Theo is a medical oncologist, scientist, and author with a passion for cancer genetics and cancer prevention. She is Chief Development Officer at IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc., where she leads clinical development efforts to advance the company’s innovative precision oncology pipeline.
Prior to joining IDEAYA, Theo served as Vice President of Early Oncology Research and Development and site head in San Francisco at AbbVie, Inc. She previously held roles as Vice President of Global Development and Head of Precision Medicine at Amgen, Inc., and as Vice President of Translational Medicine at Merck Research Laboratories, where she helped lead global efforts to translate innovative science into new medicines for patients.
Before her work in industry, Theo was Professor of Internal Medicine in the Division of Oncology and Director of the Cancer Genetics Program at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas for more than eight years. In this role, she cared for patients with hereditary cancer syndromes and led a laboratory focused on the biology of BRCA1. She continues her affiliation with UT Southwestern as an Adjunct Professor of Internal Medicine. Earlier in her academic career, Theo spent 12 years at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor as a clinician and researcher, where she treated patients with breast cancer and led a laboratory investigating cancer cell biology, the role of endocytosis in cancer, and mechanisms of response and resistance to targeted therapies.
Theo earned her M.D. and Ph.D. from the Washington University Medical Scientist Training Program in St. Louis. She completed her internal medicine residency at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and her oncology fellowship at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, both in Boston.
In addition to her scientific publications, Theo has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, and Psychology Today, and is the author of the award-winning book A Cancer in the Family: Take Control of Your Genetic Inheritance, which empowers readers to understand their genetic risk and make informed decisions for themselves and their families.