Management
Charles J. Link, Jr., M.D. founded NewLink Genetics Corporation in 1999 and has served as Chairman of our Board of Directors and our Chief Scientific Officer since inception in 1999. He served as our President from 2001 to 2009 and has served as our Chief Executive Officer since 2003. Dr. Link has also served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BioProtection Systems Corporation from 2005 and was its Chief Scientific Officer from 2005 to 2009. Dr. Link has been a practicing oncologist at the Medical Oncology and Hematology Associates of Iowa since 1995. From 1995 to 2003, Dr. Link served as the Director of the John Stoddard Cancer Research Institute, which he co-founded. Dr. Link served as a Medical Oncology Clinical Fellow at the National Cancer Institute, or NCI, National Institutes of Health, or NIH, from 1988 to 1991. Dr. Link attended the U.S. Air Force Academy from 1977 to 1980. Dr. Link holds a B.A. from Stanford University, an M.D. from Stanford University School of Medicine and is certified in Internal Medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine and has previously been certified in Medical Oncology.
Nicholas N. Vahanian, M.D. has served as our Chief Medical Officer since 2001, was Chief Operations Officer from 2003 to 2009, and has served as President and Chief Medical Officer since 2009. Dr. Vahanian served as a research scientist at the NCI from 1992 to 1994 and at the National Center for Human Genome Research, NIH from 1994 to 1995. He completed his Molecular Oncology Fellowship at the John Stoddard Cancer Research Institute from 1999 to 2000. Dr. Vahanian holds a B.S. in Biology from Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Vahanian attended St. Barthalomew’s and Royal London Hospital Medical College. He also holds an M.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.
Gordon H. Link, Jr. has served as our Chief Financial Officer since 2008. Previously, Mr. Link worked for Tapestry Pharmaceuticals, Inc., or Tapestry, as Chief Executive Officer from April to July 2008, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 2002 through 2008, President of the Genomics Division from 2000 to 2002 and Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 1993 to 2002. At Tapestry, Mr. Link directed a staff of five to ten individuals in areas of accounting, cash management, financial planning and analysis, risk management, financial reporting and investor relations. Mr. Link also worked with Tapestry’s Board of Directors on financial, business and corporate development matters and coordinated Tapestry’s initial public offering and subsequent follow-on public offerings of common stock. On April 4, 2008, the Tapestry Board of Directors appointed Mr. Link as Chief Executive Officer to manage the winding up of Tapestry in bankruptcy. Prior to joining Tapestry, Mr. Link served as Corporate Controller of Synergen, Inc., Treasurer of the Syntex-Synergen Neuroscience Joint Venture, Treasurer of Synergen Development Corporation and Audit Manager with Deloitte &Touche USA LLP. Mr. Link received a B.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a B.A. in accounting from Metropolitan State College. Mr. Link is not related to our Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Charles Link.
Kenneth Lynn, J.D., M.B.A. joined the Company as Senior Vice President of Business Development in February 2008 and has served as Executive Vice President of Business Development since February 2009. From 2006 to 2008, Mr. Lynn was employed as Executive Vice President, Strategy and Policy, of Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation. From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Lynn worked for the Kauffman Foundation, where he served as President of the Kauffman Innovation Network, a nonprofit corporation established and supported by the Kauffman Foundation to promote the advancement of science and technology-based innovation generated by university researchers. Mr. Lynn was Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Legal Affairs with RxKinetix, Inc. from 2000 to 2002, where he led the opportunities assessment and strategic planning process, coordinated development of the business plan, and evaluated and negotiated partnership and licensing agreements. He was Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Legal Affairs with Valentis, Inc. from 1999 to 2000, where he supervised the business development and legal staff, evaluated and negotiated corporate transactions and partnering opportunities, and managed existing strategic alliances. From 1993 to 1998, Mr. Lynn worked for Cortech, Inc., a publicly traded company, where he progressed from Vice President of Business Development and General Counsel to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. From 1991 to 1993, Mr. Lynn was Vice President and General Counsel of U.S. Bioscience, Inc. From 1984 to 1991, he served as Corporate Counsel with Marion Laboratories (now Sanofi-Aventis). Mr. Lynn holds a B.A. degree in history from Washburn University, a J.D. from the University of Kansas, and an M.B.A. from Rockhurst University.
Mario Mautino, Ph.D. has served as our Vice President for the Drug Discovery Module since 2007 and as our Intellectual Property Officer since 2002, and served as one of our Senior Scientists from 2001 to 2007. He received his Licenciate in Biological Chemistry in 1990 and his Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics at the University of Cordoba, Argentina in 1995. He performed one year of post-doctoral training at the National University of Cordoba and five years of post-doctoral work in human gene therapy at the Clinical Gene Therapy Branch, NIH.
W. Jay Ramsey, M.D., Ph.D. has served as our Clinical and Regulatory Compliance Officer since 2006 and served as our Senior Medical Scientist from 2000 to 2006. Prior to joining NewLink Genetics Corporation, Dr. Ramsey served as Clinical Fellow of the Clinical Gene Therapy Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH from 1995 to 2000, and Clinical Fellow of the Metabolism Branch of the NCI from 1992 to 1995. Dr. Ramsey received his Ph.D. in Cell Biology from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX and his M.D. from University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.