Dr. Helen Schiltz has more than 25 years of experience in biotech industry and US government in development and management of therapeutic, diagnostic and vaccine products against a wide range of bacterial and viral biodefense and emerging infectious pathogens. As a formal program officer in the Office of Biodefense Research, Resources and Translational Research (OBRRTR) within National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Helen was instrumental in building a successful BEI Resources Reagents and Repository Program for NIAID that supports US and international research and development efforts for diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics products. Furthermore, she was a founding member and acting chief of the Drug Development Section of OBRRTR and has made significant contribution to the overall strategic implementation of NIAID’s biodefense research and development agenda in building a robust therapeutic portfolio targeting a wide selection of high priority bacterial and viral pathogens and spanning from preclinical to early clinical (Phase I and II) development stages.  She has worked with a variety of technologies and innovative approaches for products, including biologics (recombinant protein and antibodies) and small molecules (siRNA, peptides, and other chemical entities) for inhaled, oral, and parenteral administrations.  She has overseen more than 20 IND submissions and multiple clinical phase I and II trials, and is a leading expert in development of products that are licensed under the Animal Rule. Prior to joining OncoC4 and OncoImmune, she held senior director of R&D position in Sabin Vaccine Institute.  Before joining NIAID, she has held manager and director positions for R&D in Qiagen (formally Digene) and Metrigenix, where she developed HIV, HBV, Parvo B19 quantitative detection assays and HPV genotyping assays, and multiplex genomic and proteomic arrays for biomarkers of diseases. Helen received her Master of Science degree from Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou China, and her doctoral degree in biochemistry from Louisiana State University.