Leadership Team

Dr. Zsebo is a biopharmaceutical veteran with 24 years of experience in the industry and CEO and Director of Celladon Corporation, a biotechnology company focused on the development of cardiovascular therapeutics. Dr. Zsebo has been involved in numerous successful ventures. Prior to joining Celladon, Dr. Zsebo was a Venture Partner at Enterprise Partners Venture Capital, and held executive positions at Remedyne Corporation, Connetics, ALZA, Cell Genesys, and Amgen.

At ALZA Corporation Dr. Zsebo was responsible for the division which developed and filed the NDA for Viadur®, an implantable drug/device for prostate cancer patients now marketed by Bayer Corporation. At Cell Genesys, as Executive Vice President of Research and Product Development, she was responsible for filing their first IND for a gene therapy product for AIDS. She also managed Cell Genesys' Xenotech division, which was spun off to become Abgenix, one of the most successful biotech companies in its kind. Earlier in her career, Kris spent eight years at Amgen in research and product development where she worked on the discovery of NEUPOGEN®, as well as STEMGEN®, and various aspects of EPOGEN® development. Dr. Zsebo received a BS in Biochemistry at the University of Maryland, MS in Biochemistry and Biophysics at Oregon State University and PhD in Comparative Biochemistry at UC Berkeley.

Ms. Laba joined Celladon in November 2005 and has served as Vice President, Finance and Administration since October 2007. Prior to Celladon, she was the Senior Director, Finance and Administration at Idun Pharmaceuticals where she managed the finance, accounting and administrative operations of the company. During her six years at Idun, Rebecque participated in private equity financings totaling over $92M. Idun was acquired by Pfizer in 2005. Ms. Laba has over 9 years experience in the life sciences and over 20 years experience in finance and accounting.

Mr. Rudy brings more than 18 years of drug discovery and development experience with small molecules and biologics to Celladon Corporation, where he serves as Vice President of Clinical Operations. His experience encompasses numerous therapeutic areas, including ophthalmology (AMD, glaucoma), oncology, and infectious diseases (HIV, Hepatitis B and C.)

Prior to joining Celladon, he led the development and clinical research operations for Pfizer’s Global Research and Development laboratories, including the development programs in ophthalmology and HIV, and of early development programs in ophthalmology (VEGF TK), HCV (HCV polymerase), oncology and diabetes & obesity (P-PAR). He also managed the clinical research department at Gilead Sciences where he implemented and executed U.S. and international clinical development programs of antiviral agents in such indications as recurrent genital herpes, human papillomavirus infection, molluscum contagiosum and hepatitis B. At Amgen he was focused on the initiation and ongoing management of clinical studies in AIDS, CMV retinitis, hepatitis B and C programs. Mr. Rudy earned his BS in Microbiology at The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.

Ms. Wagner serves as Celladon’s Regulatory Affairs consultant as president of the consulting firm BioPharm Development Associates, LLC. She has nearly 30 years of experience working in the regulated medical industry, including in vitro diagnostics, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, combination products and biologics in the therapeutic areas of cardiorenal, anti-infectives, oncology, ophthalmology, addiction drug products, dermatology and urology. For the past 10 years, Ms. Wagner has provided consulting services related to the research and development of FDA-regulated biologics and pharmaceuticals.

Ms. Wagner spent 13 years with Ortho Diagnostic Systems, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company, and a variety of start-up biopharmaceutical companies before launching a consulting business in 1997. She serves as liaison with the FDA, and has expertise in preparation of regulatory submissions of all types. Kim is certified by the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society (1997) and the American Medical Writers Association (2002). She has expertise in regulatory affairs, medical communications and biopharmaceutical development, with a reputation for clear thinking, strategic planning, and high quality products. Ms. Wagner received her BS from California State University and MA in Biology at the University of California.

Ms. Guerrero serves as a consultant to Celladon Corporation bringing extensive knowledge of chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC), quality systems, and project management with 25 years experience in the development of pharmaceutical drugs, biologics, and medical devices from research to commercialization. She has held various positions with increasing responsibility, including Vice President and Director, of Pharmaceutical/Product Development functions for SB Pharmaceuticals Development, Corvascular, Inc., Miravant Pharmaceuticals, Ortho Diagnostics, a Division of Johnson and Johnson, and Allergan Pharmaceuticals. Ms Guerrero has written and/or reviewed CMC sections of over 25 INDs and 15 NDAs and many minor submissions during the past 10 years and has worked with large pharmaceutical companies to develop submission templates.

Mr. Wiklund brings over 15 years of industry experience, most recently as Head of Corporate Development and Investor Relations at Tercica, Inc. . At his 5 years Tercica, Fred assisted in the company’s IPO and also completed strategic transactions exceeding $800M, including the company’s sale to the Ipsen Group in 2008. Previously, Fred was with Lehman Brothers where he served for 3 years in their London office. As a member of the firm's Investment Banking Health Care Group, he assisted both pharmaceutical and emerging biotechnology companies complete capital-raising and strategic transactions. Fred also has over 7 years of commercial experience, primarily with Gilead Sciences where he participated in the company’s first product launch in 1996. Fred received his MBA from the University of Southern California and his B.A from the University of San Diego.

Dr. Yaroshinsky has eighteen years of experience in various areas of drug development including biostatistics, clinical and pre-clinical development, project management, regulatory, and business development. He has broad experience in therapeutic areas including: HIV, heart failure, cancer, pain management, dermatology, gene therapy, and CNS diseases. Dr. Yaroshinsky has contributed to or was responsible for eight New Drug Application (NDA) submissions in multiple therapeutic areas, including Zalcitabine and Didanosine (HIV), Flosequinan (CHF), Tamoxifen (cancer), and other well-known products.

Dr. Yaroshinsky has worked as a consultant, as well as held numerous executive and managerial positions at Celladon Corporation, Anaborex Corporation, Connetics Corporation, Roche Bioscience, Boots Pharmaceuticals, and Harvard School of Public Health. His interests and expertise span across statistical and product development areas including: methodologies for early efficacy evaluation, optimization of product development plans to minimize time-to-market and required resources, and integration of quantitative methods into various drug development disciplines. He received his MS and PhD from the Moscow Institute of Technology.

Dr. Yifan Zhai has more than 20 years of experience in cancer research and drug development. Since 2003, she is an independent consultant working for multiple venture capitals and biotech companies, acting as General Manager & Executive Director of Anaborex (Shanghai) R & D Co., Ltd.; Chief Scientific Officer for Oncomax Acquisition Corp. and Celladon Corp., Chief Technology Officer for Medicilon / MPI Preclinical Research Shanghai. She is responsible for overseeing preclinical and clinical contract research, regulatory and manufacture of the potential oncology and cardiovascular drugs in China and US. Direct and coordinate all companyʼs related activities with the academic research laboratories, pharmaceutical manufacturers, preclinical including chemistry, cell biology, pharmacology, ADME/PK, TOX and clinical contract research organizations (CROs); responsible for the IND submissions in China. Before that, she was director of Pharmacology at Exelixis, Inc, was in charge of the pharmacology, ADME/PK and TOX assessment of all potential lead compounds prior the IND filing in US. She also worked at Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corp. and Human Genome Sciences Inc. Dr. Zhai was a postdoctoral fellow of Dr. Steven Rosenburg at Surgery Branch of National Cancer Institute. She received her Ph.D. in Pharmacology & Toxicology from Michigan State University and a Medical Degree from Yun-sat Sun University of Medical Science in 1984. Dr. Zhai is currently the President Elect of the Chinese Biopharmaceutical Association (CBA), she was one of the founding board members of this organization.