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 VP’ operating in the Biotechnology space. If you think a VP’ 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.
Caroline Savello
VP of Commercial of Color
Caroline Savello is the VP of commercial at Color.
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About Color: Color is a population health technology company that enables the delivery of advanced healthcare through clinical genetics.
Wendy Mckennon
VP of Design of Color
Wendy Mckennon is the VP of Design at Color.
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About Color: Color is a population health technology company that enables the delivery of advanced healthcare through clinical genetics.
Emily Reuter
Vice President of Strategy and Operations of Color
Emily Reuter is the Vice President of Strategy and Operations at Color.
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About Color: Color is a population health technology company that enables the delivery of advanced healthcare through clinical genetics.
Alicia Zhou
VP of Research and Scientific Affairs of Color
Alicia Zhou is the VP of Research and Scientific Affairs at Color.
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About Color: Color is a population health technology company that enables the delivery of advanced healthcare through clinical genetics.
Fatima Sabar
VP of People of Color
Fatima Sabar is the VP of people at Color.
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About Color: Color is a population health technology company that enables the delivery of advanced healthcare through clinical genetics.
Ashley Chandler
VP of Marketing of Color
Ashley Chandler is the VP of Marketing at Color.
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About Color: Color is a population health technology company that enables the delivery of advanced healthcare through clinical genetics.
Steve Lemon
VP, Engineering of 23andMe
Steve joined 23andMe in 2010 and is responsible for product and engineering. Prior to 23andMe, Steve was VP of engineering at Loopt and co-founder and VP of technology at Glimpse.com (acquired by TheFind.com). Earlier Steve served as the VP of engineering for Consumer Products and Solutions at Symantec and headed the engineering team at Cendura (acquired by CA), growing development and QA teams in both the U.S. and India. He also served as the SVP and GM of the Internet Portal Division for Healtheon/WebMD (IPO: HLTH), where he operated worldwide engineering and business teams and drove M&A technology integration.
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About 23andMe, 23andMe: 23andMe is a DNA testing technology company that enables its users to access their ancestry, genealogy, and inherited traits.
Joyce Tung
Vice President, Research of 23andMe
Joyce Tung joined 23andMe in 2007. She has contributed to several of 23andMe’s research publications, and currently develops and manages research projects. she was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow in the lab of Dr. Renee Reijo Pera. At the University of California, San Francisco she focused on the genetics of egg and sperm development and human fertility. Joyce Tung returned to Stanford University for postdoctoral research in the lab of Dr. Gregory Barsh, where she studied the genetics of human and mouse pigmentation.
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About 23andMe: 23andMe is a DNA testing technology company that enables its users to access their ancestry, genealogy, and inherited traits.
Ron Alfa
Senior Vice President, Translational Discovery of Recursion Pharmaceuticals
Ron Alfa is Vice President, Discovery and Product at Recursion Pharmaceuticals where he manages scientific product development and external alliances across Recursion’s AI-enabled discovery platform. Ron Alfa’s scientific contributions prior to Recursion span Neurosciences, Metabolism, and Genetics.
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About Recursion Pharmaceuticals: Recursion Pharmaceuticals is a digital biology company, developing a drug discovery platform and pipeline with machine learning.
Imran Haque
VP Data Science of Recursion Pharmaceuticals
Imran focuses his research on developing computational methods to go beyond brute empiricism in biology and medicine.He earned a BS in electrical engineering and computer science from UC Berkeley and a PhD in computer science from Stanford University, where his research on large-scale machine learning systems for drug discovery was co-advised by Vijay Pande and Daphne Koller.Following his PhD, Imran served for over five years in roles of increasing responsibility at Counsyl (now Myriad Women’s Health). As VP, Scientific Affairs, he led a research program in both clinical development, analyzing cohorts of hundreds of thousands of individuals to make discoveries in medical and population genetics; and in technology development, designing assays leveraging the ability to customize both chemistry and computation. Subsequently, he was the first chief scientific officer at Freenome, where he built and led an R&D team spanning molecular biology, computational biology, and machine learning to develop non-invasive blood-based screening protocols for early cancer detection.
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About Recursion Pharmaceuticals: Recursion Pharmaceuticals is a digital biology company, developing a drug discovery platform and pipeline with machine learning.
David Fabrizio
VP, Translational Strategy of Foundation Medicine
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About Foundation Medicine: Foundation medicine is a molecular information company developing clinical diagnostic tests that facilitates personalized cancer therapies.
Mark Mallon
Executive Vice President, Global Product and Portfolio Strategy, Medical Affairs and Corp. Affairs of AstraZeneca
Mark Mallon is responsible for the growth and performance of AstraZeneca’s International region, which predominantly includes AstraZeneca’s commercial businesses in Asia Pacific, Russia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. Most recently, Mark served as Regional Vice President for Asia Pacific where he was accountable for the growth and performance of the AstraZeneca business in 14 markets. While in this role Mark has also served as President of AstraZeneca China, responsible for the company’s overall operations in China and Hong Kong. Previously, Mark led the marketing, sales and commercial operations for AstraZeneca K. K. (Japan). Since joining AstraZeneca in 1994, Mark has held a number of additional leadership roles, Including Marketing Company President of the AstraZeneca Italian subsidiary company and Vice President of Marketing and Sales Operations of AstraZeneca’s US business. While in the US, Mark also was a Board Member for the Christiana Care Network, one of the the largest healthcare networks on the East Coast. Mark received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA in Marketing and Finance from the Wharton School of Business. He is based in Shanghai.
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About AstraZeneca, NeoGenomics: AstraZeneca is a global pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets prescription medicines.
William H. King, IV
Senior Vice President, Strategic Development of Danaher
Mr. King is the Senior Vice President, Strategic Development for Danaher Corporation. Mr. King and his team drive market development, deal sourcing and commercial diligence at Danaher, thus co-owning the M&A process at Danaher with Mr. Daniel Raskas and the Corporate Development team. In addition, he and his team hold responsibility for the strategic planning process, tools and training. Mr. King joined Danaher in 1998 and has held positions as Managing Director of the Special Purpose Systems Motion Control Group, as well as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Motion Control Group. Prior to joining Danaher, he held positions of increasing responsibility in live production and logistics for Perdue, Inc. Mr. King has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Economics from University of Maryland.
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About Danaher: Danaher is a global science and technology innovator committed to helping their customers solve complex challenges and improve quality.
Joakim Weidemanis
Group Executive/VP Product Identification Platform of Danaher
Joakim Weidemanis has been Vice President and Group Executive of Danaher Corp. since March 2014. Joakim Weidemanis served as Managing Director of Elster Metering Limited. He served as the Head of Product Inspection at Mettler-Toledo International Inc., since January 2006. From August 2005 to January 2006, he served as Head of Business Development of the Product Inspection Division. He held various management positions at ABB, including from July 2000 to August 2005 when he served as President of the North American water metering systems business and from early 2004 as the Head of the global water metering division that became Elster Water Metering Systems.
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About Danaher, Danaher: Danaher is a global science and technology innovator committed to helping their customers solve complex challenges and improve quality.
Raymond H. Diradoorian
Executive Vice President of Allergan
Mr. Diradoorian has been Executive Vice President, Global Technical Operations since February 2006. From April 2005 to February 2006, Mr. Diradoorian served as Senior Vice President, Global Technical Operations. Since February 2001, Mr. Diradoorian served as Vice President, Global Engineering and Technology. Mr. Diradoorian joined Allergan in July 1981. Prior to joining Allergan, Mr. Diradoorian held positions at American Hospital Supply and with the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team. Mr. Diradoorian received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences from the University of California, Irvine and a Master of Science degree in Technology Management from Pepperdine University.
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About Allergan: Allergan is a global pharmaceutical company.
Jonathon Kellerman
EVP, Global Chief Compliance Officer of Allergan
Prior to joining Actavis, Mr. Kellerman spent 20 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) in leadership roles of increasing responsibility, most recently 10 years as Partner in the company’s Pharmaceutical & Life Sciences Advisory practice. Mr. Kellerman was responsible for helping lead the firm’s Governance, Risk & Compliance practice. He has extensive experience in compliance strategy and commercial performance improvement, including global anti-bribery/anti-corruption program assessment, design and implementation work; building and implementing effective global compliance programs; managing fraud investigations and remediation activities; re-engineering processes supporting key commercial and R&D business activities and compliance controls; and re-designing how companies engage health care professionals. Mr. Kellerman received a B.A. in Sociology from Franklin & Marshall College.
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About Allergan: Allergan is a global pharmaceutical company.
Stephen Barat
Associate Vice President, Non-Clinical Development of Allergan
Stephen Barat is currently the Executive Director of Non-clinical and Translational Sciences – Safety Assessment and Bioanalysis for Allergan. He has 20 years of experience in global drug development and registration, with a specific interest in drug device combinations, the interface of safety assessment and CMC requirements, and extensive experience in the safety assessment of impurities. Dr. Barat is a member of the PQRI – PDP working group and toxicology sub-team as well as the USP Expert Panel for Biocompatability of Packaging Materials.
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About Allergan, The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson: Allergan is a global pharmaceutical company.
Christine A. Tsingos
EVP & CFO of Bio-Rad Laboratories
Ms. Christine A. Tsingos is Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President of Bio Rad Laboratories Inc. Previously, she was the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Attest Systems, Inc., a provider of information technology asset discovery and management tools, from August 2002 to November 2002. Prior to that, Ms. Tsingos was a consultant to Attest Systems, Inc. from October 2000 to July 2002. She was the Chief Financial Officer at Tavolo, Inc., an online retailer of gourmet cookware and food, from November 1999 to September 2000, and she was Treasurer, and later Vice President and Treasurer, of Autodesk, Inc., a developer of design software, from May 1990 to November 1999.
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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
Ronald Hutton
Vice President, Treasurer of Bio-Rad Laboratories
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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
James Stark
Vice President, Corporate Controller of Bio-Rad Laboratories
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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
Mike Crowley
Executive Vice President, Global Commercial Operations of Bio-Rad Laboratories
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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
Timothy Ernst
Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary of Bio-Rad Laboratories
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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
Jillian B. Thomsen
SVP Finance and Chief Accounting Officer of Nektar Therapeutics
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About Nektar Therapeutics: Nektar Therapeutics develops therapeutics based on its advanced polymer conjugate chemistry technology platform.
Junfeng Luo
Co-Founder & Vice President, R&D – NuProbe, China of NuProbe
Junfeng Luo is a Co-Founder and Vice President of R&D at NuProbe, China.
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About NuProbe: An early stage molecular diagnostics company.
RJ Fitch
Vice President Operations & General Manager of WuXi AppTec
Innovative senior management leader Raymond J. “RJ” Fitch possesses more than two decades of experience in the biotech and global healthcare industries. As the Vice President of Operations & General Manager for WuXi AppTec Advanced Therapies, Mr. Fitch leverages his knowledge of site operations and supply chain functions to oversee logistics operations, biological testing services, engineering, and other operations at the company’s Philadelphia location. RJ Fitch is responsible for three facilities within the Philadelphia site. Mr. Fitch began his career more than 20 years ago, graduating from Philadelphia University with a bachelor of science in biology. After working for Merck & Company, he joined Sanofi Pasteur as a director of vaccine aseptic filling & formulation. He stayed with the company for seven years, rising through the ranks to become the senior director of influenza viral manufacturing. Mr. Fitch later served as the associate vice president at Genzyme, a Sanofi company, and vice president of Sanofi Pasteur in Toronto, Canada. During his time with Sanofi Pasteur, RJ Fitch returned to school to earn an executive MBA from the New York University Stern School of Business.
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About WuXi AppTec: WuXi AppTec provides a broad portfolio of R&D and manufacturing services that enable companies in the pharmaceutical.
Howard Dubinett
EVP & COO of Bio-Reference Laboratories
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About Bio-Reference Laboratories: BioReference is the third largest full service clinical diagnostic laboratory in the U.S. providing testing .
Jared Kohler
Sr. Vice President, Project Management & Data Science Operations & Precision for Medicine of Precision for Medicine
Jared Kohler is the Sr. Vice President, Project Management & Data Science Operations, Precision for Medicine at Precision for Medicine.
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About Precision for Medicine, Quartz Bio: Precision for Medicine is a specialized scientific services company helping life science innovators develop medical products.
Jay Lezcano
SVP & Business Development of Precision for Medicine
Jay Lezcano is the SVP & Business Development at Precision For Medicine.
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About Precision for Medicine: Precision for Medicine is a specialized scientific services company helping life science innovators develop medical products.
Merry Lee
Vice President, Medical Device Regulatory Strategy of Precision for Medicine
Merry Lee Bain is the Vice President, Medical Device Regulatory Strategy at Precision for Medicine.
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About Precision for Medicine: Precision for Medicine is a specialized scientific services company helping life science innovators develop medical products.
Judi Smith
VP of Vitro Diagnostics Regulatory & Quality of Precision for Medicine
Judi Smith is the Vice President, In Vitro Diagnostics Regulatory and Quality at Precision for Medicine. She has worked in the medical products regulatory submissions and approvals, quality, and clinical trial areas for over 30 years. In her role, she oversees the group responsible for the full range of in vitro diagnostic and blood screening assays (IVDs) services. These include regulatory strategy, analytical and clinical study designs, protocol development, all FDA pre-market and post-market submissions, quality system establishment and auditing per FDA Quality System Regulation, and clinical laboratory set-up per Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (CLIA) regulations. In addition, the group provides development and management of clinical trials for these products, the data from which are used in regulatory submissions. In addition, Judi is a member of the FDA/Industry Roundtable and was awarded the FDA Group Recognition Award. She has served as President of the Association of Medical Diagnostics Manufacturers since 2006. This organization is dedicated to the IVD industry and provides educational programs with FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health. Ms. Smith is also a faculty member of the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society (RAPS) University and serves as a Board Member of RAPS. Judi received her Bachelor of Science from Temple University and her Master of Science from the Medical College of Pennsylvania.
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About Association of Medical Diagnostics Manufacturers, BioPorto Diagnostics, Precision for Medicine, Regulatory Affairs Professional Society: Precision for Medicine is a specialized scientific services company helping life science innovators develop medical products.
Earl May
Vice President of Lead Discovery of Civetta Therapeutics
Earl May is the Vice President of Lead Discovery at Civetta Therapeutics. He is a former Senior Director Biophysics at Warp Drive Bio, Inc. Mr. May graduated from the University of Maryland Baltimore County with a BA in Biochemistry and received an MPhil and Ph.D.in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University.
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About Civetta Therapeutics: Civetta Therapeutics is a cancer therapeutics company to advance new medicines through small molecule targeting of beta-propeller domains.
Andrew Cook
Vice President and Head of Chemistry of Civetta Therapeutics
Andrew Cook is the Vice President and Head of Chemistry at Civetta Therapeutics. He was an Associate Director and Director of Medicinal Chemistry at H3 Biomedicine. Mr. Cook graduated from Imperial College London with a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry and earned a BS in Chemistry at the University of Nottingham.
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About Civetta Therapeutics: Civetta Therapeutics is a cancer therapeutics company to advance new medicines through small molecule targeting of beta-propeller domains.
Chris Fuller
Vice President of Informatics of Caribou Biosciences
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About Caribou Biosciences: Caribou Biosciences is a biotechnology company that develops CRISPR technologies and allogenic cell therapies for oncology.
Alex Aravanis
Chief Technology Officer & Senior Vice President of Illumina
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About Illumina: Illumina is an innovative technology and revolutionary assays aiming the analyze genetic variation and function.
Craig Ciesla
Vice President Advanced Engineering of Illumina
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About Illumina: Illumina is an innovative technology and revolutionary assays aiming the analyze genetic variation and function.
Richard Klausner
Senior Vice President & Chief Medical Officer of Illumina
Richard Klausner joined Illumina in September 2013 as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. Richard is responsible for Illumina’s strategies for advancing genomics into clinical medicine and public health. He is also part of Illumina’s executive management team, which is responsible for directing all aspects of company strategy, planning and operations. Richard is a Scientific Advisor at Cyterix Pharmaceuticals Inc. He co-founded Pathwork Diagnostics, Inc. (Alternative name is Predicant Biosciences Inc.) in 2002. He serves as the Managing Partner at The Column Group LLC. He served as the Chairman of the Strategic Development and Scientific Advisory Council at Sanofi from March 1, 2011 to January 2013. Richard serves as the Chairman of the National Science Education Standards Projects of the National Academy of Science, overseeing the first comprehensive process to provide a vision of scientific literacy in the American educational system and the criteria required to achieve it. He served as Co-Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board and Scientific Advisor at Aragon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He served as an Executive Director for Global Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Richard served as the President at the American Society of Clinical Investigation. He served as an Advisor to the President of the Academies for counter-terrorism, and a Liaison to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. From 1979 to 1981, he worked at NIH in National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Laboratory of Mathematical Biology. He served as a Director of Pathwork Diagnostics, Inc. and Immune Design Corp. He served as Director of 3-V Biosciences, Inc. He served as a Director of NCI from August 1, 1995 to 2001. He serves as a Member of Scientific Advisory Board at NGM Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., Immune Design Corp., Constellation Pharmaceuticals and Audax Health Solutions. Richard served as a Distinguished Scientific and Strategic Advisor of Aveo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Richard currently sits on the board of Juno Therapeutics. He is also the Chief Strategy Advisor for USAID. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He served as a Member of Scientific Advisory Board at Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Igenica, Inc. and T2 Biosystems, Inc. Rick holds an M.D. from Duke Medical School.
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About Audax Health Solutions, Illumina, Pathwork Diagnostics: Illumina is an innovative technology and revolutionary assays aiming the analyze genetic variation and function.
James Godsey
TitleVice President, Assay Development Dates Employed of Illumina
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About Illumina: Illumina is an innovative technology and revolutionary assays aiming the analyze genetic variation and function.
Sabrina Chiasson
Vice President of Polaris Partners
Sabrina joined Battery in 2015 as an associate. She focuses on later-stage software investments, including growth equity, buyouts, rollups, carve-outs and take-privates. Before coming to Battery, Sabrina was an associate at H.I.G. Growth Partners, a private equity firm focused on recapitalizations of lower-middle market, growth oriented businesses. There, she sourced, evaluated and executed investments in the consumer, healthcare and technology sectors. She also previously spent time at Westwind Investors, a private investment firm focused on growth-equity investments and buyouts. Sabrina received a B.A. in biology and economics from Dartmouth College. While at Dartmouth, Sabrina was captain of the varsity Alpine ski team.
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About Polaris Partners: Polaris Partners invests in healthcare and technology companies across all stages from founding to profitable growth.
Miguel Ilzarbe
Vice President, Executive Operations of Flagship Pioneering
Miguel Ilzarbe joined Flagship Ventures in 2015 as the Vice President of Executive Operations. In this role, he acts as a Sr. Advisor to Flagship’s CEO focused on strategic development of the firm, operational leadership of VentureLabs and support of new initiatives across the firm. Miguel was previously the Chief of Staff and the Director of Operations and Management, within the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT’s Directors Office, supporting Eric Lander. He administratively spearheaded a large international multidisciplinary effort at the Broad titled SIGMA (Slim Initiative in Genomic Medicine for the Americas). SIGMA, a $134M dollar collaboration with the Carlos Slim Health Institute aims to understand the genetic basis of Diabetes, Cancer and Kidney disease with a focus on Latin American populations. Prior to the Chief of Staff role, Miguel served as the assistant director of the Genome Sequencing and Analysis Program at the Broad. In this capacity he was responsible for project management and administrative issues within the program. He came to the Broad from the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, where he was responsible for all subcontracting and financial activities of the center, as well as leading a team that had fiduciary responsibility over all of Dana-Farber’s core facilities. Before his career in research administration, Miguel spent two years as a lab supervisor of Dana-Farber’s DNA sequencing facility, four years at the sequencing facility at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and four years in military intelligence. Miguel holds a bachelor’s degree in Diagnostic Genetic Sciences from the University of Connecticut and an MBA in Technology Management from the University of Phoenix. He also completed Electronic Warfare Coursework in the United States Navy.
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About Flagship Pioneering: Flagship Pioneering is a venture capital firm that invests in life sciences and healthcare companies.
Dick Farrahar
Senior Vice President, Executive Operations of Flagship Pioneering
Dick Farrahar joined Flagship Ventures in 1999 as Senior Vice President, Executive Operations. Dick has over 30 years of experience overseeing operations, human resources, organizational development, team building, and workforce strategy. Before joining Flagship, Dick was Vice President of Applera Corporation, where he was responsible for the integration of PerSeptive Biosystems with Applera Corporation following the merger of the two companies in 1998. In addition, Dick guided the process of combining PerSeptive Biosystems, Applied Biosystems, Tropix and Molecular Informatics into a new $1 billion Applied Biosystems division of Applera. He had previously served as Senior Vice President, Executive Operations for PerSeptive Biosystems. Earlier Dick had a long career with Digital Equipment Corporation in both human resources and operations, and for the last several years of his tenure was a member of DEC’s Executive Committee reporting to the CEO.
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About Applera Corporation, Flagship Pioneering, PerSeptive Biosystems: Flagship Pioneering is a venture capital firm that invests in life sciences and healthcare companies.
Sharon DeBacco
VP Product Promotion & Communication of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals
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About Ironwood Pharmaceuticals: Ironwood Pharmaceuticals is an entrepreneurial pharmaceutical company, develops drugs for gastrointestinal and cardiovascular diseases.
Sravan K. Emany
SVP & Chief Financial Officer of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals
Sravan K. Emany is Chief Financial Officer at Ironwood. Before joining the company in 2021, Mr. Emany served as the Corporate Vice President, Commercial Excellence and Chief Strategy Officer at Integra Lifesciences Holdings Corporation, where he was responsible for the Company’s commercial support functions and led the development of their corporate strategy. Prior to Integra, Mr. Emany was at Bank of America for ten years and held roles of increasing responsibility within the Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) business, ultimately serving as a Managing Director of the M&A group. Mr. Emany began his career working at several well-respected banking institutions including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Mr. Emany has a B.A. in international relations and an M.A. in international relations and international economics, both from Johns Hopkins University.
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About Ironwood Pharmaceuticals: Ironwood Pharmaceuticals is an entrepreneurial pharmaceutical company, develops drugs for gastrointestinal and cardiovascular diseases.
Sara Agee Le
VP of Technical Marketing of Oxford Nanopore Technologies
Experienced marketing and communications leader with a proven track record of catapulting life science startup companies. Currently at Oxford Nanopore Technologies disrupting the genomics market with sequencing technology that enables the analysis of anything, by anyone, anywhere — Learn more at www.nanoporetech.com — Previously took @10xGenomics from Chromium #singlecell launch through IPO, launched RNAscope which was acquired by Bio-Techne, secured the acquisition of Bina by Roche, and helped Atomwise pivot from a biopharma services company to an early stage pharmaceutical company disrupting small molecule #drugdiscovery with #AI.
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About Oxford Nanopore Technologies: Oxford Nanopore Technologies develops nanopore-based electronic systems for analyzing single molecules, including DNA, RNA, and proteins.
Richard Compton
Vice President of Commercial Operations of Oxford Nanopore Technologies
Rich joined Oxford Nanopore from Illumina where he played a key role as Vice President and General Manager of the EMEA Region. Metrichor was founded to provide real-time, integrated analysis solutions based on nanopore sensing technology to the Clinical and Applied markets. Prior to Illumina, Rich gained twelve years of experience helping commercial & research customers successfully integrate and deploy enterprise scale software solutions in both research and quality/regulated environments as Vice President & General Manager EMEA of Dassault Systèmes Biovia unit.
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About Oxford Nanopore Technologies: Oxford Nanopore Technologies develops nanopore-based electronic systems for analyzing single molecules, including DNA, RNA, and proteins.
Rufus Burlingame
VP Clinical Assay Development of Genalyte
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About Genalyte: Genalyte is a life sciences company developing and commercializing innovative next-generation multiplexing technology.
Howard Dorfman
SVP and General Counsel of Turing Pharmaceuticals
Howard L. Dorfman is Senior Vice President, General Counsel, at Turing Pharmaceuticals AG. Immediately prior to joining Turing, he served as Vice President, General Counsel at Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. Previously, he served as Counsel in the Life Sciences group at Ropes & Gray LLP in New York. Mr. Dorfman’s areas of expertise include FDA regulatory law, fraud and abuse, compliance, risk management, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, licensing and product liability. Prior to his time at Ropes & Gray, he was Chief Legal Officer of the Pharmaceutical division of Bayer Healthcare LLC. Mr. Dorfman worked at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) first as Counsel for litigation and as Counsel to the company’s U.S. Medicines Group. He has also been an Adjunct Professor of Law at Seton Hall University School of Law. Mr. Dorfman received his BA with honors from Yeshiva University and his JD from Brooklyn Law School.
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About Turing Pharmaceuticals: Turing Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company focusing on patients with unmet medical needs.
David Wurzer
Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of Connecticut Innovations
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About Connecticut Innovations: Connecticut Innovations provides strategic capital and operational insight to to companies in high-tech industries
Karin Lawrence
Senior Vice President of Connecticut Innovations
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About Connecticut Innovations: Connecticut Innovations provides strategic capital and operational insight to to companies in high-tech industries
Lauren Carmody
Vice President of Marketing & Communications of Connecticut Innovations
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About Connecticut Innovations: Connecticut Innovations provides strategic capital and operational insight to to companies in high-tech industries
Lauren Carmody
Vice President of Marketing & Communications of Connecticut Innovations
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About Connecticut Innovations: Connecticut Innovations provides strategic capital and operational insight to to companies in high-tech industries
Tricia Moriarty
Vice President of Finance and Administration of Excel Venture Management
Ms. Moriarty is the Vice President of Finance and Administration for Excel Venture Management bringing with her 10 years of private equity experience. In this capacity she oversees the operational, financial and administrative aspects of the firm including financial reporting, human resources, facilities and investor relations. Prior to Excel Venture, Tricia was Director of Finance and Administration for CB Health Ventures (CBHV) where she worked in a similar capacity managing venture funds with $150 million of capital under management. Prior to CBHV, she was a Manager in the Global Income Unit at State Street Corporation where she managed daily operations and client service for clients in the Asia Pacific region. Ms. Moriarty has a BS in Business Administration from Northeastern University where she graduated with honors.
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About CB Health Ventures, Excel Venture Management: Excel Venture Management builds companies that apply transformative life science technologies to solve problems in healthcare and beyond.
Allan Ng
VP Marketing of Freenome
Allan Ng is the VP of Marketing at Freenome. In that role, he is responsible for all of the company’s marketing activities. A leader in consumer and technology marketing, Allan brings broad experience marketing leading companies. Previously, he was SVP of Marketing for Livongo, a leading digital health company where he helped scale the company to tens of millions in revenue. While at Google, he led the development of the Google Fiber brand from its infancy, and helped grow Fiber to be a disruptive leader in the telecommunications industry. Prior to Google, Allan was Director of Global Consumer Marketing for Yahoo, where he managed the company’s brand marketing activities. Allan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Philosophy from Columbia University and an Master of Business Administration from The Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
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About Freenome: Freenome is a biotechnology company with a comprehensive multiomics platform for cancer detection using a routine blood draw.
Rhodemann Li
Founder, EVP Strategy & Finance of Vesselon
Mr. Li is the founder of Vesselon and is a serial medical device entrepreneur and brings more than thirty years of experience in finance, business development, strategy, patents and regulatory submissions. Prior to founding Vesselon in 2012, Mr. Li worked in private equity evaluating investment opportunities. Mr. Li co-founded an orthopedic implant company, Li Medical Technologies, which developed and sold sports medicine surgery and spinal implants. Li Medical was venture capital funded and ultimately acquired by ConMed Corporation. Mr. Li has five issued patents for medical devices. Mr. Li also worked for FMR Group, an investment vehicle for healthcare investors, and Golden Pond Healthcare, a special purpose acquisition corporation formed to assume a healthcare company, where he sourced investment opportunities. Prior to his healthcare experience, Mr. Li was a Vice President in Corporate Finance at UBS Securities and a Vice President in Corporate Lending at Manufacturers Hanover. Mr. Li holds a B.A. from Middlebury College and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.
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About Accelerator for Biosciences in Connect, Vesselon: Vesselon is a medical device company developing novel therapeutic Immuno-Oncology complexes.
Karen Ling
Senior Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer of Forest Laboratories
Prior to joining Actavis, Ms. Ling served as Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Forest Laboratories, Inc. Ms. Ling joined Forest in January 2014 from Merck & Co., Inc., where she served as Senior Vice President, Human Resources, for the company’s Global Human Health and Consumer Care businesses worldwide. Prior to that role at Merck, she was Vice President, Compensation and Benefits. Before Merck, Ms. Ling was Group Vice President, Global Compensation & Benefits at Schering-Plough. She also spent 14 years at Wyeth in various positions of responsibility in human resources as well as in Wyeth Pharmaceutical’s Labor and Employment Department. Prior to joining Wyeth, Ms. Ling practiced corporate law with Goldstein and Manello, P.C. in Boston. Ms. Ling holds a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law.
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About Allergan, Forest Laboratories: Forest Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: FRX) is a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company with a long track record of building partnerships.
Marco Taglietti
Executive Vice President of Forest Laboratories
Dr. Taglietti is Executive Vice President, Drug Development and Research, and Chief Medical Officer of Forest Laboratories, Inc. He continues to be President of the Forest Research Institute. He previously served as Senior Vice President—Research and Development of the Company and President, Forest Research Institute, Inc. from December 2010 to December 2013. Prior thereto, Dr. Taglietti served as Vice President—Research and Development from December 2008 to December 2010. Dr. Taglietti joined Forest in August 2007 as Executive Vice President—Research and Development and Chief Medical Officer of Forest Research Institute, Inc. Prior to joining Forest, Dr. Taglietti was Senior Vice President and Head of Global Research and Development at Stiefel Laboratories for three years. Prior to that, Dr. Taglietti was at Schering-Plough Corporation for twelve years in positions of increasing responsibility including Vice President—Worldwide Clinical Research for Anti-Infectives, Oncology, CNS, Endocrinology and Dermatology. Dr. Taglietti received his medical degree and board certifications from the University of Pavia in Italy.
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About Forest Laboratories, SCYNEXIS: Forest Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: FRX) is a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company with a long track record of building partnerships.
Steve Miller
Vice President, Translational Medicine of Blueprint Medicines
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About Blueprint Medicines: Blueprint Medicines engages in the discovery and development of highly selective kinase inhibitors for genomically defined cancer subsets.
Hamid Rategh
Vice President Engineering of Genapsys
Hamid is VP Engineering at GenapSys, joining back in 2012. Hamid has had a successful career developing a wide range of products, from RFICs to adaptive equalizers for optical communication and Mixed-Signal Memory interface products. Prior to joining GenapSys, Hamid was Senior Director of Engineering at Inphi, who acquired his team and product from Scintera Networks. Hamid also cofounded and served as VP of Engineering of Tavanza which was later acquired by Celeritek in 2002 and subsequently by Anadigics in 2003. Hamid holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, and an MS in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University. He earned his BS in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology.
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About Genapsys: Transform the human condition by building a scalable, affordable genomic sequencing ecosystem that will support research and diagnostics
Chris Robinson
Vice President Recruiting of Third Rock Ventures
Chris Robinson joined Third Rock Ventures in 2010. Chris has more than 15 years of research and development-focused recruiting experience in life sciences and high technology. During his executive search career, Chris has focused on senior level executive searches within R&D organizations of both public and private biopharmaceutical and medical device companies. Prior to joining Third Rock Ventures, Chris was the co-founder of Pivotal Search, a boutique life sciences executive search and recruiting consulting practice where he led business development and executed searches. Previous to founding Pivotal, Chris was also one of the founding members of a life sciences R&D practice at another national search firm. Before moving to the life sciences industry Chris was the recruiting manager for a venture-backed technology start-up, Taqua Systems, where he helped them grow from 20 people to 300 people in three locations. Chris holds a BS in Physiology from the University of Massachusetts, was honorably discharged from the United States Marine Corps and he is a Desert Storm veteran.
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About Third Rock Ventures: Third Rock Ventures invests in transformational life science companies that show high growth potential
Robert M. Hershberg
Executive Vice President, Head of Business Development and Global Alliances of Celgene
Robert Hershberg (M.D., Ph.D.) Chief Executive Officer at VentiRX Pharmaceuticals.Dr. Robert Hershberg is a founder of VentiRx Pharmaceuticals and serves as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors. VentiRx Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company committed to the development and commercialization of novel medicines for the treatment of cancer. The Company’s initial focus is developing novel small molecule product candidates targeting Toll-like receptor 8 (TLR8) for oncology and allergy. Prior to VentiRx, Dr. Hershberg served as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Dendreon Corporation, developing immunotherapy approaches for cancer. In this capacity, Dr. Hershberg led the Clinical, Regulatory, and Biometrics groups, focusing on the development of Provenge™ in metastatic prostate cancer. Prior to joining Dendreon, Dr. Hershberg was the Vice President of Medical Genetics at Corixa Corporation (subsequently acquired by GSK). He led a research group focused on innate immunity and inflammatory disease, with a particular emphasis on Toll-like receptors (TLRs), and was an active member of the clinical development team for various products. Prior to joining Corixa, Dr. Hershberg was an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Physician at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.He completed his Undergraduate Degree in Molecular Biology and M.D. at UCLA, and his Ph.D. in Biology at the Salk Institute.Dr. Hershberg is clinically-boarded in Medical Genetics, and holds current clinical and research faculty positions at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
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About Celgene, VentiRx Pharmaceuticals: Celgene discovers, develops and commercializes innovative therapies to treat cancer and immune-inflammatory-related diseases.
Gerald Masoudi
Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Celgene
Mr. Masoudi serves as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. Mr. Masoudi joined Celgene in April 2015 from Covington & Burling LLP, a leading international law firm, where he was a partner and served as co-chair of the Food and Drug practice group. At Covington, he advised multinational companies and trade associations on significant litigation, enforcement, regulatory and public policy matters. Before joining Covington, Mr. Masoudi served as Chief Counsel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Before joining the FDA as Chief Counsel, Mr. Masoudi served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for international, policy and appellate matters in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Before his government service, Mr. Masoudi was a trial and litigation partner with the law firm Kirkland & Ellis. Immediately following his graduation from law school, he clerked for Judge Frank H. Easterbrook of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Mr. Masoudi received his J.D. from The University of Chicago Law School, graduating with high honors and serving on the editorial board of the Law Review. He received his B.A. in economics from Amherst College, Phi Beta Kappa.
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About Celgene: Celgene discovers, develops and commercializes innovative therapies to treat cancer and immune-inflammatory-related diseases.
Kristen Hege
Vice President, Translational Development, Hematology/Oncology of Celgene
Kristen Hege has served as a member of our board of directors since October 2018. Kristen Hege is currently a Clinical Professor of Medicine, Hematology and Oncology and an attending physician at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She has held a clinical faculty appointment at UCSF since 1997 in the adult hematology and bone marrow transplant program. Kristen Hege has been board-certified in internal medicine, medical oncology and hematology. Kristen Hege received her B.A. summa cum laude from Dartmouth, M.D. from UCSF and completed a medical residency at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School and a fellowship in hematology and oncology at UCSF. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, and Mersana Therapeutics and the Strategic Advisory Group for the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. In 2015, FierceBiotech recognized her as one of the top 12 women in Biopharma. Kristen Hege currently serves as Corporate Vice President, Translational Development, Hematology and Oncology and San Francisco site head at Celgene where she is responsible for translational and early clinical development for all hematology and oncology products including small molecules, biologics and cell therapies. Prior to joining Celgene, she served as acting Chief Medical Officer at Aragon Pharmaceuticals, Theraclone Sciences and Cellerant Therapeutics. Kristen Hege began her career at Cell Genesys Inc. where she spent 14 years in various roles of increasing responsibility, ultimately leading the Clinical Research and Development organization.
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About Celgene: Celgene discovers, develops and commercializes innovative therapies to treat cancer and immune-inflammatory-related diseases.
Steven Barnes
SVP of Investor Relations of Endonovo Therapeutics
Steven Barnes Senior Vice President of Investor Relations has over 18 years of extensive banking and corporate finance experience representing both the buy and sell side. His corporate, strategic and operational expertise includes public markets, private debt and equity, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and strategic planning. He spent 8 years in the securities industry as a licensed (series 7, 63 & 55) representative of a NASD (now FINRA) Beverly Hills/New York based trading firm where he worked as an institutional trader, financial analyst and money manager. In 2003 Steven founded and was the principal of Empire Financial, Inc., a full service investment banking and corporate advisory firm in Los Angeles, California. He structured numerous private and public debt and equity offerings in many diverse sectors including biotechnology, healthcare, entertainment, and hardware/software technology companies.
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About Endonovo Therapeutics, WHINS Insurance Agency: Endonovo Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing off-the-shelf regenerative products.
Shannon Richey
Vice President & General Manager, Asterand Bioscience Detroit Operations of BioIVT
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About Asterand, BioIVT: BioIVT is a worldwide provider of biological and in vitro products to pharmaceutical and biotechnology organizations
Agatha Martindale
Vice President and Global Finance of Rakuten Medical
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About BUILTBYGIRLS, Rakuten Medical, Rakuten Medical: Rakuten Medical is a biotechnology company that develops therapies to treat cancer.
Lisa Wyman
Vice President Quality of Acceleron Pharma
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About Acceleron Pharma: Acceleron is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in developing, manufacturing and commercializing novel biotherapeutics.
Hyam Levitsky
Executive Vice President Research, Chief Scientific Officer of Juno Therapeutics
Hyam (“Hy”) Levitsky is our Executive Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer and joined Juno in May 2015. Prior to joining Juno, Hyam Levitsky held the position of Head of Cancer Immunology Experimental Medicine at Roche Pharma Research and Development in Basel, Switzerland. Prior to that, Levitsky served as a Professor of Oncology, Medicine and Urology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and was also an active staff member in Oncology and Medicine at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Hyam Levitsky received a B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science and an M.D. from The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He trained in Medical Oncology as a Senior Clinical Fellow at Johns Hopkins Oncology Center, rising to full Professor in 2001, and taught in the School of Medicine until 2011. His areas of expertise include Oncology, Immunology, Hematologic Malignances / Bone Marrow Transplantation (serving as Scientific Director of the George Santos Bone Marrow Transplant Program), Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and Pathobiology. Hyam Levitsky is also a founding Executive Committee member of the Cancer Immunotherapy Consortium of the Cancer Research Institute. He was a Stohlman Scholar of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America (LLS) and a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI). He was a founding member of MIATA (Minimal Information About T cell Assays), advises the FDA on cancer immunotherapy issues and serves on the External Scientific Advisory Board of the Pasteur Institute’s Center for Human Immunology, has consulted on a number of industry scientific advisory boards and contributes and provides editorial support to several prestigious cancer, immunology, scientific and medical publications. Hyam Levitsky holds several patents.
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About Century Therapeutics, Juno Therapeutics: Juno Therapeutics is a clinical-stage company, develops immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer.
Chris Lento
Vice President of Commercialization of Pear Therapeutics
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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.
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About Good Eggs, Sanofi Ventures: Sanofi Ventures operates as the corporate venture capital arm of Sanofi.
William Sibold
Senior Vice President of Sanofi Ventures
Bill Sibold is responsible for Genzyme’s Multiple Sclerosis franchise as the company prepares to launch two products.
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About Sanofi Genzyme, Sanofi Genzyme, Sanofi Genzyme, Sanofi Ventures: Sanofi Ventures operates as the corporate venture capital arm of Sanofi.
Nick Illobre
Vice President Product Strategy, Crossix Analytics of Veeva
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About Veeva: Veeva Systems is a provider of cloud-based business solutions for the global life sciences industry.
Darren Farrugia
Vice President, User Experience & Product Design of Veeva
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About Veeva: Veeva Systems is a provider of cloud-based business solutions for the global life sciences industry.
Thomas Witzel
VP of Radiomics of Q Bio
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About Q Bio: On a mission to build the first Clinical Digital Twin Platform and make it accessible to everyone
Asish Xavier
Vice President, Venture Investments of Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation
Asish Xavier is the Vice President of Venture Investments at joined Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. (JJDC) in 2004. Asish is based in Silicon Valley, California. Asish previously worked in business development at BioRexis Pharmaceutical, Inc., which was acquired by Pfizer in 2007. While at BioRexis, Asish assisted the company in raising a $30 million second round of financing. Asish has worked in business development at Structural GenomiX, Inc., acquired by Eli Lilly in 2008, and was a project leader at Message Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Asish received a Ph.D. from the University of Houston and a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated with honors. Asish received a Bachelor of Technology in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India. Asish was also a postdoctoral research Fellow in the Department of Chemistry at Johns Hopkins University.
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About Cue, ESCAPE Bio, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, Legend Biotech, Paige, ViaCyte, XWPharma: Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, a venture capital subsidiary, finances technology companies focused on patient health.
Marian Nakada
Vice President, Venture Investments of Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation
Marian Nakada, PhD, Vice President, Venture Investments, joined Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation (JJDC) in 2013. She is based in Boston, MA. Previously, Dr. Nakada was Vice President of Strategy & Operations and External Innovation for Johnson & Johnson’s Biotechnology CoE, where she helped drive the development and execution of the biotechnology strategy across Janssen R & D. In her role as External Innovation lead, she nurtured many productive partnerships with external partners in the biotech industry and helped build an external innovation network to complement internal research and support the execution of the Janssen R&D Biologics strategy. Dr. Nakada joined Centocor in 1990, as a scientist, performing basic research related to biologics for inflammatory and cardiovascular indications. In 2001, she took on the leadership of the newly formed Oncology Research group at Centocor. In 2007, Dr. Nakada joined the Business Development group where she participated in executing technology licenses for the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceuticals group. In that role, she identified and championed external technology opportunities to ensure that Centocor’s technologies were competitive with the industry. Dr. Nakada has authored 62 peer reviewed publications and 14 book chapters and reviews. She has a BA in Biology from Harvard College and a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Pennsylvania.
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About Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, Women in VC: Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, a venture capital subsidiary, finances technology companies focused on patient health.
Kadir Kadhiresan
Vice President, Venture Investments of Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation
V. Kadir Kadhiresan, PhD, joined Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. (JJDC) in 2007 and focuses on investments in medical devices and digital health. Kadir has more than two decades of operational, investment and business development experience. Based in Boston, Kadir works closely with Johnson & Johnson leadership to identify business needs and has responsibility for sourcing, investing and managing venture investment opportunities. He holds board seats for several JJDC portfolio companies. Some of his investments include Coherex Medical (Acquired by Biosense Webster/JNJ), Spinal Modulation (Acquired by St.Jude/ABT), Novocure (NASDAQ: NVCR), Torax Medical (Acquired by Ethicon/JNJ), Neotract (Acquired by Teleflex) and Inspire Medical Systems (NYSE: INSP). Before joining JJDC, Kadir was head of Business Development at Guidant, Inc., now Boston Scientific, Inc., where he led several transactions to access novel medical device technologies.
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About Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation: Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, a venture capital subsidiary, finances technology companies focused on patient health.
Stacy Feld
Vice President, Consumer Venture Investments of Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation
Stacy received a B.A. in sociology, graduating magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and earned her J.D. from Vanderbilt Law School.
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About Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation: Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, a venture capital subsidiary, finances technology companies focused on patient health.
Tara O’Meara
Vice President, Clinical Development Operations of Bluebird Bio
Tara O’Meara is the Vice President of Clinical Development Operations at bluebird bio. Tara oversees a team responsible for the execution and analysis of bluebird bio’s lentiviral vector based gene therapy development programs. Currently bluebird bio has 4 active programs using ex vivo gene therapy for: cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy, transfusion dependent thalassemia, sickle cell disease and multiple myeloma. bluebird’s objective is to develop and bring to market the most advanced products based on the transformative potential of gene therapy as a one-time treatment option for patients with severe genetic and rare diseases and cancer. Prior to joining bluebird, Tara ran multiple clinical trials in 2 other rare diseases, LAL Deficiency and Pompe disease. Tara served as the clinical project manager for the clinical trials that were used as the basis for the regulatory submissions that led to the approval of Myozyme™ in the United States, Europe, and more than 40 additional countries worldwide. Tara has also been responsible for everything from small Phase II trials to very large, global Phase III trials in multiple therapeutic areas, including rare inherited diseases. Tara holds a BS in biology and a minor in women’s studies from Tufts University.
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About Bluebird Bio: Bluebird Bio offers products based on the transformative potential of gene therapy for patients with genetic and orphan diseases.
Michael Warmuth
Executive Vice President of Abbott
Michael Warmuth is Executive Vice President, Established Pharmaceuticals, focusing on expanding the global market for Abbott’s portfolio of branded generic pharmaceuticals. He was appointed to his current role in November 2012. Most recently, Mr. Warmuth served as Senior Vice President, Established Pharmaceuticals, which previously operated as part of Abbott’s global pharmaceutical business. Mr. Warmuth joined Abbott in 1986 as part of Abbott’s manufacturing professional development program. He served in a variety of management roles including Senior Vice President, Diagnostics, heading Abbott’s global core laboratory Diagnostics business; Vice President and General Manager, Hematology, in Abbott’s Diagnostics business; Vice President, Global Engineering Services; Divisional Vice President of Pharmaceutical Operations; and Divisional Vice President of Corporate Quality Operations. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and a master’s degree in business administration from Northwestern University.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Brian Blaser
EVP, Diagnostics Products of Abbott
Brian Blaser is Executive Vice President, Diagnostics Products, where he leads Abbott’s diagnostics, molecular and point-of-care businesses. He was appointed to his current position in June 2012. Previously, Mr. Blaser served as Senior Vice President, Diagnostics; Vice President, Diagnostics Operations; Divisional Vice President, Global Operations; and Divisional Vice President, Reagent Manufacturing, all in Abbott Diagnostics. Prior to joining Abbott, Mr. Blaser held several positions of increasing responsibility in engineering, finance and operations at Johnson & Johnson, Eastman Kodak and General Motors. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering technology from the University of Dayton and a master’s degree in business administration from Rochester Institute of Technology.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Heather Mason
Executive Vice President, Nutritional Products of Abbott
Heather Mason is Executive Vice President, Nutritional Products. She was appointed to her current role in May 2015. Previously, she served as Executive Vice President, Global Commercial Operations, Abbott Nutrition. Ms. Mason joined Abbott in 1990. She held a number of positions in Abbott’s U.S. pharmaceutical business, including oversight of Abbott’s specialty pharmaceuticals, its diabetes/metabolics and oncology franchises, and managed health care. Ms. Mason also served as Vice President, International Marketing, and Vice President, Latin American Operations, in Abbott’s international pharmaceutical business. Immediately prior to assuming her role in Abbott’s Nutrition business in 2014, Ms. Mason served as Senior Vice President, Abbott Diabetes Care. Prior to joining Abbott, Ms. Mason worked for Quaker Oats and FMC Corporation. She is an advisory board member of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association. She earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Richard Ashley
EVP, Corporate Development of Abbott
Richard Ashley is Executive Vice President, Corporate Development. His responsibilities include various aspects of corporate strategic planning and business development. Mr. Ashley was appointed to his current position in February 2004. Prior to joining Abbott, he was a senior director at McKinsey and Company, a former managing partner of the firm’s Chicago office, and head of the firm’s Global Leadership and Organization practice. During his 31 years with McKinsey, Mr. Ashley consulted with clients in the healthcare, energy and industrial manufacturing industries across a wide range of business and organizational issues. Mr. Ashley is a member of the executive committee of the board of directors of Junior Achievement of Chicago and a former member of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago. He is a member of The Economic Club of Chicago, the American Bar Association, and the Wisconsin Bar Association. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and master’s degree in business administration from Northwestern University. He also holds a juris doctorate from the University of Wisconsin Law School.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Corlis Murray
Senior Vice President, Quality Assurance, Regulatory & Engineering Services of Abbott
Corlis Murray is Senior Vice President, Quality Assurance, Regulatory and Engineering Services. She was appointed to her current position in February 2012. Previously, she served as Vice President, Global Engineering Services. Ms. Murray joined Abbott in 1989. Since then, she has held a number of management positions in quality, operations and engineering in Abbott’s Diagnostics and Nutrition businesses. In Abbott Nutrition, she served as Divisional Vice President, Quality Assurance; Divisional Vice President, Manufacturing; and Divisional Vice President, Operations Services. Prior to joining Abbott, Ms. Murray worked at Recognition Equipment and Xerox Corporation. She is a board member of The Clara Abbott Foundation. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
John Capek
Executive Vice President of Abbott
John Capek, Ph.D., is Executive Vice President, Ventures. Dr. Capek was appointed to his current position in June 2015. In this role, he leads Abbott’s venture investment organization as well as new ventures, including Abbott Electrophysiology. Previously, he had served as Executive Vice President, Medical Devices, and Senior Vice President, Abbott Vascular, heading up Abbott’s global vascular business. Before joining Abbott, Dr. Capek served in various management roles at Guidant Corporation, including president, Guidant Vascular Intervention and vice president and general manager of Bioabsorbable Vascular Solutions. He also served as vice president and general manager of Guidant Germany and vice president, marketing, Guidant Cardiac Rhythm Management Group. Before joining Guidant, Dr. Capek was manager of New Product Technology at Eli Lilly & Company. He has a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering, a master’s degree in biomedical engineering, a master’s degree in electrical engineering, a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering and a master’s degree in business administration from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Roger Bird
Senior Vice President, U.S. Nutrition of Abbott
Roger Bird is Abbott’s Senior Vice President, U.S. Nutrition. He was appointed to this role in February 2015. Prior to assuming his current position, Roger served as Divisional Vice President, General Manager for our Nutrition business in China and Hong Kong. Roger came to Abbott in 1983 from the Dial Soap Company, where he worked as a sales representative. He joined Abbott as Trade Sales Manager in our Nutrition organization, and has served in this business throughout his Abbott career, contributing to our company’s success in both the U.S. and Asia. While leading Abbott’s nutrition business in China, he oversaw the successful launch of Similac Eleva and Similac Qinti, two infant formula products that significantly strengthened Abbott’s presence in this important market. Throughout his career, Roger has taken real pride in contributing to the Abbott Nutrition mission of providing high-quality products that help improve the lives of people of all ages, all around the world. In addition to his responsibilities with Abbott. Roger serves on the Board of the Grocery Manufacturers Association. Roger earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Steve Fussell
Executive Vice President, Human Resources of Abbott
Steve Fussell is Executive Vice President, Human Resources. He was appointed in February 2013. Mr. Fussell joined Abbott in 1996, as Divisional Vice President, Compensation and Benefits. He was promoted to Vice President, Compensation and Development in 1999, and to Senior Vice President, Human Resources in 2005. Prior to Abbott, he held human resources leadership positions at Nestlé and Shell. Mr. Fussell is Chairman of the Board and President of the Clara Abbott Foundation and a board member of the Abbott Fund. He is an author and speaker on a wide variety of subjects and has served as a guest lecturer at Cornell and other universities. In 2010, he was named to the HR Honor Roll by Human Resources Executive magazine. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Jean-Yves Pavée
Senior Vice President of Abbott
Jean-Yves Pavée is Senior Vice President, Developed Markets for Abbott’s Established Products Division. He was appointed to his role in July 2013. Previously, he served as Divisional Vice President, EMEA East, and Division Vice President, Pharmaceuticals, Europe South. Mr. Pavee joined Abbott in 1992, after serving as European Sales Manager, France for Aguettant, S.A. Mister Pavée received his undergraduate degree from the Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Commerciales d’Angers, France; and his MBA from HEC Paris MBA, Jouy-en-Josas, France.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Jaime Contreras
SVP, Core Laboratory Diagnostics, Commercial Operations of Abbott
Jaime Contreras is Senior Vice President, Core Laboratory Diagnostics, Commercial Operations. He was appointed to his current role in September 2013. Previously, he served as Vice President, Diagnostics, Global Commercial Operations. Mr. Contreras joined Abbott in 1992, and has held various management positions in Abbott’s Diagnostics Division, including Vice President for Europe, Africa and the Middle East; and General Manager of Commercial Operations in Spain, Portugal and Mexico. Prior to joining Abbott, Mr. Contreras was area director for Bayer in Mexico. Mr. Contreras serves on the board of directors of the European Diagnostic Manufacturers Association (EDMA) and on the Board of Directors of the Clara Abbott Foundation. He earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial design from the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana and a master’s degree in business administration with specialty in Financial Engineering from the Universidad del Valle de Mexico.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Brian Yoor
Senior Vice President Finance & Chief Financial Officer of Abbott
Brian Yoor is Senior Vice President Finance and Chief Financial Officer. He was appointed to his current position in June 2015. He previously served as Vice President, Investor Relations. Brian joined Abbott in August 1997, and held various financial management positions of increasing responsibility, including Controller positions in the pharmaceutical, nutrition, and diagnostic businesses, before being asked to lead Abbott’s Investor Relations effort in January 2013. Prior to joining Abbott, Brian was a certified public accountant with Arthur Andersen and held financial positions in the consumer industry with the Scotts Company and Newell Rubbermaid. “In Abbott Finance, we are the stewards that enable financial reliability and growth for Abbott, “ Says Brian. “ A strong, growing company is better able to help people around the world live their healthiest lives.” Brian serves on the board of the Clara Abbott Foundation. He is a member of NIRI, the National Investor Relations Institute. He earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting at the University of Toledo in Ohio.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Hubert L. Allen
Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary of Abbott
Hubert L. Allen is Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. He was appointed to his current role in January 2013. Previously, he served as Divisional Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Established Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Allen joined Abbott in 2006 as Senior Counsel, supporting the Pharmaceutical Products Division. He has held various positions within the legal department, including Divisional Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Pharmaceutical Products Group; Section Head, Nutrition Legal Operations; and Division Counsel, supporting the Pharmaceutical Products Division. Prior to joining Abbott, Mr. Allen was Assistant General Counsel for McKesson Corporation. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the College of Social Studies at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut; a master’s degree in Politics from Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, and a juris doctorate from Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Elaine Leavenworth
SVP, Chief Marketing & External Affairs Officer of Abbott
Elaine Leavenworth is Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing and External Affairs Officer. She was appointed to this role in December 2014. Previously, she had served as Abbott’s Vice President, Government Affairs. Ms. Leavenworth joined Abbott in 1991 and held various management positions of increasing responsibility in Abbott’s Nutrition, International, and Health Systems divisions. She was elected a corporate officer in July of 1999. Prior to joining Abbott, Ms. Leavenworth was a principal with the consulting firm Louden & Company, where her work focused on marketing and strategy assignments for health care providers, suppliers, investors and associations. While at Louden & Company, she published numerous articles and several books, including The Hospital Group Purchasing Outlook, Home Care Joint Venturing, The Older Adult Market and Home Care – HMO/PPO Perspectives. Ms. Leavenworth also held marketing positions at G.D. Searle & Co. and American Hospital Supply Corporation. Ms. Leavenworth serves on the board of trustees of the Goodman Theater, the board of directors of the National Association of Manufacturers, the Board of Advisors of the Duke Global Health Institute, the Board of Governors of the Bryce Harlow Foundation, and the Women’s Advisory Board of the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital. She is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, The Chicago Network (where she served previously on the board of directors), and the Women’s Forum of Washington, D.C. She also served on the board of the Clara Abbott Foundation from 2005 to 2014. She earned a bachelor’s degree in health policy from Duke University and a master’s degree in business administration from Northwestern University.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Thomas Frinzi
Senior Vice President of Abbott
Thomas Frinzi is Senior Vice President of Abbott’s vision business, which includes a broad ophthalmology portfolio across the areas of cataracts, refractive surgery (LASIK) and eye health products. He was appointed to his position in January 2016. Prior to joining Abbott, Mr. Frinzi held a number of leadership positions in ophthalmology and medical device companies. Most recently, he served as President and CEO of WaveTec Vision, a developer of surgical systems for eye surgery. He also held senior positions in commercial operations, business development, and sales and marketing at Bausch & Lomb Surgical, Refractec and Johnson & Johnson. In recognition of his leadership, expertise and vision in the field, Mr. Frinzi was awarded the 2015 Ophthalmology Innovation Award by the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Tampa.
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About Abbott: Abbott is engaged in pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare products.
Linda Liu
Vice President of Translational Research of NextCure
Linda Liu is Vice President of Translational Research at NextCure.
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About NextCure: NextCure is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing next generation immuno-oncology-based drugs.
Ismail Kola
Executive Vice President & President UCB NewMedicines of UCB
Dr. Kola has served as our Director since October 18, 2010. Dr. Kola currently serves as Executive Vice President of UCB S.A. in Belgium, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of innovative medicines focused on the fields of central nervous system and immunology disorders, and also serves as President of UCB New Medicines, UCB’s discovery research through proof-of-concept organization, since November 2009. Since March 2007, Dr. Kola was Senior Vice President, Discovery Research and Early Clinical Research & Experimental Medicine, and Chief Scientific Officer at Schering-Plough Corporation. Previously, Dr. Kola held senior positions commencing in 2003 at Merck & Company, where he was Senior Vice President and Site Head, Basic Research, and responsible for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, infectious diseases, immunology and rheumatology, animal pharmacology and basic and medicinal chemistry. Prior to that, Dr. Kola was Vice President, Research, and Global Head, Genomics Science and Biotechnology, with Pharmacia Corporation, and served as consultant to SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, where he was also a member of the Genomics Advisory Board. During his tenure of proven leadership at several major pharmaceutical companies, Dr. Kola has overseen the successful development of numerous innovative new medicines, including products in the fields of diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and central nervous system disorders.
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About UCB: UCB Pharma is a biopharmaceutical and specialty chemical company.
John DeYoung
Vice President of Worldwide Business Development of Pfizer
John DeYoung is Vice President of Worldwide Business Development for Pfizer Oncology. He is a member of the Oncology Leadership Team and the Worldwide Business Development Leadership Team. John joined Pfizer in 1991 and has held leadership positions in Finance, Marketing, Commercial Development and Business Development. He received a bachelor’s degree in business from Michigan State University and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.
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About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Morten Sogaard
Vice President and Head, Target Sciences of Pfizer
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About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Barbara Dalton
Senior Managing Partner, Pfizer Ventures; VP, Worldwide Business Development of Pfizer
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About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Frank S Walsh
Executive Vice President of Pfizer
Frank is an accomplished Pharma and Biotech senior executive with over 20 years experience. Between 2002 and 2009, he was with Wyeth (Collegeville PA, USA), where he served as Executive Vice President and Head of Discovery Research Worldwide. This involved managing more than 1500 scientists across seven sites globally and delivering multiple products in diverse areas to IND and late stage clinical trials. Prior to joining Wyeth, Frank was at GlaxoSmithKline (UK) where he was Senior Vice President and Head of the Neurology Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery. From 1997 to 2000, he was Vice President and Head of Neuroscience Research at SmithKline Beecham (UK). Before moving to industry, Frank had a distinguished academic career, during which he authored over 200 scientific publications. He was the Research Dean at the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guys and St. Thomas’ Hospitals (London, UK), and also the Sir William Dunn Professor of Experimental Pathology and previously worked at the Institute of Neurology Queen Square, London. He has honorary degrees from the University of Perugia, University of Bologna, University of Strathclyde and University of Dundee. He is a Fellow of King’s College London, a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences London and a Corresponding Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
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About OSSIANIX, Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Sonal Bhatia
Vice President, North America Medical Lead of Pfizer
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About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Hakan Sakul
Vice President and Head of Diagnostics of Pfizer
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About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Michael Binks
VP and Head of Rare Disease Clinical Research of Pfizer
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About Pfizer: Pfizer provides access to safe and effective and affordable medicines and health care services.
Keith Patton
VP Software Development of Zerigo Health
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About Zerigo Health: Clarify Medical is a developer of a handheld medical device used to treat psoriasis, eczema, and vitiligo .
