MEI Pharma, an oncology company focused on the clinical development of novel therapies for cancer, has appointed David Urso senior vice president of Corporate Development and General Counsel. Urso joins MEI Pharma with more than two decades of experience in the life science industry, most recently as chief operating officer and general counsel at Tioga Pharmaceuticals, a company he co-founded in 2005 as a principal at Forward Ventures.

Previously, Urso was director of Corporate Development and Legal Affairs at DNA Sciences. He worked as an attorney in the corporate securities and licensing groups at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Cooley Godward, after beginning his career as a bench scientist at SmithKline Beecham and the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.