Leadership

Arnon co-founded Alector in 2013 and has served as a member of our board of directors, as Chief Executive Officer, and as our President since 2013. Arnon co-founded Annexon Biosciences, Inc., and served as its acting Chief Executive Officer from August 2011 to December 2014 and served as a member of the board of directors, including as Chairman from August 2011 to February 2017. Arnon co-founded Rinat Neuroscience Corporation (acquired by Pfizer Inc. in August 2006), and served as President, Chief Scientific Officer, and as a member of the board of directors from August 2001 to August 2006. From January 1985 to August 2001, Arnon served in various roles at Genentech, Inc., where he ultimately served as Staff Scientist and was appointed as a permanent member of Genentech’s Research Review Committee, where his team discovered the target for the cancer drug Erivedge. Arnon conducted his post-doctoral fellowship at Genentech, Inc. He holds a Ph.D. in biology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Sara Kenkare-Mitra, Ph.D., joined Alector as President and Head of Research and Development in December 2021 to lead all aspects of the company’s immuno-neurology and oncology R&D efforts, including oversight of the research, development, clinical, manufacturing, regulatory, and related functions.

Prior to joining Alector, Sara held roles of increasing responsibility at Genentech over the course of 23 years. She most recently served as Senior Vice President, Development Sciences in Genentech’s research and early development unit.  During her tenure at Genentech, Sara led a large, integrated global organization of approximately 650 employees, and played a key role in the filing of more than 100 Investigational New Drug/clinical trial applications around the world, and the approval of 15 medicines for diverse diseases, including cancers and neurological diseases. Her team also enabled the successful development and approval of over 15 companion diagnostics.

Sara received her Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where she also stayed on as a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the school of medicine and completed a Fellowship in Clinical Pharmacology before joining Genentech.  Sara also holds adjunct faculty positions in the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences at the UCSF and at the University of the Pacific in Stockton.  Sara is an elected member of the National academy of Medicine (NAM) and elected fellow of Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).  She has been widely recognized for her work and leadership in the industry with awards such as the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists’ Alice E. Till Advancement of Women in Pharmaceutical Sciences Recognition, Endpoints’ 20 Most Extraordinary Women in Biopharma, Fierce Pharma’s Fiercest Women in the Life Sciences, and the University of California, San Francisco’s Distinguished Alumnus of the Year. She has served as a board member of the Genentech foundation and the Association of Women in Science (AWIS).

Dr. Grasso joins Alector from Kura Oncology, Inc., where he served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Business Officer. Prior to Kura Oncology, he served as Managing Director of Stifel, where he was responsible for building and managing the west coast life sciences and biotechnology investment banking business. Previously, Dr. Grasso was Managing Director of Investment Banking in the Global Healthcare Group at UBS, focused on the biotechnology sector, and prior to that, he was Managing Director of Investment Banking at Leerink Swann, where he was instrumental in the west coast expansion of their franchise. Dr. Grasso joined Leerink from Morgan Stanley and earlier held positions in the Global Healthcare Group of Credit Suisse First Boston and at Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown. Dr. Grasso received his M.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he also performed research in molecular oncology. He obtained an A.B. in molecular biology with honors from Princeton University.

Gary Romano, M.D., Ph.D., joined Alector as Chief Medical Officer in May 2022 to lead the company’s global clinical development strategy, including oversight of the clinical development, clinical operations, biometrics and digital science, and medical affairs functions.

Gary brings more than 25 years of experience in neurodegenerative disease to Alector, including 18 years in industry roles at Merck, the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, and Passage Bio. Gary served as the Chief Medical Officer of Passage Bio until May 2021, where he was responsible for the clinical development of gene therapies targeting rare monogenic central nervous system disorders and achieved Investigational New Drug and Clinical Trial Application clearances for three gene therapies. Prior to Passage Bio, Gary oversaw clinical development of the neurodegenerative disease portfolio for more than five years at Janssen as the Deputy Leader, Neurodegenerative Disease Area and Head of Development, Neurodegenerative Disease. He previously held other leadership positions at Janssen, including Head of Neuroscience Biomarkers and Head of Early Clinical Development. Earlier in his career, Gary served as the Alzheimer’s Disease Therapeutic Area Group Co-Leader and Leader, Neuroscience Experimental Medicine at Merck.

Gary earned a B.S. in Biology from Trinity College, a Ph.D. in Molecular Neurobiology from Rockefeller University, and an M.D. from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed his medical internship, neurology residency and neuromuscular fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. He has served on the executive committee of the Innovative Medicines Initiative – European Prevention of Alzheimer’s Dementia (EPAD), and as the industry co-chair of the Critical Path Institute Coalition Against Alzheimer’s Disease. Gary currently serves on the board of directors of the ALS Hope Foundation and is an adjunct member of the neurology department at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.

Peter Heutink, Ph.D., is the Chief Scientific Officer at Alector and leads the company’s research teams with the goal of rapidly advancing our pipeline of novel therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. Most recently, Peter was a group leader and the site speaker of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) – Tübingen. In addition, he was a full professor of Genome Biology for Neurodegenerative Diseases at the Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Germany and an honorary professor of Functional Genomics of Ageing and Neurodegeneration at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), the Netherlands.

Peter has led teams that identified mutation in genes for Parkinson’s disease (PD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), chorea, ataxia, hemochromatosis, porencephaly and various development disorders. He has also made important contributions to genome wide association studies (GWAS) for major depression, Tourette Syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorders, FTD, and PD. Additionally, Peter has made contributions to a series of GWA, exome and whole genome sequencing studies as a member of the International Parkinson’s Disease Genomics Consortium (IPDGC), the International Frontotemporal Dementia Genomics Consortium (IFGC) and the International FTLD-TDP WGS consortium and is a member of the steering committee of the Global Parkinson’s Genetics Program. Peter has been involved in many industry collaborations to bring genetic findings toward the clinic and is an author or co-author of more than 400 peer-reviewed publications.

Peter Heutink studied Biology at the University of Amsterdam and earned a Ph.D. in Human Genetics at the Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Danielle Pasqualone, Ph.D., J.D., serves as the General Counsel at Alector. She joined Alector in 2019 as the Vice President of Intellectual Property. In her role, Danielle oversees the company’s legal function, driving business objectives and decision-making. Partnering with teams throughout Alector, she also directs global intellectual property strategy and provides legal counsel on various matters, including transactions, such as the recent GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Adimab collaborations. Danielle’s diverse experience at and prior to Alector has included intellectual property strategy from research through commercialization, litigation and adversarial proceedings, licensing and transactions, IP-related FDA and regulatory matters, trade secret protection, trademark registration, privacy and data protection, and general corporate matters. Danielle earned a B.S. in Molecular Biology from Penn State University, a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Cornell University, and a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.

Clare is the Chief People Officer at Alector and has led our People team since January 2017. In this role, Clare is responsible for the development and growth of Alector employees, recruiting top talent, advancing Alector’s position as an employer of choice, and leading the People team to continue to enhance every part of the employee experience.

Prior to joining Alector, Clare spent seven years as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company, where she was most recently a case team leader and worked in the Boston, London, Manhattan, and San Francisco offices. Clare is a leadership coach who managed a coaching sole proprietorship and completed the Coaches Training Institute’s coach certification and leadership programs, as well as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). She has international operating experience, having lived and worked in Eswatini for a private sector development consultancy, and rural Kenya for a social enterprise startup. Clare holds a B.A. in international relations and economics from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Kristina entered the pharmaceutical industry after graduating from the University of Michigan School of Public Health with a Masters in Public Health. Her first job was auditing neurology clinical trials for Parke-Davis, giving her a glimpse of the Clinical Research world and providing her an opportunity to transition into the project management of large epidemiological studies for the company, combining her interest in both science and public health.

Early in her career she shifted her focus on late-stage drug development, specifically the commercialization of products that she had helped to develop. She started her career in Commercial Regulatory Affairs, helping the Pfizer Marketing team promote women’s health, cardiovascular and oncology products throughout the years. Understanding the business was exciting, and a passion for finding regulatory pathways to develop & commercialize products was the perfect blend for her interests. Since then, she has worked across numerous therapeutic areas, from IND to commercialization at small, mid-sized and larger companies including Amgen, Genentech/Roche, Intermune, Halozyme and now Alector, Inc. Each role increased her leadership and enterprise expertise.

In her current role at Alector, Kristina Cutter leads the regulatory strategy & operations team and the safety & pharmacovigilance teams. She is responsible for the global regulatory development & safety strategy across the corporate portfolios for this exciting neuro-immunology and onco-immunology company.

As the Chief of Staff and Head of Strategy, Virginia drives and coordinates the overall company strategy in partnership with the CEO and leads business planning and operations efforts to ensure clear decision-making aligns with the company’s strategic objectives. Virginia joined Alector in 2018, leading the Portfolio and Program Management function. Prior to Alector, Virginia held various roles of increasing responsibility at Genentech from 2007 through 2018, including in the global organization as a Disease Area Director and LifeCycle Leader. Prior to her work in the global organization at Genentech, Virginia held roles of increasing responsibility in the U.S. commercial organization, which spanned both the Marketing and Market Planning groups. Previously, she worked as an Associate at McKinsey & Co. and as a Research Associate at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Virginia holds an A.B. in Economics from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business where she was an Arjay Miller Scholar and a Siebel Scholar.

Norah Conway joins Alector as Senior Vice President, Portfolio, Program and Alliance Management. Norah brings over 20 years of program leadership and management experience, having built and established project management organizations and having led over 15 development programs in a range of indications and phases of development, including launch and life cycle, while working at Tranquis Therapeutics, Catalyst Biosciences, Ultragenyx and Bayer.

Prior to her Program Leadership & Project Management experience, she worked in leadership positions in Regulatory Affairs in four countries for Bayer, with successful drug submissions, approvals and interactions with regulatory authorities globally. Her broad experience enables a strategic, results-driven approach to development and operational activities.

Norah is a pharmacist with a Master in Pharmacy degree from the University of Pretoria, Faculty of Medicine. She also holds a Certificate in Project Management (PMP) from the Project Management Institute.