About Us
Senior Leadership Team
Dr. Russo is an accomplished biotechnology CEO with over 20 years of experience leading R&D and commercialization in the biopharmaceutical industry across a range of therapeutic areas, including oncology. As an executive leader, Dr. Russo has led successful teams from early preclinical research through all phases of clinical development, registration, and commercialization to bring innovative therapies to patients across the United States and Europe. Before Xilio, Dr. Russo was the President and CEO of Arsanis, a company developing monoclonal antibodies to prevent and treat serious infectious diseases, merged with X4 Pharmaceuticals in 2018. Prior to Arsanis, Dr. Russo spent 12 years at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, a leading global anti-infective company that Merck acquired. Before Cubist, Dr. Russo held R&D roles at Bristol-Myers Squibb, contributing to the successful development and global commercialization of multiple therapeutics. Dr. Russo serves on the boards of Xilio Therapeutics, Celsius Therapeutics, Leyden Labs, and the non-profit Life Science Cares. Dr. Russo holds a B.S. in pharmacy and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Rutgers University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship with Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Mr. Frankenfield is an accomplished biotechnology executive with over 15 years of experience guiding companies on corporate strategy and operations, capital markets and business development transactions, and corporate governance and IP strategy. Mr. Frankenfield previously served as Xilio’s chief legal and administrative officer from August 2022 to August 2023, and general counsel from March 2021 to August 2022. In these roles, Mr. Frankenfield has helped lead the execution of Xilio’s corporate and legal strategy as well as operations across multiple business functions. Prior to joining Xilio, Mr. Frankenfield served as vice president of corporate legal affairs at Blueprint Medicines and as a member of its management team. At Blueprint Medicines, he led public company reporting activities, advised on capital markets strategies, supported multiple successful equity offerings, and executed collaborations and partnerships with Roche and Genentech, CStone Pharmaceuticals, and Clementia Pharmaceuticals, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ipsen. Before Blueprint Medicines, Mr. Frankenfield was a senior associate at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, with a focus on capital markets, strategic transactions, public company reporting and corporate governance matters. Mr. Frankenfield began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, advising clients on complex commercial disputes and investigations. He received his B.A. in economics from the College of William & Mary and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Ms. Davis brings 25 years of entrepreneurial experience building teams and leading corporate and portfolio strategy to her role at Xilio, where she focuses on furthering the company’s corporate and business development strategy. Prior to Xilio, Ms. Davis held multiple commercial leadership roles at Novartis Oncology and was responsible for building and growing Novartis’ footprint in lung cancer and immuno-oncology. Prior to Novartis, Ms. Davis was the senior vice president and general manager of Prominex, a start-up incubated through Roka Biosciences. She also held roles of increasing responsibility at several Johnson & Johnson businesses including Janssen Immunology, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, and Johnson & Johnson Development Corp. Before joining Johnson & Johnson, Ms. Davis worked in strategic consulting at The Carson Group and in investment banking at Merrill Lynch. Ms. Davis received her B.S.E. in biomedical engineering from Duke University.
Dr. Bialucha is a passionate life science leader with more than 15 years of experience in oncology/immuno-oncology drug discovery and preclinical development. Dr. Bialucha has served as Xilio’s chief scientific officer since August 2022 and joined Xilio as the senior vice president of research in April 2021. He joined Xilio from Immunitas Therapeutics where, as vice president of drug discovery, he led the development of a single cell genomics-based discovery platform and immuno-oncology focused therapeutic pipeline. Prior to joining Immunitas, Dr. Bialucha held roles of increasing responsibility at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, most recently leading the oncology biotherapeutics group, where he directed multiple programs towards successful entry into clinical development across a variety of modalities. Dr. Bialucha serves on the scientific advisory board for the Terri Brodeur Breast Cancer Foundation. Dr. Bialucha received his B.S. in molecular genetics from the University of Sussex and his Ph.D. in molecular cell biology from the MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London. He completed his postdoctoral training in Professor Scott Lowe’s laboratory at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, studying tumor suppressor gene networks using genetic mouse models of cancer.
Dr. Coleman has over 25 years of experience in biotechnology and drug development, including contributing to the successful development and approval of multiple therapies across a broad range of therapeutic areas, including oncology. Dr. Coleman most recently served as Xilio’s senior vice president of nonclinical development. Prior to joining Xilio in June 2022, Dr. Coleman served as vice president, nonclinical development at Acceleron Pharma Inc. (Acceleron), through its acquisition by Merck where he contributed to the development of sotatercept. Prior to Acceleron, Dr. Coleman served in senior scientific roles at Spero Therapeutics, Merck, Cubist Pharmaceuticals and Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Coleman received a B.S. in toxicology from Northeastern University and a Ph.D. in toxicology from North Carolina State University and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Dr. Luptakova, a hematologist and oncologist, has approximately 20 years of experience in clinical practice and oncology drug development and most recently served as Xilio’s senior vice president, medical since October 2022. Prior to joining Xilio as vice president, clinical research in December 2021, Dr. Luptakova served as vice president, clinical development at Constellation Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Constellation) through its acquisition by MorphSys AG. Prior to Constellation, Dr. Luptakova served as senior medical director and clinical lead at Tesaro, Inc. where she contributed to the successful development and commercialization of multiple cancer therapies, including Zejula® (niraparib) and Blenrep® (belantamab mafodotin-blmf). Earlier in her career, Dr. Luptakova held roles of increasing responsibility at Takeda Oncology and was an attending physician in the bone marrow transplant and malignant hematology division at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Luptakova received her
medical degree from Comenius University School of Medicine in Bratislava, Slovakia. She completed her internal medicine residency at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston and her fellowship in hematology/oncology at Beth Israel Medical Center, Harvard Medical School.
Board of Directors
Paul Clancy has served on Xilio’s board of directors since July 2020 and brings more than 35 years of experience in financial management and strategic business planning. Mr. Clancy most recently served as executive vice president, senior advisor of Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and earlier served as chief financial officer of Alexion. Prior to Alexion, Mr. Clancy served as the executive vice president and chief financial officer at Biogen Inc. Before Biogen, Mr. Clancy spent 13 years at PepsiCo Inc., serving in a variety of finance, strategy, and general management positions. Mr. Clancy serves as a member of the board of directors of Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Incyte Corporation, Exact Sciences Corporation and Sionna Therapeutics. Mr. Clancy is a senior visiting lecturer of finance at Cornell University’s Graduate School of Business. Mr. Clancy received his B.S. in business administration from Babson College and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Sara Bonstein has served as a member of our board of directors since August 2021. Ms. Bonstein has approximately 20 years of experience in the life sciences industry and has served as chief financial officer of Insmed since January 2020. Prior to joining Insmed, she served as chief financial officer and chief operating officer of OncoSec Medical Incorporated from May 2018 to January 2020 and as the chief financial officer, treasurer and executive vice president at Advaxis, Inc. (Advaxis) from February 2014 to April 2018. In these roles, she led multiple capital markets and licensing transactions, established strong financial controls, streamlined business operations, and was responsible for the overall leadership and management of operations, including corporate finance, investor relations and business development. Prior to Advaxis, Ms. Bonstein served in various finance roles of increasing responsibility at Eli Lilly & Company (Eli Lilly), ImClone Systems and Johnson & Johnson, including as a Six Sigma Champion and Black Belt, a program implemented at Eli Lilly to enable more efficient financial growth while increasing customer satisfaction. Ms. Bonstein has served as a member of the board of directors of scPharmaceuticals Inc. since July 2020. She holds a B.S. in finance from The College of New Jersey and an M.B.A. from Rider University.
Daniel Curran, M.D. has served as a member of our board of directors since December 2020. He has more than 20 years of pharmaceutical experience in strategy, business development, project leadership and development roles. Since October 2012, Dr. Curran has held roles of increasing responsibility at Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd., or Takeda, a pharmaceutical company, and most recently serves as a senior vice president and the head of the rare genetics and hematology therapeutic area unit. Prior to Takeda, he served as vice president, corporate development at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., or Millennium, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda, from June 1999 to October 2012. Prior to Millennium, Dr. Curran held a business development role in the product planning and acquisition group at DuPont Merck Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical company. Dr. Curran received an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in chemistry from King’s College.
Tomas Heyman has been a member of our board of directors since September 2022. Mr. Heyman is a biopharmaceutical veteran with significant leadership and management expertise in corporate strategy, business development, venture capital, as well as R&D, legal and operational management, from his 37-year tenure with Johnson & Johnson (J&J). Mr. Heyman most recently served as president of JJDC, J&J’s corporate venture capital group, from April 2015 to September 2019, where he managed approximately $1.5 billion in capital and oversaw investments in more than 120 companies. Prior to leading JJDC, he led business development for J&J’s pharmaceutical group, Janssen, for twenty-three years, completing hundreds of licensing and M&A transactions. He also served as the managing director of Janssen Pharmaceutica, Belgium, J&J’s largest subsidiary outside the U.S., and vice president of licensing at Ortho Pharmaceutical, a J&J affiliate. Mr. Heyman serves as a member of the boards of directors of Legend Biotech, Akero Therapeutics, OptiNose, and Invivyd (formerly Adagio Therapeutics). Mr. Heyman received his Master of Law from K.U. Leuven in Belgium and completed post-graduate studies in international law in Geneva, Switzerland, and post-graduate studies in business management at the University of Antwerp in Belgium.
Robert Ross, M.D., most recently served as the chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Surface Oncology, Inc. before its acquisition by Coherus. Dr. Ross previously served as Surface’s chief medical officer. Before Surface, Dr. Ross served as the head of oncology at bluebird bio, Inc. and earlier served in roles as senior vice president of clinical development and pharmacovigilance and vice president of clinical development. Prior to bluebird bio, Dr. Ross worked at Genentech and Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Ross was a Fellow in Medical Oncology and a faculty member at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) from 2003 to 2007, and then he maintained a clinical practice at DFCI until 2015. Dr. Ross currently serves on the board of directors of Obsidian Therapeutics, Inc., a private biotechnology company. Dr. Ross received a B.S. in biological sciences and a B.A. in philosophy from Stanford University, an M.S. in medical science from Harvard Medical School and an M.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He completed his residency training in Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
Christina Rossi has served as a member of our board of directors since April 2021. Since October 2018, Ms. Rossi has served as chief commercial officer of Blueprint. From January 2015 to October 2018, Ms. Rossi served as the Multiple Sclerosis business unit head, North America, at Sanofi Genzyme, or Sanofi, a biotechnology company. Previously, Ms. Rossi served as vice president, Multiple Sclerosis Sales at Sanofiform May 2014 to December 2015 and vice president, Multiple Sclerosis Patient and Provider Services at Sanofi from June 2012 to May 2014. Prior to joining Sanofi, Ms. Rossi served in various roles at Biogen, including head, commercial strategy for Eidetica Biopharma GmbH, Biogen’s biosimilar-focused venture, and U.S. brand leader for TYSABRI®(natalizumab). In addition, Ms. Rossi consulted in the healthcare practice at the Boston Consulting Group. Ms. Rossi holds a B.S. in biology, cum laude, from Duke University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
René Russo, Pharm.D., is an accomplished biotechnology CEO with over 20 years of experience leading R&D and commercialization in the biopharmaceutical industry across a range of therapeutic areas, including oncology. As an executive leader, Dr. Russo has led successful teams from early preclinical research through all phases of clinical development, registration, and commercialization to bring innovative therapies to patients across the United States and Europe. Before Xilio, Dr. Russo was the President and CEO of Arsanis, a company developing monoclonal antibodies to prevent and treat serious infectious diseases, merged with X4 Pharmaceuticals in 2018. Prior to Arsanis, Dr. Russo spent 12 years at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, a leading global anti-infective company that Merck acquired. Before Cubist, Dr. Russo held R&D roles at Bristol-Myers Squibb, contributing to the successful development and global commercialization of multiple therapeutics. Dr. Russo serves on the boards of Xilio Therapeutics, Celsius Therapeutics, Ledyen Labs, and the non-profit Life Science Cares. Dr. Russo holds a B.S. in pharmacy and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Rutgers University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship with Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Yuan Xu, Ph.D. has served as a member of our board of directors since January 2022. Dr. Xu is a biopharmaceutical executive with more than 25 years of experience, most recently serving as chief executive officer of Legend Biotech Corporation (Legend Biotech) from March 2018 until August 2020. In this capacity, she played a leading role in Legend Biotech’s initial public offering, clinical development of Legend Biotech’s autologous CAR T-cell therapy cilta-cel, and a strategic partnership with Janssen Biotech, Inc. Prior to Legend Biotech, Dr. Xu served as senior vice president at Merck & Co., Inc. (Merck), where she led discovery, preclinical and technical development, and manufacturing for Merck’s biologics and vaccines subdivision. Dr. Xu also served as general manager and vice president of biologics at Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Gilead), where she led biologics and vaccines development and oversaw all operational aspects of Gilead’s Oceanside manufacturing facility as site head. Prior to Gilead, Dr. Xu served as vice president at Novartis and led several functions in the U.S. and Europe, including the biotherapeutics development unit focusing on innovative medicines. Earlier in her career, Dr. Xu held positions of increasing responsibility at Amgen Inc., Chiron, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Genentech Inc. Dr. Xu currently serves as a member of the boards of directors of Fate Therapeutics, Inc. and Akero Therapeutics, Inc., as well as a scientific advisory board member and manufacturing advisory board member of Resilience. Dr. Xu received a B.S. in biochemistry from Nanjing University, a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Maryland and completed her post-doctoral training in virology and gene therapy at the University of California, San Diego.