Charles Bisgaier, Ph.D
President and CEO
Dr. Bisgaier has been a board director (since 2009), and currently is serving as the CEO and President of ProNAi Therapeutics (Sept 2010 to present). Dr. Bisgaier is also currently a Co-founder and Chief Executive Manager of Michigan Life Ventures, LLC, a private company created primarily to establish or assist early stage companies. Prior to Michigan Life Ventures, he was President of Pipex Pharmaceuticals (2006-2008); he was the Senior Director of Pharmacology at the Esperion Division of Pfizer Global Research and Development (2004-2006); he co-founded and was the Vice-President of Pharmacology at Esperion Therapeutics, Inc (1998-2004). Dr. Bisgaier was formerly an Associate Research Fellow in the Department of Vascular and Cardiac Disease at Parke-Davis, where he played a role in discovery and development of pharmaceuticals that modulate lipoprotein and cholesterol metabolism (1990-1998). There he participated in the discovery and development of LOPID, LIPITOR, AVASIMIBE and GEMCABENE. Dr. Bisgaier received a B.A. (1974) in Biology from the State University College at Oneonta, NY, and a M.S. (1977) and Ph.D. (1981) in biochemistry from George Washington University, Wash., D.C.

Wendi V. Rodrigueza, PhD
VP, Product Development
Dr. Rodrigueza, whose therapeutic research expertise includes cardiovascular disease, oncology, diabetes and metabolic diseases, joins ProNAi after most recently serving at Novartis Institute of Biomedical Research, Inc. (NIBRI) as Director, Product Management, Cardiovascular Disease Area. Prior to NIBRI, Dr. Rodrigueza held numerous senior research positions at both CuraGen and Esperion Therapeutics (now a division of Pfizer Global Research and Development).

William L. Elliott, Ph.D.
Senior Director of Pharmacology and Preclinical Research
Dr. Elliott has more than 30 years of research experience in the field of oncology drug discovery and development.  His experience in the field of in vivo oncology drug evaluation is extensive and encompasses a number of cytotoxic agents, signal transduction antagonists, and biological response modifiers.  Before joining ProNAi, Dr. Elliott was a Senior Director at Charles River Discovery and Imaging Services, previously MIR Preclinical Services, a company he co-established.  Prior to MIR, Dr. Elliott was the InVivo Group Leader for the Cancer Pharmacology effort at Pfizer’s Ann Arbor Laboratories.  During his tenure at Parke-Davis/Pfizer, a number of compounds from several mechanistic classes were discovered, developed, and advanced to clinical trial.  Dr. Elliott received his B.S. degree from Manchester College, North Manchester, IN. His Ph.D. is from the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, Purdue University School of Pharmacy with a focus in chemical carcinogenesis and cancer.

Christopher Whitehead, Ph.D., MBA
Director of Research & Strategy
Dr. Whitehead has over fifteen years of pharmaceutical industry experience as a research scientist and business development associate. Prior to ProNAI, Dr. Whitehead was a Principal Scientist (2004-2007), Senior Scientist (2002-2004) and Scientist (1997-1999) at Pfizer Global Research and Development, Ann Arbor, MI. At Pfizer, Dr. Whitehead, championed computer assisted design methods to not only discover new chemical leads, but then use those tools to optimize their physical, pharmacological and pharmacokinetic properties. His responsibility included discovering new chemical entities for oncology, neurological, antibacterial and inflammation therapeutic targets. Dr. Whitehead was also a contract Researcher at Eastman Kodak, Rochester, NY (1997-1999) where he created software for assessment of physical properties of chemicals. He also interned (1995-1996) at SmithKline Beecham, King of Prussia, PA where he gained industry exposure and experience in computational and analytical chemistry. Dr. Whitehead received a B.S. (1994) in Chemistry from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, a Ph.D. (2000) in Organic Chemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York and an MBA (2009) in Finance from the University of Michigan.