OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM

Patrick has over 35 years’ experience in pharmaceutical analysis and laboratory management. From 1987 to 1993, he was a research scientist with the Bristol-Myers Company/Bristol-Myers Squibb. In 1993, he was the Lab Director at Advion (now IQVIA) in Ithaca, NY. In 1998, Patrick joined Tandem Labs (now LabCorp Drug Development) where he held the positions of Sr. Laboratory Director, General Manager and Vice President in a variety of roles at several of the Tandem Lab’s sites. His focus on method development processes and innovation resulted in the bridging of good science, speed, and customer focus. In 2010, Patrick joined Thermo Fisher Scientific as Strategic Marketing Director for Pharma and introduced the Q Exactive and Fusion mass spectrometers. Between 2014 and 2022, Patrick was Vice President of Strategy and Development at PPD Laboratories. He started the PPD biomarker lab, organized the Cell and Gene Therapy team and was responsible for the creation of PPD Labs in Suzhou, China. He is currently CEO of Alliance Pharma, Inc.

Patrick earned a B.S. degree in Toxicology and a M.S. degree in Pharmacology from the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health at St. John’s University and an M.B.A in International Marketing from the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University.

Feng (Frank) Li, Ph.D., is President of Alliance Pharma. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Bioanalytical Chemistry jointly from Concordia University and the National Institute of Scientific Research (Canadian Doping Control Center) in Montreal, Canada. Subsequently, Dr. Li did his post-doctoral fellowship at the Biomedical Mass Spectrometry Facility at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Furthermore, Dr. Li has an M.Sc. degree in Natural Product Chemistry and a B.S. in Pharmacy. He has held leadership roles in the Department of Drug Discovery Metabolism at Phoenix International Life Sciences, Inc., a major CRO at the time in Montreal, Canada, which was later acquired by MDS Pharma Services; in the Drug Analysis group in the Department of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics (DMPK) at GlaxoSmithKline; and in the Drug Metabolism group in the Department of Drug Safety and Disposition at Cephalon, Inc. Dr. Li has extensive DMPK experience in discovery and developmental phases of drug development.

With more than 25 years in the pharmaceutical biotechnology, and CRO industry, he is well versed in bioanalytical techniques for both qualitative (drug metabolite identification) and quantitative (PK/TK) drug analysis, and has published numerous articles in the area of drug metabolite identification and quantitation.

Glenn Weber joined Alliance Pharma in January 2022 as Chief Financial Officer. Glenn has over 35 years of experience in corporate finance in a variety of industries and roles. Glenn’s early career included financial analysis &corporate development work at tire industry companies Firestone and GenCorp followed by operational finance management at Cognis, a global chemical company once part of Henkel and now part of BASF.   From 2008-2014hewas CFO at Deufol North America (printing & contract packaging). Since 2014 Glenn has been CFO of private equity sponsored companies including CMG (2014-15 Interim – automotive OEM), Brook & Whittle (2016-18 including a successful exit - printing) and Squan (2019-21, telecom construction).  

Glenn earned his Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio and earned his Master’s degree in Industrial Administration from Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.   Outside of work, he enjoys bicyclingand world history.

Zhiyang Zhao, Ph.D., serves as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) at Alliance Pharma. Dr. Zhao has over 25 years of pharmaceutical industry experience with special focus on metabolic and pharmacokinetic properties of small and large molecules in drug discovery and development. Dr. Zhao has previously held positions at Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, and Amgen. Before joining Alliance Pharma, Dr. Zhao served as Site Director of Preclinical Research at Amgen in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for over a decade.

Dr. Zhao’s extensive experience spans the entire drug discovery and development process (discovery, development, and in-/out-licensing) in oncology, metabolic, antiviral, CNS, and inflammatory diseases. Dr. Zhao’s contributions and accomplishments of integrating in vitro and in vivo ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity) information to optimize drug candidate properties are documented in over 50 peer‑reviewed scientific publications and patents in the areas of new drug targets, drug metabolism, pharmacokinetics, and toxicology.

Currently, Dr. Zhao serves as an Adjunct Professor at the Eshelman School of Pharmacy of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and as Editor-in-Chief of Drug Metabolism Letters, a journal by Bentham Science, which publishes in all areas of drug metabolism and disposition. Dr. Zhao received his Ph.D. degree in Medicinal Chemistry from Virginia Polytechnic and State University (popularly known as Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Michael Zhang, Ph.D., serves as Vice President of Quality at Alliance Pharma. Prior to his current positon, Dr. Zhang was the Vice President of Operations. Dr. Zhang has extensive experience in Analytical Chemistry, Computer Science, and Quality and Regulatory Compliance. His expertise includes development and validation of LC-MS/MS methods for analyses of biological samples and pesticide/herbicide residue samples, FDA/EPA/OECD GLP compliance, quality management systems, analytical instrumentation, software development, information technology, and computerized systems validation.

Before joining Alliance, Dr. Zhang was an Associate Director at Keystone Analytical Laboratories (a subsidiary of former PharmaNet Development Group, Inc.). Dr. Zhang has developed numerous challenging LC-MS/MS methods for biological and agrochemical analyses, built up the IT infrastructure, and established GLP compliant laboratories and 21 CFR Part 11 compliant computerized systems at several companies.

Dr. Zhang has also worked as a software engineer at Motorola (Chicago, IL) and a Programmer Analyst at Affina (Peoria, IL). Dr. Zhang earned his Ph.D. degree in Analytical Chemistry and M.Sc. degree in Computer Science, both from the University of Missouri-Rolla (Rolla, MO). Dr. Zhang also holds an M.Sc. degree in Analytical Chemistry and a B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Science and Technology of China (Hefei, Anhui).

Greg Kilby, Ph.D., is the VP of Technology and Bioanalysis and has over 2 decades of experience in leading scientists and in Separation and Mass Spectrometry analysis of biomolecules including protein characterization and proteomics.  Dr Kilby’s research interests can be summarized as applying advanced separations and mass spectrometry analytical platforms to answer challenging biological questions.

Prior to joining Alliance Pharma, Dr. Kilby was a Director, Biopharma R&D Analytical Sciences at AstraZeneca, leading a team supporting analytical development for multiple novel modality biopharmaceutical drug candidates - including ADC’s, bispecifics, fusion proteins, and other protein therapeutics - from clinical development through registration.

Previously, Dr. Kilby has had a broad range of experience at several fortune 500 pharmaceutical companies (Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca) and instrument vendors (Agilent Technologies and Thermo Fisher Scientific) where he held a variety of positions with responsibilities ranging from CMC analytical development & characterization in biopharma R&D and business development, marketing, managing operations, laboratory facilities and life sciences applications development in Agilent, Thermo, and Protea Biosciences.

Jing Tu is Head of Corporate Development and Strategy at Alliance Pharma (PA, USA). Jing has been working in the CRO and pharmaceutical industry since 2011. She started her career with Frontage Laboratories (PA, USA) in its biologics ligand binding services lab. As a Frontage scientist, she was then selected by Janssen R&D (formerly Centocor) to work within their ligand-binding laboratories in Spring House (PA, USA). In 2015, Jing joined PPD Laboratories’ (VA, USA) biomarker lab and started its biomarker ligand binding assay group. In 2018, Jing Joined the AbbVie (MA, USA) DMPK department and led its pre-clinical large molecule bioanalysis support. 

Jing has an M.B.A degree from Yale University (CT, USA) and graduated as the Class Marshall. She also has a medical degree from Norman Bethune School of Medicine Jilin University (Changchun, China).

Jing was a member of the Global CRO Council (GCC) from 2016 to 2018. She is also a current member of the organizing committee for Applied Pharmaceutical Analysis (APA), Bioanalysis Zoom Leader, and Expert Columnist. In 2018, she was named the winner of the Bioanalysis Rising Star Award.

Jason obtained his Ph.D. in Environmental Science in 2007 from New Jersey Institute of Technology. After graduation, Jason worked in a few leading bioanalytical CROs on the east coast of New Jersey and Pennsylvania before he took over as a manager in TetraQ, University of Queensland, Australia in 2013. In 2020, Jason took another role as senior director of Bioanalysis at Q Square Solutions, Beijing China, prior to joining Alliance Pharma Australia in early 2022 as Site President.

Jason has over 15 years of experience in bioanalysis. From bench scientist to senior director, Jason acquired extensive knowledge and hands-on experience in bioanalytical method development, validation and sample analysis. He has expertise in both LC-MS/MS and Ligand binding assay, including immunogenicity. He is also very familiar with US FDA, EMA and NMPA regulations related to bioanalysis.

Jason also has over 8 years of management experience. During 7 years in TetraQ, Jason led the growth and expansion of TetraQ .

Hong Chen, Ph.D., serves as Scientific Director of the Biopharmaceutical Services department at Alliance Pharma. Hong has more than a decade of experience in immuno-assay development, validation and sample analysis in support of multiple clinical and preclinical studies.

Prior to joining Alliance, Dr. Chen was a Sr. Scientist at Reaction Biology Corporation and a Principal Scientist at GlaxoSmithKline. Dr. Chen earned her doctorate degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Subsequently, she did a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine in the laboratory of Dr. Mark Kahn.

Dr. Chen has published numerous scientific papers in the field of immunology, virology, molecular biology, and vascular biology in multiple scientific journals including Gene and Development, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, Blood, Journal of Biologic Chemistry, and Molecular Cell Biology.

Ryan Klein, PhD, serves as Director of Business Development since joining Alliance Pharma in May 2018. Dr. Klein has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry developing both oral and topical dosage forms for a range of indications. Ryan earned his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and earned his doctoral degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Klein began his career at GlaxoSmithKline, where he was an integral component of their drug discovery organization providing drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic expertise to project teams. He was instrumental in the development and implementation of a number of in vitro and in situ ADME models to assess drug absorption, metabolism, and disposition. After leaving GSK, Dr. Klein joined Tergus Pharma, a CRO providing topical R&D services to the pharmaceutical industry. At Tergus, Ryan filled various leadership positions as the company grew from five employees to approximately seventy five over a seven year period, including Head of Research & Development and Head of In Vitro Sciences.

Dr. Klein’s areas of expertise include drug permeability, absorption and metabolism in the gastrointestinal tract, liver and skin, intestinal drug transporters, and the anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology of the skin and GI tract. He also has a strong analytical background with extensive experience developing and validating in vitro release testing methods for semi-solid dosage forms, as well as assay and impurities methods, and bioanalytical methods.

Ryan has authored & co-authored numerous scientific publications and patents, and serves as a member of several pharmaceutical research focus and discussion groups.
Outside of science, Ryan enjoys golf and running, usually while chasing his two children. Ryan is located in Raleigh, NC just outside of Research Triangle Park.

Contact Ryan Klein directly at  or via email rklein@alliancepharmaco.com

Xianrong (Jenny) Wei serves as Director of Business Development, managing Alliance Pharma’s West Coast region. She has over 19 years of experience working in the pharmaceutical and consumable industries. Her work encompassed pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, clinical, food safety and environmental control sectors under GLP/GCP/GMP and/or at discovery level.

Ms. Wei has extensive experience in leading and supporting bioanalytical method development and validation, regulated bioanalysis, automation processes and chromatography separations through major companies such as Phenomenex, Merck, Schering-Plough and GlaxoSmithKline.

She previously served as a key player in the marketing department for Phenomenex’s Team China, helping pursue business stategies, business development and customer relationship management during their international expansion. Her scientific work has been published and presented at ASMS, Pittcon, AOAC and in the Bioanalysis Journal.  Jenny is located in Los Angeles, CA.

Contact Jenny Wei directly at  or via email jwei@alliancepharmaco.com

Qimin Chao received a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Nachang University (formerly Jiangxi University), in Nanchang, China in 1982, and his M.S. in Microbial Genetics from Fudan University in Shanghai, China in 1985.

He came to the United States as a CUSBEA scholar and received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California at Davis in 1993. He was an NIH postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania in the laboratory of Dr. Joseph Ecker (Currently at Salk Institute, San Diego, CA).

In 2000, Dr. Chao joined Morphotek Inc. (acquired by Eisai Inc. in 2007) as its first senior scientist and was promoted to Director of Lead Discovery. He was primarily responsible for leading antibody generation and cloning before starting his own consulting business in 2018. In 2019, Dr. Chao joined Alliance Pharma as Director, Business Development. Qimin is located in Philadelphia, PA.

Contact Qimin Chao directly at  or via email qchao@alliancepharmaco.com

Aihua Liu, Ph.D., is the Director of Bioanalysis in Alliance Pharma. She holds a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry, an M.S. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry, and a B.S. in Pharmacy. She has five years of postdoctoral training in Biochemistry. Prior to joining Alliance Pharma, she was the Director of R&D and Chromatography in Dyad Labs after serving as the Team Lead of the bioanalytical method development group at Covance in Salt Lake City.

Dr. Liu has more than 15 years of experience in bioanalysis. Her research interests focus on novel analytical method development/validation and its sample analysis in bioanalysis of small molecules, oligonucleotides, ADC, lipids, DBS et al. In the previous company, Dr. Liu has successfully established a chromatography lab and team, which significantly increased the company’s revenue and profit.

Dr. Liu has authored more than 65 peer-reviewed publications, abstracts, conference posters/oral presentations and book chapters in the areas of analytical chemistry and herbal medicine. She is an active member of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS), the American Society of Mass Spectrometry (ASMS), the American Organization of Analytical Chemists (AOAC), and the International Conference on the Science of Botanicals (ICSB).

Jun Sun, MD, serves as Scientific Director of Drug Metabolism at Alliance Pharma, and oversees the daily operation of the team. His drug metabolism career began more than twenty years ago at GlaxoSmithKline where he developed expertise in CYP induction with focus on nuclear receptor activation and other aspects of complex drug-drug interactions. After leaving GSK, he joined AbbVie as a member of the DMPK team with primary responsibility for all DDI related assays from drug discovery through late stage regulatory inquiries.

Dr. Sun received his MD degree from Zhejiang University, School of Medicine in Zhejiang, China, followed by a Master’s degree in Physiology and Pharmacology from the University of Calgary, School of Medicine. He has published a number of peer-reviewed articles and presented numerous poster and oral presentations throughout his career.

Yong Lin has served as a scientist and significant contributor to the Biopharmaceutical Services department at Alliance Pharma since 2010, responsible for method development and validation to support pharmacokinetic and immunogenicity studies. As a Principal Investigator at Alliance, Yong leads various projects and plays a key role interacting with clients, as well as designing and executing experiments.

Yong has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Alliance Pharma, he spent time at Bausch & Lomb, MDS Pharma, and IBEX Pharmaceuticals supporting various stages of Research and Development by executing cell-based and immune-assays using various platforms.

Yong earned a Masters in Veterinary Medicine from South China Agricultural University, as well as a Masters in Cell Biology from McGill University in Canada. Throughout his career, Yong has published a number of research articles in peer reviewed journals, and co-authored various patents.

Jiawei Tang is Director of Commercial Strategy, responsible for the company’s Commercial strategy, Marketing as well as the advancement of innovative access partnerships with Clients around the world.

Prior to joining Alliance Pharma, Jiawei was the Sr. Marketing manager in Pfizer. In her 12 years at Pfizer, she developed innovative growth strategies, and implemented high-impact programs to improve patients’ lives .

Jiawei earned a Bachelor of Engineering in Pharmaceutics from Shenyang Pharmaceutical University. She is also working in CAST- USA, a non-profit Science and Technology organization, as an Operation Director. She is an active advocate for Clinical problem-oriented research and drug development, lived and worked in China for many years, she has global insight in health industry.

Contact Jiawei Tang directly at  or via email jwtang@alliancepharmaco.com

Steve Gorman joined Alliance Pharma in May 2018 as a Project Manager, and currently serves as an auditor in the Quality Assurance Unit.  He provides general support of the Quality Management System at and holds primary responsibility for hosting client audits and regulatory agency inspections.

Mr. Gorman has over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry in regulated small molecule bioanalytical.  He has supported preclinical discovery programs, GLP pre-clinical IND enabling studies, and clinical studies from Phase I through Phase IV.  Mr. Gorman’s experience includes hands-on method development and sample analysis in the laboratory, as well as management and oversight of a regulated bioanalytical laboratory.  He brings a unique perspective to Alliance Pharma, having managed the outsourcing of bioanalytical studies in the United States and in the EU for over 25 years at a large pharmaceutical company. His attendance at all Crystal City Workshops on Bioanalytical Method Validation since 2000 (CC II through VI), and at key meetings such as WRIB, are the basis for his expertise in understanding the requirements of regulated bioanalysis.

Mr. Gorman holds a degree in Biochemistry from the Pennsylvania State University.  He has authored or co-authored 10 journal articles.  He has also served on the Steering Committee of the Delaware Valley Drug Metabolism Discussion Group for 26 years.

Lisa Leaf first joined Alliance Pharma in 2014 as an analyst in the Drug Metabolism team developing expertise implementing in vitro ADME assays to support Drug Discovery.

In 2015 Lisa’s role expanded to include project coordination activities in support of all drug metabolism studies, and in 2016 Lisa became the primary Project Manager supporting each of the major functional departments at Alliance. Her key responsibilities include facilitating communication with customers, maintaining key relationships, drafting and review of contracts and proposals, coordinating departmental resources, managing project timelines, and tracking and projecting company revenue.

Prior to joining Alliance, Lisa held two internship positions at Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline in Global Labelling Management and DMPK, respectively. Lisa earned her B.Sc. from West Chester University just outside of Philadelphia PA in Pharmaceutical Product Development in 2014.