Board of Directors

Jack Bailey

Chief Executive Officer, G1 Therapeutics

As Chief Executive Officer, Jack Bailey leads G1 in its mission to fundamentally change the chemotherapy patient experience. Mr. Bailey has nearly thirty years of commercial pharmaceutical experience and has an in-depth understanding of healthcare market dynamics and the evolution of value-based healthcare systems in the U.S. He has extensive experience in commercial, government and hospital account management, government affairs and marketing.

Previously, Mr. Bailey led the GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceuticals and vaccines business in the U.S., with responsibility for commercialization efforts across the company—oncology, immunology/rare disease, respiratory and vaccines portfolios. Earlier in his career, he held various leadership positions at Eli Lilly and Company, including Senior Vice President of the Account-Based Markets Division.

Mr. Bailey was appointed to the G1 Therapeutics Board of Directors in March 2020 and in September 2020, he was named CEO and officially assumed his duties on January 1, 2021. He serves on the board of the UNC Health System, Emergo Therapeutics and is a past member of the board of directors of PhRMA, the pharmaceutical industry trade association, and the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. He holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina and a B.S. in biology from Hobart College.

Willie Deese

Audit Committee

Mr. Deese has extensive experience in pharmaceutical manufacturing, technical operations and supply chain management. He retired from Merck & Co. in 2018, where as Executive Vice President and President, Merck Manufacturing Division, he was responsible for Merck’s worldwide manufacturing and logistics operation. He was also a member of Merk’s Executive Committee. During his tenure, Mr. Deese led the company’s strategic initiative to sharpen its commercial and research and development focus, redesigning its operational model and reducing its cost base.

Prior to joining Merck, Mr. Deese was Senior Vice President of Global Procurement and Logistics at GlaxoSmithKline, where he guided the integration of the Glaxo and SmithKline procurement organizations through the companies’ merger.

Mr. Deese currently serves on the boards of directors of CDK Global Inc., a publicly traded automotive dealership information technology and digital marketing company; Public Service Enterprise Group, Inc., a publicly traded diversified energy company; and Dentsply Sirona Inc., a publicly traded dental equipment maker and dental consumables producer. He has served on the G1 Therapeutics Board of Directors since June 2018. He previously served as a member of the North Carolina A&T State University Board of Trustees from 2007 to 2015 and was named one of the “100 Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America”, in Black Enterprise Magazine.

Mr. Deese holds an MBA from Western New England University and a B.A. in business administration from North Carolina A&T State University.

Glenn P. Muir

Audit & Compensation Committees

Mr. Muir served as Chief Financial Officer for Hologic Inc., a publicly traded manufacturer and supplier of medical products, from 1992 until his retirement in 2014. He helped guide Hologic from its early days to its current position as one of the largest life science companies.

Mr. Muir currently serves on the boards of directors at Repligen Corporation, a publicly held life science company and Neuronetics, Inc., a publicly held medical technology company. Previously, he served on several other boards including, ReWalk Robotics Ltd. and RainDance Technologies, Inc. He has served on the G1 Therapeutics Board of Directors since September 2015.

Mr. Muir is a certified public accountant and holds a B.B.A. with a major in accounting from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, and an M.Sc. in taxation from Bentley College Graduate School of Business.

Garry Nicholson, Chair

Board Chair, Audit Committee & Nominating and Governance Committee

Mr. Nicholson has more than 30 years of pharmaceutical and biotech oncology experience. He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of XTuit Pharmaceuticals from 2015 to 2018, where he was also a member of the board of directors. Previously, he was President of Pfizer Oncology from 2008 to 2015 where his responsibilities included global commercialization and sales, clinical development and regulatory strategy, and business development. Under his leadership, the company developed and launched Ibrance® (palbociclib), the first cyclin-dependent kinase (“CDK”) 4/6 inhibitor approved in the U.S. and Europe. While at Pfizer, Mr. Nicholson also served on the board of directors of the Pfizer Foundation and was a member of the company’s Portfolio, Strategy and Investment Committee.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Nicholson held various leadership positions in the oncology division of Eli Lilly and Company. In addition, he served as an advisor to AMPATH, a consortium of North American universities and health centers, Moi University, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and the Government of Kenya, which helps build sustainable healthcare systems in developing nations. He began his career as a staff pharmacist at Emory University.

Mr. Nicholson currently serves on several boards of directors including Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc., a publicly traded clinical stage pharmaceutical company; Turning Point Therapeutics, Inc., a publicly traded clinical stage precision oncology company; NextCure, Inc., a publicly traded clinical stage biopharmaceutical company; Personal Genome Diagnostics Inc., a privately held cancer genomics company; SQZ Biotechnologies, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company; and Tmunity Therapeutics Inc., a privately held biotechnology company. He has been a member of the G1 Therapeutics Board of Directors since September 2018.

Mr. Nicholson holds an MBA from the University of South Carolina and earned his B.S. in pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Seth Rudnick, M.D.

Nominating and Governance & Compensation Committees

Dr. Rudnick has extensive expertise in oncology, drug discovery and development, and healthcare investments. From 1999 until his retirement in 2013, Dr. Rudnick was a general partner at Canaan Partners, where he built the global venture capital firm’s capability in biopharmaceutical investing. Prior to joining Canaan, he was the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of CytoTherapeutics, a developer of cell therapies to combat chronic diseases. From 1986 to 1991, he was head of research and development at Johnson & Johnson’s biotechnology company, Ortho Biotech, and from 1982 to 1986, he was head of pharmaceutical development at Biogen N.V.

Dr. Rudnick serves on the boards of directors of several life sciences companies, including Liquidia Technologies, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company. Previously he served on the boards at Aralez Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (formerly Pozen Inc.), a publicly traded pharmaceutical company; Square 1 Financial Inc., a financial services company; as well as more than a dozen other privately held biotechnology companies. He has been a member of the G1 Therapeutics Board of Directors since May 2014.

Dr. Rudnick received a B.A. in history from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.D. from the University of Virginia.

Cynthia Schwalm

Nominating and Governance & Compensation Committees

Ms. Schwalm is the owner of EIR Advisory LLC, a life science strategic advisory and investment firm. Previously, Ms. Schwalm was President and Chief Executive Officer for Ipsen North America, where she led its transformation into the company’s highest-growth subsidiary worldwide. Prior to Ipsen, she served in senior positions with various biotech and specialty pharmaceutical companies, including as President of Eisai, where she oversaw commercial operations, medical affairs and services, alliance management and other functions. She has also held leadership roles at Amgen Oncology and Johnson & Johnson. Ms. Schwalm began her healthcare career as an oncology/critical care nurse.

Ms. Schwalm also serves as a director of Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC, a multinational pharmaceutical company publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange (and Nasdaq Dubai); the Kadmon Group, a publicly traded biopharmaceutical development company; and Caladrius Biosciences, a publicly traded cell therapy development company.

Ms. Schwalm has held positions on numerous corporate and non-profit boards, including the Women’s Leadership Advisory Board for the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the board of directors for the Sarah Cannon Oncology Research Institute. She currently serves as a Wharton Business School Leadership Advisor. Ms Schwalm has served as a member of the G1 Therapeutics Board of Directors since June 2018.

Ms. Schwalm holds an Executive MBA from Wharton School of Business and a B.S. in nursing from the University of Delaware.

Alicia Secor

Ms. Alicia Secor has more than thirty years of experience in the life sciences industry. She has experience in leading businesses and advancing products from clinical development through regulatory approval, commercialization, and global expansion across several therapeutic areas. Ms. Secor currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Atalanta Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company pioneering new treatment options for neurodegenerative diseases and is a member of its Board of Directors.

Prior to her role at Atalanta Therapeutics, Ms. Secor served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Juniper Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly traded pharmaceutical company, from August 2016 until August 2018, when the company was acquired by Catalent, Inc. Prior to that role, Ms. Secor held various leadership positions in the life sciences industry. From 1998 to 2013, Ms. Secor held various roles of increasing responsibility at Genzyme (now a part of Sanofi), culminating in her tenure as Vice President and General Manager of Metabolic Diseases. 

Ms. Secor is a member of the board of directors of Orchard Therapeutics plc, an English global gene therapy company that is publicly traded in the United States on the Nasdaq market, and is a board member of the Foundation for Prader-Willi Research, a non-profit organization. Ms. Secor also served on the board of GW Pharmaceuticals plc, a public company, prior to its acquisition by Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc. 

Ms. Secor holds an MBA from Northeastern University and earned her B.S. in Health Administration at the University of New Hampshire.

Mark Velleca, M.D., Ph.D.

Senior Advisor

Dr. Mark Velleca was the Chief Executive Officer of G1 from 2014 to 2020 and remains a board member and Senior Advisor to the company. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Prior to LLS, Mark was a co-founder and Senior Vice President of CGI Pharmaceuticals, where he managed the company from its inception through clinical trials of multiple drug candidates. After Gilead Sciences acquired CGI, he served as a Senior Advisor to Gilead in R&D Strategy and Corporate Development.

Earlier in his career, Mark was an attending physician at Yale New Haven Hospital and on the faculty of the Yale University School of Medicine.

Mark is currently a Venture Partner at Hatteras Venture Partners, board chair at Turbine AI, and a board member at IMMvention Therapeutix.

Mark earned an M.D. and Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis, and a B.S. from Yale University.