Brian R. Wamhoff, PhD, a biotech entrepreneur, drug discovery innovator and longtime member of the University of Virginia community, has been named the inaugural Chief Strategy and Business Officer (CSBO) of the University of Virginia’s Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology.
He is the third senior hire to join the Manning Institute’s leadership team, alongside Chief Scientific Officer and Head Mark T. Esser, PhD, and Chief Operating Officer Mark Weathers, MBA.
In his role as CSBO, Wamhoff directs the SPARK drug discovery and development program – part of the Stanford SPARK Global network – for early-stage drug discovery, contributes to the institute’s strategic planning alongside institute leadership and cultivates partnerships with industry, venture funds, philanthropic organizations and federal agencies. He also serves as a steward for translational research programs – advising faculty and entrepreneurial teams as they advance discoveries from the lab toward the clinic, supporting company formation and guiding researchers through the regulatory milestones essential to bring new medicines to patients.
Among the institute’s first initiatives will be the inaugural SPARK Tank Competition, scheduled for Aug. 4 at the UVA School of Medicine’s Medical Education Building. Modeled after the popular Shark Tank format, the event will bring early-stage innovators together to pitch innovative medicines to a panel of expert judges, with funding awarded to the most promising proposals. Recipients join the Manning Institute’s growing community of “SPARKees,” directly supporting the translation of early-stage discoveries into medicines for patients.
“Brian Wamhoff brings something rare to the Manning Institute – he has walked every step of the journey from academic discovery to clinical development, and he has done it here at UVA,” Esser said. “He co-founded UVA spinout companies, secured federal funding, built major industry partnerships and led teams through some of the most challenging moments a biotech company can face. That experience is invaluable as we build the Manning Institute into a place where great science can become great medicine. I am thrilled to welcome him back to UVA.”
Wamhoff comes to the Manning Institute with more than 20 years of experience spanning academic research, company formation and drug development. He is co-founder of HemoShear Therapeutics, a venture-backed clinical-stage rare disease company and UVA spinout. Under his leadership, the HemoShear team secured strategic partnerships with multiple pharmaceutical companies, including Takeda and Horizon Therapeutics (now Amgen) totaling more than $750 million in potential deal value. The team also raised more than $18 million in Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding from five National Institutes of Health institutes and advanced a clinical-stage pipeline into pediatric ultra-rare diseases. In 2021, he was named one of the PharmaVOICE 100 most inspiring entrepreneurs in the industry.
More recently, Wamhoff served as head of therapeutics for DVLP Medicines, a venture-backed, artificial intelligence-enabled drug-development company, where he focused on platform validation and biopharma partnerships. He also completed a term as Entrepreneur in Residence at the UVA Licensing & Ventures Group and serves as a Public Director of the UVA Physicians Group.
While at UVA, Wamhoff was a faculty member in the Departments of Medicine, Biomedical Engineering and Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, where his NIH-funded lab developed multiple technologies through interdisciplinary collaboration that became the foundation for several UVA spinout companies. He holds 14 patents and has published more than 75 peer-reviewed papers with more than 8,000 citations.
“I am deeply honored to join Mark Esser, Mark Weathers and the extraordinary team being built at the Manning Institute,” Wamhoff said. “The chance to work alongside UVA’s outstanding scientists and physicians – to help guide their discoveries through SPARK and into the hands of patients – is exactly why I am here. I have always believed that drug development is the ultimate team sport, and the Manning Institute is building the team, the infrastructure and the partnerships to make a lasting difference in the lives of patients in Virginia and around the world.”
Wamhoff holds a bachelor’s in biology from Rhodes College and a PhD from the University of Missouri. He completed his postdoctoral training at UVA’s Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center.
Filed Under: Research