Sharon Hesterlee PhD, BS

Dr. Hesterlee is Director of Gene Therapy for Bamboo/Pfizer. Previously she has been the EVP Patient Advocacy and Public Affairs at Bamboo Therapeutics, and Chief Science Officer for the Myotonic Dystrophy Foundation (MDF). Before coming to MDF she served for five years as Vice President of Research for Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), overseeing research investments in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), beginning the DMD Research Roundtable, and participating in the development of PPMD's work on benefit-risk and the FDA draft guidance for Duchenne. Before PPMD,

she spent 11 years with the Muscular Dystrophy Association, where as a Senior Vice President she established MDA Venture Philanthropy (MVP) and MDA's Translational Research program, brokering and managing over $30M in drug development contracts with industry and other partners, including several gene therapy projects. She has also served as part-time Scientific Director for the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration where she managed the FTD Treatment Study Group. She has been involved in the planning of numerous meetings to identify and remove barriers to therapy development for rare disease and was a core team member for the Clinical Transformation Initiative's recommendations for patient group/industry interactions.

Dr. Hesterlee has served on several advisory boards such that for the University of Arizona's School of Mind, Brain and Behavior and the NINDS Council. She currently serves on the Department of Health and Human Service's federal advisory Committee for muscular dystrophy. She received her Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Arizona