Our Team

Executive Team - Leading the Effort Against Diseases of Poverty

Richard Chin, M.D. Chief Executive Officer, is an Internist with extensive expertise in drug development. He has overseen over 40 Investigational New Drug (IND) Applications for new molecular entities and new indications, as well as eight New Drug Applications (NDAs)/Biologic License Applications (BLAs), and has authored a major textbook on clinical trial medicine. Dr. Chin joins One World Health from OXiGENE, where he served as President and Chief Executive Officer. Previously, Dr. Chin served as Senior Vice President and Head of Global Development for Elan Corporation, where he had worldwide responsibility for Clinical Development, Regulatory, Biostatistics, CMC, QA/Compliance, Safety and Medical Affairs. Dr. Chin has also held various clinical and scientific roles for Genentech, Inc. including Head of Clinical Research for the Biotherapeutics Unit, overseeing approximately half of the drugs at Genentech, and began his career at Procter and Gamble Pharmaceuticals, where he served as Associate Medical Director. He received a B.A. in Biology, magna cum laude, from Harvard University and the equivalent of a J.D. with honors from Oxford University in England under a Rhodes Scholarship. Dr. Chin holds a Medical Degree from Harvard Medical School and is licensed to practice medicine in California. He previously served on the Adjunct Clinical Faculty of Stanford University School of Medicine and currently serves on the Boards of Directors of RXi Pharmaceuticals, a company founded by Craig Mello developing novel RNAi based treatments for human diseases, and of Genmedica Therapeutics, a leading biotech company in Spain developing innovative treatments for diabetes.

Robert E. Farrell, J.D. Chief Financial Officer, brings a wealth of experience in biotechnology and finance to OneWorld Health, and oversees Finance, HR and IT. Prior to joining OneWorld Health, Bob served as President and Chief Financial Officer of Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that develops proprietary therapeutics for the treatment of central nervous system disorders, cardiovascular disease and bone disease. He also served as Titan’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 1996 to 2008. Bob has also held senior positions at dialysis services provider Fresenius USA, Inc. from 1991 until August 1996, where he served as Corporate Group Vice President, Vice President Administration, Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel. He served as Vice President, Marketing and President of TXL Securities at Genstar Corporation, as Associate General Counsel at Brae Corporation and as an associate attorney at Crane & Hawkins. Bob holds a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and a J.D. from Hastings College of Law, University of California.

Matthew A. Wikler, M.D., MBA, FIDSA, Chief Medical Officer manages and provides leadership for the clinical and regulatory departments, and is a member of the senior management team at the Institute for OneWorld Health. Dr. Wikler brings over 25 years of biopharmaceutical experience to OneWorld Health. His experience includes work in infectious diseases, pharmaceutical companies of all sizes, a CRO, and the FDA; most recently, he was CEO of a development stage biopharmaceutical company. Dr. Wikler has demonstrated success in working with corporate partners, investors, and regulatory agencies. He received his BA in Chemistry at Franklin & Marshall College, received his MD degree from Temple University, and his MBA degree from the Wharton School of Business. Dr. Wikler completed a two year fellowship in Infectious Diseases at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and is a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Julie Cheng, Esq. General Counsel & Vice President Business Development, oversees all of OneWorld Health’s legal matters and is responsible for business development including setting up key partnerships among OneWorld Health, academia and pharmaceutical companies in different disease areas.  Her legal experience has primarily been in the corporate world, including working at the FMC Corporation and Alcon Laboratories Inc. Prior to joining OneWorld Health she spent almost seven years with Bayer HealthCare with her most recent position being Assistant General Counsel. Before that she worked in Philadelphia for Rohm and Haas Company, where her focus was on international intellectual property. Julie’s community activities have included participating on the board of the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia (PILCOP) and working with Big Brothers Big Sisters, Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, the West Texas Legal Services, and the AIDS Outreach Center. Julie has been involved with the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) as well as local Asian Pacific American bar associations for several years. Julie was also a member of the ABA Special Committee on Bioethics and the Law from 2001 – 2004. Julie received her B.A. from Reed College and her J.D. from Franklin Pierce Law Center.

Raj Shankar Ghosh, M.D., Regional Director, South Asia, is responsible for all operational and program services in the Liaison Field Office. He ensures that all programs are implemented with quality, accountability and measurable impact. Dr. Ghosh is also the iOWH representative in India. Dr. Ghosh has worked in the field of public health for the past 15 years. In recent years he has been directing the immunization work of PATH in India. There, he was responsible for the planning and implementation of the Japanese Encephalitis Project, the Cervical Cancer Vaccine project and other work related to primary immunization in the country. Prior to joining PATH in 2004 he worked in various parts of India particularly in the under developed districts as staff of State Health Services and the National Polio Surveillance Project of the WHO. Dr Ghosh completed his graduation in Medicine in 1988. During his career, he has obtained professional training from leading public health institutes in India including the Indian Institute of Health Management and Research and the Indian Institute of Public Health in India. Dr Ghosh has participated in generating several policy level decisions at the National and State level as member of several health committees including the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization in India. He is an avid reader and loves to listen to music, particularly folk music.

Tue Nguyen, Ph.D., Vice President, Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC), is responsible for providing strategic technical and regulatory CMC expertise to the project teams. He directs and facilitates all CMC activities related to product evaluation and development, regulatory filing, product launch, and quality assurance. Tue has over twenty years of pharmaceutical development experience with all phases of small molecule and protein formulation / drug delivery device / parenteral manufacturing process development. He has held leadership positions in Pharmaceutical Research and Development, and in Analytic Sciences at Genentech. He is a fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists and a member of several other science organizations including AAAS and PDA. Tue received his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Kansas.

Senior Staff

Philippe Desjeux, Ph.D., M.D., Senior Program Officer of Disease Control. Dr. Desjeux brings more than three decades of experience in leishmaniasis surveillance, control and prevention to OneWorld Health, joining the team that is working to implement a paromomycin pre-launch program in Bihar, India. Dr. Desjeux previously worked as Leishmaniasis Research Coordinator for the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases of the World Health Organization (WHO/TDR). He received a medical doctorate from the University of Paris, and certificates in special studies—gastroenterology, parasitology, and systematic microbiology—from the Odeon Faculty of Medicine and the Pasteur Institute.

Marie Lennartsson, Director of Human Resources, works closely with the CEO, CFO, and the executive team and is a member of the Senior Management Team. Marie is responsible for Human Resources strategy, operations and development of policies according to the executive level direction. She is also responsible for all Human Resources initiatives and to meet legal requirements and is accountable for managing employee relations and recruiting needs as determined by senior management. Marie acts as a liaison between the organizations outside vendors. Marie joined us with over 10 years of Human Resources experience. Most recently, she was an Associate Director of Human Resources for ELAN Pharmaceuticals in South San Francisco. Prior to that, Marie was a Sr. Human Resources Representative for ELAN in San Diego as well as a Human Resources International Specialist for ERICSSON Wireless Communications. Marie has a Bachelors Degree in Business from University of San Diego and a Master’s Degree in Global Management from the University of Phoenix.

Kathleen J. Monroe, MBA, Senior Director of Quality Assurance and  Project Management, manages all key operational activities for the malaria team and acts as project liaison between the internal project teams, external partners and multiple collaborators. Kay also ensures progress against goals of interdisciplinary project activities for the malaria program with partners and other key stakeholders in the PDP malaria community. Prior to joining OneWorld Health, Kay was the Vice President of Operations at Lundbeck Research USA where she was responsible for all non-scientific operations in this subsidiary of the Danish pharma company. Before that she was the Director of Project Management and established Project Management Offices at several companies including; Cerus Corp, Synaptic Pharmaceutical and Dynavax Technologies. Kay has also worked in global Project Management at Genentech and is the founder of the East Bay Association for Women in Science, she served as that organizations President in 1993 and 1994. Kay has a BS in Animal Science from UC Davis and an MBA from Golden Gate University.

Rhonda Sarnoff, Dr.P.H., Director of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) and Field Research, brings over twenty-five years of experience in the U.S. and internationally in health program management and evaluation. She has also conducted policy research on access to health services and insurance coverage among underserved populations in the U.S. and Africa. During her thirteen years of professional experience in Sub-Sahara Africa, she worked with NGOs on the implementation of national nutrition surveillance systems, the supervision and evaluation of maternal and child health programs, and the design and implementation of disaster interventions. She conducted applied research with John Snow Inc. on the impact of health care financing reforms on access to health services. She also consulted with UNICEF and FAO in Africa on the design and evaluation of health and nutrition programs. Rhonda received her Dr.P.H. from the University of California at Berkeley and her M.S.P.H. from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Raj Singh, M.D., D.P.H., Phase 4 Program Director, is responsible for the tactical planning, coordinating and implementation of the Phase 4 activities for field research and the Phase 4 Program in India. Prior to joining OneWorld Health, Dr. Singh consulted for the World Health Organization for close to 10 years. In that time he facilitated National TB Programme management in the areas of DOTS Expansion including: resource mobilization, program evaluation, TB laboratory strengthening, project management and establishment of systems for the management of drug-resistant TB. Before that he was on the faculty at KEM Medical College in Bombay. Dr. Singh received his medical degree from Orissa and Post Graduate degree in Preventive and Social Medicine from the University of Bombay and also has a degree in Public Health. He was the Charter Chairman of Ranchi Anchorage Round Table, a service organization which works for providing education to under privileged children.