Christopher Kirk
PRESIDENT & CSO, CO-FOUNDER
pharmaceutical sciences
Kezar Life Sciences
Netherlands
Biography
Chris Kirk is Co-Founder, President, and Chief Scientific Officer of Kezar Life Sciences. Since completing a postdoctoral fellowship in tumor immunology in 2001, Dr. Kirk has worked in the biotechnology industry and has held numerous positions in drug discovery and development. Prior to forming Kezar, Dr. Kirk was the Vice President of Research at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, where he played a key role in the discovery and development of two proteasome inhibitors, carfilzomib (KYPROLIS™), currently approved for the treatment of multiple myeloma, and oprozomib, currently in Phase II clinical trials. Dr. Kirk joined Onyx via the acquisition of Proteolix in 2009, where he was the one of the first scientific hires after their Series A funding. Dr. Kirk is listed as a co-inventor on over 30 patents and has authored more than 45 publications in leading journals including Cell, Nature Medicine, and Nature Reviews. Dr. Kirk received his B.S. from U.C. Davis and his Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Michigan in 1999.
Research Interest
