Leadership

Joseph E. Payne, President & CEO, Director of the BoardJoseph E. Payne, is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Arcturus Therapeutics. He serves on Arcturus’s Board since March 2013. He brings with him an exceptional track record of ushering novel therapeutics to the clinic including targeted RNA medicines utilizing lipid-mediated delivery technologies. Joseph’s background includes over 20 years of successful drug discovery experience at Merck Research Labs, DuPont Pharmaceuticals, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Kalypsys, and Nitto as evidenced by over 40 publications and patents, and several investigational new drug (IND) clinical candidates. His academic training includes a Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry, magna cum laude from Brigham Young University, a Master of Science in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from the University of Calgary and Executive Training Certification from MIT Sloan School of Management.

Padmanabh Chivukula, CSO & COOPad Chivukula, Ph.D., is the Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Arcturus Therapeutics. Dr. Chivukula has an exceptional and technically solid foundation in nanoparticle technology. Prior to Arcturus, from 2008 until February 2013, Dr. Chivukula was employed by Nitto, where his titles included Group Leader and Chief Scientist. Dr. Chivukula brings over 15 years of experience in drug delivery and therapeutic drug development, including leading the polymeric RNAi research department at Nitto. Dr. Chivukula has a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Utah where he specialized in nanoparticle technology.

Andrew Sassine, Chief Financial OfficerAndy Sassine is currently, and has been since January 2019, the Chief Financial Officer at Arcturus Therapeutics. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Nasdaq listed ICAD Inc. ICAD Inc. is a leading provider of advanced image analysis, workflow solutions and radiation therapy for early detection and treatment of cancer. Mr. Sassine served in various positions at Fidelity Investments from 1999 to 2012, including, most recently as Portfolio Manager. Between 2005 and 2011, he managed the Fidelity Small Cap Stock Fund, the Fidelity International Small Cap Opportunities Fund and the Fidelity Advisor International Small Cap Opportunities Fund. Mr. Sassine joined Fidelity as a high yield research analyst, covering the Telecommunications, Satellite, Technology, Defense and Aerospace, and Restaurant Industries and in 2001, joined the international group as a research analyst covering small and mid-cap international stocks. Mr. Sassine has been a member of the Henry B. Tippie College of Business, University of Iowa Board of Advisors from 2009 to 2018. Mr. Sassine earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Iowa in 1987 and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1993.

Dr. Steve Hughes, Chief Medical OfficerDr. Hughes has over 20 years of experience building and leading clinical development and medical affairs teams at leading biopharma companies. He has been involved in more than 50 clinical trials with more than 25 drugs across multiple therapeutic areas including cardiovascular, metabolic, neurology, oncology, infectious diseases, rheumatology, ophthalmology and several rare diseases, in the U.S. and globally. Dr. Hughes has also played a key role in the submission of multiple NDA/MAA applications. Most recently he served as the Chief Medical Officer of Organovo where he led the non-clinical and clinical development teams developing bioprinted tissues for treatment of hepatic and renal diseases. Prior to that he was Chief Clinical Development Officer at Ionis Pharmaceuticals, where he led a team that managed the global clinical development of multiple drugs across several therapeutic areas. He has also held positions at Biogen Idec, CSL Behring and Sanofi. Dr. Hughes is Board Certified in Pharmaceutical Medicine and received his medical degree from Imperial College, London. He also has an MBA from Imperial College Business School.

Lance Kurata, Chief Legal OfficerLance Kurata has served as the Chief Legal Officer of Arcturus Therapeutics since August 2020. Prior to Arcturus, from 2006 to 2020, Mr. Kurata was a partner at Mintz Levin and Chair of the West Coast Technology Transactions Practice. From 2002 to 2006, he was a partner at Fish & Richardson, where he was a member of the corporate group and nationwide head of the technology transactions practice. From 1996 until 2002, Mr. Kurata practiced corporate law at Brobeck Phleger & Harrison, specializing in strategic collaborations, public and private financings, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance. Mr. Kurata is licensed to practice law in the State of California. He received his Juris Doctor (JD) degree from Stanford Law School and was an editor of Stanford Law Review.