Corporate Governance

Dr. John S. Kovach founded Lixte in August 2005 and is our President, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and a member of our Board of Directors. He received a B.A. (cum laude) from Princeton University and an M.D. (AOA) from the College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University. Dr. Kovach trained in Internal Medicine and Hematology at Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University and spent six years in the laboratory of Chemical Biology at the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic diseases studying control of gene expression in bacterial systems.

Dr. Kovach was recruited to the State University of New York at Stony Brook (“SUNY – Stony Brook”) in Stony Brook, New York in 2000 to found the Long Island Cancer Center (now named the Stony Brook University Cancer Center). From 1994 to 2000, Dr. Kovach was Executive Vice President for Medical and Scientific Affairs at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. His responsibilities included oversight of all basic and clinical research initiatives at the City of Hope. During that time, Dr. Kovach was also Director of the Beckman Research Center at City of Hope and a member of the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Scientific Advisory Board in Newport Beach, California.

From 1976 to 1994, Dr. Kovach was a consultant in oncology and director of the Cancer Pharmacology Division at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. During this time, he directed the early clinical trials program for evaluation of new anti-cancer drugs as principal investigator of contracts from the National Cancer Institute. From 1986 to 1994, he was also Chair of the Department of Oncology and Director of the NCI-designated Mayo Comprehensive Cancer Center. During that time, Dr. Kovach, working with a molecular geneticist, Steve Sommer, M.D., Ph.D., published extensively on patterns of acquired mutations in human cancer cells as markers of environmental mutagens and as potential indicators of breast cancer patient prognosis. Dr. Kovach has published over 100 articles on the pharmacology, toxicity and effectiveness of anti-cancer treatments and on the molecular epidemiology of breast cancer.

Effective February 23, 2017, Dr. Kovach retired from his part-time (50%) academic position at SUNY – Stony Brook, as a result of which he has been devoting 100% of his time to our business activities since that date.

Philip F. Palmedo, Ph.D., is a physicist, entrepreneur and corporate manager. Dr. Palmedo joined our Board of Directors on June 30, 2006. He founded and served as Chairman of the International Resources Group (IRG), an international consultancy in energy, natural resources and economic development. IRG was bought by L3 Communications in 2008. Dr. Palmedo designed and was the first President of the Long Island Research Institute formed by Brookhaven National Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and SUNY – Stony Brook to facilitate the commercialization of technologies. In 1988, Dr. Palmedo joined in the formation of Kepler Financial Management, Ltd., a quantitative financial research and trading company. He was President and Managing Director until 1991, when Renaissance Technologies Corporation acquired the company.

Dr. Palmedo served on the boards of Asset Management Advisors, the Teton Trust Company, EHR Investments and C-Quest Capital, and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Gyrodyne LLC. He also served on the Board of Trustees of Williams College and of the Stony Brook (University) Foundation, where he chaired the Foundation’s Investment Committee.

Stephen J. Forman, M.D., is an internationally recognized expert in hematologic malignancies and bone marrow transplantation and is a leader in preclinical and clinical cancer research. He is co-editor of Thomas’ Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, a definitive textbook for clinicians, scientists and health care professionals. Dr. Forman is the Francis and Kathleen McNamara Distinguished Chair in Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, a position he has held since 1987.

In nearly 40 years at City of Hope, Dr. Forman has been instrumental in advancing the survival rates for patients suffering from cancers of the blood and immune system such as leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

As Director of the T Cell Immunotherapy Research Laboratory, his current research is focused on cancer immunotherapy, using the body’s own immune system to attack cancer. Pharmacological enhancement of patients’ immune responses to their cancers is of special interest to us as the enzyme target of its lead clinical compound, LB-100, has been reported recently to be critical to immune function. Much of Dr. Forman’s current work centers on T cells and their cancer-fighting potential.

Yun Yen, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.P. is a physician, scientist, innovator, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as an expert in ribonucleotide reductase, a critical target in cancer therapy and diagnostics. He is President Emeritus of Taipei Medical University (TMU) and Chair Professor of the Ph.D. Program for Cancer Biology and Drug Discovery. Prior to TMU, Dr. Yen was the Allen and Lee Chao Endowed Chair in Developmental Cancer Therapeutics, Chair of Molecular Pharmacology Department, Associate Director for Translational Research, and Co-Director of the Developmental Cancer Therapeutics Program at the City of Hope NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte California. He has published more than 300 peer-reviewed articles, holds over 60 patents, and has commercialized multiple methodologies involving nanoparticles, small and large molecule drugs, biomarkers, stem cells, and medical devices. Dr. Yen also founded philanthropic organizations aimed at serving the global cancer community and holds membership in numerous professional societies. He serves on the boards of Fulgent Genetics and Tanvex BioPharma Inc.

Gil N Schwartzberg, JD, ScD (hon) has been a consultant to Lixte since its founding. Previously, Mr. Schwartzberg was Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of the City of Hope National Medical Center, one of the nation’s leading biomedical research and treatment facilities and a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Comprehensive Cancer Center. Mr. Schwartzberg is the only person in the hundred-plus-year history of City of Hope to have served as both Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Schwartzberg is now City of Hope Chairman Emeritus for life.

Prior to his joining the City of Hope, Mr. Schwartzberg was Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sterling Bank of Los Angeles, of which he was a founder, and where he served for many years as the Chairman of the Loan Committee until the bank’s sale. Additionally, Mr. Schwartzberg was a founding shareholder of Skechers USA, Inc. Mr. Schwartzberg is currently a consultant to Skechers and both trustee and co-trustee of trusts that hold the controlling interest in Skechers USA, Inc.

Mr. Schwartzberg earned a Juris Doctorate awarded magna cum laude. Mr. Schwartzberg practiced law, specializing in business structure and transactions and remains a member in good standing of the California Bar. Mr. Schwartzberg is the author of two books: Warning! Toxic Business Mistakes and How to Avoid Making Them and Jane Austen’s Persuasion Annotated, a Royal Navy Reading Companion.