Joyson KARAKUNNEL is the Interim Chief Medical Officer at iTeos Therapeutics.
Dr. Karakunnel joined iTeos Therapeutics as interim Chief Medical Officer (consultant) in 2023. He brings over 20 years of drug development experience and expertise in oncology, hematology and other therapeutic areas. Currently, he serves as a board member at Precision Biologics and Primevax and formerly as an advisor to the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. Prior to joining the company, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Innate Pharma where he was responsible for the development of the clinical pipeline and strategy, clinical operations, biostats, patient safety, regulatory and medical affairs. Before that, Dr. Karakunnel served as Chief Medical Officer at Senior Vice President at Tizona Therapeutics. Earlier in his career, he held positions in industry at Arcus Biosciences and AstraZeneca/MedImmune, and also served as a clinical trial investigator at the National Cancer Institute and as a team leader for the hematologic group at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Previously, he served as an associate professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and as a medical reviewer at the Food and Drug Administration.
Dr. Karakunnel completed his medical training at Annamalai University in India and his internal medicine residency at Overlook Hospital/UMDNJ, where he was chief resident, and completed fellowships in hematology, oncology, and pain and palliative care at the National Cancer Institute. In addition to his MD, Dr. Karakunnel holds a MSc in pharmacology from the University of Maryland and an MBA from the Kelley School of Business (Indiana University).
