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 COO’ operating in the Biotechnology space. If you think a COO’ 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.
Chart Westcott
Chief Operating Officer of Ikarian Capital
Chart Westcott, Esq. is Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Ikarian Capital, LLC a long/short equity biotech focused investment adviser. Chart graduated from Vanderbilt University with a BA in History as well as Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, where he concentrated on corporate transactions and tax law. Once he passed the Texas Bar, he was a licensed attorney in Texas where he worked as general counsel in his family office. Along with Chart Westcott’s professional career, he serves on the board of multiple philanthropic organizations. Some which include, Turning Point USA, where he resides on the advisory board, the Sixth Floor Museum, also known as the Kennedy Assassination Museum, as well as the Texas Real Estate Commission. His work with nonprofit organizations has given him great insight as to how important philanthropy is within a business. In becoming Co-Founder and COO of Ikarian Captial, LLC, he has realized the need for philanthropic efforts within the company. Through these efforts, businesses, and organizations all over the world can shape the lives of people within our society. One of the biggest aspects of philanthropy that Chart utilizes in his business is assisting children and young teens in need by giving them the tools they need to succeed. Besides his work in philanthropy and in the professional business realm, because of the work and efforts of his brother, Chart is a private investor in augmented reality and AI companies. He has a vast interest in new technology in multiple industries including, real estate and computer vision.
Follow Chart Westcott:
About Ikarian Capital, Westcott LLC: We leverage our co-founder’s medical and financial background to invest both long and short in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.
Eduardo Alvarez
Chief Operating Officer of Amyris
Eduardo Alvarez joined Amyris as Chief Operating Officer in October 2017. He has over 30 years of global operations experience both running and advising growth companies. Previously, he served as Global Operations Strategy Leader for PwC. During his tenure, he co-led the integration of his prior company, Booz & Company, following its acquisition by PwC. In his role, he grew operations into a global practice with $1.5 billion in revenue and 4,000 employees. His assignments focused on delivering structural cost improvements while also driving sustained revenue growth. His experience also includes roles at Booz Allen Hamilton, General Electric and AT&T. Alvarez holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School, a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering in computer control and manufacturing from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan. He is a board member of The Chicago Council of Global Affairs.
Follow Eduardo Alvarez:
About Amyris: Amyris Biotechnologies specializes in creating renewable products focusing on fuels and chemicals.
Gus Lawlor
Chief Operating Officer of Leap Therapeutics
Mr. Lawlor is a General Partner at HealthCare Ventures (HCV), one of the largest healthcare-focused venture capital firms in the world. Mr. Lawlor has 15 years of experience in the biotechnology industry in finance, business development, mergers and acquisitions, and general management. Prior to joining HCV in 2000, he was Chief Operating Officer of LeukoSite (acquired by Millennium Pharmaceuticals), a biotechnology company. Before joining LeukoSite, Mr. Lawlor also served as Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Corporate Development for Alpha-Beta Technology, and he was previously Chief Financial Officer and Vice President, Business Development, at BioSurface Technology. Mr. Lawlor is a co-founder of Phase Forward (acquired by Oracle ORCL), a company developing Internet-based management tools for conducting clinical trials.
Follow Gus Lawlor:
About Leap Therapeutics: Leap Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company.
Howard Dubinett
EVP & COO of Bio-Reference Laboratories
Follow Howard Dubinett:
About Bio-Reference Laboratories: BioReference is the third largest full service clinical diagnostic laboratory in the U.S. providing testing .
Tomer Jackman
Co-founder and COO of Variantyx
Tomer serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Variantyx and is responsible for delivering services to customers. This includes day-to-day operations such as supply chain management, customer care, and above all, productivity. Prior to co-founding Variantyx, Tomer was responsible for hardware development operations in Pivotal/Greenplum division of EMC2 where he helped develop server clusters for “Massive Parallel Processing” databases. This followed a decade with EMC2 in several hardware engineering roles, and work in R&D with HP/Indigo. He holds a high-tech MBA from Northeastern University in Boston, and a BSc in Electrical Engineering from Tel-Aviv University.
Follow Tomer Jackman:
About Variantyx: Variantyx offers a comprehensive set of advanced genomic diagnostic products and services with a focus on whole genome sequencing.
Kelly Huang
Chief Operating Officer of Cardea Bio
Follow Kelly Huang:
About Cardea Bio: Cardea is developing a new generation of (bio)technology infrastructure based on proprietary biology-gated transistors.
Jason Rickard
Chief Operating Officer of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals
Jason Rickard is the Chief Operating Officer at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals.
Follow Jason Rickard:
About Ironwood Pharmaceuticals: Ironwood Pharmaceuticals is an entrepreneurial pharmaceutical company, develops drugs for gastrointestinal and cardiovascular diseases.
Gene Castagnini
COO, CFO, CAO & Co-founder of Biocare Medical
Gene J. Castagnini, MS, MBA, co-founded Biocare Medical LLC in 1997 and serves as its Co-Owner and Chief Financial Officer. Gene Castagnini serves as the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Biocare Medical, LLC Gene Castagnini served as the Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Financial Officer of BioGenex Laboratories. Inc., for 10 years. Gene Castagnini’s experience includes 15 years as a Director and Officer of Medi-Physics Inc., formerly a Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. subsidiary. Gene Castagnini has a BS in accounting and an MBA in Human Resource Management from the California State University school systems.
Follow Gene Castagnini:
About Biocare Medical: Biocare Medical is a provider of immunohistochemistry instrumentation.
Philip Siuta
Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer of Connecticut Innovations
Phil directs and supervises the finance and IT teams of CI. As CFO, he is responsible for financial reporting, budgeting, strategic planning, debt management and treasury functions. In addition to his core duties, Phil serves as project manager for the Jackson Laboratory project and the Connecticut Ecosystem. Phil joined the CI team as CFO in July of 2012 as part of the merger between CI and the Connecticut Development Authority (CDA). He was the chief financial officer for 12 years at CDA. He also spent four years as a senior accountant with Deloitte & Touche.
Follow Philip Siuta:
About Connecticut Innovations: Connecticut Innovations provides strategic capital and operational insight to to companies in high-tech industries
Riley Ennis
Co-Founder and COO of Freenome
Riley is a Thiel Fellow who created a cancer vaccine with his previous company Immudicon as Co-Founder & Chair. Co-Founder, COO at Freenome.
Follow Riley Ennis:
About Freenome, Immudicon, Oncolinx, The Thiel Foundation: Freenome is a biotechnology company with a comprehensive multiomics platform for cancer detection using a routine blood draw.
Vivien Chan
COO of Eureka Therapeutics
Vivien Chan serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Eureka Therapeutics.
Follow Vivien Chan:
About Eureka Therapeutics: Eureka Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focusing on immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer.
Jacqualyn Fouse
President and Chief Operating Officer of Celgene
Dr. Fouse serves as President and Chief Operating Officer. She assumed that role on March 1, 2016. In February 2016, Dr. Fouse was elected to the Board of Directors. Previously she was President, Global Hematology and Oncology since July 2014. Dr. Fouse joined the Company in September 2010 as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and became Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in February 2012. Before Celgene, Dr. Fouse served as Chief Financial Officer of Bunge Limited, a leading global agribusiness and food company (Bunge), starting in July 2007. Before Bunge, Dr. Fouse was at Alcon Laboratories serving as Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Head of Corporate Strategy at Alcon Laboratories between 2002 and 2007. Dr. Fouse was the Chief Financial Officer at Swissair Group from 2001 to 2002. Dr. Fouse held a variety of senior finance positions at Nestlé S.A. from 1993 to 2001, including serving as Group Treasurer of Nestlé from 1999 to 2001. Dr. Fouse also worked in finance at Alcon from 1986 to 1993 and held several positions, including Manager Corporate Investments and Domestic Finance. Earlier in her career, she worked at Celanese Chemical and LTV Aerospace and Defense. Dr. Fouse earned a B.A. and an M.A. in Economics and a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Texas at Arlington. Dr. Fouse also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Dick’s Sporting Goods (chairperson of the audit committee) and Perrigo Company (member of the audit committee), both NYSE-listed companies.
Follow Jacqualyn Fouse:
About Celgene: Celgene discovers, develops and commercializes innovative therapies to treat cancer and immune-inflammatory-related diseases.
Don Calabria
COO of Endonovo Therapeutics
Don Calabria Chief Operating Officer brings over seventeen years of leadership and experience in national business operations to emerging growth companies, mergers and acquisitions, finance, and business development. Mr. Calabria has a deep level of experience in analyzing companies, determining the operational efficiencies, and conducting operational due diligence on targeted acquisitions. Previously, Mr. Calabria served as President of Gemini Consulting Group, Inc., a boutique consulting firm which specialized in providing consulting services to companies in multiple marker segments with a core focus directed towards capital structuring and investments, brand strategy and marketing, M&A activities, and operational efficiencies. Prior to this, Mr. Calabria was the VP of Operations for TrinTel Communications; the largest privately held Infrastructure Company in the wireless telecommunications industry. As part of the Company’s initial Senior Management team, which grew the company to a $350+ million valuation in under three years, Mr. Calabria specialized in managing joint venture agreements and strategic alliances as well as directing all subsidiary operations including regional sales, marketing, and business development practices. Prior to this, as the Director of Operations for Wireless Solutions, LLC, he helped facilitate the sale of the company to TrinTel Communications. Mr. Calabria holds an MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University and a BS in Management from Arizona State University.
Follow Don Calabria:
About Endonovo Therapeutics: Endonovo Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing off-the-shelf regenerative products.
Josh Disbrow
COO of Ampio Pharmaceuticals
Joshua Disbrow joined Zynex Medical as Board Of Directors in 2018.Josh is the Chief Operating Officer of Ampio Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining Ampio Josh served as the Vice President of Commercial Operations at Arbor Pharmaceuticals. He joined Arbor in 2007 as the company’s second full-time employee and led the company’s commercial efforts from its inception to $127 million in net sales in 2011. Arbor was acquired by an investor group in 2010 and since the company’s acquisition, Josh remained with Arbor and led the growth of the company’s commercial organization to comprise over 150 people in sales, marketing, and other commercial functions. Josh has spent nearly 17 years in the pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and medical device industries and has held positions of increasing responsibility in sales, marketing, sales management, commercial operations, and commercial strategy. Before joining Arbor, he was in sales management with Cyberonics, Inc., a medical device company focused on neuromodulation therapies. Prior to joining Cyberonics, Josh served as Director of Marketing at LipoScience, Inc., a specialty diagnostics company where he oversaw commercialization of the company’s lead in vitro diagnostic product. Josh began his career at Glaxo Wellcome (now GlaxoSmithKline) where he held various positions within sales and marketing. Josh received an MBA from Wake Forest University and a BS in Management from North Carolina State University.
Follow Josh Disbrow:
About Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Aytu BioScience, Neos Therapeutics: Ampio Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical firm that discovers and develops novel therapies for treating inflammatory conditions.
Steven Ertel
Chief Operating Officer of Acceleron Pharma
Mr. Ertel joined Acceleron in January 2006 as a Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Ertel established Acceleron’s business development function and currently leads business development, commercial strategy and program management functions. Mr. Ertel has over 20 years of experience in the biotechnology industry at Vivus, Inc., Genentech, Inc., Biogen Idec, Inc., and Synta. His responsibilities at these companies included program management for preclinical and clinical stage programs, commercial strategy for clinical stage programs, market launch of a novel biologic agent, and business development. Mr. Ertel began his career in the venture capital industry at Oxford Bioscience Partners. Mr. Ertel received a BSE in biomedical engineering from Duke University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Follow Steven Ertel:
About Acceleron Pharma: Acceleron is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in developing, manufacturing and commercializing novel biotherapeutics.
Clarissa Shen
COO of Q Bio
Clarissa Shen is Chief Operating Officer and Board Member at Q. She is an international executive and entrepreneur who enjoys scaling high-growth teams who are on a mission to change the world for good. Most recently, she was COO at Udacity, where she joined as the first business hire and helped grow the company from $0 to $100MM revenue run rate. She started her career in management strategy consulting at Monitor Group (now Deloitte Monitor) advising Fortune 500 executives and companies in Greater China, Southeast Asia, and Europe. In her past life, she has led a top 10 Google digital marketing team, managed an internationally-touring contemporary dance company, and co-founded a pioneering K-12 foreign language education start-up. Clarissa graduated magna cum laude from Williams College and has an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Follow Clarissa Shen:
About Q Bio: On a mission to build the first Clinical Digital Twin Platform and make it accessible to everyone
Jason Cole
Chief Operating and Legal Officer of Bluebird Bio
Follow Jason Cole:
About Bluebird Bio: Bluebird Bio offers products based on the transformative potential of gene therapy for patients with genetic and orphan diseases.
Sean Jeffries
Chief Operating Officer of Design Therapeutics
Sean Jeffries is the Chief Operating Officer at Design Therapeutics.
Follow Sean Jeffries:
About Design Therapeutics: Design Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing a new class of therapies for serious degenerative disorders.
Kristin Brief
Co-Founder and COO of Virex Health
Follow Kristin Brief:
About Virex Health: Virex is a biotechnology firm that enables widespread testing in life, homes, workplaces, schools, and public spaces globally.
Paul LaViolette
Managing Partner, Chief Operating Officer of SV Health Investors
Paul brings over 33 years of global medical technology management experience. Paul was most recently Chief Operating Officer at Boston Scientific Corporation (BSC), an $8 billion medical device leader. During his 15 years at BSC, he served as COO, Group President, President-Cardiology and President-International as the company grew revenues over 20 times. Paul integrated two dozen acquisitions and led extensive product development, operations and worldwide commercial organizations. Paul previously held marketing and general management positions at CR Bard, and various marketing roles at Kendall (Covidien). He served on the boards of Urologix, Percutaneous Valve Technologies and Advamed and currently serves on the boards of *Baxano Surgical, *Cardiofocus, CardioKinetix, Coridea NC2, CSA Medical, *DC Devices, *Direct Flow Medical, Thoratec, *TransEnterix, ValenTx and the Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA). Paul received his BA in Psychology from Fairfield University and his MBA from Boston College.
Follow Paul LaViolette:
About CardioFocus, Medtech Convergence Fund, SV Health Investors: SV Health Investors is a Boston-based venture capital firm focused on investments in biotechnology and healthcare industry.
Jeff Yordon
President & COO of Athenex
Jeffrey Yordon has held multiple senior management positions in the pharmaceutical industry over the last 46 years. Mr. Yordon was the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Sagent Pharmaceuticals which had a market cap of $1.6 billion when he left the company in 2015. Previous to that, Mr. Yordon was the COO of American Pharmaceutical Partners where he was a founder and the company was eventually sold to Fresenius for $5.5 billion. Mr. Yordon was the CEO of Faulding Pharmaceuticals, CEO and Founder of YorPharm, COO of Gensia Pharmaceuticals and he was instrumental in the sale of all of these companies to Apotex, Teva and Hospira for prices upwards of $3.5 billion. Mr. Yordon has successfully taken four companies public and all of the companies sold for significant returns for his shareholders. Mr. Yordon was an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2011, was inducted into the Chicago Entrepreneur Hall of Fame in 2014, won a prestigious Innovation Award from the City of Chicago, was appointed to the Chicago Innovation Council in 2014, was appointed by Governor Rauner to the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority in 2015, has been appointed to be the Chairman of the Board of the Northern Illinois University Foundation, is the Chair of the NIU Political Science Advisory Panel and is actively involved in the NIU Athletic program. Mr. Yordon has three children and presides in the Chicago area.
Follow Jeff Yordon:
About Athenex, Sagent Pharmaceuticals: Athenex focuses on the development and commercialization of therapies for cancer and immunomodulatory diseases.
Bruce Given
Chief Operating Officer of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals
Follow Bruce Given:
About Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals: Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company that focuses on the development of medicine to treat diseases with a genetic origin.
Guy Snir
Co-Founder & COO of Clear Genetics
Follow Guy Snir:
About Clear Genetics, Invitae: Clear Genetics is a digital health company dedicated to the thoughtful integration of genetics into routine patient care.
Kathryn Penkus Corzo
Chief Operating Officer of bit.bio
Kathryn Corzo is the Chief Operating Officer of bit.bio. She has more than 25 years of experience in drug development, both early and late, across a variety of indications and platforms.
Follow Kathryn Penkus Corzo:
About bit.bio: Bit.bio specializes in the fields of coding and biology that determine the identity of every human cell.
Pamela Hudson
Chief Operating Officer & Center for Digital Health Innovation of University of California, San Francisco
Pamela Hudson is the Chief Operating Officer & Center for Digital Health Innovation at UCSF.
Follow Pamela Hudson:
About BayHealth Development, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, UCSF health, University of California, San Francisco, University of California, San Francisco: Director of the Lab for Advanced Cytometry (LAC) and the Sony Biotechnology Center at UCSF in the Department of Laboratory Medicine
Kyle Giffin
Co-founder, Chief Operating Officer of LatchBio
Kyle Giffin is a Co-founder at Latch Bio.
Follow Kyle Giffin:
About LatchBio: Latch Bio builds and disseminates free to use data infrastructure for the the biocomputing revolution.
Ryan Fukushima
Chief Operating Officer of Tempus
Ryan Fukushima serves as Chief Operating Officer at Tempus. Prior to Tempus, Fukushima was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Vice President at Lightbank, focusing investments on enterprise software and launching businesses. Earlier he was at Hyde Park Venture Partners, where he concentrated on enterprise investments in the Midwest. Before landing in Chicago, Fukushima worked predominantly as an engineer, designing and implementing backend systems for Cisco and VMware. Fukushima has received a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from California Polytechnic University and holds an MBA from the Ross School of Business at University of Michigan, where he was a Zell Scholar.
Follow Ryan Fukushima:
About Tempus: Tempus is a technology company advancing precision medicine through the practical application of artificial intelligence in healthcare.
Anish Bhatnagar
Chief Executive Officer, President & Chief Operating Officer of Soleno Therapeutics
Dr. Bhatnagar was appointed as our Chief Executive Officer in February 2014. Prior to that, he served as our President and Chief Operating Officer. Dr. Bhatnagar joined us in 2006, and has held positions of increasing responsibility since then. Dr. Bhatnagar is a physician with over 15 years of experience in the medical device and biopharmaceutical industries. His experience spans development of biologics, drugs, drug-device combinations and diagnostic as well as therapeutic medical devices. His prior experience includes working at Coulter Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 1998 to 2000 and Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2000 to 2006. He is the author of several peer-reviewed publications, abstracts and book chapters. He obtained his medical degree at SMS Medical College in Jaipur, India and completed his Residency and Fellowship training in the U.S. at various institutions, including Georgetown University Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania.
Follow Anish Bhatnagar:
About Soleno Therapeutics: Soleno Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company
George Hillman
COO, VP & Co-Founder of Viracta Therapeutics
George Hillman is the Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer, and Vice President of Viracta Therapeutics.
Follow George Hillman:
About Viracta Therapeutics: Viracta Therapeutics is a precision oncology company focused on new treatment of virus-associated malignancies.
Michael McKenna
President & COO of Quantum SI
Michael McKenna is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Quantum-Si since December 2014. Prior to joining Quantum-Si, Dr. McKenna served as Vice President, R&D at Life Technologies Corporation, a global biotechnology company, from August 2011 to July 2014, and as a consultant to Life Technologies from February 2011 to August 2011. Dr. McKenna received his B.S. in molecular biology and German from Carnegie Mellon University and his Ph.D. in biology from Yale University.
Follow Michael McKenna:
About Quantum SI: Quantum SI offers Next Generation Protein Sequencing that makes diagnostics digital.
Suresh Jain
Co-Founder, President & COO of Acylin Therapeutics
Follow Suresh Jain:
About Acylin Therapeutics: Acylin Therapeutics operates in the pharmaceutical and drug manufacturing industry developing inhibitors of cellular acetylation.
Chris Brown
Chief Operating Officer of hc1
In addition to leading the daily operations of hc1.com, Chris oversees the finance, administrative and legal teams. Chris is a veteran of the software and telecommunications industries and spent the last 5 years as President and CFO of ChaCha. At ChaCha Chris launched the mobile products and guided the company’s growth to the #1 answers service worldwide, answering over 2 Billion questions since its launch in 2008. Prior to ChaCha Chris spent 20 years in the wireless sector where he held a variety of leadership roles in sales operations, finance, customer care, and strategic planning for Verizon Wireless and Nextel Communications. At Nextel Chris led the customer lifecycle improvements that led to Nextel achieving the #1 rank from JD Powers in wireless customer satisfaction. Chris helped Nextel grow from $80M to over $15B in annual revenue during his tenure there. In 2005-2006 he led the planning and implementation of the Sprint – Nextel merger, one of the largest U.S. mergers in history. Chris started his career at Deloitte Haskins and Sells and is a CPA. He has a B.A. from Moravian College and a Graduate Certificate in Strategic Business Leadership from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.
Follow Chris Brown:
About hc1: Hc1 enables real-time lab stewardship and precision prescribing for health systems, laboratories and physicians.
Chris Dammann
COO of Bluu Bioscience
Chris Dammann is the COO at Bluu Biosciences.
Follow Chris Dammann:
About Bluu Bioscience: Bluu Bioscience is the first European cultivated seafood startup
Chun Wu
Co-Founder and COO of iCarbonX
Chung Wu is Co-founder and COO of iCarbonX. Dr. Wu joined the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in 2003. As the global Partner and Managing Director, Dr. Wu led her team to assist tens of multinational and domestic companies to formulate corporate strategy and improve business management. Early 2015, Dr. Wu joined the Beijing Genomics Institute as the Chief Operating Officer, overseeing manufacturing, marketing, and sales globally. Dr. Wu received B.S. degree in biology from Peking University and Ph.D. in genetics from Yale University.
Follow Chun Wu:
About iCarbonX: iCarbonX is a China-based artificial intelligence platform for health data company.
Mukul Jain
Chief Operating Officer of Senseonics
Mukul Jain is the Chief Operating Officer at Senseonics, Inc. Mukul is responsible for overseeing Quality, Regulatory, Product Development and Global Operations – including manufacturing and supply chain. Prior to joining Senseonics, Mukul spent 13 years at Medtronic working on active implantable devices in CRDM and Neuromodulation space. He was responsible for managing the development of Neurostimulator systems in spinal cord stimulation and sacral nerve stimulation. Prior to that, he worked at Medtronic Energy and Components Center developing various critical components used across Medtronic’s implantable devices. Mukul earned his MBA from Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of South Carolina and a B.Tech. from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
Follow Mukul Jain:
About Senseonics: Senseonics is a medical device startup company that focuses on the design, development, and commercialization of glucose monitoring systems.
Darren Sherman
President, Chief Operating Officer, Director and Founder of Orchestra BioMed
Darren Sherman is a Managing Partner of Orchestra. He is also Chief Technical Officer of Accelerated Technologies, Inc. (ATI) as well as Chief Executive Officer of Caliber Therapeutics, Inc., an OMV II Fund Portfolio Company. He has over 17 years of management and entrepreneurial experience in the medical technology industry spanning interventional cardiology, cardiac electrophysiology, sudden cardiac death, stroke, and neurovascular therapies. He currently serves as a director of Caliber Therapeutics and Vivasure Medical. Prior to joining Orchestra, Mr. Sherman held various positions in executive management for Cordis Neurovascular (CNV), a Johnson & Johnson company, including Executive Director R&D and Director of Strategic Marketing for stroke products. He had worldwide responsibility for all neurovascular R&D and global strategic marketing responsibilities for the Stroke franchise, including budgets, portfolio of products and strategic planning. Mr. Sherman made significant contributions to the design and commercialization of a series of key products including the Enterprise Vascular Reconstruction Device and the Orbit Embolic Coil as well as directed the filing of over 100 patents. Prior to joining CNV, Mr. Sherman played an integral role in the formation and development of Revivant Corp (acquired by Zoll) while working with Thomas J. Fogarty, MD at Fogarty Engineering. He was Revivant’s first employee and managed the design, development, and testing of the AutoPulse device from concept through market introduction. In addition to the R&D related activities, Mr. Sherman supported the clinical research, marketing, and intellectual property efforts. The AutoPulse is a lightweight, portable tool replacing the need for manual chest compressions during cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for patients suffering from sudden cardiac arrest. Prior to Revivant, Mr. Sherman held positions in research and development for Cardiac Pathways Corp., prior to its acquisition by Boston Scientific, and Baxter Healthcare. In each of these companies, he participated in the creation, development and launch of products. Mr. Sherman has authored 45 U.S. patents with an additional 58 published applications. He earned a BS degree in Bioengineering from the University of California, San Diego.
Follow Darren Sherman:
About Orchestra BioMed, Orchestra Medical Ventures: Orchestra BioMed is a biomedical innovation company that provides high-impact solutions for large unmet needs in procedure-based medicine.
Sofia Elizondo
Co-Founder and COO of Brightseed
Sofia Elizondo is the Co-founder and COO at Brightseed.
Follow Sofia Elizondo:
About Brightseed: Brightseed features artificial intelligence that reveals powerful compounds hidden in nature.
Narendra Lalwani
Executive Vice President of R & D and Chief Operating Officer of Esperion
Narendra Lalwani is Executive Vice President, R & D, and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining Esperion, Narendra was Chief Scientific Officer at Cerenis Therapeutics from 2007 to 2014 where he led R&D activities for the company. Previously, Narendra was Vice President of Drug Safety at the original Esperion until its acquisition by Pfizer. Prior to Esperion, Narendra held various positions of increasing responsibility in the Department of Pathology and Experimental Toxicology at Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis. Narendra is a Fellow of American Heart Association (FAHA) and a diplomate of the American board of Toxicology (DABT).Narendra earned a Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of Bombay (India) and an MBA from the University of Michigan, Ross School of Business.
Follow Narendra Lalwani:
About Esperion: Esperion discovers and develops pharmaceutical products for the treatment of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
Jon Adkins
COO and Co-founder of XenoTherapeutics
Jon Adkins, M.B.A., is COO and Co-founder of XenoTherapeutics Corporation.3 Jon graduated from the University of Florida and completed his Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in Healthcare Management from Southern New Hampshire University. Jon has spent more than 15 years in medical device sales, management, marketing, and consulting. He’s worked with top corporations, including Zimmer Biomet, DePuy Synthes, and Smith & Nephew. In these roles, he supervised simultaneous lines of business involving implantable medical devices and biologics, including those used in orthopedic joint reconstruction and spine and trauma surgeries. Jon combines his expertise in business development with industry experience to focus on implementing the strategic and operational directives of XenoTherapeutics.
Follow Jon Adkins:
About XenoTherapeutics: XenoTherapeutics is a clinical-stage cell and gene therapy company engineering immune-compatible cells, tissues, and organs.
Badreddin Edris
COO of SpringWorks Therapeutics
Badreddin Edris, Ph.D., is a co-founder of Edgewise Therapeutics and continues to serve as a board observer and strategic advisor after having been the company’s founding Chief Operating Officer.
Follow Badreddin Edris:
About Edgewise Therapeutics, SpringWorks Therapeutics: SpringWorks Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing medicines for patients with severe rare diseases and cancer.
Bryan Giraudo
Chief Financial Officer & COO of Gossamer Bio
Mr. Giraudo is the Chief Financial Officer of Gossamer Bio. Previously, he was Senior Managing Director at LEERINK Partners, where he was responsible for LEERINK’s Western North America and Asia life sciences investment banking practice. Prior to joining LEERINK Partners in 2009, Bryan was a Managing Director in Merrill Lynch’s Global Healthcare Investment Banking Group. Bryan received his B.A. from Georgetown University.
Follow Bryan Giraudo:
About Gossamer Bio: Gossamer Bio is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel and differentiated therapeutic products.
Christopher Wilfong
Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of Kronos Bio
Chris co-founded Kronos Bio in 2017 and currently serves as COO. Additionally, he is an Operating Partner at Two River, where he has co-founded and held interim management roles in several Two River portfolio companies including Kite Pharma, Inc. (acquired by Gilead), Nile Therapeutics, Inc. (acquired by Capricor Therapeutics), and Neogene Therapeutics. Prior to Two River, Chris was a Director and led the US investment team at Trustbridge Partners, a healthcare and technology-focused growth equity firm based in China. Prior to that, he was a Consultant at Bain & Company. Chris received his Master of Business Administration from the MIT Sloan School of Management, and his Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Follow Christopher Wilfong:
About 76Bio, Kronos Bio: Kronos Bio focuses on the research and development of first-in-class therapies that modulate historically recalcitrant cancer.
Jonathan Lanfear
Chief Operating Officer of HiberCell
Follow Jonathan Lanfear:
About HiberCell: HiberCell is a biotechnology company developing treatments to prevent cancer relapse and metastasis.
David de Vries
Co-Founder and COO of Arine
David oversees overall company strategy, operations, sales, marketing and business development for Arine. Prior to Arine, David was the Director of Commercial Strategy and Development at Proteus Digital Health, where he oversaw partnerships, key elements of new product development and other strategic growth initiatives including the design and execution of the first value-based contracts for digital medicines. Before that, he worked at the RAND Corporation on the analysis and evaluation of several elements of the Affordable Care Act. When he’s not focusing on transforming healthcare through technology, he is most likely to be spotted at your local photography exhibit, neighborhood pickup basketball court, or by a large body of water attempting and failing some kind of watersport. David holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Neurobiology from Harvard and a Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology from the University of Cambridge.
Follow David de Vries:
About Arine: Arine optimizes medications and improves human health through data-driven clinical services.
Tao Fu
President, COO & Director of Zai Lab
Tao Fu has been our President & Chief Operating Officer since September 2018. Prior to joining Zai Lab, he worked with Portola Pharmaceuticals, where he served as Executive Vice President, Chief Commercial and Business Officer, responsible for commercial operations, marketing, sales and business development functions. Prior to joining Portola in June 2015, Tao was Vice President and Head of Mergers & Acquisitions and Alliance Management at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS). At BMS, he was responsible for the company’s corporate development, alliance management and venture activities. Between 2003 and 2014, he held several leadership positions with increasing responsibilities at Janssen, the pharmaceuticals group of Johnson & Johnson, most recently as Vice President, Business Development, where he led global M&A activities. He also has experience in business development, commercial strategy and management consulting with McKinsey & Company, Becton Dickinson, etc. Tao holds an M.S. in biology from the University of Rochester and an M.B.A in finance and marketing from Vanderbilt University. He did his undergraduate studies in biology at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Follow Tao Fu:
About Zai Lab: Zai Lab brings transformative medicines for cancer, autoimmune, and infectious diseases to patients in China and around the world.
Pad (Padmanabh) Chivukula
Founder, CSO & COO of Arcturus Therapeutics
Padmanabh (Pad) Chivukula Ph.D., is Founder, Chief Scientific Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Arcturus Therapeutics. He is responsible for Arcturus’ research and development activities, including clinical and non-clinical development and regulatory affairs for all of Arcturus drug products. Dr. Chivukula has an exceptional and technically solid foundation in nanoparticle technology. Prior to Arcturus, from 2008 until February 2013, Dr. Chivukula was employed by Nitto Denko Technical Corporation, a pharmaceutical company, where his titles included Group Leader and Chief Scientist. Dr. Chivukula brings over 15 years of experience in drug delivery and therapeutic drug development, including leading the polymeric RNAi research department at Nitto Denko.
Follow Pad (Padmanabh) Chivukula:
About Arcturus Therapeutics: Arcturus Therapeutics focuses on developing novel RNA therapeutics for the treatment of various diseases aiming at Rare Diseases.
Glenn Robertelli
Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer of Admetsys
Follow Glenn Robertelli:
About Admetsys: For people at diabetic risk, glucose control is at its most crucial while in hospital or surgery.
Nico Anthony
Chief Operating Officer of ADM Labs
Follow Nico Anthony:
About ADM Labs: ADM Labs’ specific focus is on extraction, manufacturing/processing and wholesale of extract-based products from industrial hemp & CBD.
Nick Wright
President & COO of CellCarta
Nick Wright currently works as the President and COO for CellCarta. He previously worked at VitaLink Research as the President and CEO.
Follow Nick Wright:
About CellCarta: CellCarta’s highly trained, multi-disciplinary team has developed a highly integrated, industrialized approach to proteomics.
Alexander Casdin
Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer of Epirium
Alexander Casdin is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Epirium Bio. He has broad financial and operational expertise, with more than 20 years of experience as a healthcare executive and investor. Prior to joining Epirium, Mr. Casdin was founder, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and portfolio manager of Reneo Capital Management LP, a successful healthcare investment fund. He previously served as CFO of Sophiris Bio, Inc. and Vice President of Finance for Amylin Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Casdin was a founder and senior advisor at Casdin Advisors, LLC; CEO and portfolio manager at Cooper Hill Partners, LLC, a healthcare investment fund; and portfolio manager of Pequot Capital Management’s healthcare fund. Earlier, he worked at the Dreyfus Corporation as a senior managing analyst covering pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and medical devices. Mr. Casdin has been on the board of directors for multiple life science companies including Erasca, Inc., Dusa Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Ignyta, Inc. Mr. Casdin received an M.B.A from Columbia Business School and a B.A. in political science from Brown University.
Follow Alexander Casdin:
About Epirium, Epirium: Epirium Bio is a clinical stage bio pharmaceutical company.
John Shannon
Chief Operating Officer of Xeris Pharmaceuticals
Follow John Shannon:
About Xeris Pharmaceuticals: Xeris Pharmaceuticals is a pharmaceutical company that develops therapies for patients in endocrinology, neurology, and gastroenterology.
Kate Blanchard
Chief Operating Officer / Founder of ORIG3N
Follow Kate Blanchard:
About ORIG3N: ORIG3N is a biotechnology company developing breakthrough treatments for rare genetically inherited diseases.
Tayson Siegel
Chief Operating Officer of Xip
Follow Tayson Siegel:
About Xip: Xip produces disposable blood analyzers that wirelessly upload lab-quality clinical measurements in minutes.
Frank Thomas
President & Chief Operating Officer of Orchard Therapeutics
Frank brings nearly 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry as an accomplished financial and business executive. Frank has a background developing and executing capital markets strategies for private and public companies as well as experience in operations management, and corporate and business development. Until recently Frank served as president and chief operating officer of AMAG Pharmaceuticals where he helped develop the business from a single product company in 2011 to one with a portfolio of commercial and development-stage products that generated more than $600 million in sales in 2017. During that time, Frank raised more than $1.8 billion in new capital to support the significant growth of AMAG. Before joining AMAG, he served as chief operating officer and chief financial officer for Molecular Biometrics, Inc. Earlier in his career, Frank also served as chief financial officer for Critical Therapeutics and Esperion Therapeutics. Each completed its initial public offering in the United States during his tenure. Frank currently serves on the board of directors of Zafgen (Nasdaq: ZFGN) and Spero Therapeutics (Nasdaq: SPRO). Frank received a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Follow Frank Thomas:
About Orchard Therapeutics: Orchard Therapeutics is a biotechnology company dedicated to transforming the lives of patients through innovative gene therapies.
Jay Scherer
Chief Operating Officer of Conversant Bio
Jay has 17 years of software development and management experience in the defense, telecommunications, and biotechnology industries. From 2000 through 2009, he worked at ADTRAN where he most recently served as Engineering Manager in support of network management solutions for the SMB market. Prior to joining ADTRAN Jay worked for Davidson Enterprises, Nichols Research, and ADDI supporting defense, healthcare and corporate software development efforts. Jay holds a B.S. in Information Systems from Northwestern State and an MBA from Florida Tech.
Follow Jay Scherer:
About Conversant Bio, Discovery Life Sciences, Discovery Life Sciences: Conversant Bio serves as a trusted partner to many of the top biotech and pharma groups.
Mary Z. Luo
COO, Chief Scientist of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals
Mary Z. Luo, Ph.D. has served as Chief Operating Officer for Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Chairman of the Board of Directors since its inception in 1996. She has also served as a Chief Scientist since 2005 and Corporate Secretary from 1996 through April 2004. As co-founder of both Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and APCL, Dr. Luo has over 30 years of academic and practical experience in the field of chemistry. She provides scientific leadership through her research and activities in technology transfer, regulatory submission, intellectual property, clinical research, recruitment, and training. Dr. Luo is a professor emeritus of chemistry at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and is named as the inventor on several U.S. and foreign patents. She received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Princeton University and was a Post Doctoral Research Associate at the California Institute of Technology.
Follow Mary Z. Luo:
About Amphastar Pharmaceuticals: Amphastar Pharmaceuticals specialty pharmaceutical company that is engaged in the development, manufacture and marketing of generic.
Jun Yoon
Chief Operating Officer of ShouTi
Jun Yoon is the Chief Operating Officer at ShouTi.
Follow Jun Yoon:
About ShouTi: ShouTi specializes in the discovery and development of drugs against a type of targets called GPCR.
Stewart Roberts
Co-founder, President & COO of Biolinq
Stewart Roberts is the Co-founder, President, and COO of Biolinq.
Follow Stewart Roberts:
About Biolinq: Biolinq develops a wearable biosensor platform that is capable of measuring blood level information.
Jared Tangney
Co-founder, President & COO of Biolinq
Jared Tangney joined Biolinq as Co-founder, President, and COO in November 2020. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering at UC San Diego.
Follow Jared Tangney:
About Biolinq: Biolinq develops a wearable biosensor platform that is capable of measuring blood level information.
Kamran Tavangar
Chief Operating Officer of Affinivax
Kamran Tavangar has over 20 years of experience in pharmaceuticals and vaccines. Prior to joining Affinivax, Dr. Tavangar was Vice President of Strategic Product Development at Visterra. Dr. Tavangar previously served in various operational and strategic positions with Novartis for 19 years. Most recently he was the Global Head of Strategic Planning at Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, subsequent to being Head of Strategic Global Marketing at Novartis Vaccines. Previously, Dr. Tavangar was the Business Unit Head for Novartis Oncology in Australia. He also served as VP Finance for Novartis Pharmaceuticals USA, as well as Head of Investor Relations for Novartis Corporation USA. Dr. Tavangar received his AB in Molecular Biology from UC Berkeley, PhD in Physiology from Stanford University, and MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
Follow Kamran Tavangar:
About Affinivax, Visterra: Affinivax is a biopharmaceutical company developing vaccines used to enhance the depth of protection against infectious diseases.
Kate Rochlin
Chief Operating Officer of IN8Bio
Follow Kate Rochlin:
About IN8Bio: IN8Bio is a biotechnology company focused on delivering a novel off-the-shelf product for the treatment of cancer.
Brian R. Wamhoff
Co-Founder & COO of HemoShear Therapeutics
Wamhoff is co-founder of HemoShear and co-inventor of its technology. Wamhoff is an associate professor at the University of Virginia (UVa) and leads an NIH-funded laboratory that studies vascular disease at the Cardiovascular Division of UVa’s Department of Medicine. Wamhoff began his fellowship at UVa developing rodent models to investigate the molecular mechanisms of genes underlying vascular disease. Wamhoff was also employed by Setagon, Inc. as lead scientist to develop a novel drug-eluting stent for the treatment of blood vessel stenosis in humans. During his UVa tenure Wamhoff has obtained several million dollars in funding from Pfizer, the American Heart Association, NIH, and other organizations to study the fundamental mechanisms that regulate smooth muscle cell phenotypic switching in vascular disease, these efforts resulted in over fifteen patent filings. Wamhoff has authored or co-authored 42 articles, three book chapters, and four commentaries. Wamhoff serves as peer reviewer for more than fifteen major scientific journals and is a grant reviewer for the American Heart Association. Wamhoff has also received multiple awards, including the Robert M. Berne Trainee Achievement Award, the American Physiological Society Young Cardiovascular Investigator Award, the 2008 Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology (ATVB) Irvine Paige Award, and the 2010 American Physiological Society New Investigator Award for Cardiovascular Research. Wamhoff obtained a B.S. in Biology with a minor in Business Administration from Rhodes College and obtained his PhD from the University of Missouri, where he developed swine models of diabetes and atherosclerosis. Wamhoff devotes philanthropic time to the community by promoting health awareness for the American Heart Association.
Follow Brian R. Wamhoff:
About HemoShear Therapeutics, University of Virginia: HemoShear Therapeutics develops new treatments for patients with rare metabolic disorders.
Stelios Tzannis
Founder and COO of Aeovian Pharmaceuticals
Stelios Tzannis is the Founder and COO of Aeovian Pharmaceuticals.
Follow Stelios Tzannis:
About Aeovian Pharmaceuticals, Delos Pharmaceuticals: Aeovian Pharmaceuticals aims to discover, develop, and commercialize therapeutics for the treatment of rare and age-related diseases.
Suma Krishnan
Founder & Chief Operating Officer of Krystal Biotech
Suma Krishnan is the Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Krystal Biotech. She earned a degree of Master of Science in Organic Chemistry from Villanova University.
Follow Suma Krishnan:
About Krystal Biotech, Light Matters Foundation: Krystal Biotech provide significant clinical benefit for patients suffering from rare debilitating disorders..
Jerry Kuang
COO of HistoWiz
Follow Jerry Kuang:
About HistoWiz: HistoWiz provides automated histopathology for biomedical researchers.
Andrew Miller
Founder & COO of Karuna Therapeutics
Dr. Miller is a Founder, Director, and the Chief Operating Officer of Karuna Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Miller is the lead inventor of Karuna’s KarXT platform and served as CEO of Karuna from 2016-2018. In 2016, Dr. Miller was named one of the top 40 innovators under 40 by MedTech Boston. Previously, Dr. Miller was a Vice President at PureTech Health for 8 years, most recently as Vice President, the COO of Tal Medical, and the acting-COO of Entrega where he serves on the board. Dr. Miller completed his doctoral work in Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received the MIT Presidential fellow and National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate fellowship awards. Dr. Miller received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois with highest honors.
Follow Andrew Miller:
About Karuna Therapeutics, Tal Medical: Karuna Therapeutics is a Massachusetts-based developer of drugs for the treatment of schizophrenia.
Andrew Bartynski
Co-Founder and COO of ANA Therapeutics
Andrew Bartynski is the Co-Founder and COO of ANA Therapeutics.
Follow Andrew Bartynski:
About AesculaTech, ANA Therapeutics: ANA Therapeutics is a biotech company that is developing a novel coronavirus vaccine intended to save human lives.
David Bassa
Chief Operating Officer of Claritas Pharmaceuticals
Mr. Bassa is a leading Israeli entrepreneur operating in the biotech and high-tech industries. In 2000, Mr. Bassa founded Bio-Gal, a biopharmaceutical company that subsequently merged into XTL Biopharma (NASDAQ: XTLB) for the purpose of developing Erythropoietin (“EPO”) for the treatment of multiple myeloma. Mr. Bassa was the co-founder of Sela Software Systems Ltd., a leading knowledge center and software house for the high-tech and IT industry. Mr. Bassa graduated from Bar-Ilan University with a B.A. in Economics and an M.Sc. in Computer Science. Mr. Bassa was twice awarded the President Excellency Award (1981, 2002) and managed the Israeli branch of the international AIESEC organization, of which he is a Hall of Fame member.
Follow David Bassa:
About CannaLean, Claritas Pharmaceuticals: Claritas Pharmaceuticals is pioneering the development of a next generation of cannabinoid therapeutics.
Taneli Jouhikainen
COO & President of Savara Pharmaceuticals
Dr. Taneli Jouhikainen is a co-founder of Savara, has served as Chief Operating Officer since October 2009. From October 2006 until September 2009, he served at Akela Pharma Inc., a public clinical stage specialty pharmaceutical company focused on orphan drugs and inhalation products, first as Head of Corporate Development, and subsequently as interim CEO until the company’s merger with Nventa Biopharmaceuticals. From January 2004 to September 2006 he served as President of LAB Pharma Oy, and Head of the Drug Development Business Unit of its parent company, at LAB International, Inc., a public clinical stage specialty pharmaceutical company. From January 2001 to January 2004 he served at Focus Inhalation Oy, a clinical stage specialty pharmaceutical company focusing on inhaled products, first as Vice President of Business Development & Strategy, and subsequently as President & CEO, until the merger of Focus Inhalation with LAB International, Inc. From May 1994 to December 2000, he served at Schering AG, a global pharmaceutical company, first as Research Manager, and subsequently as Head of Clinical Development. Dr. Jouhikainen holds an MD degree, and a Ph.D. degree in hematology and immunology from the University of Helsinki, and an MBA from the Helsinki School of Economics.
Follow Taneli Jouhikainen:
About Savara Pharmaceuticals: Savara Pharmaceuticals develops an inhaled antibiotic for MRSA infection in cystic fibrosis.
David Kaufman
Chief Operating Officer of Sante Ventures
David joined Santé in 2015. Before joining the firm, David completed 21-years of service inside the United States Special Operations Community. Working at the intersection of analysis, operations, and policy, he specialized in scaling small technologically led efforts into “no-fail” global operations. David holds a B.S. in Geology with Honors from Vanderbilt University and an M.B.A. (elected Beta Gamma Sigma) from the College of William and Mary Mason School of Business.
Follow David Kaufman:
About Sante Ventures: Santé Ventures is a life sciences venture capital firm that invests in early-stage companies developing innovative medical technologies.
James S. Marcelli
President & COO & Director of Lightwave Logic
Mr. Marcelli has served as President, CEO and director of Lightwave Logic since August 2008. He is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company and its progress toward a fully functioning commercial enterprise. Over the last twenty years, Mr. Marcelli has served as the president and chief executive officer of multiple start-up and growth companies in high tech manufacturing and business services, including two companies that were founded by him. In addition, he has held senior management positions with several companies including Teradyne Corporation and Sanmina Corporation. Throughout his career, he has held positions in Engineering, Sales, Marketing, Operations and Finance. Mr. Marcelli has served on the boards of several non-profit corporations and also served on the Advisory Board of the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs Engineering School.
Follow James S. Marcelli:
About Lightwave Logic: Lightwave Logic is a research and development company focused on developing application-specific electro-optic polymers.
Andrew Cittadine
Chief Operating Officer of Monopar
Follow Andrew Cittadine:
About MATTER, Monopar, Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management: Monopar Therapeutics is an emerging biopharmaceutical company focused on developing orphan oncology compounds.
Eric Lachance
Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer of PathogenDx
Eric Lachance has 25+ years leading programs and companies. Recently, Eric served as COO for Metris LLC, a startup, and as a leadership/contracts consultant for multiple organizations serving both corporations and Federal and Local governments. Eric has extensive experience in organizational structure, contracts, negotiations, business strategy, business development, and supply chain management.
Follow Eric Lachance:
About PathogenDx: Arizona-based PathogenDx creates testing solutions that rapidly identify bacterial, fungal and viral threats—helping save money and lives.
Mark Spizer
Co-Founder & COO of Gusto Global
Mark Spizer is a Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Gusto Global.
Follow Mark Spizer:
About Gusto Global: Gusto Global is a biotherapeutics company that focuses on restoring key functionalities of a healthy microbiome.
Wenkang Qi
Chief Operating Officer of VitalConnect
Wenkang Qi is the Chief Operating Officer at VitalConnect.
Follow Wenkang Qi:
About VitalConnect: VitalConnect is a wearable biosensor technology for wireless hospital and remote patient monitoring.
Hakan Lindskog
COO of Neurohacker Collective
Hakan Lindskog serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Neurohacker Collective.
Follow Hakan Lindskog:
About Neurohacker Collective: Neurohacker Collective creates resources for self-directed neurological optimization.
Brendan Delaney
Chief Operating Officer of Aadi Bioscience
Follow Brendan Delaney:
About Aadi Bioscience, Constellation Pharmaceuticals: Aadi Bioscience develops a potentially mTOR inhibitor for targeted patient populations in oncology and cardiovascular diseases.
Qingsong Zhu
COO of Insilico Medicine
Qingsong Zhu, Ph.D. is the Chief Operating Officer of Insilico Medicine, Inc., a company that utilizes advances in genomics, big data analysis, and deep learning for in silico drug discovery and biomarker development for aging and age-related diseases. Dr. Zhu received his Ph.D. degree in biochemistry from Kansas State University. Prior to joining Insilico Medicine, he had his postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Follow Qingsong Zhu:
About Insilico Medicine: Insilico Medicine develops an AI platform for drug development to treat cancer and age-related diseases.
Marc S. Hanover
President and Chief Operating Officer of GTx
Marc Hanover is the Founder & Operating Partner at Union Main.
Follow Marc S. Hanover:
About GTx, Union Main: At GTx, They focus on the development of small molecules that selectively modulate the effects of certain hormones produced by the body.
Nathan Dowden
Chief Operating Officer of Entrada Therapeutics
Nathan Dowden is the Chief Operating Officer at Entrada Therapeutics.
Follow Nathan Dowden:
About Entrada Therapeutics: Entrada Therapeutics is a developer of novel therapeutics intended to treat devastating diseases.
Sam Quezada
Co-founder & COO of CellSight Technologies
Sam Quezada has over 30 years experience in startups and high growth companies. Most recently he managed IP and corporate relations at MIPS Stanford. He has served in executive roles in various hardware companies managing operations, support, finance, QA, marketing and business development. His focus on customer needs and translation of the needs to product delivery led to successful exits in startups. He obtained a BS in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from Stanford.
Follow Sam Quezada:
About CellSight Technologies: CellSight is developing a suite of PET tracers targeted at visualizing immune response early in a patient’s immunotherapy regimen.
Babar Ghias
Chief Operating Officer of Castle Creek Biosciences
Babar Ghias is the Chief Operating Officer at Castle Creek Biosciences.
Follow Babar Ghias:
About Castle Creek Biosciences: Castle Creek Biosciences is focused on developing commercializing novel, personalized gene therapies for rare skin disorders.
Keita Funakawa
COO of Nanome
As a scientifically minded artist, Keita grew up in Tokyo then moved to Honolulu where he attended middle and high school. As the lead programmer for his high school robotics team, he led his team to two time (2009,2010) state championships at the East Oahu VEX robotics competitions. As an award winning filmmaker, his film Foliage: Roots of the Tree Barrel won the 2014 HIFF (Hawaii International Film Festival) student showcase and was named San Diego Surf Film Festival’s Emerging Filmmaker. During my undergraduate career, after reading about Mt.Gox in late 2013, I found a new passion for cryptocurrencies and blockchain which made me switch my degree from Computer Science to Management Science (Quantitative Economics). Being the Assistant Curator for the UC San Diego Film Festival, I was exposed to VR since 2014. When I first experienced the google cardboard and the HTC vive, I decided that I could no longer be a painter when photography just got invented, sort of speak. This led me to learn as much as I could about VR. At the Festival I met Steve, who told me about his idea for Nanome (formerly NanoVR) in April 2015. Nanome is a software company that democratizes Science to accelerate innovation using Virtual Reality and Blockchain Technologies.
Follow Keita Funakawa:
About Nanome: Nanome is a virtual reality software company that offers a collaborative XR software platform for molecular design.
Courtney Griese
Co-Founder & COO of AgraFilms
Courtney Griese currently works as the Co-Founder and COO for AgraFilms.
Follow Courtney Griese:
About AgraFilms: AgraFilms is a biotechnology company that aims to provide long-term solutions to crop loss.
Van Dinh
Co-founder, Chief Operating Officer of Cloudbreak Therapeutics
Van Dinh is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Cloudbreak Therapeutics. He has more than twenty years’ ‘experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He has worked in different scientific disciplines such as pharmacokinetics, toxicology, pharmaceutical development and analytical sciences and gained a vast amount of experience in drug development processes. During 18 years with Allergan he was involved in many drug development projects and helped to bring many drug development projects to successful commercial approvals such as Lumigan®, Combigan®, Acuvail®, Zymaxid®, Tazorac®, Ozudex®, Alphagan P®, Restasis®, Latisse®, and Lastacaft®. While at Allergan he managed departments such as In Vivo Science, Scientific Operations and Formulations and Analytical Sciences. He obtained a Master of Business Administration degree from Webster University and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of California, Irvine.
Follow Van Dinh:
About Cloudbreak Therapeutics: Cloudbreak Therapeutics is a clinical stage biotechnology company
A. Zaki Sabet
Co-Founder and COO of Precipio Diagnostics
A. Zaki Sabet has been with Precipio since co-founding the company in 2011 and currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer. He holds over 12 years of experience in laboratory management spanning all fields of reference laboratory operations primarily focusing on cancer diagnostics. Prior to Precipio, Zaki has served as a consultant with the College of American Pathologists (CAP) for many years as well as several diagnostic companies in setting up their specialized cancer testing operations. Zaki holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Follow A. Zaki Sabet:
About Precipio Diagnostics: Precipio Diagnostics is a cancer diagnostics reference laboratory delivering advanced diagnostics, advice and personalized medicine.
Greg Williams
Chief Operating Officer of Eloxx
Gregory Williams has served as our Chief Operating Officer since June 2018. Gregory Williams has over 30 years of pharmaceutical and biotechnology experience leading regulatory affairs, compliance, quality, manufacturing, commercial and product development programs. Gregory Williams is an accomplished scientist and seasoned pharmaceutical executive with a solid track record of successful achievement of business, medical, scientific and regulatory goals. His focus is on driving innovation to improve patient care by developing and commercializing new products to address unmet patient and health system needs. While at The Medicines Company, Gregory Williams led development and successful approval of the antihypertensive drug, Cleviprex®. Gregory Williams also worked on the orphan drug programs at NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Most recently, while at Radius Health, Inc., Gregory Williams led the successful first cycle approval by the FDA of TYMLOS™. Gregory Williams brings established relationships with global health authority reviewers, having led the development and/or initial and expanded approvals of several global brands, as well as expertise across a wide range of therapeutic categories, molecule types, dosage forms and technologies. Gregory Williams holds a Ph.D. in Biopharmaceutics from Rutgers University and an M.B.A. from Cornell University.
Follow Greg Williams:
About Eloxx: Eloxx Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel RNA-modulating drug candidates.
J. Greg Davis
COO of Innovative Cardiovascular Solutions
Greg Davis, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, at CorVista® Health in 2017 oct
Follow J. Greg Davis:
About CorVista Health, CorVista Health, Duke University – The Fuqua School of Business, Innovative Cardiovascular Solutions: ICS develops novel solutions that offer full capture and protection from embolic material released during left-sided heart procedures.
Jeff Anderson
COO of Manus Bio
Follow Jeff Anderson:
About Manus Bio: Manus Bio makes nature accessible and affordable for a growing society.
Gary Yeung
Chief Operating & Financial Officer of Erasca
Gary is Chief Operating and Financial Officer of Erasca, bringing more than 20 years of experience in life science operations, finance, business development, IT and program leadership. Initially, he served as Erasca’s Chief Business Officer since helping launch and finance the company in 2018. Prior to Erasca, Gary helped build two biotech companies: Guardant Health and Annexon Biosciences. At Guardant, he was Vice President of the early cancer detection business unit and a member of the leadership team that prepared the company for its initial public offering in 2018. At Annexon, Gary served as Vice President of Business and Development Operations, building the infrastructure to advance drug candidates to clinical development. Gary also held leadership roles with Genentech for 13 years, building organizations across multiple disciplines to develop and launch innovative therapies. He oversaw the portfolio and program management functions that produced 42 INDs and developed multiple FDA-approved treatments, including Tecentriq and Venclexta. He also led finance and commercial planning teams as the finance leader for the Immunology Business Unit and head of business planning for the Oncology Business Unit to support the launch and expansion of the drugs Avastin, Tarceva, Rituxan, and Herceptin. Gary also currently serves as a Venture Partner with LYZZ Capital. Earlier in his career, Gary was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company and an operational leader with General Electric. Gary holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA from University of California, Los Angeles. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Certified Project Management Professional (PMP).
Follow Gary Yeung:
About Erasca: Erasca is a developer of oncology drugs intended to provide precision oncology options.
Scott Meyers
Chief Operating Officer of Vertice Pharma
Scott Meyers is the Chief Operating Officer of Vertice Pharma. He has over 15 years of pharmaceutical experience, most recently as Vice President, General Manager, Dermatology of Fougera Inc., a Sandoz / Novartis company. Prior to Fougera, Scott led Strategic Planning & Market Analytics for Sandoz US and worked at McKinsey & Company’s pharmaceutical practice in New Jersey, focusing on R&D and commercial operations. Scott also worked as a Chemical Engineer for Merck at their West Point, PA site. Scott holds a Master of Business Administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and holds a Master of Chemical Engineering, a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering, and a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry all from Cornell University.
Follow Scott Meyers:
About Vertice Pharma: Vertice Pharma is a specialty pharmaceuticals company focused on improving patients’ health.
David Doyle
Co-Founder and COO of DNA SEQ
David is a Co-Founder of a Los Angeles based technology group developing proprietary IP in three areas of digital technology that were designed to increase the efficiencies of the server side hardware infrastructure, enrich the user experience through client side software, and enhance search methodologies by implementing cognitive resources to the management of data.
Follow David Doyle:
About DNA SEQ: DNA SEQ offers reports that match a patient’s genomic profile to targeted therapies using crystallography-based filtering methodology.
James Tripp
CEO, COO & Director of Rasna Therapeutics
Follow James Tripp:
About Rasna Therapeutics, Tiziana Life Sciences: It is a development stage biotechnology company
Keith Westby
Chief Operating Officer of IVERIC bio
Keith Westby is our Vice President of Project Management. Keith has more than 15 years of experience in project and strategic alliance management and manufacturing operations in Biotech companies, two of which executed successful IPOs. Keith was most recently at Pharmasset, Inc., as Director, Project and Alliance Management, accountable for developing and implementing strategy across manufacturing, research and development, preclinical, clinical, regulatory, and finance for both internal and partnered projects. Prior to that Keith served in positions of increasing responsibility at Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, most recently as Director, Alliance & Project Management, leading multifunctional project teams in the NDA filing and marketing approval of Macugen® for Age-Related Macular Degeneration. Previously, Keith was at Tunnell Consulting, where he was a Senior Consultant in the firm’s Life Sciences practice focused on manufacturing operations and process improvement. Keith holds a B.S. in Applied Physics from the State University of New York, College at Geneseo, an M.S. in Engineering Management from Drexel University, and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Follow Keith Westby:
About IVERIC bio: IVERIC bio is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies for age-related macular degeneration.
Michon Pinnix
Chief Operating Officer of Chimera Bioengineering
Michon Pinnix is the Chief Operating Officer at Chimera Bioengineering.
Follow Michon Pinnix:
About Chief, Chimera Bioengineering: Chimera solves the challenges of CARs with drug-responsive gene regulators, which allow us to re-program of the immune system.
Nick Galli
Chief Operating Officer of Interline Therapeutics
Nick Galli is the Chief Operating Officer of Interline Therapeutics. Prior to that, he was the Chief Business Officer at CytomX Therapeutics.
Follow Nick Galli:
About Interline Therapeutics: Interline Therapeutics is a drug discovery platform that enables the company to map and correct dysfunctional protein communities.
Christopher G. Lafarge
COO of MedicaMetrix
A.B., Biology, Harvard College; MBA, Yale University; MFS, Yale University. Mr. LaFarge has been the Founder/CEO of companies in several industries including forest products, oil and gas, and healthcare. He has successfully created, developed and brought to market a number of new products. He grew his last company to a $50M pre-money valuation before selling it to a fortune 500 company. Mr. LaFarge spent 4 years at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Hospital doing biomedical research.
Follow Christopher G. Lafarge:
About MedicaMetrix: Advancing Prostate Disease Management
Michael McElhaugh
Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Arbutus Biopharma
Mr. Michael J. McElhaugh, also known as Mike, co-founded Arbutus Biopharma Inc. in 2012 and serves as its Chief Operating Officer. Mr. McElhaugh has over 15 years of combined scientific and business experience. Prior to co-founding OnCore Biopharma, Inc., he was most recently Director of Hepatitis C Worldwide Commercialization at Bristol Myers Squibb where he was responsible for global hepatitis C commercialization. Prior to Bristol Myers Squibb, he was Director, Business Development and Market Analytics at Pharmasset, Inc., where he was an integral contributor to corporate strategy, strategic marketing and business development efforts. He played a key role in the sale of Pharmasset to Gilead Sciences, leading all diligence efforts and commercial analyses. Prior to joining Pharmasset, he held roles of increasing responsibility in Market Research at Viropharma, Inc., and at Merck and Co, Inc. and Thomas Jefferson University as a bench scientist. He holds a B.S. in Psychology from the Saint Joseph’s University, a M.S. in Microbiology from Thomas Jefferson University and an MBA from Cornell University.
Follow Michael McElhaugh:
About Arbutus Biopharma: Arbutus Biopharma Corporation is a publicly-traded biopharmaceutical company.
Mitchell B. Frey
Co-founder & Chief Operating Officer of GENiSYSS
Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Mitchell Frey has worked as a consultant with over 40 start-ups, hi tech manufacturers, research labs, and companies covering a wide range of projects including design, research, product development, manufacturing support, and building custom test equipment. Mitch has designed a range of products including electronic control systems for 3 generations of the Mars Rover program, Space Shuttle, Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, Military manned and un-manned Aircraft, Missiles, armored personnel transports, as well as commercial Cochlear Implants, Surgical drill and saw systems, e-beam and sputtering control systems, etc. His expertise includes general business, product development and manufacturing.
Follow Mitchell B. Frey:
About GENiSYSS: GENiSYSS is a DNA vault that allows its users to store physical DNA and related personal and medical information on a device.
Josh Stahl
COO & CSO of ArcherDX
Joshua Stahl is the Chief Scientific Officer and GM at ArcherDX.
Follow Josh Stahl:
About ArcherDX: ArcherDX is a biotechnology firm specializing in cancer research.
Gerald Crabtree
Chief Operating Officer of PharmaCyte Biotech
Gerald Crabtree is the Chief Operating Officer of PharmaCyte Biotech and a Board member. He has spent almost 50 years working in academic, biotech and pharmaceutical companies with the majority of that vast experience being in the development of drugs and treatments for cancer. He has held positions of ever-increasing importance over that time. Crabtree’s background in the biomedical sciences has been substantial, having been involved with various biopharmaceutical companies where he has alternatively supervised and coordinated the development of multiple drug candidates, prepared clinical protocols, investigator brochures, monographs, and research and review articles. A highlight of Dr. Crabtree’s professional career was his tenure as Director of Project Planning and Management (Oncology and Immunology) at Bristol-Myers Squibb (“BMS”) from 1990 to 1997. While at BMS, Crabtree established and directed a department that monitored and coordinated the development of all oncologic and immunologic drugs from initial discovery through regulatory approval within BMS and served as Project Manager for the development of the major anticancer agent, Taxol®, the “number one” drug under development at BMS at that time. Taxol® ultimately became a multi-billion dollar drug for BMS and is still widely used to treat a variety of cancers. From 1989 to 1990, Crabtree was Director of Pharmacology at Viratek, Inc., a subsidiary of ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in Costa Mesa, California. There he worked on the development of anticancer drugs first developed at the Nucleic Acid Research Institute (NARI, a joint venture between Eastman Kodak and ICN Pharmaceuticals) and with ribavirin (Virazole®), Viratek’s landmark antiviral drug. From 1985 to 1989, Crabtree served as Head of the Department of Molecular Pharmacology at NARI where his department was tasked with elucidating the mechanisms of action of anticancer and antiviral drugs developed by NARI chemists. From 1970 to 1985, Crabtree held several faculty positions at Brown University in Providence Rhode Island as well as at the Roger Williams Cancer Center (“RWCC”) at that institution. These positions culminated in his attaining the rank of Associate Professor of Medicine. During his time at Brown and the RWCC, Crabtree studied the mechanisms of action of putative anticancer and antiparasitic drugs and participated in clinical trials of anticancer agents. After leaving BMS in 1997, Crabtree consulted with several biotech companies, all of which were developing cancer drugs or treatments. Then, from 2000 to 2003, Crabtree served as Vice President of R&D at ETEX Corporation, a “device” company, where he was tasked with developing that company’s proprietary calcium phosphate formulations as depot/delivery platforms for cancer drugs. Upon leaving ETEX, he resumed his consulting business, which soon became focused on PhytoCeutica, Inc. located in the Yale Science Park in New Haven, Connecticut, where he assisted in the preparation and review of FDA documents, clinical study protocols, investment acquisitions, and contracts and business plans. PhytoCeutica was developing a traditional Chinese medicine four-herb combination as a treatment for liver and pancreatic cancer. During his time with PhytoCeutica, Crabtree assumed ever-increasing responsibilities and from 2009 to 2010, ultimately serving as its Interim CEO. Dr. Crabtree resumed his consulting business after leaving PhytoCeutica until he joined PharmaCyte Biotech. Crabtree received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and has published over 80 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He was a National Cancer Institute of Canada Research Fellow. Crabtree is currently a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Association for Cancer Research. He has served on research grant review committees for the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society.
Follow Gerald Crabtree:
About PharmaCyte Biotech: PharmaCyte Biotech is a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on developing and preparing to commercialize treatments for cancer.
