MANAGEMENT
Dr. Luo has over 30 years of experience in the biomedical industry. Before founding Denovo Neuroscience, Dr. Luo worked at Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Pharmacia, and Sugen, a pioneer in developing kinase inhibitors as anti-cancer drugs. Dr. Luo also worked in Incyte Genomics, one of the biggest genomic companies when human genome was completed 20 years ago. Dr. Luo was involved in the management of the world's largest DNA database at the time, LifeSeq, and proteome database, LifeProt. Dr. Luo was a postdoctoral fellow at Howard Hughes Medical Institute of University of California, San Francisco after receiving a PhD in molecular biology and biochemistry from Indiana University. Dr. Luo received medical training at Peking Union Medical School.
Dr. Alphs has over 30 years of experience in big pharma and biotech companies. He has led work in all phases of clinical development from Phase I to IV with positions at Novartis, Knoll Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Janssen, and Newron, and currently at Denovo Biopharma. He has led programs in numerous CNS disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, suicidality, anxiety, depression, epilepsy, neuropathic pain, traumatic brain injury, and Rett Syndrome. He has authored over 200 publications, and developed several scales used in clinical trials, including for negative symptoms of schizophrenia, extrapyramidal symptoms, and suicide assessment. Dr. Alphs has an MD and PhD from the University of Chicago.
Dr. Zhang has over 20 years of drug development experience across the FDA, global pharmaceutical companies, and biotech firms. Before joining Denovo, she served as CMO for several biotech startups and previously led CNS clinical development for depression and mood disorders at Allergan and Janssen Pharmaceuticals. She spent 10 years at the FDA as a medical reviewer and clinical team leader, gaining extensive expertise in early- and late-stage development, regulatory strategy, safety assessment, and clinical trial execution across therapeutic areas including immuno-oncology, immunology, cardiopulmonary diseases, pain, and multiple CNS disorders. Earlier in her career, she conducted psychiatric genetics research at NIH. Dr. Zhang earned her M.D. from the Medical College of Henan University and Ph.D. in physiology at Uniformed Services University. She finished her psychiatry residency at the University of Chicago and is a licensed psychiatrist.
Dr. Lu has 30+ years of industry experience. He joined Denovo in 2018 as Chief Technical Officer and currently heads up Global Pharmaceutical Development (CMC, nonclinical, regulatory affairs, and quality assurance). Prior to Denovo, he was VP of Technical Operations at Balance Therapeutics. Dr. Lu was with Arena Pharmaceuticals from 2003 to 2015, most recently as Associate VP of CMC Technical Operations, and contributed to the development of Belviq® (lorcaserin) for obesity, temanogrel for thrombosis, nelotanserin for sleep disorders, ralinepag for PAH, etrasimod for autoimmune diseases, and olorinab for pain. He worked from 1990 to 2003 at Monsanto Company and its spin-off Solutia Inc., and from 1989 to 1990 at Ethyl Corp., with increasing responsibilities in R&D and manufacturing. Dr. Lu holds a PhD in chemical engineering from University of Birmingham in the UK.
Dr. Fang has 20+ years of experience in biomedical research and product development, including biotech industry experience and management experience. Previously as the Sr. Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at GenWay Biotech, she was responsible for new technology and product development. Prior to GenWay, Dr. Fang served at GenStar Therapeutics, initially as Director of Cancer Program and Director of Preclinical Studies, then as Vice President, Hemophilia and Vector Development. Dr. Fang’s earlier experiences include gene therapy product development for hemophilia at Baxter Healthcare and GeneMedicine Inc. Dr. Fang obtained her Medical Degree at Zhejiang University Medical School and PhD in molecular biology at the University of Alabama. She completed her postdoctoral studies at the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Dr. Chen has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, leading drug development across multiple therapeutic areas, especially in CNS disorders, neuroscience, pain, rare diseases, and infectious diseases. She has a strong track record of success in cross-functional environments, with demonstrated ability to lead and influence teams, implement integrated clinical strategies, and execute development plans that support successful clinical outcomes. She has played key leadership roles in preparing and submitting INDs and NDAs, contributing to market approvals with both the FDA and EMA.
