Director
Maria Fardis, Ph.D., M.B.A.
Maria Fardis, Ph.D., M.B.A., has served on our Board of Directors since June 2022. She is currently Chief Executive Officer of Lassen Therapeutics, a position she has held since April 2023, and a Venture Partner at Frazier Life Sciences since 2021.
Dr. Fardis brings over two decades of leadership and operational experience in the life sciences industry. She was previously President and Chief Executive Officer of Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (IOVA), where she also served on the board from 2016 to 2021. Prior to that, she served as Chief Operating Officer at Acerta Pharma B.V. from 2015 to 2016.
Earlier in her career, Dr. Fardis held key roles at Pharmacyclics, Inc., including Chief of Oncology Operations and Alliances from 2011 to 2014, and spent a decade at Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD), where she held senior positions in medicinal chemistry, project leadership, and portfolio management.
She earned a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, an M.B.A. from Golden Gate University, and a B.S. in Chemistry, summa cum laude, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
