Dr. Adams is currently chief executive officer of Gamida Cell. Prior to serving in this position, he was chief scientific officer and president of Clal Biotechnology Industries. In the past, as senior vice president of drug discovery and development at Millenium Pharmaceuticals, he headed multiple drug discovery programs including the discovery and development of the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib (Velcade®). Earlier in his career, Dr. Adams served in various positions at LeukoSite, ProScript Inc., and Boehringer Ingelheim, where he successfully discovered the drug nevirapine (Viramune®) for HIV.
Dr. Adams received a bachelor of science degree from McGill University and a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the field of synthetic organic chemistry. He has also earned a doctor of science, honoris causa, from McGill University. He holds more than 40 patents and has authored more than 100 papers and book chapters in peer-reviewed journals, and is the editor of Proteasome Inhibition in Cancer Therapy. He has received many awards, including the 2001 Ribbon of Hope Award for VELCADE® from the International Myeloma Foundation and the AACR-Bruce F. Cain Memorial Award.