Faculty
Roger Anderson, PhD Senior Scientist, Process Development
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
Lisa Cavacini, PhD Sr. Director, Product Discovery
Professor, Department of Medicine
Mark Klempner, MD Executive Vice Chancellor, MassBiologics
Professor, Department of Medicine
Yang Wang, MD PhD Deputy Director, Product Discovery
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine
Roger Anderson, PhD, is a Senior Scientist in Process Development and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Since joining MassBiologics in 1986 he has contributed to the development and licensure of the intravenous immune globulins Cytogam, Respigam and BabyBIG and manufactured a Haemophilus influenzae type b capsular polysaccharide—tetanus toxoid conjugate vaccine used in Phase I, II, and III clinical studies. Dr. Anderson headed Quality Operations and Process Development, participated in FDA inspections, and contributed to the development and manufacture of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. He was on a team supported by USAID and WHO that developed a training program on vaccine quality that was attended by regulatory authorities from around the world. Dr. Anderson taught quality operations, compliance auditing, and how to address out-of-specification results during testing. He was also on the team that was awarded a five-year NIH/NIAID contract for a Vaccine Production Facility and was principal investigator for the contract for two of the years.
Dr. Anderson received his PhD in plant physiology from Cornell University and did post-doctoral work at MIT in physiological chemistry and Tufts University School of Medicine. At Tufts he was a Research Assistant Professor and held an NIH Research Career Development Award and grants from foundations. Before joining MassBiologics he performed research on enzyme synthesis, purification and characterization, glycoprotein and lipid-linked oligosaccharide synthesis, and proteoglycan phosphorylation.
Lisa Cavacini, PhD, is a Sr Director in Product Discovery at MassBiologics and Professor of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and a member of the Immunology Program of the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Dr. Cavacini leads a group in the development of novel therapeutic human monoclonal antibodies and this includes antibody discovery and antibody engineering to improve functional activity and encompasses antibodies to treat infectious disease, cancer and immune diseases. Dr. Cavacini is also an NIH funded investigator researching passive immunotherapy for the prevention and treatment of HIV disease.
Dr. Cavacini is well-regarded as an immunologist with particular expertise in the area of antibody immunotherapy. In the field of HIV alone, she has supplied most major HIV research laboratories with human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) isolated in her laboratory for use in determining viral structure, correlates of protection and epitopes involved in transmission. She has also been active in bacterial diseases with the isolation of human mAbs in clinical studies to treat infection as well as autoimmune disease and cancer.
Dr. Cavacini received her doctorate in Microbiology and Immunology from Hahnemann University (now part of Drexel University) and conducted research at Schering-Plough Research Institute and Centocor Inc. prior to joining Harvard Medical School. Dr. Cavacini serves as a peer-reviewer for numerous journals and serves on NIH standing study sections as well as Special Emphasis Panels.
Mark S. Klempner, MD, is the Executive Vice Chancellor for MassBiologics of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he is professor of medicine. Dr. Klempner joined UMass Chan in July 1, 2012, from the Boston University School of Medicine, where he served as Associate Provost for Research, Conrad Wesselhoeft Professor of Medicine and the founding director of the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL).
Dr. Klempner is an internationally known figure at the intersection of basic infectious disease research and the development of therapeutics and vaccines to combat infections. Dr. Klempner discovered that inflammatory cells secrete & respond to proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1 and TNF) releasing reactive oxygen species & lysosomal contents. These observations have formed the basis for effective anti-cytokine treatments for inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. He engineered the first “reporter pathogens” demonstrating that intracellular changes were crucial to the pathogenesis of staphylococcal and plague infections & discovered the essential role of host plasminogen for transmission of the Lyme disease spirochete. Each of these discoveries have been coupled to translational clinical research including demonstration that lysosomotropic antibiotics eradicate intracellular staphylococci and reduce carriage of staph as well as the recurrence of staphylococcal skin and soft tissue infections. His clinical research on Lyme disease includes the pivotal treatment studies for post treatment chronic Lyme disease and trials of the Lyme vaccine. His research experience formed the basis for successful design and scientific program development for the NIH funded high containment NEIDL.
Dr. Klempner’s research interests include the molecular pathogenesis of Lyme disease, prevention and treatment of Lyme disease, strategies to interrupt transmission of vector transmitted infectious diseases, immune based prevention and treatment of hemorrhagic fever virus infectious diseases, bacterial antibiotic resistance and the role of bacterial subpopulations in hetero-resistance and the development of human monoclonal antibodies for the prevention and treatment of human diseases.
A graduate of the Cornell University Medical College, Dr. Klempner trained at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Laboratory of Clinical Investigation at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the National Naval Medical Center. He has held national leadership positions including the American Board of Internal Medicine Chair of the Infectious Diseases Board and member of the Board of Directors, President of the Association of Subspecialty Professors member of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the MA Governor’s Life Sciences Advisory Board, the Board of Scientific Counselors for the NIH Clinical Center. For over a decade he served as Associate Editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, selecting and refining the infectious diseases content of this leading clinical research journal.
is the Head/Deputy Director of Product Discovery and Process Development at MassBiologics. With over 16 years of experience in the biotechnology industry, she has a proven track record of developing and executing R&D discovery and early development strategies, leading and mentoring cross-functional teams. Dr. Wang has made significant contributions to various product discovery and development programs at MassBiologics, resulting in the advancement of multiple product candidates to success IND filling and clinical development. As the lead inventor of these high impact medicines, she directs pre-clinical development programs and manages a diverse network of national and international collaborations. She also oversees the process development team with extensive knowledge of bioprocess development and experience managing internal and external CRO and CDMO programs.
In addition, Dr. Wang holds a Professor of Medicine position at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. She is the principal investigator for product development programs funded by various external sources, including the NIH, DOD, BMGF, industry partners, and philanthropic organizations. She has published over 35 peer-reviewed articles and holds multiple patents in the field of drug discovery and development. In addition, she leads the education and training programs at MassBiologics and is recognized for her exceptional mentorship to junior and senior scientists, as well as apprentices from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center.
Dr. Wang holds a PhD in Genetics from Tufts University School of Medicine, an MD degree, and a MS in Immunology. She joined MassBiologics in 2007 as an R&D Scientist and has progressed to her current position after serving as the Senior Director in Product Discovery.