Courses Taught:

PHARBE 510

Education History:

Management Development Program, The Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
FDA ORISE Fellowship, Office of Clinical Pharmacology, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics, University of Washington, Seattle
B.S. in Medical Laboratory Science, University of Washington, Seattle; ASCP Board of Certification (BOC) – Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS)

Biography: 

Michael Liao, PhD, is an Affiliate Associate Professor at the University of Washington and a senior biotech executive with extensive experience translating science into medicines. He currently serves as Vice President of Clinical Pharmacology at Third Arc Bio, where he leads quantitative and translational development strategies across oncology and immunology programs, working closely with executive leadership to advance novel therapeutics from preclinical stages through clinical development.

Mike’s scientific background is rooted in clinical pharmacology, PK/PD modeling, and model-informed drug development (MIDD), with deep industry experience in drug development for bispecific antibodies, antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs), monoclonal antibodies, and emerging modalities, including cell and gene therapies, at Amgen and Genentech. Over his career, he has led and contributed to multiple INDs, BLAs, global clinical trials, and regulatory interactions with the FDA and other health authorities, as well as to the development and approval of first-in-class medicines, notably polatuzumab vedotin, tarlatamab, and mosunetuzumab.

As an educator and mentor, Mike is passionate about training the next generation of scientists to think beyond experiments—to understand how biology, data, clinical strategy, and decision-making come together to impact patients.

Selected Publications:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Michael+z+Liao&sort=date