Executive Chairman and Chief Innovation Officer Adjunct Professor, Lankenau Institute for Medical Research
Syncromune
Growing up in southern Ohio in the small town of Bellaire, Dr. Link was appointed to the United States Air Force Academy by Senator John Glenn and majored in chemistry. He completed his medical degree with honors at Stanford University School of Medicine followed by his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. He then pursued fellowship training in medical oncology at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland where he joined the US Public Health Service and served as an attending physician in the Ovarian Cancer Section, Medicine Branch, NCI. Dr. Link then served as the Director of the Stoddard Cancer Research Institute and practiced medical oncology for 18 years with Medical Oncology and Hematology Associates of Iowa.
Dr. Link currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research (LIMR) where his work is primarily focused on mechanistic studies and clinical trials to evaluate Syncromune’s SYNC-T Therapy based therapeutic principles. Dr. Link has conducted research in DNA repair and focused on translational research to develop new cancer treatment approaches. He has designed and conducted clinical studies focused on cancer vaccine technology utilizing the alpha(1,3)galactosyl-epitope to activate the immune response.
Prior to joining Syncromune, Dr. Link was the previous Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NewLink Genetics, a clinical-stage company focused on the development of new immuno-oncology treatments. Dr. Link co-founded NewLink Genetics in 1999 with the idea of leveraging the body’s immune system to fight cancer. He also founded BioProtection Systems Corporaton and led the in-licensing of vaccine technologies for life threatening viral infections.
Dr. Link’s translational research included a long-term collaboration with Dr. David Munn, Medical College of Georgia and Dr. George Prendergast, Lankenau Institute of Medical Research to develop Indolamine 2,3-deoxygenase 1 (IDO1) inhibitors for cancer immunotherapy. This program was partnered with Roche/Genentech in a 1.3-billion-dollar joint venture. In addition, he led the translation program for the first Ebola Vaccine (Ebola Zaire Vaccine) from bench to bedside in collaboration with the Canadian Public Health Service, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, NIAID, WHO, and Merck, which led to its approval in 2019. He represented the ERVBO program at the WHO series of emergency meetings throughout the Ebola crisis in 2014.
Dr. Link has authored more than 120 scientific articles and has received more than $100 million in funding for his cancer immunotherapy and vaccine development research from organizations including the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, American Cancer Society, U.S. Army Breast Cancer Program, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and Department of Defense (US Army and BARDA). He has received recognition throughout his career, including Finalist International Science and Engineering Fair, Research Honors Award from Stanford Medical School, Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, NCI EEO Officer’s recognition Award, ASCO Career Development Award, University Fellow Drake University College of Arts and Sciences, Susan G. Komen Foundation Award, Des Moines Business Record Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and Technology Association of Iowa CEO of the Year.
Dr. Link is a highly sought after board member, most recently on the board of NovaScan Corporation in Chicago, QSAM Bioscience (sold to Telix Pharmaceuticals in 2024) and Viewpoint Molecular Targeting, Inc in Iowa (which merged with a NASDAQ company in 2023 to create Perspective Therapeutics). Dr. Link immensely enjoys spending time with his wife, four children and two grandchildren.