Executive Leadership Team

Board of Directors

Arie Belldegrun, M.D.

Arie Belldegrun, M.D.

Chairman

Dr. Belldegrun is the Chairman of UroGen Pharma and has served as our Chair since December 2012. He has built a distinguished career as a visionary surgeon, scientist, and life sciences entrepreneur.

Dr. Belldegrun founded Kite Pharma, a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of innovative cancer immunotherapies, where he served as Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer until the acquisition of Kite by Gilead Sciences in October 2017.

Dr. Belldegrun has had a distinguished tenure in the life sciences and has been closely involved with the founding and advancement of several successful biopharmaceutical companies, including Cougar Biotechnology and Agensys. Abiraterone, developed by Cougar, is a mainstay of therapy for patients with metastatic prostate cancer.

Dr. Belldegrun most recently co-founded Allogene Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR T) therapies for cancer. He serves as Executive Chairman of Allogene; Chairman of Two River Group and Kronos Bio; Co-Founder and Senior Managing Director of Vida Ventures, a life science venture group.

Dr. Belldegrun is a Professor of Urology, holds the Roy and Carol Doumani Chair in Urologic Oncology, and is Director of the UCLA Institute of Urologic Oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Prior to joining UCLA, Dr. Belldegrun served as a research fellow in surgical oncology and immunotherapy under Dr. Steven A. Rosenberg at the National Cancer Institute/NIH. He completed his M.D. at the Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem, Israel, his post-graduate studies in immunology at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, and his residency in urologic surgery at Harvard Medical School. He has authored several books on oncology and more than 500 scientific and medical papers related to urological cancers, immunotherapy, gene therapy, and cancer vaccines. Dr. Belldegrun is certified by the American Board of Urology and is a fellow of the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons.

Liz Barrett

Liz Barrett

President and Chief Executive Officer

Ms. Barrett is a highly regarded industry leader with extensive experience leading business organizations and Fortune 500 pharmaceutical companies.

Ms. Barrett has served as director and our President and Chief Executive Officer since January 2019. Prior to UroGen, Ms. Barrett was CEO of Novartis Oncology and a member of the Novartis Executive Committee since February 2018.

Prior to Novartis, Ms. Barrett served at Pfizer, Inc. in various leadership capacities, most recently as the Global President of Oncology and, before that, as President of Global Innovative Pharma for Europe, President of the Specialty Care Business Unit for North America, and Regional President of United States Oncology.

Before Pfizer, Ms. Barrett held positions at Cephalon, Inc., where she was Vice President and General Manager of the Oncology Business Unit, and at Johnson & Johnson. She started her career at Kraft Foods Group, Inc.

Ms. Barrett also currently serves on the boards of directors of Sage Therapeutics and Allogene Therapeutics.

Ms. Barrett received an M.B.A. degree in marketing from Saint Joseph's University and a B.S. from the University of Louisiana.

Cynthia Butitta

Cynthia Butitta

Board Member

Ms. Butitta is a seasoned financial and operational executive with more than 25 years of leadership experience in both the biotechnology and high-technology industries. She has served as a director for UroGen since October 2017.

Most recently, Ms. Butitta served as Chief Operating Officer of Kite Pharma, where she played an instrumental role in the acquisition of Kite Pharma by Gilead Sciences for approximately $11.9 billion in cash. She also served as Kite Pharma’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 2014 to 2016. During her tenure at Kite, Ms. Butitta was responsible for securing more than $1 billion in equity financing and oversaw the rapid growth of the organization.

Prior to joining Kite, Ms. Butitta served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of NextWave Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which was acquired in 2012 by Pfizer, Inc. for $700 million.

Previously, Ms. Butitta held positions as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Telik Inc., a public biotechnology company focused on the development of small molecule drugs for the treatment of cancer, prior to its acquisition by MabVax Therapeutics, Inc.

Ms. Butitta was also Vice President of Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Officer for Connetics, Inc., a public biotechnology company.

Ms. Butitta also serves on the boards of Autolus Ltd. since March 2018, Olema Oncology since August 2020, and Century Therapeutics since February 2021.

Ms. Butitta received a B.S. degree with honors in business and accounting from Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin, and her M.B.A. degree in finance from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Fred E. Cohen, M.D.

Fred E. Cohen, M.D.

Board Member

Dr. Cohen is a former academic clinician with many years of experience advising pharmaceutical and life sciences companies. Dr. Cohen has served as a director for UroGen since May 2017.

Dr. Cohen is a Senior Advisor to TPG Capital, where he served for more than 15 years as a Partner, and founder of TPG Biotechnology, a life science-focused venture capital fund.

Beginning in November 2017, Dr. Cohen has served as a co-founder and senior managing director of Vida Ventures, LLC, a biotechnology venture capital fund.

In addition, for more than two decades throughout his career, Dr. Cohen has been affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco, where he has held various clinical positions, including as a research scientist, an internist for hospitalized patients, a consulting endocrinologist, and the Chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Dr. Cohen also currently serves on the board of directors of Progyny, CareDx, and Intellia Therapeutics.

Dr. Cohen received his B.S. degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University, his D.Phil. in molecular biophysics from Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, and his M.D. from Stanford. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Cohen currently serves on the board of directors of several other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.

Stuart Holden, M.D.

Stuart Holden, M.D.

Board Member

Dr. Holden has a long and decorated career as a practicing urologist, research pioneer in prostate and urologic cancers, and an academic. He has served as a director for UroGen since December 2015.

Dr. Holden has been the Chairman of ProQuest Investments’ Scientific Advisory Board since its founding in 1998.

Since 2014, Dr. Holden has held a number of positions within the Department of Urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, including Health Sciences Clinical Professor of Urology, Spielberg Family Chair in Urologic Oncology, and Associate Director of the UCLA Institute of Urologic Oncology.

Dr. Holden has worked on the front lines of prostate cancer for more than 36 years and has pioneered new treatments for urologic cancers. Dr. Holden’s dedication to patient care resulted in him being named Medical Director of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the world’s largest funding organization of prostate cancer research; he has held this position since the foundation’s inception in 1993.

Dr. Holden previously held a position as the director of the Louis Warschaw Prostate Cancer Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and was the first holder of the Warschaw, Robertson, Law Families Chair in Prostate Cancer.

Dr. Holden was also a founding partner of Tower Urology in Los Angeles and also currently serves on the board of directors of Clarus Therapeutics.

Dr. Holden completed his medical degree and received his surgical training at Weill Cornell Medical College and the New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical College. He completed his urology residency at Emory University School of Medicine and fellowships in urology and developmental genetics at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He was also awarded a clinical fellowship from the American Cancer Society and received a B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Leana S. Wen, M.D., M.Sc.

Leana S. Wen, M.D., M.Sc.

Board Member

Dr. Wen is an emergency physician and has served as a professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University School of Public Health since September 2019. She has been a contributing columnist for The Washington Post since June 2020, writing on health policy and public health, and an on-air commentator for CNN as a medical analyst since August 2020. From January 2015 to October 2018, she was the health commissioner for the city of Baltimore, where she led the nation’s oldest continuously operating health department to combat the opioid epidemic and improve maternal and child health. From 2013 to 2015, Dr. Wen served as director of patient-centered care research in the department of emergency medicine at George Washington University and authored a critically acclaimed book on patient advocacy. She is currently on the board of the Bipartisan Policy Center, Baltimore Community Foundation, and National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, and chairs the advisory board of the Behavioral Health Group. She has also been a global health fellow at the World Health Organization, a consultant with the China Medical Board, and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Dr. Wen also served as the President of Planned Parenthood from 2018 through 2019.

She has been a member of more than 10 nonprofit boards, including serving as the chair of Behavioral Health System Baltimore. Dr. Wen has also served on the board of directors of Glaukos Corporation since March 2021 and also serves on its audit committee. Dr. Wen’s work has been recognized by numerous professional organizations, including as one of Modern Healthcare's Top 50 Physician-Executives and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2019, she was named one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People and in 2022 as one of Modern Healthcare's 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare. She holds a B.S. from California State University, Los Angeles, an M.D. from Washington University School of Medicine, and two M.Sc.s from the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. She completed her residency training at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, where she was a clinical fellow at Harvard Medical School.

Dan Wildman

Dan Wildman

Board Member

Dan Wildman is a seasoned executive with over 40 years of experience in the Medical Device Industry. He is current Chairman of the Board of Progenerative Medical, Inc., a pre-commercial company translating clinically proven reduced pressure technology into medical treatments for orthopedic surgeries. He also serves as a Strategic Adviser for several medical device/pharmaceutical companies.

At Johnson & Johnson, Dan most recently led the Digital Surgery Strategy initiative where he was tasked with developing an integrated strategy for robotic surgery for the company.

Prior to Digital Surgery, Dan led DePuy Synthes Spine. In this role, he had overall responsibility for the second-largest spine surgery business in the world. He served in this capacity from August of 2015 to September of 2017 and during this period developed and implemented an integrated turn-around plan for the company.

Previously, Dan served as Worldwide President of Ethicon Biosurgery, a division of Ethicon, Inc. From 2003-2015 he led this global business dedicated to delivering innovative and life-saving solutions to surgeons via development and commercialization of biomaterial, biologic and combination products that changed the standard of care for intraoperative hemostasis. In this role, Dan transitioned the company from Advanced Wound Care to Biosurgery through a combination of acquisitions, divestitures, and internal capability development, all focused on development and commercialization of meaningful innovations. The Biosurgery business at Ethicon continues to be one of the fastest-growing companies in J&J’s portfolio.

Prior to J&J, Dan spent 10 years with Boston Scientific Corporation in a variety of sales, marketing, operations and strategic planning roles of increasing responsibility.

Dan is an accomplished global leader. Throughout his career, he has earned a solid reputation for his strategic vision, motivational leadership, innovative technologies, ability to execute and his commitment to people development.

Dan received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from St. Lawrence University in New York. He and his wife Pam reside in Wellington, Florida. His interests include aviation (PP-ASEL, ASES, Instrument), acoustic guitar and fitness.

James Robinson

James Robinson

Board Member

Mr. Robinson has excelled in building and leading organizations from inception to commercial success throughout his 30+ years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. He served as a member of the Urovant board of directors before becoming its CEO in March 2020 until June 2023. Before Urovant, Mr. Robinson was President and COO at both Paragon Biosciences and Alkermes, managing operations, product planning, manufacturing and business development. He also held prominent roles at Astellas U.S. and Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals, focusing on commercial operations and sales.

Mr. Robinson has served on the Board of Directors of Urovant Sciences since 2019. He previously served on the Board of Directors for AGTC from 2021-2022 before the company was sold to Syncona LTD in December 2022. From 2019 to March 2021, Mr. Robinson served on the Board of Directors of Neos Therapeutics. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and served as Chairman of PhRMA’s State Committee. He is a founding member of MATTER, the Commercial Club of Chicago and member of the Chicago Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization. Mr. Robinson received a Bachelor of Science degree from DePaul University.