Dr. Jacqueline Shea has served as INOVIO’s President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) since May 2022. She is responsible for establishing and leading INOVIO’s overall corporate strategy across its clinical programs and advancing its DNA medicines platform.
Dr. Shea joined the Company in March 2019 as Chief Operating Officer (COO), serving as a key member of the executive team. She led INOVIO’s manufacturing, commercial, business development, project and alliance management operations.
Dr. Shea has more than 25 years of experience in the life sciences and biotech industries. Prior to joining INOVIO, she was the CEO at Aeras, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to developing new vaccines against tuberculosis (TB). Previously, she held executive roles at Emergent BioSolutions and was also the General Manager and Vice President of The Oxford-Emergent Tuberculosis Consortium.
Dr. Shea has dedicated much of her career to developing innovative products to prevent and treat infectious diseases. She has been named as an inventor on more than 20 patents, is an author of numerous scientific publications, has served on multiple advisory boards and currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Sabin Vaccine Institute. Dr. Shea received a BSc Hons in Applied Biology from the University of Bath and a Ph.D. from the National Institute for Medical Research in the UK.
As CFO, Mr. Kies’ primary focus is assuring INOVIO’s financial health as it reaches pipeline and commercialization goals in developing next-generation DNA medicines. As a key member of the executive leadership team, Mr. Kies is also responsible for developing and executing global financial strategy and action plans to meet the business objectives and to execute overall corporate strategy.
Prior to joining INOVIO in 2002, Mr. Kies acquired broad expertise in the functional and strategic management of biotechnology and high technology companies across the full spectrum of corporate growth, from IPO to profitability. He was previously Chief Financial Officer at Newgen Results Corporation and held positions at Cytel Corporation and Ernst & Young, LLP. He has more than 30 years of experience developing and working with biotechnology and high-tech companies.
Mr. Kies holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from United States International University in San Diego, CA.
Dr. Sumner leads INOVIO’s clinical-stage pipeline of DNA medicines, global clinical development, clinical operations and biostatistics efforts, as well as regulatory affairs, pharmacovigilance and medical affairs. Dr. Sumner previously served as CMO of Orexo AB and held numerous European- and US-based leadership roles at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Aventis Behring, Novo Nordisk and Shire Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Sumner brings over 25 years of extensive pharmaceutical, medical and clinical experience driving numerous late-stage product approvals and supporting successful commercial products on a global basis across multiple therapeutic areas.
Dr. Sumner received his medical degree from the University of London, is a member of the Royal College of Physicians, and holds a Master of Business Administration from Henley Management College, UK.
As Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Humeau works to ensure continuous and strategic growth of INOVIO’s pipeline by introducing a constant flow of innovative concepts and cycling them from early-stage discovery and development through clinical application and patient monitoring. He provides technical and strategic leadership across multiple teams that are essential to clinical development. Prior to INOVIO, Dr. Humeau was Senior Director of Translational Research, Human Therapeutics Division for Intrexon and previously Chief Scientific Officer, Vice President of R&D at VIRxSYS Corporation. Dr. Humeau holds a Ph.D., summa cum laude, from Denis Diderot/Paris 7 University and a MS degree from Pierre & Marie Curie/Paris 6 University, Paris, France.
Mr. Egge joined INOVIO in 2024. Previously, he was at Sumitomo Pharma (formerly Myovant Sciences, acquired by Sumitovant Biopharma, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Pharma, in 2023), where as Senior Vice President and General Manager for Women’s Health he was responsible for building the commercial leadership team, accelerating the launch of Myfembree® and helping lead the company’s expansion into new indications. Mr. Egge was at Merck for twenty years, where he held a number of senior commercial leadership roles, including leading Merck’s HPV Vaccines Franchise and serving as Chief Marketing Officer for the Vaccine Division, where he oversaw launches for new indications for GARDASIL®, a re-launch of ZOSTAVAX®, and launch planning for GARDASIL9® and VAXELIS®. Mr. Egge also served as Global Commercial Head for Merck’s Fertility Franchise, where he oversaw the launch of ELONVA® in ex-U.S. markets. After Merck, Mr. Egge served as Senior Vice President at Genfit Corp., a French biotech company focused on liver diseases, where he led commercial planning and business development.
Mr. Egge earned an MBA in Marketing and Strategy from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from North Dakota State University.
Mr. Crotty joined INOVIO as General Counsel in 2021 and also serves as the Chief Compliance Officer. Mr. Crotty has responsibility for leading the company’s legal and compliance work. Mr. Crotty brings more than 15 years of experience in the life sciences industry. Prior to joining INOVIO, Mr. Crotty held legal positions of increasing responsibilities at ImClone Systems Incorporated, NPS Pharmaceuticals, Dendron Corporation, Vernalis Therapeutics, and most recently, Nabriva Therapeutics where he served as General Counsel & Secretary. Before going in-house, Mr. Crotty was an associate at the global law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, where his practice was focused on business and finance.
Mr. Crotty holds a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a BA from Princeton University. He is admitted to practice law in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Mr. Brandreth is responsible for all quality and compliance functions across clinical development, manufacturing and other operational areas that support INOVIO’s broad pipeline of DNA medicines. With over 30 years in life sciences including small molecules, devices and a wide variety of pivotal biotechnology products, Mr. Brandreth is a key member of the senior leadership team with a track record of moving pipeline candidates such as Rituxan®, Zevalin®, Aldurazyme® and Naglazyme® to commercialization.
Prior to joining INOVIO, Mr. Brandreth had a successful career transitioning start-up clinical biotech operations into commercial entities; he contributed to the success of several biopharmaceutical companies through his strong leadership of the quality and compliance areas. He holds an MBA from University of the Pacific and a B.A. in Biology from University of California, San Diego.
As Senior Vice President of Business Development, Mr. Bridy is responsible for Business Development and Licensing activities at INOVIO. Mr. Bridy has over 20 years of business development, licensing, strategy, and transaction experience. Prior to joining INOVIO, Mr. Bridy was a strategic and operational advisor to over 20 life sciences operating and investment companies. Mr. Bridy also served as Head of Business Development and Licensing for Immunome, an emerging immuno-oncology company. At Elan Pharmaceuticals, he was responsible for out-licensing an oncology and neuroscience portfolio in their Business Development group. At GlaxoSmithKline, Mr. Bridy was responsible for diligence and valuation of oncology in-licensing and pipeline drugs in their Global Commercial Strategy group. He also served as Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at BTG plc.
Mr. Bridy has an MA in Biology and an MBA in Finance from Villanova University and a BA and BS degree in Zoology from Miami University.
As Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Dr. Elder is responsible for the development of regulatory strategies and company interaction with regulatory authorities globally. She has over 20 years of experience leading multi-cultural, cross-functional teams in drug development and regulatory strategies across multiple therapeutic areas. Most recently Dr. Elder was the Global Regulatory Head for the Hematology Development Unit at Novartis.
Dr. Elder received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science and completed her industrial clinical pharmacy practice fellowship at Rutgers University and Hoffmann-La Roche. She is also a graduate of the University of Kentucky, where she received her BS from the College of Pharmacy.
Mr. Juba is responsible for ensuring the manufacturing and supply of INOVIO’s precisely designed and delivered DNA medicines and vaccine candidates for clinical use. He provides strategic and operational leadership of Supply Operations function, establishing supply processes, planning, procurement, and inventory strategies for late-stage clinical programs as well as new product launches and product line extensions.
As a chemical engineer with more than 20 years of experience managing cGMP pharmaceutical and biological vaccine manufacturing for commercial and clinical products, Mr. Juba leads with extensive technical expertise to help INOVIO reach product development and commercialization goals. He previously led plasmid manufacturing at VGXI, Inc. and held several positions at Merck in bulk vaccine manufacturing operations and strategy. Mr. Juba holds a Master of Science degree in Chemical Engineering Practice and a BS degree in Chemical Engineering, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dr. Skolnik leads INOVIO’s clinical development programs, focusing on HPV and immuno-oncology DNA medicines. He is a key member of the leadership team overseeing these global clinical assets. Dr. Skolnik has held several leadership positions in Clinical Development and Medical Affairs for AstraZeneca, GSK, and TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals, for both early- and late-stage compounds. Dr. Skolnik is a board-certified pediatric hematologist/oncologist and is an adjunct associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Skolnik holds a B.A. in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania and an MD from New York University.
Dr. Dave Liebowitz has over 27 years of industry experience in clinical and preclinical development in Oncology, Infectious Diseases (Virology), Vascular Biology, Inflammation and Metabolic Disorders with protein, small molecule, cellular therapeutic, and vaccine modalities. He was previously Senior Vice President, Clinical Development – Infectious Diseases at INOVIO. Prior to returning, Dr. Liebowitz was Senior Vice President, Clinical Development and Medical Affairs at Xencor, leading several immune-oncology programs. Prior to that, Dr. Liebowitz held numerous senior positions, including Chief Medical Officer at DNAtrix, an oncolytic virotherapy company in San Diego, CA; Chief Medical Officer at Vaxart, Inc. and Chief Scientific and Medical Officer for Vivaldi Biosciences, an influenza vaccine and therapeutics biotechnology company.
During his time at Vaxart, Inc., he led the successful application and negotiation process for acquiring a BARDA contract and served as the Principal Investigator of the award, leading its completion. In addition, he was an early recipient of a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Dr. Liebowitz began his academic career as an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Virology at the University of Chicago and was the Director of the Bone Marrow Transplantation Program. Dave has B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biology from Emory University, an M.D. with Honors, and a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology (Virology), both from the University of Chicago.
Prior to his retirement, Mr. Benito had a successful and extensive career serving several multinational corporations in senior executive positions, including 25 years at Merck & Co, Inc. His most recent positions included Senior Vice President, Merck Vaccine Division; Executive Vice President, Merck-Medco Managed Care; and Executive Director and Vice President, Merck Human Health, Japan. Mr. Benito was a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales for over thirty years until his retirement from Merck in 1999.
Dr. Roger Dansey currently serves as the Chief Development Officer for Pfizer Oncology following Pfizer’s acquisition of Seagen, a global biotechnology company, in December 2023. He served as President, Research and Development at Seagen from November 2022 to December 2023 and was previously the Chief Medical Officer at Seagen starting in 2018. He also served as interim Chief Executive Officer of Seagen from May 2022 until November 2022.
Previously, Dr. Dansey was the Chief Medical Officer at Seagen starting in 2018, where he brought extensive experience in cancer drug development. He was appointed interim CEO from May 2022 until Nov 2022 when he was appointed President, Research and Development. Dr. Dansey’s deep oncology background and proven leadership helped Seagen evolve into a global, multi-product oncology company.
Previously, Dr. Dansey was Therapeutic Area Head for Late-Stage Oncology at Merck & Co., Inc., where he was responsible for global registration efforts for Keytruda® (pembrolizumab) across multiple tumor types. Earlier in his career, he was the Vice President of Oncology Clinical Research at Gilead Sciences and the Global Development Lead for Xgeva® (denosumab) at Amgen, where he held multiple roles in oncology and hematology.
Dr. Dansey holds an M.D. from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Dr. Ann Miller brings years of commercial experience in the biopharmaceutical industry to her role on the board, including her work at Sanofi S.A. from 2012 until her retirement in September 2018, serving as Vice President of Marketing and Vice President of Global Marketing, Oncology Division. From 2009 to 2011, Dr. Miller served as Senior Vice President at Eisai Co., Ltd., leading the Primary Care and Specialty Business unit and then Pharmaceutical Services. Dr. Miller previously served in management roles in global and U.S. marketing at Amgen Inc. for five years and in positions of increasing responsibility at Merck & Co., Inc. over 16 years. Dr. Miller received an M.D. from the Duke University School of Medicine and a B.A. in Chemistry, summa cum laude, from Duke University.
Dr. Jacqueline Shea has served as INOVIO’s President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) since May 2022. She is responsible for establishing and leading INOVIO’s overall corporate strategy across its clinical programs and advancing its DNA medicines platform.
Dr. Shea joined the Company in March 2019 as Chief Operating Officer (COO), serving as a key member of the executive team. She led INOVIO’s manufacturing, commercial, business development, project and alliance management operations.
Dr. Shea has more than 25 years of experience in the life sciences and biotech industries. Prior to joining INOVIO, she was the CEO at Aeras, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to developing new vaccines against tuberculosis (TB). Previously, she held executive roles at Emergent BioSolutions and was also the General Manager and Vice President of The Oxford-Emergent Tuberculosis Consortium.
Dr. Shea has dedicated much of her career to developing innovative products to prevent and treat infectious diseases. She has been named as an inventor on more than 20 patents, is an author of numerous scientific publications, has served on multiple advisory boards and currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Sabin Vaccine Institute. Dr. Shea received a BSc Hons in Applied Biology from the University of Bath and a Ph.D. from the National Institute for Medical Research in the UK.
Jay P. Shepard currently serves as a Venture Partner with Catalys Pacific, a venture group focused on licensing drug programs and creating new companies in the United States and Japan. In this role, he is a co-founder and board member of two of its portfolio companies, Pathalys Pharma, Inc. and Aculys Pharma, Inc. Mr. Shepard previously was President and Chief Executive Officer of Aravive, Inc. (formerly Versartis, Inc.), a clinical-stage oncology company, from 2015 to January 2020, when he retired. He served as Executive Chairman of Versartis, Inc., from December 2013 to 2015. From 2008 to 2015, Mr. Shepard was an Executive Partner at Sofinnova Ventures. Previously, he was the President and Chief Executive Officer of NextWave Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer), President and Chief Executive Officer of Ilypsa (acquired by Amgen), interim President and Chief Executive Officer of Relypsa (Ilypsa’s spin-out company, which was acquired by Galencia), and Vice President of Commercial Operations at Telik and Oncology Business Unit Head of Alza Pharmaceuticals (Alza was acquired by Johnson & Johnson). Mr. Shepard currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation and is a board member of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Esperion. He holds a B.S. in business administration from the University of Arizona.
Since 2016, David Weiner has served as Executive Vice President and Director of the Vaccine Center at The Wistar Institute, the nation’s first independent biomedical research institute, which is also an NCI-designated Cancer Center and an international leader in cancer, immunology and infectious disease research. He is also the W.W. Smith Charitable Trust Professor of Cancer Research at The Wistar Institute. Previously, Dr. Weiner was Professor, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Chair of the Gene Therapy and Vaccine Program at the University’s Perelman School of Medicine and co-leader of the Tumor Virology Program of the Abramson Cancer Center at Penn.
Dr. Weiner is a world-renowned leader in immunology as well as gene vaccines and immunotherapy. In scientific circles he is known as the “father of DNA vaccines.” He has more than 500 peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals, including mainstream scientific journals such as Scientific American, and has been designated by the Institute for Scientific Information as one of the top-cited scientists in the world.
An inventor of more than 100 issued and pending U.S. patents, Dr. Weiner has received numerous honors, including election as a fellow to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2011 and the International Society for Vaccines in 2012. He was the recipient of the NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award and the Vaccine Industry Excellence Award for Best Academic Research Team in 2015 at the World Vaccine Congress. Dr. Weiner was honored with the prestigious Hilleman Lectureship in 2015 at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Grand Rounds session and received a Stone Family Award from Abramson Cancer Center for his groundbreaking work on DNA vaccines for cancer immune therapy.
Dr. Weiner holds a Ph.D. in developmental biology from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, an M.S. in biology from the University of Cincinnati, and a B.S. in biology from SUNY at Stony Brook.
Wendy L. Yarno retired in 2008 from Merck & Company, Inc. following a 26-year career in commercial and human resource positions of increasing seniority, ending as Chief Marketing Officer. Ms. Yarno also spent part of her career at Johnson & Johnson, Inc. in commercial positions.
Ms. Yarno has extensive experience as a director on both public and private company boards, and currently serves on the boards of Ideaya, Iovance and Tarsus. She has an MBA from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA and a B.S. in Marketing from Portland State in Portland, OR.
Lota Zoth has served in senior financial roles in a variety of commercial-stage companies, including serving as MedImmune Inc.’s corporate controller from 2002 to 2004 and its chief financial officer from 2004 until its acquisition by AstraZeneca in 2007. Prior to joining MedImmune in 2002, Ms. Zoth served in financial executive roles at PSINet Inc., Sodexho Marriott Services, Inc., Marriott International and PepsiCo, Inc. Ms. Zoth began her career as an auditor at Ernst & Young, LLP and is a Certified Public Accountant. Ms. Zoth has extensive board experience, and currently serves on the boards of Lumos Pharma, Inc., 89Bio, Inc., and enGene Holdings, Inc.
Ms. Zoth holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting, summa cum laude, from Texas Tech University.
As Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Humeau works to ensure continuous and strategic growth of INOVIO’s pipeline by introducing a constant flow of innovative concepts and cycling them from early-stage discovery and development through clinical application and patient monitoring. He provides technical and strategic leadership across multiple teams that are essential clinical development. Prior to INOVIO, Dr. Humeau was Senior Director of Translational Research, Human Therapeutics Division for Intrexon and previously Chief Scientific Officer, Vice President of R&D at VIRxSYS Corporation. Dr. Humeau holds a Ph.D., summa cum laude, from Denis Diderot/Paris 7 University and a MS degree from Pierre & Marie Curie/Paris 6 University, Paris, France.
Dr. Rafi Ahmed is the Georgia Research Alliance Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, and Director of the Emory Vaccine Center at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA. His research efforts are directed towards understanding the mechanisms of immunological memory and using this knowledge to develop new and more effective vaccines, as well as defining the mechanisms of T cell exhaustion during chronic viral infections and cancer and developing strategies for restoring function in exhausted T cells. Dr. Ahmed is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine.
Stanley Plotkin developed the rubella vaccine now used worldwide and has worked extensively on the development and application of other vaccines, including polio, rabies, varicella, rotavirus, and cytomegalovirus. He is Emeritus Professor, Wistar Institute and the University of Pennsylvania, and is a principal of Vaxconsult.
Over the course of his career he has served as senior assistant surgeon with the Epidemic Intelligence Service of the U.S. Public Health Service; Chairman of the Infectious Diseases Committee and the AIDS Task Force of the American Academy of Pediatrics; Chairman of the Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Research Committee of the National Institutes of Health; director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; Associate Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania; Medical and Scientific Director of Aventis Pasteur; and Executive Advisor to Sanofi Pasteur. Over 600 of his articles have been published, and he has edited several books, including Vaccines, now the standard textbook in the field.
Dr. Plotkin’s numerous professional awards include:
Dr. Plotkin earned his M.D. at the State University of New York, Downstate College of Medicine, and holds honorary degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Rouen (France). He serves on the Board of Directors of Dynavax and is Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of Mymetics, while also serving as an International Society for Vaccines advisor.
Since 2016, David Weiner has served as Executive Vice President and Director of the Vaccine Center at The Wistar Institute, the nation’s first independent biomedical research institute, which is also an NCI-designated Cancer Center and an international leader in cancer, immunology and infectious disease research. He is also the W.W. Smith Charitable Trust Professor of Cancer Research at The Wistar Institute. Previously, Dr. Weiner was Professor, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Chair of the Gene Therapy and Vaccine Program at the University’s Perelman School of Medicine and co-leader of the Tumor Virology Program of the Abramson Cancer Center at Penn.
Dr. Weiner is a world-renowned leader in immunology as well as gene vaccines and immunotherapy. In scientific circles he is known as the “father of DNA vaccines.” He has more than 500 peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals, including mainstream scientific journals such as Scientific American, and has been designated by the Institute for Scientific Information as one of the top-cited scientists in the world.
An inventor of more than 100 issued and pending U.S. patents, Dr. Weiner has received numerous honors, including election as a fellow to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2011 and the International Society for Vaccines in 2012. He was the recipient of the NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award and the Vaccine Industry Excellence Award for Best Academic Research Team in 2015 at the World Vaccine Congress. Dr. Weiner was honored with the prestigious Hilleman Lectureship in 2015 at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Grand Rounds session and received a Stone Family Award from Abramson Cancer Center for his groundbreaking work on DNA vaccines for cancer immune therapy.
Dr. Weiner holds a Ph.D. in developmental biology from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, an M.S. in biology from the University of Cincinnati, and a B.S. in biology from SUNY at Stony Brook.
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