About Us

Pascal Touchon Chairman of the Board

With more than 35 years of global biopharmaceutical leadership experience, Pascal Touchon has dedicated his career to transforming the lives of patients with serious medical conditions through pioneering science, teamwork, and a commitment to excellence. In September 2024, Pascal became Chairman of the Board at Atara Biotherapeutics, after having been its President and Chief Executive Officer for more than five years. Under his leadership Atara obtained the first ever approval for an allogeneic T Cell therapy with EBVALLO® (tab-cel) in Europe. He also serves as a Board Director at Ipsen SA, a leading mid-sized global pharmaceutical company focused on innovative medicines in oncology, rare diseases and neurosciences.

Previously as Global Head, Cell & Gene and a member of the Oncology Executive Committee at Novartis Oncology, Pascal led the Oncology Cell & Gene activities. His notable achievements include spearheading the global approval and launch of KYMRIAH® (tisagenlecleucel), the first ever approved cell and gene therapy, securing reimbursement in major markets, scaling global manufacturing and technical operations, overseeing multiple new clinical studies, and building a strong leadership team. Earlier, as Global Head, Strategy, Business Development, Oncology at Novartis, he managed early commercial strategy, portfolio management, therapeutic integrity and established medicines, disruptive technologies, diagnostics, business development and external collaborations, while serving on the Oncology Executive Committee.

Pascal has held key leadership roles in research, marketing, general management, and business development at Servier, Glaxo-Wellcome and Glaxo, Sanofi. He has also served as a board member of Genoptix and Navigate Biopharma Services (Novartis companies), as well as Cogen Therapeutics (a Flagship Pioneering company).

Pascal holds a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Paul Sabatier University (Toulouse, France), a Diplôme d’Etudes Superieures Specialisees (DESS) in management from Institut d’Administration des Entreprises (Toulouse, France) and an MBA from INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France).

Carol G Gallagher, Pharm.D. Independent Lead Director

Carol Gallagher, Pharm.D. is an experienced public company director with over 30 years of biopharma experience. From 1989 through 2011, she held roles of increasing responsibility in commercial, drug development, and business development in both large and small biopharma companies including Eli Lilly, Amgen, Pfizer and IDEC Pharmaceuticals.  Her last operational role was CEO of Calistoga Pharmaceuticals which was acquired by Gilead in 2011.  From 2014 through 2023, she held Partner and Advisor roles in biopharma venture capital investing at New Enterprise Associates.  She currently serves as an independent director on both private and public biopharma companies.  She has served as a Director at Atara since 2013.

Carol studied chemistry at Vanderbilt University and then pursued a clinical background, attaining Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from the College of Pharmacy at the University of Kentucky.

Matthew Fust Director, Audit Committee Chair

Matthew Fust is an advisor to life sciences companies. He was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Onyx Pharmaceuticals from January 2009 through its acquisition in October 2013. From May 2003 to December 2008, Matthew served as Chief Financial Officer of Jazz Pharmaceuticals. From 2002 to 2003, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Perlegen Sciences. Previously, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of ALZA Corporation, where he was an executive from 1996 until 2002. From 1991 until 1996, Matthew was a member of Andersen Consulting’s healthcare strategy practice. He received a B.A. from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Matthew is a director of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals and Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical.

William Heiden Director, Compensation Chair

Mr. Heiden is an experienced pharmaceutical and biotechnology executive. He joined AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMAG) in May 2012 as president and chief executive officer. Mr. Heiden is also a member of AMAG’s board of directors. Prior to joining AMAG, Mr. Heiden served as president and chief executive officer of GTC Biotherapeutics, Inc. since June 2010. Prior to joining GTC Biotherapeutics, Mr. Heiden was the president and chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Elixir Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a pharmaceutical company, from September 2004 until December 2008.

Prior to joining Elixir Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Heiden served as president and chief operating officer of Praecis Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (which was acquired by GlaxoSmithKline plc), from 2002 to 2004. From 1987 to 2002, Mr. Heiden progressed through various positions of increasing responsibility at Schering-Plough Corporation (now Merck & Co.), including managing a number of businesses in the United States, Europe and Canada. Mr. Heiden served on the board of directors of GTC Biotherapeutics, Inc., rVEO Biologics and LFB Biotechnologies S.A.S., a private French biotechnology company. Mr. Heiden holds an M.B.A. from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management, a M.I.M. degree from the University of Louvain and a B.A. degree from the University of Florida.

Ameet Mallik Director, Nominating and Corporate Governance Chair

Ameet Mallik is President and Chief Executive Officer of ADC Therapeutics, a commercial-stage cancer biotechnology company. Prior to ADC Therapeutics, Ameet served as Chief Executive Officer of Rafael Holdings. Previously, Ameet spent more than 16 years of his career at Novartis, where he most recently served as Executive Vice President. In this role, Mr. Mallik was responsible for Novartis’ commercial and medical oncology operations in the United States. From November 2015 to November 2017, Mr. Mallik served as Global Head, Marketing, Value and Access, and from April 2014 to November 2015 as Head, Latin America and Canada, both for Novartis Oncology. Mr. Mallik began his career at Novartis as Head of Strategic Planning and has held a number of commercial leadership roles at Novartis and Sandoz. At Sandoz, Mr. Mallik was Global Head of Biopharmaceuticals & Oncology Injectables. Mr. Mallik previously worked as an Associate Principal at McKinsey and Company. Mr. Mallik holds an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.S. in Biotechnology and B.S. in Chemical Engineering, both from Northwestern University.

Maria Grazia Roncarolo, M.D. Director

Dr. Roncarolo is the George D. Smith Professor in Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, Director of the Center for Definitive and Curative Medicine, and Co-Director of the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Stanford University.

In 2014, Dr. Roncarolo established the Stanford Center for Definitive and Curative Medicine. The center, which is dedicated to the development of innovative stem cell and gene therapies for patients with currently incurable diseases, spans a wide range of bench and clinical research activities from basic biology through translational research, and features its own GMP cell processing and Phase 1 study units.

She has also served as the primary investigator in several landmark trials involving the development of innovative stem cell- and gene-based therapies. Dr. Roncarolo worked at DNAX Research Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology in Palo Alto for several years, where she contributed to the discovery of novel cytokines, cell-signaling molecules that are part of the immune response, studying the role of these cytokines in inducing immunological tolerance and in promoting stem cell growth and differentiation. As Director of the Telethon Institute for Cell and Gene Therapy and the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan, Dr. Roncarolo was the principal investigator leading the successful gene therapy trial in SCID, a severe life threatening disorder in which patients lack an enzyme critical to DNA synthesis.

Beyond studying new therapies, Dr. Roncarolo has also helped elucidate drivers of disease at the molecular and cellular level, as she has investigated the mechanisms of immune-mediated diseases throughout her career and helped advance the understanding of immunological tolerance. In 2010, Dr. Roncarolo was the recipient of the outstanding achievement award from the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ESGCT), and from the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) in 2017. She is currently the president of the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies.

Gregory A. Ciongoli Director

Greg Ciongoli is the Founder and Managing Partner of Adiumentum Capital Management, a Boston-based investment firm. Prior to Adiumentum, he was a Partner at the Baupost Group (2007–2024), where he worked on a broad range of public and private equity investments. Mr. Ciongoli is Chair of the Advisory Board for the James Madison Institute of American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, and he is actively involved in a number of local not-for-profit organizations. Mr. Ciongoli graduated from Princeton University with an A.B. and received his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Cokey Nguyen, Ph.D. President and Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Cokey Nguyen was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer and named to the Board of Directors in September 2024. Dr. Nguyen is a leader in the fields of cell therapy and oncology with significant experience in research and development of cell therapies as well as oncology drug discovery and development in biotech. Dr. Nguyen joined Atara in May 2021 as Chief Scientific Officer, where he focused on leading the development of next-generation allogeneic cell therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases. With his passion for delivering transformative therapies to patients, Dr. Nguyen helped advance Atara’s existing programs and further expanded the pipeline through pioneering science, teamwork, and a commitment to excellence.

Prior to joining Atara, Dr. Nguyen was at Fate Therapeutics, where, as Vice President, Innovation, Research and Development, he directed strategy for discovery and innovation efforts, and spearheaded the corporate collaboration program with ONO Pharma. Prior to that, he was leader of the targeted immunotherapy group on the Oncology R&D team at Pfizer, producing bispecific antibodies for solid tumors and hematological malignancies and bringing them into the clinic.

Dr. Nguyen’s bench science experience includes work in tumor metabolism, gene expression and molecular biology. He holds numerous patents for iPSC and immune effector cells and has been published in various peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Nguyen has also been active in successful business development activities, including, while at Janssen, evaluating Legend’s BCMA-directed CAR T program and supporting the Janssen/Legend partnership.

Dr. Nguyen received his undergraduate degree in biology from Harvard College and a Ph.D. in Immunology from Washington University in St. Louis. He was a Postdoctoral Associate at the Center for Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he focused on the identification and characterization of BRCT domains as novel phosphor-binding domains in DNA damage pathways.

In his free time, Cokey is an avid reader, is a fan of motorsports and enjoys cycling.