Dr. Cleland serves as Chairman, President and CEO of Ashvattha Therapeutics. He has years of industry experience in research and development, including more than a decade at Genentech, Inc. His experience in startups includes major roles in obtaining more than $500 million in capital at stages from Series A through D and exit via IPO–and has managed directly all aspects of drug development and late-stage research. He held leadership roles in the successful approval of two drugs, Herceptin® and Nutropin Depot®, as well as in early work on Lucentis®, Avastin®, and Kadcyla®. He holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Davis and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Cleland has authored more than 100 articles and four books and holds several issued patents.