Benjamin Doranz, PhD, MBA
President and CEO
Ben co-founded Integral Molecular in 2001. He has led all aspects of the company’s growth since its inception, bringing 5 different technologies from research to market and growing the company into a profitable commercial entity. He is an inventor on over 10 of the company’s patents, the principal investigator on over 30 NIH grants, and an author on over 100 publications, including articles published in Cell, Science, and Nature.
Ben is an established life science entrepreneur, previously responsible for directing the biotechnology program at the Port of Technology business incubator in Philadelphia and helping create startups at the Center for Technology Transfer at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned a Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Pennsylvania, where he led the discovery of the coreceptor CCR5 for HIV. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, where he co-founded the Penn Biotech Group and won the Wharton business plan competition, and a B.A. from Cornell University.
Sharon Willis, PhD
VP of Sales and Customer Relations
Sharon is a co-founder of Integral Molecular and has led the company from a research-based start-up to a trusted provider of biotechnology solutions with hundreds of customers world-wide, including all the top pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Sharon spearheads all aspects of sales from product development, through manufacturing, quality control, sales, and customer support.
As a science ambassador and mentor, Sharon is committed to helping train the next generation of scientists. She is an adjunct professor in the Department of Biology at Drexel University, and organizes Integral Molecular’s participation in student and community outreach engagements, including the Wistar Biomedical Technical Training Program, West Philadelphia Workforce Development Initiative, and FirstHand STEM learning initiatives. Prior to joining Integral Molecular, she was a post-doc at the University of Pennsylvania where she researched membrane-enveloped viruses and solved the crystal structure of the cellular receptor for herpes simplex virus (HSV). Sharon earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and a B.A. from Gettysburg College.
Joseph Rucker, PhD
VP of Research and Development
Joe leads new technology advancements and preclinical development of Integral Molecular’s therapeutic antibody assets. He is a co-founder of Integral Molecular and an inventor of the company’s founding technology, the Lipoparticle. He is an inventor on over 10 of the company’s patents and the principal investigator on many of Integral Molecular’s NIH-funded projects.
Joe brings more than 30 years of experience in membrane proteins, antibodies, and viruses, and has published over 40 articles in high-profile journals including Cell, Science, and Nature. Prior to joining Integral Molecular, Joe was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Villanova University. As a post-doc at the University of Pennsylvania, he was involved in leading the discovery of the GPCR CCR5 as an HIV coreceptor. Joe earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and his B.A. at Haverford College.
Ross Chambers, PhD
VP of Antibody Discovery
Ross directs all antibody discovery projects at Integral Molecular. He pioneered the use of DNA immunization for antibody discovery and developed the Picodroplet cloning system for isolating antibodies directly from B cells. Ross has led over 100 therapeutic MAb discovery campaigns at Integral Molecular that successfully identified MAb candidates for GPCRs, ion channels, and transporters.
Ross brings over 20 years of experience in antibody discovery in academia and industry, including projects involving high-throughput discovery of antibodies for challenging targets. Previously, he was the Director of Research and Development at SDIX where he invented and developed the Genomic Antibody Technology (GAT) for rapid antibody isolation. Prior to that, he isolated > 2,000 antibodies as part of a large-scale antibody isolation project at UT Southwestern. Ross received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and B.S. from the University of Otago, New Zealand, and completed post-docs at UC Davis and Berkeley.
Rachel Fong
Director of Sales and Alliances
Rachel manages relationships with customers, collaborators, and partners for Shotgun Mutagenesis Epitope Mapping and Membrane Proteome Array projects. As a founding member of the scientific teams that launched both platforms, she brings a unique technical understanding that helps guide partners from initial information to successful project completion.
Rachel joined Integral Molecular in 2010 and has since worked in positions of increasing responsibility, including Shotgun Mutagenesis Project Leader, where she oversaw the mapping of hundreds of antibody epitopes and authored over a dozen publications. Prior to joining Integral Molecular, Rachel worked at Protez Pharmaceuticals and in the GMPK group at Sanofi. Rachel earned her B.S. from Drexel University.
Soma Banik, PhD
Director of Communications
Soma leads strategic communications at Integral Molecular, including content development for scientific communications, marketing communications and public relations. She brings more than 10 years of experience translating science and technology for customers, collaborators, and the public. Soma joined Integral Molecular in 2007 as a laboratory scientist with a passion for science communications and has since expanded her role in communications and management. She has contributed to the commercialization of all of Integral Molecular’s products to date.
Prior to joining Integral Molecular, Soma worked in HIV drug discovery at Boehringer Ingelheim in Laval, Quebec, developing cell-based assays and h high throughput screening methods to study small-molecule inhibitors of HIV capsid. Soma earned her Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Duke University studying telomerase and completed undergraduate studies in the Biology and Pharmacology program at McMaster University.
Dawn Eringis, MBA
Business Development Officer
Dawn is responsible for initiating and developing commercial partnerships for Integral Molecular. She brings over 25 years of biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry experience, encompassing major pharmaceutical to start-up biotechnology companies. Her career has spanned positions in business development, strategic planning, commercialization, marketing, and product management. She has led or been directly involved in over $500 million of corporate licensing deals in the healthcare industry, including both in-licensing and out-licensing of preclinical assets.
Dawn previously co-founded and served as VP of Business Development and Scientific Affairs for the biotechnology company PolyMedix and co-founded and served as Director of Business Development for Locus Pharmaceuticals. She holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.
Sean Deng, PhD, JD, MBA
Contracts Manager
Sean directs legal operations and oversees contract management at Integral Molecular. Sean negotiates agreements for licensing, partnership, and customer contracts and also manages Integral Molecular’s intellectual property portfolio. Since joining Integral Molecular in 2015, he has written about science and intellectual property law and has published articles in high-profile journals including Science, PNAS, and mAbs.
Prior to joining Integral Molecular, Sean worked as a patent search analyst. He earned a J.D. from Georgetown Law, a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Temple University School of Medicine, and a bachelor’s degree from Peking University in China. He is a licensed attorney in the state of New York and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
Martin Phillips, MD
Advisor, Preclinical Development
Martin serves as Integral Molecular’s primary advisor on the design of antibody preclinical efficacy and safety studies, enabling submission of investigational new drug (IND) applications. He is the CEO of Opsidio LLC, and brings over 30 years of drug development experience, including a career in academic medicine, biotech, and the pharmaceutical industry. Previously, he served as the Chief Medical Officer of two venture-backed biotechs and VP of Clinical Research for Aventis Behring (now CSL). He has been responsible for numerous patent filings, 9 IND filings, negotiations with the FDA, and globally overseeing over 30 clinical studies involving biologics and small molecule therapeutics.
Shahram Hejazi, PhD
Chair of Advisory Board
Shahram has been working with Integral Molecular since 2011, guiding strategic, operational, and sales decisions. With more than 20 years of financial and operational experience, he has founded or directed more than two dozen start-up companies, and has been involved in executive general management of large global companies and early-stage ventures. As Managing Director and CEO of BioAdvance, Shahram focuses on investments in devices, diagnostics, research tools, and health IT and serves on the Boards of 7 companies. He is also the founder and CEO of Optimeos Life Sciences, an mRNA therapeutic platform biotechnology company, and is faculty at Princeton University where he teaches courses on venture capital and entrepreneurship.
Previously, Shahram served as the President of Kodak’s Molecular Imaging division, the CEO of Zargis Medical, and the Global Head of the Strategic Business Development at Siemens Medical. Shahram earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from SUNY-Buffalo and an executive business education from Stanford University.
Janis von Culin, MS
Advisor, Human Resources
Janis provides human resources guidance to Integral Molecular and is a member of its business advisory board. She works closely with management and staff in developing and implementing human resources programs in leadership effectiveness, staffing and selection, and performance management. For the past 23 years, Janis has led Von Culin Associates, a consultant firm providing advice and resources for senior management and internal HR staff.
Prior to starting her own company, Janis worked for 18 years with Avery Dennison, a Fortune 500 manufacturing and distribution corporation. As Group Director of Human Resources, she led the HR function for 9 divisions operating in North America and Asia. Janis holds a Master’s degree in Psychology from California State University at Los Angeles and a B.A. in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College.
Cheryl Paes, MS
Business Development Advisor
Cheryl serves on the advisory board at Integral Molecular and provides guidance to the commercial team on growth strategies, business development and marketing plans. Cheryl is an experienced marketing and commercial leader with over 20 years of focused experience in the life sciences, pharma and med tech industry. She worked at Integral Molecular between 2004–2014 as Vice President of Commercial Operations and Marketing, overseeing the marketing and commercial strategies for the company. She is currently the Director of Marketing and Product Management at Zimmer Biomet and has previously served as Head of Marketing at Clarivate Analytics (formerly Thomson-Reuters). Cheryl earned her Master’s degree in Nutrition and Molecular Biology from Virginia Tech University, and also has a Masters degree in Biochemistry from University of Mumbai.