Leadership:

Our Executive Committee has expertise in all aspects of drug discovery and development

Kathy Giusti

Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Kathy Giusti is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) and the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC). Together, the two organizations have developed innovative models that serve to rapidly break down barriers slowing multiple myeloma research and accelerate the development of next-generation treatments. Chief among these are an integrated clinical network of academic centers that collaboratively conduct early-stage clinical trials, as well as a state-of-the-art tissue bank that has advanced the science of biobanking and genomic studies and provides a foundation for the organizations’ pursuit of personalized medicine.

Prior to founding the MMRF, Giusti was a pharmaceutical executive at G.D. Searle & Co., and previously held positions at Merck & Co. and the Gillette Company. Giusti, a multiple myeloma patient, was most recently named to the 2011 TIME 100 List of the world’s most influential people—a recognition she received for the progress she has made in accelerating the way research and drug development are conducted and, ultimately, dramatically improving the outlook for patients with multiple myeloma and other cancers. Giusti has also received a number of other awards for her leadership, including the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Centennial Medal for Distinguished Public Service, the Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award, and the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association's Woman of the Year Award.

Giusti’s efforts have been featured on the Today Show, CBS Evening News, CBS This Morning, CNN Money, Fox News, and NBC Nightly News. She has also been recognized by several notable media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Harvard Business Review, and The Economist.

Giusti currently serves on the Executive Management Committee to Stand Up to Cancer and the Harvard Business School Advisory Board. She has previously served on several other boards, including the President’s National Cancer Advisory Board, the Board of Directors for IMS Health, and the Institute of Medicine's National Cancer Policy Board.

Giusti received her MBA in general management from Harvard Business School and graduated from the University of Vermont magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences.

Walter M. Capone

Chief Operating Officer

Walter Capone oversees the core business operations of the MMRF and as part of the Executive Committee executes the growth initiatives outlined in the organization’s strategic plan. He has 20 years of pharmaceutical and biotechnology leadership experience in the areas of Commercial Development, Operations, Finance, Marketing and Sales in the United States and internationally. Prior to joining the MMRF, he was the Vice President of Commercial Development and Operations at Progenics Pharmaceuticals. He previously worked at a number of entrepreneurial pharmaceutical and biotechnology ventures throughout the United States and Europe including Trimeris, Triangle Pharmaceuticals and Cyanamid Benelux. He started his career at leading global pharmaceutical companies including Lederle, Wyeth and Bristol-Myers Squibb. He received his BA in International Relations from Brown University and he has an MBA in Finance and International Business from Columbia University Business School.

Christina Waters, PhD, MBA

Chief Development and Marketing Officer

Dr. Christina Waters has 15 years of leadership experience in therapeutic discovery research and development ranging from early stage biotech companies to large pharmaceutical companies. Over 20 years, her work primarily focused on understanding underlying molecular pathways of disease and developing new approaches for therapeutic solutions. Prior to joining the MMRF, her therapeutic research and development experience include positions as President, Cell Therapeutics Europe, President Systems Medicine, LLC, President and COO of aTyr Pharma, and Director of Scientific Development at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation. Dr. Waters received her Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of California, Davis, and completed her degree at Syntex as a NIH Biotechnology Fellow. She was a Postdoctoral Scholar and Associate at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology and also NIH Postdoctoral fellowship at University of California, Berkeley. She received a Bachelor of Science in Biology from San Diego State University and her MBA from University of California, Los Angeles. She received the 2010 College of Sciences Award for Outstanding Alumni for fostering new approaches to developing therapeutics taking into consideration systems biology and genetic context of patient disease.

Beverly Harrison

Vice President, Clinical Development

Beverly Harrison is Vice President of Clinical Development of the MMRC. Ms. Harrison is a seasoned research and development executive with more than 20 years of experience in both pharmaceutical and contract research organizations (CRO). Her areas of expertise include domestic and international operations, business development, sales and marketing management, strategic planning and change management. Prior to joining the MMRC, Ms. Harrison played a pivotal role in sales and marketing turnaround for three CROs in late and early stage services, co-founded her own niche oncology focused CRO business with a physician and a business partner, and provided general management leadership for late stage services for a global CRO. Ms. Harrison graduated from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, with a Bachelor of Science.

Anne Quinn Young, MPH

Vice President, Marketing

Anne Quinn Young, MPH, is Vice President of Marketing at the MMRF where she oversees all marketing and communications efforts, as well as educational programming. Prior to joining the MMRF in 2002, she was a consultant in the Healthcare Practice of Datamonitor, a global market research and business intelligence company. She previously worked in healthcare public relations at Burson-Marsteller and Chandler Chicco Agency, following a postgraduate internship at the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division. Ms. Young has a Master of Public Health from the Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University and graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College with a Bachelor of Arts in Government.