Executive Committee
Marc Le Bozec, David Sourdive, André Choulika, Frédéric Pâques, Philippe Valachs
André Choulika, PhD, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman
André Choulika, Ph.D., founder of Cellectis SA, has served as Chief Executive Officer since the company's inception. Dr. Choulika is a pioneer in the analysis and use of Meganucleases to modify complex genomes. He has made many of the critical observations in the field and is an author of the most significant patents on the use of Meganucleases in vivo. Dr. Choulika received a Ph.D. in Molecular Virology form University of Paris VI / Institut Pasteur. Dr. Choulika has made post-doctoral studies at the Harvard Medical School within the department of Molecular Medicine of Boston's Children's Hospital. He also studied at the HEC School of Management (Challenge + program).
David Sourdive, PhD, EVP Corporate Development
David Sourdive, PhD, is a graduate of the École Polytechnique and co-founder of Cellectis. He is the current Executive Vice President of the company. After receiving his degree from the École Polytechnique David Sourdive earned a doctorate in molecular virology at the Institut Pasteur. He then joined one of the top immunology and anti-viral laboratories at the University of Emory, Atlanta, USA, where his work focused on immunological memory. Prior to founding Cellectis, David Sourdive headed the Biotechnology laboratory at the Bouchet Research Center/DGA (French Ministry of Defense). He also studied at the HEC School of Management (Challenge + program).
Frédéric Pâques, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer
Frédéric Pâques, Ph.D., joined Cellectis in October 2001. He has served as Chief Scientific Officer since June 2002. Dr. Pâques is a world expert in DNA recombination mechanisms. He received his Ph. D. in 1994 from University of Paris. Dr Pâques joined Brandeis University (Waltham, Ma), where he produced seminal work on recombination in yeast, before being appointed to the CNRS in Paris (France).
Marc Le Bozec, Chief Financial Officer
Marc Le Bozec, Chief Financial Officer, joined Cellectis in October 2006. He was Chief Operating Officer of Alfact Innovation (France). He has more than 10 years experience in the biotech sector as consultant (Arthur D. Little, Paris office) and as founder and Chairman & CEO of BioProtein Technologies (France), a biotech company dedicated to the production of recombinant proteins in the milk of transgenic animals. He is graduated from HEC School of Management, Paris.
Philippe Valachs, General Secretary
Philippe Valachs, Cellectis’ General Secretary, was previously a managing partner in the lobbying firm Archimede Consultants since 2003, and an associate director of the French think-tank Cercle des Economistes between 2004 and 2008.
A trained economist, he began his career in consulting, working internationally, before joining the cabinet of the French Minister for Industry and Foreign Trade (1991-1993). He then moved to Compagnie Générale des Eaux (now Vivendi), where he was appointed the Chairman's Chief of Staff in 1996. In 1999, he embarked on an entrepreneurial project, participating in the creation of Europe's first webTV, Canalweb.