John Sundy

John is a rheumatologist and immunologist with over 25 years of experience in academic medicine and the biotechnology industry. His research career has focused on developing novel therapies for patients with inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. Prior to joining Seismic John was the Chief Medical Officer of Pandion Therapeutics, which was acquired by Merck in 2021 for $1.85 billion. He previously was Senior Vice President and Inflammation Therapeutic Area Head at Gilead Sciences. John led Gilead’s entry into inflammation and immunology and oversaw the clinical development of over a dozen new drug programs including Jyselica, which is approved in Europe and Japan for rheumatoid arthritis and/or ulcerative colitis.

Before moving to industry, John was a tenured Associate Professor of Medicine at Duke University and Associate Professor at the Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School. While at Duke he was instrumental in the Phase 1-3 development of Krystexxa which is approved for patients with refractory gout. In addition, he served as Associate Director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute and Director of Duke’s Global Proof of Concept Research Unit Network in the US, Singapore and India.

An undergraduate from Bucknell University, John received his medical and scientific education at Drexel University, and residency and fellowship training at Duke. He is a fellow of the American College of Rheumatology, the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, and the American College of Physicians. John is an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Duke University and has clinical privileges in rheumatology at the Duke-affiliated Durham VA Medical Center. He has authored over 100 scientific publications, and also serves on the board of directors of CARRA, the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance.