Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the appointment of Aleksandra Rizo, M.D., Ph.D., to its Board of Directors. Dr. Rizo has extensive clinical development experience and a track record of successfully leading the development of several hematology drugs from discovery through commercialization. She will serve as a member of the Science and Technology Committee of the Board.

Dr. Rizo will replace Dr. Briggs Morrison who will step down effective May 14, 2024 after a successful 9-year tenure as a member of the Company's Board of Directors. Aleksandra Rizo, M.D., Ph.D., currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Vividion where she joined in 2023 as President, Head of Research and Development. Previously, Dr. Rizo served as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Geron Corporation (Geron) where she provided leadership and direction for all clinical and translational efforts.

Prior to joining Geron, Dr. Rizo was Strategy and Clinical Lead at Celgene Corporation where she led submission activities which resulted in successful NDA and MAA approvals for Fedratinib, and participated in strategic development activities for assets in the Myeloid Therapeutic Area, including business development evaluations. From 2008 to 2018, Dr. Rizo served in a number of oncology drug development functions with increasing responsibilities at Janssen Research and Development, LLC (Janssen), including Senior Director, Compound Development Team Leader for the myeloid portfolio, Senior Director, Global Clinical Leader for multiple assets, including imetelstat, Imbruvica for mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), and others. In these roles, she had oversight and leadership responsibilities for clinical development strategy, execution and regulatory submission activities.

In addition, Dr. Rizo was a core member of Janssen's Hematology Strategy Team where she participated and led multiple diligence projects. Dr. Rizo earned an M.D. degree from the University Ss Cyril and Methodius, Skopje, Macedonia, where she also completed a residency in internal medicine/hematology. Dr. Rizo obtained her Ph.D. degrees in Stem Cell Biology from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, and the University of Tokyo in Japan.