Orlando, Florida, United States
Kasra has spent the last 30 years forming/building technology-driven start-up companies, as well as artist collectives and book publishers. Kasra was co-founder of Sensei Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNSE), formerly called Panacea Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he served as President/COO (1999-2004), member of the Board of Directors (1999-2017), and Special Consultant (2005-2018). He was responsible for raising over $25MM equity financing and led the company’s cancer drug development licensing deal with MedImmune, Inc. (now AstraZeneca PLC). Kasra contributed to developing SNS-301, the company’s cancer vaccine candidate, which was tested in several Phase I/II clinical trials and was the basis for the company's $150MM IPO in February 2021. He also contributed to developing six cancer diagnostic tests, including the LC Detect lung cancer test selected by Time Magazine in 2007 as a Top 10 Medical Breakthrough of the Year. Prior to Sensei, Kasra helped start Nymox Pharmaceutical Corporation (NASDAQ: NYMX) in Montreal, Quebec. Serving as Project Leader for Alzheimer’s Diagnostic Development, he was responsible for developing the AD7C test, the first commercially available cerebral spinal fluid- and urine-based diagnostic tests for Alzheimer’s. As Director of Laboratory & Technical Operations, he established the U.S. operations of Nymox in Rockville, MD, housing the company’s R&D activities, as well as a CLIA-certified Clinical Reference Laboratory commercializing specialty tests, for which he served as its Scientific & Technical Director. He began his industry career in 1993 as Research Assistant and subsequently Project Manager: Alzheimer’s Biomarker Discovery Group at Molecular Geriatrics Corporation in Lake Bluff, IL utilizing state-of-the-art proteomic techniques to identify disease-relevant proteins as potential drug targets/biomarkers for neurological conditions, particularly Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia. Kasra has also maintained an active career in the arts, providing pro bono global artist representation to emerging/established artists, as well as curating art gallery shows in the U.S./Europe. He has founded several arts-driven production companies/publishers, where he successfully created several innovative financing strategies. He has also created, designed, and written more than a dozen art books, original graphic novels, and art book anthologies. Kasra has published ~40 scientific publications/abstracts. He attended the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana studying Biology/Philosophy of Religion.
Collectors Network Holdings, PBC is a Public Benefit Corporation that owns ComicArtFans.com (CAF), the global hub for everything related to original art from comic books and other narrative or visual storytelling art, as well as several other brands including the Original Art Expo (OAX), the Jack & Roz Kirby Awards, the Comic Art LIVE virtual art con (CAL), Indie Comics Creator Con (IC3), the CAF+ YouTube channel, and the deCAF mobile app, now powered by ArtScout, the world's best narrative art web crawler servicing artists, collectors, and art dealers. CAF is the premier website in the world serving comic book and narrative art collectors, artists, auction houses, art dealers, and artist representatives. Collectors may easily set up either free or premium galleries on CAF, where they'll find over 1,200,000 pieces of art posted by collectors and artists in their galleries and personal classifieds, which is additionally supplemented by 100,000s of art pieces from art dealers and artist representative websites. CAF is proud to be a truly global hub, with more than half of our traffic coming from outside the USA. CAF's event division includes CAL, the biggest virtual comic art convention in the world, as well as OAX, which has immediately established itself as the premier visual storytelling art event in the world. OAX conducts the ceremony for the Jack & Roz Kirby Awards, an annual award recognizing innovation, excellence, and humanity in narrative communication. CAF's event division also includes IC3, a national platform of both in-person and virtual shows committed to providing an affordable, dynamic, and inclusive platform that brings together independent comic book creators, artists, publishers, art collectors, and fans to celebrate and support unique and diverse creators in comics. CAF also operates the highly active CAF+ YouTube channel, a community resource that produces a regular slate of weekly content.
Maryland-based biopharmaceutical company with novel and enabling immunotherapeutic, vaccine, and companion diagnostic platforms targeting conditions with large unmet clinical needs including cancer and infectious disease. The company utilizes its proprietary platform technology to engineer bio-nanoparticles displaying high-copy numbers of multiple types of proteins simultaneously. These multiplexed and multivalent bio-nanoparticles may be used in a number of different approaches for the treatment, prevention, and/or detection of human disease dependent on the selection of the displayed proteins.
Provided strategic input, technology/business analysis, and counsel on all major corporate activities directly to the CEO and Chief Scientific Officer.
Served on the company's Board of Directors.
Sensei Biotherapeutics, Inc.(name changed from Panacea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. as of March 2018) is an immuno-oncology company that focuses on overturning the body’s tolerance of cancer cells and directing its defenses against them. I was responsible for raising over $25MM equity financing and led the company’s March 2002 cancer drug development licensing deal with MedImmune, Inc. (now AstraZeneca PLC) with a headline value of $80+ million. I contributed to the development of the company’s cancer vaccine candidate, SNS-301, which was tested through a number of Phase I and Phase II clinical trials. I was also a member of the team that developed six cancer diagnostic tests, with the LC Detect lung cancer test selected by Time Magazine in 2007 as a Top 10 Medical Breakthrough of the Year.
44FLOOD are individuals drawn together as a collective to exercise common beliefs on art, beauty, and music. At 44FLOOD, I successfully created and executed several innovative financing strategies. 44FLOOD's flagship book was TOME, an biennial anthology with music CD in an oversized 12x18" format showcasing world-class artists as they explored a single theme using diverse artistic mediums. I was Creator/Curator/Editor of TOME and its compantion book on artistic process, EXPLICITUS EST LIBER (two volumes of both were created), as well as Creator/Curator/Editor of the LIBRETTO anthology series with IDW Publishing. I was Editor of LUST by Ben Templesmith, Steve Niles, and m3, as well as Editor of THE SQUIDDER by Ben Templesmith. I was Co-Creator of KATABASIS I, Writer for THE KINDLY ONES, and Curator/Conductor of the MONSTER MONDAYS weekly online gallery project. The last book I created for 44FLOOD was SCOTT RADKE: ANTUMBRA, an art book covering works by Scott Radke from 1995-2015.
VEI Studios, Inc. is a multi-media company involved in the creation, production, and marketing of films, plays, documentaries, and web-based content-driven publications. VEI Studios operates three divisions: VEI Productions, VEI Press, and VEI Arts. VEI Productions provides communications, production, multi-media, and consulting services to start-up, emerging, and established technology- and creative-based companies. VEI Press specializes in the design, fabrication, and distribution of limited edition, high-quality, experimentally designed, illustrated books. VEI Arts provides global art representation to both emerging/established artists predominantly in the fine art/comic book fields. I've worked on and off with Scott Radke, Ted McKeever, Ben Templesmith, m3, Guillermo Rigattieri, Ario, Wade Furlong, and Richard A. Kirk. Curated shows included: * 11/12014 - Annual Dark Arts Exhibition: Monstrum group show at Gallery Provocateur in Chicago, IL * 9/28/2013 - TOME 2: MELANCHOLIA group show at Last Rites Gallery in NYC, NY * 4/252013 - TOME 1: VAMPIRISM group show at Firecat Gallery in Chicago, IL * 8/10/2012 - Villains & Assassins group show at Strychnin Gallery in Berlin, Germany Curatorial assistance has included: * 10/4/2008 - Endless Reflections: 20 Years of Sandman group show at Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra, CA * April 2006 - Graphic Novel Art, Five Man Group Show (Kent Williams, David Mack, Ted McKeever, Barron Storey, George Pratt) in Brussels and Ghent, Belgium