Management
Silence Therapeutics is led by a strong senior management team with a proven track record in drug development and successful team leadership.
JERRY RANDALL
Executive Chairman
Mr. Randall is a qualified chartered accountant and previously served as the chief financial officer of Sinclair Pharmaceuticals plc which he joined in 2000 as part of a management buy-in team. Prior to this, Mr. Randall worked in corporate finance with Gambit Corporate Finance and had previously been involved in two other buy-ins. He acted as adviser to both private and quoted companies between 1993 and 2000, in both the capacity of nominated adviser and in practice with KPMG. During this period, he was involved in a number of flotations and transactions on the Official List, Unlisted Securities Market and the Alternative Investment Market, as well as raising private equity.
KLAUS GIESE, PH.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Giese has over 19 years of relevant experience in both the U.S. and Europe, including the management of more than 20 international collaborations with pharmaceutical and biotech companies and more than five years in cross-border management as CSO. Dr. Giese joined Silence Therapeutics AG in 1999, where he continues his position as CSO. Prior to Silence Therapeutics, Dr. Giese was group leader at Chiron Corporation from 1994 to 1998 and was responsible for coordinating and managing a portion of Chiron's obesity and oncology program. His efforts in this program included the development of several different gene expression profiling approaches and the development of a novel high-throughput screening assay to identify inhibitors of HIV-1 transcription. Prior to joining Chiron, Dr. Giese acted as research scientist and postdoctoral fellow at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco, as well as at the Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin. Dr. Giese studied biochemistry at the Free University of Berlin, where he also received his Ph.D.
DR. JÖRG KAUFMANN
Vice President of Research
Dr. Kaufmann possesses more than 14 years of biotechnology industry experience in both the United States and Europe. Since joining Silence in 2000, he has served as both senior and associate director, technologies at the Company’s Berlin location. Prior to joining Silence, Dr. Kaufmann was a senior scientist at Chiron Corporation, where he was responsible for leading one of the company’s molecular biology research groups focused on breast cancer. From 1996-1997 he served as a group leader at the Institute of Tumour Biology (IMT) in Marburg, Germany. Dr. Kaufmann was a postdoctoral fellow at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Los Angeles and received his Ph.D. in molecular biology from the Philipps University Marburg.
MIKE KHAN
Chief Medical Adviser
Dr Michael Khan BSc, MBBS, PhD, FRCP is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Warwick and a Consultant Physician at University Hospitals. He trained in medicine at Guy's and King's in London and completed specialist training at University College London, Middlesex and Whittington Hospitals. He studied for his PhD at UCL. He is a highly cited researcher and experienced clinician with a long track record in metabolic medicine and cancer biology research as well as in the running of clinical trials. He has written several books on diabetes, cholesterol problems and cancer biology and teaches postgraduates and undergraduates in medicine and biological sciences in these areas. He is a previous Head of Molecular Medicine at Warwick University and has held numerous research grants in cell and molecular biology. He and co-workers have made important contributions to further understanding of cancer cell biology and diabetes and are working on identifying novel tissue-based biomarkers for colorectal cancer and the development of novel diagnostic tools. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London and a member of the Association of Physicians, HEART-UK and Diabetes UK and has acted as an expert advisor to numerous National and International Organisations in both the public and private sectors.
ALI MORTAZAVI
Director of Corporate Strategy
Mr Mortazavi has over 17 years of experience in financial services. He started his career as a Technology Analyst at Duncan Lawrie and Credit Lyonnais Securities. In 2001, he co-founded Evolution Securities and ran the principal trading and market making arm , leaving in 2008. He has extensive experience in small companies and has significant stakes in UK listed technology / biotech ventures. Mr Mortazavi is an International Master of chess and the author of four books on the subject.
TIM FREEBORN BA ACA
Finance Director and Company Secretary
Tim joined the company in August 2012 and became full time in October. Previously he was head of research at Xcap Securities and an analyst at Evolution Securities. After qualifying as a chartered accountant he left practice to become a journalist. For 12 years he worked in the Daily Mail City Office covering biotech, electronics and real estate. Tim gained a BA in Philosophy at University College London.