Don Staunton, PhD; President and Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Staunton has been directing drug discovery and development activities for 16 years. Dr. Staunton was previously a Scientific Fellow at ICOS Corporation.   His group discovered small molecule inhibitors of the integrin LFA-1 and PI3K which have entered clinical trials for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

Dr. Staunton has published over 60 original science articles and 

reviews.  He is an internationally recognized expert in cell adhesion biology, which plays a critical role in many disease processes.   Don received his PhD in immunology at Tufts University School of Medicine.  His post-doctoral training was under Dr Timothy Springer at Harvard Medical School where he subsequently became an Assistant Professor.

John Harlan, MD; CoFounder

Dr. Harlan has served as the head of the Division of Hematology at the University of Washington from 1989-2004. He is currently Associate Medical Director at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Dr Harlan is a world renowned scientist having conducted pioneering studies on adhesion molecules involved in leukocyte trafficking and anti-adhesion therapy for inflammatory and immune disease.

Dr Harlan has served on the Scientific Advisory Boards of several companies including Cytel corp., Zymogenetics and Molecumetics.

CisThera has assembled experienced, highly capable academic and clinical consultants to efficiently progress new therapeutics to the market.