126. New frontier in biology: harnessing the power of the repeatome, Dennis Zaller, CSO, ROME tx

Synopsis: Dennis Zaller is the Chief Scientific Officer of ROME Therapeutics, a company developing novel therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases by harnessing the power of the dark genome, defined as vast stretches of uncharted genetic material that have long been dismissed as “junk DNA.” Dennis joins host Rahul Chaturverdi for a conversation about ROME’s unique path to conquering disease and the multiple drug discovery programs they have underway. They also discuss Dennis’ transition to biotech after having worked in big pharma for 30 years, the application of data science and drug development at ROME tx, what the company’s pipeline and company building looks like over the next several years, and how the dynamic between biotech and big pharma has changed over the last 10-20 years, and where it’s headed. Biography: Dennis is Chief Scientific Officer at ROME Therapeutics. He has more than 30 years of experience in the biopharma industry. Most recently, he spent five years as executive director, integrative sciences at Celgene (later Bristol Myers Squibb). In this role, he provided scientific leadership across a large portfolio of external collaborations with early stage biotechs that helped bring six novel molecules to the clinic. During his time at Celgene, Dennis participated in more than 20 joint steering research committees with biotechs and academic collaborators and helped bring six novel molecules to the clinic. Prior to Celgene, he spent 25 years at Merck Research Laboratories in a series of roles with increasing responsibility leading large drug discovery teams at Merck’s New Jersey and Boston sites. While at Merck, Dennis helped to advance 28 molecules into the clinic resulting in eight marketed drugs, including aprepitant, sitagliptin and vibegron. Before joining industry, he conducted academic research at the California Institute of Technology. Dennis has a B.S. from the State University of New York at Albany, and an M.A., M.Phil. & Ph.D. from Columbia University. He is an author of more than 60 manuscripts in leading journals covering a variety of scientific discoveries and is an inventor on seven patents.