Scott Weir, Pharm.D., Ph.D.

 Director | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation
 Professor | Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics
 Associate Director | Translational Research
 Kelly Family Foundation IAMI Professor in Cancer Drug Discovery and Development

Scott J. Weir, Pharm.D., Ph.D., is co-director of the Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation, which conducts product development-focused translational research, transforming laboratory and bedside discoveries into therapeutic, diagnostic and medical device products with clear paths to market. Weir has over 39 years of professional experience in the field of drug discovery and development, 20 of which were spent in the pharmaceutical industry prior to joining KU Medical Center in 2006.

During his tenure in the pharmaceutical industry, Weir contributed to the development and registration of over 26 drug products. His specific areas of expertise are in clinical pharmacology and developing innovative approaches to drug discovery and development. He has built a reputation of being innovative in bridging the “Valley of Death” through high-performance public-private partnerships as well as repurposing FDA-approved drugs and rescuing abandoned drugs.  Such partnerships have resulted in the creation of a robust cancer drug discovery portfolio of approximately 30 projects as well as advancement of six KU-invented anticancer agents to clinical trials over the past six years.

In 2015, IAMI established a preferred partnership with BioNovus Innovations LLC, providing a clear path to commercialization of medical innovations created within the University of Kansas and its regional partners, including Children’s Mercy Kansas City.  This public-private partnership has advanced to a unique product development-focused translational research model CureBridgeCollaborative with ten Kansas City area biotechnology companies formed to date.

From 2012-2017, Weir served on the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Advisory Council as well as the Cures Acceleration Network (CAN) Board. He co-chaired the NCATS Working Group that developed goals and objectives for the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award program. Weir also participated on the Institute of Medicine Mapping the Drug Discovery and Development initiative and served on the NCI STTR/SBIR Working Group, advising this small business granting program on initiatives designed to strengthen collaborations with NCI-designated cancer centers. Weir serves on several scientific and external advisory boards including Family Health International 360, the Myeloproliferative Neoplasm Research Foundation, Center for Clinical and Translational Science at the University of Kentucky, and KU Medical Center Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Leo and Anne Albert Institute for Bladder Cancer Care and Research as well as in an advisory capacity to several biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.

---

Thais Sielecki, Ph.D.

Co-Director | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation
Chief Science Officer | Curebridge Collaborative

Dr. Sielecki serves as the co-director of IAMI and CSO for the Curebridge Collaborative, a public-private partnership focused on advancing novel therapies, diagnostics and devices from the lab to the clinic. Dr. Sielecki has worked at several start-ups, leading drug discovery and development efforts through both non-dilutive and dilutive funding rounds. Prior to this, she worked as vice president of preclinical development for Cytokine PharmaSciences, Inc., a company focused on inflammatory disease and women's health through small molecule development and controlled release. In that role at CPSI, Dr. Sielecki ran programs in oncology, inflammation and women’s health from early lead discovery through to Phase I and assisted in Phase II and III study design as her primary focus. As part of the management team, she also assisted with a product management portfolio, in-licensing, intellectual property management and company strategy. CPSI was successfully sold to Ferring in 2012.

Prior to CPSI, Dr. Sielecki worked at DuPont-Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb as a Principal Research Scientist and continues to consult for pharmaceutical and biotech companies in the management and evaluation of early research, preclinical and early clinical studies. During over 30 years of research and development experience, Dr. Sielecki has been involved in over 40 preclinical and clinical research programs with multiple programs reaching marketing approval. Programs she has been closely involved in include CPSI-2364, CPSI-1306, Misopessc, PilobucTM, DMP754, DMP802 among others. Her experience spans oncology, inflammation, women’s health, CNS diseases and anti-bacterials with a strong background in drug delivery and controlled release delivery systems.

Dr. Sielecki holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Colorado State University and completed a Post Doctoral research position at Stanford University. She has over 60 publications and patents over her career.

---

Stefan H. Bossmann, Ph.D.

Deputy Director | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation
University Distinguished Professor and Chair | Department of Cancer Biology
Co-Leader | Drug Discovery, Development, Delivery and Experimental Therapeutics Program

Stefan H. Bossmann, Ph.D. serves as Deputy Director of the Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation (IAMI) at the University of Kansas Medical Center, where he helps guide the institute's strategic efforts to accelerate the translation of biomedical discoveries into clinical solutions that improve patient care. Working closely with investigators, clinicians, industry partners, and entrepreneurs, he fosters multidisciplinary collaborations that bridge fundamental science, engineering, drug discovery, advanced imaging, and commercialization.

Dr. Bossmann is also Chair of the Department of Cancer Biology, University Distinguished Professor, Director of the Preclinical Imaging Shared Resource, and Co-Leader of the Drug Discovery, Delivery and Experimental Therapeutics (D3ET) Research Program at The University of Kansas Cancer Center. His research integrates nanotechnology, molecular imaging, biomaterials, and cancer biology to develop innovative diagnostics, targeted drug delivery systems, cancer immunotherapies, and image-guided therapeutic strategies.

An internationally recognized inventor and translational scientist, Dr. Bossmann holds more than 35 patents and has authored over 250 peer-reviewed publications. His work has led to multiple licensed technologies, startup collaborations, and sustained funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, and industry partners. He was recognized as a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors in recognition of his contributions to biomedical innovation.

As Deputy Director of IAMI, Dr. Bossmann is committed to building an innovation ecosystem that integrates engineering, medicine, imaging, artificial intelligence, and entrepreneurship to accelerate the development of transformative medical technologies from the laboratory to the bedside.

---

Kent L Amsberry, Ph.D.

Assistant Director | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation
Associate Director | Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center (MSCTC)

Kent L Amsberry, Ph.D., RAC serves as Assistant Director at IAMI and Associate Director of MSCTC at the University of Kansas, a GMP manufacturer of cell and gene therapy products for use as investigational agents in human clinical trials. He has over 36 years of pharmaceutical industry experience including 26 years in sterile drug product formulation development and manufacture of a wide range of products including biologicals (cell and gene therapies, antibody drug conjugates, monoclonal antibodies, proteins, peptides and oligonucleotides) and small molecules. He has worked in start-ups, mid-sized companies and large pharma companies including Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and Pfizer-Seagen. During this time, he contributed to the development of 3 approved products and approximately 20 “first-in-man” clinical formulations.

For the last 10 years of his career, Amsberry worked as a pharmaceutical and regulatory consultant at Cardinal Health Regulatory Sciences in the position of Director of Advanced Therapy Product Development. In this role, he provided regulatory strategy to clients with a wide range of product types, routes of administration, therapeutic areas at all stages of clinical development. Recently, he founded his own pharmaceutical and regulatory consulting company serving as Principal Consultant. He has been active in committees, task forces, and conference planning for the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists and The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine and has over 40 publications, invited presentations, and oral and poster presentations.

---

Kelly Beck

Associate Director | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation

Kelly Beck is a biotech CEO and board director with experience spanning scientific development, capital formation, operations, and human capital strategy. 

Previously, Kelly served as CEO of Trench Therapeutics, a preclinical-stage biotech, where she defined corporate strategy and built the company’s integrated preclinical and Phase 1b development and financing roadmap. Earlier, as CEO of PolyCore Therapeutics, sheled company formation and strategy, advanced a novel Parkinson’s disease therapy and secured institution seed financing. As Vice President of Investor Relations & Operations at Ocugen (NASDAQ: OCGN), she led a successful reverse merger and PIPE financing. Earlier in her career, Kelly led the Human Resources function, driving talent strategy and organizational development through periods of growth and change.

Kelly serves on corporate and non-profit boards, including Orphagen Pharmaceuticals and the National Panhellenic Conference. She is CEO and co-founder of a stealth biotech company.

She holds an MBA from Penn State University, a MS in Human Resource Development from Villanova University, and a BS in Business Administration from Millersville University.

---

Melinda Broward, M.S.

Project Director | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation

Melinda Broward, M.S., is a project director for IAMI and supports the Lead Development and Optimization core center. Melinda organizes cross-functional teams to ensure researchers, cores, centers, industry partners, regulatory and technology transfer resources collaborate in an integrated and organized fashion to support the creation and advancement of drug projects.

Melinda has more than 30 years of experience in early drug discovery and development. This includes 20 years of large pharmaceutical drug development experience at the former Marion Laboratories, Inc., Marion Merrell Dow, Inc. Hoechst Marion Roussel, Inc., Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Quintiles, Inc. and Aptuit, Inc. Her areas of focus have been early drug development screening models of absorption, metabolic stability and blood brain barrier. She also spent three years in poultry pharmaceutical quality control testing (raw and finished products) at I.D. Russell Inc., two years in basic research at the Kansas City VA Medical Center and three years in toxicology testing at Midwest Research Institute. Her expertise includes preclinical drug safety (toxicology and safety pharmacology), early absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME), high throughput screening and lead optimization. Melinda joined the University of Kansas in 2007 as a project director and assists the High Throughput Screening Laboratory at KU and IAMI in early drug discovery and development. 

---

Tyce Bruns, B.S., M.S.

Director | Investigator-Initiated Trial Development, Clinical Trials Office
Project Director | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation

Tyce Bruns, M.S., has served as the director of investigator-initiated trial development for the Clinical Trials Office at KU Medical Center since 2022. Tyce also has a role within IAMI as a project director in the Office of Project and Portfolio Management, a position he has held since 2009. Tyce has more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, working for several companies before joining the university, including Kansas City Analytical Service, AAI Pharma, Quintiles, Aptuit. His experience includes a project management focus in a wide variety of projects from virtual start-ups to large, global organizations. Tyce earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Kansas State University, a master's degree in business management from Baker University and a Project Management Professional certification from the Project Management Institute.

---

Kerri Dean

Business Operations Manager | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation

As the Business Operations Manager for IAMI, Kerri Dean oversees daily business operations, ensuring processes run efficiently and effectively. She manages administrative systems, coordinates projects, and serves as a key liaison between IAMI, other KUMC departments, and external partners. Kerri brings valuable institutional knowledge, having been part of the Cancer Biology Department at KUMC since 2018.

Outside of work, Kerri enjoys reading, golfing, staying active through fitness activities, and spending quality time with her family.

---

Eliza Hodes, B.S., PMP

Project Director | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation

Eliza Hodes, B.S., PMP, supports small molecule drug development. Eliza organizes cross-functional teams to ensure researchers, cores, centers, industry partners, regulatory and technology transfer resources collaborate in an integrated and organized fashion to support the creation and advancement of drug projects. Eliza has more than 15 years of experience in early drug discovery and development. This includes 8 years of large pharmaceutical drug development experience at Catalent Pharma Solutions, cancer research at the Stowers Institute, clinical trial lab management and ADME/DMPK pre-clinical bench work. Her areas of focus have been oral dose formulation development and global patient delivery. Eliza joined the University of Kansas in 2025 as a project director and assists the High Throughput Screening Laboratory at KU, MedChem, Cancer Biology and IAMI in early drug discovery and development.

---

Raul Neri-Sierra, Ph.D

Assistant Director | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation (IAMI)

Dr. Raul Neri-Sierra serves as Assistant Director of Medicinal Chemistry at the Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation (IAMI) and Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Cancer Biology at the University of Kansas Medical Center. His expertise spans medicinal chemistry, synthetic organic chemistry, small-molecule drug discovery, and lead optimization. Dr. Neri-Sierra earned his B.S. in Biomedical Chemistry/Chemistry from Kansas Wesleyan University and his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Kansas State University before completing postdoctoral training in medicinal chemistry at the University of Kansas Medical Center. His research focuses on the design, synthesis, and optimization of novel therapeutic agents, with an emphasis on translating early-stage discoveries into drug candidates for cancer and other diseases. Working closely with academic investigators, clinicians, and industry partners, Dr. Neri-Sierra supports multidisciplinary drug discovery programs that advance promising innovations from initial concept through preclinical development.

---

Matthew Russolillo, Ph.D., IAMI Postdoc

Postdoctoral Fellow | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation (IAMI)

Dr. Russolillo earned his Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Connecticut in 2021. He then completed his Ph.D. at the University of Kansas under the guidance Dr. Mark Farrell, where he developed novel small molecule probes to investigate the roles of glycosylation and glycan-protein interactions in human health and disease.

He joined IAMI in 2026 as a Postdoctoral Researcher and helps to drive drug discovery efforts within the Medicinal Chemistry group.

---

Divya Kamath, Ph.D.,

Research Assistant Professor, Cancer Biology | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation (IAMI)

Dr. Divya Kamath is an Assistant Director of the IAMI where she supports new target research, assay development, grant writing and other strategic initiatives. Her research portfolio spans across multiple specialties including My research experience spans multiple specialties, including microbiology, molecular biology, cancer biology, inflammation, lung physiology, and the drug discovery and Development process. She has prior work experience in the pharmaceutical industry working on initial stages of drug discovery and development. As a Director of the Lead Development and Optimization Shared Resource she focuses on streamlining initial phases of drug discovery research and enhancing collaborations across the LDOSR and the four research programs at KUCC. Dr. Kamath has a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and is also a Research Assistant Professor in Cancer Biology, where she focuses on developing a molecular biology toolkit that could be used for identifying new diagnostics and technologies.

---

Bipin Khanal, Ph.D., IAMI Postdoc

Postdoctoral Fellow | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation (IAMI) 

His work lies at the intersection of synthetic organic chemistry and medicinal chemistry, with a focus on the design, synthesis, and structural diversification of complex molecular scaffolds for small-molecule drug discovery. At IAMI, Dr. Khanal applies his expertise in synthetic chemistry to support therapeutic discovery programs in oncology and infectious disease, including the development and optimization of small-molecule candidates and chemical libraries.

Prior to joining KUMC, Dr. Khanal earned his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from New Mexico State University, where he developed new synthetic approaches for the construction and diversification of drug-like heterocyclic molecules. His doctoral research resulted in multiple peer-reviewed publications and presentations. During his graduate studies, he received several honors for his research and academic achievements, including the New Mexico State University Alumni Association Outstanding Graduate Award and competitive research and travel awards.

Originally from Nepal, Dr. Khanal earned his B.Sc. in Chemistry from Tribhuvan University before pursuing graduate studies in the United States.

---

Angela Quick

Drug Development Project Director

Angela Quick joined IAMI in 2026, coordinating cross-functional teams and fostering collaboration among researchers, core facilities, research centers, industry partners, regulatory experts, and technology transfer offices. Through strategic project leadership, she helps align resources and expertise to advance drug discovery and development programs.  A microbiologist by training, Angela brings nearly 20 years of pharmaceutical industry experience, including 15 years in drug development roles with Catalent Pharma Solutions. Her expertise spans late-stage development and commercialization, with a focus on oral solid dosage forms.  Angela supports the High Throughput Screening Laboratory, MedChem, Cancer Biology and IAMI in early drug discovery and development. She leverages her extensive industry background to facilitate the translation of early-stage discoveries into development-ready therapeutic opportunities, helping bridge the gap between academic research and successful drug development.

---

Carolyn Vivian, M.S.

IAMI Drug Development Research Project Director | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation

Carolyn Vivian, M.S., joined IAMI in 2019.  Carolyn is a molecular biologist by training with over 25 years of basic science research in academia. Previously she has worked at University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Stowers Institute for Medical Research and the University of Kansas Medical Center with research focusing on tumor suppressors, cystic fibrosis, polycystic kidney disease, cancer metastasis and mitochondrial DNA.  Carolyn earned a bachelor’s degree from Siena College and a master’s degree from The University of Texas, Houston Graduate School for Biomedical Science. Carolyn assists IAMI in early drug discovery and development as well as supports the Lead Development and Optimization Shared Resource of the University of Kansas Cancer Center.  Carolyn also serves as the IAMI Navigator within Frontiers Clinical and Translational Science Institute.

---

Robyn Wood, B.G.S.

Project Director | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation

Since 2009, Robyn Wood has been a project director supporting late-stage drug, device and diagnostic projects, as well as the CureBridge Collaborative public-private partnership. A Kansas native and KU alum with a bachelor’s degree in biology, she has over 40 years of drug development experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to her work with IAMI, Robyn spent 17 years with Interx Research/Merck labs as a research biologist, later moving to Oread Pharmaceuticals, Quintiles and Aptuit. At Quintiles, Robyn was hired as the first project manager to support drug development projects, and while there she moved into a senior director position. When Aptuit acquired the early drug development business at Quintiles, Robyn moved from director of pharmaceutical services project management to global director of client services and led project management, proposal development and project financial tracking groups in Kansas City, Rahway and Edinburgh, Scotland.

---

Yixiong Lin, Ph.D., IAMI Postdoc

Postdoctoral Fellow | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation (IAMI)

Yixiong was born in Yangchun, China, and moved to the United States in 2017 for his graduate studies. He earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from the joint doctoral program at the University of California, San Diego, and San Diego State University in 2023. His doctoral work focused on developing novel heterogeneous photocatalytic cyclization reactions and understanding heterogeneous photocatalysis mechanisms. After that, he spent 1.5 years in Salt Lake City at the University of Utah as a postdoctoral scientist, exploring asymmetric photocatalysis for N-heterocycle functionalization.