Our leadership team

Michael P. Bailey serves as president and chief executive officer for AVEO Oncology, an LG Chem company, and has been a member of AVEO’s board of directors since 2015 and currently serves as a CEO mentor for the Termeer Foundation. Michael brings more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry to the company including serving as an independent Board Member and Chairman for a publicly traded biotech. Before the acquisition of AVEO by LG Chem in January of 2023, Mr. Bailey was named president and chief executive officer of AVEO Oncology in January 2015; prior to that appointment, Mr. Bailey served as AVEO’s chief business officer from 2013 to 2015 and its chief commercial officer from 2010 to 2013. Mr. Bailey joined AVEO from Synta (acquired by Madrigal Pharmaceuticals), where he served as senior vice president, business development, and chief commercial officer. Prior to joining Synta, Mr. Bailey led ImClone Systems’ (acquired by Eli Lilly in 2008) Worldwide Commercial Organization. During his near decade tenure at ImClone Systems, he was responsible for commercial aspects of the planning and launch of ERBITUX^® (cetuximab) across multiple oncology indications, as well as new product planning for the ImClone Systems development portfolio, which included CYRAMZA^® (ramucirumab) and necitumumab. In addition, Mr. Bailey was a key member of the strategic leadership committees for ImClone and its North American and worldwide partnerships. Prior to joining ImClone Systems, Mr. Bailey managed the cardiovascular development portfolio at Genentech, Inc., and was a key member of their global commercial partnership teams. Mr. Bailey started his career in the pharmaceutical industry as part of SmithKline Beecham’s Executive MBA Marketing Development Program, where he held a variety of commercial roles, including sales, strategic planning, and product management.

Mr. Bailey received a B.S. in psychology from St. Lawrence University and an M.B.A. in international marketing from the Mendoza College of Business at University of Notre Dame and continued his educational pursuits with executive education in Finance at Harvard Business School and Board of Director Leadership at Wharton School of Business.

Dr. Edgar Braendle serves as Chief Medical Officer of AVEO Oncology, an LG Chem company. Dr. Braendle is a life sciences executive bringing over 20 years of experience spanning from early drug discovery to the launch of small molecules, biologics, radiopharmaceuticals, gene and cell therapies, and medical device development.

Dr. Braendle most recently served as Chief Development Officer of Autolus Therapeutics Plc (Autolus), where he was responsible for all development functions and the conduct of a pivotal program in CD-19 directed genetically modified autologous T-cell immunotherapy for adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and the respective filing to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency. Prior to his time at Autolus, Dr. Braendle held the role of Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer and Global Head of Development at Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Oncology (Sumitomo), where he was responsible for a full range of development functions and progressed several early-stage, first in human programs and late-stage programs. Prior to his time at Sumitomo, Dr. Braendle served as President and CEO of ARUP Laboratories, a national clinical and anatomic reference laboratory. Dr. Braendle also spent over a decade at Novartis AG, where he served as Senior Vice President and Global Head of Companion Diagnostics and led the company's precision medicine approach.

Dr. Braendle received his medical degree at RWTH Aachen University in Germany, followed by specialty training in medical oncology, urology and pharmacology. Dr. Braendle is also an associate professor at the University of Ulm, Germany.

David Crist brings more than twenty years of oncology sales experience in both launch-stage and late-stage companies, building commercial organizations and developing high performing sales force teams. During his career, Mr. Crist held oncology-focused sales roles at several leading pharmaceutical companies including MGI (Molecular Genetics, Inc), Eisai, Sanofi Genzyme, GlaxoSmithKline and ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, where he led their sales organization in the successful relaunch of  ICLUSIG^® (ponatinib), which contributed to the acquisition of ARIAD by Takeda Oncology in 2017. Following the acquisition, he continued at Takeda to successfully launch ALUNBRIG^® (brigatinib), which exceeded launch year and subsequent year forecasts nationally. Directly prior to joining AVEO Oncology, an LG Chem company, Mr. Crist served as general manager, hematology oncology U.S. franchise at argenx, a global immunology company, where he led commercial development for two of the company’s hematology and oncology compounds. Mr. Crist holds a B.S. from Florida State University.

Reetu Dandora serves as Vice President, Quality & Regulatory Compliance at AVEO Oncology, an LG Chem company. In this capacity, she provides executive leadership for AVEO’s GxP quality and regulatory compliance functions, ensuring robust governance across all aspects of the business. Ms. Dandora oversees inspection readiness, quality management systems, risk management programs, and the development and implementation of policies and procedures that promote a culture of quality and compliance. In addition to her quality leadership role, Ms. Dandora serves as a strategic advisor on legal, regulatory, and compliance matters, supporting AVEO’s approved and pipeline products. Her expertise spans advertising and promotion, patient support, market access, and corporate communications, helping guide the company through a complex and evolving regulatory environment. Since joining AVEO, Ms. Dandora has played a critical role in strengthening inspection readiness, enhancing compliance infrastructure, and supporting cross-functional initiatives across R&D and commercial operations.

Prior to AVEO, Ms. Dandora held senior roles at Merck & Co., Inc., including Executive Director of Merck Research Laboratories Quality Assurance and Director in Merck’s Office of General Counsel, where she provided legal and compliance counsel across clinical, pricing, sales, and marketing matters. Earlier in her career, she was a partner in the Life Sciences group at Reed Smith LLP, where she represented pharmaceutical companies in complex product liability litigation, including mass torts, class actions, and individual personal injury cases.

She brings over 25 years of experience advising life sciences companies and holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania and a JD from The George Washington University Law School.

Bob Fedak serves as the Vice President of Information Technology at AVEO Oncology, an LG Chem company. With an Information Technology career spanning over 20 years, Mr. Fedak brings his extensive experience in building and leading highly engaged information technology teams, while ensuring a company’s information technology contributes to a positive work experience for all employees. Prior to joining AVEO’s management team, Mr. Fedak served as the End User Experience/Service Management Lead at Akebia Therapeutics, Inc., where he was responsible for the strategic direction and overall productivity, efficiency and effectiveness of information technology services delivery and facility operations. 

Mr. Fedak has also held several information technology positions in various healthcare organizations, including Shire Pharmaceuticals, LLC (now known as Takeda Pharmaceuticals Company Limited) and the American Red Cross. Mr. Fedak holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology from the University of Phoenix and a Master of Business Administration from Northeastern University. 

Mike Ferraresso serves as Chief Commercial Officer of AVEO Oncology, an LG Chem company. He has over 25 years of commercial pharmaceutical and biotechnology experience, including advancing five biotech companies into commercial organizations through first product launches. At AVEO, in addition to developing the company’s commercial strategy and infrastructure, Mr. Ferraresso serves on the Executive Leadership Team and has played a key role in business development activities, including the company’s immuno-oncology clinical collaborations and the over $400 million agreement amendment with Kyowa Kirin for non-oncology rights to tivozanib in AVEO’s territories. Prior to joining AVEO, he served in commercial leadership roles at several biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, including at Verastem, Infinity Pharmaceuticals, AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Critical Therapeutics, Praecis Pharmaceuticals, Ascent Pediatrics, and Muro Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Ferraresso has extensive experience in commercial strategy including partnerships, development, pricing, and field deployment models and has launched FOTIVDA^®, Orapred^®, Plenaxis™, Zyflo^®, and Feraheme^®. Mr. Ferraresso holds a BA in Economics from Assumption College.

Barbara Fielman has more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, and rejoins AVEO Oncology, an LG Chem company, as Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations and Medical Science Liaisons.

Ms. Fielman most recent experiences include her leading the clinical operations teams at Hookipa Pharma, Inc. and Sumitomo Pharma America (formerly Sumitomo Pharma Oncology) (“Sumitomo”) to work on several biologics programs. Prior to Ms. Fielman's time at Sumitomo, she held several senior-level positions within clinical operations at Dicerna Pharmaceuticals (now Novo Nordisk A/S) and AVEO Oncology.  Before her time at AVEO Oncology, Ms. Fielman worked at Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Merck Sharp & Dohme) and GlaxoSmithKline plc focusing on HIV, Hepatitis B and C for more than 10 years.  During her career in the pharmaceutical industry, Ms. Fielman has participated in 3 successful NDA/BLAs.  Prior to entering the pharmaceutical industry, Ms. Fielman was an Intensive Care Nurse and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner at Boston Children's Hospital and Dallas Children's Hospital.

Ms. Fielman received her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Boston University and her Master of Science degree in Nursing from Northeastern University.

Karam Hijji serves as the VP, Legal at AVEO Oncology, an LG Chem company, and is an experienced legal professional with a strong background in intellectual property and corporate law. He began his career at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a patent examiner in the chemical arts, where he served for seven years. He then transitioned to private practice, working as an Associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where he represented clients in patent and trade secret matters at the PTAB, ITC, and district court. Following his time at Kirkland & Ellis, he clerked for the Honorable Raymond C. Clevenger at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Most recently, Karam served as Senior Corporate Counsel and subsequently as Acting General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Pieris Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly traded company, where he oversaw day-to-day legal operations and compliance matters and helped navigate the company through a successful reverse merger in 2024. He graduated from the University of Maryland with a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering and went on to earn his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 2017.

Danielle Holland serves as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of AVEO Oncology, an LG Chem company. Prior to joining AVEO, Ms. Holland served as an Associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP where she advised public and private clients in a variety of industries in corporate and securities law matters, mergers and acquisitions, governance, corporate finance and other matters. Prior to her legal career, Ms. Holland taught elementary education in New York City through Teach For America. Ms. Holland received a B.A. in International Studies from Boston College and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law.

Mr. Jeong serves as as Chief Financial Officer of AVEO Oncology, an LG Chem company. Mr. Jeong joins AVEO from its parent company, LG Chem, Ltd. (“LG Chem”), where he has served as a financial and accounting officer since 1999. During his time at LG Chem, Mr. Jeong has served as the financial director and controller for several entities where LG Chem invested in joint ventures and/or subsidiaries, the majority of them in Thailand. He has provided strategic financial counsel on the new entities’ successful stabilization, spearheaded the implementation of financial controls and systems, and overseen the expansion of the Finance/Accounting departments.

Mr. Jeong received his B.S. in Business Administration from Kyunghee University in South Korea.

Dr. Bo Jin serves as Vice President of Biostatistics and Data Management at AVEO Oncology, an LG Chem company, bringing over 20 years of industry experience in biostatistics, data management, programming, and data sciences.

Dr. Jin most recently served as Vice President of Biostatistics and Programming at SinoCellTech Group Limited (SinoCell), where he was responsible for the Biostatistics and Statistical Programming functions and company data science strategy. Prior to his time at SinoCell, Dr. Jin held the role of Vice President of Data Science at Sumitomo Pharma Oncology (SMPO), where he was responsible for Biostatistics, Data Management, Statistical Programming, Data Standard, and Data Science operational excellence and innovations.  Before his time at SMPO, Dr. Jin spent more than a decade with Merck & Co, Inc., and Pfizer Inc., where he held various leadership roles and was the statistician for the successful launch of several products in both general medicine and oncology.

Dr. Jin received a PhD in Statistics from Virginia Tech and his MBA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Dr. Claudia Lebedinsky serves as Senior Vice President, Head of Clinical Development of AVEO Oncology, an LG Chem company, bringing more than 20 years of experience in oncology and clinical development to the organization.  

Dr. Lebedinsky most recently served as Vice President, Head of Clinical Development at Sumitomo Pharma Oncology (Sumitomo), where she led the clinical development of novel small molecules and peptides vaccines. Prior to her time at Sumitomo, Dr. Lebedinsky held a variety of clinical development roles for early and late phase drug development at multiple companies, including PharmaMar, Sanofi Oncology, Novartis AG and Baxalta (a subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, a Dyax Corporation). During this time, Dr. Lebedinsky led the development of several marketed oncology drugs, including YONDELIS^®, INREBIC^®, and ASPARLAS^®. Dr. Lebedinsky conducted her residence in medical oncology at Instituto de Oncologia Roffo, Argentina. She is a board-certified medical oncologist by Argentina Ministry of Health and Spain Ministry of Health.

Jason Noto brings over 25 years of broad commercial leadership experience to his role as Senior Vice President of Market Access & Alliance Management at AVEO Oncology, an LG Chem company. Prior to joining AVEO, Jason served as Vice President at 1798 Consultants, a strategic market access consultancy specializing in integrated channel strategy, patient support services (HUB), payer contract development and assessment, financial impact analysis, and related access functions. Earlier, Mr. Noto served as Senior Director of Market Access Strategy and Payer Marketing at Amag Pharmaceuticals, leading payer marketing efforts across all business units totaling over >$600M in revenue in 2019.

Prior to his tenure at Amag Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Noto held various sales and marketing leadership roles of increasing responsibility at Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, Alkermes, and Bristol Myers Squibb. During his career, Mr. Noto has had responsibility for the US commercial launch of various specialty products in oncology, immunology, CNS, and ultra-orphan disease states. Mr. Noto received a BS in Business Administration from Le Moyne College and an MBA from Boston College.

Greg Oehrtman brings over 20 years of Drug Development experience to his role returning to AVEO Oncology, an LG Chem company, after 8 years. Dr. Oehrtman has held roles of increasing seniority in Drug Development and Manufacturing at Quintiles/Catalent, Amylin, Stealth Biotherapeutics, and Dicerna. He has led both drug substance and product development and manufacturing from early pre-clinical to commercial validations, supporting development of Fast Acting Advil, Advil PM, Bydureon, FOTIVDA, Elamipretide, and Nedosiran. While in these roles, he has managed product development of small molecules, peptides, and antibodies as oral and sterile injectable along with combination device development. Dr. Oehrtman received his Ph.D in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Michael Palliola currently serves as Vice President, Thought Leader Engagement & Strategic Partnerships at AVEO Oncology, an LG Chem Company. He brings over 20 years of commercial experience in the biotech/pharmaceutical space, primarily in launch stage organizations.

During his career, Michael has held oncology roles in sales, sales training, US/Global marketing, brand management, and KOL strategy at organizations including GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi, Dendreon, Tesaro, which was later acquired by GSK, and EMD Serono.

Prior to his current role, Michael led the design and build out of the Opinion Leader Liaison function at EMD Serono, which was responsible for managing thought leader relationships for their Genitourinary and Lung portfolio.

Michael holds a BA in Neuroscience & Spanish from Bowdoin College and an MBA in Healthcare Management from the Heller School of Social Policy & Management at Brandeis University.

Kevin Peacock joined AVEO Oncology in 2019, bringing over 20 years of extensive pharmaceutical experience to AVEO’s commercial organization. Mr. Peacock currently serves as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Analytics at AVEO Oncology, an LG Chem company, leading the overall brand strategy for FOTIVDA^®, while also overseeing the brand’s data analytics and insights. Additional responsibilities include new product planning for other AVEO portfolio agents. Prior to joining the company, he served as the Vice President for both New Product Planning and Business Development at Lycera, where he was leading the early commercialization process for their novel immune-oncology compounds, and in 2015 completed an exclusive strategic collaboration and license with Celgene, resulting in $100M in non-dilutive financing. Mr. Peacock also previously served as Vice President, Global Marketing and Business Analytics at Dendreon, where he led the launch of Provenge^® in select European countries and managed the US Business Analytics team. Additional previous experiences include serving as Senior Director and Product Champion for Krystexxa^® at Savient Pharmaceuticals, as well as Senior Director of New Product Planning at Allos Therapeutics. Prior to that, Mr. Peacock held various roles on the ERBITUX^® brand team while at ImClone Systems. He earned a BBA in Finance and Risk Management from Temple University.

Dr. Adebunmi (Bunmi) Urakpo serves as Vice President of Pharmacovigilance for AVEO Oncology, an LG Chem Company, bringing over 20 years of experience in drug safety and pharmacovigilance, clinical research, and public health.

Dr. Urakpo most recently served as a Pharmacovigilance and Drug Safety Consultant at NADDBio LLC (“NADDBio”), a clinical-stage R&D consultancy firm. Prior to joining NADDBio, Dr. Urakpo worked at PrimeVigilance Ltd. (“PrimeVigilance”), where she held positions of increasing responsibilities to eventually become the Senior Medical Director and the Head of Medical Operations. She also served as Interim Head of the Benefit Risk Department while at PrimeVigilance. Dr. Urakpo was an EU/UK Qualified Person for Pharmacovigilance (QPPV) for over eight years.

Dr. Urakpo holds a medical degree from the University of Ibadan (Nigeria), a master’s in public health from the University of Liverpool, a postgraduate diploma in pharmacovigilance from the University of Hertfordshire and an MBA certification from the London School of Economics.

Deb Wall serves as the Senior Director, Human Resources at AVEO Oncology, an LG Chem company, and brings more than a decade of experience leading the human resource functions of both private and public companies. Ms. Wall brings deep human resources and culture-building experience to AVEO in which she seeks to build a “People First” culture where the unique traits of employees are embraced and the patient-centric company values are the operating pillars of all employees. Prior to joining AVEO’s management team in 2023, Ms. Wall served as Senior Manager of Human Resources at ArQule, Inc., where she held various human resource positions of increasing responsibility. Ms. Wall also served as Director of Human Resources for Xilio Therapeutics, Inc.

Ms. Wall earned her Bachelor of Science in Education from The State University of New York (SUNY) at Oneonta. Additionally, she holds certifications as a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator^® (MBTI) practitioner and is a certified coach. 

Anisha Wharton is the Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at AVEO Oncology, an LG Chem company, where she brings over 21 years of strategic regulatory leadership spanning global drug development, product registration, and lifecycle management across both biologics and pharmaceutical portfolios. As a strategic leader, she is responsible for guiding AVEO through complex regulatory frameworks to ensure product safety, efficacy, and market access.

Since joining AVEO in 2021, Ms. Wharton has been instrumental in shaping the company’s regulatory strategy, guiding cross-functional teams to advance oncology assets through complex regulatory landscapes.

Previously, Ms. Wharton served as Director, Global Regulatory Affairs – Oncology at Merck & Co., Inc., where she led global regulatory strategy for both early- and late-stage development programs targeting advanced metastatic tumors, women’s cancers, melanoma, and multiple myeloma. Among her key accomplishments, she oversaw the successful global approval of a new Q6W dosing regimen for KEYTRUDA^® across all approved adult indications, securing market access in over 35 countries.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Wharton held increasingly senior regulatory leadership roles at Nektar Therapeutics, InterMune, Inc. (acquired by Roche), InSite Vision, Inc. (acquired by Sun Pharma), and Genentech. She played a pivotal role in the US and EU approvals of ESBRIET^® (InterMune, Inc.) and AZASITE^® (InSite Vision, Inc.), and led initiatives to strengthen global regulatory intelligence and operational excellence.

Ms. Wharton holds a BS from Clark Atlanta University and an MBA from the University of San Francisco School of Management.