Dr. Masamune has spent more than 30 years in both Drug Discovery and Development, advancing numerous candidates into and through Phase 2.

After receiving her degree in organic chemistry at UCLA, she did a postdoctoral fellowship with two time Nobel Prize winner, K. Barry Sharpless. She started her career in Medicinal Chemistry at Pfizer Central Research and transitioned to Drug Development there.

Since then, she has had increasingly senior roles at a variety of startups, most notably as the Chief Development Officer at Viking Therapeutics.