Leadership Team

Curran M. Simpson is the President and Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors at REGENXBIO. Mr. Simpson previously served as the Company’s Chief Operating Officer. In that role, he led key business functions including Research & Clinical Development, Corporate Strategy, Manufacturing & Quality, Regulatory, and Commercial Operations. Mr. Simpson joined REGENXBIO in 2015 with extensive leadership experience across biopharmaceutical operations and served as the Company’s Chief Technology and Operations Officer before becoming COO. Prior to joining REGENXBIO, he was the Regional Supply Chain Head for North America and Interim Chief Operating Officer at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Mr. Simpson earlier served as interim CEO of Human Genome Sciences (HGS), where he led the integration of HGS into GSK, and as Senior Vice President of Operations and Vice President of Manufacturing Operations at HGS. Prior to HGS, Mr. Simpson was Director of Manufacturing Sciences at Biogen. Earlier in his career, Mr. Simpson served in an overseas assignment at Novo-Nordisk Biochem in Denmark and in various senior development and engineer roles at Genentech, working on Herceptin and Avastin, among other roles. Mr. Simpson has an M.S. in surface and colloid science from Clarkson University and a B.S. in chemistry from the Clarkson College of Technology.

Steve Pakola, M.D. is the Chief Medical Officer for REGENXBIO.  Prior to joining REGENXBIO, Dr. Pakola was Chief Medical Officer at Aerpio Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Pakola brings more than 20 years of biopharmaceutical experience, including holding key leadership roles in preclinical and clinical development, regulatory affairs and medical affairs. Dr. Pakola's therapeutic area experience encompasses retinal disorders, including diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema and age-related macular degeneration, as well as other non-ophthalmic disease areas. He was the lead inventor and program lead for the Jetrea® (ocriplasmin) program, from inception in 2002 through the therapy’s United States and European regulatory submissions in 2012. Prior to Aerpio, Dr. Pakola served as Chief Medical Officer at Amakem NV and ThromboGenics Inc. Earlier in his career, Dr. Pakola served as Associate Director of Cardiovascular Clinical Research at Boehringer Ingelheim, where he was Global Medical Lead on the Lipid-Lowering Development Program and the USA Medical Lead for the Direct Thrombin Inhibitor Dabigatran Program. Prior to that, Dr. Pakola served in senior-level clinical development positions at Quintiles Cardiovascular Therapeutics and at Organon. Dr. Pakola earned a B.A., summa cum laude, and an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.

Dr. Olivier Danos is the Chief Scientific Officer for REGENXBIO. Prior to joining REGENXBIO, Dr. Danos was Senior Vice President, Cell and Gene Therapy at Biogen Inc. At Biogen, Dr. Danos led company efforts dedicated to identifying and developing new technologies for gene transfer and genome engineering. Dr. Danos also co-founded Lysogene, a NAV Technology Licensee focused on the development of gene therapy product candidates for the treatment of Mucopolysaccharidosis Type IIIA. Prior to Biogen, Dr. Danos served as Senior Vice President, Molecular Medicine, Synthetic Biology and Gene Regulation at Kadmon Pharmaceuticals. Earlier in his career, Dr. Danos was Director of the Gene Therapy Consortium of the University College of London, Scientific Director at Genethon and Senior Director of Research at Somatix Therapy Corporation. Dr. Danos has directed research focused on gene therapy at the Necker - Enfants Malades Hospital in Paris, the French National Centre for Scientific Research and the Pasteur Institute in Paris.

Vit Vasista is the Chief Financial Officer at REGENXBIO. Prior to joining REGENXBIO, Mr. Vasista served as Principal at PRTM Management Consultants, where he developed operational strategies for both private and public organizations, including the development of market entry strategies, innovative business models and operational improvements. Earlier in his career, Mr. Vasista served as Director, Business Development at Meso Scale Diagnostics, a privately held life sciences company. Mr. Vasista received an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, an M.S. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and an S.B. in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Shiva G. Fritsch is the Chief Communications and People Officer at REGENXBIO. Ms. Fritsch brings over two decades of experience in research, development and human resources in the biopharmaceutical industry to REGENXBIO. For the past decade, Ms. Fritsch has been a leader in different organizations where she focused on Leadership and Organization Development. Prior to joining REGENXBIO, Ms. Fritsch was the Senior Director of Talent Management with Novavax, Inc. Before Novavax, Ms. Fritsch held senior human resources roles with Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Human Genome Sciences, Inc. In her prior roles, Ms. Fritsch served as a member of HR Leadership teams, where she directed activities related to Talent Acquisition, Organization and Leadership Development, and implemented HR Business Partner models. Ms. Fritsch holds an MBA from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park, as well as a BA in Biology and Neurobiology from Bryn Mawr College.

Patrick J. Christmas II is the Chief Legal Officer at REGENXBIO. He has over 15 years of life sciences leadership and public market experience. Mr. Christmas has managed the legal, compliance, government affairs and business development functions at several biotech and pharmaceutical companies during times of significant growth and business success. Before joining REGENXBIO, he was Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary at Lumara Health (formerly KV Pharmaceutical Company - NYSE: KV.A) through its acquisition by AMAG Pharmaceuticals and Perrigo. Prior to Lumara Health, he was General Counsel and Secretary at the Wellstat Group of Companies and General Counsel at BioVeris Corporation (formerly NASDAQ: BIOV) until its acquisition by Roche. Prior to his extensive life sciences experience, Mr. Christmas was an Associate at Akin, Gump, a leading international law firm. Mr. Christmas received his J.D. degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame and a B.A. in Economics from Boston College.

Ram Palanki, Pharm.D., joined REGENXBIO Management Team in August of 2018 as the Senior Vice President of Commercial Strategy and Operations. Dr. Palanki brings more than 15 years of experience in ophthalmology across pharmaceutical strategy and development, marketing, market access, sales, pricing, reimbursement, supply chain, distribution, business development, medical affairs and portfolio planning leadership. Prior to joining REGENXBIO, he was Senior Vice President of Commercial for all of Americas at Santen Inc.  Preceding Santen, he was Global Head of Marketing and Sales at Thrombogenics, Inc. where he led the commercial launch for Jetrea, a novel proteolytic enzyme therapy for symptomatic vitreomacular adhesion. Previously, Dr. Palanki served as Director of Global Marketing and Sales at NeoVista, Inc. and earlier in his career, held several positions at Genentech as part of the team that developed and launched Lucentis. Prior to Genentech, he worked at Eyetech Pharmaceuticals as part of the initial team submitting the New Drug Application for Macugen and at Novartis Pharmaceuticals in the New Product Commercialization group. Dr. Palanki earned his Pharm.D. at Albany College of Pharmacy in New York and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at Rutgers University in New Jersey.