Irene Tennant

Director of Clinical Development

Irene Tennant is Director of Clinical Development for American Gene Technologies.  Irene brings more than 20 years of experience in clinical research and operations, and has led teams in support of the development of biopharma products and pharmaceutical first in class treatments in gene medicine, oncology, and infectious diseases.  With a keen knowledge of the clinical pathway from early stage development to licensure, Irene has managed a number of pivotal projects, overseeing every stage of clinical activity leading to successful FDA approvals.  Irene earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Cornell University and her Master of Science in Neurobiology from New York University.

C. Neil Lyons, CPA

Chief Financial Officer & Executive Vice President

C. Neil Lyons, CPA has more than 30 years of experience in finance, strategy, raising capital, SEC compliance, and corporate governance in both public and private companies, with over 10 years of that leading finance for publicly-traded, clinical-stage biotechnology companies. Mr. Lyons has raised over $125 million in capital for biotechnology companies with a career-to-date deal sheet exceeding $1 billion. Mr. Lyons practiced public accounting with Deloitte for the first 10 years of his career and worked in the information technology and communications industries (Honeywell, Verizon and Alcatel) prior to entering the biotechnology industry in 2005.

Dr. Gary Mansfield, PhD

Vice President of Preclinical Development

Gary Mansfield, PhD is VP of Preclinical Development for American Gene Technologies. He has 20 years’ experience in cell and gene therapy product development and has worked in a range of biotechnology settings from seed stage start-ups to late stage clinical companies.  Dr. Mansfield has extensive experience spanning preclinical strategy and operations, CRO/CMO oversight, translational research, manufacturing and regulatory affairs.

Dr. David Pauza, PhD

Chief Science Officer

David Pauza, PhD is Chief Science Officer for American Gene Technologies and Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland Medical School in Baltimore. Prior to joining AGT, Dr. Pauza was Associate Director for the university’s prestigious Institute of Human Virology and Co-Leader of the Greenebaum Cancer Center Program in Viral Oncology. He is an internationally recognized expert in human virology and viral diseases including HIV, arenaviruses, poxviruses and herpesviruses. Dr. Pauza is also recognized as an expert in viral immunology, particularly the role for innate immune cells including NK and gamma delta T cells. He was honored as the United Nations Scientific, Cultural and Educational Organization’s Visiting Professor in Biotechnology at the University of Rome and the William J. Way Visiting Professor at the Duke University Center for AIDS Research. Dr. Pauza received the Chernow Foundation Award from the American Foundation for AIDS Research and is Honorary Member of the Gold Key Society. Dr. Pauza has been funded continuously by the N.I.H. for nearly 30 years.

Dr. Pauza is recognized for his outstanding efforts as a scientific thought leader, educator and consultant. He was an empaneled member of the Vaccine Study Section for the N.I.H. and has been active as a reviewer of federal grants and programs. He has been and continues on the editorial boards of several scientific journals, has consulted for a number of small to medium biotechnology companies and been an advisor to numerous health advocacy organizations including the AIDSResearch Alliance. Dr. Pauza is Chair of the National Scientific Advisory Board for the Southwest National Primate Research Center and serves on the Executive Advisory Board for the Chantal Biya Center for International Research in Yaounde, Cameroon. Formerly, he was an Expert Consultant in Immunology to the China Integrated Program on AIDS Research and helped to organize the 2013 Moscow Week in Virology – that included an international scientific conference and educational experiences for Russian infectious disease physicians. He mentored 16 students in their PhD research and trained 22 postdoctoral fellows.

Dr. Pauza received his PhD in 1981 from the Department of Molecular Biology, University of California Berkeley in the laboratory of Howard K. Schachman, PhD and had postdoctoral training at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, England under Sydney Brenner, MD. In 1985 he started the HIV/AIDS research program at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California then moved to the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1990 to build a diverse program on HIV/AIDS there. In 2000 he was recruited to the Institute of Human Virology in Baltimore, Maryland before joining AGT as a consultant (2012) and subsequently as Chief Science Officer (2015). He has published more than 150 scientific papers and holds 3 US patents

Selected Publications

Li, H., H. Peng, P. Ma, Y. Ruan, B. Su, X. Ding, C. Xu, C.D. Pauza, and Y. Shao. “Association between Vgamma2Vdelta2 T cells and disease progression after infection with closely related strains of HIV in China”. Clin Infect Dis, 2008. 46(9): p. 1466-72.

Riedel, D.J., M.M. Sajadi, C.L. Armstrong, J.S. Cummings, C. Cairo, R.R. Redfield, and C.D. Pauza. “Natural viral suppressors of HIV-1 have a unique capacity to maintain gammadelta T cells”. Aids, 2009. 23(15): p. 1955-64.

Hebbeler, A.M., N. Propp, C. Cairo, H. Li, J.S. Cummings, L.P. Jacobson, J.B. Margolick, and C.D. Pauza. “Failure to restore the Vgamma2-Jgamma1.2 repertoire in HIV-infected men receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)”. Clin Immunol, 2008. 128(3): p. 349-57.

Cummings, J.S., C. Cairo, C. Armstrong, C.E. Davis, and C.D. Pauza. “Impacts of HIV infection on Vgamma2Vdelta2 T cell phenotype and function: a mechanism for reduced tumor immunity in AIDS”. J Leukoc Biol, 2008. 84(2): p. 371-9.

Alexander, A.A., A. Maniar, J.S. Cummings, A.M. Hebbeler, D.H. Schulze, B.R. Gastman, C.D. Pauza, S.E. Strome, and A.I. Chapoval. “Isopentenyl pyrophosphate-activated CD56+ {gamma}{delta} T lymphocytes display potent antitumor activity toward human squamous cell carcinoma”. Clin Cancer Res, 2008. 14(13): p. 4232-40.

Maniar, A., X. Zhang, W. Lin, B.R. Gastman, C.D. Pauza, S.E. Strome, and A.I. Chapoval. “Human gammadelta T lymphocytes induce robust NK cell-mediated antitumor cytotoxicity through CD137 engagement”. Blood. 116(10): p. 1726-33.

Jeffrey A. Galvin

CEO and Founder

Jeffrey A. Galvin is the CEO and Co-founder of American Gene Technologies™ (AGT). He earned his BA degree in Economics from Harvard in 1981. He has more than 30 years of business and entrepreneurial experience including founder or executive positions at a variety of Silicon Valley startups. Several of his companies were taken public and/or sold to public companies, including one in the medical-technology arena that was sold to Varian, the leading maker of linear accelerators used in cancer therapy. Following his startup experience, he retired to become an Angel Investor in real estate and high tech. He came out of retirement to found and fund AGT after meeting Roscoe Brady at NIH.