Management Team
Frank L. Sorgi, Ph.D., MBA
President and Chief Executive Officer
Frank L. Sorgi, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer, founded FLAG Therapeutics, Inc., in June 2013. He brings with him over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneurial scientist in the field of drug delivery and dosage form design and 15 years as a business executive in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Prior to founding FLAG, Dr. Sorgi served as vice president of global science and technology at Patheon Pharmaceuticals, a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO). While at Patheon, Dr. Sorgi was responsible for all early development activities from inception through Phase 2 product development. From 2006 to 2011, he served as vice president of research and development at DPT Laboratories, Ltd., a company he helped grow into the leading CDMO for liquids and semi-solids. At DPT, Dr. Sorgi managed all pre-commercial research and development activities. From 2004 to 2006, Dr. Sorgi worked at BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. as program director of the Orapred franchise and the Aldurazyme joint venture, overseeing all commercial product-related activities. From 1999 to 2004, Dr. Sorgi served in a number of increasingly responsible positions at OPTIME Therapeutics, acting ultimately as president, chief executive officer and board member. Dr. Sorgi received a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Pittsburgh and degrees from Duquesne University, including an M.S. in pharmaceutics, an MBA in management and a B.S. in pharmacy.
Dr. Sorgi has authored over 40 patents, book chapters and journal publications in the fields of formulation/development and drug gene delivery. He has served on several corporate boards of directors, was on the scientific advisory board to the University of Texas at San Antonio and served as adjunct associate professor of pharmaceutics to the Feik School of Pharmacy at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. He was previously an adjunct professor in pharmaceutics at Roosevelt University and a member of the Alumni Board of Governors and the Dean’s Advisory Council to Duquesne University School of Pharmacy.
Jackie Walling, MBCHB, Ph.D.
Chief Medical Officer
Jackie Walling, MBChB, Ph.D., serves as the company’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO). With over 25 years of experience in oncology, she has a solid track record in global oncology drug development. Dr. Walling is experienced with both small molecules and biologic therapeutic modalities, and with developing new drugs for hematologic malignancies and solid tumors in phase I to phase IV stage of clinical development.
As a consultant for over 15 years, Dr. Walling has extensive experience as a CMO, in global regulatory interactions and in solving complex drug development problems. She has contributed to numerous approvals including those for gemcitabine, pemetrexed, elosulfase and talazoparib. Previously, Dr. Walling served as the Vice President of Clinical Development at BioMarin, where she led clinical development for an array of agents targeted against rare diseases as well as oncology. She served as Vice President, Clinical Research at Axys Pharmaceuticals, and worked at Tularik. Dr. Walling started her pharmaceutical career at Eli Lilly.
Dr Walling is a British trained physician and received her MBChB from the University of Bristol. She obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Southampton, UK working on the mechanism of action of two anticancer drugs. She also conducted postdoctoral research in oncology at the MRC Radiobiology Unit, and at the University of Aston, Birmingham, UK.
Ruhi Ahmed, Ph.D., RAC
Senior Vice President, Regulatory & Government Affairs
Ruhi Ahmed, Ph.D., serves as senior vice president of regulatory and government affairs. She has 15+ years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, in global regulatory drug development as well as program and portfolio management of assets from the preclinical to the commercial stage. Dr. Ahmed has a successful track record of Investigational New Drug Application, New Drug Application, Biologics License Application, Orphan Drug and Pediatric Rare Disease Designation filings with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the European Medicines Agency and other global registration agencies.
Prior to joining FLAG, Dr. Ahmed held positions at Inozyme Pharmaceutical Inc., UltraGenyx Pharmaceutical Inc., BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. and Actavis Inc. (formerly Watson Pharmaceutical Inc.), where she led the preclinical, clinical and manufacturing strategy and submissions for multiple INDs and marketing applications for a variety of neuromuscular, respiratory, oncology and metabolic rare diseases. She also led the alliance management and program strategy for several investigational prodrugs, biologics and small molecules.
Dr. Ahmed earned her B.S. in biology and M.A. in biochemistry from the University of Texas at Austin and her M.S. in regulatory sciences and Ph.D. in molecular pharmacology and toxicology from the University of Southern California.
Brian Polzak
Board Member
Brian Polzak, MBA, has been an entrepreneur, investment banker, and investor over the last 30 years. After nearly 10 years in health care investment banking at Credit Suisse, he co-founded the health care boutique investment bank, Aquilo Partners, and the health care hedge fund, Aquilo Capital. Since 2019, he has focused on helping to build and grow a very select group of companies dedicated to impacting human health. Throughout his career, Mr. Polzak has completed numerous strategic (mergers and acquisitions, licensing, joint ventures) and financial (private and public) transactions with a broad range of health care companies and investors in the pharmaceutical, biotech, diagnostics, and medtech sectors.
Scientific Advisory Board
Aleem Gangjee, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Medicinal Chemistry
Duquesne University School of Pharmacy
Steven Brem, MD
Co-director, Brain Tumor Center Director, Neurosurgery Oncology
University of Pennsylvania
Leonard Post, Ph.D.
Former Chief Scientific Officer of BioMarin Pharmaceutical , Onyx and ViVance; Advisor to Canaan Partners
Carey Anders, MD
Medical Director, Brain and Spinal Metastases Program
Duke Cancer Institute
Larry Matherly, Ph.D.
Division Chief for Basic Science Department of Oncology
Karmanos Cancer Institute
A LIFETIME OF CANCER RESEARCH
Learn more about Dr. Gangee’s commitment to cancer research and the work being done at FLAG.