Chris has served as our Chief Business Officer since January 2016 and as a strategic consultant to the company since November 2014. In addition, Chris also serves as our general counsel. Chris has negotiated and closed a broad range of strategic partnerships, R&D collaborations, technology licenses and mergers and acquisitions. He has completed numerous equity and debt financings, including IPOs, PIPEs, preferred stock financings and convertible debt offerings. Previously, Chris served as a senior executive at Ardea Biosciences (acquired by AstraZeneca), Xencor, X-Ceptor Therapeutics (acquired by Exelixis) and Aurora Biosciences (acquired by Vertex Pharmaceuticals) with operational responsibility and leadership for multiple functional areas, including business development, legal affairs and corporate finance. Earlier in his career, he was a corporate lawyer at Cooley LLP. Chris holds a J.D. and an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Southern California and a B.A. in Economics from the University of California at San Diego.