Our Leadership Team

Dr. Lollar received his medical degree at St. Louis University and underwent residency and fellowship training in Internal Medicine and Hematology & Oncology at the University of Iowa and at the Mayo Clinic. He has conducted research on the structure and function of the factor VIII - von Willebrand factor complex, the assembly of the intrinsic pathway factor X activation complex, the immune response to factor VIII and the biosynthesis of factor VIII. He is the inventor of Obizur, a recombinant factor VIII product used to treat individuals with inhibitory antibodies to factor VIII. He currently is Hemophilia of Georgia Professor of Pediatrics at Emory University.

Dr. Mohan Rao is the Chief Executive Officer of Expression Therapeutics, Inc. In 2018, he was recognized by the Intellectual Asset Magazine (IAM) as “among the foremost experts when it comes to pharmaceutical economics.” Dr. Rao founded Epsilon Economics and Epsilon Life Sciences, two consulting firms that provide economic analysis and strategy consulting to leading global life sciences companies. He previously led Navigant Economics, a global economics consulting firm that was part of the NYSE-listed Navigant Consulting group. Dr. Rao taught at Northwestern University, where he was also appointed as the first “Executive in Residence” -- a recognized leader in the technology community – by the McCormick College of Engineering. He was previously a professor at UCLA and a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University. He has a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the University of Michigan, a pre-doctoral fellowship from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado. Dr. Rao serves on the Board of Directors of Expression Therapeutics Inc., Epsilon Xi LLC, the Children's Hospital of Chicago, the Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute, and the Economic Club of Chicago.

Dr. Spencer received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Creighton School of Medicine in Omaha. His postdoctoral studies at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital focused on drug resistance gene therapy and in vivo selection of genetically-modified cells. He is currently the Jean R. Amos Cell and Gene Therapy Chair, Director of the Cell and Gene Therapy Program and Professor of Pediatrics within the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Emory University. His previous affiliations include an Assistant Professorship in the South Carolina Cancer Center/Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina and Assistant Director of the Molecular Genetics Graduate Program. He has headed a well-funded gene therapy laboratory for over 20 years. His research interests continue to be the development of gene therapy applications for the treatment of cancer and inherited diseases.

Dr. Doering received his B.S. in zoology from the University of Texas, Austin and his Ph.D. in genetics and molecular biology from Emory University. Chris has a longstanding interest in coagulation factor VIII biology stemming from his postdoctoral studies characterizing recombinant porcine, murine and bioengineered factor VIII molecules. Currently, he is Professor of Pediatrics in the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. As a trained molecular biologist and experimental hematologist with more than 20 years of research experience in gene and protein expression, his overall scientific interest has centered on the development of gene therapy and protein engineering strategies for genetic diseases and cancers. Current areas of research involve the development of pharmaceutically-inspired coagulation factors, general approaches to viral vector genome engineering, and cancer gene therapy approaches involving genetically-engineered innate immune cells as well as exotic chimeric antigen receptors. Within the past few years, his lab has published articles in Nature Biotechnology, Nature Communications, Molecular Therapy, Blood, and Journal of Thrombosis and Hemostasis.

Mr. Swaney is the President of Expression Manufacturing and is a renowned expert in vector manufacturing. He has three decades of experience in biopharmaceutical manufacturing of viral vectors for use in human clinical trials and has conducted over 70 GMP runs for academic and commercial clients. He was previously the Director of the Vector Production Facility & Viral Vector Core at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Prior to that, he served as the Operations Director of the Biologic Therapy Core Facility at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, as the Senior Operations Manager of the cGMP Stem Cell Laboratory at the Tulane University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, LA, and as the Quality Assurance Manager for the Human Gene Therapy Applications Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. Mr. Swaney received his M.S. in Human Genetics from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. His thesis studied mechanisms to enhance retroviral mediated gene transfer into human hematopoietic stem cells by pretreatment of the RV supernatant with cationic liposomes and spinoculation of the HSC and RV liposome pre-treated supernatant. His research interests continue to be improved & scalable manufacturing platforms for different viral vectors and recently includes the successful manufacture of individualized patient specific products for the treatment of cancer.

Dr. Denning received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from The University of Texas Medical Branch. Her post-doctoral studies at The Scripps Research Institute under Dr. Peter K. Vogt, focused on understanding novel mechanisms of PTEN tumor suppressor function. Currently, Dr. Denning oversees all pre-clinical research and development efforts at Expression Therapeutics. Dr. Denning oversees many company roles including directing the development and execution of NIH STTR and SBIR funded programs in lentiviral and adeno-associated viral gene therapy of hemophilia A as well as recombinant ET3i immune tolerance induction for FVIII inhibitors.

Ms. Grove is the Chief Financial Officer of Expression Therapeutics and has more than two decades of finance and accounting experience, starting at Navigant Consulting, an NYSE-listed public company. She is the Chief Financial Officer at Epsilon Economics and Epsilon Life Sciences. At Expression Therapeutics, Ms. Grove oversees the entire order to cash process, budgeting, financial reporting, cash management, tax and regulatory compliance, internal controls, accounts payable and receivable, and compensation, in addition to managing a finance team. Ms. Grove graduated magna cum laude from Columbia College with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and has an M.B.A from Northwestern University. She serves on the President's Council for Almost Home Kids, is a Patroness of the National Charity League (NCL) and is a member of the Local Advisory Board for Rebecca K. Crown Youth Center.

Ms. Nearing is the Chief Business Officer of Expression Therapeutics and brings vast investor relations experience and networks, both in the U.S. and the Greater China region. She is a Venture Partner with BVCF Management, Ltd., a prominent healthcare venture fund in China whose LPs include Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Mayo Clinic, Kellogg Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, and IFC. Ms. Nearing is a Non-Executive Director of Ethismos Research, a private clinical-stage biotechnology company in Cambridge, MA, and on the Board of Directors of BayHelix, an exclusive Chinese life science professional organization in Shanghai and the Rostropovich-Vishnevskaya Foundation in Washington, DC. Previously, for over a decade, Ms. Nearing was Managing Director, Head of Life Sciences at the Cedrus Group, a global boutique investment firm. Before working in financial services, Ms. Nearing worked at Amgen in business development and marketing. She also worked at IBM Healthcare, serving on the Life Sciences Executive Committee.