018, where he was responsible for their western North America and Asia Pacific biotechnology and medical technology banking practice. Before joining Leerink, he was a Managing Director with Merrill Lynch and Co.’s Global Healthcare Investment Banking Group. Mr. Giraudo joined Merrill Lynch in 1997. As a banker, he completed over 200 corporate finance, corporate partnership and strategic advisory transactions. Mr. Giraudo has been a member of the board of directors of Valerio Therapeutics, S.A. (EPA: ALVIO), a biotechnology company, since November 2021. He received a B.A. from Georgetown University.
Ms. O’Dowd has served as a member of our board of directors since August 2020. Ms. O’Dowd is also a member of the board of directors of Ichor Holdings, Ltd. (Nasdaq: ICHR), a leader in the design, engineering and manufacturing of critical fluid delivery subsystems and components for semiconductor capital equipment, and is a director of the Independent Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan, public policy research and communications organization. From September 2008 until her retirement in March 2020, she was Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at Lam Research Corporation (Nasdaq: LRCX), an S&P 500 technology company. From 2009 to 2012 she also served as Group Vice President of Human Resources at Lam. From February 2007 to September 2008, she served as Vice President of FibroGen, Inc. (Nasdaq: FGEN), a biopharmaceutical company. Ms. O’Dowd received a J.D. from Stanford Law School, an M.A. in Communications from Stanford University and an A.B. in Mathematics from Immaculata College.
Dr. Patel has served as the President, Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the Board of Directors of Protagonist Therapeutics since 2008. He brings 40 years of executive, entrepreneurial, and scientific experience across the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and biopharmaceutical sectors. Under his leadership, Protagonist has emerged as an industry leader in peptide therapeutics. Most notably, in 2026, the company achieved FDA approval for two internally discovered peptides: ICOTYDE™ (partnered with JNJ for plaque psoriasis) and MIMRYLO™ (partnered with Takeda for erythrocytosis in polycythemia vera).
Before driving Protagonist's discovery, clinical, and commercial success, Dr. Patel built a distinguished track record of establishing and successfully exiting high-value biotech companies. He began this executive chapter by serving as the President and CEO of Arête Therapeutics from 2006 to 2008. Prior to that, he co-founded Miikana Therapeutics and served as its CEO from 2003 until its strategic acquisition by CASI Pharmaceuticals in 2005. His leadership was also instrumental at Versicor (later Vicuron), where he held roles of increasing responsibility from 1996 to 2003, culminating in his position as Senior Vice President of Drug Discovery and Licensing. His research and development efforts there directly led to two marketed drugs—anidulafungin (Eraxis®) and dalbavancin (Dalvance®)—prior to Pfizer acquiring the company in a $1.9 billion transaction in 2005.
Earlier in his career, Dr. Patel built a strong foundation in scientific leadership and research. He served as the Director of Chemistry at Affymax from 1993 to 1996, which was subsequently acquired by Glaxo Wellcome in 1995, and he initially began his industry journey as a medicinal chemist at Bristol-Myers Squibb from 1985 to 1993.
In addition to his executive roles, Dr. Patel has served on the Board of Directors of Sai Life Sciences, Limited (BSE: SAILIFE), a publicly traded global Contract Research, Development & Manufacturing Organization, since March 2025. He holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Rutgers University, New Jersey, as well as an M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Chemistry from S. P. University in Vallabh Vidyanagar, India.
Mr. Waddill has served as a member of our board of directors since July 2016. From April 2014 to December 2016, Mr. Waddill served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary of Calithera Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: CALA), a biotechnology company. From October 2007 to March 2014, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. From October 2006 to September 2007, Mr. Waddill served as the Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of Ilypsa, Inc., a biotechnology company that was acquired in 2007 by Amgen, Inc. From February 2000 to September 2006, he served as a Principal at Square One Finance, a financial consulting business. He has served as a director of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARWR), a biopharmaceutical company, since January 2018 and Annexon, Inc. (Nasdaq: ANNX), a biopharmaceutical company, since August 2021. Mr. Waddill received a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Illinois, Chicago, and a certification as a public accountant, which is currently inactive, after working at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Deloitte LLP.
Dr. Williams has served on our board of directors since June 2017 and is chair of the Research Committee and a member of the Compensation Committee. He is also Chairman of the Boards of Realta Therapeutics and Ten30 Biosciences. Dr. Williams founded and served as a CEO, Director, and Chairman of Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc., a former public biotechnology company acquired by Amgen, Inc in 2021. He was also Co-Founder and Board member of Cor Therapeutics which was acquired by Millenium Pharmaceuticals. In 2019 he was a co-founder and CEO of Walking Fish Therapeutics, a cell therapy company. Previously, Dr. Williams spent seven years at Chiron Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company now known as Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Inc., where he served as its Chief Scientific Officer and a member of the Board of Directors. Prior to joining Chiron, Dr. Williams was a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and was an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Williams also has served on the faculties of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is currently on the Boards of the Institute for Protein Innovation and the Woodshole Marine Biological Laboratories, and has previously served on the Boards of Trustees of Duke University, Rice University, and The Berklee College of Music. Dr. Williams received a B.S. from Rice University and an M.D. and a Ph.D. from Duke University.