About us

Daocheng Zhu,PhD MD

Founder and Chief Scientific Officer

  • 25+ Years of Research in Fusion Proteins and Immunology.
  • Postdoctoral Training at University of Innsbruck (Austra) and UCLA.
  • Former Research Roles at UCLA, Cedars-Sinai, Harvard Medical School, and Assistant Professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
  • Principal Investigator on NIH, NSFC, and National Key R&D Grants.
  • Published in Nature Medicine, Immunity, PNAS, and Other Leading Journals.
  • Holder of 5 PCT Patents and Recipient of Multiple Awards in Allergy and Immunology.
  • Former CSO of Kexin Bio, Leading U.S.-China Regulatory Submission for Anti-Allergic Fusion Protein that Achieved Phase I/II Clinical Approvals.
  • Led Projects Funded by China’s National Major New Drug Development Program.

Hank Yang, MD PhD

Founder and Chief Executive Officer

  • Physician-Scientist with expertise spanning basic research, translational studies, clinical development, and patient care.
  • Assistant Professor of Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine.
  • Attending Physician, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Cedar-Sinai Medical Center.
  • Director, Multiple Myeloma and Bone Cancer Lab, Cedar-Sinai Medical Center.
  • Principal Investor on Multiple Clinical Trials.
  • Extensive Clinical Experience in Managing Complex Cases in Oncology and Hematology.
  • Dual M.D. and Ph.D., With Training in Biomedical Research and Clinical Medicine.
  • Career Built at the Intersection of Research, Clinical Practice, and Healthcare Innovation, Guiding Strategy with Scientific Rigor, Clinical Relevance, and Business Vision.

    • Sean Xia, MS MBA

    Director of Business Development

    • Extensive experience in business development, including real estate development, institutional financing, joint ventures, and venture capital fundraising.
    • Former Director, CBRE Capital Markets – specialized in investment sales and financing with leading institutional teams.
    • Senior Analyst, The Hileman Company - responsible for financial analyses, operating and development budgeting, partnership structures and participation in client, partner and lender meeting.
    • Prior career in technology as Senior Software Engineer at Infospace.
    • Education: (1) MBA, UCLA Anderson School of Management. (2) M.S., Computer Science, Yale University. (3) B.S., Computer Science, Zhejiang University.

    Richard S. Shames, MD

    Chief Medical Officer

  • Dr. Richard S. Shames is a board-certified allergist-immunologist with over 25 years of experience across academic medicine and biopharmaceutical drug development.
  • He has held senior clinical and medical leadership roles at Merck, Protagonist Therapeutics, Aldea Pharmaceuticals, and PDL BioPharma, contributing to multiple programs in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases that advanced through late-stage development and regulatory approval.
  • Dr. Shames previously served as full-time faculty at Stanford University and UCSF, bringing a strong foundation in patient care, clinical research, and medical education.
  • As Chief Medical Officer of RiverCreek Therapeutics, he leads clinical development strategy and regulatory execution for the company’s IgE-targeted biologics, guiding early clinical design, IND advancement, and translational alignment to support efficient first-in-human development.

    • Lii-Shin Lin, MS, RN, OCRN

    Director of Clinical Operations

  • Oncology-trained registered nurse with extensive experience in U.S.-based clinical research and trial operations.
  • Master of Science in Nursing, University of Maryland.
  • Former clinical nurse in the Bone Marrow Transplant Program at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
  • Clinical trial data management experience at Temple University School of Medicine, Bone Marrow Transplant Program.
  • Former Clinical Trial Regulatory Manager at UCLA TORI (Translational Oncology Research International) Network.
  • Over 10 years of experience at UCLA TORI supporting regulatory oversight and operational management of Phase I, II, and III oncology clinical trials.
  • Deep expertise in clinical trial design support, regulatory submissions, IRB coordination, and multi-center trial operations.

    • Paren Knadjian

    Senior Financial Advisor

    • Paren Knadjian is Partner-in-Charge of the Los Angeles office and a senior leader in Transaction Advisory Services at EisnerAmper, a leading global advisory and investment services firm.
    • He brings over 20 years of experience in M&A,equity and debt financings, and capital markets, having advised on 300+ transactions with an aggregate value exceeding $3.5 billion.
    • In addition to his advisory career, Paren has over 15 years of C-suite operating experience, serving as CEO, COO, and Acting CFO across multiple high-growth companies, including SaaS, healthcare, media, and e-commerce businesses.
    • He has co-founded two companies that were successfully acquired and is widely recognized for bridging strategic finance with hands-on operational execution.
    • At RiverCreek Therapeutics, Paren serves as Senior Financial Advisor, supporting capital strategy, investor positioning, and transaction planning as the company advances its clinical development and fundraising initiatives.