Dr. John Edwin Friend is a highly experienced physician-executive who has worked with companies ranging from start-up biotechnology firms to multinational pharmaceutical corporations. He is currently the managing director and CEO of Kazia Therapeutics, a publicly traded, late-stage oncology company with a focus on neuro-oncology. Over the past 15 years, his focus has been in the oncology and hematology therapeutic space. Dr. Friend is a US-trained physician who practiced medicine in North Carolina before transitioning to drug development. Before joining Kazia Therapeutics, he was chief medical officer and member of the executive management team at Cellectar Biosciences, Inc, a US publicly traded biopharmaceutical company.