Kieren Anne Marr is President and Chief Medical Officer of Elion Therapeutics.

Dr. Marr holds over 25 years of experience across the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector, conceptualizing and implementing innovative clinical trial programs and drug development strategies to feed the antimicrobial pipeline. As an infectious diseases specialist, Dr. Marr is particularly attuned to the setting of prevention and early treatment of life-threatening fungal infections in people with suppressed immune systems – a population that continues to grow in the wake of treatment advancements in oncology and other therapeutic areas. Dr. Marr brings to bear her history of collaboration with regulatory bodies and expert peers who develop clinical consensus and guidelines, to position Elion Therapeutics at the forefront of antifungal drug development and the optimal use of antimicrobial drugs.

Among her previous ventures in innovative product and business development, Dr. Marr founded and served as CEO of Pearl Diagnostics, Inc., a spin-out company of Johns Hopkins University (JHU) that developed the MycoMEIA® Aspergillus assay. Dr. Marr’s rich tenure at JHU includes past roles as Vice Chair of Medicine for Innovation in the Department of Medicine, the inaugural Medical Director of the Transplant and Oncology Infectious Diseases Program, and Professor of Medicine, Oncology, and Business. Prior to joining JHU, Dr. Marr served on the faculty of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Dr. Marr earned her M.B.A. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and her M.D. from Hahnemann University. Following medical training at Duke University, Dr. Marr completed infectious diseases training at University of Washington – Seattle. She is a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (FIDSA) and an elected member of the Association of American Physicians (AAP) and the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), for which she served on the leadership council from 2015 to 2018 and as President in 2019.

In addition to her organizational roles, Dr. Marr is a prolific contributor to the scientific literature, having authored over 300 peer-reviewed publications and edited multiple books, including the authoritative textbook Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases.  Dr. Marr was named by Thomson Reuters in “The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds” report ranking the top 1% of cited researchers worldwide.