Executive Committee

Nikolay Delev, M.D. has served as Executive Medical Director, Clinical Development Team Lead, Immunology and Fibrosis, at Bristol Myers Squibb since 2019. Dr. Delev received his M.D. from Sofia Medical School in Bulgaria and completed Internal Medicine training at Advocate Illinois Medical Center in Chicago. He completed Rheumatology Fellowship training at Johns Hopkins University with a special interest in inflammatory arthritides and clinical research. He oversees the clinical development strategy, design, and execution of programs across the BMS mid to late-stage portfolio. He is leading a clinical team targeting a broad spectrum of immunologic conditions such as lupus, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and Sjogren’s. Prior to joining BMS, he held several roles of increasing responsibility at Parexel, Novartis, and Celgene, where he served as a Medical and Scientific Expert and Senior Director for a variety of early and late-stage programs. He was loosely involved in the development and approval of Otezla and Cosentyx. He continues to see patients as a volunteer clinician-rheumatologist in an outpatient setting.

Gary Koretzky, M.D., Ph.D. obtained his M.D. and Ph.D. (Immunology) degrees at the University of Pennsylvania (’84). He then pursued clinical training in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology at the University of California at San Francisco. He went on to re-enter the laboratory at UCSF as a post-doctoral fellow, examining the molecular events associated with immune cell activation. Dr. Koretzky later moved to the University of Iowa in 1991, continuing his research examining the biochemistry and molecular biology of signal transduction in hematopoietic cells. In 1999, Koretzky joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and as Director of the Signal Transduction Program of the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute. At Penn, he was an Associate Director of the M.D./Ph.D. program, served as Chief of the Division of Rheumatology from 2006-2008, and as the Francis C. Wood Professor of Medicine and Vice Chair for Research and Chief Scientific Officer in the Penn Department 2008-2013. In 2013, Dr. Koretzky moved to Weill Cornell Medical College as the Vice Dean for Research and the Dean of Weill Cornell Graduate School. In 2017, Dr. Koretzky moved to Ithaca as Vice Provost for Academic Integration to build research programs between the Ithaca and New York City campuses and as the inaugural Director of the Cornell Center for Immunology.

Matt Linnik, Ph.D. is Vice President, Immunology at the Lilly Biotechnology Center in San Diego, where his responsibilities span discovery and clinical research. Matt received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. Current responsibilities include a biologic immune checkpoint agonist in phase 2, a small molecule enzyme inhibitor entering phase 2, and a large academic collaboration with a major EU University. His research lab focuses on multifunctional molecules, including antibody-drug conjugates for autoimmune diseases and oncology. Matt started his Lilly career in the late phase, contributing to multiple autoimmune compounds, including baricitinib, ixekizumab, and tabalumab. Matt joined Lilly in 2011 from Biogen Idec where he was Distinguished Medical Research Scientist and Head of Translational Medicine for Immunology. At Biogen, Matt was responsible for rituximab and ocrelizumab in autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, SLE and lupus nephritis. Before Biogen Idec, he was Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President at La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co (NASDAQ: LJPC). His responsibilities included leading registration trials for a phase 3 asset in lupus nephritis (abetimus sodium) and driving a discovery research platform for B cell toleragens. Matt is an internationally recognized expert in Lupus and Co-Chair of Lupus Industry Council for Lupus Research Alliance.

Judith Mills, M.B.S. is a biomedical scientist, a TEDx speaker, and adjunct professor at Kean University specializing in alopecia, disability, health, and lupus advocacy. She was diagnosed with lupus after three years with symptoms like fatigue, loss of appetite, body aches, and hair loss.

Seeking support, Judith first contacted the local New Jersey chapter of the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA) while pursuing a B.S. in Biology. She organized a student support group for individuals with disabilities and fundraising clubs for lupus.

In 2003, Judith formed Team MSU at Montclair State University for a local LFA walk. She also joined the now Lupus Research Alliance (LRA), supporting the NJ Walk with Us to Cure Lupus and participated in its Multicultural Task Force.

In 2011, she founded the nonprofit Butterfly Walkers Inc. while working towards a graduate degree in Biomedical Science. She has generated lupus awareness on television shows, serves with the Montclair Township Council, and has secured mayoral proclamations for lupus awareness in several NJ cities. Judith’s dedication has earned several awards from the LFA and the LRA.

Judith serves on the Lupus ABC to collaborate with fellow researchers and add her perspective as a person with lupus. She hopes Lupus ABC prioritizes precision medicine and encourages development of medications with minimal side effects.

Despite shattered dreams as a track star, Judith remains a runner, “not for track and field, but for the race of life.”

Dr. Nikolay P. Nikolov is a board-certified Internist and Rheumatologist who joined FDA in 2009 as a Medical Officer and is currently the Director of the Office of Immunology and Inflammation, CDER. He completed his Internal Medicine residency at Lincoln Medical Center, Bronx, NY and then joined National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), NIH, where he completed his rheumatology fellowship, participated in clinical investigational protocols and studied cellular and molecular mechanisms of autoimmunity in animal models at NIAMS. Then, Dr. Nikolov joined the Sjögren’s Syndrome Group at the NIH, as a clinical investigator where he conducted clinical and translational protocols in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and Sjögren’s syndrome. At the FDA Dr. Nikolov is involved in the regulatory review of immuno-modulatory therapies, including small molecules, biologics and biosimilars, for the treatment of pediatric and adult rheumatologic diseases. He participates in the development of the Agency’s policies in these areas.

Dr. Zahi Touma, M.D, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Clinician-Scientist with the University of Toronto and Scientist with the Schroeder Arthritis Institute and Krembil Research Institute. Dr. Touma  is Director of the Lupus Program and Staff Rheumatologist with the University Health Network (UHN)/Mount Sinai Hospital, and Adjunct Scientist with the Institute for Work and Health. Appointed the inaugural Dr. Murray B. Urowitz Chair in Lupus Research at UHN, his research is focused on patients with SLE and measurement science with a particular interest in the assessment of disease activity, patient reported outcomes and cognitive function. One of his most significant contributions has been the development of the SLE disease activity indices – the SLEDAI Responder Index-50 (S2K RI-50) and SLEDAI-2K Glucocorticoids Index (SGI). 

Dr. Touma is a Co-Chair of the Criteria Subcommittee of the Quality-of-Care Committee of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) for the development of classification and response criteria for rheumatic diseases. He established the NeuroLupus Program with the goal of developing improved methods of identifying cognitive impairment in SLE and understanding its course over time and impact on health-related quality of life and productivity. Dr. Touma also is a co-chair of the SLE OMERACT (Outcome Measures in Rheumatology) Working Group and  sits on the Advisory Boards of Lupus Ontario and the Lupus Foundation of America. He has been appointed as the inaugural Dr. Murray B. Urowitz Chair in Lupus Research at UHN.

Veronica Vargas Lupo is a Managing Director at Consello. She is renowned for spearheading business transformations, partnering with C-level executives, and digitally transforming business capabilities and operational processes based on smarter, data-driven decision making.

Veronica has lived with lupus for 18 years. She has been an active member of the Lupus Research Alliance Young Leadership Board since its inception in 2010 and was honored in 2018 at our annual Handbag Luncheon as our “Woman of Achievement’. Veronica is originally from Venezuela, where she grew up until moving to the U.S. as a teenager. Lupus is dear to her not only because she has lived with it but also because her mother has lupus.

Why Veronica says she is serving on the Lupus Voices Council: “Lupus ABC will, for the first time, truly give people who live with lupus and their caregivers a platform where they can be heard and involved in the treatment development process directly with all stakeholders. As someone who has lived with the disease for many years and knowing the wide range of symptoms that those of us with lupus experience, having a voice in this process is immensely important. It is so critical for our perspectives to be considered when designing clinical trials and measuring outcomes to develop tailored therapies in lupus.”