Leonard Dragone, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Leonard Dragone has over twenty years of experience in preclinical, translational  and early clinical development, with a focus in autoimmune disease. He most recently served as chief medical officer at Sonoma Biotherapeutics establishing it as a clinical stage company where he built the Clinical development, Translational and Data science organizations. Previously, Lenny held leadership roles in early clinical development at Janssen Biopharma, Merck Research Laboratories, and Genentech, where he advanced preclinical, investigational new drug (IND) filings and early clinical programs. In these roles, he focused on establishing cross-functional teams that defined patient disease heterogeneity, biomarkers and trial inclusion criteria, with the goal of enabling trials that can optimally define the value of new medicines for patients. 

Lenny received his M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Rochester before completing his pediatric residency and pediatric rheumatology fellowship training at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). He was also an associate professor of pediatrics and immunology at the University of Colorado and National Jewish Health in Denver, where he ran a National Institutes of Health-funded basic science laboratory, publishing more than 30 peer-reviewed articles. Lenny remains clinically active as a Volunteer Associate Professor of Pediatric Rheumatology at UCSF.