Stephane Gesta Ph.D.
Stephane Gesta, Ph.D. is Senior Vice President of Research & Development and Science Strategy at BERG. Dr. Gesta joined BERG in 2011 and drives the company’s preclinical programs into IND filing and first in human studies. His vision for healthcare is to bring the right medication to the right patient. He focuses on translating BERG’s flagship Interrogative Biology® target discoveries into drug development programs in Oncology and Neurology, by overseeing the preclinical development strategy and communicating a vision and plan for clinical development. He has successfully managed the validation of more than 40 targets from the platform, is an author on more than 6 BERG publications, and an inventor on 8 patents. Dr. Gesta leads a team of scientists in oncology, neurology, pharmacology and assay development and manages R&D collaborations with strategic academic partners to ensure maximal portfolio impact.
Dr. Gesta received a Master’s degree in Cellular Biology and Physiology from the University Paul Sabatier in Toulouse, France, where he developed a passion for understanding human physiology and pathophysiology at the whole-body, system, organ, cellular, and molecular level, to treat diseases with unmet needs. Dr. Gesta received a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology from the University Paul Sabatier, after studying adrenergic receptivity regulating the paracrine function of adipose tissue in obese patients. He completed his postdoctoral training at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston where he was a Research Associate Fellow. He also served as an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Dr. Gesta’s work has been published in top-tier journals and presented at numerous international conferences. He holds several international patent applications on treatments for cancer, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, and obesity.
Other key Accomplishments:
- Author of 27 peer-review research articles and 1 review
- Author of 1 book chapter
- Author of More than 50 presentations (poster or oral) at various international conferences (ADA, AACR, SFN…)
Awards and honors:
- 2016: Berg, LLC, John McCook Award for Management
- 2013: Berg, LLC, Program Leader of the year
- 2012: Berg, LLC, Program Leader / Scientist of the year
- 2010: Seahorse Bioscience Travel Awards for the Obesity Society Annual Scientific Meeting, San Diego, USA
- 2004: American Diabetes Association Mentor-Based Postdoctoral Fellowship Award
- 2001: Naomi Berrie Diabetes Fellowships Award
- 1998: Ministère de l’Education Nationale et de la Recherche Technologique – Doctoral Fellowship Award