Dr. Stergiou has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer, and a director, since December 2017. Dr. Stergiou founded, in 2012, our predecessor entity, or Private SELLAS, that completed a business combination with Galena Biopharma on December 29, 2017, and served as the President and Chief Executive Officer and a director since that time, both as Chairman from 2012 to July 2016, and as Vice Chairman from July 2016 to December 2017. In connection therewith, Dr. Stergiou led the negotiation of an exclusive license agreement with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center ( MSK ) to develop and commercialize MSK s WT1 peptide vaccine technology, which was satisfied in part by the transfer to MSK of certain of Dr. Stergiou s shares in Private SELLAS. Dr. Stergiou also co-founded Genesis Life Sciences, Ltd. (now Genesis Research), a boutique health economics and pricing-reimbursement and health access company where he served as President and Chief Operating Officer from 2009 to 2011. From 2004 to 2008, Dr. Stergiou served as Vice President and Head of Drug Development at Accentia Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. and also served in the same capacity as well as Chief Medical Officer at its subsidiary Biovest International, Inc. during the same time. While at Biovest International, Inc., Dr. Stergiou led the Phase 3 development of a therapeutic cancer vaccine, BiovaxID, which was presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology plenary session in 2009. Dr. Stergiou started his biotechnology career in 2002 at PAION AG where he served as its U.S. program lead of desmoteplase (DEDAS) and served on the joint steering and oversight committee of PAION AG with Forest Laboratories, Inc. in 2003-2004. Dr. Stergiou holds an M.D. from the U.S. American Institute of Medicine and a Sc.D. h.c. from Kentucky Wesleyan College and received his undergraduate degree in pre-medicine, biology and chemistry from Kentucky Wesleyan College. Dr. Stergiou was a member of the Board of Trustees at Kentucky Wesleyan College from March 2017 to January 2021, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, an active member of the World Medical Association, and a member of the American Academy of Physicians in Clinical Research and the Association of Clinical Research Professionals. Dr. Stergiou has served on the Board of Directors of Cleara Biotech B.V., a private biotech company located in the Netherlands, since January 2022. The Company believes that Dr. Stergiou s experience as the founder of Private SELLAS and as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Company, as well as his extensive experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and his significant management experience, qualifies him to serve on our Board .