Management Team

Dr. Jerel Banks, M.D., Ph.D. has been a Director since October 2016, Chairman of our Board since October 2017 and Chief Executive Officer since June 2018. Dr. Banks was formerly the Chief Investment Officer of Nant Capital, LLC. Prior to joining Nant Capital, LLC, Dr. Banks served as vice president, portfolio manager and research analyst for the Franklin Biotechnology Discovery Fund at Franklin Templeton Investments from 2012 to 2015. Prior to his tenure at Franklin Templeton Investments, he worked as a biotechnology senior equity research analyst at Sectoral Asset Management from 2011 to 2012. From 2008 to 2011, Dr. Banks worked as a biotechnology equity research analyst at Apothecary Capital, the healthcare investment management team for the family investment office of the Bass Family of Fort Worth, Texas. Dr. Banks began his career in investment management as a healthcare equity research associate at Capital Research Company where he was a member of the equity research team from 2006 to 2008. Dr. Banks earned an M.D. from the Brown University School of Medicine and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Brown University, and he holds an A.B. in Chemistry from Princeton University.

Megan Boston has previously been Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of several companies, including entities listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. With over 13 years of experience, Ms. Boston has been a director across a range of industries where she chaired company boards as well as board sub-committees particularly in the area of finance and risk management. Specifically, Ms. Boston has been a Director of Benitec since August 2016 and Executive Director since June 2018. From 2014 until joining Benitec, Ms. Boston was CEO of listed companies on the Australian Stock Exchange, Omni Market Tide Ltd and Rision Ltd. Previously, Ms. Boston held senior executive roles at various banking institutions in the area of risk and compliance, as well as working for PricewaterhouseCoopers. Ms. Boston holds a Bachelor of Commerce and is an Australian Chartered Accountant. Ms. Boston has also completed the company directors course diploma administered by the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Sophie Mukadam has served as Associate Director, Program Management at Benitec Biopharma Inc. since 2021 and previously served as Senior Program Manager between 2019 and 2021. Between 2018 and 2019, Ms. Mukadam served as a regulatory affairs professional at Premier Consulting (formerly Regulatory Professionals, Inc.). Prior to her work in the areas of program management and regulatory affairs, Ms. Mukadam was deeply engaged in fundamental research and development activities underlying the advancement of a broad range of investigational therapeutic programs. Between 2003 and 2018, Ms. Mukadam held scientific research positions at Genentech (A Member of the Roche Group), Bristol-Myers Squibb (formerly Kosan Biosciences Inc.), and Pfizer (formerly Vicuron Pharmaceuticals), with many of her principal contributions represented in the scientific literature. Ms. Mukadam holds a B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, and she has earned a Certificate in Project Management for Biotechnology from the University of Washington and the University of California, San Diego.