Best Startup
At Best Startup US we track over 1,000,000 US startups and over 3 million people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United States based CEO’ operating in the Biotechnology space. If you think a CEO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.us.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Othman Laraki
Co-founder & CEO of Color
Othman Laraki, MS, MBA, is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Color, a health technology company building public health infrastructures such as scaled and efficient testing to contain the COVID-19 pandemic or using genomics for population health. Previously, Othman co-founded Mixer Labs and developed its GeoAPI platform, a powerful location engine for developers. After the company was acquired by Twitter in 2009, he served as the social media network’s Vice President of Product and helped expand its user base from 50 to 200 million unique accounts. Before this, Othman spent several years at Google, where he played an integral role developing front-end products, including the Chrome browser. Othman is a long-time investor and advisor to leading companies such as Pinterest, AngelList, Slack and Instacart, and serves as a board member for ESI Group and Frontier Medicines. He holds degrees in computer science and management from Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Follow Othman Laraki:
About Color: Color is a population health technology company that enables the delivery of advanced healthcare through clinical genetics.
_______
Anne Wojcicki
Co-Founder and CEO of 23andMe
Anne co-founded 23andMe in 2006 after a decade spent in healthcare investing, focused primarily on biotechnology companies. Her hope was to empower consumers with access to their own genetic information and to create a way to generate more personalized information so that commercial and academic researchers could better understand and develop new drugs and diagnostics. Presently, 23andMe has built one of the world’s largest databases of individual genetic information. Its novel, web-based research approach allows for the rapid recruitment of participants to many genome-wide association studies at once, reducing the time and money needed to make new discoveries, and the company has created a proven and standardized resource for finding new genetic association and confirming genetic loci discovered by others. Under Anne’s leadership 23andMe has made significant advances in bringing personalized medicine directly to the public. Anne graduated from Yale University with a BS in Biology. Getting access to and understanding her own genetic information had always been one of her ambitions.
Follow Anne Wojcicki:
About 23andMe, The Brin Wojcicki Foundation: 23andMe is a DNA testing technology company that enables its users to access their ancestry, genealogy, and inherited traits.
Lin Jixun
Founder & CEO of ACON Laboratories
Lin Jixun has served as our director since 2008 and is the founder and chief executive officer of ACON Laboratories Inc., a worldwide leading manufacturer of high-quality rapid diagnostic test products. Mr. Lin founded ACON Laboratories Inc. in 1995 and serves on the company’s board of directors. He also serves on the board of directors for ACEA BioSciences Inc., a company providing innovative cell-based assay systems for basic life science research and drug discovery. Mr. Lin received his Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from the Medical University of South Carolina and a Bachelor of Medicine from Zhejiang Medical University.
Follow Lin Jixun:
About ACON Laboratories: ACON Laboratories is a biotechnology firm that offers medical diagnostic and healthcare products.
Ben Lamm
Founder & CEO of Colossal Biosciences
Ben Lamm is the co-founder and CEO of Colossal. Ben is a serial technology entrepreneur driven to solve the most complex challenges facing our planet. For over a decade, Ben has built disruptive businesses that future-proof our world. In addition to leading and growing his own companies, he is passionate about emerging technology, science, space and climate change. Active in angel investing, incubators and startup communities, Ben invests in software and emerging tech, and is deeply engaged in the technology, defense and climate change communities. Prior to Colossal, Ben served as the founder and CEO to a number of companies, including Hypergiant, an enterprise AI software company focused on critical infractures, space, and defense; Conversable, the leading conversational intelligence platform that helps brands reach customers through automated experiences acquired by LivePerson; and Chaotic Moon, a global creative technology powerhouse acquired by Accenture. Ben was also the co-founder of Team Chaos, a consumer gaming company acquired by Zynga. Ben is a fellow of the Explorer’s Club, whose mission is to promote the scientific exploration of land, sea, air, and space by supporting research and education in the physical, natural and biological sciences. He also serves as a Scientific Advisory Board member on the Planetary Society and sits on the Advisory Board for the Arch Mission. Ben has appeared as a thought leader in many publications, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Wired, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and Newsweek on topics such as innovation, technology and entrepreneurship.
Follow Ben Lamm:
About Capital Factory, Colossal Biosciences, Hypergiant, Nautilus Magazine, Techstars: Colossal is a breakthrough bioscience and genetic engineering company that builds radical new technologies to advance the field of genomics.
Trevor Martin
Co-Founder and CEO of Mammoth Biosciences
As co-founder and CEO of Mammoth Biosciences, Trevor Martin is focused on creating the world’s first CRISPR-based platform for disease detection, taking impactful CRISPR technology out of the lab and into the hands of doctors and consumers. Prior to co-founding Mammoth, Trevor completed his PhD in Biology at Stanford University, where he worked at the intersection of statistics and genetics. In addition to having taught a course in Statistics at Stanford, Trevor has penned educational guides for university courses across the globe. His work has been featured in outlets like FiveThirtyEight and The Atlantic.
Follow Trevor Martin:
About Mammoth Biosciences: Mammoth Biosciences develops novel CRISPR applications for disease detection, research, agriculture, biodefense, and more.
Chris Gibson
Co-Founder & CEO of Recursion Pharmaceuticals
Chris completed his PhD in Bioengineering at the University of Utah in the fall of 2013 before taking a leave of absence from medical school (he was enrolled in the MD/PhD program) to found and grow Recursion. He developed the core technology underlying this venture while in the lab of Dr. Dean Li. Chris comes from a family of entrepreneurs, is a graduate of Rice University with degrees in bioengineering and managerial studies, and recently completed an intense course in entrepreneurship at Stanford GSB. Chris is also a Board Member of CureHHT, a patient advocacy group for Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia. Chris enjoys cycling on both the road and the trails that cut through Utah’s great wilderness,as well as spending precious time with his family.
Follow Chris Gibson:
About Recursion Pharmaceuticals: Recursion Pharmaceuticals is a digital biology company, developing a drug discovery platform and pipeline with machine learning.
Raja Dhir
Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Seed Health
Raja Dhir is a life sciences entrepreneur and Co-Founder of Seed Health, a venture-backed microbiome company pioneering the application of bacteria for both human and planetary health. He leads Seed’s R&D, academic collaborations, technology development, clinical trial design, supply chain, and intellectual property strategy. Together with Dr. Jacques Ravel, he Co-Chairs Seed’s Scientific Advisory Board–an interdisciplinary group of scientists and doctors who lead research teams and teach at institutions including the teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and the Trial Innovation Unit of Mass. General Hospital (MGH). Raja has designed clinical trials with leading academic institutions including the teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and the Trial Innovation Unit of Mass. General Hospital (MGH). Raja has unique expertise translating scientific research for product development with a track record that includes patented inventions to stabilize sensitive compounds to improve alpha-diversity of the gut microbiome (derived from micro-algae) and most recently, the co-invention of microbial technologies to protect honeybee populations (Apis mellifera) from neonicotinoid pesticides and pathogen colonization. His work also includes biofermentation and scale-up for both facultative and strict anaerobic organisms. Raja has negotiated multiple joint-ventures, strategic partnerships, technology transfer and licensing agreements with publicly traded companies (NYSE, LSE) and academic institutions (Harvard Medical School, UCLA). To date, entities he has co-founded own the rights to 15+ patents and research emerging from $25MM+ of non-dilutive funding over 10+ years from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and National Institute of Health (NIH). Raja serves on the Editorial Board for the scientific journal, Microbiome. He is a member of the Microbiome Think Tank at Mass. General Hospital (MGH) and sits on the Advisory Committee for the International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP). Raja is also a Director and Co-Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for Micropia, a $20MM microbial ecology / education platform and the world’s first museum dedicated to microbes.
Follow Raja Dhir:
About Seed Health: Seed Health is a microbial company that focuses on therapeutics, consumer health innovations, and environmental solutions.
Ara Katz
Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Seed Health
Ara Katz is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Seed Health, a microbial sciences company pioneering the application of bacteria to impact human and planetary health. She has worked at the intersection of technology, consumer, design, and media is now working to steward a new standard in probiotics and how science is communicated to change how we discern evidence from evangelism to make the most informed choices for our bodies, our health, and our world. Ara previously co-founded and served as CMO of mobile commerce marketplace, Spring (backed by LMVH, sold to ShopRunner), and was on the founding team of social commerce company, BeachMint (sold to Conde Nast), where she launched six direct-to-consumer, influencer subscription brands. She is an angel investor and advisor in companies such as mindbodygreen, Stadium Goods (recently sold to FarFetch), RXDefine, women’s healthcare startup, Mahmee, and new biomaterials company, C16. Ara has been a fellow at the MIT Media Lab’s Center for Future Storytelling and CCA’s Design MBA program, was named in Marie Claire’s “The New Guard: The 50 Most Influential Women in America”, listed on Business Insider’s “Silicon Alley Top 100” and “36 Rockstar Women in NYC Tech”, and Create + Cultivate’s 100 List for STEM.
Follow Ara Katz:
About Seed Health: Seed Health is a microbial company that focuses on therapeutics, consumer health innovations, and environmental solutions.
Thomas Joyce
President & CEO of Danaher
Thomas Joyce is President and Chief Executive Officer of Danaher Corporation, a position he assumed in September 2014. Thomas is responsible for the company’s strategic vision and leads the development and growth of Danaher’s global science and technology portfolio. Thomas has more than 20 years of Danaher leadership experience. Prior to his appointment as President and Chief Executive Officer, he served as Executive Vice President of Danaher Corporation, responsible for Danaher’s Water Quality platform and Life Sciences & Diagnostics segment. In this role, Thomas increased Danaher’s Water Quality revenue by over $1.5 billion and led the company’s major acquisitions of Beckman Coulter and AB SCIEX. Throughout his tenure, Thomas has also played a key role in developing and evolving the Danaher Business System, Danaher’s common operating philosophy. Thomas began his Danaher career in 1989 as a Project Manager in the Danaher Tool Group, and later transitioned into a manufacturing role. In 1995, Thomas became President of Delta Consolidated Industries. Following this assignment, he became President of Hach Company, the world leader in analytical instrumentation for drinking water and wastewater applications in 2001. In 2002, Thomas became a Group Executive and Corporate Officer with Danaher Corporation, which led to his transition to Executive Vice President in 2006. Prior to joining Danaher, Thomas worked as a management consultant at Anderson Consulting, where he worked with a large number of manufacturing businesses to implement lean tools and optimize transactional processes. Thomas was born and raised on the north shore of Chicago and earned his bachelor’s degree in Economics from the College of the Holy Cross in 1982. He and his wife, Claire, live in Washington, D.C. and have four children.
Follow Thomas Joyce:
About Danaher: Danaher is a global science and technology innovator committed to helping their customers solve complex challenges and improve quality.
Brenton Saunders
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Allergan
Brent Saunders is Chief Executive Officer and President of Allergan plc (formerly Actavis plc). Brenton previously served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Forest Laboratories and had served as a Member of the Board of Directors at Forest since 2011. Brenton has significant healthcare industry expertise and a proven track-record leading business transformations and integrations. Prior to Forest, Brenton was Chief Executive Officer of Bausch + Lomb, a leading global eye health company, serving in this capacity from March 2010 until August 2013. Brenton also held a number of leadership positions at Schering-Plough, including the position of president of Global Consumer Health Care and was named head of integration for the company’s merger with Merck & Co. and for Schering-Plough’s acquisition of Organon BioSciences. Before joining Schering-Plough, Brenton was a Partner and Head of Compliance Business Advisory at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Prior to that, Brenton was Chief Risk Officer at Coventry Health Care and Senior Vice President, Compliance, Legal and Regulatory at Home Care Corporation of America. Brenton began his career as Chief Compliance Officer for the Thomas Jefferson University Health System. Brenton serves on the Board of Trustees of the University of Pittsburgh. Brenton is also the former Chairman of the New York chapter of the American Heart Association. Brenton is a Member of the Business Council and PhRMA. Brenton earned his MBA from Temple University School of Business, his J.D. from Temple University School of Law and his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh.
Follow Brenton Saunders:
About Allergan, Cisco: Allergan is a global pharmaceutical company.
Richard Terry
CEO, CTO and Founder of Harton Therapeutics
Prior to founding Harton, Richard was the CEO, CTO, and founder of ReadCoor, the leading developer of a true spatial biology platform. Before ReadCoor, he was the Lead Senior Staff Scientist at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.
At the Wyss, he supported advancements in reading, writing, and editing nucleic acid, better known as nucleic acid sequencing, gene synthesis, and gene editing.
Richard was one of the Institute’s first hires and joined the founding team before the research center opened its doors. He built and transformed the Synthetic Biology Platform from its earliest form into the world-renowned Translational Synthetic Biology group that it is today.
A sample of the tools developed by the Synthetic Biology group under his charge includes Ultra-Long DNAs, Next-Gen Sequencing, Nanopore Sequencing, Multiplexed Automated Genome Engineering (MAGE), Programmable DNA Nanotherapeutic Robotic Device, CRISPR, TALEN, Zinc Finger, CADnano, SeqTag, Data Encoding and Enzymatic Synthesis of DNA.
Before joining the Wyss, Richard resided in the Church Lab at Harvard Medical School. During his time in the lab, he designed, developed, and produced a cost-effective, high throughput, open-source DNA sequencer: The Polonator. Prior to his time at the Church Lab, Richard developed implantable nerve stimulation devices to treat vestibular disorders at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. He also held the position of Senior Project Manager for an optical subsystem of the Large Hadron Colliders (LHC) at The Center of European Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland.
While completing his graduate degree and following its completion, he conducted urology research for diagnostic devices at Boston Medical Center. He has served as a consultant for a diverse selection of companies ranging from medical device startups to large manufacturing firms (Johnson & Johnson, NeuroKinetics, Intelligent Bio Systems, Good Start Genetics, ABVitro, Merck, Fero Solutions, Halcyon Molecular, Gen9, and Helicos Biosciences).
Additionally, he founded a DNA sequencing chemistry company and an engineering consulting firm.
Richard is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the 2020 Goldman Sacks 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs; ReadCoor NEVC startup of the year 2016 (nominated); and ReadCoor NEVC deal of the year 2020 (nominated).
He received his Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from Boston University and has numerous patents and publications spanning multiple disciplines.
Follow Richard Terry:
About Harton Therapeutics, Harvard Medical School: Harton is a biotechnology platform company pioneering the next revolution in personalized immune therapies to treat each and every patient.
Sam Santhosh
Founder Chairman & Global CEO of MedGenome
Sam Santhosh is the Founder and CEO of MedGenome. He has been an entrepreneur, with over 20 years of experience in the software industry. Currently, he is at the helm of affairs as CEO and promoter of MedGenome Labs Pvt Ltd. Sam sits on the board of a number of companies, both in the US and India. In this role he advises, guides and mentors companies to help them grow and realize their true potential. Prior to this Sam was the CEO and Managing Director of California Software Limited (Calsoft) from 1992 – Feb 2012. He founded Calsoft in 1992 and under Sam’s vision, Calsoft rapidly grew from a niche player in the Silicon Valley to a global player with over 1200 employees and presence in 8 countries. Sam took Calsoft Public and the company is listed the in Indian Stock Exchanges. Sam oversaw the growth of Calsoft in all key areas – Finance, Strategy, Customer Acquisition, and inorganic growth through eight acquisitions including companies in the U.S, UK, Japan, and India. He has been constantly retooling himself and has attended various training programs in different U.S universities including MIT. In 2010, he completed the Executive Education program at the Singularity University in Sunnyvale, California. Sam has an engineering degree and an MBA (majoring in Management Information Systems) from India’s premier institute, IIM Calcutta.
Follow Sam Santhosh:
About Agrigenome, MedGenome: MedGenome develops a genomics-based diagnostics and research solution for healthcare providers to understand the genetic basis of diseases.
Yingshuang Chai
Co-Founder & CEO of NuProbe
Yingshuang Chai is a Co-Founder, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of Directors at NuProbe.
Follow Yingshuang Chai:
About NuProbe: An early stage molecular diagnostics company.
James Flynn
Managing Partner & CEO of Deerfield Capital Management
Jim is the Managing Partner of Deerfield. He joined Deerfield in 2000, focusing on pharmaceutical companies and gradually assuming broader responsibility throughout the firm. In 2004 Jim began co-managing the firm with Deerfield’s founder, Arnold Snider. Upon Arnie’s retirement in 2005, Jim assumed his current role overseeing Deerfield’s investment activities as well as the management of the firm. Since that time, the firm has expanded its investment capabilities to include private structured financings, developed additional proprietary market research instruments through the Deerfield Institute, and created the Deerfield Foundation to contribute toward the health and welfare of disadvantaged children. Before joining Deerfield, Jim was a top ranked analyst at Furman Selz from 1996 to 2000, where he built a team to cover the pharmaceutical and medical device industries and also managed a proprietary trading account. Previously he served from 1993 to 1996 as Vice President of Corporate Development of Alpharma Inc., a pharmaceutical company, where his responsibilities included business development and strategic planning and the management of several licensing transactions. Jim began his career in healthcare investing from 1988 to 1993 at Kidder, Peabody & Co., where he ultimately served as a senior analyst covering the specialty pharmaceutical industry. Since 2009, Jim has served as the Chairman of the Quality Committee of the Board of Trustees of Continuum Health Partners until its merger in 2013 with Mount Sinai Health System, where he continues to serve on the Board of Trustees. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the New York Academy of Medicine. He holds a B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology and Economics from the University of Michigan.
Follow James Flynn:
About Deerfield, Deerfield Capital Management, Deerfield Management, SaveologyHomeServices.com: Deerfield Capital Management (DCM) is a global fixed-income investment adviser
Steve Chapin
Chief Executive Officer of Buddi
Steve is based in the Buddi US headquarters in Tampa, Florida where he leads all of Buddi’s U.S. offender monitoring operations. He is a pioneer in the GPS tracking and offender monitoring market with more than 14 years of experience within the industry. Prior to joining Buddi, he was the CEO of Pro Tech Monitoring, the first company to successfully develop and deploy GPS technology for use in the criminal justice industry. As CEO, he led the company from the zero revenue, startup phase to a highly profitable, leadership position in the corrections industry until its eventual sale to 3M Company in 2010. With a background in the aerospace electronics industry, Steve has held leadership positions with a leading U.S. manufacturer of avionics equipment and prior to that with a large defense contractor working on classified programs with the U.S. armed forces. Steve has a Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and is listed as the inventor on a number of patents. He is married with three grown children and is an accomplished pilot with multiple ratings.
Follow Steve Chapin:
About Buddi: Buddi is an innovative, high-growth and british technology company that develops location and health monitoring technologies.
Robert Boisjoli
CEO & Board Member of AKESOgen
Robert Boisjoli is Founder & Chief Executive Officer at AKESOgen.
Follow Robert Boisjoli:
About AKESOgen, Atwater Financial Group: AKESOgen is a biomarker, genomics, and pharmacogenomics contract research organization.
John Melo
Director, President & Chief Executive Officer of Amyris
John Melo has 30 years of combined experience as an entrepreneur and thought leader in developing and growing technology companies and as a senior executive in the Oil & Gas industry. As President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Melo has led Amyris through successful technology development, industrial start up, product development and commercialization and a series of funding rounds, including the initial public offering. Before joining Amyris in 2007, Mr. Melo served in various senior executive positions at BP Plc (formerly British Petroleum) most recently as President of U.S. fuels operations where he successfully led a business transformation and significantly improved the financial performance. During his tenure at BP, Mr. Melo also served as Chief Information Officer of the refining and marketing segment; Senior Advisor for e-business strategy to Lord Browne, BP group chief executive; and Director of global brand development. In this last role, he helped develop the “Helios” re-branding effort. Before joining BP, Mr. Melo was with Ernst & Young. Mr. Melo currently serves on the board of directors of Renmatix Inc., serves on the board of directors of BayBio, serves on the Bio Industrial and Environmental section governing board, is a member of the Council for the Portuguese Diaspora and is a member of Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO). He was formerly an appointed member to the U.S. section of the U.S.-Brazil CEO Forum. When not working on the mission of making sustainable chemistry mainstream or championing the eradication of malaria, John enjoys skiing, reading and time with his family on the island of Pico in the Azores, his childhood home.
Follow John Melo:
About Amyris: Amyris Biotechnologies specializes in creating renewable products focusing on fuels and chemicals.
Kimberlie Le
CEO and Co-Founder of Prime Roots
Follow Kimberlie Le:
About Prime Roots: Prime Roots is celebrating the culture of meat by reimagining protein itself.
Chris Mirabelli
President & CEO of Leap Therapeutics
Dr. Mirabelli has served as the Chairman of our Board of Directors since 2016 and has also served as our President and Chief Executive Officer since our inception in 2011. Dr. Mirabelli has been a managing director of HealthCare Ventures LLC since 2000. From December 1999 to May 2000, Dr. Mirabelli served as president of pharmaceutical research and development and member of the board of directors of Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., following its merger with LeukoSite Inc., where Dr. Mirabelli had been serving as president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors since 1993. He was a co-founder of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: IONS), where he held several positions including senior vice president of research, from 1989 until 1993. Dr. Mirabelli started his career at SmithKline and French Laboratories (now part of GlaxoSmithKline Plc) R&D Division. He is a member of the board of advisors of the Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator Fund at Harvard Medical School and the Boston Biomedical Innovation Center. Dr. Mirabelli is a member of the Board of Trustees of Guilford College. He received his Ph.D. in molecular pharmacology from Baylor College of Medicine and a B.S. degree in biology from State University of New York at Fredonia.
Follow Chris Mirabelli:
About Leap Therapeutics: Leap Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company.
Marc D. Grodman
CEO of Bio-Reference Laboratories
Follow Marc D. Grodman:
About Bio-Reference Laboratories: BioReference is the third largest full service clinical diagnostic laboratory in the U.S. providing testing .
Paul Chang
President, CEO/CSO and Lead Founder of ARase Therapeutics
Follow Paul Chang:
About ARase Therapeutics: Arase Therapeutics is a science-focused oncology company developing therapies that modulate cancer-relevant cell signaling pathways.
Michael Heltzen
Chief Executive Officer of Cardea Bio
Follow Michael Heltzen:
About Cardea Bio, Nanomed: Cardea is developing a new generation of (bio)technology infrastructure based on proprietary biology-gated transistors.
Rachel E. Haurwitz
Co-founder, President & CEO of Caribou Biosciences
Rachel is a co-founder of Caribou Biosciences and has been President and CEO since its inception. She has a research background in CRISPR-Cas biology, and is also a co-founder of Intellia Therapeutics. Rachel is an inventor on several patents and patent applications covering multiple CRISPR-derived technologies, and she has co-authored scientific papers in high impact journals characterizing CRISPR-Cas systems. In 2014, she was named by Forbes Magazine to the “30 Under 30” list in Science and Healthcare, and in 2016, Fortune Magazine named her to the “40 Under 40” list of the most influential young people in business. Rachel earned an A.B. in Biological Sciences from Harvard College, and received a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Follow Rachel E. Haurwitz:
About Caribou Biosciences: Caribou Biosciences is a biotechnology company that develops CRISPR technologies and allogenic cell therapies for oncology.
Agustin Fernandez III
CEO & Co-Founder of Rational Vaccines
Follow Agustin Fernandez III:
About Duende Media, Rational Vaccines: Rational Vaccines is a pre-clinical stage that develops live-attenuated herpes simplex virus vaccines.
Francis deSouza
CEO of Illumina
Francis A. deSouza, 50, has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Illumina, Inc., a biotechnology company, since 2016 and served as President of Illumina from 2013 to 2016. Prior to joining Illumina, Mr. deSouza was President, Products and Services, of Symantec Corporation from 2011 to 2013, and Mr. deSouza served as Symantec’s Senior Vice President, Enterprise Security Group, from 2009 to 2011. Prior to that time he founded or worked in a variety of other technology businesses. He has served as a Director of Illumina since 2014 and was a director of Citrix Systems, Inc. from 2014 to 2016. He was elected a Director of the Company in December 2017, effective February 1, 2018.
Follow Francis deSouza:
About Illumina: Illumina is an innovative technology and revolutionary assays aiming the analyze genetic variation and function.
Jay Flatley
President & CEO of Illumina
Jay was appointed President and CEO of Illumina in 1999 and oversaw the company’s expansion into the whole genome sequencing area with the acquisition of Solexa in 2006, and more recently into diagnostics and consumer sequencing. Under his leadership, Illumina has been named multiple times to the Deloitte & Touche Fast 50 and Fast 500 lists, as well as to the Forbes 25 Fastest-Growing Tech Companies (2007, 2009 and 2010), the Fortune 100 Fastest-Growing Companies (2010 and 2011) lists, and recognition by MIT Technology Review as the World’s Smartest Company in 2014. Previously, Jay served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Molecular Dynamics. As a co-founder and member of the board of directors for Molecular Dynamics he led the company to its initial public offering in 1993. He helped Molecular Dynamics develop and launch over 15 major instrumentation systems, including the first capillary-based DNA sequencer. Currently, he is an Advisory Board member for UC San Diego’s Moores Cancer Center, and a member of the Board of Directors at Coherent, Denali, and Illumina, Inc. Jay received a B.A. in economics from Claremont McKenna College and a B.S. and M.S. (summa cum laude) in industrial engineering from Stanford University.
Follow Jay Flatley:
About Illumina: Illumina is an innovative technology and revolutionary assays aiming the analyze genetic variation and function.
Robert Alexander
Chief Executive Officer of Allakos
Robert Alexander has been involved in the formation and leadership of numerous biotechnology companies. Robert Alexander was CEO of ZS Pharma where he led the initial public offering and sale of ZS Pharma to AstraZeneca. Prior to ZS Pharma, Robert Alexander was a Director at Alta Partners, a venture capital firm, and was also Executive Chairman and interim CEO of SARcode Bioscience. During his time at Alta Partners, he led investments in SARcode Bioscience (acquired by Shire), Lumena Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Shire), ZS Pharma (acquired by AstraZeneca), and Allakos. Prior to Alta Partners, Robert was a Principal in MPM Capital’s BioEquities Fund. Robert Alexander joined MPM from Genentech, where he worked in the Business Development group. Robert Alexander is on the Board of Directors of Allena Pharmaceuticals. He holds a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Bachelor Science in Zoology from Miami University of Ohio.
Follow Robert Alexander:
About Allakos: Allakos is a biotechnology company that develops antibody-based therapeutics to treat various allergies and diseases.
Erik Holmlin
President, CEO of Bionano Genomics
Erik Holmlin has two decades of experience in the life science and health care industries. His expertise spans technology development and commercialization, global marketing, commercial operations, venture financing, mergers & acquisitions and intellectual property. Recently, he served as president and CEO of GenVault Corporation, a life science company bring innovative solutions to biosample management. He merged GenVault with IntegenX, Inc. in January of 2011. He also served as an entrepreneur in residence (EIR) at Domain Associates, LLC, a leading dedicated life science venture-capital firm. Prior to these roles, Erik was chief commercial officer at Exiqon A/S, where he was responsible for global sales, marketing, and clinical affairs for two businesses: Oncology Services in a CLIA lab and Consumables Business in Life Sciences Research. In 2001 Mr. Holmlin led the formation of GeneOhm Sciences, Inc., for which, over a span of 5 years, he was director of chemistry, senior technology director, vice president of technology and business development, and vice president of marketing.
Follow Erik Holmlin:
About Bionano Genomics: BioNano Genomics develops nanoscale imaging and analytic platforms designed to analyze DNA and other genome-related peptides and proteins.
Noubar Afeyan
Founder & CEO of Flagship Pioneering
Noubar Afeyan is Founder, Senior Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer at Flagship Ventures, a leading early stage venture capital firm. Noubar also leads the firm’s VentureLabs unit that invents and launches transformative startups. Noubar is a Senior Lecturer at MIT’s Sloan School of Management where he has taught courses on technology-entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership since 2000. Noubar lectures widely in the United States and internationally on diverse topics ranging from entrepreneurship, innovation and venture capital to biological engineering, drug discovery, medical technologies and renewable energy. During his 28-year career as inventor, entrepreneur, CEO and venture capitalist, Noubar has co-founded and helped build over 35 successful life science and technology startups. Noubar was Founder and Chief Executive Officer at PerSeptive Biosystems, a leader in the bio-instrumentation field that grew to over $100M in annual sales within six years from its first sales. After PerSeptive’s acquisition by Perkin Elmer/Applera Corporation in 1998, Noubar was Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer of Applera, where he initiated and oversaw the creation of Celera Genomics. Currently Noubar serves on a number of public and private company boards including CiBO Technologies, Epiva BioSciences, Evelo BioSciences, Joule Unlimited, Kaleido BioSciences, Moderna Therapeutics, Pronutria Biosciences and Seres Therapeutics. Previously, Noubar was a Member of the founding team, Director and Investor in several highly successful ventures including Chemgenics Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Millennium Pharmaceuticals), Color Kinetics (acquired by Philips), Adnexus Therapeutics (acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb) and Affinnova (acquired by AC Nielsen). Noubar received a Technology Pioneer 2012 award from the World Economic Forum in recognition of the breakthrough solar fuel technology being developed at Joule Unlimited. Noubar has served as Chairman of the Global Agenda Council on Chemicals, Advanced Materials and Biotechnology of the World Economic Forum as well as being a member of the Meta-Council on Emerging Technologies. Noubar is a Member of the Board of Overseers of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he serves on the board of AmeriaBank and of UWC Dilijan International School, both of Armenia. Previously, Noubar was a Co-Founder and Member of the Board of Directors at National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia, a private-public partnership dedicated to promoting economic development in the former Soviet Republic of Armenia. In 2008 Noubar received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, an award granted to outstanding Americans who have distinguished themselves as United States citizens and who have enabled their ancestry groups to maintain their identities while becoming integral parts of American life. Noubar has authored numerous scientific publications and patents since earning his Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering from MIT in 1987. Cygnal is a best-in-class team of biomedical experts and leaders collaborating to revolutionize how the world treats diseases.
Follow Noubar Afeyan:
About BIND Therapeutics, Cogen Therapeutics, Cygnal Therapeutics, Ensemble Therapeutics, Flagship Pioneering, Generate Biomedicines, Harvard Business School, Indigo, Joule Unlimited Technologies, Laronde, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Moderna Therapeutics, Omega Therapeutics, Permeon Biologics, Ring Therapeutics, Rubius Therapeutics, Seres Therapeutics: Flagship Pioneering is a venture capital firm that invests in life sciences and healthcare companies.
Simba Gill
President & CEO of Evelo Biosciences
Simba Gill, PhD is an entrepreneur, investor and CEO who believes passionately that science and globalization will dramatically improve life in the 21st century. Dr. Gill is currently the CEO of Evelo, Sr. Partner at Flagship Ventures, and Executive Chair of Blackfynn. Dr. Gill founded or had lead roles in moksha8, Epirus, Maxygen, Verdia, Avidia, Codexis, Systemix and Valentis, four of these companies have been taken public and three were acquired through strategic trade sales. Exit valuations were between $400M – $6B. Dr. Gill has also led, built and launched several commercial businesses/products generating annual revenues of between $150M-$2B. Dr. Gill has founded and/or had lead roles in pioneering companies in the fields of antibodies, stem cells, directed molecular evolution, immunodiagnostics and the cancer microbiome. He has also been an investor, advisor, founder and CEO of several emerging market life science companies. Dr. Gill was a Partner at TPG, focused on investments in Life Sciences and Emerging Markets. Early in his career, Dr. Gill was co-head of Worldwide Marketing for Recormon. He also led corporate and market development and strategy from inception to commercialization of the Elecsys system, which became one of the world’s most widely used immunodiagnostic platforms. Dr. Gill served on the Board of Directors of the Tuberculosis Alliance, The Djerassi Resident Artists Program and the International Advisory Board of INSEAD. Dr. Gill was also the founder of Dispatches, an in-depth written and photojournalism periodical focused on key global issues. Dr. Gill has an MBA from INSEAD and carried out his PhD with focus on developing humanized antibodies to treat cancer. This work was done at King’s College, London in collaboration with the LMB at Cambridge and Celltech.
Follow Simba Gill:
About Epiva, Evelo Biosciences, moksha8 Pharmaceuticals, TPG Growth: Evelo Biosciences is dedicated to improving the lives of patients globally through the development of monoclonal microbials.
Daniel Grau
President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of Sojournix
Grau co-founded and has served as Chief Executive Officer and Director at Sojournix since 2016. An experienced biotech entrepreneur and operating executive, Mr. Grau led the deal to acquire SJX-653 and has driven the rapid growth and financing of the company from startup to clinical-stage pharmaceutical business. Prior to Sojournix, Mr. Grau served as President at Heptares Therapeutics (acquired 2015), Chief Executive Officer at Cortria (acquired 2010), and Chief Operating Officer at CombinatoRx (IPO 2005). Mr. Grau currently serves as an advisor to HotSpot Therapeutics and previously served as a member of the Product Advisory Board at Concert Pharmaceuticals and as an advisor to Nimbus Therapeutics. Earlier in his career, Mr. Grau worked with multi-national pharma companies as a management consultant focused on corporate and business franchise strategy, M&A, and new product launches. Mr. Grau earned his M.Phil., M.A., and M.A.R. degrees from Yale University, where he was awarded a Mellon Fellowship, the Day Graduate Prize, and a Bass Fellowship, and a B.A. with High Honors from Davidson College, where he held a Dana Honor Scholarship, a Montgomery Scholarship, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Follow Daniel Grau:
About Cortria Corporation, Heptares Therapeutics, Sojournix: Sojournix is a biotechnology company developing innovative medicines for women’s health and endocrine disorders.
Roy Paxton Yih
Co-Founder and CEO of Biocare Medical
Roy Paxton Yih, BS, MA, co-founded Biocare Medical, LLC in 1997 and serves as its Chief Executive Officer and President. Roy Yih served as a Director of Sales & Marketing at Biocare Medical LLC. Roy Yih is primarily involved at sales, marketing and business development activities. He holds a BS Degree in Biochemistry from U.C. Davis and an MBA from the University of Santa Clara.
Follow Roy Paxton Yih:
About Biocare Medical: Biocare Medical is a provider of immunohistochemistry instrumentation.
Cary Gunn
CEO & Founder of Genalyte
Dr. Cary Gunn — who drives Genalyte’s strategic vision, direction, culture and success — has been blazing trails in the technology community for almost 30 years. Prior to leading Genalyte, Cary served as co-founder and chief technical officer of Luxtera, a developer of innovative optical solutions; his military career includes almost 10 years in the United States Air Force, where he was responsible for launching GPS satellites. Holding 81 (and counting) issued U.S. patents, Cary has been recognized in publications including the MIT Technology Review, which named him a Top Young Innovator in 2003. Five years later, Cary’s achievements in silicon photonics were awarded with the Optical Society of America Adolph Lomb Medal and the Berthold-Leibinger Foundation Innovation Prize. He received his bachelor’s degree in applied physics and organic chemistry from the United States Air Force Academy and his PhD in electrical engineering from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). At Genalyte, Cary is proud to pioneer technology that has “a positive impact on life and human health.”
Follow Cary Gunn:
About Genalyte: Genalyte is a life sciences company developing and commercializing innovative next-generation multiplexing technology.
Lanny Sun
Co-Founder & CEO of Silicon Therapeutics
Follow Lanny Sun:
About Silicon Therapeutics: Silicon Therapeutics is a fully integrated drug design, research, and development company.
Zhen Li
Founder, President & CEO of ADARx Pharmaceuticals
Dr. Li is a co-founder of ADARx and a successful executive with more than two decades of diverse experience in research and development in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Prior to ADARx, Dr. Li served as Senior VP at Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals where she led the discovery and non-clinical development of Arrowhead’s delivery platform and multiple product candidates that are now in clinical studies. Previously, Dr. Li was a director at Merck, leading a team dedicated to siRNA development. Dr. Li received her Ph.D. in Chemistry and Chemical Biology from Harvard University, and her B.S. from Peking University.
Follow Zhen Li:
About ADARx Pharmaceuticals: ADARx Pharmaceuticals is a genetic medicine company focusing on the base editing of mRNA transcripts.
Jonathan Montagu
President & Chief Executive Officer of HotSpot Therapeutics
Follow Jonathan Montagu:
About Atlas Venture, HotSpot Therapeutics: HotSpot Therapeutics is a developer of a therapy platform designed to discover medicines and provide proper treatment.
Osman Kibar
CEO & Founder of Biosplice Therapeutics
Dr. Kibar is an entrepreneur and an inventor, with numerous successful start-ups under his belt. He was the Scientific Founder of Genoptix (an oncology diagnostics company), which went public in 2007 (NASDAQ: GXDX) and was later acquired by Novartis in 2011. Dr. Kibar was also a Co-Founder of E-Tenna, whose assets relating to wireless antennas were acquired by Titan and assets relating to thermal management of microprocessors by Intel. He was a Vice President at Pequot Capital’s venture capital and private equity team. Dr. Kibar received his M.S. and Ph.D., specializing in Biophotonics and Optoelectronics, from University of California, San Diego, a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Caltech and a B.A. in Mathematical Economics from Pomona College.
Follow Osman Kibar:
About Biosplice Therapeutics: Biosplice Therapeutics is in the medical research and development for tissue-level regeneration.
Paul Dabrowski
CEO of Synthego
Follow Paul Dabrowski:
About Synthego: Synthego is a genome engineering company that enables access to CRISPR to accelerate life science research and development.
Charles Homcy
M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Maze Therapeutics
Charles Homcy is a partner at Third Rock Ventures, where he focuses on the formation of companies that discover and develop novel therapeutic approaches. He brings significant experience building and leading successful biotech companies and has played an integral role in the launching and building of Third Rock Ventures’ portfolio companies, including Ambys Medicines, Global Blood Therapeutics, Pliant Therapeutics, Relay Therapeutics, Goldfinch Bio, CytomX and MyoKardia. Prior to Third Rock Ventures, Charles co-founded Portola Pharmaceuticals, where he served as president and CEO. Earlier, he served as president of research and development at Millennium, following the company’s acquisition of COR Therapeutics in 2002. Charles joined COR in 1995 as executive vice president of research and development and served as a director of the company from 1998 to 2002. From 1997 to 2008 Charles was a clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco Medical School and an attending physician at the San Francisco VA Hospital. He was previously president of the medical research division of American Cyanamid-Lederle Laboratories. Charles currently serves on the boards of Portola Pharmaceuticals, Ambys Medicines, Global Blood Therapeutics and Pliant Therapeutics. Charles holds an A.B. and M.D. from Johns Hopkins University, where he presently serves on the board of trustees.
Follow Charles Homcy:
About Maze Therapeutics, Third Rock Ventures: Maze Therapeutics is an operator of a biotechnology firm used to focus on translating genetic insights into new medicines.
Shane J Schaffer
Chairman and CEO of Cingulate Therapeutics
Shane J. Schaffer, PharmD is a Co-Founder of Cingulate Therapeutics and has served as the Chairman and CEO since its inception. Dr. Schaffer is an 18-year pharmaceutical industry veteran with experience in pharmaceutical drug development, commercialization and biotech commercial operations. During his career, he has held positions of increasing responsibility at Pfizer, Novartis and Sanofi (including predecessor companies). Dr. Schaffer has broad functional and therapeutic expertise through the development and commercialization of several billion dollar brands including the ADHD Franchise of Ritalin® & Focalin®, Lipitor®, Lyrica®, Eligard®, Arixtra®, Hyalgan® and Avapro®/Avalide®. He has led the strategic brand planning, franchise resource allocation and managed care & reimbursement strategy for numerous products. Dr. Schaffer received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Kansas. He served as Chief Fellow and completed a Post-Doctoral Pharmaceutical Industry Fellowship at Rutgers University, College of Pharmacy in conjunction with Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis, now Pfizer.
Follow Shane J Schaffer:
About Cingulate Therapeutics: Cingulate Therapeutics uses a unique combination of delivery technology and proven medications that creates an unmatched release profile.
Leslie Larson
Executive Assistant to CEO of Connecticut Innovations
Follow Leslie Larson:
About Connecticut Innovations: Connecticut Innovations provides strategic capital and operational insight to to companies in high-tech industries
Matthew J. McCooe
CEO of Connecticut Innovations
Matthew McCooe joined Connecticut Innovations as CEO in 2015.
Follow Matthew J. McCooe:
About Connecticut Innovations: Connecticut Innovations provides strategic capital and operational insight to to companies in high-tech industries
Nessan Bermingham
Founder, CEO & currently Exec Chair of Triplet Therapeutics
Nessan Bermingham is founder and CEO of Triplet Therapeutics, Inc. He is a serial biotech entrepreneur and investor who has founded several companies including Triplet, Korro Bio and Intellia Therapeutics, “one of the top 10 biotech start-ups in 2014” and a “Fierce 15 biotech company,” taking the company from concept to IPO and large partnering deals with approximately 200 employees. He has nearly two decades of experience in Life Sciences startups and investments, including small molecules, biologics, medical devices, and diagnostics through venture, public, and secondary markets. As a venture partner at Atlas Venture and managing partner at Omega Funds, he successfully invested in and managed multiple investments across the United States and Europe. Currently he is also a venture partner at Atlas Venture and is Chair of the Board of Directors of F-star and Akrevia Therapeutics. He served as Intellia’s President and CEO from inception until December 2017. Previously he was an independent advisory board member of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) and MerckSerono KGaA. He received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Imperial College London and was a Howard Hughes Associate Fellow at Baylor College of Medicine. He is an avid mountain biker, snowboarder and trail runner. Nessan is co-founder and was previously chief executive officer of Intellia Therapeutics. He led Intellia from seed investment and incubation at Atlas Venture through its IPO and the advancement of its gene editing platform toward clinical development. He has over ten years of experience in life science investing across venture, secondary, and public markets. Previously, Nessan was a partner at Omega Funds and founder of Bio Equity Capital, a healthcare focused special situations firm. Nessan is also co-founder of Tal Medical.
Follow Nessan Bermingham:
About Korro Bio, Triplet Therapeutics: Triplet is developing transformative therapies that treat repeat expansion disorders at their source.
James C. Katzaroff
CEO, Chairman and Founder of Vivos Inc
A serial entrepreneur who started his first company importing minerals and pewter from Brazil while in high school in southern California, Mr. Katzaroff is constantly searching for outstanding opportunities. Hired straight out of college Mr. Katzaroff was a financial consultant for Wall Street firms Bateman Eichler, Smith Barney and EFHutton. Since 1990, he has been responsible for corporate engineering, senior-level corporate strategy, fostering investment bank relationships, and has served as a senior financial advisor for numerous start-ups and development stage companies. A strong desire to make an unshakable impact in the fight against cancer led Mr. Katzaroff to found AMI in 2006.
Follow James C. Katzaroff:
About Vivos Inc: Vivos Inc develops manufacturing equipments for the production of medical isotopes used in diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
Kim D. Blickenstaff
President and Chief Executive Officer of Tandem Diabetes Care
Kim joined Tandem in August 2007, bringing more than 30 years of healthcare experience in finance, marketing management, sales and strategic planning. Prior to joining Tandem, he was Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Biosite Incorporated, a medical diagnostic company that was acquired by Inverness Medical Innovations for $1.8 billion in June 2007. Prior to founding Biosite, he held various finance, operations, research management, sales management, strategic planning and marketing positions with Hybritech Incorporated and Baxter Healthcare. Kim has been active in the medical device and diagnostics industry over the last 12 years, serving on the board of directors for innovative, young healthcare companies such as SenoRx and MediVation Incorporated. He holds a Masters of Business Administration from Loyola University Chicago’s Graduate School of Business.
Follow Kim D. Blickenstaff:
About Tandem Diabetes Care: Tandem Diabetes Care develops medical devices for the treatment of diabetes offering diabetic insulin pumps for adults and children.
Alexander Ford
CEO of Karius
Alexander Ford has over 30 years of experience in the genomics, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology industries, and has a proven track record driving commercial growth and performance for businesses in highly competitive and regulated biomedical markets. He was previously the Chief Operating Officer for Myriad Genetics, a molecular diagnostic company. During his time at Myriad, he launched new products and scaled new business units in Women’s Health, Oncology, Urology, and Prenatal screening. Previously, Alec has held leadership positions at Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis, Nektar Therapeutics, and Pfizer.
Follow Alexander Ford:
About Karius: Karius provides genomic insights for infectious diseases to enable clinicians to make life-saving treatment decisions.
Mike Nolan
Chief Executive Officer of Freenome
Mike brings nearly three decades of experience to his role as Freenome’s Chief Executive Officer, building on a proven record of delivering transformative diagnostic technologies that help clinicians drive better outcomes for their patients. Previously, Mike served as the company’s Chief Business Officer, where he led Freenome’s corporate and business development, product management, clinical development and operations, program management, and marketing teams. He also oversaw partnerships with biopharma companies, academic medical centers, and health systems where our multiomics platform is deployed to move research and medicine forward.
Follow Mike Nolan:
About Freenome, Freenome, Freenome: Freenome is a biotechnology company with a comprehensive multiomics platform for cancer detection using a routine blood draw.
Wei-Wu He
Founder and CEO of Origene Technologies
Wei-Wu He is a biotech executive dedicated to the commercialization of innovative life sciences technologies for the healthcare market.He is currently Chairman and CEO of OriGene Technologies, Inc. He is also the founder and General Partner of Emerging Technology Partners, LLC (ETP), a venture firm dedicated to incubating innovative life sciences companies. He is also a Venture Partner of IDG/Accel Partners, a $4 Billion venture fund designed to fund innovative companies in China.He started his biotech career as a scientist at the inception of Human Genome Sciences, Inc.He has been involved in the funding and founding over 20 biotech companies throughout his career and has served on many biotech company boards. Most recently He was named the Executive Chairman of Casi Pharmaceuticals, a biotech company dedicated to the development of innovative cancer treatments both in China and the US.He has conducted cancer research at Mayo Clinic and at Massachusetts General Hospital as a research fellow. He has been awarded over 30 United States patents and has more than 25 original research publications.He received a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Nanjing University, P. R. China, an M.B.A. from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Baylor College of Medicine.
Follow Wei-Wu He:
About Emerging Technology Partners, Origene Technologies: OriGene Technologies is a research tool company that provides a commercial collection of full-length human cDNAs.
Clay Larsen
President and CEO, Co-Founder of Vesselon
Mr. Larsen co-founded Vesselon in 2012 and brings over thirty years of executive management, marketing, sales, clinical innovation and engineering/project management in the healthcare industry. Mr. Larsen was a senior executive with FUJIFILM Medical Systems, where he was largely responsible for building the company’s first healthcare software division from the ground up. Mr. Larsen recruited the original senior architects and was instrumental in the development, marketing, commercial release and field support of Fuji’s Synapse® Picture Archive and Communication System (PACS). In a move to Silicon Valley in 1988, Mr. Larsen served in several senior roles at Acuson Corporation culminating as Vice President of New Market Development. Acuson was one of the leading ultrasound technology companies that was later acquired by Siemens. Early in his career he specialized in Sales and Marketing Management of Ultrasound and Nuclear Medicine for Picker International. Mr. Larsen holds a B.S. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University.
Follow Clay Larsen:
About Vesselon: Vesselon is a medical device company developing novel therapeutic Immuno-Oncology complexes.
Howard Solomon
Chairman & CEO of Forest Laboratories
Mr. Howard Solomon has been the President of Clinical Data Inc. since April 13, 2011. Mr. Solomon has been the Non Executive Chairman and Senior Advisor of the Board of Forest Laboratories Inc. since October 1, 2013. He serves as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Forest Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He began his career as an attorney at leading law firms in New York and joined Forest in 1964 as a director and secretary of the Board while serving as outside counsel for the Company. He served as the Chief Executive Officer of Forest Laboratories Inc. since 1977 until October 1, 2013, and served as its President until October 1, 2013. He serves as also served as the Chairman of Forest Laboratories Inc. He has been a Director of Forest Laboratories Inc. since 1964 and Clinical Data, Inc. since April 13, 2011. Mr. Solomon is a Trustee of the New York Presbyterian Hospital and previously served on the Board of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories. He is a Member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors at the Metropolitan Opera and Chairman of its Finance Committee. He also serves on the Board of the New York City Ballet. Mr. Solomon graduated from the City College of New York and holds a J.D. from Yale University.
Follow Howard Solomon:
About Forest Laboratories: Forest Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: FRX) is a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company with a long track record of building partnerships.
Jonathan Badal
CEO of OpenTrons
Jon leads Opentrons’ business operations and growth. Jon is also a Board Member at Genspace and has been an advisor to OpenTrons since the company’s beginning. Jon joins us from Amazon, where he was the VP of Strategy at comiXology (exited to Amazon in 2014). As an early employee at comiXology, he helped the company become the leading platform for discovering, buying, and reading digital comic books and #1 Top Grossing non-game iPad app. Prior to comiXology, Jon was an analyst at early-stage VC, Rose Tech Ventures, and graduated from Columbia Unversity as a History major.
Follow Jonathan Badal:
About OpenTrons: OpenTrons is a developer of a pipetting robot technology designed to automate experiments.
Jeff Albers
Chief Executive Officer of Blueprint Medicines
Jeff Albers is the chief executive officer of [Blueprint Medicines](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/blueprint-medicines), a company engaged in the discovery and development of highly selective kinase inhibitors for genomically defined cancer subsets. He was previously the president of Algeta. Prior to Algeta, he served at Genzyme, where he spent seven years in senior commercial and corporate development positions. Before joining Genzyme, he spent five years as an Attorney at the law firm Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky & Popeo. He also has prior experience as a sales representative for Pfizer. Albers holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Indiana University and an MBA from Georgetown University.
Follow Jeff Albers:
About Blueprint Medicines: Blueprint Medicines engages in the discovery and development of highly selective kinase inhibitors for genomically defined cancer subsets.
Martin G. Reese
Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer & President of Fabric Genomics (formerly Omicia)
Martin Reese is an internationally recognized expert and entrepreneur in Genomics and Bioinformatics. Prior to founding Omicia, Martin Reese served as Vice President of Discovery Informatics for ValiGen. Prior to this, Martin Reese co-founded Neomorphic, where he served as President and Chief Scientific Officer. The human genome annotation software that Martin Reese developed at Neomorphic, provided the foundation for the successful commercialization of microarrays by Affymetrix. During his career Martin Reese has been actively involved in community-wide assessments of genome annotation. He organized the state-of-the-art Genome Annotation Assessment Project and was a member of the Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project, which provided the essential proof-of-concept platform for “shotgun” sequencing technology. At the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories Martin Reese developed gene-finding algorithms for the Human Genome Project. He holds a Masters degree in Medical Informatics from the University of Heidelberg and a Ph.D. in Genetics jointly from the University of Hohenheim, Germany and the University of California, Berkeley.
Follow Martin G. Reese:
About Fabric Genomics (formerly Omicia): Global healthcare platform for genomics-driven precision medicine. Fabric’ proven AI algorithms power genomic insights.
Mirza Cifric
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Veritas Genetics
Follow Mirza Cifric:
About Veritas Genetics, YPO: Veritas Genetics is a provider of a genetic testing platform intended to empower people to live healthier and longer.
Fei Li
Chief Executive Officer & Chairwoman of Hycor Biomedical LLC
Fei Li first joined Hycor in 2016 as President and Chairwoman of the Board. In September 2017, she became President and CEO of Hycor. Dr. Li has over 20 years’ experience in the fields of in vitro diagnostics (IVD), medical devices and Clinical Medicine. Over her distinguished career, Dr. Li has consistently demonstrated her ability to deliver results as she has led teams that improved product design, realized operational efficiency and recognized investment opportunities in the domestic and international healthcare sector. Dr. Li’s strengths include her extensive experience in building and empowering a team to manage through organizational growth to improve processes, decrease costs and accelerate business performance. Dr. Li also has extensive investment experience in the healthcare industry. She has successfully executed cross-border transactions and has been effective in managing pre- and post-investment activities between stakeholders and investment targets. Dr. Li has had the distinction of serving in multiple strategic roles including Chief Operating Officer for QuantumTech Medical Devices during 2016-2017, Chief Operating Office for Beyond Diagnostics Inc. between 2008 – 2011, Head of Business Development for Siemens Healthcare China from 2007 – 2008 and Director of Product Validation for Diagnostic Products Corporation from 2006 – 2007. Dr. Li holds a medical degree from San Yat-Sen University in Guangdong, China. In addition, she received a Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Sciences from the University of California, Riverside and a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from the University of Redlands.
Follow Fei Li:
About Hycor Biomedical LLC: Hycor Biomedical is a medical device company that provides vitro diagnostics products.
Cheng Liu
Founder, CEO of Eureka Therapeutics
Cheng Liu is the founder and CEO of Eureka Therapeutics, a California biotech company dedicated to antibody research and discovery for cancer immunotherapy. Prior to founding Eureka, Dr. Liu was a Principal Scientist in antibody drug discovery at Chiron (now Novartis), where he championed anti-CSF1 antibody program for treatment of bone metastasis to human clinical trials. He is the inventor of multiple issued US patents in drug discovery. In 2007, he was awarded Special US Congressional Recognition for his contributions to improving human health. Dr. Liu received his B.S. in Cell Biology and Genetics from Beijing University and a Ph.D. in Molecular Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Follow Cheng Liu:
About Eureka Therapeutics: Eureka Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focusing on immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer.
Eric Hunter
CEO of Pneuma Respiratory
Serves as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Hunter is author or co- author on over 130 patents. He has extensive experience in the founding and managing a range of businesses in the high technology, manufacturing and medical device industries. Two of these companies, Cree Inc. and Charles & Colvard LLC, are publicly traded on Nasdaq. Mr. Hunter also co-founded a medical device company, Quill Medical, which was sold to Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for $200 million in 2005 and an eye care company, Corinthian Ophthalmic, Inc., that was sold to Eyenovia, Inc. in 2014.
Follow Eric Hunter:
About Pneuma Respiratory: Pneuma Respiratory is a pharmaceutical company that creates digital solutions for respiratory drug delivery.
Frank Lee
CEO & Founder of Virus Geeks Inc.
Follow Frank Lee:
About CarSnatch, Virus Geeks Inc.: SaaS, Mobile App, BioHealth, Information Technology
Mark P. Clein
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Precision Medicine Group
Mark Clein is the Co-Founder and CEO of Precision Medicine Group. He has over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry. Prior to Precision, Mr. Clein was Co-Founder, President and CFO of United BioSource Corporation (UBC), which became the leader in real-world research addressing safety, value, and comparative effectiveness for the life science industry. UBC was acquired by Medco Health Solutions in late 2010 and is now part of Express Scripts. Prior to UBC, Clein was Founder and CFO of U.S. Bioservices, a leading provider of distribution services for specialty pharmaceuticals and biologics. Clein also served as Chief Executive Officer of PMR Corporation, a leading provider of outpatient services for psychiatric and central nervous system disorders. In 2002, PMR merged with Psychiatric Solutions, Inc., which grew into the largest US provider of psychiatric inpatient services. Clein served on its board of directors until the company’s acquisition by Universal Health Systems in 2010. He received his Master of Business Administration degree from the Columbia Graduate School of Business and his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina. Clein also serves on the Arts and Sciences Foundation Board at the University of North Carolina.
Follow Mark P. Clein:
About Precision for Medicine, Precision Medicine Group: Precision Medicine Group accelerates values and improve outcomes for innovative pharmaceutical and life science companies.
Hesaam Esfandyarpour
Founder and CEO of Genapsys
Hesaam is the Founder and CEO of GenapSys Inc. He is an inventor of electronic DNA sequencing, a technology he developed during his PhD work at Stanford. Hesaam has dedicated the past decade of his life to the development of this novel DNA sequencing technology, which has at its core the convergence of multiple fields of science – engineering, chemistry, biology, and computing. Hesaam incubated the technology at the Stanford Genome Technology Center for a period of six years before securing licenses to the IP and incorporating GenapSys in January of 2010. He has grown GenapSys from just a handful of employees working out of Menlo Labs incubator space, to over 50 employees across seven functional teams. In 2012, Hesaam partnered GenapSys with StartX, an accelerator for the development of Stanford’s top entrepreneurs. He has raised approximately $50M for GenapSys in Seed, Series A, and Series B rounds of financing. Hesaam holds a PhD and MS in Electrical Engineering, and MSc Management degree, all from Stanford University. He earned his BS in Electrical Engineering with Honors from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran. When he is not at GenapSys HQ (which is rare!) you can find Hesaam spending time outdoors, hiking or spending time with family and friends. He is also a great lover of poetry, his favorite of which are poems by the Persian poet Saa’di.
Follow Hesaam Esfandyarpour:
About Genapsys: Transform the human condition by building a scalable, affordable genomic sequencing ecosystem that will support research and diagnostics
Anna Villarreal
Founder & CEO of LifeStory Health Inc
Leading the first-ever discovery research into the clinical utility of menstrual blood, a recent Proof of Principle study resulted in findings of unique signatures specific to menstrual blood. On-going clinical studies aim to develop the diagnostic science further in order to support our preliminary pipeline. Anna’s resourceful leadership style and entrepreneurial experience has lead LifeStory Health, Inc. through remarkable discoveries and growth in a very short time when compared to most bioscience companies. She attributes this to her steadfast passion for and about Women’s Health. A strong advocate for women’s healthcare, Anna’s pioneering vision to map the menstrual blood proteome through a set of resolute, data-leading principles and an award winning scientific methodology has led to biomarker discovery based on precision medicine. Anna guest lectures for several graduate level programs at Northeastern University including data analytics, chemistry, regulatory affairs, and master’s in business administration. She teaches her own class in the Master’s of Biotechnology Program titled “Women’s Health: Driving Innovation and Cultural Change”. Her advocacy for women’s health continues on her podcast, “Setting the Pace”, in which she and her co-host highlight fellow female innovators.
Follow Anna Villarreal:
About CEOWORLD Magazine, LifeStory Health Inc, NEFC, The Doctor Weighs In: LifeStory Health is a biotech company committed to changing the women’s healthcare market through technology, innovation and vocalization.
Greg Gosch
Co-Founder, President, & CEO of ChromaCode
Greg has over 20 years of management experience in the molecular diagnostics and nucleic acids research fields. He spent 9 years at Luminex, when the company grew revenues from $30 million to over $200 million. He held multiple roles including VP of Sales and Marketing, where he was responsible for global commercial operations, and VP/GM of Biosciences, where was responsible for developing novel instrument and assay products for gene expression, microRNA, newborn screening and Alzheimer’s disease. Prior to Luminex, Greg served in various commercial leadership roles at Nanogen, Chiron Diagnostics and Bio-Rad. He has a bachelors degree in molecular, cellular and developmental biology from the University of Colorado and dual masters degrees in business and healthcare administration from the University of Minnesota.
Follow Greg Gosch:
About ChromaCode: ChromaCode is a molecular diagnostics company focusing on bioinformatics.
Pieter van Rooyen
CEO & Co-founder of Pleno Inc.
CEO & Co-founder at Pleno Inc.
Follow Pieter van Rooyen:
About EvoNexus, Pleno Inc.: It is a Biotechnology Industry Located at San Diego, California.
Alan Collier
Chairman & CEO of Endonovo Therapeutics
Alan Collier Chairman & Chief Executive Officer has more than twenty years of experience in corporate finance, IP development, telecommunications and technology with a concentration in healthcare and technology over the last five years. Prior to his appointment as Endonovo’s CEO and chairman, Mr. Collier served as CEO and director of IP Resources International, Inc. where he was instrumental in developing a platform for for the licensing and acquisition of life science and technology companies. Previously, Mr. Collier served as a Senior Managing Director at Mid-Market Securities, a FINRA-registered Broker-Dealer. Prior to joining Mid-Market Securities, Mr. Collier was a Managing Director at Mosaic capital and co-managed its Capital Markets Group. He was previously a Vice President at Corporate Capital Group and Managing Director and CEO of Greenbridge Capital Group. Over the progression of his career, he has specialized in the development and financing of early stage, high growth, and acquisitive companies (public and private). He has structured, participated in, and completed numerous transactions including mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt placements, capital restructuring, joint venture development, and channel partner procurement. He has held numerous board and executive positions throughout his career in the telecommunications, technology, specialty finance, corporate finance and healthcare industries. Mr. Collier holds FINRA Series 7, 79, 63, and 24 Licenses.
Follow Alan Collier:
About Endonovo Therapeutics, IP Resources International: Endonovo Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing off-the-shelf regenerative products.
Anna Skaya
CEO & Founder of Basepaws
Anna Skaya is the founder and CEO of Basepaws, a provider of low-cost pet genomic products and services. Most recently, Anna was a partner and COO at breakupbuddy. She was also the founder and former CEO of Visual DNA. Prior to Visual DNA, Anna was a CEO at Groupon Russia.
Follow Anna Skaya:
About Basepaws: Pet genetics & health monitoring.
Deepak Thomas
Co-Founder & CEO of Phil
Mr. Deepak Thomas Founded Phil, Inc. and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. After a particularly frustrating experience at a chain drug store, Mr. Thomas sat down and did the math on the number of hours he had spent standing in line for his prescriptions. When he realized that he had spent over 500 hours standing in line at drug stores, he decided to spend at least 500 hours trying to build a better experience before founding Phil, Inc. Prior to this, he held product and general management roles at eBay, Shutterfly, Match.com and Oracle.
Follow Deepak Thomas:
About Phil: Phil is a software therapy deployment platform, offering pharmaceutical manufacturers a modern alternative to patient access solutions
Sasan Amini
Co-Founder and CEO of Clear Labs
Sasan combined his academic expertise and passion for healthy living when he co-founded Clear Labs with a mission to set a new paradigm for food safety and quality. Prior to serving as the CEO of Clear Labs, he worked in the Advanced Research department at Illumina. Sasan earned his PhD in Genomics from Princeton and holds multiple patents and publications in the field.
Follow Sasan Amini:
About Clear Labs: Clear Labs is a provider of a fully-automated sequencing platform for turnkey diagnostics.
Fred Aslan
President & CEO of Artiva Biotherapeutics
Born and raised in Brazil, Fred Aslan is the founder of Adavium Medical (previously known as ADVANCE Medical). He is also affiliated with Venrock, a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm he joined in 2006. While a full-time investor at Venrock prior to founding Adavium, Fred Aslan was a co-founder and board member of Receptos Pharmaceuticals, a NASDAQ-listed biotech company, which was subsequently acquired by Celgene for more than $8 billion. He also led Venrock’s investment in Zeltiq, a NASDAQ-listed medical device company that was valued at more than $1 billion. Prior to Venrock, he was Director of Business Development and led Investor Relations at CuraGen, a NASDAQ-listed oncology-focused biotech company, and was a strategy consultant with Boston Consulting Group (BCG). He was named the “2014 Business Professional of the Year” by the Brazilian government, recognizing the achievements of Brazilian professionals living outside of Brazil. He is also a board member of Femasys, a US-based women’s health medical device company, and BayBrazil, a Silicon Valley-based not-for-profit organization promoting ties between Silicon Valley and Brazil. Fred Aslan received a B.S. in Biology from Duke University, an M.D. from Yale and an M.B.A. from Harvard.
Follow Fred Aslan:
About Adavium, Artiva Biotherapeutics: Artiva Biotherapeutics is a biotech company focused on developing and commercializing allogeneic natural killer (NK) cell therapies.
Nishan de Silva
Chief Executive Officer of AFYX Therapeutics
Nishan de Silva brings 20 years of experience in biotechnology operations, biopharmaceutical venture capital, and healthcare management consulting. He previously served as president, chief operating officer, and director of Poseida Therapeutics, where he oversaw clinical development, regulatory, manufacturing, finance, and business development activities. Prior to Poseida, he was chief financial officer and vice president of finance and strategy at Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (LGND). Earlier in his career, Nishan de Silva served as a principal at private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC, responsible for late-stage biopharmaceutical investment opportunities, and was an engagement manager at McKinsey & Company. He holds a B.A. summa cum laude in biology from Harvard University, an M.D. from The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and an M.B.A. with Distinction in healthcare management from The Wharton School.
Follow Nishan de Silva:
About AFYX Therapeutics: AFYX Therapeutics is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company
Nishan de Silva
Chief Executive Officer of AFYX Therapeutics
Nishan de Silva brings 20 years of experience in biotechnology operations, biopharmaceutical venture capital, and healthcare management consulting. He previously served as president, chief operating officer, and director of Poseida Therapeutics, where he oversaw clinical development, regulatory, manufacturing, finance, and business development activities. Prior to Poseida, he was chief financial officer and vice president of finance and strategy at Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (LGND). Earlier in his career, Nishan de Silva served as a principal at private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC, responsible for late-stage biopharmaceutical investment opportunities, and was an engagement manager at McKinsey & Company. He holds a B.A. summa cum laude in biology from Harvard University, an M.D. from The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and an M.B.A. with Distinction in healthcare management from The Wharton School.
Follow Nishan de Silva:
About AFYX Therapeutics: AFYX Therapeutics is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company
Chris Wheeler
Co-Founder & CEO of Diagnose Early
Follow Chris Wheeler:
About Diagnose Early, WISC Partners: Diagnose Early provides detection technologies for cancer, neurological, and infectious diseases.
.. Reason
Co-Founder and CEO of Repair Biotechnologies
Reason is co-founder and CEO of Repair Biotechnologies. He is the founder and writer of Fight Aging!, a leading blog in the aging biotech community. Reason is also an active angel investor in the space. Previously, Reason was principal software engineer at technology startups. Reason has Masters degrees in Space Physics and Astrophysics.
Follow .. Reason:
About Repair Biotechnologies: Repair Biotechnologies is a biotechnology company with the mission to develop and bring to the clinic therapies.
Bill Haney
CEO & Co-founder of Dragonfly Therapeutics
Follow Bill Haney:
About Blu Homes, Dragonfly Therapeutics, Dragonfly Therapeutics, Skyhawk Therapeutics, Uncommon Productions: Dragonfly Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotech developing novel immunotherapies that harness the innate immune system to treat disease.
Tim Sweeney
Co-Founder & CEO of Inflammatix
Tim Sweeney, MD, PhD is the co-Founder & CEO of Inflammatix, Inc., which focuses on using robust informatics and machine learning to derive novel HostDx™ diagnostics based on ‘reading’ patterns in the immune system. Inflammatix’s first tests are focused on diagnosing acute bacterial and viral infections and sepsis. The company is funded by Khosla Ventures, Stanford-StartX Fund and the U.S. government’s DARPA program. Tim Sweeney completed his MD and PhD at Duke University, after which he was a surgery resident at Stanford. While training as a surgeon, he became frustrated with the limitations of current diagnostic tools for infection. During his residency, he completed a postdoctorate MS in Biomedical Informatics, mentored by Dr. Purvesh Khatri. Together they designed the custom informatics algorithms for sifting through heterogeneous ‘big data,’ which formed the core technology on which Inflammatix is based.
Follow Tim Sweeney:
About Inflammatix: Inflammatix develops novel molecular diagnostics for acute infections and sepsis that work by reading the immune system.
Andrew Beck
Co-founder & CEO of PathAI
Andrew Beck earned a Bachelors of Arts in History from Brown University in 2002 and completed a Masters of Medical Science in Biostatistics and a Medical Degree from Brown Medical School in 2006. He completed his residency in Anatomic Pathology and clinical fellowship in Molecular Genetic Pathology from Stanford in 2010.He then joined the Advanced Residency Training at Stanford program and completed a PhD in Biomedical Informatics from Stanford University in 2013, working with Professor Daphne Koller. In 2011, he was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Departmet of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. In 2016, he was promoted to Associate Professor. In 2016, Dr Beck co-founded PathAI, a company that develops artificial intelligence technology for pathology, where he serves as President and CEO.
Follow Andrew Beck:
About Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, PathAI: PathAI is developing technology that assists pathologists in making rapid and accurate diagnoses for every patient, every time.
Timothy Warbington
President and CEO of Creative Medical Technology Holdings
Follow Timothy Warbington:
About Creative Medical Technology Holdings: Creative Medical Technology Holdings is a biotechnology company focused on Immunology, Urology, Neurology, and Orthopedics.
Hira Thapliyal
Founder, President & CEO of Aneumed
Hira Thapliyal is the founder, president & CEO of AneuMed, Inc.AneuMed is an early stage company engaged in developing devices for the treatment of various ailments affecting the human cardiovascular system. Prior to that, Dr. Thapliyal was the co-founder, president & CEO of VytronUS, Inc., a development stage company working on products for treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. Currently, VytronUS is conducting human clinical trials for its products. Before that, Hira was the co-founder, president & CEO of Tescient, Inc. Tescient was focused in developing products aimed at tissue regeneration and wound healing in human body. Tescient prototype products did not perform well in early animal tests, so Dr. Thapliyal closed Tescient and returned 60% of the invested capital back to the investors. Prior to Tescient, Dr. Thapliyal co-founded ArthroCare Corp (NASDAQ: “ARTC”) in 1993, and served its president & CEO and took the company public in 1996. ArthroCare was recently acquired by Smith & Nephew for $1.7 billion. ArthroCare markets products in the field of arthroscopy, ENT, spine, skin, and wound healing. Before ArthroCare, Hira served as the president of MicroBionics, a company developing products for continuous measurements of blood parameters in critically ill patients. Before MicroBionics, Hira co-founded and served as the president of CardioVascular Imaging Systems (NASDAQ: “CVIS”) which developed and marketed an ultrasound based imaging system, Intravascular Ultrasound (‘IVUS’), for the human blood vessels. CVIS went public and was later acquired by Boston Scientific (“BSX”). Prior to that, Hira served as the Vice President of Devices for Vascular Interventions (DVI) which developed and marketed products for removal of plaque form inside on the diseased arteries. DVI was acquired by Eli Lilly in 1989. Prior to DVI, Dr. Thapliyal held engineering and management positions at Oximetrix, Inc., Amdahl, and Corning. Dr. Thapliyal holds a BSEE degree from Washington State University, a MSEE from University of Idaho, and a PhD degree in Materials Science & Engineering from Cornell University. Hira has received numerous awards, and currently serves as an advisor to the Stanford-India Biodesign Program at Stanford University. Dr. Thapliyal also served as a judge for the Entrepreneur of the Year award at Earnst & Young. Dr. Thapliyal currently holds over 193 issued US and International patents for various medical devices.
Follow Hira Thapliyal:
About Aneumed, VytronUS: Aneumed is a biotechnology company based in California, United States.
John Bloomhall
President and Chief Executive Officer of Diamond V
John C. Bloomhall serves as Chief Executive Officer and President of Diamond V Mills Inc. John Bloomhall has been with Diamond V Mills since 1988. He was employed by IBM throughout The United States from 1976 to 1988. He graduated from The University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY in 1976.
Follow John Bloomhall:
About Diamond V: Diamond V is a global, research-focused, technology-driven company that develops and manufactures natural products to improve nutrition.
Roger Jeffs
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Liquidia Technologies
Roger Jeffs retired as President and co-CEO at United Therapeutics in 2016 after a successful 18-year tenure. Dr. Jeffs joined United Therapeutics Corporation during its start-up phase in 1998 as Director of Research, Development, and Medical, and served as the company’s President and Chief Operating Officer from 2001 to 2014 and President & co-CEO from 2015-2016. While at United Therapeutics, Dr. Jeffs helped lead the IPO, oversaw the clinical development and regulatory approval of six products for rare diseases, and managed the commercial effort that led to >20% CAGR and $1.5B annual revenue run rate. United Therapeutics was consistently recognized as one of the fastest growing companies and best places to work during his tenure. Dr. Jeffs received the 2015 Wings of Hope Award from the Solving Kids’ Cancer organization in “recognition of his visionary leadership in advancing cancer research while prioritizing the lives of children”. Dr. Jeffs previously held positions at Amgen, Inc. and Burroughs Wellcome Co where he held roles in clinical development. Dr. Jeffs holds an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Duke University and a Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Dr. Jeffs previously served on the Board of Directors for United Therapeutics, Dova Pharmaceuticals, and Sangamo Therapeutics and currently serves on the Boards of Albireo Pharma, and Axsome Therapeutics.
Follow Roger Jeffs:
About Liquidia Technologies: Liquidia Technologies is a clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of human therapeutics.
Michael Goettler
CEO & Executive Director of Viatris
Michael Goettler is the chief executive officer of Viatris and serves on the company’s board of directors. Originally from Germany, Goettler graduated from the Koblenz School of Corporate Management in Germany and then earned an MBA at the University of Texas at Austin. Goettler started his career at Hoechst in Germany, quickly growing to become the executive vice president and CEO of Hoechst Marion Roussel Korea. He joined Pfizer in 2009 as part of the Wyeth acquisition and served in many roles there. Most recently, he was the group president of Pfizer’s Upjohn division and a member of Pfizer’s executive leadership team after previously serving as the global president of Pfizer Inflammation & Immunology; the global president, Rare Disease Business; the senior vice president, global commercial officer, and president of Europe, Specialty Care among other roles. As the CEO of Viatris, Goettler’s responsibilities include executing the company’s strategy and focusing on leveraging the commercial capabilities that Viatris has in China and other key markets. Goettler has extensive experience leading in the global marketplace, having lived and worked in multiple markets in both Asia/Pacific and Europe. He is on the advisory board for Tshingua School of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Follow Michael Goettler:
About Viatris: Viatris is a global pharmaceutical company formed in 2020 through the combination of Mylan and Upjohn, a legacy division of Pfizer.
Vlad Coric
Chief Executive Officer of Biohaven Pharmaceutical
Dr. Coric has more than 15 years of drug discovery and clinical development experience at Yale School of Medicine and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Within the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Coric has expertise working across therapeutic areas including neuroscience, virology, oncology and immuno-oncology. Most recently, Dr. Coric was the immuno-oncology indication lead for neuro-oncology and glioblastoma. He has been involved in multiple drug development programs including marketed drugs such as ABILIFY® (aripiprazole; partial dopamine agonist), OPDIVO® (nivolumab; anti-PD1), YERVOY® (Ipilimumab; anti-CTLA-4), DAKLINZA® (daclatasvir; NS5A inhibitor) and SUNVEPRA® (asunaprevir; NS3 inhibitor). He has conducted numerous clinical trials in various illnesses including obsessive compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, major depression, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, hepatocellular carcinoma, and glioblastoma. Dr. Coric was the first to report the therapeutic effects of the glutamate-modulating agent riluzole in neuropsychiatric disorders (Coric et al., 2003; 2005; Sanacora et al., 2004) and led the first clinical trial employing cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers to identity and enrich for patients with Prodromal Alzheimer’s Disease while at Bristol-Myers Squibb (Coric et al 2015). Additionally, Dr. Coric spearheaded the design of and led the first global registrational trial using checkpoint inhibitors in glioblastoma. Dr. Coric is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine and has over 50 peer-reviewed publications. He previously served as Chief of the Yale Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit, and Director of the Yale Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Research Clinic. He has served as President of the Connecticut Psychiatric Society (an 800 member district branch of the American Psychiatric Association). Dr. Coric completed residency training at the Yale Psychiatry Residency Training Program, where he also served as the Program-Wide Chief Resident for the Yale Department of Psychiatry, and Chief Resident on the PTSD firm at the West-Haven Connecticut Veterans Administration Hospital. Dr. Coric earned his medical degree at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina.
Follow Vlad Coric:
About Biohaven Pharmaceutical: Biohaven is engaged in the identification and development of clinical stage neuroscience compounds targeting the glutamatergic system.
Harry Gruber
CEO, Co-Founder & President of Tocagen
Harry E. Gruber, M.D., one of the pioneers in gene therapy, co-founded Tocagen and led the company as chief executive officer before assuming the role of president, research and development in November 2016 and president, science and innovation in October 2017. He has been a member of the board of directors since August 2007. Dr. Gruber served as our chief executive officer from August 2007 to November 2016 and served as chairman of our board of directors from August 2007 to October 2014. Dr. Gruber is a co-founder of Tocagen and has been the co-founder and/or co-inventor of key technology for the following publicly held companies: Viagene Inc., a gene therapy company acquired by Novartis Pharmaceuticals; Gensia Inc., a biopharmaceutical company acquired by Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries, Ltd.; INTERVU Inc., a technology company acquired by Akamai Technologies, Inc.; Kintera, Inc., a technology company acquired by Blackbaud. He is the author of more than 100 original scientific articles and an inventor on more than 100 issued and pending patents. Dr. Gruber holds a medical degree and bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and trained in Internal Medicine, Biochemical Genetics and Rheumatology/Immunology at the University of California, San Diego, where he subsequently joined the medical school faculty until founding Gensia Inc.
Follow Harry Gruber:
About Tocagen: Tocagen is a biopharmaceutical company developing gene therapy products for the treatment of cancer.
Thomas Clozel
Co-Founder & CEO of Owkin
Thomas is a former assistant professor in clinical hematology/oncology from Hopital Mondor in Paris, with a special focus on lymphoma epigenetics and a former member of Ari Melnick’s lab in Weill Cornell, New York. He co-founded OWKIN in June 2016 with Gilles Wainrib, a former Assistant Professor in Artificial Intelligence at Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris, and pioneer in the field of Artificial Intelligence. OWKIN uniquely integrates Systems Biology with Artificial Intelligence to make accurate medical predictions and compare populations. From molecule to market, OWKIN accelerates drug discovery and discover hidden patterns to help individual patients.
Follow Thomas Clozel:
About Owkin: Founded in 2016, Owkin uses artificial intelligence to find the right treatment for every patient.
Aoife Brennan
CEO of Synlogic
Aoife Brennan joined Synlogic in September 2016 as chief medical officer and is responsible for the oversight and direction of the company’s clinical development strategy and operations. Aoife previously spent six years at Biogen, where she was in roles of increasing responsibility and most recently served as vice president and head of the Rare Disease Innovation Unit, which included programs ranging from pre-clinical to commercial. She has also led programs across multiple therapeutic areas including the late phase development of nusinersen for spinal muscular atrophy and ALPROLIX™ and ELOCTATE™, treatments for Hemophilia B and Hemophilia A. Prior to joining Biogen, she was director of clinical development at Tolerx, a start-up biotech company focusing on immunotherapy for Type 1 diabetes. Aoife holds a medical degree from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland and has completed post-graduate training in internal medicine, endocrinology and metabolism. She has completed post-doctoral training in clinical research and metabolism at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and is a graduate of the Harvard Medical School Scholars in Clinical Science Program.
Follow Aoife Brennan:
About Synlogic: Synlogic is a biotechnology company that develops synthetic biotic medicines to perform metabolic functions to treat diseases.
Eric Hobbs
CEO of Berkeley Lights
Eric D. Hobbs joined Berkeley Lights in May 2013 and was appointed Chief Executive Officer in March 2017. Prior to becoming CEO, Eric held various senior management roles, including most recently, Senior Vice President of Operations and Consumables. Prior to Berkeley Lights, Eric led the design, development, and launch of 3 new product architectures at FormFactor, Inc. as a senior member of both R&D and Operations organizations. He holds more than 62 U.S. and International patents. Eric has lectured both at UC Berkeley and Stanford speaking on Engineering Design, Invention, and Optimization Algorithms. Eric earned his Ph.D. & M.S. in MEMS Design and Microfluidic Devices at UC Berkeley. He received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from U.S.C.
Follow Eric Hobbs:
About Berkeley Lights: Berkeley Lights is a provider of research and development services using micro-droplet technology that change the biological processes.
Kirk Ririe
CEO/Chief Nerd of BioFire Diagnostics
Kirk Ririe founded BioFire Diagnostics, Inc. (BFDX) in 1990 and has made key inventive contributions to its products. At BioFire, he has established an open and risk-tolerant business culture to promote and reward innovation. Mr. Ririe is the recipient of the National Tibbetts Award for the Company’s outstanding contribution to the Small Business Innovation Research program (1999), the Franklin Jefferson Award in Science and Technology Innovation (1999), and the Western-region Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2004). Mr. Ririe holds a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Utah.
Follow Kirk Ririe:
About BioFire Diagnostics: BioFire Diagnostics is a biotech company that detects pathogens and mutations for molecular diagnostics.
Nick Davis
Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Theonys
Nick Davis is the Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer of Theonys — a therapeutics company developing new small-molecule medicines to selectively stop the translation of disease-causing proteins in cancer, chronic inflammation and other serious human diseases.
Follow Nick Davis:
About Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Theonys: Theonys is harnessing the power of tRNA to pioneer an entirely new class of genomic medicines.
Krishna Vaddi
Chief Executive Officer of Prelude Therapeutics
Kris Vaddi, Ph.D. founded Prelude and served as the chief executive officer and member of the board of directors since 2016. Previously, Kris had a 12-year career at Incyte starting as a founding scientist and an executive director in 2002 and most recently as a group vice president. Kris initiated and championed JAK research programs at Incyte that led to the discovery, development and approval of Jakafi® (ruxolotinib) for Myelofibrosis and Polycythemia Vera and Olumiant® (Baricitinib) for rheumatoid arthritis. Kris received his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from APAU in India and his Ph.D. from University of Florida.
Follow Krishna Vaddi:
About Prelude Therapeutics: Prelude Therapeutics is a developer of novel therapies intended to target key drivers of cancer cell growth, survival and resistance.
Landy Toth
CEO, Founder & CTO of LifeLens Technology
Follow Landy Toth:
About Autonomix Medical, DavosPharma, LifeLens Technology: LifeLens Technology is a biotechnology company that leads in innovative next generation treatment devices for personal health monitoring.
Ilya Rachman
Co-Founder & CEO of Immix Biopharma
Ilya Rachman is a physician-scientist and clinical faculty at UCLA. He received both his MD and PhD in neuroscience and cell biology from the University of Illinois-Chicago, and his MBA from UCLA Anderson. Previous to Immix, Dr. Rachman founded a clinical research organization that conducted clinical trials on behalf of pharmaceutical companies. He has completed several clinical trials as a Principal Investigator and is a co-inventor of Immix’ platform therapeutic technology.
Follow Ilya Rachman:
About Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Immix Biopharma: Immix Biopharma is a biotech company that develops treatments for cancer and other inflammation-driven diseases.
Corey McCann
President and Chief Executive Officer of Pear Therapeutics
Corey M McCann M.D., Ph.D. is the President and CEO of Pear Therapeutics, a company developing prescription digital therapeutics and drug/software combinations for treatment of severe medical conditions. Previously, he was an investor with MPM Capital, where he evaluated new healthcare investment opportunities, managed relationships with strategic partners, and oversaw strategy and execution at portfolio companies. Prior to MPM, he was an Engagement Manager with McKinsey & Company, where he advised pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotechnology companies on the acquisition, development, and commercialization of life science technologies. He led McKinsey’s central nervous system (CNS) expertise group, advising clients across the healthcare value chain. Corey has previous investment experience with RiverVest Venture Partners, where he performed diligence on early stage investments, and at NeuroInsights, where he evaluated brain related technologies. Corey is also a co-founder, advisor, or Board Director at AgNovos Healthcare, Alcyone Lifesciences, Dragonfly Sciences, Edumedics, Resolute Bio, Selexys Pharmaceuticals, and Zillion Health. Dr. McCann trained as a physician-scientist via the Medical Scientist Training Program. For his PhD, he studied the molecular biology of synapses at Harvard University and at Washington University in St Louis. He was also a post-doctoral researcher at the Massachusetts General Hospital where he developed imaging techniques for the visualization of the brain. Dr. McCann received his M.D. from Washington University in St. Louis. He graduated summa cum laude from The Pennsylvania State University where he was an Evan Pugh Scholar, receiving a B.S. in Biology with minors in neuroscience, biochemistry, and molecular biology.
Follow Corey McCann:
About Pear Therapeutics: Pear Therapeutics is a software-based digital therapeutics platform designed to treat disease and enhance the efficacy of pharmaceuticals.
Katherine Sizov
CEO & Co-Founder of Strella Biotechnology
Katherine Sizov is the Founder and the Co-President of Strella Biotechnology and Co-President of YouthHack’s.
Follow Katherine Sizov:
About Strella Biotechnology: Strella Biotechnology offers a biosensing platform that predicts the ripeness of fruit which reduces waste and improves product quality.
Taylor Schreiber
Chief Executive Officer & Co-founder of Shattuck Labs
Follow Taylor Schreiber:
About Shattuck Labs: Shattuck Labs is a biotechnology company that provides novel class biologic medicines for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune disease.
Gaurab Chakrabarti
Co-founder & CEO of Solugen
Gaurab got his start attending Brown University studying neuroscience, before simultaneously completing his MD and PhD. He focused his MD on the role of chemicals in cancer progression, and his PhD on how cells clean themselves in nature. It was then that he discovered a natural disinfectant—Bioperoxide.
Follow Gaurab Chakrabarti:
About Solugen, The World Economic Forum: Solugen is a specialty chemicals manufacturer creating chemistries that are safe, cost-effective, and environmentally-friendly.
Mark Kaganovich
Co-Founder & CEO of SolveBio
Mark Kaganovich is the Co-Founder & CEO at SolveBio.
Follow Mark Kaganovich:
About SolveBio: SolveBio deploys technology and on-demand expertise to drive precision medicine. We monitor, gather, and secure Genomic Intelligence.
Nello Mainolfi
Founder, President & CEO of Kymera Therapeutics
Nello Mainolfi is the Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer at Kymera Therapeutics.
Follow Nello Mainolfi:
About Kymera Therapeutics: Kymera Therapeutics is a biotechnology company that specializes in the field of targeted protein degradation.
Peter Gassner
Founder and CEO of Veeva
Peter is responsible for the overall direction and management of Veeva Systems. In 2010, Peter was named to the PharmaVOICE 100, which recognizes the 100 most influential people in the life sciences industry. Peter is a twenty year veteran of the software industry. Prior to founding Veeva, Peter was Senior Vice President of Technology at salesforce.com where he had responsibility for building the salesforce.com platform including product, marketing and developer relations. During Peter’s tenure, salesforce.com completed its public offering and grew the technology into the most successful SaaS platform in the industry. Before salesforce.com, Peter was with PeopleSoft for 9 years as both Chief Architect and General Manager of PeopleTools. Peter led a team of over 450 professionals who provided the development, strategy, marketing and customer support for PeopleSoft’s technology platform. PeopleTools was widely regarded in the industry as the best application platform of its day. Peter began his career with IBM in relational database development and research at IBM Silicon Valley Lab and then at IBM Almaden Research Center where he had the privilege of working closely with some of the inventors of relational database technology. Peter holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Oregon State University.
Follow Peter Gassner:
About Veeva: Veeva Systems is a provider of cloud-based business solutions for the global life sciences industry.
Jeffrey Kaditz
Founder, CEO & CTO of Q Bio
Jeffrey Kaditz is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor and advisor who has helped drive a wide range of technologies and businesses. His fields of exploration have included rockets, high-energy particle physics, anti-ICBM technologies, consumer electronics, mobile gaming, finance, enterprise software, network security, and biotechnology. In 2012, he co-founded a leading fintech company, Affirm, with Manny Arias and they were later joined full-time by Nathan Gettings (Palantir co-founder) and Affirm’s first Angel Investor, Max Levchin (PayPal co-founder). Prior to Affirm he served as Chief Data & Analytics Officer at mobile gaming giant ngmoco which was acquired by DeNA. Jeffrey has degrees in Physics and Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University.
Follow Jeffrey Kaditz:
About Q Bio: On a mission to build the first Clinical Digital Twin Platform and make it accessible to everyone
Greg Verdine
Co-Founder, President & CEO, CSO of LifeMine Therapeutics
Greg Verdine is the Founder of Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute & he attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1986.
Follow Greg Verdine:
About FogPharma, Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, LifeMine Therapeutics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Wave Life Sciences: Discovering powerful new drugs from eukaryotic microbes by combining Genomics with AI and Synthetic Biology.
Serge Saxonov
Co-founder & CEO of 10X Genomics
Serge Saxonov is the founder and chief executive officer of 10X Genomics. Prior to that, he was the vice president for applications at QuantaLife. Saxonov holds a PhD in biomedical informatics from Stanford University. He has also studied applied mathematics at Harvard University. Saxonov lives in San Francisco, California, United States.
Follow Serge Saxonov:
About 10X Genomics: 10X Genomics ELV solutions and security systems company that provides an innovative genomics platform.
Noga Leviner
Co-Founder & CEO of PicnicHealth
Noga was inspired to create Picnic after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and struggling to keep track of her own health data. She had previously co-founded Lumni USA, where she raised and deployed the first US investment fund to help underserved students access low-risk, equity-style student loan products. She has been a regular speaker and consultant on financial innovation for the underbanked and, more recently, an advocate for patient data access in the healthcare system. Noga has a BA from Stanford where she studied Human Biology and Economics. She can regularly be found spacing out while trying to meditate.
Follow Noga Leviner:
About PicnicHealth: PicnicHealth helps patients easily access their medical records and gives them the opportunity to contribute data to medical research.
