Our XLock Biosciences team collectively offers
over 150 years ​of life science, business, regulatory,
​and drug discovery experience.

Corporate Executive Team

FRANCIS PETERSON, PH.D.
​President

WILLIAM CLARKE, MD, MSC
​Chief Executive Officer​

BRIAN VOLKMAN, PH.D.
​Chief Scientific Officer

SAMUEL HWANG, MD, PH.D.
​Chief Medical Officer

MICHAEL DWINELL, PH.D.
​Chief Translational Science Officer

LAURA MCOLASH, B.S.
​Director of Operations

SENIOR SCIENTIFIC ADVISORS

ANTHONY GETSCHMAN,
​PH.D.​

ANNE MARIE FINLEY,
​MS, RAC, DBA

ALBERT ZLOTNIK,
​PH.D.

ANN ROSENTHAL,
​MD​

CORPORATE EXECUTIVE TEAM

Francis Peterson, Ph.D.
President

Dr. Peterson is both President and co-founder of XLock Biosciences, (XL) and a Medical College of Wisconsin ( MCW) Professor of biochemistry with over 20 years of research experience in design, production, bioassay and three-dimensional structure determination of recombinant cytokine and chemokine proteins. His research efforts contributed to over 100 peer-reviewed publications and over 70 three-dimensional protein structures curated in the Protein Data Bank and include novel molecules with potential to treat inflammatory diseases such as cancer and psoriasis.

William Clarke, MD, MSc
Chief Executive Officer

William Clarke, MD, MSc, XL Chief Executive Officer was trained in medicine and in molecular pharmacology at Duke University. In addition to years of academic research, he has over 20 years of academic and executive pharmaceutical industry experience. From 1997-2000 he was Director of Biological Sciences for GlaxoWellcome, leading target identification and validation efforts. In 2000 he joined Amersham plc as Global Head of R & D. There, he changed the focus of Amersham’s portfolio from contrast agents to molecular imaging products, several of which are approved. During his time at Amersham, Dr. Clarke oversaw 3 new NDAs and multiple sNDAs and aNDAs. In 2004 GE Healthcare purchased Amersham and Dr. Clarke was the Chief Medical officer of GE Healthcare for 2 years. Subsequently Dr. Clarke was the founding CEO of Cellectar, a now publicly traded late-stage biotech focused on radiopharmaceutical therapies for cancer. In this role Dr. Clarke took Cellectar from a few academic scientists, through a $14mm fund raise, the submission of an IND, and the completion of a successful phase 1 multi-site trial; all in 3 years.

Biographical
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Brian Volkman, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer

Brian Volkman, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer is an MCW professor of biochemistry studying protein molecules and their influence on living systems. His MCW team has been continuously NIH-funded for over 20 years to investigate structure and function of chemokines to help develop new potential drugs. Dr. Volkman’s work is found in > 190 research publications, > 50 three-dimensional protein structures and several patents on new molecules with the potential to treat cancer, psoriasis, and other inflammatory diseases. He earned his PhD in biophysical chemistry from UC Berkeley.

Biographical
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Featured
​Articles

Samuel Hwang, MD, Ph.D.
Chief Medical Officer

Sam Hwang, MD, Ph.D., XL Chief Medical Officer is Professor and Chair of Dermatology at UC Davis School of Medicine and board-certified dermatologist trained as a physician scientist. He has strong clinical and scientific expertise in immunological diseases of the skin (e.g., psoriasis) and biology of skin cancers. Hwang served as a Senior Investigator at NIH (>15 years) specializing on chemokine receptors, including CCR6 and CXCR4 in immune and cancer cells. In 2008 he was appointed MCW Chair & Prof. of Dermatology. He is widely published (65 original and review articles the Journal of Immunology, Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Archives of Dermatology, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Science et.al). In 2016, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Society for investigative Dermatology, serving as Section Editor for the Journal of Investigative Dermatology and Journal of Dermatological Sciences. He was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2007 and lectures internationally.

Biographical
​Sketch

Featured
​Articles

Michael Dwinell, Ph.D.
Chief Translational Science Officer

Dr. Dwinell is a co-founder and Chief Translational Science Officer of XLock Biosciences, LLC (XL). He is a tenured professor of microbiology and immunology and founding director of the center for immunology at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) where he has maintained an NIH funded research program for more than 20 years. Dr. Dwinell's research team remains centered on determining the roles for cell movement in human health and disease. The movement of cells within and between tissues is a fundamental property of biology that may have beneficial effects, for example in wound healing or leukocyte trafficking, or deleterious effects, such as in immune remodeling in cancer or metastasis of tumor cells. Dr. Dwinell's team uses an array of preclinical model systems to measure the functional consequences of established and newly developed therapeutic strategies in inflammatory disorders and cancer. His work with Dr. Volkman has resulted in several patents and forms the basis for XL.

LAURA MCOLASH, B.S.
Director of Operations

​Laura McOlash B.S., Director of Operations, brings over 30 years of research and lab bench experience at the Medical College of Wisconsin to the XLock Biosciences team. Her research focus has been aimed at gaining a better understanding of the immune system in cancer and other disease states. Her understanding of lab operations and clinical trials, and her ability to work collaboratively and efficiently is an asset to the company, contributing to its success in achieving its research aims.

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Senior Scientific Advisors

Anthony Getschman, Ph.D.
Senior Scientific Advisor

Anthony Getschman, Ph.D., is a co-inventor of the technology and drove technical and commercial efforts from 2017-2020 until entering the medical technology workforce. Dr. Getschman is a biophysical chemist with >10 years of academic and industrial research expertise in NMR drug discovery, protein engineering and quality control. He has successfully managed five independent, collaborative, cross-functional research projects, contributing to more than a dozen research publications and two patents.

Anne Marie Finley, MS, RAC, DBA
Senior Regulatory Advisor

Anne Marie Finley, MS, RAC, President of the Biotech Policy Group, LLC. Finley is a pharmaceutical regulatory policy and health care strategist with over 25 years’ experience leading regulatory and healthcare policy at the FDA, US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), US Congress and three global pharmaceutical companies. Now a consultant, Finley develops regulatory strategy and provides expert advice to pharmaceutical companies, patient organizations, academic medical centers, hospital systems, investors, and management consultants across the world. Her clients have included Allergan, Pfizer, Novartis, Bayer and Chiron as well as many emerging biotech and pharmaceutical companies. She lectures on FDA regulations and healthcare policy at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) and Concordia University Schools of Pharmacy and Business, where she is the Regulatory Expert and Entrepreneur in Residence. She serves as a Member of MCW’s Technology Evaluation Committee and Ascension Healthcare’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). Finley will advise/assist regulatory strategy development and manage FDA interactions. 

Albert Zlotnik, Ph.D.
Senior Scientific Advisor

Albert Zlotnik, Ph.D., a pioneer of the chemokine and cytokine fields, has discovered over 8 different cytokines and chemokines. For >35 years, Zlotnik led a discovery research team at DNAX (later Schering-Plough Research Institute). In 2000, he first described the role of CCL20 in psoriatic arthritis, paving the way for XL’s future development of CCL20LD. He has published >65 research articles on human genetics, immunology, cytokines and chemokines. From 2008-2018, Zlotnik was a Prof. at UC Irvine & Associate Director of the Institute for Immunology. He has served as Vice President-Biology of Senomyx, Inc. since April 2007. Previously, he worked for Neurocrine Biosciences and Eos Biotechnology. 

Ann Rosenthal, MD
Senior Scientific Advisor

Ann Rosenthal, M.D., received her MD from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Rochester.  She received her rheumatology training at the Medical College of Wisconsin.  Her principal research interests revolve around the pathogenesis of calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease (also known as pseudogout). This work has been funded by the VA and the NIH since 1991. Other research interests include other types of inflammatory arthritis, osteoarthritis, and gout as well as musculoskeletal complication of diabetes. She is the author of over 100 original publications, numerous chapters and invited reviews, and has spoken at many national and international meetings. She has been a member of VA study sections and is currently a standing member of the Skeletal Biology Development and Disease panel for NIH, as well as the US Bone and Joint Decade Young Investigators Initiative.