Company
Company
Bolt Biotherapeutics is a clinical-stage biotech company leveraging the immune system for a better way to treat cancer. The company is developing novel immunotherapies using an approach that uses foreign patterns to trigger the innate immune system, which then teaches the immune system to recognize and kill cancer.
Bolt was founded in 2015 by Dr. Edgar G. Engleman of Stanford University to expand upon his pioneering work in cancer immunotherapeutics and myeloid biology. Bolt is based in the San Francisco Bay area.
The Company’s highly qualified management team includes experienced leaders in immuno-oncology drug discovery, development, and commercialization. We are applying our expertise to the discovery and development of transformative treatments to address key unmet medical needs for patients with cancer.
Management Team
Willie Quinn
Chief Executive Officer
Willie Quinn, Chief Executive Officer and board member, joined Bolt Biotherapeutics in 2020, bringing extensive experience in finance, operations, and business development leadership
Willie Quinn
Chief Executive Officer
Willie Quinn, Chief Executive Officer and board member, joined Bolt Biotherapeutics in 2020, bringing extensive experience in finance, operations, and business development leadership in the biopharma industry. Prior to joining Bolt, Mr. Quinn served as the chief financial officer and senior vice president of corporate development at Sunesis Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Viracta Therapeutics), where he led the company through multiple public financings and corporate collaborations. Before joining Sunesis, Mr. Quinn co-founded and was chief executive officer of Bullet Biotechnology, an immuno-oncology company developing therapeutic cancer vaccines discovered at Stanford University. Previously, Mr. Quinn was instrumental in establishing the infrastructure at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, where he was one of the first employees. During his eight years at Jazz, Mr. Quinn held positions of increasing responsibility in operations and business development as the company transformed from a privately held startup to a public and profitable specialty pharmaceutical company identifying, developing, and commercializing pharmaceutical products in neurology and psychiatry. Mr. Quinn’s final role with Jazz was leading corporate development, including product licensing, M&A, strategy, and investor relations. Prior to joining Jazz, Mr. Quinn was the chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Novation Biosciences, a biotechnology software company (acquired by Agilent Technologies). He served on the board of directors of A Foundation Building Strength, a nonprofit organization with a mission to find treatments for nemaline myopathy, for more than a decade, in addition to serving on the board of directors of Neuromast, a specialty pharmaceutical company.
Mr. Quinn earned his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Stanford University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller scholar.
Grant Yonehiro
Chief Operating Officer
Grant Yonehiro, Chief Operating Officer, joined Bolt Biotherapeutics in 2016. Mr. Yonehiro has been responsible for business and corporate development, strategy, commercialization, an
Grant Yonehiro
Chief Operating Officer
Grant Yonehiro, Chief Operating Officer, joined Bolt Biotherapeutics in 2016. Mr. Yonehiro has been responsible for business and corporate development, strategy, commercialization, and general management within biotechnology companies for over 25 years with significant transactional and operational responsibilities. He served as president and chief executive officer of Perseid Therapeutics from inception through acquisition by Astellas Pharma and stayed on post-acquisition as president of an Astellas operating site. He served as chief business officer for Berkeley Lights and Maxygen Inc., and held various senior management positions at GenVec, Inc., including vice president of commercial operations, vice president of product management and vice president of drug development. Prior to GenVec, he served in business development at Cell Genesys, Inc. in investment banking at Piper Jaffray and in the Technology Transfer Office at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Mr. Yonehiro graduated magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Individualized Studies and received his MBA from the Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley.
Michael N. Alonso, Ph.D.
SVP, Research
Michael Alonso, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Research, is scientific co-founder at Bolt Biotherapeutics and co-inventor of Bolt’s proprietary ISAC platform. Dr. Alonso is passionate about translati
Michael N. Alonso, Ph.D.
SVP, Research
Michael Alonso, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Research, is scientific co-founder at Bolt Biotherapeutics and co-inventor of Bolt’s proprietary ISAC platform. Dr. Alonso is passionate about translating scientific discoveries into innovative therapies that ensure cancer patients become cancer survivors. Dr. Alonso brings deep expertise in myeloid biology and drug discovery, with more than a decade of research and translational experience in immunology, neuroscience, and transplant biology. Prior to joining Bolt, Dr. Alonso served as the lead scientist at a Bay Area biotechnology start-up company and held leadership roles at Stanford University.
Dr. Alonso is a well-published scientist who earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University School of Medicine and his Certificate in Entrepreneurship from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Dr. Alonso graduated with distinction from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in molecular and cellular biology.
Dawn Colburn, PharmD, BCOP
SVP, Clinical Development
Dawn Colburn, Pharm.D., BCOP, Senior Vice President, Clinical Development, joined Bolt Biotherapeutics in 2023, bringing over two decades of experience in oncology clinical developmen
Dawn Colburn, PharmD, BCOP
SVP, Clinical Development
Dawn Colburn, Pharm.D., BCOP, Senior Vice President, Clinical Development, joined Bolt Biotherapeutics in 2023, bringing over two decades of experience in oncology clinical development. Before joining Bolt, Dr. Colburn served as Vice President of Clinical Science for Agenus and Arcus Biosciences, where she built and led the clinical science organization and the non-small cell lung cancer clinical development strategy at both organizations. Prior, Dr. Colburn spent over 15 years at Genentech, where she participated in the global filings for the Erivedge, Zelboraf, and Cotellic programs. She additionally took on the international development leadership for the Zelboraf/Cotellic programs in melanoma, as well as Tecentriq and Anti-TIGIT for hematologic malignancies.
Before working in clinical development, Dr. Colburn practiced as an Oncology Clinical Pharmacist for the leukemia service at MD Anderson Cancer Center. She is a board-certified oncology pharmacist. Dr. Colburn received her Pharm.D. from the University of California, San Francisco, and holds a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of California, Davis.
Nathan Ihle, Ph.D.
SVP, Pharmaceutical Operations
Nathan Ihle, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Operations, joined Bolt Biotherapeutics in 2019, bringing nearly 30 years of experience in pharmaceutical R&D, primarily
Nathan Ihle, Ph.D.
SVP, Pharmaceutical Operations
Nathan Ihle, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Operations, joined Bolt Biotherapeutics in 2019, bringing nearly 30 years of experience in pharmaceutical R&D, primarily in cancer drug development. Prior, he was the founder and principal at Ihle CMC Solutions. He also served as the vice president of manufacturing strategy at Immunomedics, Inc. (now Gilead Sciences), where he developed the supply strategy, supporting the global commercialization of the company’s first antibody-drug conjugate product, and was closely involved in the company’s regulatory submissions. Previously, Dr. Ihle worked for 16 years at Seattle Genetics, Inc. (now Seagen) as the vice president of CMC strategy and management, leading critical portions of the development of Adcetris (brentuximab vedotin) and other programs. At Seagen, Dr. Ihle was responsible for CMC aspects of development and regulatory strategies for all corporate programs, portfolio and project management, and alliance management.
Dr. Ihle completed his post-doctoral work as an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley after receiving his doctorate in organic chemistry from Stanford University.
Wesley Burwell
VP, Head of Human Resources
Wesley Burwell, Vice President, Head of Human Resources, brings more than 20 years of experience in building and driving human resources and employee dev
Wesley Burwell
VP, Head of Human Resources
Wesley Burwell, Vice President, Head of Human Resources, brings more than 20 years of experience in building and driving human resources and employee development strategies for clinical-stage life science companies to Bolt Biotherapeutics. Prior to joining Bolt, Mr. Burwell was senior HR leader at Global Blood Therapeutics, where he supported the company’s exponential growth from early development through commercialization by leading talent acquisition and establishing internal programs to foster learning and development and employee engagement and retention. Over the course of his career, Mr. Burwell has held leadership roles in life science and technology companies, in addition to founding and building a successful recruiting and HR consulting practice. He has served on the board of directors for several non-profit organizations focused on healthcare and education. Mr. Burwell is passionate about building mission-driven organizations with strong cultures and diverse, inclusive workforces.
Mr. Burwell earned his MBA in international business from the University of San Francisco and B.A. in Human Resource Management from Golden Gate University.
Pam Howland
VP, Portfolio and Program Management
Pam Howland, Vice President, Portfolio and Program Management, joined Bolt Biotherapeutics in 2022 with more than 20 years of experience driving biotechnology programs through Investi
Pam Howland
VP, Portfolio and Program Management
Pam Howland, Vice President, Portfolio and Program Management, joined Bolt Biotherapeutics in 2022 with more than 20 years of experience driving biotechnology programs through Investigational New Drug (IND) and clinical development, and regulatory approval and commercial launch program phases. Ms. Howland previously worked at Lyell Immunopharma, where she was responsible for the advancement of the first two lead cell therapy programs through IND and into clinical trials. Prior to Lyell, Ms. Howland served as Vice President, Project and Alliance Management at Pellepharm Inc., a BridgeBio company, where in addition to program management responsibilities for the company’s three clinical trials, she also served as Alliance Manager for research collaboration supporting eventual commercialization of the program. Prior to Pellepharm, Ms. Howland spent ten years at Sunesis Pharmaceuticals (now Viracta Therapeutics), where she managed the vosaroxin program from Phase 2 development through planning and conduct of the Phase 3 clinical program, including regulatory submission and defense. Previous responsibilities included program management roles at Jazz Pharmaceuticals and Cepheid.
Ms. Howland received her Master of Science degrees from Stanford University and the University of Santa Clara and her Bachelor of Science degree from Brown University.
Sarah Nemec
VP, Finance and Principal Accounting Officer
Sarah Nemec, Vice President, Finance and Principal Accounting Officer, joined Bolt Biotherapeutics in 2020, bringing more than 20 years as a senior finan
Sarah Nemec
VP, Finance and Principal Accounting Officer
Sarah Nemec, Vice President, Finance and Principal Accounting Officer, joined Bolt Biotherapeutics in 2020, bringing more than 20 years as a senior finance leader in the life science industry to the company. At Bolt, she is responsible for all aspects of the company’s financial planning, accounting, and reporting. Ms. Nemec played a key role in Bolt’s initial public offering and spearheaded all activities necessary to establish the company’s financial management infrastructure, key reporting systems and processes. Prior to joining Bolt, she served as the vice president, principal accounting executive for BioElectron Technology Corp., where she led accounting and cash management for the company through the sale and transition of its assets to PTC Therapeutics. Previously, Ms. Nemec served as the director, financial reporting for JDA Software (now Blue Yonder) and associate director, SEC reporting for Affymetrix (acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific).
Ms. Nemec began her career as an auditor in the financial services and life science practice at Ernst & Young, LLP. Ms. Nemec is a certified public accountant and earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from Ohio University.
Lu Xu, Ph.D.
VP, Development Sciences
Lu Xu, Ph.D., Vice President, Development Sciences, joined Bolt Biotherapeutics in 2022, bringing 20 years of experience in the development of a range of
Lu Xu, Ph.D.
VP, Development Sciences
Lu Xu, Ph.D., Vice President, Development Sciences, joined Bolt Biotherapeutics in 2022, bringing 20 years of experience in the development of a range of antibody-based therapeutics, primarily in the field of oncology. Over the course of her career, Dr. Xu has led or supported new drug development programs from early-stage research through post-marketing commitment, including 12 INDs and two BLAs. Before joining Bolt, Dr. Xu was co-founder and head of drug development at PRAV Biosciences. Prior, she was head of preclinical development and clinical pharmacology at 23andMe Therapeutics, where she oversaw preclinical safety assessment, pharmacokinetics, biomarker discovery, and bioanalytics. Dr. Xu also served as the head of clinical pharmacology and preclinical pharmacokinetics at OncoMed Pharmaceuticals (now Mereo BioPharma Group), supporting the planning and execution of multiple oncology programs from pre-IND stage through Phase 2 clinical studies. Before joining OncoMed, she held drug development positions of increasing responsibility at Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, and Novartis.
Dr. Xu earned a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering and an M.S. in regulatory science from the University of Southern California, and an M.S. in biochemistry from University of California, Riverside.
Board of Directors
Laura Berner
Director
Laura Berner has extensive biopharma industry experience, in leadership roles spanning corporate strategy, bus
Laura Berner
Director
Laura Berner has extensive biopharma industry experience, in leadership roles spanning corporate strategy, business development, investor relations and law. She currently serves as Chief Operating Officer at TRexBio, a private, venture-backed biotech company, with responsibility for the company’s corporate and operational functions. Previously, Ms. Berner was Vice President, Head of Business Development & Investor Relations at Myovant Sciences, where she led the execution of global partnerships for the commercialization of the company’s lead products Myfembree® (relugolix, estradiol and norethindrone acetate) and Orgovyx® (relugolix) and supported the company through multiple follow-on financings. Earlier in her career, she was a member of the business development team at Roche Pharma Partnering, and the transactional law group at Genentech. Ms. Berner began her career as a corporate attorney first at Ropes & Gray LLP, and later in the Office of the General Counsel at Harvard University, advising on general corporate, business development and strategic transactions.
Ms. Berner earned her B.A. in Biology from Bryn Mawr College, her J.D. from Stanford Law School, and her MBA from the University of Illinois Urbana Champagne Gies College of Business.
Jakob Dupont, M.D.
Director
Jakob Dupont, M.D. is a renowned expert in the field of oncology drug development, with deep experience in dev
Jakob Dupont, M.D.
Director
Jakob Dupont, M.D. is a renowned expert in the field of oncology drug development, with deep experience in developing therapies dedicated to addressing the unmet medical needs of patients. Dr. Dupont is Executive Partner at Sofinnova Investments and was previously Global Head of Research & Development at Atara. Before Atara he served as the Chief Medical Officer at Gossamer Bio. Prior to Gossamer, he served as VP and Global Head of Breast and Gynecologic Cancer Development for Roche, where he was responsible for the global development of Herceptin®, Perjeta®, Kadcyla®, and Tecentriq®, among others. Prior to that, Dr. Dupont was CMO of OncoMed. Dr. Dupont has been involved in tumor immunology research and clinical investigations for more than 25 years, ranging from cellular therapy to targeted therapies to immuno-oncology. Dr. Dupont has received numerous grants and awards and contributed to 22 successful IND filings and 14 regulatory approvals. He has also served as a faculty member and laboratory researcher at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and an adjunct clinical faculty in medical oncology at Stanford University. He serves as a Board Member for Avenzo Therapeutics, Pyxis Oncology, Imugene, and is on the scientific advisory board of Flagship Pioneering.
Dr. Dupont earned his bachelor’s degree from Vassar College, his master’s degree from New York University, and his M.D. from the Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University.
Kathleen LaPorte
Director
Kathy LaPorte has more than 30 years of experience building and operating private and public biotech companies
Kathleen LaPorte
Director
Kathy LaPorte has more than 30 years of experience building and operating private and public biotech companies. She currently serves as a director of Elysium Therapeutics, Precipio Diagnostics and D2G Oncology. Kathy was chief executive officer of Nodality Inc. as well as a founding partner of New Leaf Ventures, which was a spinout from the Sprout Group. Prior to that, Kathy served as a general partner of The Sprout Group for over 12 years. She is passionate about helping founders, CEOs and organizations grow successfully and playing a meaningful role on outstanding boards. Kathy’s board experience is extensive and includes both private and public companies, as well as public-sector boards such as the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). She has served on more than a dozen public company boards, including companies such as Affymax, ISTA Pharmaceuticals, and Onyx Pharmaceuticals. Kathy has served on 12 audit committees, and chaired several. She is a Qualified Financial Expert. Kathy has a B.S. degree in Biology from Yale University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Brian O'Callaghan
Director
Brian O’Callaghan has executive experience within the biotech, big pharma and CRO sectors. He also has broad
Brian O'Callaghan
Director
Brian O’Callaghan has executive experience within the biotech, big pharma and CRO sectors. He also has broad global experience, having lived and worked in 6 different countries.
Brian has served as the Chief Executive Officer at Deep Genomics since September 2023. Prior to Deep Genomics, Brian already had extensive CEO experience from serving as CEO of ObsEva, Petra Pharma, Sonrgy, Acucela, Sangart and BioPartners. He has also held senior management positions at Pfizer, Merck Serono, Novartis, Covance and NPS Pharmaceuticals. Brian has experience running both public and private companies, M&A’s, IPO’s, fundraising, divestments, spin-outs and strategic alliances. His operational experience is also wide ranging, having managed multiple businesses and programs, across many therapeutic areas, from concept through to commercialization. He is currently on the board of a number of privately-held companies and non-profits.
Mr. O’Callaghan received an M.B.A. from the Henley School of Business at the University of Reading.
Nicole Onetto, M.D.
Director
Nicole Onetto, M.D., is an independent consultant in oncology, drug development, and translational research. S
Nicole Onetto, M.D.
Director
Nicole Onetto, M.D., is an independent consultant in oncology, drug development, and translational research. She is currently on the board of directors for Basilea Pharmaceutica and Bolt Biotherapeutics, and previously held director roles at Viracta Therapeutics, NBE Therapeutics, Sierra Oncology, and ImmunoGen. She was Deputy Director and Chief Scientific Officer at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research from 2009 to 2016. Prior to that, Dr. Onetto held the role of Chief Medical Officer at ZymoGenetics (Bristol Myers Squibb) and at OSI Pharmaceuticals (Astellas). Her career also includes senior management positions at Bristol Myers Squibb, Nexstar Pharmaceuticals (Gilead) and Immunex Corporation (Amgen). Dr. Onetto earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Paris, a master’s degree in Pharmacology from the University of Montréal, and her medical degree and a Hematology-Oncology Certificate from the University of Paris.
Willie Quinn
CEO and Director
Willie Quinn, Chief Executive Officer and Board Director, joined Bolt Biotherape
Willie Quinn
CEO and Director
Willie Quinn, Chief Executive Officer and Board Director, joined Bolt Biotherapeutics in 2020, bringing extensive experience in finance, operations, and business development leadership in the biopharma industry. Prior to joining Bolt, Mr. Quinn served as the chief financial officer and senior vice president of corporate development at Sunesis Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Viracta Therapeutics), where he led the company through multiple public financings and corporate collaborations. Before joining Sunesis, Mr. Quinn co-founded and was chief executive officer of Bullet Biotechnology, an immuno-oncology company developing therapeutic cancer vaccines discovered at Stanford University. Previously, Mr. Quinn was instrumental in establishing the infrastructure at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, where he was one of the first employees. During his eight years at Jazz, Mr. Quinn held positions of increasing responsibility in operations and business development as the company transformed from a privately held startup to a public and profitable specialty pharmaceutical company identifying, developing, and commercializing pharmaceutical products in neurology and psychiatry. Mr. Quinn’s final role with Jazz was leading corporate development, including product licensing, M&A, strategy, and investor relations. Prior to joining Jazz, Mr. Quinn was the chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Novation Biosciences, a biotechnology software company (acquired by Agilent Technologies). He served on the board of directors of A Foundation Building Strength, a nonprofit organization with a mission to find treatments for nemaline myopathy, for more than a decade, in addition to serving on the board of directors of Neuromast, a specialty pharmaceutical company.
Mr. Quinn earned his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Stanford University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller scholar.
Mahendra G. Shah, Ph.D.
Director
Dr. Mahendra G. Shah is a pharmaceutical entrepreneur and executive who has been
Mahendra G. Shah, Ph.D.
Director
Dr. Mahendra G. Shah is a pharmaceutical entrepreneur and executive who has been at healthcare investment firm, Vivo Capital, since March 2010. He is also the founder and executive chairman of Semnur Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Shah currently serves on the boards of Homology Medicines Inc. (NASDAQ: FIXX) and Soleno Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: SLNO), and is a member of the board of trustees of St. John’s University. Dr. Shah is also a board member and charter member of EPPIC and a charter member of TIE.
From 2005 to 2009, he was the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of NextWave Pharmaceuticals, a pediatric focused specialty pharmaceutical company, which was sold to Pfizer for a total of $700 million in upfront and milestone payments. From 1993 to 2003 he was the chairman and chief executive officer of First Horizon Pharmaceuticals, a publicly traded specialty pharmaceutical company, where he raised over $200 million and built a highly profitable company before it was sold to Shionogi Pharmaceuticals for $1.4 billion. Prior to that, he held positions with E. J. Financial Enterprises, which manages a fund that invests in healthcare companies and with Fujisawa USA (Astellas), and before that, he worked in various scientific and management positions with Schering-Plough and Bristol Myers-Squibb. He previously served on the boards of Unimed Pharmaceuticals (UMED), Introgen Therapeutics (INGN), Inpharmakon, Protomed, Structural Bioinformatics, and Zarix. Dr. Shah received his Ph.D. in industrial pharmacy from St. John’s University and his Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Pharmacy from L.M. College of Pharmacy in Gujarat, India.