Management Team
Hans P. Hull, J.D.
Interim Chief Executive Officer and President, Senior Vice President, Business Operations
Mr. Hull has served as interim Chief Executive Officer and President since July 2015 and as Senior Vice President, Business Operations, since July 2014. Previously, he served as our Vice President, Legal and Corporate Development from February 2012 to July 2014. From March 2005 to April 2008, he served as General Manager and then Chief Executive Officer of Orthobond Corporation, a medical device company. From May 2008 to December 2011, he served as a legal and business development consultant for life sciences companies, including Second Genome, Inc., a biotechnology company, and Aprecia Pharmaceuticals Company, a pharmaceutical company. Mr. Hull began his career in life sciences as a strategy consultant to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for ZS Associates, Inc. from September 1997 to April 2000 and also worked as an attorney at Heller Ehrman White & McAullife LLP from September 2003 to March 2005. Mr. Hull received a A.B. in Chemistry from Princeton University and a J.D. from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.
Linda C. Bain
Chief Financial Officer
Ms. Bain has served as our Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer since April 2014. She also has oversight of the IT and Facilities functions. Linda has more than 20 years of finance, strategic business partner and audit experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, in both large and small company settings. Prior to joining Avalanche, she served in a variety of senior finance management roles, most recently at bluebird bio where she helped lead the company through a successful IPO process. Preceding her tenure at bluebird bio, Ms. Bain was at Genzyme Corporation, Fidelity Investments and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals.
Linda began her career as an auditor at Deloitte & Touche. She received her B.S. in Accounting and Business Administration and an Honors Degree in Accounting and Business Administration from the University of the Free State in South Africa. Ms. Bain is a Certified Public Accountant.
Samuel B. Barone, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Barone has served as our Chief Medical Officer since June 2014. He also has oversight of the Quality Assurance organization. Previously, he worked for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a Medical Officer in the Office of Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies from October 2009 to June 2014. Concurrent with his work at the FDA, Dr. Barone active in clinical practice as an ophthalmologist and vitreoretinal surgeon at Retina Associates, P.C., from October 2010 to June 2014. Prior to that, Dr. Barone served on active duty as a Flight Surgeon for United States Air Force service members at Andrews Air Force Base and at bases in Korea, Afghanistan, and Iraq until 2004. He received his B.S. in Biology from Boston College and his M.D. from The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. Following his military service, Dr. Barone completed a residency in ophthalmology at The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary where he served as Chief Resident, as well as a medical and surgical retina fellowship at the University of California, San Diego.
Mehdi Gasmi, Ph.D.
Interim Chief Scientific Officer, Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development
Dr. Gasmi has served as our Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development since November 2013, and leads manufacturing and quality control efforts for our gene therapy product candidates. Previously, Dr. Gasmi oversaw production of clinical batches of recombinant AAV and lentiviral gene therapy products for both Généthon, a gene therapy company, where he served as Vice President of Biomanufacturing from July 2009 to December 2011, and for Ceregene, a gene therapy company, where Dr. Gasmi served as Senior Director, Product Development from December 2001 to June 2009. Dr. Gasmi obtained his M.S. and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Claude Bernard University in Lyon, France. He is a member of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy.
Roman G. Rubio, M.D.
Senior Vice President & Head of Translational Medicine
Dr. Rubio has served as our Senior Vice President and Head of Translational Medicine since September 2014. Previously, Dr. Rubio spent more than 11 years at Genentech, Inc., a member of the Roche Group, most recently serving as Global Head of Ophthalmology where he was responsible for leading Clinical Development and overseeing Medical Affairs for the Lucentis® and lampalizumab programs. Prior to that, Dr. Rubio served in numerous leadership positions with increasing responsibility in Genentech's Immunology, Infectious Diseases & Ophthalmology business unit including Group Director, Global Development Team Leader, Clinical Team Leader and Medical Director. Dr. Rubio received his M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco, a Masters of Business Administration from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, an M.S. from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Notre Dame.
Shirley Braun, Ph.D.
Vice President, Human Resources
Ms. Braun has provided leadership in HR, talent management and culture development for the company since joining the company in May 2015. She brings 17+ years of HR experience to Avalanche, including her most recent role leading Transformation, Organization Development & Effectiveness at PlayStation Network – Sony Network. Prior to that, Shirley held VP HR roles at Magma Design Automation and Cash Edge and as an HR Managing director for Lam Research. Earlier in her career she worked as a consultant and executive coach for companies such as Microsoft, Novafora and Guided Delivery. Shirley holds a Ph.D. in Organization Psychology from CSPP, SF, an MA in Industrial and Social Psychology and a BA in Psychology from Bar Ilan University, Israel.
