The future of cancer care starts here.

Ian Akash Morrison is Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Avesta Bio and a three-time life sciences founder.

He leads Avesta’s strategy, capital formation, and international partnerships, advancing AV108 toward clinical development and expanding Avesta’s presence across the United States, United Arab Emirates, India, and beyond.

Mr. Morrison co-founded Fuzionaire Diagnostics (now Fuzionaire Theranostics), developing cancer imaging and treatment technologies based on Nobel laureate Robert Grubbs’s Caltech research, and GLabs X, developing novel orthopedic implants for fracture repair. His investment banking (Jefferies) and private equity (Old Ironsides Energy) experience spans transactions totaling over $10 billion.

He founded Optio Ventures, an advisory and venture firm supporting early-stage healthcare companies. His oncology philanthropy includes participation in the American Cancer Society’s CEOs Against Cancer program, co-chairing the 2026 Dream Rydes Gala in Houston for pediatric oncology, and supporting Team Powdered Donut’s cancer community-building work.

Mr. Morrison holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Rice University, where he co-founded the OwlSpark startup accelerator, and has served on the Rice Engineering Alumni Board and the Association of Rice Alumni Board.

Sanjay Awasthi, M.D., is Co-Founder and Chief R&D Officer of Avesta Bio. A medical oncologist with more than 40 years of experience in clinical care, research, and academic medicine, he led the research that established RLIP76 as a stress-response transporter and therapeutic target in cancer, the scientific basis of AV108. He has held professorships at UTHealth Houston; Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, where he was Chief of Hematology and Oncology; the Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope; and the University of North Texas Health Science Center. His research has produced more than 350 peer-reviewed publications and has been supported by more than $35 million in non-dilutive federal funding, including awards from the NIH and the U.S. Department of Defense. Dr. Awasthi received his M.D. from UT Southwestern Medical School, where he also completed fellowship training in medical oncology, and is board certified in internal medicine and medical oncology.

Arjun Awasthi, Ph.D., is Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Avesta Bio, where he oversees operations, partnerships, intellectual property, and program management. He brings a decade of executive experience across strategy, business development, capital formation, and intellectual property in the life sciences. At Avesta, he structured two university in-licensing agreements, one of which was named Texas Tech’s 2023 Research Commercialization Deal of the Year. He also serves as Chief Operating Officer of Optio Ventures, an advisory and venture firm focused on early-stage healthcare companies. Dr. Awasthi holds a Ph.D. in History from The Ohio State University, where his doctoral research examined the role of intelligence and public pressure in civil–military relations, and completed his undergraduate studies at The University of Texas at Austin.

Wayne D. Klohs, Ph.D., is Director of Oncology Drug Development at Avesta Bio, where he contributes oncology development expertise to the AV108 program. He has more than 40 years of experience leading oncology research, development, and business units at Parke-Davis and Pfizer, Takeda, and Astellas. At Astellas, he founded the company’s oncology organization and served as Senior Vice President and Global Therapeutic Area Leader for Oncology at Astellas Pharma Global Development; over five years, the organization grew from no dedicated staff or revenue to approximately 500 people and approximately $4 billion in annual sales. He contributed to bringing erlotinib (Tarceva®) and enzalutamide (Xtandi®) to market. Earlier, at Pfizer and Parke-Davis Research, he led development teams responsible for more than 14 successful Investigational New Drug filings and Phase 1 initiations across oncology programs.

Natasha Moor is Chief Communications Officer of Avesta Bio, an entrepreneur, brand strategist, and humanitarian with international experience across communications, consumer brands, media, and social impact. At Avesta, she leads corporate communications, brand strategy, and public engagement, combining commercial insight with a commitment to improving lives. Ms. Moor is Founder and CEO of Natasha Moor Cosmetics, built on insights gained serving a diverse global clientele as an internationally renowned makeup artist. Its products are manufactured in Italy, Turkey, and the United States and distributed through Sephora across Southeast Asia, Macy’s in the United States, Nykaa in India, and Nysaa in the Middle East. She is also Co-Founder and Creative Director of My Friends Brand, a branding agency helping entrepreneurs and companies define their positioning, articulate their purpose, and build compelling brand identities. Educated at the London College of Fashion, Ms. Moor began her career in Hong Kong, establishing a public relations and marketing firm before expanding into film, television, and international makeup artistry. Her experience combines commercial strategy, storytelling, and audience insight. Through her DO MOOR initiative and wider volunteer work, she has supported women in shelters, survivors of abuse and human trafficking, children with special needs, and people affected by cancer. Using makeup, personal connection, and confidence-building activities, she helps individuals feel seen, valued, and empowered. These experiences informed the creation of Natasha Moor Cosmetics and its emphasis on confidence and purpose. Across her business and humanitarian work, Ms. Moor focuses on building trust, connecting communities, and translating purpose into action.

Sam Meredith is Vice President of Global Business Development at Avesta Bio. Based in Abu Dhabi, he leads the company’s international partnerships, regional expansion across the Gulf Cooperation Council, and investor engagement in support of Avesta’s clinical, regulatory, and partnership strategy in the United Arab Emirates. He is Director of Partnerships at Chapter 3 LLC, a GCC-focused investment and management consulting firm, and an Advisory Partner at AcuityX, an Abu Dhabi consultancy. Mr. Meredith previously served as Managing Director for Healthcare, Life Sciences, and Industrial at ZRG Partners in Dubai and, before that, as a partner at executive search firms operating in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the UAE, following six years in engineering, healthcare, and life sciences recruitment. He holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Chemistry from the University of Nottingham.

Sangeeta Srivastava, M.D., is Chief Strategy Officer of Avesta Bio. A board-certified psychiatrist with more than 30 years of clinical practice, she specializes in onco-psychiatry and integrative psychiatry, including supportive care for patients with cancer and patients undergoing transplantation. At Avesta, she brings a clinician’s perspective on the patient experience in cancer care to corporate strategy. She is a faculty psychiatrist at UTHealth Houston, where her practice focuses on onco-psychiatry, chronic medical illness, and mood disorders, and she has held faculty appointments at City of Hope, UT Southwestern Medical Center, and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Dr. Srivastava received her M.D. from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and completed her residency in psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

John Stillson serves as Financial Controller at Avesta Bio. Mr. Stillson has extensive financial reporting and management experience from his time at Optio Ventures, where he served as finance manager, and previously fro his time as CFO at E.E.E.S. Mr. Stillson holds a B.A. in English Lanugage & Literature from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.

Yogesh C. Awasthi, Ph.D., is Head of the Avesta Bio Scientific Advisory Board. A biochemist with more than 50 years of research leadership, he is an authority on glutathione S-transferase (GST) biology, and his work on glutathione-conjugate transport and oxidative stress underpins the RLIP76 research on which Avesta’s program is built. He has served as a professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and the University of North Texas Health Science Center, where he was Professor of Molecular Biology and Immunology, and has held an appointment at City of Hope. He has published more than 330 peer-reviewed papers, cited more than 13,500 times, and edited the reference volume Toxicology of Glutathione Transferases (CRC Press, 2007). Dr. Awasthi received his Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. in chemistry from the University of Lucknow, India.

William J. Boyle, Ph.D., is a Scientific Advisor to Avesta Bio, contributing expertise in antibody therapeutics and translational medicine. He has more than 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. As Director of Research at Amgen, he led work on the mechanisms of osteoclast activation and bone resorption that led to the discovery of RANKL, and he led the discovery and early preclinical development of denosumab (Prolia®/Xgeva®), now approved for osteoporosis and for bone loss in cancer. He subsequently founded AnaptysBio, where he served as President and Chief Scientific Officer; the company completed its initial public offering in 2017. He later served as President of VivaMab, the antibody division of BioAtla, and led translational medicine and research at BioAtla. Dr. Boyle received his Ph.D. in Experimental Pathology from the UCLA School of Medicine and completed postdoctoral training at the Salk Institute.

Deepak Srivastava, M.D., is a Scientific Advisor to Avesta Bio. He is President of the Gladstone Institutes, Director of the Roddenberry Stem Cell Center at Gladstone, and Professor of Pediatrics and of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco. A physician-scientist known for discoveries in cardiac development and cellular reprogramming, he co-founded iPierian, acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb in 2014, and Tenaya Therapeutics, which completed its Nasdaq initial public offering in 2021. He served as President of the International Society for Stem Cell Research from 2019 to 2020 and is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Srivastava received his M.D. from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, trained in pediatrics at UCSF, and completed a pediatric cardiology fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Alexander J. Bridges, D.Phil., is a Scientific Advisor to Avesta Bio, contributing medicinal chemistry expertise to the company’s small-molecule RLIP76 program. An Oxford-trained medicinal chemist with nearly 50 years in drug discovery, he held oncology chemistry leadership roles at Parke-Davis and Pfizer Global Research and Development, including Senior Director and Executive Director of Oncology Chemistry, and subsequently held senior positions at Eisai and QuatRx. His work in kinase inhibitor discovery contributed to approximately 15 clinical candidates, including the EGFR inhibitor dacomitinib (Vizimpro®), the CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib (Ibrance®), and the MEK inhibitor program that produced mirdametinib. His publications include foundational reports on the EGFR inhibitor PD153035 and the MEK inhibitor PD98059. He is a named inventor on numerous U.S. patents and now consults independently in pharmaceutical and medicinal chemistry.

Richard Carter, D.O., is a Medical Advisor to Avesta Bio. A board-certified general surgeon specializing in bariatric surgery, he has more than 45 years of clinical experience and has performed more than 6,000 surgical procedures. His practice, Carter Bariatrics in Arlington, Texas, has operated since 1981, and he is affiliated with Medical City Arlington, Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital, and USMD Hospital at Arlington. His clinical focus on obesity and its metabolic consequences informs Avesta’s evaluation of RLIP76 modulation in metabolic disease, where preclinical studies have shown 30 to 40% reductions in blood glucose, cholesterol, and triglycerides. Dr. Carter received his D.O. from the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed his surgical residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He is a Fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons.

Uzma Naeem, M.D., FACOG, is a Medical Advisor to Avesta Bio. She is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist and a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She practices at OBG-1 in Sulphur, Louisiana, as a member of the medical staff of West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital, which she joined in 2024. Her clinical perspective in women’s health informs Avesta’s development of AV108 in its lead indication, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Dr. Naeem received her M.D. from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans in 2012 and completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis in 2016. She is a member of the Louisiana State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.

Marcelo E. Vazquez, M.D., Ph.D., is a Scientific Advisor to Avesta Bio, contributing expertise in radiation biology and radiation oncology. He is Head of Radiobiology at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories in Chalk River, Ontario. He previously served as Associate Professor of Radiation Medicine at Loma Linda University and as Director of Research and Development at the James M. Slater, M.D. Proton Treatment and Research Center. Earlier, he spent more than a decade at Brookhaven National Laboratory as the NASA beam line and liaison scientist for the space radiation program, where he founded the NASA Space Radiation Summer School, and served as Associate Team Leader of the Radiation Effects Team at the National Space Biomedical Research Institute. Dr. Vazquez received his M.D. and Ph.D. from the National University of La Plata, Argentina, where he also trained in radiation oncology, and completed postdoctoral work at Uppsala University and Columbia University.

Jennifer M. Murphy, Ph.D., is a Scientific Advisor to Avesta Bio, contributing expertise in medicinal chemistry and small-molecule drug development. She is Associate Professor of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, a member of the Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, and a member of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her research spans medicinal chemistry and molecular imaging in oncology. She led medicinal chemistry for a first-in-class deoxycytidine kinase (dCK) inhibitor, licensed to Trethera Corporation as TRE-515, which received FDA clearance of an Investigational New Drug application for myelodysplastic syndromes. She has filed 13 patents, four of which have been licensed. Her honors include the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2019 “Ones to Watch” award. Dr. Murphy received her B.S. in Chemistry from Santa Clara University and her Ph.D. from UCLA.

Jacqueline P. Williams, Ph.D., FASTRO, is a Scientific Advisor to Avesta Bio, contributing expertise in radiation biology and medical countermeasures against radiation injury. She is Professor Emeritus of Environmental Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, which she joined in 1990 after teaching at the Medical College of St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. Over nearly 40 years in radiation biology, she has published more than 150 papers and served as principal investigator of the University of Rochester Center for Medical Countermeasures Against Radiation, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. She was President of the Radiation Research Society from 2011 to 2012 and Founding Chair of the Radiation Research Foundation, and is a Fellow of the American Society for Radiation Oncology. Her honors include the John Yuhas Memorial Award and two Casarett Awards. Dr. Williams received her Ph.D. in Radiation Biology from the University of London.

Cambria Alpha-Cobb, J.D., Ph.D., is IP and Legal Advisor to Avesta Bio. She is Vice President, Head of Intellectual Property, and Associate General Counsel at AIRNA, an RNA editing company. She previously served as Head of Legal and IP at Akouos, a gene therapy company acquired by Eli Lilly in 2022 in a transaction valued at up to approximately $610 million, and as Patent Counsel at the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. Earlier, she advanced from senior patent agent to patent attorney at Momenta Pharmaceuticals, including through its $6.5 billion acquisition by Johnson & Johnson in 2020, after beginning her career at Dilworth IP and Fish & Richardson. Her practice spans antibodies, gene therapies, biosimilars, and complex generics. She holds a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School, a Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University, and undergraduate degrees in biochemistry and Hispanic studies from Rice University.

Chris Bemben, MBA, PMP, is a Business Advisor to Avesta Bio, contributing expertise in business development, asset evaluation, and drug development. He served as Vice President of Business Development at Lumos Pharma, a clinical-stage biotechnology company in Austin, Texas, through its acquisition by Double Point Ventures in December 2024. Over more than nine years at Lumos, he advanced from roles in CMC and non-clinical development to leading business development, and contributed to the evaluation and 2018 acquisition of LUM-201, an oral growth hormone secretagogue. He previously spent more than seven years as a scientist at Southwest Research Institute, where he managed teams advancing molecules toward the clinic and led business development for pharmaceutical clients. Mr. Bemben holds an MBA in Management Science and a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Texas at San Antonio and is a certified Project Management Professional.

Fran Lambetecchio, M.P.H., is Regulatory Advisor to Avesta Bio, contributing expertise in regulatory strategy and clinical quality. She is President of Regulatory Associates, a regulatory consulting firm, and has more than 35 years of experience as a regulatory and clinical compliance executive across pharmaceuticals, biologics, and medical devices. She has contributed to more than 30 U.S. and EU approvals spanning IND, NDA, BLA, ANDA, 505(b)(2), and PMA submissions. She previously served as Executive Director of Regulatory Compliance and Clinical Quality Assurance at CytomX Therapeutics and as Senior Director of Clinical Quality Assurance at Acerta Pharma, in which AstraZeneca acquired a majority stake. Her expertise covers Good Clinical, Laboratory, and Manufacturing Practice compliance, pharmacovigilance, and preparation for FDA Bioresearch Monitoring and pre-approval inspections, with a focus on oncology submissions.

Kimberly Schofield is a Business Advisor to Avesta Bio. Based in Abu Dhabi, she has more than 40 years of experience in international business development, engineering, and program management. She is Chairman Emeritus of the American Chamber of Commerce in Abu Dhabi, and Managing Director of EVAP Investment LLC, which advises on economic value-add, offset, In-Country Value, and localization programs. She was the first woman to serve as President of the American Business Group of Abu Dhabi, from 2004 to 2009, and has served as President of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International and on its board for approximately a decade. She previously led marketing at Remah International Group and began her career as a manufacturing engineer at Volvo Bus Company and BMY Combat Systems. She holds a B.Sc. in Operations Engineering from North Carolina State University.