Our Team
Scientists and builders who originate conviction.
MEET THE TEAM
RAMIN FARZANEH-FAR, MD
Venture Partner
KAI WU
Chief Financial Officer
KATIE MAHER, PhD
Senior Compliance Officer
GUNES BOZKURT, PhD
Associate
RAJEEV SHAH
Managing Partner
BEN DAKE, PhD
Venture Associate
RAMIN FARZANEH-FAR, MD
Venture Partner
Ramin Farzaneh-Far is a Venture Partner at RA Capital where he works closely with RA’s Venture Team to evaluate drug discovery platforms and initiate novel therapeutics programs. He was Chief Medical Officer of Ra Pharmaceuticals from 2016 until it was acquired by UCB in 2020. Ramin is an experienced clinical trialist and previously led global clinical development programs at Akebia Therapeutics and Gilead Sciences. A trained cardiologist, he has held academic faculty positions at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Ramin completed his internal medicine residency at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston and trained in cardiovascular medicine at UCSF. He holds BA and MA degrees in immunology from the University of Cambridge, an MD from University College London, and an MAS in clinical research from UCSF.
KAI WU
Chief Financial Officer
Kai Wu is the Chief Financial Officer at RA Capital Management. He is involved in the firm’s back office and operations, including finance, accounting, auditing, taxes, regulatory, and legal. Kai previously served as the CFO/CCO of both Palo Alto Investors and Lucerne Capital Management. He holds a BS in Business Administration from Georgetown University.
KATIE MAHER, PhD
Senior Compliance Officer
Katie Maher is a Senior Compliance Officer at RA Capital Management. Katie’s primary responsibilities are to advise on regulatory matters and assist in the development, implementation, and testing of the compliance program. She holds a BS in Biology from Pennsylvania State University and a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her doctoral work integrated molecular and genetic strategies to study the mechanism by which dopamine modulates neuronal activity in both individual neurons and neural circuits.
GUNES BOZKURT, PhD
Associate
Gunes Bozkurt is an Associate within the TechAtlas division of RA Capital Management. Gunes' primary responsibility at RA Capital is to create competitive landscapes of drugs and medical devices for disease indications and capabilities. Gunes joins us from Boston Children’s Hospital where she served as a scientist within the PCMM Program. Her research focused on biophysical characterization of different amyloid fibrils. Gunes holds a BSc in Biological Sciences and Bioengineering from Sabanci University, a MSc in Molecular and Cellular Biology and a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Heidelberg.
RAJEEV SHAH
Managing Partner
Rajeev Shah is a Managing Partner at RA Capital Management. Raj is active in both public and private investments in companies developing drugs, medical devices, diagnostics, and research tools. He is also active in the firm’s outreach efforts, speaking frequently both at industry events and in classrooms. Raj holds a BA from Cornell University, where he majored in Chemistry. Raj previously worked as a Senior Project Leader at Altus Pharmaceuticals, a spin-off company of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, where he assessed business processes and implemented system solutions across all areas of science. He is also an active member of the Big Brothers of Massachusetts Bay program.
BEN DAKE, PhD
Venture Associate
Ben Dake is a Venture Associate at RA Capital Management. Ben’s primary responsibility at RA Capital is to identify compelling assets to help facilitate new company creation or investments in emerging seed-stage companies. Ben has also mapped competitive landscapes with a focus on cardiovascular diseases and regenerative medicine as a member of the Cardio-Renal Team within the TechAtlas division of RA Capital. Ben holds a BS in Biology and an MS in Virology from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and a PhD in Cancer Biology from the Tufts University School of Medicine. His doctoral research focused on breast cancer metastasis. Ben previously worked as a Research Assistant in a Neuroinflammation lab at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, and was an Internet Application Developer at the Gallup Organization.