Our leadership team has experience
throughout the drug development
process, from drug discovery
through to commercialization

Robert W. Duggan joined the Board of Directors in December 2019 and has been the Executive Chairman of our Board since February 2020. Mr. Duggan has served as our Chief Executive Officer since April 2020. Since 2015, Mr. Duggan has also been the Founder and CEO of Duggan Investments, a venture capital and equity investment firm. His firm’s investments primarily focus on patient-friendly breakthrough solutions to complex diseases that extend patients’ lives.

From 2008 to 2015, Mr. Duggan was Chairman, CEO, and the largest investor in Pharmacyclics, Inc., a patient-friendly, science-based, employee-driven developer of small-molecule medicines for the treatment of certain cancers. Mr. Duggan led both the multimillion-dollar collaboration and license deal for ibrutinib with Johnson & Johnson in 2011, and the subsequent sale of Pharmacyclics to AbbVie Inc. in 2015. The acquisition of Pharmacyclics by AbbVie for approximately $21B remains one of the largest transactions to have occurred in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

From 1990 to 2003, Mr. Duggan was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Computer Motion, Inc., a groundbreaking robotic surgery company that helped change the way in which many surgical procedures are performed around the world with the assistance of its minimally invasive, robotics-based surgical systems. From 1997 to 2003, Mr. Duggan also served as CEO of Computer Motion.  In June 2003, Computer Motion merged with Intuitive Surgical, Inc. From the completion of the merger in 2003 until 2011, Mr. Duggan served on the Board of Directors of Intuitive Surgical.

Mr. Duggan received a US Congressional Medal of Merit from Congressman Dr. Ron Paul in 1985. In 2000, he was named a Knight of the Legion D’Honor by President Jacques Chirac of France.

Beyond Summit, Mr. Duggan is currently the Chairman of the Board at Pulse Biosciences, Inc., and is also a member of the University of California at Santa Barbara Foundation Board of Trustees.  Mr. Duggan has also funded two Chairs in Mathematical, Life, and Physical Sciences, as well as a Chair in Religious Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Maky Zanganeh, DDS, is a recognized leader in the healthcare industry and is currently Co-Chief Executive Officer, President, and member of the Board of Directors of Summit Therapeutics. Dr. Zanganeh was recognized in the “CEO appointments – 21 women who made CEO in 2022”article published in Business Chief Leadership & Strategy, August 2022. It was noted in this article that “…women represent just 15% of chief executives employed by Fortune 500 companies, equaling 74 female chiefs, while globally, just 5% of chiefs are female.”

Dr. Zanganeh is the recipient of many awards and honors including:
Honored speaker at the United Nations 7th International Day of Woman & Girls in Science Assembly conference, during the Esteemed Closing Ceremony, in February 2022.
Honored as one of the Top 10 Influential Chief Operating Officers of 2021 by Industry Era magazine.
Invited to be a keynote speaker to share the stories in her book at multiple companies and conferences including Medable, an elite company named to the CNBC 2022 Disruptor List, and the Iranian American Women Foundation (IAWF) Leadership Conference, held in October 2022.
Earned the Fierce Biotech “Top Women in Biotech 2013” award.
Finalist for the Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” award in 2013.
Board member of two public companies.

One of her greatest leadership accomplishments occurred when Dr. Zanganeh, as Chief Operating Officer at Pharmacyclics, Inc., led a team to develop and commercialize a game-changing treatment, ibrutinib, for a wide range of blood cancers. She led this struggling biotech company to a multimillion-dollar collaboration and license deal for ibrutinib with Johnson & Johnson in 2011 and the subsequent sale of the company for $21 billion in 2015 to AbbVie Inc., which was the second largest biopharma sale ever in the industry at that time. The deal with Johnson & Johnson received the “Best Biotech Transaction” award in 2011. Under her leadership in 2015, Pharmacyclics was also awarded the prestigious Prix Galien for “Best Pharmaceutical Agent.” This award is the biomedical industry’s highest accolade and recognizes outstanding achievements in the development of new therapies.

Dr. Zanganeh was President of EMEA / Global VP of Training and Education for Computer Motion, Inc. (Pioneers in Robotic Surgery) which later merged with Intuitive, Inc. (ISRG) company in June 2003. Dr. Zanganeh was awarded her DDS (Dental Degree of Surgery) from the Louis Pasteur University, France and an MBA from Schiller International University, France. She is fluent in French, German, Farsi, and English. She is also a published author, recently releasing her book entitled The Magic of Normal.

Will Black is our Head of IT and is responsible for all IT infrastructure, systems, and processes at Summit. He is also responsible for Computer System Validation and works closely with all business departments and Quality Assurance to ensure that Summit’s GxP systems meet FDA and EMA criteria.

Mr. Black was previously at Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. where his most recent project was designing IT systems and infrastructure for the largest US GMP cell and tissue therapy manufacturing facility. Prior to that he spent eight years at Pharmacyclics, Inc., leading IT and supporting R&D where he was the principal SME for all IT inspections and audits.

Mr. Black received his BSc from Napier University, UK and has worked professionally in the UK, the Middle East, and the US for the last 30 years.

Betty Y. Chang, Ph.D., is our Head of Research, leading efforts for discovering new molecules for our growing pipeline.

Prior to Summit, Dr. Chang was Senior Vice President of Translational Research and Early Development, part of the executive team, of Molecular Templates, Inc., an immunotoxin company where she was responsible for nonclinical toxicology, clinical pharmacology, bioanalytical and translational medicine functions. From 2018 to 2019, she was Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Product Development at Angarus Therapeutics, an early-stage start-up of innate immunity activating molecules.

From 2009 to 2018, she was at Pharmacyclics, Inc., (acquired by AbbVie, Inc. in 2015) where she was ultimately the Head and Vice President of Research. In that function, she built and led the strategy and operations of a team responsible for drug discovery, pharmacology, translational medicine, over 100+ academic research collaborations (MTA/SRA) and early development activities for ibrutinib. Dr. Chang started her career at Cell Genesys, Inc., a gene / cell therapy company in 1999, and then was Associate Director at Rigel and Alder Biopharmaceuticals, with increasing responsibilities in research and development.

Dr. Chang has published over 100 research manuscripts, conference abstracts, and patent publications. Dr. Chang received her Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California, Davis, and completed her postdoctoral fellowship in cancer biology at Stanford School of Medicine.

Fong Clow, D.Sc., is our Head of Biometrics and Clinical Operations. She provides strategic leadership and analysis to the product development cycle.

Dr. Clow brings over 30 years of experience, leading extensive teams in biometrics and drug development. She joined us from Pharmacyclics, an AbbVie company, where she was the SVP of Biostatistics, Statistical Programming, and Clinical Data Management. Here she built out the team from 2 to over 50 people. At AbbVie Inc. she was the head of Oncology Statistics, where she managed over 15 compounds in development. Dr. Clow started her career at Syntax, a big pharmaceutical company. She worked in Genentech, Inc. for more than eight years, where she was a clinical team leader for a big international collaboration project. She has worked in both public and private biotech companies. At Novacea, Inc., Dr. Clow was SVP of Drug Development, leading the full scope of the company’s drug development. She served as a member of a grant review committee of the NIH for two terms. She has worked as a consultant for many companies and has been the Managing Director of a private investment company.

Dr. Clow has had 19 successful NDA / BLA submissions and approvals in cardiovascular, neurology and oncology. She led the team that submitted the first fully electronic BLA submission in 1995. She has received multiple awards for her accomplishments and contributions, including the 2019 Lagakos Distinguished Alumni Award from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Dr. Clow has published over 60 manuscripts and conference abstracts, and a patent. Dr. Clow received her Doctor of Science and Master of Science degrees from Harvard School of Public Health.

Ankur Dhingra is our Chief Financial Officer and is responsible for our finance, human resources, and information technology functions. Mr. Dhingra brings over 25 years of finance and accounting experience in Diagnostics, Life Sciences Tools and Electronics Tools industries.

Most recently, Mr. Dhingra was CFO at CareDx, Inc. – company focused on transplant patient journey – where he was responsible for Finance, IT and Market Access functions.

Prior to that, Mr. Dhingra spent 18 years at Agilent Technologies, Inc. in various finance and business management roles. Mr. Dhingra held roles of progressive financial leadership, including multiple business unit CFO roles in Agilent’s Life Sciences and Applied Markets businesses.

He also led Agilent’s China Growth Program, generating over $1B annual revenues.

Mr. Dhingra has demonstrated a track record of success scaling businesses by executing and influencing growth-oriented business strategies, expanding margins and deploying M&A policies. He has extensive experience managing global teams of finance and accounting professionals. Mr. Dhingra is a Chartered Accountant from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Beyond Summit, Mr. Dhingra is Advisory Board Member at InstaMortgage, Inc.

Andy Dwyer, Ph.D., is our head of CMC and Supply Chain. He provides strategic, scientific and operational leadership for all matters involving drug substance development and manufacture, drug product development and manufacture, and product supply.

Prior to joining Summit, Andy had more than 18 years of experience at GSK plc in various CMC associated roles, leading teams across Europe, US and Asia, focused on process design and development, demand and supply management, API operations (chemically and biologically produced), drug product operations, packaging and distribution operations, business management and strategic design / delivery, across internal / external commercial and clinical supply chains.

Andy has a Ph.D. in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from Southampton University, UK.

Andy has also been an active leader in the UK and Singapore based “industry, academic and government” initiatives focused on driving CMC innovation in the industry for numerous years.

Dave Gancarz, CPA, is our Head of Stakeholder Relations, Business Development, and Corporate Strategy, who provides strategic leadership over our company’s business development, corporate affairs, corporate strategy, program management, alliance management, and investor relations functions, as well as communications with our various stakeholders. Mr. Gancarz’s previous experience focused on commercial finance, general corporate finance, and public accounting.

Mr. Gancarz joined Summit from Athenahealth, Inc., where he most recently led the commercial finance team, where he oversaw the company’s overall pricing strategy, deal pricing, deal desk, deal administration, and sales operations functions. Prior to that, he held leadership positions in finance and accounting at Athenahealth. Mr. Gancarz began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he was a Senior Manager in the Boston, MA and Miami, FL offices.

Mr. Gancarz has demonstrated a track record of successfully leading and executing growth strategies for rapidly expanding organizations. He has significant experience managing cross-functional teams geared towards improving sales, gross margins, and market share of products and improving structural processes for long-term organizational success. Mr. Gancarz received his MSA and BSBA degrees from Stonehill College and is a Certified Public Accountant in Massachusetts and Florida.

Urte Gayko, Ph.D., is our Head of Regulatory Affairs, Quality Assurance, and Safety. She provides strategic, scientific and operational leadership throughout the product development cycle.

Dr. Gayko brings over 20 years of experience leading extensive teams in regulatory affairs, as well as safety and program management. She joined us from Nektar, where she was the SVP of Drug Development and Regulatory Affairs.

Prior to Nektar, Dr. Gayko was the Global Head of Regulatory Affairs and Pharmacovigilance at Pharmacyclics, Inc., which was acquired by AbbVie Inc. She was a key member of the Pharmacyclics leadership team, which saw 13 approvals for ibrutinib over her 8 years there. She built out the regulatory team from 3 to approximately 35 team members (2012 to 2020) and lead the regulatory strategy and approvals for spanning 95 countries. The regulatory strategy for ibrutinib included three of the first Break Through Designations and adjusting the regulatory plans leading to first approval one year earlier than originally planned. Prior to joining Pharmacyclics, Dr. Gayko held roles of increasing responsibility at several companies, including Amgen, Inc.

Dr. Gayko performed her Ph.D. research in molecular and cellular biology at Harvard University. She has a Masters in Biochemistry from Freie University, Berlin, Germany.

Danelle James, MD, is our Head of Clinical Development and Medical Affairs. She has the responsibility for the clinical development of Summit’s molecules and Summit’s external education, scientific communication, and awareness strategy.

Prior to joining Summit, Dr. James was the Global Development Lead for ibrutinib for Pharmacyclics, Inc., and AbbVie Inc. for almost 10 years joining Pharmacyclics in 2011. She worked to launch and expand ibrutinib globally through clinical oversight and execution of a global clinical development program spanning hematology and solid tumors, working closely with external leaders to maximize the value of ibrutinib leading to 13 approvals including 95 countries and 151 initiated clinical studies.

Prior to Pharmacyclics, Dr. James was a faculty member in the Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, at the University of California, San Diego Moore’s Cancer Center. Dr. James received three Young Investigator Awards from ASCO to support her research. While in academia she worked to support marketing efforts for several sponsor’s speaker programs, was a subject matter expert educating physicians in the setting of CME (continuing medical education), and the lead investigator for 11 ISTs with 5 different oncology products. She served on her hospital Medical Ethics Committee and as a SME for NCI CTCAE. Dr. James started her career in industry almost 25 years ago at Biogen, Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she worked in the Department of Immunology and Inflammation.

Dr. James has published over 60 peer-reviewed manuscripts. She received her MD from Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and completed her Internal Medicine residency and Hematology/Oncology fellowship at University California, San Diego; she is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and in Hematology. Dr. James obtained a Master’s degree in Advanced Studies of Clinical Research.

Abby Guzman Murphy is our Head of Human Resources who provides strategic leadership for developing and implementing HR strategies to attract, retain, and develop top talent. Ms. Guzman Murphy also oversees talent management, organizational design, employee engagement, diversity and inclusion, and compliance with employment laws and regulations.

Previously, Ms. Guzman Murphy served as the Executive Director of Human Resources at Tricida, where she provided strategic HR direction and implemented HR solutions and strategy to meet the needs of the business units. Ms. Guzman Murphy has also worked at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Riverbed Technology, LiveRamp/Acxiom Corporation, and Abbott Diabetes Care/Abbott Vascular, where she provided strategic HR direction and successfully coordinated and delivered HR elements to meet the business needs.

Throughout her career Ms. Guzman Murphy has served as a strategic partner and consultant to leadership on all people-related issues within the organization. She has partnered closely with both organizational senior leadership and each HR centralized area to ensure that all people-related strategies are in place to meet organizational business goals. Her responsibilities have included leading the integration efforts from an overall HR and culture perspective for the organization, the execution of certain enterprise HR initiatives, and creating new commercial incentive plans for growing commercial organizations. Ms. Guzman Murphy is a Certified Senior Professional Human Resources (SPHR), Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) and a Global Remuneration Professional (GRP).

Shelley D Spray serves as Head of Corporate Education, Communications & Creative. Ms. Spray has over 26 years of experience in the healthcare industry.

Prior to Summit, Ms. Spray was President and Chief Creative Officer at SD Spray Consulting where she worked with leading Fortune 500 companies, including Varian Medical Systems, Roche, Sanofi SA, and Intuitive Surgical, Inc [NASDAQ: ISRG]. She’s held multiple executive roles including Vice President and General Manager of the Radiosurgery and StealthNet Divisions of Medtronic, Inc. where she led Commercial, Education, Engineering, R&D and Operations. At Medtronic, she rebuilt infrastructure, redefined divisional focus, and developed B2B and B2C strategies for minimally invasive brain tumor treatments. As Chief Marketing Officer of Aesthera Corporation (acquired by Solta Medical), Ms. Spray focused on growth strategies, commercialization, and global education for their Isolaz photopneumatic system. As Vice President of Worldwide Marketing at Xlumena Inc. (acquired by Boston Scientific Corporation), Ms. Spray led the commercial and education strategy for its endoscopic ultrasound guided transluminal system. Prior, Ms. Spray was Vice President of Worldwide Marketing at Intuitive Surgical, Inc where she led early commercialization strategies into the US and international markets. Ms. Spray has headed many education departments – leading strategic global education initiatives for physicians, clinical teams, hospitals, patients, and employees.

Ms. Spray serves on the Board of Directors of Pulse Biosciences, Inc. Ms. Spray has been honored with many awards including a prestigious Telly Award for a global patient education initiative in the field of oncology. She also earned a Business Week Magazine Bronze award for medical product development and design. Ms. Spray received a BS in Business, Magna Cum Laude, Beta Gamma Sigma, from Arizona State University and graduated from the Competitive Strategic Business Program of Columbia University’s Executive School of Business.

Elaine Stracker, Ph.D., JD is our General Counsel, Head of Compliance, and a member of the executive leadership team and responsible for global legal, compliance and CMC. Dr Stracker has more than 20 years of experience handling legal, corporate, business, intellectual property, transactional, compliance, and litigation matters. Dr. Stracker also has extensive expertise in building legal teams, working with Boards, and assessing and evaluating new technologies.

Dr. Stracker has worked for both big pharma and medical device companies, as well as small biotech start-ups and law firms in a number of legal roles. Prior to Summit, Dr. Stracker has been General Counsel at both public and privately held companies, including Pharmacyclics, Inc., Indigo Ag., Inc. and Maky Zanganeh & Associates, where she has participated in number of significant financing and transactional deals, including the sale of Pharmacyclics to AbbVie, Inc. in 2015. She has also held senior leadership positions of increasing responsibility within companies such as AbbVie; Medtronic, Inc.; Gilead Sciences, Inc.; Merck & Co., Inc.; Alexza MDC, Molecular Probes, Inc.; and Affymax Research Institute (a GSK company).

Dr. Stracker serves on the Board of Directors of Lassogen, Inc., is an Advisory Board member of VastBiome, Inc. and an Advisor for the SPARK Program at Stanford.

Dr. Stracker has a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of California, Davis, and a JD from the University of California, Berkeley. She is also a registered patent attorney with the USPTO. Dr. Stracker is the recipient of several honors and distinctions including a Tribute to Women in Industry Award and a Jurisprudence Award for Patent Law. She is published in the area of advanced licensing agreements and is an inventor on a number of patents.

Juthamas Sukbuntherng, Ph.D., is our Head of Clinical Pharmacology and DMPK, providing strategic leadership on preclinical and clinical development of our assets and pipelines. She has been involved in the early and late development of multiple approved drugs, such as sunitinib malate, gabapentin enacarbil and ibrutinib.

Dr. Sukbuntherng has nearly 25 years of experience in drug development, from discovery to clinical for various therapeutic areas in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. In her latest role at Pharmacyclics, an AbbVie company, she successfully provided clinical pharmacology and DMPK support to the US and global approval of ibrutinib for the treatment of several oncology indications. In addition, she provided scientific leadership to cross-functional teams and led several discovery oncology projects.

Dr. Sukbuntherng started her career at Sugen in 1997, where she was involved in discovery of sunitinib malate. From 2003 to 2006, she was involved in the early development of several programs including FVIIa, CatS and HDAC at Celera Genomincs. She continued to expand her responsibility in the late development of gabapentin enacarbil at XenoPort , Inc. from 2006 to2011.

Dr. Sukbuntherng has published over 80 manuscripts and conference abstracts. Dr. Sukbuntherng received her Ph.D. in Pharmacokinetics from the University of Arizona.