Leadership
An experienced team of scientists, clinicians, and operators
Board of Directors
Executive Chairman
Dr Stergiopoulos is a physician executive with significant experience in the Pharmaceutical/Biotech industry, especially in Oncology. He is the former Chief Medical Officer of multi-billion dollar Euronext listed Ipsen and has held appointments as an Attending Physician and trainee in institutions such as Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and the National Institutes of Health. He holds a Masters in Biotechnology Enterprise and Entrepreneurship (MBEE) from The Johns Hopkins University and a Medical Degree from Poznan University of Medical Sciences (Poland). Sotirios is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, the New York Academy of Medicine as well as the Royal Society of Medicine (UK). He is also a Member of the American Association for Cancer Research and of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. In October 2017 Dr Stergiopoulos was appointed President of the Board of Governors for the Accreditation Council for Medical Affairs.
Chief Executive Officer
Mr Vempati brings nearly two decades of extensive expertise in drug discovery, oncology research, and business strategy with a track record of advancing novel therapeutics from concept to clinical development. Prior to founding Coiled Therapeutics, Inc, he co-founded A2A Pharmaceuticals, Inc in 2016, where he serves as Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President of Research Development, overseeing computational drug design platforms and pipeline advancement. Earlier in his career he held forecasting and business development roles at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals and Rafael Pharmaceuticals and served as an Equity Research analyst at Jefferies LLC analysing biotechnology investments. He has completed a postdoctoral fellowship in leukaemia research at Dana Farber Cancer Institute (Harvard University). He holds a PhD in molecular biology from Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Germany, an MBA from Boston University, and an MS degree from Guru Nanak Dev University, India.
Craig Tooman
Non-Executive Director
Mr Tooman most recently served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Board Director of Silence Therapeutics, the NASDAQ-listed siRNA company and brings over 30 years of international pharmaceutical and biotechnology leadership experience spanning clinical, operational, financial, M&A and capital markets disciplines, including more than 20 years as a public company CEO and CFO. In these executive roles and as a Board member, he directly participated in the raising of nearly US$9 billion in capital. At Silence Therapeutics, he helped transform the business from an early-stage UK research enterprise mainly trading on AIM into a well-financed NASDAQ listed global development company with multiple assets in later-stage clinical trials, including a first-in-class treatment for polycythemia vera. Throughout his career, he has played leading roles building, financing and realising value in life-science companies, participating in the execution of numerous strategic transactions across the biotechnology sector. As President, CEO and Board Director of Aratana Therapeutics, he negotiated the company's US$250 million merger with Elanco following Aratana Therapeutics' Bloomberg "IPO of the Year" award in 2013 and a record-setting three US regulatory approvals in a single year. As CFO of Enzon Pharmaceuticals, he coordinated the sale of its specialty pharmaceutical business to Sigma Tau for over US$300 million, and at ILEX Oncology he led the US$1.1 billion acquisition by Genzyme Corporation, including its integration. Earlier in his career, he held senior strategic and investor relations roles at Pharmacia, Pharmacia & Upjohn and The Upjohn Company in the US, Europe and Japan. Mr Tooman also brings extensive board experience, having served on the Supervisory Board of CureVac N.V. from 2019 until its acquisition by BioNTech in 2025, where he chaired both the Compensation and Nomination/Governance Committees, and on the boards of Aratana Therapeutics, Verté Therapeutics, Ondine Biomedical, Insite Vision and Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals, chairing the Audit Committees of four of these companies. His deep oncology heritage, including building the most valuable oncology business in Texas (ILEX Oncology) during the period 2002-2005, for which he was awarded the first Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) designation by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), aligns directly with Coiled Therapeutics' precision oncology focus and its lead candidate, AO-252.
Non-Executive Director
Mr West is an experienced Fellow Chartered Accountant (CA ANZ) and ACA (ICAEW), with over 30 years' financial and corporate experience gained in public practice, life sciences, oil and gas, mining and investment banking. Mr West has held several senior positions in public companies, including PetroNor E&P Limited, where he was Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer and instrumental in the successful US$100 million merger of African Petroleum Corporation Ltd and PetroNor E&P Limited in August 2019. Mr West was also a Non-Executive Director of ASX-listed Apollo Consolidated Limited, a company acquired for A$181 million in 2021. He is also co-founder and non-executive director of TollCyto Therapeutics Ltd.
Non-Executive Director
Ms Duvall is highly accomplished in the biotech and pharma sector, with over 25 years of experience in executive roles in the industry. During this time, Ms Duvall acted for Ferring Pharmaceuticals, as one of the executive board members who built the company from a US$700 million to US$2 billion in revenue. Jean has a significant track record in corporate development, having led multiple successful M&A, divestment and licensing deals throughout her career. She previously had the role of General Counsel at Elan Corporation and was legal lead, negotiating the divestment of over $2 billion in assets. Additionally, she has co-founded and led biopharma start-ups including Trizell and Amzell, resulting in multiple products having successful Phase II and Phase III clinical studies. Ms Duvall is currently CEO and co-founder of ReproNovo SA and a non-executive director of Ondine Biomedical Inc. (AIM:OBI).
Non-Executive Director
Dr Dean brings extensive leadership experience across clinical, academic and corporate settings. He currently consults for GenesisCare, a global provider of integrated cancer care, and serves as Head of Oncology at St John of God Subiaco Hospital in Western Australia, home to one of the region's busiest private hospital clinical trials units. He oversees a range of studies in pancreatic, gastrointestinal and gynaecological cancers. Under his leadership, the hospital received the Outstanding Site Award from the Australasian GastroIntestinal Trials Group. In addition to his clinical roles, Dr Dean is a board member of Valo Therapeutics, a clinical-stage immunotherapy company developing novel treatments for cancer and infectious diseases. He is also the founder of the award-winning health information platform, virtualmedicalcentre.com.
Senior Consultants
Chief Technology Officer
Chaemin Lim, PhD, is a seasoned leader in AI/ML-driven therapeutics and platform development, with a strong foundation in chemistry, pharmacy, and translational science. She has advanced multiple therapies from discovery to the clinic, including successful IND filings, and specializes in applying AI/ML to hard-to-drug targets. With a proven track record in CMC and IND-enabling development, she excels at aligning preclinical and clinical strategies and leading cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality, regulatory-ready programs. She also drives both new and ongoing pipeline advancements. Prior to Coiled Therapeutics, she served as a founding team member and Chief Scientific Officer at A2A Pharmaceuticals, where her comprehensive leadership was instrumental in advancing the company's pipeline and innovative technology platform SCULPT™, contributing to successful collaborations and strong valuation growth. She holds a PhD in Synthetic and Medicinal Chemistry from Seoul National University (SNU) and a pharmacist license in Korea. She has completed a postdoctoral fellowship in oncology research at University of Pittsburgh Chemical Diversity Center (UP-CDC) and a research fellowship in Medicinal Chemistry at the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, SNU.
Chief Clinical Operations
Robbin Frnka brings over two decades of specialized expertise in clinical research and operations, with a focus on advancing oncology and rare disease drug development. As Chief Clinical Operations Officer at Coiled Therapeutics, she oversees the design and execution of clinical programs for novel therapies in oncology and immunology. Her career includes leadership roles such as Vice President of Clinical Operations at A2A Pharmaceuticals, Co-Founder of AccelSoBio, Executive Director of Clinical Development & Strategy at Proxima CRO, and Head of Clinical Operations at COUR Pharma. She has also held senior positions at Dignitana, PRA Health Sciences, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, CTNeT, US Oncology, and UT Southwestern Medical Center. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Oklahoma State University, with graduate studies in genetics and pharmacology.