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 Dr. Aladar A. Szalay, who formed Genelux Corporation in 2001, is internationally recognized as a leader in the monitoring of gene regulation and in whole cell and live organism imaging using light-emitting proteins or protein fusions. Based on his long-time research interest and recent discoveries, the company is utilizing live microorganisms to locate (diagnose) and eliminate (therapy) human tumor xenografts. In addition, to guide the research and development program of Genelux Corporation, Dr. Szalay currently holds a university professor position at the Rudolf Virchow Center of Experimental Biomedicine, School of Medicine, and also at the Biocenter at the University of Würzburg in Würzburg, Germany, where he directs a research program with graduate students and post-doctoral fellows on whole body imaging. His previous academic appointments were: professor of molecular genetics and microbiology and founding director of the Center for Molecular Biology and Gene Therapy at Loma Linda University School of Medicine in Loma Linda, California; Canadian Pacific Endowed Chair Professor of biotechnology and molecular genetics at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada; associate research scientist of molecular genetics at the Boyce Thompson Institute and adjunct professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York; and Gosney fellow at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. He has published over 160 scientific papers and holds over 50 issued patents and patent applications. Dr. Szalay is the recipient of the Wilhelm Exner Award (Medal for Excellence in Science) from Austria and the Alexander von Humboldt Prize from Germany, among others. He has functioned as an advisor for numerous research foundations, served on the Board of Directors and the Scientific Advisory Board for several biomedical start-up companies and was invited to serve as a genetic engineering, gene transfer and therapy expert for several multi-national pharmaceutical and diagnostic equipment manufacturing companies in the US, Europe and Japan.
Dr. Chen, a specialist in orthopoxviruses, received a PhD in molecular virology in 1992 in his native home of China at the National Key Lab of Molecular Virology and Genetic Engineering, in the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine. As head of virology, Dr. Chen oversees the development of new and enhanced viral recombinants for tumor diagnosis and therapy. Prior to joining Genelux, Dr. Chen was an assistant research professor at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine in Missouri and an associate professor at the National Key Lab of Molecular Virology and Genetic Engineering at the Institute of Virology in the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine.
Ivaylo Gentschev, PhD, joined Genelux Corporation in late 2007 as Director of Recombinant Live Vaccine Development and Veterinary Tumor Therapy. Gentschev is currently an assistant professor and project manager for the University of Würzburg in the framework of the German-French graduate college (Würzburg-Nice). In addition, he is a project manager with the Bavarian Research Foundation “Foringene.” He received a PhD in microbiology in 1991 from the University of Würzburg and completed his habilitation in 1999. In the same year, he received the Max-von-Pettenkofer Award for vaccine development. Gentschev has authored over 55 original peer-reviewed scientific publications, as well as dozens of reviews, meeting abstracts, book chapters and patent applications.
Dr. Jochen Stritzker joined Genelux Corporation in San Diego in January 2005 as a senior scientist, after completing a master’s degree in microbiology, cell and developmental biology and his PhD in microbiology, both from the University of Würzburg. In 2005, his PhD thesis was honored as the best in the University of Würzburg. As Director of Molecular and Clinical Imaging, he handles further scientific development and human application of the live vector-based imaging techniques and optical imaging and supervises the research program with graduate and post-doctoral students on whole body imaging in Würzburg. He also coordinates with partnering clinical and research institutions, as well as potential collaborators in the commercial imaging industry.
Dr. Yu was an integral part of the initial scientific research that led to the formation of Genelux Corporation. He was the company’s first employee. He received a PhD in anatomy and biochemistry in 2002 from Loma Linda University and a BA from the University of Utah in 1995 after moving to the U.S. from his native China. As Director of Tumor Diagnosis & Therapy, Dr. Yu manages preclinical research and interacts with the clinical trials team and the patent attorneys.
Dr. Zhang holds a PhD in Physiology and Molecular Biology from Loma Linda University, as well as an MPH (Master’s in Public Health) from the university’s School of Public Health. She also holds a BS in medicine (equivalent to a doctorate of medicine) from Qingdao Medical College in her native China. As Director of Molecular Biology, Dr. Zhang manages the design and engineering of vaccinia virus transfer vectors for insertion of various therapeutic/diagnostic genes into new recombinant viruses for tumor diagnosis and therapy. She also evaluates and coordinates studies on the genomics, proteomics and host expression profiling (microarrays) of vaccinia virus.
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