Susan has served as Synthekine’s CEO since August of 2026. Before joining Synthekine, she served as Chief Executive Officer at Para Therapeutics, Inc., from April 2023 to July 2025. Prior to this, Susan was Chief Executive Officer, President and a member of the board of directors of Calithera Biosciences, Inc., which she co-founded in June 2010, took public in 2014, and led until March 2023. Previously, she co-founded Proteolix in December 2003, and served first as Chief Scientific Officer and then as Chief Executive Officer. Proteolix was acquired by Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., in November 2009. Earlier in her career, Susan held multiple senior management positions in biopharmaceutical companies, including Vice President of Biology at Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Vice President of Biology at Praelux, Inc., and Vice President of Drug Development at Praecis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. She currently serves as a Scientific Advisor to Lightstone Ventures, a private life sciences investment company. Susan is currently Executive Chair of Seranova Bio, Inc. and a member of the board at Geron Corporation, and has previously served on the boards of Repare Therapeutics, Inc., Cyteir Therapeutics, Inc., and Theravance Biopharma, Inc. Susan holds a B.S. in biology from Smith College, a Ph.D. in molecular biology from Johns Hopkins University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University.