Dave was appointed to the role of interim President and Chief Executive Officer in April 2010. He joined AVI in August 2008 as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, bringing extensive operational and international financial experience. Prior to joining AVI, Dave served as Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer of XOMA Ltd., a California–based leader in the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies. In addition to his past positions as V.P. of Finance at Polycom and Director of Business Development at Intel, Dave has held senior positions in biotechnology and specialty pharmaceutical companies. He was at Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. in the U.S. and at Ares Serono Group both in the U.S. and Switzerland.

Jacqui joined AVI BioPharma in October 2009 as Vice President Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance. Prior to joining AVI, she held senior regulatory affairs and quality assurance positions at Alkermes, Inc., Telik, Inc., and Vivus, Inc. She also provided regulatory affairs consulting to the Weinberg Group and Parexel International, and held positions at Merrell Dow, which eventually became part of Sanofi-Aventis, in their Regulatory Affairs and Scientific Writing and Coordination groups. Earlier in Jacqui’s career she was a pharmaceutical assessor in the Biologicals Group of the UK Medicines Division (now the MHRA) and was a lecturer at The School of Pharmacy, London University, Department of Pharmaceutics. She completed her honors degree in Pharmacy and the medical microbiology research for her PhD at The School of Pharmacy, London University.

Pat was appointed Senior Vice President of Research and Innovation in 2008, having previously served as our Senior Vice President of Research and Development from 1997 to 2008 (and a director from 1997 to 2007). From 1987 through 1997, he was on the staff of the University of Nebraska Medical Center. While at Nebraska, Pat prepared the first IND submitted to the FDA for systemic use of an antisense compound in humans. He has published extensively on antisense research and development with over 200 papers in the peer reviewed literature, and he has given over 100 invited presentations to the academic community. Pat is also an inventor on over 71 patents. Pat has also served as a consultant and advisor to a variety of companies and institutions including Glaxo Inc., Innovir Pharmaceuticals, Lynx Therapeutics and Isis Pharmaceuticals. He completed his undergraduate studies at Westminster College in 1976 and was honored as distinguished alum in 2010. Pat earned his PhD in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Utah in 1984 with emphasis in biochemical toxicology, and he subsequently completed postdoctoral training at the Eppley Institute for Cancer in 1987 with the support of a National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health.

Ryszard joined AVI BioPharma in April 2008 as Senior Vice President of Discovery Research. Prior to AVI, he served as President and Chief Scientific Officer of Ercole Biotech, Inc. from its founding in 2001 until it was acquired by AVI in March 2008. Previously, Ryszard was a professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). Ryszard is a pioneer in the use of oligonucleotides for the modulation of gene splicing and an inventor of key patent families in the field. While a faculty member at UNC, his work led to a discovery that splicing provides a novel target for gene-based therapies of numerous disorders including cancer, genetic diseases and metabolic disorders such as obesity. As a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Sidney Altman at Yale University, Ryszard provided early evidence that an RNA component is essential for the activity of a tRNA processing enzyme, RNase P. Ryszard received his PhD in Natural Sciences from the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, Poland

Shirley joined AVI BioPharma in August 2008 as Vice President of Clinical Operations and Project Management. Prior to joining AVI BioPharma, she served in key clinical and program management leadership positions in Xanthus Pharmaceuticals, Wyeth, Navigant Biotechnologies and Pharmacia, managing staff and teams toward successful product candidate transitions from early development to global market launch. Shirley also served on an NIH Scientific Steering Committee in the early fight against AIDS HIV disease and worked extensively with the National Cancer Institute in numerous drug development programs. Shirley received a BS from Bowling Green State University, a MSc in biomedical sciences from Western Michigan University.

Paul joined AVI BioPharma in May 2009 as Senior Vice President of Business Development and Chief Business Officer. Previously, he served as Vice President, Global Licensing and Strategic Alliances for Schering-Plough, where he led worldwide product licensing and strategic partnering initiatives. Paul joined Schering-Plough in 1996 as marketing planning director, and subsequently held senior positions of increasing responsibility in marketing and business development, including Global Marketing Business Head for SP’s Claritin & Allergy Franchise, and Head of Worldwide Marketing for the Schering-Plough – Merck respiratory joint venture. Prior to Schering-Plough, Paul was employed by Merck & Company, where he held positions in New Product Planning and Worldwide Human Health Marketing. He is a member of the Licensing Executives Society and a Certified Licensing Professional™. Paul holds an AB with honors from Brown University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Steve joined AVI BioPharma in February 2009. He brings nearly 30 years experience to the company, with a career spanning medical practice, research, clinical development and product commercialization. Prior to joining AVI, Steve served as Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President Clinical Development and Regulatory Affairs for Adamas Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that, he served as Vice President Clinical and Regulatory Affairs and first Chief Medical Officer for MAP Pharmaceuticals where he led programs with inhaled drugs for migraine (Levadex – currently approaching NDA), pediatric asthma and other programs for diabetes and combination products in asthma. His career also includes work at Chiron Corporation (in orphan diseases – specifically cystic fibrosis) and Glaxo, where he led clinical development and supported NDA submissions. Steve received his medical training at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom where he obtained MB ChB. He has subsequently been elected Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians (UK), American College of Chest Physicians, American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and is a Member of the Royal College of General Practitioners (UK), American Academy of Neurology and the Infectious Disease Society of America.

Dwight joined AVI BioPharma as a director in 1991 and has served as Senior Vice President of Chemistry and Manufacturing since 1997. From 1992 to 1997, he served as our Vice President of Chemistry. Prior to joining AVI, Dwight was a member of the faculty of Oregon State University since 1978, where he served as Associate Professor in its Chemistry Department from 1984 to 1992. Dwight’s research has focused on the development of PMO antisense technology. At AVI, Dwight’ was a co-inventor on the original PMO technology, as well as the next generation peptide-PMO conjugates and PMOplus^TM, and has patented multiple improvements to the PMO production process. He has authored 46 publications and has 17 issued patents related to his research on the development of antisense technology. Dwight is a member of the American Chemical Society and the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. Dwight received a BS in chemistry from Lafayette College and a PhD in chemistry from University of California, Berkeley.