Board of Directors

Katrine Bosley

Chairman of the Board

Colleen Cuffaro, PhD

Partner, Canaan Partners

Richard Gaster, MD, PhD

Partner, venBio

Jakob Loven, PhD

Partner, Nextech Invest

Raj Parekh, PhD

General Partner, Advent Life Sciences

Christopher O’Donnell, PhD

Partner, Pfizer Ventures

Michael Gilman, PhD

CEO

Katrine Bosley, Chairman of the Board

Katrine Bosley is a proven biotechnology entrepreneur with nearly 30 years of experience in the biotech industry as a leader of emerging companies with broad platforms for innovative medicines. Most recently, Ms. Bosley served as the Chief Executive Officer of Editas Medicine (NASDAQ: EDIT), and previously as CEO of Avila Therapeutics until its acquisition by Celgene Corporation. Ms. Bosley currently serves as a Board member of Galapagos NV (EURONEXT and NASDAQ: GLPG), of Genocea Biosciences (NASDAQ: GNCA) and of the Mass Eye and Ear Institute. Through her career, Ms. Bosley has built and led high-growth companies (Editas Medicine – CEO; Avila Therapeutics – CEO; Adnexus Therapeutics – VP Business Development) and developed innovative products and technologies (CRISPR genome editing, Tysabri (natalizumab), covalent drugs). Her experiences include Chairing the Emerging Companies Section of the Board of BIO; serving as the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at The Broad Institute; and leading a wide range of business transactions (financings, acquisitions, alliances). Ms. Bosley has been recognized as one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company, as CEO of the Year by Xconomy, as one of 30 Global Game Changers by Forbes, as Entrepreneur of the Year by the New England Venture Capital Association, and as one of the Top Ten Women in Biotech by FierceBiotech.

Colleen Cuffaro, PhD, Partner, Canaan Partners

Dr. Cuffaro is a Partner on Canaan Partner’s healthcare investment team. She currently serves on the boards of Comet Therapeutics and the NEVCA (New England Venture Capital Association). She also serves as a board observer at RallyBio and Antiva Biosciences. Previously she was a board observer at Spyryx Biosciences, NextCure (NXTC), Arvinas (ARVN), and Novira Therapeutics which was acquired by Johnson & Johnson. Prior to joining Canaan in 2014, Colleen was an analytical chemist at Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Research Services (PMRS, Inc), where she worked with small and large pharmaceutical companies on drug product development, ranging from preclinical feasibility studies to commercial supply. She also served as a bioscience analyst for Entrepreneurship Lab NYC, an accelerator program for healthcare startups. Colleen holds a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Physiology from Yale University and a BA in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania.

Richard Gaster, MD, PhD, Partner, venBio

Dr. Gaster is a partner at venBio with experience as a physician, entrepreneur, and life science investor. He currently serves on the board of Arrakis Therapeutics, Aeovian Pharmaceuticals, and NorthSea Therapeutics, and as a board observer for Harmony Biosciences and Impel NeuroPharma. Prior to joining venBio, Richard served as the head of translational medicine at Pliant Therapeutics. As a key member of the initial management team, Richard participated in the formation and launch of Pliant Therapeutics from Third Rock Ventures where he previously served as a Senior Associate. During his tenure at Third Rock Ventures, Richard was responsible for company creation to transform new areas of science into innovative drug discovery companies. He began his career as a resident physician in Harvard’s Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Program. Richard has published numerous articles in top-tier peer-reviewed journals including Nature Medicine and Nature Nanotechnology, holds more than a dozen patents, and was named one of Forbes “30 Under 30” in Science and Healthcare. Richard holds a BSE in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated summa cum laude. He received his MD and PhD in Bioengineering from Stanford University in the Medical Scientist Training Program.

Jakob Loven, PhD, Partner, Nextech Invest

Dr. Loven is Partner at Nextech Invest. A scientific entrepreneur and biotech venture capitalist, Jakob has extensive experience in creating, launching, and building early stage therapeutic companies in the US and most recently led the $57M launch of Relay Therapeutics from Third Rock Ventures, joining the company full time to lead corporate strategy, business development, and operations. Prior to Relay, Jakob was a Scientific Co-Founder of Syros Pharmaceuticals and was involved from its inception in April 2013 to advancing the pipeline to its first clinical candidate and growing the company to 30+ employees, culminating in its initial public offering in July 2016. Jakob holds a BA in Biomedical Sciences from the Anglia Ruskin University of Cambridge, earned his PhD in Medical Sciences from Karolinska Institutet, and conducted his postdoctoral fellowship at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research/MIT. Jakob currently serves as Director or Observer on the Boards of Arvinas, A2 Biotherapeutics, Turning Point Therapeutics, and has previously served as Board Observer for Autolus.

Raj Parekh, PhD, General Partner, Advent Life Sciences

Dr. Parekh joined Advent in 2005 bringing over 20 years of experience in biomedical research and as an entrepreneur and investor. After gaining an MA and DPhil from Oxford University, he pursued a successful academic career in molecular medicine before co-founding Oxford GlycoSciences (IPO on LSE and NASDAQ). Following its sale to UCB-Celltech, he became Chairman of Galapagos nv, a member of the Supervisory Board of the Novartis Venture Fund and a founding Director of Celldex Therapeutics. Since joining Advent, he has been involved with those portfolio Companies primarily engaged in the discovery of new medicines, including Avila, EUSA and Thiakis. Raj currently serves on the Board of several portfolio companies including Aura Biosciences and Levicept.

Christopher O’Donnell, PhD, Partner, Pfizer Ventures

Dr. O’Donnell is a Partner at Pfizer Ventures and Executive Director, Pfizer Worldwide Research, Development & Medical. He is responsible for identifying, evaluating, making and managing equity investments aligned with the future directions of Pfizer. He brings 20+ years of scientific leadership, a strong track record of delivering clinical candidates across multiple disease areas and modalities, and a proven ability to build and lead highly productive and successful teams. He currently has responsibility for Pfizer’s investments in Arrakis, Adapsyn Biosciences, ARKUDA Therapeutics, Mitokinin, Parthenon, Pyxis Oncology (PYXS), Storm Therapeutics (UK) and Strata Oncology.  He is also responsible for managing Pfizer’s investment in the Mission BioCapital and Phoenix Venture Partners funds. Prior to joining Pfizer Ventures, Dr. O’Donnell built and led the Applied Synthesis Technologies group within R&D to accelerate the delivery of every small molecule project within Pfizer’s internal portfolio.  Prior to that, Chris built and led Pfizer’s Antibody Drug Conjugate Oncology Medicinal Chemistry group resulting in 7 conjugates entering clinical development.  Chris started his career in the Neuroscience Medicinal Chemistry where he invented and helped deliver over 10 clinical candidates. Chris earned his BS in Chemistry from the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign and his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and joined Pfizer after completing post-doctoral studies at the University of California – Irvine.

 

Michael Gilman, PhD, CEO

Dr. Gilman is CEO of Arrakis and Chairman of the Board of Directors. In addition, Mike currently serves on the Board of Directors of Novartis Venture Fund, Obsidian Therapeutics, and Scholar Rock and on the Scientific Advisory Board of FutuRx. Previously, Mike was Chief Executive Officer of Obsidian Therapeutics, a venture-funded company focused on applying synthetic biology to gene and cell therapies. Prior to Obsidian, Mike was Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Padlock Therapeutics, a venture-funded company focused on autoimmune disease, acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2016. From 2012-2013, Mike served as Senior Vice President, Early-Stage Pipeline, at Biogen Idec, with responsibility for managing the company’s development programs through clinical proof-of-concept. He joined Biogen Idec in March 2012 following its acquisition of Stromedix, a venture-funded company focused on fibrosis and organ failure, where he was Founder and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to founding Stromedix in 2006, Mike served as Executive Vice President, Research at Biogen Idec, with responsibility for the company’s discovery research activities in Cambridge and San Diego. From 1994 to 1999, Mike was at ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, where he was Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer. From 1986 to 1994, Mike was on the scientific staff of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, where his research focused on mechanisms of signal transduction and gene regulation. Mike was a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Robert Weinberg at the Whitehead Institute. He holds a PhD in Biochemistry from University of California, Berkeley, and a SB in Life Sciences from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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