Leadership

Stephen Brady

President and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Brady joined Tempest in September 2019 and has been the company’s chief executive officer since June 2021, and president and chief executive officer since September 2023. Most recently, he served as executive vice president, strategy and finance at Immune Design, a biopharmaceutical company sold to Merck in 2019. At Immune Design, Mr. Brady led strategy, corporate development, finance and investor and public relations, as well as other general and administrative functions, and was instrumental in the company’s successful IPO, financings and eventual sale. Prior to Immune Design, he held roles of increasing responsibility in multiple biopharmaceutical companies, including as vice president of corporate development at Proteolix, where he had primary responsibility for the company’s business development activities and sale to Onyx Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Brady also serves on the Board of Directors of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO).

Nicholas Maestas

Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Strategy

Mr. Maestas is the chief financial officer and head of corporate strategy at Tempest. He joined Tempest as vice president, strategy and finance in July 2021. He comes to Tempest from Alector, where he served as the head of FP&A and strategic finance, where he was responsible for setting the company’s roadmap and was instrumental in building Alector's FP&A function and establishing a transformative global collaboration with GSK. Prior to Alector, Mr. Maestas was responsible for corporate and business development, FP&A, alliance management, strategic planning, and general operations such as facilities and IT at Immune Design where he played a key role in the company's eventual sale to Merck in 2019. Prior to Immune Design, he held roles of increasing responsibility at companies focused on a range of aspects of the life sciences industry, including genetic sequencing, medical devices and biotherapeutics. Mr. Maestas received a BA in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California at Berkeley and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Sam Whiting, M.D., Ph.D.

Chief Medical Officer and Head of R&D

Dr. Whiting joined Tempest as executive vice president and chief medical officer in November 2020, and expanded his role to chief medical officer and head of research & development in September 2023. Prior to joining Tempest, Dr. Whiting served as senior vice president of clinical development at Calithera Biosciences, a clinical-stage biotech company focused on developing treatments for cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Before Calithera, Dr. Whiting served as vice president of research and clinical development at Gradalis and worked in development of small molecule targeted and immune-oncology agents at VentiRx Pharmaceuticals and Oncothyreon. Prior to joining industry, Dr. Whiting served as assistant professor of medical oncology at the University of Washington, assistant member of clinical research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and clinical head of gastrointestinal oncology at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Dr. Whiting completed fellowship training in medical oncology at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. His training in internal medicine was through the ABIM Research Pathway at the University of Washington. Dr. Whiting received his B.S. with Honors in Chemistry from Lewis and Clark College and his M.D. and Ph.D. in the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Washington.