Fate’s management team has the passion and experience to explore new biology, develop innovative therapeutics, create formidable intellectual property, launch new business models and foster high-value strategic collaborations.
Mr. Wolchko is the President & Chief Executive Officer at Fate Therapeutics and is responsible for the company’s finance, administration and operations. Mr. Wolchko began his career as an investment banker with Morgan Stanley & Co., where he served for six years in the firm’s New York City and Menlo Park, California offices. As a member of Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking Health Care Group, he assisted emerging growth companies in the health care technology sector complete capital-raising and M&A transactions. Prior to joining Fate Therapeutics, Mr. Wolchko served as the Chief Financial Officer of Bocada, Inc., where he oversaw all corporate service-related operations, and previously led Corporate Development at drugstore.com, where he was responsible for sourcing, evaluating and executing financial and business development opportunities. Mr. Wolchko holds an M.S. in biochemical engineering from the University of Virginia, and a B.S. in biomedical engineering from the University of Vermont.
Cindy Tahl is Chief Legal & Compliance Officer at Fate Therapeutics and is serving as a key advisor in day to day operations, providing legal advice and counsel for all functions of the business and overseeing company compliance. Ms. Tahl also directs the development and expansion of the Company’s IP portfolio. Prior to joining Fate, Ms. Tahl was a technology transactions attorney at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C., and practiced intellectual property law in the New York office of Kenyon & Kenyon, LLP. Ms. Tahl has worked extensively with biotechnology companies at all stages of growth, representing clients in numerous corporate transactions and executing patent strategy to advance corporate goals. Ms. Tahl received a J.D. from Boston College Law School and a B.S. in biology from the University of California, San Diego. She is admitted to the state bars of California and New York, and is registered to practice as a patent attorney before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Bahram (Bob) Valamehr is President, Research & Development at Fate Therapeutics, overseeing the company’s research and development, technical operations and translational sciences activities. Prior to joining Fate, Dr. Valamehr played key scientific roles at Amgen, the Center for Cell Control (a NIH Nanomedicine Development Center) and the Broad Stem Cell Research Center developing novel methods to control pluripotency, to modulate stem cell fate including hematopoiesis and to better understand cellular signaling pathways associated with aberrant cellular function. He has co-authored numerous studies and patents related to stem cell biology, oncology and materials science. Dr. Valamehr received his Ph.D. from the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at UCLA, his M.B.A. from Pepperdine University and his B.S. from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCLA.
Jerome Bressi, Ph.D. is Chief Regulatory & Quality Officer at Fate Therapeutics, overseeing all aspects of regulatory, quality assurance and quality control functions related to clinical development; chemistry, manufacturing and controls; and future commercialization. Prior to joining Fate, Dr. Bressi was President of BioPharma Regulatory Solutions, LLC, a pharmaceutical regulatory affairs and quality consulting company, where he worked with Janssen Research and Development as a Dossier Development and Operations Lead for the TREMFYA (guselkumab) BLA, MAA, and NDS, as well as sBLA for TREMFYA One-Press patient-controlled injector. Dr. Bressi also held key regulatory positions at Hyperion Therapeutics and Mast Therapeutics and has more than 25 years of biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry experience in drug discovery and development within oncology, autoimmune, and inherited genetic disorder therapeutic arenas. Dr. Bressi received a B.S. from the Department of Chemistry from the University of California, San Diego and a Ph.D. from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Washington.
Mr. Henry is Senior Vice President, Clinical Operations at Fate Therapeutics and is responsible for the global implementation of the company’s clinical programs. He has over 35 years of experience managing clinical trials in global life science companies. Over the last decade, he has worked at the executive team level as the Sr. Vice President overseeing the Clinical Development Operations and Portfolio Management at several clinical-stage biotech companies delivering global programs in cell therapies, devices, and small molecules for Alcoholic Hepatitis, Becker Muscular Dystrophy, as well as Oncology portfolios. Mr. Henry has overseen large multi-million-dollar programs and portfolios across multiple therapeutic areas and has built and managed teams from 5 to 150 employees. At Schering-Plough Oncology, he was a part of the team that led to the approval of Temozolomide for treating brain cancers including glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and anaplastic astrocytoma (AA). At Novartis Oncology, he led the joint clinical team in partnership with Schering AG, developing an early antiangiogenic compound in a global Phase 3 colorectal cancer program. Mr. Henry has a B.S. in Biology with Honors in Biopsychology and Behavioral Genetics from William Paterson University.
