Eric D. Lynch, PhD President & Director
Dr. Lynch completed his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley, where he mapped the first human gene for hearing loss, DFNA1 with Dr. Mary-Claire King. During his post-doctoral studies at the University of Washington, he cloned DFNA1 and DFNA15. He helped to identify and characterize the first genes for breast cancer (BRCA1) and brain cancer (PTEN). He was a Research Assistant Professor in the Division of Medical Genetics at the UW and served on the 1999 Strategic Planning Committee of the NIH, Division of Deafness and Communication Disorders. In 2000, he left the UW to become the Vice-President and Director of Research at Otogene. He left Otogene and co-founded SPI in 2001. Dr. Lynch has over 15 years of experience in cancer and hearing research and drug development.


Jonathan Kil, MD Chief Medical Officer & Director
Dr. Kil has an extensive background in auditory and cell cycle biology, which translates directly into the scientific platforms of SPI. He has served as the principal investigator on several NIH grants including an SBIR phase II award for auditory hair cell regeneration. In 1998, Dr. Kil co-founded Otogene, the first inner ear biopharmaceutical company, using anti p27Kip1 technology that he developed with investigators at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. As President, CEO, and CSO he transitioned its basic R&D technology into a pre-clinical drug development platform. He left Otogene and co-founded SPI in 2001. Dr. Kil earned his BA from the University of California, Irvine, his MD from the University of Virginia and completed his post-doctoral training at the University of Washington.


Joseph Ashley Director
Mr. Ashley has held key management positions in several biotechnology and medical device companies. From 1974-1983, he was the President of Beckman Instruments’ Clinical Division, which was acquired by Smith Kline in 1983. From 1983-1985, he was the President of Genetic Systems, one of Seattle’s first biotechnology companies, that was then acquired by Bristol-Myers in 1984. From 1987-1993, he was the CEO of ProCyte Corp. in Redmond, WA. He is the Chairman of Copernicus Therapeutics, a DNA based drug delivery company in Cleveland, Ohio.

Glenn H. Kawasaki, PhD, MBA, JD Director
Dr. Kawasaki is the Founder, President, and Research Director of Catch Incorporated, in Bothell, WA, that has created an enzymatic assay for homocysteine. From 1981-1985, he was the first scientist and the Chair of the Science Board at ZymoGenetics, Inc. From 1989-1998, he was the Founder, President, CEO and Research Director at Aptein, Inc., which pioneered "ribosome display" technology to engineer antibodies in yeast. Aptein was acquired by Cambridge Antibody Technology in 1998, a leading biotechnology company in the UK. Dr. Kawasaki has a PhD in genetics, an MBA, and JD from the University of Washington.

Bruce A. Beutler, MD
Dr. Beutler discovered an important family of receptors that allow mammals to sense infections when they occur, triggering a powerful inflammatory response. For this work he received the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Dr. Beutler is currently a Regental Professor and Director of the Center for Genetics of Host Defense at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He also holds the Raymond and Ellen Willie Distinguished Chair in Cancer Research in honor of Laverne and Raymond Willie, Sr. Before he received the Nobel Prize, his work was recognized by the Shaw Prize (2011), the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research (2009), election to the National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine (2008), the Frederik B. Bang Award (2008), the Balzan Prize (2007), the Gran Prix Charles-Leopold-Mayer (2006), the William B. Coley Award (2005), the Robert-Koch-Prize (2004), and other honors.
Dr. Beutler received his undergraduate degree from the University of California at San Diego in 1976, and his MD degree from the University of Chicago in 1981. After residency at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, he became a postdoctoral fellow and then an Assistant Professor at the Rockefeller University (1983-1986), where he isolated mouse tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and was the first to recognize TNF as a key executor of the inflammatory response. As an HHMI investigator at UTSMC, he designed recombinant inhibitors of TNF alpha (i.e. Enbrel) that are widely used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases. He also used TNF as a biological endpoint in order to identify the receptor for bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) that he concluded were mediated through Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and proposed that other TLRs might also recognize conserved molecular signatures of infection. In addition, he has identified and characterized genetic mutations in COMT2 that leads to human deafness.

James M. Roberts, MD, PhD
Dr. Roberts is a world-renowned expert on the cell cycle and cancer and is currently the Director of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center's Basic Sciences Division and an Affiliate Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Washington. Dr. Roberts serves on the editorial board of several top journals, including CELL, and is a consultant to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies that are developing cancer therapeutics and agricultural products.
Dr. Roberts’ laboratory is focused on the interplay of cell cycle regulatory genes in mouse models to better understand the origin and development of human cancers. His focus on the mechanisms that control the mammalian cell cycle such as the roles of cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases led to the co-discovery of the cycle regulator p27. Dr. Roberts was among the first to recognize p27’s potential in the development of therapeutics associated with cellular regeneration.


Philip S. Schein, MD
Dr. Schein is currently a Visiting Professor in Cancer Pharmacology, University of Oxford and President of The Schein Group. Dr. Schein served as a Senior Investigator and Head of the Clinical Pharmacology Section of the Medicine Branch at the National Cancer Institute. His next appointment was at the Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, DC, as Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology, Chief of Medical Oncology and Scientific Director of the Vincent T. Lombardi Cancer Research Center. Subsequently he served as Vice President of Worldwide Clinical Research and Development, and Director of the Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, SmithKline & French Laboratories, where he had responsibility for all SK&F clinical research and development activities. In 1987 Dr. Schein founded U.S. Bioscience, a pharmaceutical company focused on cancer and AIDS, and while serving as Chairman and CEO he took three products, Ethyol, Hexalen and Neutrexin, through development and regulatory approval in the US, Europe, Canada and other countries.
Dr Schein has served as President of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and he has chaired the Food and Drug Administration's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors on the American Board of Internal Medicine, where he chaired the Medical Oncology Committee. He was appointed by President Clinton to the National Cancer Advisory Board. He is a recipient of numerous scientific and medical awards including the Harvey W. Wiley Medal from the FDA and the Wainwright Award for Excellence in Medical Education.

Albrecht Wendel, PhD
Dr. Wendel is Chairman of Biochemical Pharmacology for the University of Constance in Germany. He co-discovered ebselen, a mimic of glutathione peroxidase activity and an active pharmaceutical ingredient in several of Sound Pharmaceuticals product candidates. Dr. Wendel was Program Chair for the 4th International Symposium on Selenium in Biology and Medicine in Tubingen Germany in 1988. This position led to his contributing to and editing of the text Selenium in Biology and Medicine. Dr. Wendel published the first crystal structure data for the seleno-enzyme glutathione peroxidase in 1976 and is among the leaders in elucidating it unique biochemical activity. He is an expert in glutathione metabolism, antioxidants, inflammation, and cell death mechanisms. Dr. Wendel is currently playing a significant role in the European Union's efforts to develop and adopt standardized in vitro tests for the toxicological evaluation of substances for therapeutic purposes.