2006 Recipients

H. Michael Shepard, Ph.D. (64), Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Shepard joined Halozyme in 2009 as Vice President, Discovery Research with extensive experience in the biotechnology industry. He was promoted to Chief Scientific Officer in December 2010. At Halozyme, Dr. Shepard has participated in the executive management team, and multiple project teams, which resulted in regulatory approvals in Europe for Halozyme’s enabling PH20 Hyaluronidase for rapid subcutaneous delivery of immune globulin (HyQvia, with Baxter), Herceptin (with Roche), and MabThera (with Roche).  Dr. Shepard also directs Halozyme’s product discovery and pharmacology efforts. He has been a founder or co-founder of several biotechnology companies and his work has included protein therapeutics (Receptor BioLogix, Inc., 2003-2008), small molecules (NewBiotics, Inc., 1997-2002), gene therapy (Canji, Inc./Schering-Plough Corporation, 1992-1997), and monoclonal antibody therapeutics (Genentech, Inc. 1980-1992). While at Genentech, Dr. Shepard participated in many of the early programs that transformed Genentech into a commercial success. Among his most important accomplishments was the description of a key mechanism by which tumor cells can escape the host immune system. This work led to the discovery of the breast cancer drug Herceptin ® (trastuzumab). In 2007, Dr. Shepard shared the Warren Alpert Prize from Harvard Medical School in recognition of this achievement. Dr. Shepard received his bachelor’s degree in Zoology from the University of California, Davis and his Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology from Indiana University. Dr. Shepard was also a postdoctoral fellow at Indiana University, supported by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.