Who We Are

Jeffrey Bluestone, Ph.D. is one of the leading immunologists in the field of T-cell activation and immune tolerance research that has led to the development of multiple immunotherapies, including the first FDA-approved drug targeting T-cell co-stimulation to treat autoimmune disease and organ transplantation and the first CTLA-4 antagonist drugs approved for the treatment of metastatic melanoma.

Dr. Bluestone is an academic leader on a national and international scale. He is former President and CEO of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, and was the founding director of the Immune Tolerance Network, the largest NIH-funded multicenter clinical immunology research program, testing novel immunotherapies in transplantation, autoimmunity and asthma/allergy.  While holding the A.W. and Mary Margaret Clausen Distinguished Professorship at UCSF, Dr. Bluestone also served as executive vice chancellor and provost emeritus at UCSF and was the former director of the UCSF Diabetes Center.

Dr. Bluestone has received numerous awards including: a Guggenheim Fellowship; election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; the National Academy of Medicine; and the National Academy of Sciences; and an appointed member of Vice President Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel.

Jessica Stitt, MBA is a global biotech financial executive with over 20 years of experience in corporate transactions, healthcare finance and strategy. She most recently served as Chief Financial Officer at Gyroscope Therapeutics, a global clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on disease of the eye, acquired by Novartis. Prior to Gyroscope, Stitt served as Vice President of Finance and Operations for MyoKardia, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing targeted therapies for the treatment of serious cardiovascular diseases, acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb. She served as Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations for Theravance Biopharma, Inc., after the company’s spin-off from Theravance, Inc., now Innoviva, Inc. She previously held roles in finance at Nektar Therapeutics, Alkermes and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

Stitt holds an MBA from Simmons School of Management and a B.A. from Saint Anselm College.

Joseph R. Arron, M.D., Ph.D., has extensive experience in drug and biomarker discovery and development. Previously, he served as the Chief Scientific Officer for Therapeutics at 23andMe, a genetics-driven consumer healthcare and biopharmaceutical company, where he managed a portfolio of more than 25 therapeutic programs, and developed and implemented comprehensive target discovery, translational research, and therapeutic candidate discovery strategies across multiple therapeutic areas. Prior to 23andMe, Dr. Arron was a Scientist at Genentech for over 15 years, and led target discovery, preclinical development and translational research for inflammatory, autoimmune, fibrotic and ophthalmic disorders as Vice President of Immunology Research. Dr. Arron has published more than 100 original articles. In addition to his role as Chief Scientific Officer, he serves as a member of SonomaBio’s Scientific Advisory Board.

Dr. Arron earned his Ph.D. in immunology from The Rockefeller University, his M.D. from Weill Medical College of Cornell University and an A.B. in chemistry from Princeton University. He conducted postdoctoral research in developmental biology at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Rajesh Krishnan, Ph.D., is the Chief Technical Officer at Sonoma Biotherapeutics, managing all CMC development, product manufacturing, and quality operations. Previously, he served as the Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Technical Officer for Oncternal Therapeutics, managing the CMC development and manufacturing of their multi-modality pipeline across small molecule pharmaceuticals, large molecule biologics, and autologous cell therapies. He has over 25 years of experience across process development, CMC, technology transfer, and manufacturing sciences for US and international manufacturing sites, involving both internal and partnered programs. Prior to his role at Oncternal, Dr. Krishnan served as Vice President, Process Development and Manufacturing Sciences at Dynavax Technologies Corporation, where he led manufacturing, drug process development, process validation, analytical sciences, and technology transfer efforts for commercial and clinical development programs. From 2012 through 2017, Dr. Krishnan served in several positions at Gilead Sciences, Inc., leading the Biologics Drug Substance Process Development, which is comprised of cell line development, and upstream and downstream process development for multiple clinical biologics programs. From 2000 to 2012, he served in positions of increasing responsibility at Merck & Co., Inc., Amgen Inc., and Pfizer, with a consistent leadership role across process development, technology transfer, and CMC for clinical and commercial biologics programs.

Dr. Krishnan earned his B.S.E. degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University, his M.S. degree in chemical engineering from the University of California, Davis, and his Ph.D. degree in biochemical engineering from the University of California, Davis.