Leadership

Pliant CEO Bernard Coulie, M.D., Ph.D., brings to the company more than 15 years of senior leadership experience and drug development expertise. He joined Pliant from ActoGeniX (acquired by Intrexon Corporation in February 2015), where he was CEO, Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder. In these positions, Dr. Coulie played an integral role in advancing the company’s unique technology platform for oral delivery of biologics from early discovery stage through Phase 2 studies. Prior to ActoGeniX, Dr. Coulie held various positions with increasing responsibilities in drug discovery and clinical development at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development Europe. At Johnson & Johnson, he served as Therapeutic Area Leader Internal Medicine, managing a portfolio of products in GI, metabolic diseases and inflammation/immunology, ranging from early drug discovery through Phase 2 studies. Earlier in his career, Dr. Coulie was a Staff Physician in the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN), Assistant Professor in Medicine at Mayo Medical School and a Mayo Foundation scholar. Dr. Coulie serves as a director and Chairman of Flindr Therapeutics B.V., a privately held precision oncology company based in the Netherlands; as a director and Chairman of Atisama (formerly RAGE Biotech Pty Ltd), a privately held chronic inflammatory disease company based in Australia; and as a member of the board of directors of Septerna, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company. He also serves as a director at the Charcot-Marie-Tooth Association, a patient advocacy organization dedicated to the development of new drugs to treat Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.

Dr. Coulie holds an M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Leuven, Belgium. He is a board-certified internist and holds an MBA from the Vlerick Management School, Leuven, Belgium.

Pliant’s CFO, Keith Cummings M.D., MBA, brings to Pliant nearly 15 years of experience in healthcare and financial services. Dr. Cummings joined Pliant in December 2018 from Citigroup Global Markets where he served as a Director in the Investment Banking Healthcare Group focusing on West Coast small- and mid-cap life sciences companies. While at Citigroup Dr. Cummings specialized in public and private capital raising as well as M&A, and executed a broad range of transactions for many of the leading life sciences companies on the West Coast. Prior to Citigroup, he worked in the Investment Banking Division at Lehman Brothers and Barclays in New York.

Dr. Cummings holds an M.D. from the Duke University School of Medicine, where he performed research in healthcare economics. He also holds an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business.

Ms. Kuo serves as our Chief Operating Officer. She joined Pliant in September 2023.

Ms. Kuo is an experienced biotechnology and pharmaceutical executive and brings more than 20 years of multinational clinical development experience across various therapeutic areas including respiratory, oncology, neurodegenerative and inflammatory. Ms. Kuo joined Pliant from holding roles of increasing responsibilities at Vir Biotechnology, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of Translational and Clinical Development Operations. In this role, Ms. Kuo served as the operational officer to the Chief Medical Officer, overseeing business operations, clinical operations, and organizational planning across the entire clinical portfolio. Prior to Vir, Ms. Kuo held senior clinical operations roles at Nektar Therapeutics and Gilead Sciences. At Gilead, she oversaw the strategic direction of multiple compounds and indications within the company’s inflammation and hepatic portfolios. Earlier in her career, Ms. Kuo held global project management and clinical study management roles at the clinical research organization ICON and at Roche/ Genentech.

Ms. Kuo received her B.A. in biochemistry and healthcare from the University of California, San Diego, and a M.S in organizational development from the University of San Francisco.

Ms. Cheung joined Pliant in January of 2023 as Chief Human Resources Officer. Ms. Cheung is an accomplished human resources professional bringing over 25 years of experience across the technology and biopharmaceutical industries, including more than 15 years of commercial-stage experience. Ms. Cheung joins Pliant from Synthekine, a privately held biotechnology company. Prior to this, Ms. Cheung served as Vice President of Human Resources at Rigel Pharmaceuticals, where she supported an integrated research, development and commercial-stage organization. Prior, she held positions of increasing responsibilities at Actelion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (now Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a Johnson & Johnson Company) and held human resources roles at Covad Communications, National Semiconductor and United Behavioral Health.

Ms. Cheung received her B.S. in Management from San Francisco State University.

Dr. Imbert is a seasoned biopharmaceutical leader who brings 25 years of technical manufacturing operations experience to Pliant. Most recently, Dr. Imbert served as Senior Vice President of CMC and Technical Operations at Chinook Therapeutics (acquired by Novartis). As a member of the Executive Committee, Dr. Imbert built and managed a fully outsourced CMC, manufacturing and supply chain organization in support of Chinook’s global Phase 1 to Phase 3 clinical trials and successfully led change management initiatives in support of assets transition into Novartis. Prior to Chinook, Dr. Imbert held the role of Senior Vice President of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Dermira (acquired by Eli Lily and Company). Over her 10-year tenure, she established fully virtual CMC, manufacturing and supply chain capabilities in a fit-for-purpose manner in support of a broad portfolio of small molecules and biologics to Phase 3 as well as the launch of QBREXZA^®. Prior to Dermira, Dr. Imbert held research and development leadership roles of increasing seniority at Anacor Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer), most recently serving as Vice President of Pharmaceutical Research and Development. Earlier in her career, Dr. Imbert held scientific and product development roles at Alza Corporation (a Johnson & Johnson company) and Cellegy Pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Imbert graduated with an engineering degree from Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Paris (Chimie ParisTech) and received a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Imbert was also a NIH Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of California San Francisco.

Dr. Tim Machajewski, with over 25 years of experience in drug discovery, joined Pliant in 2018 and currently leads our research efforts as Head of Research. Dr. Machajewski’s expertise spans multiple therapeutic areas, including fibrosis, oncology, anti-infective, and metabolic disorders. Dr. Machajewski’s extensive drug discovery experience has been instrumental in driving innovative solutions and strategies that have led to cross-functional team success in these fields.

Throughout his career, Dr. Machajewski has held roles of increasing responsibility at Novartis, Chiron, and Achaogen, where he showcased his leadership and commitment to improving patient outcomes through cutting-edge therapeutic discoveries. At Pliant, Dr. Machajewski is dedicated to creating a dynamic research environment that fosters innovation and excellence.

Dr. Machajewski received his B.S. in chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin, his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Stanford University and completed postdoctoral studies at The Scripps Research Institute.

Mr. Park serves as our Senior Vice President of Development Operations. He joined Pliant in January 2024.

In this role, Mr. Park partners with functional department heads to ensure strategic day to day efficiencies throughout the clinical development and clinical operations organizations. Mr. Park brings to Pliant more than 15 years of operational efficiency experience within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Mr. Park joins Pliant from Vir Biotechnology where he held roles of increased responsibility most recently serving as Vice President of Development Business Operations. In this role, he set the vision and established new processes for optimizing workflow throughout the clinical organization including the management of outsourced vendors. Prior to this, Mr. Park served in multiple roles of increased responsibility at Gilead Sciences and Amgen where he managed teams and workstreams responsible for ensuring strong cross functional support of clinical program development. Mr. Park began his professional career at the University of California, Los Angeles overseeing clinical budgets for industry-sponsored trials on behalf of the university’s hematology and oncology department.

Mr. Park received his B.S. in Mathematics and Economic Science from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Mr. Peters serves as our Senior Vice President of Finance. He joined Pliant in February 2021.

Mr. Peters brings 25 years of finance and accounting experience to the role. Prior to Pliant, Mr. Peters held roles of increasing responsibility at Portola Pharmaceuticals, now Alexion, where, over an 8-year period, he helped manage its evolution from a clinical late-stage organization to a multi-national, commercial-stage company, having most recently served as Executive Director and Corporate Controller. Prior to this, Mr. Peters held worldwide roles at KPMG LLP, one of the four largest professional accounting services networks in the world, where he managed an extensive array of accounting and auditing services for a wide range of differing size, stage of development and industry companies, including large cap pharmaceutical companies.

Mr. Peters received his B.S. in Business Economics with an emphasis in Accounting from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Dr. Barnes currently serves as our Vice President of Development Sciences. He joined Pliant in 2022.

In his current role, Dr. Barnes oversees the Biometrics, Clinical pharmacology, and medical/scientific writing functions while serving as the subject matter expert for all data-related deliverables across the entire Pliant portfolio.

Dr. Barnes brings over 18 years of biometrics and project leadership experience to Pliant. Prior to Pliant, Dr. Barnes served as the Vice President of Project Leadership and Biometrics at Spruce Biosciences where he provided strategic direction in support of the company’s rare disease pipeline. Prior to this, Dr. Barnes held roles of increasing responsibility at Theravance Biopharma and Theravance where he focused on respiratory, gastrointestinal and antibiotic indications leading both the Biostatistics and Development teams, as the Project Team Leader, through clinical development to registration. Dr. Barnes has contributed to the success of multiple marketed respiratory products in COPD/asthma as well as a product approved in Hospital acquired pneumonia. Dr. Barnes began his professional career at Gilead Sciences, where he focused within the Liver (hepatitis and liver fibrosis) and HIV franchises. Dr. Barnes is an author on over 35 peer-reviewed journal articles.

Dr. Barnes received his B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Louisville and his Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences. Dr. Barnes has also completed a fellowship at The James Graham Brown Cancer Center focusing on the intersection of bioinformatics and pancreatic cancer.

Dr. Decaris is a biomedical engineer with more than 12 years of industry experience in fibrosis-related drug development and biomarker research. Dr. Decaris joined Pliant in 2016 and during his tenure has led Pliant’s translational research group in the development of assay platforms for evaluating novel antifibrotic drugs. In his current role, Dr. Decaris also oversees biomarker research related to Pliant’s fibrosis and oncology programs. Prior to joining Pliant, Dr. Decaris worked as a scientist at Kinemed, Inc. developing biomarker assays for fibrotic diseases that measure ECM protein turnover in tissue and blood. Dr. Decaris has co-authored more than 20 publications and holds patents in the areas of tissue engineering, antifibrotic drug development and noninvasive biomarkers.

Dr. Decaris received his B.S. in Bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley and his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of California, Davis.

Christopher Keenan joined Pliant Therapeutics as Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications in November 2020 with responsibility for implementing strategic investor relations initiatives for Pliant and our shareholders. Mr. Keenan brings over 20 years of investor relations/ corporate communications experience having served in the role in small to large market capitalized public companies within the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and specialty pharmaceutical industries.

Prior to Pliant, Mr. Keenan held the role of Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at CytomX Therapeutics. Prior to this, he held the lead investor relations role at Depomed, Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Cytokinetics and Aradigm. He began his investor relations career at Isis Pharmaceuticals (now Ionis Pharmaceuticals) and his professional career at The Weinberg Group, a scientific and regulatory consultancy to the biopharmaceutical industry.

Mr. Keenan received his B.A. in English from Kenyon College.

Dr. Kord serves as our Vice President of Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) overseeing chemical development, pharmaceutical development, analytical development, and quality control, as well as clinical supply manufacturing.

Dr. Kord joined Pliant in 2022 and brings over 25 years of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries supporting the development and execution of preclinical to commercial-stage drug development programs. Dr. Kord’s extensive experience includes key scientific and leadership roles instrumental in the successful development and launch of ten novel therapeutics, including the oncology drugs, Tafinlar®and Votrient®.

Prior to joining Pliant, Dr. Kord held positions of increasing responsibility at Pfizer, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, Exelixis, and Portola Pharmaceuticals spanning analytical development, quality control, and drug product development and manufacturing. Dr. Kord is an author or co-author of 23 peer-reviewed journal articles.

Dr. Kord received his M.Sc. in Chemistry from Wichita State University and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from North Carolina State University.

Eve-Irene Lepist, Ph.D., brings to Pliant over fifteen years of pharmaceutical industry experience in drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics in support of discovery research, translational research, and product development. Previously, Dr. Lepist held positions of increasing responsibility at the Department of Drug Metabolism, Gilead Sciences, where she led a team supporting discovery and development programs in areas of drug absorption and transporter interactions. Dr. Lepist started her career as a DMPK scientist at CV Therapeutics, where she established and worked with in vitro and in vivo models of brain penetration. Dr. Lepist has published over twenty peer-reviewed articles in areas of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, pro-drugs, and drug-transporter interactions related to absorption, distribution, and elimination with a focus on renal drug-drug interactions.

Dr. Lepist conducted her graduate research at Uppsala University, Sweden and at The Royal School of Pharmacy, Copenhagen, Denmark. She received a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Tartu, Estonia, and completed her postdoctoral research at the State University of New York at Buffalo, NY.

Mr. Magowan serves as our Vice President of Business Development where he leads Pliant’s business and corporate development activities.

Mr. Magowan joined Pliant in 2019 as Director of Business Development and has been responsible for executing Pliant’s business development and partnering strategy. Mr. Magowan brings more than 10 years of business development transaction experience, most recently as Vice President of Business Development at Virion Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, developing novel T cell-based immunotherapies that utilize immune checkpoint modifiers. Prior to Viron, Mr. Magowan held roles of increasing responsibility at Immunomic Therapeutics, a clinical stage nucleic acid vaccine and cell therapy company focused on oncology and antigen tolerance. Earlier in his career, Mr. Magowan was a consultant with CapGenic Advisors and Catenion advising and supporting small to mid-sized biotechnology and medtech companies.

Mr. Magowan received his B.A. in Biology from Reed College.

Dr. Sandberg serves as our Vice President of Regulatory and Compliance. She joined Pliant in October 2019.

Dr. Sandberg brings over 20 years of global strategic regulatory experience to Pliant with core drug development expertise in the areas of rare diseases and oncology. In her current role, Dr. Sandberg leads the regulatory and quality compliance functions with her tenure at Pliant having overseen the development and execution of the regulatory strategies and interactions involving our portfolio.  Prior to joining Pliant, Dr. Sandberg held roles of increasing responsibility over a 5-year period at Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals, most recently serving as Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs, where she led the global regulatory strategies supportive of the commercialization of Crysvita^®, the first drug approved in XLH; a rare, inherited form of a softening and weakening of bones. Dr. Sandberg began her professional career at Amgen Inc. where she led the U.S. regulatory activities across multiple stages of development and therapeutics areas including oncology and inflammation.

Dr. Sandberg received her M.Sc. in Biomedical Chemistry from the University of Kalmar, Sweden, as well as a M.S. in Regulatory Science and a Ph.D. in Physiology and Biophysics from the University of Southern California.