Rain Therapeutics Inc., a privately-held, clinical stage biotechnology company, has appointed Rain co-founder Robert Doebele, MD, PhD, as chief scientific officer (CSO).

Doebele has served as chair of the scientific advisory board and acting CSO since Rain’s founding. He will now transition to Rain full-time in the executive vice president (EVP) and CSO role, departing his position at the University of Colorado, Denver as associate professor of medicine. In his new role, Doebele will be responsible for leading Rain’s research and development efforts.

“Working with Bob since the founding of Rain has been a great privilege, and we are thrilled to officially welcome him in a full-time capacity,” said Avanish Vellanki, co-founder and chief executive officer of Rain. “As a visionary leader in the precision oncology space with unparalleled experience in developing tumor-agnostic approaches to cancer treatment, we are in keen anticipation of Bob’s impact on the corporate biotechnology industry post his departure from academia.”

Doebele added, “Rain is at a pivotal juncture in its evolution, and I am excited to transition full time to the company. Rain’s pipeline, which now includes RAIN-32, a potent MDM2 inhibitor, and a RAD52 inhibitor program in addition to our first clinical candidate, Tarlox, has the potential to make a transformative impact in the lives of patients with difficult-to-treat cancers. I look forward to leading the team as we develop tumor-agnostic, biomarker-driven trials to advance our targeted oncology candidates.”

Experience

Doebele co-founded Rain Therapeutics in April 2017 and currently serves as chair of the scientific advisory board. Prior to joining Rain full time, Dr. Doebele served as associate professor of medicine in the division of medical oncology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, director of the Thoracic Oncology Research Initiative at the University of Colorado Cancer Center and as principle investigator for the University of Colorado Lung Cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence.

In addition, he served as a senior editor of the AACR journal, Clinical Cancer Research and was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2018. Doebele received his AB in molecular biology from Princeton University and received his MD and PhD in immunology from the University of Pennsylvania. He conducted his internal medicine residency and medical oncology fellowship at the University of Chicago.