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 Director operating in the Biotechnology space. If you think a Director 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.
Robert Nelsen
Co-Founder & Managing Director of ARCH Venture Partners
Robert Nelsen is a co-founder and a Managing Director of ARCH Venture Partners. He joined ARCH at its founding and played a significant role in the early sourcing, financing and development of more than 100 companies, including nineteen which have reached valuations exceeding $1 billion. His seed and early-stage investments include Illumina (ILMN); Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY); Juno Therapeutics (JUNO); Unity Biotechnology (UBX); Sienna Biopharmaceuticals (SNNA); Vir Biotechnology, Agios Pharmaceuticals (AGIO); Sage Therapeutics (SAGE); GRAIL, Ikaria; Kythera Biopharmaceuticals (KYTH), Receptos (RCPT); Aviron (AVIR); Denali Therapeutics (DNLI); Rubius Therapeutics, KSQ Therapeutics, Beam Therapeutics, NetBot; Bluebird Bio (BLUE); R2 Technology; XenoPort (XNPT); Caliper Life Sciences (CALP); Trubion Pharmaceuticals (TRBN); Adolor (ADLR); deCODE Genetics; Array BioPharma (ARRY); Editas (EDIT), IDUN Pharmaceuticals; Classmates.com; Hua Medicine; Fate Therapeutics (FATE); WuxiNextCODE; and Everyday Learning Corporation. Mr. Nelsen is a director of Vir Bio, GRAIL, Sienna Biopharmaceuticals, Beam Therapeutics, Unity Biotechnology, Denali Therapeutics, Arivale, Syros Pharmaceuticals, and serves as Chairman of Hua Medicine, among others. He previously served as a Trustee of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute, the Institute for Systems Biology, and was a director of the National Venture Capital Association. Mr. Nelsen holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and a B.S. from the University of Puget Sound with majors in Economics and Biology.
Follow Robert Nelsen:
About ARCH Venture Partners: ARCH is an early-stage venture firm that focuses on life science discoveries to prevent, detect, and cure disease.
Keith Crandell
Founder and Managing Director of ARCH Venture Partners
Keith L. Crandell is the Co – Founder & Managing Director, ARCH Venture Partners. He focuses on chemical and specialty materials companies, electronics and instrumentation, optics and photonics, communications, and enterprise infrastructure businesses. He previously served as Senior Manager at ARCH Development Corporation, where he was responsible for ARCH Venture Fund I activities at Argonne National Laboratory. Mr. Crandell has played a key role in the formation and initial funding round of Quanterix, Alfalight, PixelEXX Systems, ALIS Corp. (acquired by Carl Zeiss SMT), Eichrom Industries (acquired by Gary Comer, Inc.), Nanophase Technologies (NANX), and Illinois Superconductor. He was also responsible for ARCH’s investment in New Era of Networks (NEON, acquired by Sybase-SY), Apropos Technology (APRS, acquired by Syntellect-ESL), Teach.com (acquired by Intellinex), CelebrateExpress (BDAY, acquired by Liberty Media-LINTA), Ahura Scientific (acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific-TMO), Adesto Technologies, Ciespace, Boreal Genomics, and Crystal IS (acquired by Asahi Kasei-AHKSY), among others. He is a Director of Quanterix, Nanosys, Alfalight, Adesto Technologies, Boreal Genomics, PixelEXX Systems, Univa, Ciespace. Mr. Crandell also serves as a Director of the Illinois Venture Capital Association. Prior to the founding of ARCH, Mr. Crandell was with the specialty chemical and polymer company, Hercules, Inc. He holds an M.B.A. from The University of Chicago. An M.S. in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Arlington. B.S. in Chemistry and Mathematics from St. Lawrence University.
Follow Keith Crandell:
About ARCH Venture Partners: ARCH is an early-stage venture firm that focuses on life science discoveries to prevent, detect, and cure disease.
Kristina Burow
Managing Director of ARCH Venture Partners
Kristina Burow is a Managing Director with ARCH Venture Partners. Kristina Burow is focused on the creation and development of biotechnology, pharmaceutical and agbiotechnology companies.
Follow Kristina Burow:
About ARCH Venture Partners: ARCH is an early-stage venture firm that focuses on life science discoveries to prevent, detect, and cure disease.
Steven Gillis
Managing Director of ARCH Venture Partners
Steven Gillis is a Managing Director with ARCH, joining the firm as a Venture Partner in 2005. Steven is focused on the evaluation of new life science technologies and also on the development and growth of ARCH’s biotechnology portfolio companies. Steven is a Member of the Board of Directors at Homology Medicines, Inc., Allozyne, Pulmatrix (PULM), Codiak Biosciences, Faraday Pharmaceuticals, Just. Biotherapeutics, VLST, Lodo Therapeutics and Accelerator. Steven serves as Member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Board of Directors at VentiRx Pharmaceuticals, Theraclone Sciences, Lycera, VBI Vaccines (VBIV) and PhaseRx. Steven was a Founder and a Member of the Board of Directors at Corixa Corp. and served as Chief Executive Officer from its inception and as its Chairman of the Board of Directors from 1999 until its acquisition in 2005 by GlaxoSmithKline. Prior to Corixa, Stevens was a Founder and Member of the Board of Directors at Immunex Corp., the most successful venture-funded biotech company in the state of Washington. From 1981 until his departure in 1994, Steven served as Immunex’s Director of Research and Development, Chief Scientific Officer and as Chief Executive Officer of Immunex’s R&D subsidiary. Steven was interim Chief Executive Officer of Immunex Corp. following its majority purchase by American Cyanamid Co. and remained a Member of the Board of Directors until 1997. Amgen, Inc. acquired Immunex in 2002. Steven is an immunologist by training with over 300 peer-reviewed publications in the areas of molecular and tumor immunology. Steven is credited as being a pioneer in the field of cytokines and cytokine receptors, directing the development of multiple marketed products including Leukine, (GM-CSF), Prokine (IL-2) and Enbrel (soluble TNF receptor-Fc fusion protein) as well as the regulatory approval of Bexxar (radiolabeled anti-CD20). Steven received a B.A. degree from Williams College and a Ph.D. from Dartmouth College.
Follow Steven Gillis:
About ARCH Venture Partners, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Theraclone Sciences, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College: ARCH is an early-stage venture firm that focuses on life science discoveries to prevent, detect, and cure disease.
Clinton Bybee
Co-Founder and Managing Director of ARCH Venture Partners
Clinton Bybee is a co-founder and Managing Director of ARCH Venture Partners. Mr. Bybee concentrates primarily on advanced materials, electronics, semiconductors, photonics, and infrastructure businesses. Mr. Bybee has helped organize and finance numerous companies including MicroOptical Devices (acquired by EMCORE), Cambrios Technologies, Aveso, Innovalight, Intelligent Reasoning Systems (acquired by Photon Dynamics), Semprius, Nanosys, and Xtera Communications. He is a board member of Impinj, Innovalight, Cambrios Technologies, Xtera Communications, Nitronex and Aveso. Mr. Bybee is an organizing member of the Texas Venture Capital Association and currently serves as its first President. Previously, Mr. Bybee worked with ARCH Development Corporation. He also managed a venture investment fund for the State of Illinois and was a production engineer with Amoco Corporation.
Follow Clinton Bybee:
About ARCH Development Corporation, ARCH Venture Partners, Nitronex: ARCH is an early-stage venture firm that focuses on life science discoveries to prevent, detect, and cure disease.
Steven Lazarus
Co-founder and Managing Director, Emeritus Chicago of ARCH Venture Partners
Steven Lazarus is a co-founder and Managing Director, Emeritus of ARCH Venture Partners. He also is a director of the Rand Corporation. Prior to the founding of ARCH Venture Partners, Mr. Lazarus served as CEO of ARCH Development Corporation and as Associate Dean of the Graduate School of Business of the University of Chicago. He previously spent 13 years with Baxter Laboratories in various senior roles, lastly as Group Vice President of the Health Care Services Group of Baxter Travenol Laboratories. Mr. Lazarus also served in Washington D.C. as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for East-West Trade for the U.S., a government bureau he both founded and directed. Mr. Lazarus is a 21-year veteran of the U.S. Navy, retiring with the rank of Captain in 1973. Mr. Lazarus received an M.B.A. with high distinction from the Harvard Graduate School of Business and holds an A.B. with Honors from Dartmouth College.
Follow Steven Lazarus:
About ARCH Venture Partners, RAND: ARCH is an early-stage venture firm that focuses on life science discoveries to prevent, detect, and cure disease.
David Sinclair
Director of Glenn Laboratories
Dr. Sinclair is a Venture Partner with Lux Capital. He is also Co-Founder of both Sirtris Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SIRT) and Genocea Biosciences, and is Associate Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Glenn Laboratories for the Biological Mechanisms of Aging. He has made key contributions to the scientific understanding of aging, making him one of the most highly published and respected scientists in biology. In 1997, Dr. Sinclair identified the cause of aging in yeast, a first for any species, and in 2003 reported the discovery of a conserved master regulatory gene controlling this process. His laboratory at Harvard is currently focused on slowing diseases of aging in mammals using genetic and pharmacological means. In 2004, Dr. Sinclair co-founded Sirtris Pharmaceuticals and helped grow it into one of the most successful biotech companies in recent years. Dr. Sinclair has authored over 50 peer-reviewed scientific publications, including several seminal papers in Nature, Cell and Science. His work has been reported in most of the leading news media including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, TIME and Newsweek. He has received numerous awards and honors for his research. Dr. Sinclair performed his post-doctoral work with Dr. Leonard Guarente at MIT and holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics from the University of New South Wales, Australia. Dr. Sinclair was honored by Genzyme with the Outstanding Achievement in Biomedical Science Award for 2004. Dr. Sinclair will remain an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School and is currently a Director at Sirtris Pharmaceuticals.
Follow David Sinclair:
About Glenn Laboratories, OvaScience, Sirtris Pharmaceuticals: Glenn Laboratories is a medical research foundation focusing on the effects of aging.
Lina Nilsson
Senior Director, Data Science Product of Recursion Pharmaceuticals
Follow Lina Nilsson:
About Recursion Pharmaceuticals: Recursion Pharmaceuticals is a digital biology company, developing a drug discovery platform and pipeline with machine learning.
Scott Nielsen
Director of Data Engineering of Recursion Pharmaceuticals
Scott wrote his first computer programs as a research assistant studying cosmic rays at the University of Utah and hasn’t stopped. Since then, he has automated the collection of government healthcare sanctions to perform background checks, created an automatic underwriting platform for an insurance company, and helped prevent fraud for an insurance wellness program. He is always eager for opportunities to learn or experience something new, and loves spending time with his wife and four kids.
Follow Scott Nielsen:
About Recursion Pharmaceuticals: Recursion Pharmaceuticals is a digital biology company, developing a drug discovery platform and pipeline with machine learning.
Lincoln Pasquina
Associate Director, SmartTrials of Foundation Medicine
Lincoln’s first experience with the scientific method was his 7th grade science project on the effects of microwaving plant seeds before planting. (10 seconds on medium makes seeds germinate faster than untreated controls. 30 seconds cooks the seeds.) After graduating from MIT with a major in Biology, he became a graduate student in Suzanne Walker’s lab at Harvard, where he is currently studying bacterial cell wall synthesis and inhibition. He hopes to contribute to the ongoing fight against antibiotic resistance in bacteria.Are you a Harvard graduate student interested in joining our staff? Please email us at questions@emerginginvestigators.org
Follow Lincoln Pasquina:
About Foundation Medicine: Foundation medicine is a molecular information company developing clinical diagnostic tests that facilitates personalized cancer therapies.
Jonathan Dry
Director, Early Oncology of AstraZeneca
Jonathan studied Biomedical Sciences at the University of Manchester where his research focused on the genetics of diabetes, exposing him to the richness of information in DNA that can be uncovered with computational tools. He was awarded a scholarship at the University of Exeter to study Bioinformatics, where he collaborated with GlaxoSmithKline to develop computational models determining the risk of recombinant protein breakdown by proteases in host cells. In 2003 Jonathan joined AstraZeneca as the first member of the newly formed Oncology Bioinformatics team. As a scientist and senior scientist he drove adoption of ‘omic data to establish molecular line of sight for new targets, specializing in gene expression microarrays. He introduced a number of pioneering approaches harnessing gene expression data from cancer cell lines to uncover the mechanisms of pathway/drug target dependency, discovering biomarkers of drug response. Throughout his career he has supported and influenced a number of programs, including drugs targeting PARP (Lynparza), mTOR, PI3K, AKT and ERBB. His work for the MEK inhibitor selumetinib led to a transcriptional readout of MEK activity that became the first transcriptomic hypothesis tested in AZ clinical trials. As a team leader and now Director Jonathan has gone on to build a global group focused on harnessing next generation sequencing and genomic data to further AstraZeneca’s oncology drug programs and precision medicine. His team are recognized as leaders in the field, with a number of high profile publications and algorithms now adopted by leading research centers around the world such as the VarDict NGS variant caller. Jonathan carries a strong collaborative attitude and is a champion of open innovation to harness the world’s data and expertise for actionable discovery.
Follow Jonathan Dry:
About AstraZeneca: AstraZeneca is a global pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets prescription medicines.
Bruce Burlington
Non-Executive Director of AstraZeneca
Bruce Burlington is a prominent independent consultant on pharmaceutical product development and regulatory affairs with more than 30 years of experience in regulatory affairs and drug development. Bruce Burlington’s extensive experience in drug and product development comprises several senior posts at Wyeth, including Executive Vice President and Worldwide Head of Regulatory Affairs, where he played a central role in the development and global registration of many products. Prior to joining Wyeth, Bruce Burlington was a leader at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) where he served for 17 years in various roles, including director of the Division of Biological Investigational New Drugs, several management positions in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, and director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health. As an infectious disease physician and a leader in regulatory policy, Bruce Burlington has served as the industry representative on the FDA’s Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee and currently holds Board positions at Cangene Corporation, AstraZeneca, and the International Partnership for Microbicides. Bruce Burlington graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a B.A. in Psychology and Economics and received his M.D. degree from Louisiana State University. He completed his internal medicine internship and residency, as well as his infectious disease fellowship, at the University of Colorado.
Follow Bruce Burlington:
About : AstraZeneca is a global pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets prescription medicines.
David Reif
Associate Director of Cancer Research of AstraZeneca
Dr. Reif serves as an Associate Director of Cancer Research at AstraZeneca. David received his B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Michigan, and his Ph.D. in 1990 in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Utah State University in the laboratory of Dr. Steven Aust. He completed his post-doctoral training with Dr. Roy Simmons at Fisons Pharmaceuticals (a predecessor company to AstraZeneca) in Rochester, NY. Dr. Reif then joined the staff at Fisons where he led drug discovery project teams in the areas of Parkinson’s Disease, ALS, and stroke in addition to leading the biochemistry group. In 2000, he was the first to join a new cancer discovery group within AstraZeneca at their facilities in Waltham. Dr. Reif is currently an Associate Director and Operations Manager within the cancer department and works as a member of the cancer management team in managing the portfolio of novel projects for cancer therapy. David is also intimately involved in many community outreach activities. He is a key liaison for AstraZeneca’s involvement with the New England chapter of the American Cancer Society (Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk and the Hope Lodge). He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Academies of Science as well as the Massachusetts Biotechnology Education Foundation (the last four as Chairman). He also recently ended 10 yrs of service on the Lunenburg School Committee (7 total years as Chairman). Dr. Reif lives in Lunenburg, MA with his wife Trish and their three children (two in college and one in high school).
Follow David Reif:
About AstraZeneca: AstraZeneca is a global pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets prescription medicines.
Jessica Pfennig
Director of Global Digital Governance of AstraZeneca
Jessica Pfennig is Director of Global Digital Governance at AstraZenica and an impactful global leader and digital innovator with over 20 years of strategy and management experience within large pharmaceutical organizations. Jessica has advanced degrees in chemistry, information science and an EMBA. Jessica is in charge of managing and monitoring AZ’s digital asset estate. In this role she influences the future regulations for digital interactions with patients, physicians and payers. She is recognized for integrating risk avoidance and commercial compliance standards to introduce innovative technology and services. Jessica is also the Senior Global Chair for the Digital Innovators within the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association.
Follow Jessica Pfennig:
About AstraZeneca, AstraZeneca: AstraZeneca is a global pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets prescription medicines.
Mariam Iqbal
Director Of Procurement of AstraZeneca
Follow Mariam Iqbal:
About AstraZeneca: AstraZeneca is a global pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets prescription medicines.
Neerav P. Padliya
Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs of AstraZeneca
Follow Neerav P. Padliya:
About AstraZeneca: AstraZeneca is a global pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets prescription medicines.
Donald Ehrlich
Member of the Board of Directors of Danaher
Donald Ehrlich has served on Danaher’s Board of Directors since 1985. He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Schwab Corp., a manufacturer of fire-protective safes, files, cabinets and vault doors, from January 2003 to July 2008, and has also served on the boards of private and non-profit organizations. Donald also founded and served as the chairman and chief executive officer of an NYSE-listed, publicly-traded manufacturing company, and has also founded and served as CEO of two privately held manufacturing companies. As an entrepreneur and business leader who began his career on the factory floor, has been awarded over fifteen patents and worked his way to leadership of a large, publicly-traded company, Donald has a broad understanding of the strategic challenges and opportunities facing a publicly-traded manufacturing company such as Danaher. He also has a broad, functional skill-set in the areas of engineering, finance, capital allocation and executive compensation
Follow Donald Ehrlich:
About : Danaher is a global science and technology innovator committed to helping their customers solve complex challenges and improve quality.
Walter Lohr
Member of the Board of Directors of Danaher
Walter Lohr has served on Danaher’s Board of Directors since 1983. He was a partner of Hogan Lovells, a global law firm, for over five years until retiring in June 2012 and has also served on the boards of private and non-profit organizations. Prior to his tenure at Hogan Lovells, Walter served as assistant attorney general for the State of Maryland.He has extensive experience advising companies in a broad range of transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions, contests for corporate control and securities offerings. His extensive knowledge of the legal strategies, issues and dynamics that pertain to mergers and acquisitions and capital raising have been a critical resource for Danaher given the importance of its acquisition program.
Follow Walter Lohr:
About : Danaher is a global science and technology innovator committed to helping their customers solve complex challenges and improve quality.
Justin Holland
Senior Director of Danaher
Follow Justin Holland:
About Danaher: Danaher is a global science and technology innovator committed to helping their customers solve complex challenges and improve quality.
Neil Poloso
Executive Director, Biological Research of Allergan
Follow Neil Poloso:
About AbbVie, Allergan: Allergan is a global pharmaceutical company.
Tory Brady
Director of Product Engineering of Allergan
Tory Brady’s passion is building software with a keen eye on the customer and the jobs they’re hiring a product to do in their lives. He loves when beautiful design, performant code and comprehensive data intersect. He’s had a fruitful career as a Software Engineer, working for a variety of technology start-ups. Now Tory is applying these learned start-up methodologies to Allergan’s medical aesthetics business as they work to revitalize the digital relationship with their consumers.
Follow Tory Brady:
About Allergan: Allergan is a global pharmaceutical company.
Vijay Raghavan
Senior Director, Management Science of Allergan
Follow Vijay Raghavan:
About Allergan: Allergan is a global pharmaceutical company.
Gregory Hinckley
Lead Director of Bio-Rad Laboratories
Hinckley has been President of the Company since 2000, and was Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the Company from 1997 to 2000. He continued to function as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer from 2000 to July 2007, and again became the Chief Financial Officer in December 2008. He is a director of Intermec, Inc. (a provider of integrated system solutions), Super Micro Computer, Inc. (a server board, chassis and server systems supplier), and SI Bone, Inc. (a privately held medical device company). Until 2007, Hinckley was also a director of Amkor Technology, Inc. (a provider of semiconductor packaging and test services). Prior to joining Mentor, Hinckley was Vice President, and then Senior Vice President, of VLSI Technology, Inc. (a semiconductor company) from 1992 to 1997.
Follow Gregory Hinckley:
About Bio-Rad Laboratories: Bio-Rad Laboratories has played a leading role in the advancement of scientific discovery for over 50 years by providing a broad range of
Xue Snow Ge
Sr. Director, Clinical Pharmacology of Nektar Therapeutics
Xue Snow Ge serves as the Senior Director of Clinical Pharmacology at Nektar Therapeutics. She also serves as an Advisor at Berkeley SkyDeck.
Follow Xue Snow Ge:
About Nektar Therapeutics: Nektar Therapeutics develops therapeutics based on its advanced polymer conjugate chemistry technology platform.
Peng Yin
Co-Founder, Director of NuProbe
Peng is a Professor in the Department of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School. He also serves as a Core Faculty member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, where he co-founded Ultivue. Co-Founder, Director at Torus Biosystems.
Follow Peng Yin:
About Harvard Medical School, NuProbe, Torus Biosystems, Ultivue, Wyss Institute: An early stage molecular diagnostics company.
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.
Ilan Kaufthal
Director of Bio-Reference Laboratories
Ilan Kaufthal served as a Senior Advisor at Irving Place Capital from July 2008 to July 2013. Mr. Kaufthal has over 30 years of experience as an investment banker and senior corporate executive. He joined Irving Place Capital in 2008 and focused on retail and consumer products. He joined Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. in May 2000 and served eight years there as the Vice Chairman of Investment Banking from May 2000 to July 2008. Mr. Kaufthal served as the Head of Mergers and Acquisitions as the Vice Chairman of Schroder & Co. for 13 years and a Managing Director from February 1987 to March 1997. He served as the Vice Chairman of Schroder & Co. Inc. from April 1997 to May 2000. He served at Schroder, and PROTEAM.com, Inc. He served as the Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President at NL Industries Inc. from May 1971 to February 1987. He served as the Chairman of East Wind Advisors, LLC since May 2011. Mr. Kaufthal has been a Director of Cambrex Corporation since 1983; and Blyth, Inc. since February 24, 2012. He serves as a Director of Edmunds.com, Inc. He serves as the Chairman of the American Friends of Bezalel. He serves as a Member of the Board of Visitors of Columbia University Medical Center. He serves as a Member of the Trustee Council of The Jewish Museum, Ramaz School in New York City and The Russell Berrie Foundation. He serves as a Non-Management Director of Fairfield Resorts, Inc. and Wyndham Vacation Resorts, Inc. He serves as a Director of Cambrex Profarmaco Landen N.V. He has been a Director of Bio-Reference Laboratories Inc. since March 3, 2015. He has been Director of Quinpario Acquisition Corp. 2 since November 2014. He has been a Director of Tronox Limited since June 15, 2012. He served as an Independent Director of Jason Industries, Inc. from August 2013 to June 30, 2014. He served as Director of PROTEAM.com, Inc. He served as a Director of Phytomedics, Inc. since August 2006, ASI Solutions, Inc. since joining in 1996, United Retail Group, Inc. from December 1992 to November 8, 2007, and Kid Brands, Inc. (alternate name, Russ Berrie & Co. Inc.) from 1995 to August 2006. He served as a Member of the Advisory Board of Gemini Israel Funds and Jerusalem Venture Partners Media Fund. Mr. Kaufthal holds an M.B.A. Degree from the New York University Graduate School of Business Administration and a B.A. from Columbia University.
Follow Ilan Kaufthal:
About Bio-Reference Laboratories: BioReference is the third largest full service clinical diagnostic laboratory in the U.S. providing testing .
Scott Marshall
Managing Director of Precision Analytics of Precision for Medicine
Scott Marshall is the Managing Director, Provide Technology Driven Biomarker Data Integration & Computational Biology at QuartzBio.
Follow Scott Marshall:
About Precision for Medicine, Quartz Bio: Precision for Medicine is a specialized scientific services company helping life science innovators develop medical products.
Daniel Birtwhistle
Senior Director Product Development Security of GE Healthcare
Follow Daniel Birtwhistle:
About GE Healthcare: GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care.
Andrew P. Giordano
Senior Director, Business Development & Client Relations of Sands Capital
Andrew Giordano is the Senior Director, Business Development & Client Relations at Sands Capital Management.
Follow Andrew P. Giordano:
About Sands Capital: Sands Capital is an investment manager who seeks to invest in technology and life sciences businesses from Series A through public listing..
Kevin G. Murphy
Sr. Director & Wealth Management Group of Sands Capital
Kevin Murphy is the Sr. Director & Wealth Management Group at Sands Capital Management.
Follow Kevin G. Murphy:
About Sands Capital: Sands Capital is an investment manager who seeks to invest in technology and life sciences businesses from Series A through public listing..
Erin Soule
Director of Finance & Operations of Sands Capital
Follow Erin Soule:
About Sands Capital: Sands Capital is an investment manager who seeks to invest in technology and life sciences businesses from Series A through public listing..
Lawrence Olanoff
Member of the Board of Directors of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals
Lawrence Olanof is a Special Advisor to the President for Corporate Relations at MUSC. After a long career in the pharmaceutical industry, Lawrence retired from his last position as President and Chief Operating Officer (2006-2010) at Forest Laboratories, Inc., and served as a Member of the Board of Directors at Forest Laboratories, Inc. until 2014. Lawrence is currently a Member of the Board of Directors at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Axovant Sciences Ltd. Lawrence also serves as a Member of the Non-Profit Boards of the Institute for Applied Neurosciences at the Medical University of SC, the Clinical Biotechnology and Research Institute at Roper St. Francis Hospitals and the Horizon Development Project; is a Member of the Advisory Board of BioMotiv and is an ex-officio Member of the MUSC Foundation for Research Development Board. In these affiliations, Lawrence is actively involved in advising companies and non-profit institutions in areas of drug discovery and development. Lawrence was President and Chief Executive Officer of Celsion Corporation from 2005 to 2006. From 1995 until 2005, Lawrencef was responsible for the leadership of research and development activities for Forest Laboratories, Inc., ultimately as its Executive Vice President-Scientific Affairs. From 1993 to 1995, Lawrencef was Senior Vice President-Clinical Research and Development at Sandoz Pharmaceutical Corporation. From 1984 to 1993, Lawrence was employed by The Upjohn Company, where his last position was Corporate Vice President-Clinical Development and Medical Affairs. Lawrence holds M.D. and Ph.D. (Biomedical Engineering) degrees from Case Western Reserve University and was a medical resident and clinical pharmacology fellow at MUSC. Lawrence also holds M.S. degree in Biochemical Engineering from Rutgers University and B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Tufts University. Lawrence is the Author or Co-Author of numerous scientific publications in the fields of clinical pharmacology, drug delivery and pharmacokinetics. During his industry career, Lawrence was involved in the approval of some 30 new drugs, new indications or novel formulations in the US.
Follow Lawrence Olanoff:
About : Ironwood Pharmaceuticals is an entrepreneurial pharmaceutical company, develops drugs for gastrointestinal and cardiovascular diseases.
Marsha Fanucci
Member of Board of Directors & Audit Committee Chair of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals
Marsha H. Fanucci has been a director since March 2005. Ms. Fanucci served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, from July 2004 through January 2009, where she was responsible for corporate strategy, treasury, financial planning and reporting and operations. While at Millennium since 2000, she also served as Vice President, Finance and Corporate Strategy and Vice President, Corporate Development. (Millennium was acquired by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited in May 2008 and is now Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company). Ms. Fanucci is a member of the board of directors of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. She received her B.S. in pharmacy from West Virginia University and her M.B.A. from Northeastern University. Ms. Fanucci’s qualifications to sit on the board include her expertise with public and financial accounting matters, including her experience leading financial organizations in biotechnology companies.
Follow Marsha Fanucci:
About : Ironwood Pharmaceuticals is an entrepreneurial pharmaceutical company, develops drugs for gastrointestinal and cardiovascular diseases.
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.
Jason Coloma
President, Chief Mazer; Director of Maze Therapeutics
Dr. Jason Coloma is the CEO of Maze Therapeutics. Prior to his appointment to CEO, he was Maze’s interim chief operating officer and a venture partner at Third Rock Ventures, where he was instrumental in the founding and launch of the company. As a venture partner at Third Rock, Jason focused on new company creation, and held interim chief business officer roles at portfolio companies insitro and Celsius Therapeutics. Prior to Third Rock, Jason was senior vice president and chief business officer at Corvus Pharmaceuticals. Previously, he held a number of roles at Roche, including vice president & global therapeutic area head of oncology and cancer immunotherapy partnering. Before joining Roche, Jason was a consultant in the life sciences practice at L.E.K. Consulting. He also worked in finance at Amgen and in research at the University of California, San Francisco and Cytokinetics. Jason holds a Ph.D. and M.P.H. at the University of California, Berkeley, an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and a B.S. in biology from the University of San Francisco.
Follow Jason Coloma:
About Maze Therapeutics: Maze Therapeutics is an operator of a biotechnology firm used to focus on translating genetic insights into new medicines.
Daniel Rappaport
Board of Directors of Connecticut Innovations
Mr. Rappaport served as Chairman of the Board/CEO of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) from 1993 through March 2001. Mr. Rappaport also served as a member of the Board of NYMEX from May 2006 through August 2008 where he participated in the process that led to an IPO that valued NYMEX at approximately twelve billion dollars. As a NYMEX board member, Mr. Rappaport was also involved in the negotiations that resulted in the acquisition of NYMEX by the CME Group. Mr. Rappaport served as an independent director on the board of GreenX and was Chairman of the Regulatory Oversight Committee. Mr. Rappaport was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Energy to serve as a member of the National Petroleum Council (NPC) and he was also appointed to serve as a member of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Global Markets Advisory Committee. He served as a board member of the Futures Industry Institute, a trustee on the Board of Trustees of New York Law School, and as an appointment of the Governor of the State of Connecticut on the board of directors of Connecticut Innovations. Mr. Rappaport is a graduate of New York Law School and is licensed to practice law in the State of New York. He also holds an MBA from Baruch College and is a graduate of Syracuse University.
Follow Daniel Rappaport:
About : Connecticut Innovations provides strategic capital and operational insight to to companies in high-tech industries
Patrick O’Neill
Managing Director, Venture Capital Investments of Connecticut Innovations
Follow Patrick O’Neill:
About Connecticut Innovations: Connecticut Innovations provides strategic capital and operational insight to to companies in high-tech industries
Matthew D. Storeygard
Managing Director, Venture Capital Investments of Connecticut Innovations
Matt Storeygard joined Connecticut Innovations as Managing Director, Venture Capital Investments in 2019
Follow Matthew D. Storeygard:
About Connecticut Innovations, Hubbub: Connecticut Innovations provides strategic capital and operational insight to to companies in high-tech industries
Kevin Crowley
Senior Managing Director, Investments of Connecticut Innovations
Follow Kevin Crowley:
About : Connecticut Innovations provides strategic capital and operational insight to to companies in high-tech industries
Peter V. Longo
Senior Managing Director of Connecticut Innovations
Peter Senior Managing Director of Connecticut Innovations, oversees the organization’s investment and loan portfolios, and is responsible for the overall investment strategy.
Follow Peter V. Longo:
About Connecticut Innovations: Connecticut Innovations provides strategic capital and operational insight to to companies in high-tech industries
Pauline M. Murphy
Senior Managing Director of Connecticut Innovations
Pauline Murphy joined Connecticut Innovations as Senior Managing Director in 2002.Pauline is responsible for initiating and closing deals and managing the investment associates and investment team support staff at CI. Pauline has extensive experience in both manufacturing and service organizations. She was controller of an early-stage software development company and launched her career at Ernst & Young, LLP. Her career milestones with CI include leading investments in deets, Environmental Energy Services, etouches, FMP Products, New Ortho Polymers, Premise Corporation, XLerant and Zadspace. Three of the former CI portfolio companies that Pauline was involved with have been acquired: CGI Pharmaceuticals, Nufern and Premise Corporation. A fourth company, CiDRA Corporation, has successfully sold its oil and gas metering business segment. Pauline graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Connecticut and is a registered certified public accountant in the state of Connecticut.
Follow Pauline M. Murphy:
About Cadenza Innovation, CiDRA, Connecticut Innovations, Ernst & Young: Connecticut Innovations provides strategic capital and operational insight to to companies in high-tech industries
Daniel Wagner
Sr. Managing Director, Investments of Connecticut Innovations
Daniel Wagner joined Connecticut Innovation as Managing Director, Investments in 2018
Follow Daniel Wagner:
About Connecticut Innovations, Connecticut Innovations: Connecticut Innovations provides strategic capital and operational insight to to companies in high-tech industries
Douglas J. Roth
Managing Director of Connecticut Innovations
Follow Douglas J. Roth:
About Connecticut Innovations: Connecticut Innovations provides strategic capital and operational insight to to companies in high-tech industries
Matt Bloom
Director of Investments of Connecticut Innovations
Matt Bloom is the director of investments at Connecticut Innovations.
Follow Matt Bloom:
About Connecticut Innovations: Connecticut Innovations provides strategic capital and operational insight to to companies in high-tech industries
Kimberly Peretto
Director of Information Technology of Connecticut Innovations
Follow Kimberly Peretto:
About : Connecticut Innovations provides strategic capital and operational insight to to companies in high-tech industries
Maren Ohaks Katzaroff
Director – Strategic Planning of Vivos Inc
Maren drives the commercialization of AMI’s brachytherapy products including operational and regulatory aspects through strategic initiatives. Maren has extensive expertise in global commercialization strategies, operations, strategic planning and regulatory compliance in a variety of sectors including medical device, biotechnology, academia and banking. Maren has been instrumental in preparing device and drug products for FDA review including quality system establishment, manufacturing oversight, preparation of FDA filings and participation in FDA reviews. Prior to joining AMI, Maren was employed by the University of Washington (UW) to create and run programs to facilitate engagement between industry and UW researchers and students to foster commercialization of UW technology. This included opening and running the first UW managed high tech incubator. In addition, Maren has held key strategic and operational roles for a number of medical device and biotechnology companies including Amgen and several Seattle area start-ups. She earned an MBA with an emphasis in Management and Technology, and a BS in Cell and Molecular Biology with a minor in Chemistry, both from the UW. Maren enjoys active roles in numerous community organizations.
Follow Maren Ohaks Katzaroff:
About Vivos Inc: Vivos Inc develops manufacturing equipments for the production of medical isotopes used in diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
Donald A. Ludwig
Director of Special Projects of Vivos Inc
Donald A. Ludwig, PhD., is Director of Special Projects for AMI. As an expert in particle accelerator applications in radiation therapy, nuclear medicine and radioisotope production Dr. Ludwig also serves as an advisor to numerous entities in the field, both domestic and foreign. Among these are the Atomic Energy of Canada, the U. S. Department of Energy Labs at Los Alamos, Berkeley, Fermi, Hanford and Oak Ridge, the Israel Atomic Energy Agency, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization, the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics in Novosibirsk, Siberia, the Malaysian Institute of Nuclear Technology and the Bhabha Atomic Research Center in Mumbai, India. He holds advanced degrees in nuclear physics, medical physics and marketing from top tier Universities. Dr. Ludwig’s endeavors for AMIC are focused on facilitating the return of clinical radioisotope production to the US, and aiding AMIC in becoming the largest provider of radioisotopes in North America.
Follow Donald A. Ludwig:
About Vivos Inc: Vivos Inc develops manufacturing equipments for the production of medical isotopes used in diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
Bret Henning
Sr Director and Information Technology of Tandem Diabetes Care
Bret Henning is currently the Sr. Director of Information Technology at Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc. Bret is responsible for worldwide IT operations including infrastructure, cloud computing, collaboration technologies, enterprise applications, DEVOPS, call center and voice technologies. At Tandem Bret was involved in building the company from an early stage startup through product commercialization. He brings a diverse portfolio of experience managing everything from Facilities to Connected Heath. His background includes more than 30 years of hands-on experience in technology for electronics and medical device companies.
Follow Bret Henning:
About Tandem Diabetes Care: Tandem Diabetes Care develops medical devices for the treatment of diabetes offering diabetic insulin pumps for adults and children.
Caleb Winder
Managing Director of Excel Venture Management
Caleb Winder is a venture capitalist who focused on life sciences, healthcare and information technology. He is currently a Managing Director at Excel Venture Management & at the MemorialCare Innovation Fund Caleb has a broad set of experiences from his early career in sales and marketing at small and medium sized companies in the diagnostics and medical capital equipment business and from his work in marketing, business development, and finance at various startups. Caleb currently serves on the boards of ClearDATA, Aileron Therapeutics, InfoBionic, WellDoc, Ayogo Health, and Qstream. He formerly served on the boards at Cleveland Heartlab, MedVentive, Saladax, ShapeUp, Oculus Health, Aventura, and Xcellerex
Follow Caleb Winder:
About AristaMD, Excel Venture Management, Excel Venture Management, Foldax, Laudio, LeanTaaS, MemorialCare Innovation Fund, Olive, Phynd Technologies, Xealth: Excel Venture Management builds companies that apply transformative life science technologies to solve problems in healthcare and beyond.
Juan Enriquez
Managing Director of Excel Venture Management
Juan Enriquez is a Managing Director at Excel Venture Management. He is a leading authority on the economic impact of life sciences on business and society, and a respected business leader and entrepreneur. He represents Excel on the boards of Shape Up the Nation, Fina Technologies, Catch.com, and Synthetic Genomics, as well as Activate Networks. Prior to Excel, Enriquez was the Founding Director of the Harvard Business School’s Life Sciences Project, with many of his innovative thoughts captured in his bestselling book, As the Future Catches You, which provides an accurate blueprint of how a bio-based economy changes industries and corporations. Following HBS, Enriquez became an active angel investor and founder of Biotechonomy Ventures, which invested in BioTrove, Xcellerex, and Synthetic Genomics, a company he co-founded with Drs. J. Craig Venter and Hamilton Smith, to apply life sciences to energy markets. As a business leader, advisor, and renowned speaker, he works directly with the CEOs of a number of Fortune Fifty companies, as well as with various heads of state, on how to adapt to a world where the dominant language is shifting from digital towards the language of life. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Cabot Corporation (NYSE: CBT), and he graduated from Harvard with a B.A. and M.B.A., both with honors.
Follow Juan Enriquez:
About Biotechonomy, Excel Venture Management, Viridos: Excel Venture Management builds companies that apply transformative life science technologies to solve problems in healthcare and beyond.
Rick Blume
Managing Director of Excel Venture Management
Rick Blume has been financing companies in healthcare for over three decades. His early investment banking career involved financing and banking relationships with hospitals, payers, physicians, and new biotech companies. The excitement he saw at Genentech, in its early years, led him to transition into venture capital in the mid 1980’s. Rick co-founded CB Health Ventures in 1998 where he assembled what is now the core of Excel including Enrico Petrillo, M.D., Steve Gullans, PhD, and Tricia Moriarty. Rick has served as a director or active investor in many companies including Lantos Technologies, Cytyc (acquired by Hologic – HOLX), AbT (now OSI – OSIP), Somatogen (acquired by Baxter – BAX), EdenTec (acquired by Nellcor), Exact Sciences (EXAS), IPC The Hospitalist Company (IPCM), GeneOhm (acquired by Becton Dickinson – BDX), Zonare, TransMedics, US Servis (acquired by McKesson); and the former public health insurance company Washington National. In addition to Excel, Rick has been active in initiating and teaching courses in venture capital and entrepreneurship at both Boston College Carroll School of Management and Simmons College School of Management, and serving on the Boards of the Chicago Biomedical Consortium and the National Regenerative Medicine Foundation .Rick did his undergraduate studies at University of the Pacific and Stanford. His MBA is from Stanford University.
Follow Rick Blume:
About CB Health Ventures, Excel Venture Management, GeneOhm Sciences, Zonare Medical Systems: Excel Venture Management builds companies that apply transformative life science technologies to solve problems in healthcare and beyond.
Taylor Goodman
Director Of Hardware Engineering of OpenTrons
Follow Taylor Goodman:
About OpenTrons: OpenTrons is a developer of a pipetting robot technology designed to automate experiments.
Jonathan Martinez
Senior Director of Sales of OpenTrons
Follow Jonathan Martinez:
About OpenTrons: OpenTrons is a developer of a pipetting robot technology designed to automate experiments.
Tad Buchanan
Director of Fabric Genomics (formerly Omicia)
Mr. Buchanan co-founded the investment firm of Buchanan Investments, Inc. in 1998 with his father, Mike. Together, they have founded, invested in and raised equity and debt capital for numerous companies, including DM&E Railroad, Central Montana Resources, Opti Canada, White Oak Resources, AlphaClone, TabletCommand, Gensys Software, Tri Alpha Energy, OneSun Solar, and numerous other private companies. Prior to founding Buchanan Investments, Inc., Tad was an Executive Director at UBS Securities with primary responsibility for managing Asian equity sales and trading based in NY. He was also an equity analyst at UBS and W.I. Carr (Far East), Ltd. based in Hong Kong, with responsibility for covering financial services, software, industrial and energy companies in Indonesia, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Prior to joining W.I. Carr (Far East) Ltd., Tad was a credit analyst within the Corporate Lending Group of Wells Fargo Bank. He graduated from Pepperdine University with a B.A. in Economics and from Boston College with an M.B.A, International Finance. He currently serves on the boards of Central Montana Resources, AlphaClone, Tablet Command, and OneSun Solar. Tad is also a board observer of Tri Alpha Energy. He is married with three children, and is a Trustee of Marin Country Day School in Corte Madera, CA.
Follow Tad Buchanan:
About Fabric Genomics (formerly Omicia): Global healthcare platform for genomics-driven precision medicine. Fabric’ proven AI algorithms power genomic insights.
Jonathan Zhao
Founder & Managing Director, Asia of Veritas Genetics
Jonathan Y. Zhao, Ph.D. is Co-Founder of Veritas Genetics and serves as its Managing Director of Asia. Jonathan Zhao is responsible for Asia strategy and new products at Amgen and Pfizer. He holds MBA from MIT Sloan and Ph.D. in Chemistry.
Follow Jonathan Zhao:
About Veritas Genetics: Veritas Genetics is a provider of a genetic testing platform intended to empower people to live healthier and longer.
Stanley Lapidus
Board of Directors of Daktari Diagnostics
He is an experienced entrepreneur. He founded and served as CEO of three public companies, Cytyc, EXACT Sciences, and Helicos BioSciences. He currently serves as CEO of SynapDx Corp., which he founded in 2009 to develop novel diagnostics for autism. He teaches at the Biomedical Enterprise Program at MIT and is the inventor of 31 US patents.
Follow Stanley Lapidus:
About University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus: Daktari Diagnostics manufactures diagnostic medical products for clinicians and patients.
Ed Hammond
Director of Clinical Programs of Domain Surgical
Ed Hammond is the Director, Clinical Programs at OmniGuide.
Follow Ed Hammond:
About Domain Surgical, OmniGuide: Domain Surgical creates energy-based surgical products for precise soft tissue cutting and coagulation.
Robert Carruthers
Senior Director, Talent Acquisition Operations of Celgene
Robert Carruthers works at Celgene corporation as part of their Talent Acquisition Leadership team, and with the implementation of his ‘Total Talent Solution’ Operations model, has helped propel the transformation of how talent is acquired at this global biopharmaceutical leader. He, and his team of associates and partners, are responsible for the technologies, processes, resourcing and analytics strategies that enable both the employee and contingent workforces of the organization.
Follow Robert Carruthers:
About Celgene: Celgene discovers, develops and commercializes innovative therapies to treat cancer and immune-inflammatory-related diseases.
Thomas Scalone
Director North American Logistics of Celgene
Follow Thomas Scalone:
About Celgene: Celgene discovers, develops and commercializes innovative therapies to treat cancer and immune-inflammatory-related diseases.
Roy Paul
Associate Director of Celgene
Follow Roy Paul:
About Celgene: Celgene discovers, develops and commercializes innovative therapies to treat cancer and immune-inflammatory-related diseases.
Jay Lichter
Managing Director of Avalon Ventures
Jay Lichter joined Avalon Ventures as Managing Director in 2007.Dr. Lichter has served on Otonomy’s board of directors since May 2008. Dr. Lichter served as the company’s chief executive officer from inception until November 2010. He is an experienced biotechnology and pharmaceutical business executive with 25 years of experience in management, scientific research and business development. Since 2007, Dr. Lichter has been a managing director at Avalon Ventures, an early stage venture capital fund focused on information technology and life sciences. In that role, he led Avalon’s investments in and served as a director and chief executive officer for privately held biotechnology companies Afraxis, Inc., Carolus Therapeutics, Inc., ReVision Therapeutics, Inc. and Zacharon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He also currently serves on the board of directors of Aratana Therapeutics, Inc., a public company. Dr. Lichter also led Avalon’s investments in or serves on the board of privately held companies Sova Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Avelas Biosciences, Inc., COI Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Sitari Pharmaceuticals Corp. Dr. Lichter received a doctorate and bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Illinois. He also completed post-doctoral fellowships at Yale University and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Company.
Follow Jay Lichter:
About Avalon Ventures, Avelas Biosciences, COI Pharmaceuticals, Fortis Therapeutics, Otonomy: Avalon Ventures is an early stage venture capital fund focused on information technology and life sciences.
Andrew Schiff
Managing Director of Aisling Capital
Schiff joined Aisling in September of 1999 and currently serves as one of the Managing Partners. Prior to Aisling Capital, Dr. Schiff practiced internal medicine for six years at The New York Presbyterian Hospital, where he maintains his position as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine. Dr. Schiff currently serves as a director of Agile Therapeutics, ARMGO Pharma, PowerVision and ZELTIQ Aesthetics. Prior Board service includes Adams Respiratory Therapeutics, ArgiNOx Pharmaceuticals, Barrier Therapeutics, Bioenvision, CardioKine, Cempra Pharmaceuticals, Miramar Labs, Myogen, SkinMedica, Sirion Therapeutics, TransEnterix and Quintiles (Board observer). He is a longtime supporter and Board member of the Visiting Nurse Service of New York. Dr. Schiff received his M.D. from Cornell University Medical College, his M.B.A. from Columbia University, and his B.S. with honors in Neuroscience from Brown University.
Follow Andrew Schiff:
About Aisling Capital: Aisling Capital believes the next decade will be marked by a revolution in healthcare driven by new therapeutics generated by
Jeffrey Gatz
Director of BioIVT
Jeffrey Gatz is the director at BioIVT.
Follow Jeffrey Gatz:
About : BioIVT is a worldwide provider of biological and in vitro products to pharmaceutical and biotechnology organizations
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.
Rajiv Malik
President & Executive Director of Viatris
Rajiv Malik serves as the president of Viatris and on the company’s board of directors. Originally from India, Malik received a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Technology from Punjab University and has 60+ process patents to his credit. Throughout his career, Malik has served in senior leadership roles as head of global regulatory affairs and head of pharma research for Ranbaxy, head of global development and registrations for Sandoz, and CEO of Matrix Laboratories Limited. During his time in this last role, Mylan acquired a controlling stake in Matrix, leading Malik on a path to handle even greater leadership responsibilities at Mylan. Since joining Mylan, Malik held roles including executive vice president, chief operating officer, and head of global technical operations. Malik was integral in developing the strategies for the company’s acquisitions such as Meda , Agila Specialties, and Merck KGaA’s generics business. Importantly, he was also intimately involved in the execution and integration of these and other acquisitions. As the president of Viatris, Rajiv’s responsibilities include overseeing day to day operations, commercial development, medical, IT, quality functions, R&D and the company’s commercial business units. He is especially suited for these varied roles given his unique leadership profile combining a global perspective on healthcare challenges as well as vast experience in scientific, commercial, and financial operations.
Follow Rajiv Malik:
About Viatris: Viatris is a global pharmaceutical company formed in 2020 through the combination of Mylan and Upjohn, a legacy division of Pfizer.
Azim Munivar
Medical Director of Biohaven Pharmaceutical
Azim Munivar is the Medical Director at Biohaven Pharmaceutical.
Follow Azim Munivar:
About Biohaven Pharmaceutical: Biohaven is engaged in the identification and development of clinical stage neuroscience compounds targeting the glutamatergic system.
Jenny Rooke
Founder & Managing Director of Genoa Ventures
Dr. Jenny Rooke has been deploying capital at the frontiers of life sciences innovation, with a penchant for technology-fueled solutions and category-defying opportunities. Jenny got her start in venture at Fidelity Biosciences, a Cambridge-based healthcare VC, during their Fund I formation. Jenny then brought her unique toolkit of genetics domain expertise, strategic business acumen, and venture investing to the Gates Foundation, where she deployed and managed over $250M in funding in genetic engineering, diagnostics, and synthetic biology. She also played a key role in establishing the foundation’s investing function. In 2014, Dr. Rooke began independently investing under the brand 5 Prime Ventures, financing her investments using what has become the largest life sciences syndicate on AngelList, and one of the highest-performing AngelList syndicates of any sector. Jenny founded Genoa Ventures in 2018, building on the 5 Prime Ventures track record, in order to scale a proven, differentiated investing strategy, to ensure continued access to the very best deals, and to maximize portfolio returns.
Follow Jenny Rooke:
About Genoa Ventures: Genoa Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage life sciences technology companies.
Saeid Akhtari
Managing Director of HBM Partners
Saeid Akhtari is the Managing Director at HBM Genomics investing in world-class entrepreneurs in seed and early stage startups. He has more than 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur building successful genomics companies from scratch. Saeid was the founder, President & CEO of NextBio which was acquired by Illumina in 2013. Prior to founding NextBio, he was the President & CEO of Silicon Genetics which was acquired by Agilent in 2004. Mr. Akhtari has also held executive management positions at several other life sciences companies.
Follow Saeid Akhtari:
About HBM Partners, Insitro: HBM Partners was founded in 2001 with the goal to invest in private and public emerging biopharma and other healthcare-related companies.
Gary Mills
Associate Director, Drug Product Development of TESARO
Follow Gary Mills:
About TESARO: TESARO is an oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company identifying better cancer therapies to improve the lives of patients with cancer.
Jared Casner
Director, Engineering of Pear Therapeutics
Follow Jared Casner:
About Pear Therapeutics: Pear Therapeutics is a software-based digital therapeutics platform designed to treat disease and enhance the efficacy of pharmaceuticals.
Bernard Davitian
Vice President and Managing Director of Sanofi Ventures
Bernard Davitian has extensive experience in the life sciences and biotech industry, marked by a number of successful transactions involving financings and M&A. His track record includes, among others, the successful IPO of Transgene on the NASDAQ and Euronext in 1998 ($100 million raised) and the sale of Fovea Pharmaceuticals to Sanofi in 2009 in a €370 million cash transaction. Bernard joined Sanofi in 2010 as Vice President, Deputy of Global Head, Business Development Corporate Licenses and was promoted to Vice President and Managing Director of SGBV in 2012. Prior to Sanofi, Bernard was EVP & CFO of Fovea Pharmaceuticals, CEO of Neurotech Pharmaceuticals, and EVP & CFO of Transgene. Bernard began his career in the biotech sector by serving in various capacities at Institut Mérieux (now Sanofi Pasteur), including Corporate CFO. In addition to his SGBV-related Boards of Directors responsibilities, which include Immune Design, Proteostasis Therapeutics, Esperance Pharmaceuticals and Kahr Medical, Bernard also represents Sanofi on the Board of Directors of Warp Drive Bio. Bernard holds an MSc in Management from EM Lyon Business School (France). He is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and holds an executive M.B.A. (AMP program) from Wharton Business School.
Follow Bernard Davitian:
About Good Eggs, Sanofi Ventures: Sanofi Ventures operates as the corporate venture capital arm of Sanofi.
Jason P. Hafler
Managing Director of Sanofi Ventures
Jason joined Sanofi-Genzyme BioVentures in 2014 with a background in early stage biotech investing and transactions. Prior to SGBV, Jason was the Director of Corporate Development at RaNA Therapeutics, LLC a company co-founded by his previous firm Atlas Venture. While at Atlas, Jason was an Associate in the Life Sciences group and a Board Observer for several portfolio companies. Previously, he was a Flagship Ventures Entrepreneurial Fellow, and consulted for the technology transfer company at the University of Cambridge while performing his doctoral research. Before his time at Cambridge, Jason was an analyst at JSB Partners LP, an investment banking firm, focusing on advisory and business development activities in the life sciences space. Jason currently serves on the Board of Trustees at the Buckingham Browne and Nichols school and on The Board of Directors of The Magdalene College Foundation. Jason holds a B.A. from Bowdoin College, and Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge.
Follow Jason P. Hafler:
About Buckingham Browne & Nichols School, Sanofi Ventures: Sanofi Ventures operates as the corporate venture capital arm of Sanofi.
Gillian Hanson
Director, Data & Informatics of PicnicHealth
Follow Gillian Hanson:
About PicnicHealth: PicnicHealth helps patients easily access their medical records and gives them the opportunity to contribute data to medical research.
Ilya Shestopalov
Director of Bluebird Bio
Follow Ilya Shestopalov:
About Bluebird Bio, Bluebird Bio: Bluebird Bio offers products based on the transformative potential of gene therapy for patients with genetic and orphan diseases.
Ping Gao
Center Director of Abbott
Follow Ping Gao:
About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Caroline Leab
Director, R&D of Abbott
Caroline Leab is a Director of Regulatory Affairs for Abbott, formerly St. Jude Medical. Caroline leads the EU MDR Implementation Program and Clinical Evaluation Process for the Abbott Cardiovascular and Neuromodulation organization. She has a background in Manufacturing and Quality Engineering with companies such as Boston Scientific and Nestle Healthcare Nutrition. Caroline led Quality organizations for AGA Medical and Monteris Medical before joining St. Jude Medical as a Director of R&D in 2014. Caroline serves on the Board of Directors for The Bakken Museum in Minneapolis and participates on various MDIC and AdvaMed committees.
Follow Caroline Leab:
About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Sundar Subramaniam
Board of Directors of Siamab Therapeutics
Sundar Subramaniam is Chairman of IBCC, whose holdings include Cambridge Technology Enterprises, Knome, MTPV, Cambridge Energy Resources, ThriveHive and DNSstuff. He is Chairman of Knome and Sialix and General Partner at Higher Moment Capital. He previously served as Chairman of I-Cube, C-bridge, Open Environment Corporation, and OneWave – all of which completed IPO’s and Answerfriend (Inquira, acq Oracle), WorldStreet (acq Thomson Reuters) and Integrated Computing Engines (acq Media100), director of DNSstuff (acq Solarwinds) and Managing Partner of Cambridge Samsung Partners, a Venture Capital firm. He has an MBA from MIT and an MS from HST (Harvard-MIT Health Science and Technology).
Follow Sundar Subramaniam:
About Authess, Mablytics: Siamab Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company that develops therapies targeting abnormal carbohydrates found only on cancer cells.
Konstantin Guericke
Member of the Board of Directors of StartX (Stanford-StartX Fund)
Konstantin Guericke is a Partner at Earlybird. He is based in Silicon Valley. Konstantin is Co – Founder of LinkedIn, where he has led marketing activities from launch to first six million members and profitability as Vice President of Marketing. Previously, he has been CEO of jaxtr (social communications start-up, over ten million registered users, purchased by SabSe Technologies). Konstantin has long-time entrepreneurial experience as founder of successful startups and he has helped established companies towards increased growth. Currently, he is Board member of several startups and Mentor of student entrepreneurs at Stanford University. Konstantin holds a B.S. and M.S. in Engineering from Stanford University.
Follow Konstantin Guericke:
About : StartX is an educational non-profit that helps Stanford’s top entrepreneurs.
Dan Ha
Co-Founder, Sr. Managing Director of StartX (Stanford-StartX Fund)
Follow Dan Ha:
About StartX (Stanford-StartX Fund): StartX is an educational non-profit that helps Stanford’s top entrepreneurs.
Thomas Stehl
Deputy Director of Edesia
Follow Thomas Stehl:
About Edesia: Through innovative manufacturing, Edesia aims to reduce the alarmingly high rates of childhood malnutrition in developing countries
Joe Echevarria
Board of Directors of Pfizer
Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte LLP, a global provider of professional services, from 2011 until his retirement in 2014. During his 36-year tenure with Deloitte, he served in various leadership roles, including Deputy Managing Partner, Southeast Region Audit Managing Partner and U.S. Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer. Director of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation. Member of the President’s Export Council and the Presidential Commission on Election Administration. Chair of President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance. Member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Miami. Our Director since 2015. Member of our Audit, Regulatory and Compliance and Science and Technology Committees.
Follow Joe Echevarria:
About : Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Brian Coleman
Director – Digital Forensics & Insider Threat of Pfizer
Follow Brian Coleman:
About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
James Harnett
Senior Director, Real World Data & Analytics of Pfizer
Dr. James Harnett is a Senior Director in Real World Data and Analytics (RWDnA) for Pfizer’s Patient Health & Impact organization. Dr. Harnett has worked at Pfizer for over 15 years and supported establishing the RWDnA function. He was previously Team Lead in Outcomes Research and a Market Access Lead. He has conducted research across numerous therapeutic areas, currently focusing on oncology, vaccines, and inflammation & immunology, authoring over 30 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Harnett has received awards for innovation on external partnerships and advanced analytics and use of real world evidence for regulatory decision making. He has a Doctor of Pharmacy degree and Master of Science degree in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Research.
Follow James Harnett:
About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Margi McLoughlin
Executive Director of Pfizer
Margi McLoughlin, PHD is Executive Director, WWBD and Partner at Pfizer Ventures. Margi invests in companies working in areas aligned with the future directions of Pfizer. She currently has responsibility for Pfizer’s investments in 4D Molecular Therapeutics, Adapsyn, BioAtla, Cortexyme and System1. Through these investments, she works with the companies to help advance products and technologies of value to the pharmaceutical industry. Margi began her career at Mallinckrodt Medical, holding positions in Discovery Research, followed by Technology Planning. In 1999, she moved to Yale University where she worked as Associate Director in the Office of Cooperative Research. Since joining Pfizer Worldwide Business Development in 2001, she has had roles of increasing responsibility and led transactions with multiple biotech companies, including Ablexis, Gliknik and Excaliard. In addition, Margi played a significant role in defining Pfizer’s Centers for Therapeutic Innovation business model.
Follow Margi McLoughlin:
About Pfizer, Pfizer Venture Investments: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Donna Armentano
Executive Director External R&D Innovation and Global Head Gene Therapy of Pfizer
Follow Donna Armentano:
About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Yael Gozin
Senior Director, Global Clininal Submissions Quality of Pfizer
Yael Gozin is a senior director at Pfizer, where she works with clinical development teams across Pfizer’s portfolio, which raised her interests in the use of technology to improve the processes and data quality associated with clinical development and regulatory submissions. Yael provides technical guidance both in designing and implementing innovative AI solutions to automate quality processes and coaching and mentoring of project teams across different therapeutic areas including oncology, innovative pharma, established products, and consumer products. She holds a doctorate from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich (ETH Zurich) in organic chemistry and a master’s degree from the Weizmann Institute in organometallic chemistry.
Follow Yael Gozin:
About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Gerald Fetterly
Senior Director, Clinical Pharmacology of Pfizer
Dr. Gerald J. Fetterly is an Associate Professor of Oncology and the Director of the Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics Core Resource in the Department of Medicine at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. He is a clinical pharmacologist/pharmacokineticist who received his doctoral degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University at Buffalo in 2000, where he has also been an Adjunct Assistant Professor since 2008. He possesses considerable expertise in developing oncology agents and the liposomal encapsulation of drugs. Specifically, his doctoral work and subsequent publications focused on an extensive assay development and comparison of the PK/PD relationships of various anticancer drugs, such as liposomal paclitaxel, trabectedin, and mTOR inhibitors. He has developed both preclinical and clinical PK/PD models to characterize the temporal relationship between the PK of the drug in relation to the time course of neutropenia and transaminase elevation. Prior to joining Roswell Park Cancer Institute, he worked at Cognigen to further his expertise in population PK/PD modeling to provide consulting services for both industry and academia to assess the impact of patient factors that are sources of variability in not only pharmacokinetics but also the PK/PD relationships for both efficacy and safety, mainly for oncology and neuropharmacology drugs. At Cognigen, he led and managed interdepartmental projects in Clinical Pharmacology, provided sparse sampling designs for clinical pharmacology trials, provided clinical pharmacology services for regulatory strategy during Advisory Board and Sponsor/FDA meetings, reviewed the non-clinical as well as clinical pharmacology development sections of various INDs and NDAs, as well as assisted in the interpretation of preclinical data and extrapolation of implications for human clinical development utilizing PK/PD modeling approaches. From 2000-2002, he was a clinical pharmacology and biopharmaceutics reviewer at the FDA. The experience of working with the agency has allowed him to supply insight to industry about the necessary components for a successful IND and NDA submission, along with guiding dose selection during the drug development process.
Follow Gerald Fetterly:
About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Jay Bergeron
Director of Pfizer
Jay Bergeron is Director, Translational and Bioinformatics, at Pfizer and responsible for informatics support for Clinical Research and Precision Medicine.
Follow Jay Bergeron:
About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Brian Higgins
Director, Architecture, Platform Engineering & Support Lead of Pfizer
Follow Brian Higgins:
About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Stephen Kagan
Senior Director, Global Medical Affairs, Rare Disease of Pfizer
Follow Stephen Kagan:
About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Andrea Mancuso
Director, Training and Education Lead of Pfizer
Follow Andrea Mancuso:
About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
James Tornos
Senior Director Global Procurement of Pfizer
Follow James Tornos:
About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Julia Brosnan
Director, External Collaborations and Scientific Alliances of Pfizer
Follow Julia Brosnan:
About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Steve Hammond
Director Process Analytical Support of Pfizer
Follow Steve Hammond:
About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
George Bashirians
Director, Diagnostics Lead of Pfizer
Follow George Bashirians:
About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Cal Austin
Director – Idea Sprint Lab of Pfizer
Follow Cal Austin:
About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Kelly Zou
Senior Director & Analytic Science Lead of Pfizer
Follow Kelly Zou:
About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Arpita Maiti
Executive Director & Global Head, Emerging Science & Innovation Lead – Inflammation & Immunology of Pfizer
Follow Arpita Maiti:
About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Firelli Alonso
Senior Director, External Supply of Pfizer
Follow Firelli Alonso:
About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Jane Wiltshire
Senior Director, Business Technology – Collaboration Center of Excellence of Pfizer
Follow Jane Wiltshire:
About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
