Dr. Chao is currently the Chief Medical Officer of Scorpion Therapeutics and has over 20 years of experience in oncology research. He was most recently co-founder and CEO of TenSixteen Bio, a precision genomics therapeutics company. Previously, he served as VP in oncology clinical research at Gilead Sciences focused on early and late-stage clinical development. Prior to that, he was co-founder and SVP of clinical development at Forty Seven, Inc., a clinical stage immuno-oncology company that was acquired by Gilead Sciences in 2020. Mark was one of the scientific pioneers that discovered CD47, an anti-phagocytic signal, as a therapeutic target in oncology and helped lead clinical development from early to late-stage development for a first-in-class CD47-targeting therapy.
He received his Ph.D. in cancer biology, M.D., internal medicine and hematology training at Stanford University. In 2021 he was named one of the 20(+1) under 40 next generation of biotech leaders by Endpoints News. He serves on the scientific advisory boards of iTeos Therapeutics (ITOS) and IconOVir Bio. He also serves on the board of directors of the Northern California chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the Stanford Medicine Alumni Association and the AP Giannini Foundation.