Leadership
Meet the VST Bio Team
VST-Bio has a first-class managerial and advisory team consisting of experienced professionals in healthcare and business.
If you feel like you'd be a great fit, we are currently on the lookout for dedicated individuals to join our team.
LEADERSHIP
VST Bio CEO and Director
Kris Zsebo, PhD
Dr. Zsebo is a biopharmaceutical veteran with 39 years of experience in the Biotechnology industry and has been involved in numerous successful ventures. She is CEO and co-founder of VST Bio. Prior to VST Bio, she was CEO & President of Celladon Corporation, for 11 years and took the company public. She was also an Entrepreneur in Residence at Enterprise Partners Venture Capital. Dr. Zsebo also headed the Biopharmaceutical and Implant Division of ALZA Corporation, where she was responsible for the division which developed and filed the NDA for Viadur®, an implantable drug/device for prostate cancer patients. At Cell Genesys, where she was Executive Vice President of Research and Product Development, she managed the Xenotech division where Xenomouse was developed. It was spun off to become Abgenix, one of the most successful biotech companies. Earlier in her career, Kris spent eight years at Amgen in research and product development where she worked on the discovery of NEUPOGEN®, as well as Stem Cell Factor, and various aspects of EPOGEN® development. Dr. Zsebo received a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Maryland, a M.S. in Biochemistry and Biophysics from Oregon State University and a PhD in Comparative Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Ms. Laba joined VST Bio as our Vice President Finance and Administration in February 2022. She has over 25 years of experience in biotechnology serving in executive roles with direct oversight of finance and accounting, business operations, and corporate governance, among others. Ms. Laba was Vice President Finance and Corporate Operations at Celladon Corporation where she led the company through an IPO. Prior to Celladon she held senior roles at Idun Pharmaceuticals having a lead role in its acquisition by Pfizer. Ms. Laba has raised over $350MM in private and public equity, and debt financings and has participated in multiple M&A transactions.
VP Finance & Administration
Rebecque Laba
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David Cheresh, PhD
Member of the Scientific Advisory Board and Director
Prof.Dr.David Cheresh received a PhD in Immunology from the University of Miami in 1982. In 1983, he moved to California to train with Ralph Reisfeld at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, where he was later appointed assistant professor. In April 2005, Dr.Cheresh joined the Department of Pathology in the school of medicine at the University of California, San Diego, and moved his laboratory to the Moores Cancer Center. Cheresh is a recipient of an NIH MERIT award. As of 2019, Cheresh is a distinguished professor and vice chair of research in the Department of Pathology in the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego.
Prof. Cheresh has contributed numerous papers in the field of angiogenesis and cancer metastasis. His early research focused on the function of integrins, cellular receptors for the extracellular matrix, in cell migration and survival. His current work is on signaling aspects of cell invasion by vascular cells and tumor cells, with a focus on preventing tumor metastasis.
Michael Simons, MD
Member of the Scientific Advisory Board, Co-Founder of VasoRx
Prof.Dr. Simons is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale School of Medicine. He completed his clinical training in internal medicine at the New England Medical Center in Boston and cardiology training at the Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. He completed a postdoctoral fellowships in molecular cardiology at National Heart Lung and Blood Institute in Bethesda and in vascular biology at MIT. In 1993, he joined faculty at Harvard Medical School as an Assistant Professor of Medicine and rose through the ranks to become an Associate Professor of Medicine, Director of the Morse Coronary Care Unit and Director of Angiogenesis Research Center. In 2001, he was recruited to Dartmouth as AG Huber Professor of Medicine and Chief of Cardiology, subsequently becoming Director of Dartmouth Cardiovascular Center.
In 2008, prof Simons accepted the position of the Robert W. Berliner Professor of Medicine, professor of cell biology, and chief of the Section of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Yale CardioVascular Research Center. Prof.Simons has published over 270 research papers and reviews and has been elected to a number of honorary societies.
Krisztina Zsebo, PhD
Co-Founder and Director
Dr. Zsebo is a biopharmaceutical veteran with 39 years of experience in the Biotechnology industry and has been involved in numerous successful ventures. She was CEO & President of Celladon Corporation, for 11 years and took the company public. She was also an Entrepreneur in Residence at Enterprise Partners Venture Capital. Prior to joining Enterprise, she was CEO & President of Remedyne Corporation. Before coming to Remedyne she was Executive Vice President of Connetics Corporation. Dr. Zsebo also headed the Biopharmaceutical and Implant Division of ALZA Corporation, where she was responsible for the division which developed and filed the NDA for Viadur®, an implantable drug/device for prostate cancer patients. At Cell Genesys, where she was Executive Vice President of Research and Product Development, she managed the Xenotech division where Xenomouse was developed. It was spun off to become Abgenix, one of the most successful biotech companies. Earlier in her career, Kris spent eight years at Amgen in research and product development where she worked on the discovery of NEUPOGEN®, as well as Stem Cell Factor, and various aspects of EPOGEN® development. Dr. Zsebo received a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Maryland, a M.S. in Biochemistry and Biophysics from Oregon State University and a PhD in Comparative Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California, Berkeley
Federico Corti, PhD
Member of the Scientific Advisory Board
Federico Corti, PhD is an Associate Research Scientist in the laboratory of Professor Michael Simons at the Yale Cardiovascular Research Center. Dr. Corti’s research aims to improve our fundamental knowledge of protein glycosylation and how this translates to physiological and pathological states. Recently, he has shown for the first time that certain protein motifs are able to regulate heparan sulfate biosynthesis in order to achieve specific biological functions. Dr. Corti has also made significant contributions demonstrating the critical role of syndecans (a class of proteoglycans) in various biological processes such as inflammation, atherosclerosis and angiogenesis with publications in JBC, PNAS and Nature Communications. Federico received his M.Sc. in Medicinal Chemistry and Ph.D. in Biotechnology from University of Siena (Italy).