Meet Our Experts

Dr. Rogers is an expert in preclinical drug development services. Her leadership positions include vice president of preclinical sciences at Altasciences (formerly SNBL USA), executive vice president and director of research at M.P.I. Research (now Charles River), and vice president of drug development at Southern Research Institute. She has served as an advisor and driven growth and profitability in all of her leadership roles.

Dr. Rogers holds a doctoral degree in molecular and cellular biology and pathobiology from the Medical University of South Carolina and an M.B.A. from Auburn University. She has a broad technical background, including cell biology, immunology, toxicology, cell and gene therapy, sepsis, inflammation, BL-3 and select agents, flow cytometry and predictive/in vitro toxicology. Dr. Rogers also serves as a board member for several biotech, academic and not-for-profit institutions and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (DABT).

Ms. Kelly is a highly experienced toxicologist with a strong scientific background in operational and business development. After a career as a bench scientist, Ms. Kelly spent more than 30 years in scientific and operational roles in toxicology at multinational CROs, including a year in China overseeing the construction, commissioning and opening of a new nonclinical facility. More recently, she is an independent toxicology consultant, providing input and oversight of various projects for clients in Europe, China, the U.S. and Japan. Her projects have included study placement and monitoring, design and implementation of packages to support IND filing, and data review and report writing.

Ms. Kelly’s active interest in animal welfare inspired previous membership in the ABPI Animal Welfare Expert Network, the BioSciences Federation Animal Sciences Group, LANTRA and the European Partnership on Animal Alternatives representing the Contract Research Industry.

Mr. Denny is a board-certified toxicologist with extensive regulatory and nonclinical toxicology experience managing multiple IND-enabling programs from clinical development to NDA submission. A talented Study Director and Nonclinical Project Team Lead, he has a successful track record of planning, designing, and implementing drug development strategies through all regulatory submissions including IND, CTA, NDA, MAA, BLA and responses to CRLs. Mr. Denny has managed and developed new GLP laboratories in the United States and France. With proven capabilities to collaborate and manage nonclinical development across departments, outside investigators CROs, he has moved projects into and through clinical development with successful approvals.

Mr. Denny holds master’s degrees in regulatory affairs, quality assurance and toxicology, and an MBA. He has authored or co-authored multiple approved NDAs, BLA approval, and IND submissions. Mr. Denny is currently focusing on CNS, neurodegenerative disease, stroke and traumatic brain injury.

Sue McPherson, MSc, ERT, CM , has more than 30 years of global toxicology experience. Before joining WuXi AppTec, she worked at Charles River Laboratories (Montreal), where she was a study director in general toxicology and reproductive toxicology and moved into program management. She later moved to the Shanghai facility, where she worked as the toxicology manager, overseeing and supporting the study director group and working with the business development (BD) group to promote the site. She earned a master’s degree in biochemical pharmacology from the University of Hertfordshire while working at Huntingdon Life Sciences as a study director. As WuXi AppTec’s current executive director of toxicology, Sue oversees the study directors who perform the in-life toxicology studies and provides clients and business development colleagues technical support for toxicology programs.

With a career spanning over two decades in the life science industry, including leadership roles at WuXi AppTec, Nuvisan, and Envigo, Dr. Gassen has made significant contributions to pharmacology, drug metabolism, and analytical chemistry. His work emphasizes innovative solutions in DMPK and pharmacology models, steering discovery, and preclinical development projects to Phase I submissions. His expertise extends across strategic R&D collaborations, business strategy execution, and scientific/regulatory consulting. Dr. Gassen earned a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Würzburg University, Germany, focusing on lipid peroxidation derived toxic aldehydes.

Leah Lake has more than 16 years of hands-on experience in preclinical drug development in the field of DMPK.  Ms. Lake began her career at a preclinical Contract Research Organization (CRO), legacy XenoBiotic Laboratories (XBL), as a bench scientist in the Biotransformation group before quickly transitioning into the start-up Autoradiography group as lead scientist and study director.  She has held both scientific and managerial roles, including overseeing the planning, design, construction, development, and opening of two Autoradiography laboratories.

Ms. Lake obtained her B.S. in Chemistry and subsequently her Master’s in biotechnology from Kean University.  Currently, she is pursuing her MBA.

Dr. Libo Xu is leading the Biotransformation and In Vitro ADME functions at WuXi AppTec’s US-New Jersey facility. Dr. Xu leads both functions to support and deliver high-quality results of IND-enabling Drug-Drug Interaction (DDI) and metabolite identification studies during the development stage. Dr. Xu has more than 20 years of extensive experience and knowledge in both DMPK and medicinal chemistry.  She had authored 20 publications and conference presentations, as well as 25 patents.  Before joining WuXi AppTec in 2017, she had 15+ years of drug discovery research experience at large pharma, collaborating closely with biology, DMPK and pharmacology to advance discovery projects to Pre-Clinical Candidate approval through lead optimization.

Dr. Amy Wu leads the BAS project management team at WuXi AppTec. She also provides technical support for clinical and nonclinical bioanalytical services and is a key contributor to many clinical study teams. Dr. Wu earned a bachelor’s degree from Beijing University, majoring in physical and colloid chemistry. Afterward, she earned a doctoral degree in physical organic chemistry from Rice University as a Harry B. Weiser Research Scholar. Dr. Wu has more than 20 years of experience in drug development, focusing on chemistry, manufacturing and controls (C.M.C.) and bioanalysis for big pharma and CROs. She also knows various agencies’ Good Practice (GxP) regulations and policies. Dr. Wu’s strong scientific and leadership skills have made her a recipient of many business awards. She has numerous publications in her field and is an invited speaker at international conferences.

Dr. Jinping Lai joined WuXi AppTec’s Laboratory Testing Division in 2022 as the technical director for global large molecule bioanalysis. Dr. Lai earned a doctoral degree in analytical chemistry from Xiamen University. His academic research was focused on nanomedicine and biomaterials and led to more than 30 peer-reviewed publications and two U.S. patents. Dr. Lai has also earned extensive experience in GLP/GCP/GCLP regulated preclinical/clinical bioanalysis of large molecule pharmacokinetics (P.K.), immunogenicity and P.D. biomarkers for various drug modalities, from method development and validation to study sample analysis.

Dr. Jianbo Diao is the director of the BAS immunochemistry team at WuXi AppTec. He is responsible for managing A.D.A., Nab, FACS, and qPCR groups and developing new technology and capacity to support comprehensive bioanalysis requests of customers’ clinical studies. Dr. Diao focuses on P.K., P.D., and immunogenicity analysis of biological therapeutic products such as antibodies, recombinant proteins, and other protein/peptide-based drugs. Beyond that, he also has extensive experience with gene and cell therapy bioanalysis. Dr. Diao also leads the team responsible for bioanalysis of new drug modalities, using immunochemistry, molecular biology and cell biology techniques. Dr. Diao earned a bachelor’s degree in the biotechnology department at Zhejiang University and a doctoral degree in life sciences at Peking University. In 2004, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the biology department at Purdue University. He then worked at Fudan University as an associate professor.

Dr. Jiangchao (JC) Chen re-joined WuXi AppTec’s Laboratory Testing Division as a director of small molecule bioanalytical services (BAS) in April 2023. He is the head of the bioanalysis group in support of regulated bioanalytical analysis using LC-MS/MS. He is also a visiting research scholar at Princeton University for consulting on physical chemistry research directions. Dr. Chen has many years of experience in regulated bioanalysis, primarily using LC-MS/MS to quantify various types of drugs (e.g., small molecule, oligonucleotide, peptide, antibody). He earned a doctoral degree in physical chemistry from University of South Dakota and published more than 15 peer-reviewed articles and 4 patents. He was also a winner of 2013 IBM-Löwdin Awards.

Dr. Jinpeng Li directs the Immunology Lab in the Bioanalysis Department at WuXi AppTec in Suzhou, China, focusing on the application of bioanalytical technologies in drug research and development. He earned a doctorate in genetics and environmental toxicology from Michigan State University. Before joining WuXi AppTec, Li worked at Dow Chemical and was an assistant professor at Michigan State University, specializing in immunotoxicology. He has authored 16 peer-reviewed publications and is a diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (DABT).

Yanjun Hu is the associate director of Bioanalytical Services and leads the method development team at WuXi AppTec in Shanghai, China. She manages method development, validation, and sample analysis assays, providing technical support for clinical projects. She brings more than 17 years of experience in bioanalytical services and drug metabolism. She has supported numerous preclinical and clinical bioanalysis projects for international pharmaceutical companies and is adept at managing projects regulated under GLP and GCLP guidelines. Her expertise includes a range of drug modalities including peptides, proteins, fusion peptides, fusion proteins, monoclonal antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), and oligonucleotides. She holds a bachelor’s degree in bioengineering and a master’s degree in pharmaceutical analysis from Xi’an Jiao Tong University.