RA Capital

BRIGID O’BRIEN, PhD

Managing Partner

Brigid O’Brien is a Managing Partner, Planetary Health at RA Capital Management. Brigid's primary responsibility is to lead investments in private companies that are developing innovative solutions to address climate change and environmental sustainability. Prior to RA, Brigid was the Head of Venture Investments for BHP Ventures, the internal venture capital unit within the world’s largest mining company, where her investment mandate was to help the decarbonization of BHP’s operations and to improve the sustainability of resource extraction. Brigid was responsible for starting the venture fund and led investments in multiple sectors, including advanced analytics platforms, biomining and bioremediation, novel chemical leaching, long-duration energy storage, traceability of products, carbon removal, and green steel. Prior to BHP, Brigid was at In-Q-Tel (IQT), the strategic investment arm of the CIA and the US Intelligence Community; she co-founded IQT's Australian subsidiary, served as its Managing Director, and built an international program to support a global innovation initiative through investing in the Asian-Pacific region. Brigid holds a BS in Chemistry from the Commonwealth Honors College at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

KYLE TEAMEY

Managing Partner

Kyle Teamey is a Managing Partner, Planetary Health at RA Capital Management. Kyle's primary responsibility is to lead investments in private companies that are developing innovative solutions to address climate change and environmental sustainability. Prior to joining RA, Kyle was a Partner at Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), where he led investments and served on company boards that span the utilities, energy storage, chemicals, agriculture, automotive, recycling, and consumer products sectors. Prior to BEV, Kyle was a Principal at In-Q-Tel, the strategic investment arm of the CIA and US Intelligence Community, where he invested in early stage manufacturing, materials, energy, computing, and defense companies. Kyle was also the CEO and co-founder of Liquid Light, developer of a proprietary process to make major chemicals from CO2, which was sold to Avantium in 2016. Kyle also recently retired as a Colonel in the US Army Reserve after 24 years of service. He holds a BA in Environmental Engineering from Dartmouth College, an MA in International Finance and Energy Policy from John Hopkins University, an MS in Materials Science from Columbia University, and a Masters of Strategic Studies from the Army War College.

KATHRYN MENG, PhD

Investment Director

Kathryn Meng is an Investment Director with the Planetary Health division of RA Capital Management. Kathryn’s primary responsibility at RA is to invest in companies developing solutions that address climate change and environmental sustainability. Prior to joining RA, Kathryn was SVP of Strategy at Energetic Insurance where she addressed regulatory-driven commercial lender limitations to enable financing for renewable energy and efficiency via financial insurance products. Before Energetic, she was Head of Carbon Strategic Partnerships at Indigo Ag, where she led external innovation focused on solutions that minimize or sequester agricultural GHG emissions and deliver additional environmental, social, and economic co-benefits. Prior to Indigo, Kathryn was Investment Principal at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) where she invested in enterprise and consumer-facing clean energy companies, including software and hardware companies focused on utility and grid resilience, grid edge, next-generation renewables, efficient mobility, industrial efficiency, sustainable buildings, and the water-energy nexus. Kathryn holds a BA in Geography and Peace and Conflict Studies from Colgate University, a MSc in International Development: Environment and Development from the University of Manchester (UK), and a MA and PhD in Geography from Clark University.

MICHAEL GILLESPIE, MD

Investment Director

Michael Gillespie is an Investment Director with the Planetary Health division of RA Capital Management. Michael's primary responsibilities are to conduct due diligence on various companies. Previously, Michael worked closely with the Healthcare Investment Team, to originate conviction in potential investments by identifying breakthroughs and putting data into context, as well as advising RA's portfolio companies on many aspects of program and pipeline strategy. Michael's previous experience includes venture development at Health Wildcatters Seed Accelerator and product development in various roles at the Institute for Environmental and Exercise Medicine and as an Aerospace Medicine Clerk at NASA. Michael holds a BS in Exercise Science from Brigham Young University and an MD from the University of Texas Southwestern School of Medicine.

CHRIS BROWN, PhD

Associate

Chris Brown is an Associate with the Planetary Health division of RA Capital Management. His primary responsibility is to create detailed competitive landscapes of planetary health solutions. Prior to RA, Chris worked as a post-doc in the Johnson group at MIT, and he has eight first-author publications in research that spans degradable polymers, energy-efficient catalysis, and low-energy lighting devices. Chris holds an MChem in Organic Chemistry from Newcastle University and a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of British Columbia.

WALTER DAUKSHER

Associate

Walter Dauksher is an Associate with the Planetary Health division of RA Capital Management. Walter's primary responsibility is to create competitive landscapes of biotechnology and planetary health. Walter holds a BS in Biology from Davidson College and a MS in Genetics from University of Georgia.

JAIMIE KIRKPATRICK, MPH

Senior Research Assistant

Jaimie Kirkpatrick is a Senior Research Assistant at RA Capital Management. Jaimie's primary responsibility is to conduct research and analysis for competitive landscapes of drugs and medical devices across a range of disease indications and capabilities. Jaimie previously held roles as data analyst at Massachusetts Department of Public Health and Anne Arundel Medical Center Department of Medicine. Jaimie holds a BA in Biology Boston College and an MPH from Boston University School of Public Health.

KERRY KLEMMER, PhD

Associate

Kerry Klemmer is an Associate within the Planetary Health division at RA Capital Management. Her primary responsibility is to create detailed competitive landscapes of planetary health solutions. Prior to RA, Kerry worked as a Postdoctoral Associate at MIT, where her research focused on atmospheric modeling, turbulence, and computational fluid dynamics to advance wind energy modeling in diverse atmospheric environments. Kerry holds a BA from Wesleyan University, an MSc in Advanced Computational Methods from Imperial College London, and a PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University.

CELI KHANYILE-LYNCH, MBA

Associate

Celi Khanyile-Lynch is an Associate within the Planetary Health division at RA Capital Management. Her primary responsibilities are to create competitive landscapes of climate change solutions and analyzing investment opportunities across climate technology. Prior to RA, Celi served as a Sustainability Analyst for Private Investments at Wellington Management, where she developed market maps, conducted due diligence on investments, and integrated environmental, social, and corporate governance factors across the platform. She served in a similar capacity at Morgan Stanley and Manulife Investment Management. Celi holds an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School.

ALYSSA LARSON, PhD

Director, Healthcare Specialist - Investor Relations*

Alyssa Larson is a Director within the TechAtlas division at RA Capital Management. Alyssa’s primary responsibilities are to drive internal and external strategic and diligence initiatives and oversee the workflow and professional development of TechAtlas Associates. Prior to this role, Alyssa mapped a number of competitive landscapes of drugs and medical devices for disease indications and capabilities. Her graduate research investigated inhibitors of influenza virus and characterizing hydrophobic polycationic antimicrobial surfaces. Alyssa previously worked as a Senior Scientist at Eagle Pharmaceuticals. Alyssa holds a BS in Biochemistry from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a PhD in Biochemistry from MIT.

*Member of both TechAtlas and Investor Relations teams.

MANAS ADHIKARI

Finance Director of Corporate Accounting & GP Consolidation

Manas Adhikaris is a Finance Director of Corporate Accounting & GP Consolidation at RA Capital Management. Manas has over 20 years of experience, majority of which was spent at The Baupost Group, LLC. At Baupost, Manas led the Operational Due Diligence function responsible for reviewing and monitoring investment managers and operating partners. Previously, Manas held key roles in portfolio accounting and valuation at Baupost where he managed high-performing teams, optimized complex valuation processes, oversaw the NAV and performance calculation cycles and managed accounting projects including selection and onboarding of a third-party fund administrator. Prior to Baupost, Manas gained experience in financial analysis and accounting at W.R. Grace & Co., Liberty Mutual, and Fidelity Investments. In these roles, manas supported financial planning, performance analysis, and operational efficiency efforts. Manas holds both a BS and a MS in Finance from Northeastern University.

SAM ASH

Quality Assurance Senior Engineer

Sam is a Quality Assurance Senior Engineer at RA Capital Management. Sam has seven years of experience as a QA Engineer. Prior to RA Capital Sam worked in the financial services industry at SS&C Eze. Sam holds a BS in Computer Science from Hobart College, with a minor in Mathematics.

BRIAN BENNETT

Head of IT Operations and Cybersecurity

Brian Bennett is the Head of IT Operations and Cybersecurity at RA Capital Management. Brian's primary responsibility is to manage the firm's IT Operations needs. Brian previously worked at the Kraft Group LLC, where he led their system admin, network, and desktop engineering groups. Brian holds a BS in Business Administration in Management Information Systems from Northeastern University.

MATT BEVERLY, PhD

Manager, Software Engineering

Matt Beverly is a Manager, Software Engineering at RA Capital Management. Matt’s primary responsibility is to help guide internal software development to support competitive landscapes of drugs and medical devices across a range of disease indications and capabilities. Matt comes to RA from Localytics where he served as a Senior Software Engineer. Prior to Localytics, Matt served as software engineer at Mathworks. Matt holds a BA in Biology from Ithaca College, an MS in Bioinformatics from Northeastern University, and a PhD in Molecular Biology with a specialization in quantitative biology from Brandeis University.

CLAIRE BOCHMAN

Capital Formation and Investor Relations Associate

Claire Bochman is a Capital Formation and Investor Relations Associate at RA Capital Management. Claire's primary responsibility is to support the Investment Team by sourcing, researching and connecting with new investors. Previously, Claire worked at Monument Group as a Fundraising Analyst in the Boston office. Prior to this, she worked as a Financial Consultant at KPMG and interned at Innospark Ventures as a summer analyst. Claire holds a BS in Economics with a Minor in Statistics from the College of the Holy Cross.

JEFF BREAY

Head Trader

Jeff Breay is a Head Trader at RA Capital Management. His primary responsibilities include managing the portfolio’s public equity positions, monitoring market, sector, and individual equity dynamics, and maintaining relationships with broker/dealer counterparties. Prior to joining RA Capital, Jeff worked for over 10 years as an institutional equity sales trader, primarily at KCG Holdings, Inc., where he managed the Boston office. Jeff holds a BA in Economics and Psychology from Georgetown University.

CHRIS CALIRI

Advisor

Chris Caliri is an Advisor at RA Capital Management. Chris’ primary responsibility is to oversee the firm’s information technology program, including operations, development, and security. He worked previously as the Director of Business Systems at Bain Capital Credit, and as a Senior Systems Analyst at eSecLending, LLC. He holds a BA in Psychology from Providence College and a MS in Software Engineering from Brandeis University.

CARLOS CAMPOS

IT Service Desk Specialist

Carlos Campos is an IT Service Desk Specialist at RA Capital Management. Carlos primary responsibility is to provide technical assistance and support for issues related to computer systems, the network, and server environments. Prior to RA he worked at WeWork as an Operations Manager & SmartLabs as a System Administrator. Taking the lead on all things onboarding & becoming an escalation point for any requests.

BOSTON CARRICO

Executive Assistant

Boston Carrico is an Executive Assistant at RA Capital Management. She has been an EA for over 10 years in both New York City and Boston. She previously worked for Bain Capital in Private Equity, focusing on Healthcare and Life Sciences. Boston holds a BA in History from Penn State University.

OLIVIA CAVANAUGH

Tax Analyst

Olivia Cavanaugh is a Tax Analyst at RA Capital Management. Olivia’s primary responsibility is to assist in managing all aspects of the tax function. Prior to RA, Olivia was a Tax Associate at PwC. Olivia holds a BS in Commerce and Business Administration from The University of Alabama and an MS in Accounting from UMass Boston.

HARVEY CHAN

Senior Controller

Harvey Chan is a Senior Controller at RA Capital Management. Harvey’s primary responsibility is to oversee all accounting related activities for the firm. Harvey most recently served as Assistant Controller at Charles River Ventures. His prior posts include Fund Accountant at Nautic Partners and HLM Venture Partners. Harvey holds a BS in Corporate Finance and Accounting from Bentley University and an MS in Finance from Bentley University McCallum Graduate School of Business.

LORENA CHEN, CPA

Fund Controller

Lorena Chen is a Fund Controller at RA Capital Management. Lorena's primary responsibility is to oversee all accounting related activities for the firm. She has spent the last five years as a Senior Finance Associate at Great Hill Partners. Prior to GHP, Lorena served as an Assurance Senior at EY. Lorena holds both a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Beijing Foreign Studies University, and an MS in Accounting from Boston College. She is also a CPA.

SAMUEL CHOWDHURY

Senior Software Engineer

Samuel Chowdhury is a Senior Software Engineer at RA Capital Management. Sam’s primary responsibility is to help guide internal software development to support competitive landscapes of drugs and medical devices across a range of disease indications and capabilities. He holds a BS in Computer Engineering from Northeastern University.

ERIN CLUTTER

Head of Design

Erin Clutter is the Head of Design at RA Capital Management. Erin’s primary responsibilities are to manage the design and creation of all internal and external documents and resources for the company, including competitive landscapes of drugs and medical devices for disease indications and capabilities, set brand standards, and oversee internal and external marketing efforts. She worked previously in desktop publishing and as a freelance designer. Erin holds a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art & Design.

KARA COLUCCIO

Head of Talent Acquisition and Strategy, Raven*

Kara Coluccio is the Head of Talent Acquisition and Strategy for Raven where she leads executive search and talent strategy for its portfolio of newly formed companies. She also advises on talent acquisition strategy for venture-stage portfolio companies for RA Capital Management. Prior to joining Raven, Kara worked at Spencer Stuart where she was a member of the global biopharma practice. Kara began her search career in 2004 at Russell Reynolds Associates and has since worked with boutique retained search firms specializing in early-stage biotech company builds across the Board and C-Suite, including leading her own firm for 6 years. Prior to Spencer Stuart, Kara also served as the Managing Partner for Perspective Group where she was responsible for cultivating new clients, executing searches, and leading the firm’s team, strategy, and operations. Kara began her career in healthcare policy in Washington, DC. and did contract projects with PhRMA, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care’s Ethics Advisory Board, Tufts Health Plan’s Government Affairs Division, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Kara holds a BA in the History and Sociology of Science and a Masters of Bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania.

*Advisor for RA Capital

ANDREW COSTENOBLE

Senior Software Engineer

Andrew Costenoble is a Senior Software Engineer at RA Capital Management. Andrew’s primary responsibility is to help guide internal software development to support competitive landscapes of drugs and medical devices across a range of disease indications and capabilities. He holds a BS in Computer Science from Northeastern University.

AMANDA CREEDON

RAVen General Counsel

Amanda Creedon is a Raven General Counsel at RA Capital Management. Her primary responsibilities are to counsel new companies on all their legal needs, advise on company formation, and assist RA Capital on private investments. Prior to RA, Amanda was a corporate associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where she represented life sciences and technology companies throughout their business life cycle and counseled venture capital investors with respect to their investment transactions. Amanda holds a BA in Economics from Boston College and JD from Boston College Law School. Amanda is admitted to practice law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

DAVID CROWE

Director of Operations

David Crowe is a Director of Operations at RA Capital Management. David’s primary responsibility is to oversee the development and implementation of treasury functions for the firm. Most recently, David served as Director of Operations at Corbin Capital Partners, LP. Prior to that, David worked as Director of Operations for Wingspan Investment Management, LP and held operations positions at Brencourt Advisors and Silver Point Capital, LP. David holds a BS in Economics from University of Colorado Boulder.

THOMAS CULMAN

Engagement Associate

Thomas Culman is an Engagement Associate at RA Capital Management. His primary responsiblity is to manage a variety of educational, outreach, and advocacy-oriented projects. Prior to this role, Tom conducted research and analysis for competitive landscapes of drugs and medical devices across a range of disease indications and capabilities as a Senior Research Assistant. He worked previously as a Patient Coordinator at Massachusetts General Hospital. Tom holds a BS in Health Sciences from Northeastern University.

CAMERON DECKER

Compliance Analyst

Cameron Decker is a Compliance Analyst at RA Capital Management. Cameron's primary responsibilities are to oversee RA Capital's employee compliance platform and conducts monitoring and testing activities relating to RA's core research and investment activities. Prior to RA, she served as Researcher and Collaborator at New Care, a startup focused on improving access to early childcare for lower income families, and was a Student Researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital Labs of Cognitive Neuroscience. Cameron holds a BA in Neurobiology from Harvard University.

JOE DeMAIO

IT Operations Associate

Joe DeMaio is an IT Operations Associate at RA Capital Management. Joe’s primary responsibility is to provide technical assistance and support for issues related to computer systems, the network, and server environments. Joe brings to RA fifteen years of IT experience, beginning at the Apple Store and then transitioning to Boston Public Schools as an Apple Support Specialist. At BPS, Joe provided technical support for teachers and staff and was Jamf certified to manage Apple products. Most recently, Joe led the administration and support of all Apple products at Curriculum Associates as an IT Systems Engineer. He also provided additional system administration and training for the desktop engineering team. Joe holds a BS in Information Technology from UMass Lowell.

MALIN DEON

Senior Executive Assistant

Malin Deon is a Senior Executive Assistant at RA Capital Management. Her primary responsibilities are to provide strategic administrative support and assist the co-founder in various external and internal projects. Malin previously held posts as an Executive Assistant and Office Manager at Abata Therapeutics and as an Executive Assistant at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, and Jounce Therapeutics. Malin holds a BA in History from Rollins College and a MS in Historic Preservation from the University of Vermont.

GILLIAN DESILVA

Wealth Advisor, Family Office and Partner Services

Gillian is an Advisor, Family Office and Partner Services at RA Capital Management. Gillian's primary responsibility is developing, implementing, and directing wealth management strategy to support RA Partners and Executives. Prior to joining RA Capital, she has worked as a Wealth Advisor at multi-family and single-family offices where she provided customized wealth planning guidance with a focus on estate, tax, and cash flow planning, as well as wealth transfer strategies. Gillian volunteers as a mentor at Empower, a non-profit dedicated to supporting and connecting children who have lost a parent. Gillian holds a BA from Northeastern University and she is a Certified Financial Planner professional.

MATT FERESTEN

Manager, Business Analytics

Matthew Feresten is a Manager, Business Analytics at RA Capital Management. Matt’s primary responsibilities are to gather team input to help guide internal software development to support competitive landscapes of drugs and medical devices across a range of disease indications and capabilities, and to provide software training and coordinate with outside technology vendors. He holds a BS in Biology from the College of William and Mary.

RENNY GLEESON

Managing Director, Marketing

Renny Gleeson is a Managing Director, Marketing at RA Capital Management. He founded the Threatcasting/Futurecasting firm Business Innovation Group (BIG), and served as the Chief Strategy Officer for SciFutures, a science fiction prototyping firm that helps clients envision and action inspired futures. Previously, Renny built and led Wieden + Kennedy Advertising's Interactive Strategy practice globally, launched its tech accelerator and business strategy practices and worked with clients including Samsung, Nokia, Nike, Booking.com, Target, Old Spice, Coca-Cola and Magic Leap. Renny is a published author, thought leader and TED speaker whose work covers the future of brands and advertising, emerging dual-use tech, evolving customer experience, AI/ML; 5G/6G; Future Cities/Energy Grids, digital twinning and A2A (Algorithm-to-algorithm) marketing. Renny holds a BA in Fine Arts from Yale University and a MFA from University of Pennsylvania.

DANIELLE GLOVER

Graphic Designer

Danielle Glover is a Graphic Designer at RA Capital Management. Danielle’s primary responsibility is to design internal and external resources for the company including designing our large scale competitive landscapes. Previously, Danielle has worked with in-house teams of designers as well as independently. She has experience with both print and digital media. Danielle holds a BS in Graphic Design from St. Thomas Aquinas College.

ERNESTO GONZALEZ

Business Systems Manager

Ernesto Gonzalez is a Business Systems Manager at RA Capital Management. Ernesto’s primary responsibility is to coordinate various technology related initiatives across the company and oversee their initiation, planning, and execution. He previously held roles as VP Product Manager - Data Services at Charles River Development (a State Street Company) and Senior Business Analyst in Capital Markets at Bain Capital Credit and State Street Global Exchange, DataGX. He holds a BA in History from University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a Master's of Urban Affairs from Boston University.

CHRIS GORGONE

Head of Capital Formation and Investor Relations

Chris Gorgone is a Head of Capital Formation and Investor Relations at RA Capital Management. His primary responsibility is to lead fundraising initiatives and client relations for the firm. He previously was at Quantum Capital Group, where he managed fundraising efforts across the firm's $25 billion suite of private market strategies including private equity, private credit, infrastructure, and venture capital. Prior to joining Quantum, Chris was a Managing Director with Man Group, where he was responsible for capital formation for the firm’s $175 billion alternatives platform. He advised some of the firm’s largest institutional clients on multi-alternatives portfolios as well as single strategies across hedge funds, private credit, and real assets, as well as traditional investment solutions. Previously, he was at Trian Partners, an activist equity fund managed by Nelson Peltz, and Balestra Capital, a discretionary global macro firm. In 2009, Chris worked for the U.S Department of the Treasury in Washington DC under the direction of Secretary Timothy F. Geithner on mortgage finance and TARP related initiatives. Prior to the Treasury, he was an Analyst at Lehman Brothers in its Fixed Income and Global Real Estate Group. Chrisholds a BA from Providence College and appears as a guest lecturer for both its MBA and undergraduate finance classes. He is Co-Founder of the school’s Wall Street Alumni Council and serves on the Business Advisory Council.

RYAN GOWER

Manager, Business Intelligence

Ryan Gower is a Manager, Business Intelligence at RA Capital Management. Ryan's primary responsibility is to continue to evolve the capabilities of our enterprise data management system (EDM). He was previously a Senior Database Administrator at Glytec Systems where he built and administered SQL Server databases and their supporting infrastructure. Prior to that, he was a Storage and Backup Engineer and a Technical Services Engineer Team Lead at Epic Systems. He holds a BS in Information Technology and Systems from University of Texas at Dallas.

KADY O'GRADY

Chief People Officer

Kady O'Grady serves as the Chief People Officer at RA Capital Management. Her primary responsibility is to lead integrated people strategies to attract, develop, engage, and retain talent to meet the business and client needs. Prior to RA, Kady served as Chief People Officer at Enterra Solutions, responsible for all Human Resources and people matters. Prior to Enterra, Kady served as Chief Talent Officer at Innosight, a global strategic innovation consultancy and a practice within Huron Consulting Group. While at Innosight, Kady built the human resources and people development functions, supported the expansion of the firm into Europe and Asia, and the transition and integration into Huron Consulting Group in 2017. Her prior experience includes various Human Resources and Professional Development roles at PatientKeeper, McKinsey & Company, and Ernst & Young. She is also a member of the Aspen Institute First Movers Fellowship and has served in advisory roles for non-profits. Kady holds a BA in Social Sciences and Psychology from Harvard University.

EMILY GREEN

Manager, Graphic Design

Emily Green is a Manager, Graphic Design at RA Capital Management. Emily’s primary responsibility is to design and oversee the brand management for RA Capital's internal and external communications as well assisting with the brand identity for portfolio companies founded through RA Capital's incubator, RA Ventures. Emily holds a BS in Graphic Design from James Madison University.

ADISON GREENE

Senior Executive Assistant

Adison is a Senior Executive Assistant RA Capital Management. Adison’s primary responsibilities are to coordinate calendars, events, and company meetings for the Investment Team. Adison previously held posts as an Administrative Assistant and Office Manager at Dyer Brown Architects and as an Executive Assistant to the Principal and Office Manager at bKL Architecture. She holds a BA in Communication Studies from University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

DAN GUGLIELMO

IT Operations Associate

Dan Guglielmo is an IT Operations Associate at RA Capital Management. Dan’s primary responsibility is to provide technical assistance and support for issues related to computer systems, the network, and server environments. Prior to RA, Dan spent three years in Systems Engineer and Technical Consultant roles at Withum Smith + Brown, where he provided cloud and hybrid implementation guidance for clients within industries such as healthcare, construction, and fitness. Prior to external consulting and engineering, he gained experience in Helpdesk Specialist and Systems Administrator roles at Withum and Edelstein and Company, LLP. Dan studied Network Communications & Information Services at Lincoln Technical. He holds Microsoft 365 and Microsoft certifications as Messaging Administrator Associate, Teams Administrator Associate, Teamwork Administrator Associate, and Azure Administrator Associate.

LE HO

Program Manager

Le Ho is a Program Manager at RA Capital Management. Le’s primary responsibility is to coordinate various technology related initiatives across the company. She previously held roles as a Senior Business Analyst at Cambridge Associates and a Systems Analyst at Wellington Management Company. She holds a BA in Public Administration from Texas State University.

CASSIE HOFFMAN

Talent Acquisition Director

Cassie Hoffman is a Talent Acquisition Director at RA Capital Management. Cassie’s primary responsibilities are to develop and execute recruitment strategies and priorities across all levels of the organization, working closely with key stakeholders. Prior to RA, Cassie served as Director of Talent Acquisition at Point B, Inc. a global consulting firm. Previously, she spent her career in management consulting working for Cumberland Consulting Group (now Tegria) and Clarkston Consulting partnering with customers in the healthcare and life sciences industries. Cassie holds a BS in International Affairs from Florida State University.

MARIAGRACE HOULLAHAN

Executive Assistant

Mariagrace Houllahan is an Executive Assistant at RA Capital Management. Her primary responsibilities are to support our Venture Team by coordinating management agendas, calendars, and external events. Mariagrace previously worked as an Executive Assistant at MPM Capital. Prior to MPM, she worked as an Executive Assistant at Charles River Ventures. Mariagrace holds a BS in Sociology from Suffolk University.

BRENDAN JOYCE

Tax Director

Brendan Joyce is a Tax Director at RA Capital Management. Brendan’s primary responsibility is managing all aspects of the tax function. He has more than 18 years of experience as a tax professional. Most recently, Brendan served as Tax Director at PwC Asset & Wealth Management. Prior to PwC, Brendan worked as Senior Tax Analyst for Highfields Capital Management LP and held tax and accounting positions at Citi and Investors Bank & Trust / State Street. Brendan holds a MS in Accounting with a concentration in Taxation from Merrimack College and a BA in Economics from University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is an Enrolled Agent, admitted to practice before the IRS.

TAYLOR KEELER

Assistant Controller

Taylor Keeler is an Assistant Controller at RA Capital Management. Her primary responsibilities are to assist with accounting, financial reporting and investment valuation. Prior to RA, Taylor worked as Vice President, Finance at Safanad Inc. Before Safanad, Taylor was an Assistant Controller at Centerbridge Partners, LP and worked in assurance services at Ernst & Young. Taylor holds a BS in Finance and a MS in Accountancy from Wake Forest University. She is a CPA and a CFA charterholder.

MACKENZIE KLINE

Executive Assistant

Mackenzie Kline is an Executive Assistant at RA Capital Management. Mackenzie’s primary responsibilities are to coordinate calendars, events, and company meetings. Prior to RA, Mackenzie worked as an Executive Assistant at Casana, Iterative Health, and PathAI supporting C-Suite executives. Mackenzie holds a BA in Business Studies from Stockton University and is currently pursuing her MBA in Organizational Psychology at Johnson & Wales University.

STEPHANIE KOH

Senior Executive Assistant

Stephanie Koh is a Senior Executive Assistant at RA Capital Management. Her primary responsibilities are to provide strategic administrative support and assist the Senior Manager Director in various internal and external projects. Stephanie brings to RA Capital nearly three decades of administrative and client service experience. She previously held posts as an Executive Administrator at Scorpion Therapeutics, Executive Assistant at Atlas Venture and Fidelity Biosciences (now F-Prime Capital), Practice Administrator at J. Robert Scott/Fidelity, and Manager, Client Services at Great Point Investors. Stephanie holds a BA in Studio Arts and English from the University of Vermont.

TYLER KOWALSKI

Interactive Designer

Tyler Kowalski is an Interactive Designer at RA Capital Management. Tyler’s primary responsibility is to design and maintain the RA Capital website and assisting in the creation and design of interactive platforms at RA Capital and it's portfolio companies founded through the firm's incubator, RA Ventures. In addition, he designs graphics for all internal and external materials. Prior to RA Capital, Tyler worked as a freelance graphic designer. Tyler holds a BA in Finance from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a certificate in Interactive Design from Rhode Island School of Design.

SHANNON LAROSA

Executive Assistant

Shannon Larosa is an Executive Assistant at RA Capital Management. Shannon’s primary responsibilities are to coordinate calendars, events, and company meetings for the Operations team. Shannon holds a BA in Special Education and English from Bridgewater University and a MS in Elementary Education from Boston College.

SYDNEY LAUGHLIN

Compliance Analyst

Sydney Laughlin is a Compliance Analyst at RA Capital Management. Sydney's primary responsibilities are to oversee the employee compliance platform and conduct monitoring and testing activities relating to RA's core research and investment activities. Throughout law school, she worked as a Judicial Intern on the First Circuit Court of Appeals, a Student Advocate in BU’s Health Justice Practicum, a Law Clerk at the University of Massachusetts Office of the General Counsel, and as a Research Assistant to her Legal Writing Professor. Sydney holds a BFA in Graphic Design from the University of South Carolina and a JD from Boston University School of Law.

CASEY LESSARD

Legal Associate

Casey Lessard is a Legal Associate on secondment at RA Capital Management from Goodwin Procter LLP. While in law school, Casey worked as an associate at Duke Capital Partners, an investment entity supporting the university’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. In that role he led efforts related to sourcing, screening, diligence, and investor relations. Casey is also a member of Duke’s Entrepreneurial Leaders Network. Casey Holds a BS in Finance from the University of Florida and a JD and LLM (Law & Entrepreneurship) with honors from Duke University School of Law.

DAVE MACKEY

IT Operations Associate

Dave Mackey is an IT Operations Associate at RA Capital Management. Dave’s primary responsibility at RA Capital is to provide technical assistance and support for issues related to computer systems, the network, and server environments. Dave brings a background in IT operational system administration, support, and team lead roles. He has worked previously in the healthcare, green energy/industrial, and technology industries. Dave holds a BS in Computer Science from Stonehill College.

SRI MAHENDRA

AI Lead and Engineering Manager

Sri Mahendra is an AI Lead and Engineering Manager at RA Capital Management. Sri’s primary responsibility is to help guide internal AI and LLM software development to support competitive landscapes of drugs and medical devices across a range of disease indications and capabilities. He previously worked as a Software Engineer for several companies, including Autodesk, the Advisory Board Company, and Maveric Systems. He holds a BS in Electronics and Communications from Anna University and a MS in Computer Science from Northeastern University.

KARA MAKOWSKI

Total Rewards, Associate Director*

Kara serves as the Total Rewards, Associate Director for Raven and RA Capital Management. Kara is responsible for working across the firm's leadership to develop a comprehensive Total Rewards strategy, including managing our annual total rewards and compensation competitive analyses and finding new, innovative approaches to our Total Rewards program. Kara brings over 15 years of Human Resources experience. Before joining Raven, Kara was the Human Resources Manager at PSPDFKit where she was responsible for the provision of global human resources. Prior to PSPDFKit, she was the Senior Human Resources Manager at Intelerad Medical Systems where she facilitated the company’s growth from 60 to 350 employees; and led the HR integration process for five mergers and acquisitions. Her prior experience includes various leadership roles in Human Resources and Operations at Tiverton Advisors and Prometheus Group. Kara received her Bachelor of Science in Gerontology from the University of South Florida.

*Shared resource between RA Ventures and RA Capital.

CHRISTINE MASELBAS

Executive Assistant

Christine Maselbas is an Executive Assistant at RA Capital Management. Christine's primary responsibilities are to coordinate calendars, events, and company meetings for the Investor Relations division. She worked as an executive assistant at various firms, most recently at Three Cairns Group, a private-family office dedicated to climate-focused investing. Prior to Three Cairns Group, she cultivated a 16-year career at Evercore contributing to several departments over the years including supporting the Head of Business Development and the CEO of Evercore Trust Company. While at Evercore, she initiated volunteer programs within the community through NY Cares and served on Evercore’s volunteer committee. She holds a BA in Journalism from Saint Michael’s College.

ALDEN MASTERS

Human Resources Business Partner

Alden Masters is a Human Resources Business Partner at RA Capital Management. Her primary responsibilities are to support the firm in its daily people operations and strategic planning to help achieve the firm’s human resource goals. Previously, Alden served as the HR Manager for Nova Ventures Group. Prior to that, she specialized in recruiting for Palantir Technologies and benefits for Bright Horizons Family Solutions. Alden holds a BA in Art History from Hamilton College. She is certified by the Society for Human Resource Management.

KATE MCKENNA

Compliance Officer

Kate McKenna is a Compliance Officer at RA Capital Management. Kate's primary responsibility is to work with both the Legal and Compliance Teams in support of their programs. Her contributions involve engagement with teams across RA Capital, including the processing of CDA's. Kate previously served as Health Law Assistant at Mintz. Prior to Mintz, Kate held a Paralegal role at Loughran & Corbett, Attorneys, Inc. Kate holds a BA in Political Science from Bridgewater State University and is a certified Paralegal in Massachusetts.

TOM MICHALIK, CFA, CAIA

Senior Operations Analyst and Junior Trader

Tom Michalik is a Senior Operations Analyst and Junior Trader at RA Capital Management. Tom’s primary responsibility is to support all aspects of trade and treasury operations. Most recently, Tom served as Director of Operations at TPRV Capital, LP. Prior to that, Tom held an Operations Supervisor role at Bracebridge Capital, LLC and operations positions at Harvard Management Company and State Street Corporation. Tom holds a BA in Business Administration from St. Anselm College. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst.

CHRIS MORRISON

Editor

Chris Morrison is an Editor at RA Capital Management. Chris’s primary responsibility is to cover the biotech and pharma industry. Prior to RA, Chris was at Elsevier Business Intelligence, where he served as Writer/Editor and eventually became the Editor in Chief for Biopharmaceuticals and Consumer Products. Chris holds a BS in Neurobiology and Behavior from Cornell University and a MA in Journalism from New York University.

KEEGAN MUELLER

Fund Accountant

Keegan Mueller is a Fund Accountant at RA Capital Management. His primary responsibilities are to assist with accounting, financial reporting, and investment valuation. Prior to RA, Keegan was a Senior Audit Associate at PwC. Keegan holds a BS in Business Administration in Accounting and Finance from Boston College.

DEVIN MULLANEY

Capital Formation and Investor Relations Manager

Devin Mullaney is a Capital Formation and Investor Relations Manager at RA Capital Management. Prior to RA, she was an investment professional at SCS Financial, a multi-family office focused on ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) clients. While at SCS, Devin worked on both the hedge fund team and the private investments team, conducting research and performing in-depth due diligence for fund investments and co-investments across a wide variety of asset classes including hedge funds, buyouts, venture capital, real assets, and growth equity. Devin holds a BA in Economics and Financial Markets from Colby College.

LESLIE NASR

Executive Assistant and Office Manager

Leslie Nasr is an Executive Assistant and Office Manager at RA Capital Management. Her primary responsiblity is to support the Structured Capital Partners and manage the NYC office. Previously, she was Director of the Office of the CEO at Aetion, a healthcare data analytics company. Her background includes roles in fashion merchandising as VP at Jil Sander and Senior Buyer at Saks Fifth Avenue, and as a Financial Analyst at Deutsche Bank. Leslie holds a BA in Government from Harvard College.

THANH NGUYEN

Software Engineer

Thanh Nguyen is a Software Engineer at RA Capital Management. Thanh's primary responsibility is designing, developing, and optimizing data pipelines, integrating data sources, and ensuring efficient data processing to support our AI initiatives. He also works on maintaining and improving our data infrastructure, collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver scalable and reliable data solutions. Prior to RA Capital Thanh worked at Akamai Technologies as a software engineer, where he developed cybersecurity systems to protect networks from malicious attacks and safeguard millions of users worldwide. Prior to that he worked at the MIT Media Lab, where he focused on human usability and data visualization. He holds a B.S in Computer Science and a Master of Engineering in Computer Science from MIT.

JOEY O'NEILL

Senior Associate, Investor Services

Joey O’Neill is a Senior Associate, Investor Services at RA Capital Management. Joey’s primary responsibility is to manage workflows for investor transaction processing and investor reporting in collaboration with the fund’s administrator. Joey previously served as Private Client Associate at Bernstein Private Wealth Management. Prior to Bernstein, Joey held a Consultant role at FactSet. Joey holds a BS in Finance from American University. He is FINRA-certified in Series 7, Series 63 and Securities Industry Essentials.

HANNAH O'LEARY

Executive Assistant

Hannah O'Leary is an Executive Assistant at RA Capital Management. Hannah’s primary responsibilities are to coordinate calendars, events, and company meetings for the Marketing and External Affairs Team. Hannah previously held posts as Coordinator to the President at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Marketing Lead and Project Manager at Bose Corporation, Event Services Manager at the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, and Events Coordinator for Governor Charlie Baker’s Re-Election Campaign. She has a BS in Communication from Boston University.

ANTHONY OU

Software Engineer, AL/ML

Anthony Ou is a Software Engineer at RA Capital Management. Anthony's primary responsibility is to help guide internal AI and LLM software development to support competitive landscapes of drugs and medical devices across a range of disease indications and capabilities. He previously co-authored a paper on LLM Model Routing and worked as a Software Engineer at Emerald Innovations. He holds a BS in Computer Science, a BS in Physics and a Master of Engineering in Computer Science from MIT. 

ERICA PEDERSEN

Associate Secondment

Erica Pedersen is a Legal Associate on secondment at RA Capital Management from Cooley LLP. At Colley, she represented life sciences and technology companies throughout their business life cycle and counseled venture capital investors with respect to their investment transactions. Erica holds a BA in Economics and Political Science from McGill University and a JD from Columbia Law School. Erica is admitted to practice law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

LAURA PRESTON

Senior Executive Assistant

Laura Preston is a Senior Executive Assistant at RA Capital Management. Laura’s primary responsibilities are to coordinate calendars, events, and company meetings for the TechAtlas division. Laura previously worked at WinterWyman where she served as a Senior Associate. Laura holds a BS in Human Services with a Clinical Concentration from the University of Delaware.

CRAIG RANDALL

Deputy General Counsel

Craig Randall is Deputy General Counsel at RA Capital Management. His primary responsibilities are to advise RA Capital on private investments and coordinate with portfolio companies regarding deal structures and terms. Prior to RA, he represented emerging companies and venture capital investment funds at two international law firms. Craig holds a BA in Political Science from Bridgewater State College and a JD from Boston College Law School. He is admitted to practice law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

SARAH REED

General Counsel

Sarah Reed is the General Counsel at RA Capital Management. Sarah joined RA from MPM Capital where she served as the COO & General Counsel. Prior to MPM, Sarah was the General Counsel for Charles River Ventures and before that, at Palomar Medical Technologies. Sarah began her legal career with Foley, Hoag, & Eliot LLP. Sarah is the only lawyer to have received the NVCA’s Outstanding Service Award, for her leadership role in conceiving of and spearheading the NVCA Model Legal Documents. Sarah teaches a course at Harvard Law School on venture capital fund formation. Sarah holds a BA from Harvard College in East Asian Studies and a JD from Harvard Law School.

ALLISON ROPER

Executive Assistant

Allison Roper is an Executive Assistant at RA Capital Management. Her primary responsibilities are to support the Venture Team by coordinating management agendas, calendars, and external events. Prior to RA, Allison was an Executive Assistant and office manager at Hyku Biosciences. Previously she was also an Executive Assistant to the Chief Commercial Officer at Agios Pharmaceuticals and a Senior Administrative Assistant at Novartis Institute for BioMedical Research and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She holds a BS in Health Sciences from Northeastern University.

ERIC ROSE, CFA, CPA

Chief Compliance Officer

Eric Rose is the Chief Compliance Officer at RA Capital Management. Eric previously served as Director, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer, Americas at Aberdeen Asset Management. Prior to joining Aberdeen, Eric worked as a Compliance Examiner at the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Eric holds a BS in Finance from George Mason University and a MAcc from Bentley University.

RYAN RUSSELL

Senior Fund Accountant

Ryan Russell is a Senior Fund Accountant at RA Capital Management. His primary responsibilities are to assist with accounting, financial reporting and investment valuation. Prior to RA, Ryan was at KPMG where he was a Senior Associate. Prior to KPMG, Ryan worked at Morris and Morris, P.C. as a Staff Accountant. Ryan holds a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting and Sports Management from Isenberg School of Management at University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

BRENDAN SALVAS

Cybersecurity Specialist

Brendan Salvas is a Cybersecurity Specialist at RA Capital Management. Brendan’s primary responsibility is to provide technical assistance and support for security issues related to computer systems, the network, and server environments. Prior to RA, Brendan spent three years in Information Security Engineer roles in the biotech and news media industries, building and maintaining a wide range of security infrastructure. Brendan also spent several years at Oracle Health and Cerner ITWorks, where he managed the security programs for clients within the healthcare industry. He holds a BS in Computer Security & Information Assurance from Norwich University, Military College of Vermont, and is certified by ISC2 as an Information Systems Security Professional.

MICHAEL SAULNIER, CPA

Chief Financial Officer

Michael Saulnier is the Chief Financial Officer at RA Capital Management. He oversees the firm's financial functions, including middle office operations, accounting, valuation, tax and financial reporting. Prior to RA, Michael was a Special Projects Manager at Baupost, LLC where he led a large project to transition the business model to utilize third party fund administration, including management of the implementation. Prior to Baupost, he spent over five years as a Controller at Centerbridge Partners, LP, where he was responsible for accounting and valuation for the credit fund business, as well as the management company (US and Europe) and associated functions. In addition, Michael served on the firm's Luxembourg Board of Directors where he was responsible for accounting and financial reporting. Michael held leadership positions at Citigroup Hedge Fund Services in both Fund Accounting and Product Management before joining Centerbridge. Prior to Citigroup, he held various accounting and analyst roles at EY, Morgan Stanley, BBH, and Deloitte. Michael holds a BS in Business Administration with concentrations in Finance and Accounting from Boston University.

EMILIE SCHLEER

Director, Investor Relations

Emilie Schleer is the Director, Investor Relations at RA Capital Management. Emilie’s primary responsibility is to manage current and potential investor relationships. Prior to RA, Emilie was a Vice President of Investor Relations at THL Credit. Emilie has previously held similar roles at FLAG Capital Management and Bain Capital. She holds a BS in Finance from Elon University and an MBA from Babson College.

VRENI SCHOENENBERGER, PhD

Managing Director, External Affairs

Vreni Schoenenberger is a Managing Director, External Affairs, at RA Capital Management. Prior to RA, Vreni served as Global Head of External Affairs and Partnerships for Novartis's $15B innovative neuroscience and gene therapy portfolios. During her nearly decade at the company, she ran early market shaping, advocacy strategy, and access partnerships for four blockbuster launches and over a dozen other assets, reaching over 100 million patients a year. She has previously held leadership roles at Novartis's Sandoz division and the pharma industry’s global trade group (IFPMA), and had stints at the World Health Organization, NIH, and Yale University’s endowment. Vreni holds aa BS in Bioethics from Vanderbilt University, where she was an Ingram Scholar, and a PhD in History and Policy from Yale University, where she was a Fulbright and MacMillan Scholar.

COLLEEN SHIELDS

Human Resources Generalist

Colleen Shields is a Human Resources Generalist at RA Capital Management. Her primary responsibility is to support the HR department by handling various administrative tasks and assisting with key HR functions. Previously, Colleen worked as an HR Generalist at Harbor Health Services Inc, specializing in onboarding processes and fostering positive employee relations. With prior roles at BR+A Consulting Engineers and Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL), she managed onboarding initiatives, administered employee benefits, and coordinated corporate events. Colleen holds a BA in Psychology from Westfield State University.

DING SUN

Manager, Data Engineering

Ding Sun is a Manager, Data Engineering at RA Capital Management. Ding’s primary responsibility is to help guide internal software development to support competitive landscapes of drugs and medical devices across a range of disease indications and capabilities. He worked previously as a Software Engineer at IBM and Fidelity Investments. Ding holds a BS in Computer Science from The University of California, San Diego.

PHI THACH

Executive Assistant

Phi Thach is an Executive Assistant at RA Capital Management. Phi's primary responsibilities are to support the Operations team by coordinating calendars, events, and company meetings. Phi previously worked as an Executive Assistant at Relay Therapeutics. Prior to Relay, she worked as an Executive Assistant at Bullhorn, Inc. Phi holds an AS in Business Administration from Middlesex Community College.

KATHRYN TIRRELL

Executive Assistant

Kathryn Tirrell is an Executive Assistant at RA Capital Management. Kathryn's primary responsibilities are to coordinate calendars, events, and company meetings for the TechAtlas division. Kathryn previously held roles as Executive Assistant and Office Manager at Kojin Tx. and Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals. She also gained administrative and client services experience in roles she held at Life Time Athletic, EF Education First, and at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital ICU. Kathryn holds a BS in Exercise and Health Science from the University of Massachusetts Boston.

KATIE TRAN

Finance Associate

Katie Tran is a Finance Associate at RA Capital Management. Her primary responsibilities are to assist with all finance operations related to the Firm. She holds an AS in Accounting and a BS in Management from Bay State College.

SHAWN VALLIERE

Director, Family Office and Partner Services

Shawn Valliere is the Director of Family Office and Partner Services at RA Capital Management. Shawn's primary responsibility is to build an internal financial advisory practice and team that will support RA Partners and Executives. Prior to RA, Shawn was a Partner at Lake Street Advisors, a multi-family office that was acquired by SCS Financial. He was on Lake Street’s management committee, was head of growth and led a team responsible for 20 family engagements. Before Lake Street, Shawn spent 15 years with Fidelity Investments where he worked in both the retail and institutional divisions. He helped develop Fidelity Family Office Services and led a team that advised over 80 single family offices. Shawn holds a BA in Business Administration from Saint Anselm College, an MBA from the Questrom School of Business at Boston University and a JD from Suffolk University Law School. Shawn is also a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association and is a professor for the Department of Economics and Business at Saint Anselm College where he teaches Business Law.

SEANNA VILLARREAL

Office Administrator

Seanna Villarreal is an Office Administrator at RA Capital Management. Seanna’s primary responsibilities are to manage the front desk and support daily office operations. Previously, she was a Legal Assistant at a law firm. Seanna holds a BA in Business Administration from University of Massachusetts Lowell.

TJ WARWICK

Assistant Controller

TJ Warwick is an Assisant Controller at RA Capital Management. His primary responsibilities are to assist with accounting, financial reporting and investment valuation. Prior to RA, TJ was at KPMG where he was a Senior Audit Associate. Prior to KPMG, TJ worked within the AP/Office Admin function with the Boston Red Sox. TJ holds a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from Northeastern University.

BETHANY WRIGHT

Senior Finance Associate

Bethany is a Senior Finance Associate at RA Capital Management. Her primary responsibilities are to assist with all finance operations related to the Firm. She previously worked as a Finance Associate at the MFA Companies. She holds a BS in Corporate Finance & Accounting and an MBA from Salem State University.

KEVIN YANG

Software Engineer

Kevin Yang is a Software Engineer at RA Capital Management. Kevin’s primary responsibility is to help guide internal software development to support competitive landscapes of drugs and medical devices across a range of disease indications and capabilities. Prior to RA, Kevin worked at StubHub, where he helped design and implement a new ad-serving engine responsible for delivering high quality advertisements to millions of customers. Previously, he also worked at the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab where he focused on an AI fairness paper and generalization techniques for out of domain data. He holds a BS in Computer Science and a MEng in Computer Science from MIT.

MELAT ANTENEH

UX/UI Lead

Melat is the UX/UI Lead at RA Ventures where she focuses on new company creation. Prior to Raven, Melat was a member of McKinsey & Company’s Life Science Intelligence team where she co-led the Global McKinsey HealthTech Network and Global People Experience Committee. Prior to McKinsey, Melat conducted research at several institutions including MIT Media Lab, the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and Fort Belvoir Hospital Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic. During this time she published multiple papers on communication, learning, and spatial ability in virtual reality. Melat holds both a BS in Computation and Cognition and a MEng from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

HUGO ARELLANO-SANTOYO

Senior Director of Corporate Development

Hugo Arellano-Santoyo is a Senior Director of Corporate Development at RA Ventures (RAVen), focusing on new company creation. Prior to joining RA, Hugo was a Principal and Senior Associate at Third Rock Ventures where he worked on company creation and investments across various therapeutic areas, helping build companies such as CLASP therapeutics. Previously, Hugo was at the Novartis Venture Fund working on the investment team. Before that, he was at Novartis where he collaborated with the NIBR and Corporate Strategy teams on a number of projects and was in the research organization in the Chemical Biology and Therapeutics group. Hugo holds a PhD in Biological and Biomedical Sciences from Harvard University, M.Sc. in Molecular and Cellular Biology (Biophysics) from the University of Washington, and a B.S. in Physics from Princeton University.

JOEL C. BARRISH, Ph.D.

Venture Partner

Joel is currently a Venture Partner at Raven and the President and Chief Scientific Officer at Jnana Therapeutics, a company focused on unlocking hard-to-drug targets, including solute carrier proteins (SLCs). Prior to Jnana, Joel served as Chief Scientific Officer at Achillion Pharmaceuticals, where he led discovery efforts on Factor D inhibitors for the treatment of Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria and C3 Glomerulopathy. Most of Joel’s career was spent as a medicinal chemist in pharma, where he capped a 28-year career at Bristol-Myers Squibb by spending the last five years as Vice President and Head of Discovery Chemistry, working across all therapeutic areas. In that role, Joel worked with teams responsible for advancing more than 40 compounds into clinical development, including Sprycel (dasatinib), which he co-invented. While at BMS, Joel and his colleagues made notable advances in the area of kinase inhibitor drug discovery, particularly in immunology and oncology. He is a co-author on over 130 peer reviewed publications and is a co-inventor on 40 issued U.S. patents. Prior to moving to BMS, he spent five years at Hoffmann La-Roche as a research scientist. Joel received his doctorate in Organic Chemistry from Columbia University and his bachelor’s in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania.

ALLY BOERTZEL

Executive Assistant

Ally Boertzel is an Executive Assistant at Raven. Her primary responsibilities are to coordinate calendars, events, travel and meetings for the Venture Partners and Entrepreneurs-In-Residence within Raven. Ally brings to Raven nearly a decade of administrative experience. Most recently, Ally spent over five years at Akebia Therapeutics (previously Keryx), where she held Commercial Team Administrator/Internal Meetings Specialist, Sales Team Administrator/Training Specialist and Senior Administrative Assistant roles. Prior to Akebia, she gained Administrative and Resource Management experience at Wellington Management and Signature Consultants, respectively. Ally coached Women's Lacrosse at Muhlenberg College in PA. Prior to her stint coaching, she received her BS in Psychology with a Minor in History from Union College in NY.

MARK BOSHAR

Venture Partner

Mark Boshar is a Venture Partner at Raven, focusing on new company creation. Mark brings to Raven more than twenty-five years of leadership experience in the life sciences industry—spanning operations, corporate development, legal affairs, and intellectual property. Prior to Raven, he was a member of the founding team and Chief Operating Officer at Catamaran Bio, a CAR-NK cell therapy company. In his role at Catamaran, he helped secure a Series A financing with a syndicate of leading investors, rapidly recruit an experienced cell therapy team, access enabling technologies, build a broad patent estate, and design external communication strategies. Prior to Catamaran, Mark served as Vice President, Legal Affairs at Rubius Therapeutics where he was responsible for leading internal legal activities in support of Rubius’ IPO and its growth to a clinical-stage company. Before joining Rubius, Mark spent a decade launching, building or advising a portfolio of early-stage venture backed life-sciences companies, including Visterra, Living proof, Kala Pharmaceuticals, and Homology Medicines. Previously in his career, he served as Associate General Counsel at Millennium Pharmaceuticals (now Takeda Oncology) where he built the legal department and led internal legal activities supporting several transformative pharmaceutical partnerships, a substantial global patent estate, and the company’s IPO. Mark began his professional career as a life sciences attorney with the law firm of Hale and Dorr (now WilmerHale). He holds a JD from Northeastern University School of Law and a BS in Biology from Tufts University.

CASSIE BRYAN, PhD

Director, ML Protein Design

Cassie Bryan is a Director of ML Protein Design at RA Ventures, leading the generation of protein-based solutions across a range of application areas. Her background spans computational protein design, biochemistry, and protein engineering. During her graduate work in David Baker’s lab she developed a de novo hyperstable miniprotein that specifically binds to the inhibitory T cell receptor PD-1. Continuing in her postdoc, she was able to combine that modular PD-1 binding domain with designed protein oligomeric scaffolds to create the first synthetic PD-1 agonist that could be developed as an autoimmune therapeutic. Prior to joining RAVen, Cassie was part of the technical staff in the Synthetic Biology group at Draper where she led and contributed to several cross-disciplinary programs centered around protein engineering, bioinformatics, viral diagnostics, and pathogen detection. She holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Washington.

NEIL BUCKLEY

Venture Partner

Neil Buckley is a Venture Partner at Raven. Since joining, Neil has been involved in the creation of six companies incubated within Raven, including Lusaris Therapeutics, Eliem Therapeutics ($ELYM), Aerovate Therapeutics ($AVTE), Imbria Pharmaceuticals, and Athenen Therapeutics (acquired by Eliem). Neil was previously the Vice President, CMC at Raven and worked across new company formation and in support of portfolio companies. Previously, Neil was Director, Business Development and Project Management at CiVentiChem (acquired by Sterling Pharma Solutions). He holds a MS from Northeastern University and a BA from Hamilton College.

NATALIE CAMACHO

Executive Assistant

Natalie Camacho is an Executive Assistant at Raven. Her primary responsibilities are to coordinate calendars, events, travel and meetings for the Raven Venture Partners. Natalie brings to Raven more than six years of Administrative experience. Prior to Raven, Natalie served as an EA for three years at Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech), a Boston agency supporting business formation and growth in the state's technology sector. Prior to MassTech, Natalie held varying Administrative roles at Northeastern University, Framingham Public Schools, and Bright Horizons Family Solutions. Natalie holds a BA in Psychology from William Paterson University and a MA in Psychology from Seton Hall University.

FANNY CAVALIÉ, MBA

Venture Partner

Fanny Cavalié is a Venture Partner at Raven, focusing on new company creation. Fanny brings nearly twenty years of leadership experience in the life sciences industry, from drug discovery to commercial stages. Prior to joining Raven, Fanny served as Chief Strategy and Business Operations Officer at Foghorn Therapeutics from 2018 to 2024. During her tenure, she built and led business functions, including corporate strategy, business development, alliance management, program leadership, commercial, corporate affairs and operations, in support of Foghorn’s IPO and growth into a clinical-stage company. Fanny also led the negotiation and operationalization of two key partnerships with Merck and Loxo@Lilly. Previously, Fanny spent four years at Biogen in various strategy and commercial positions, including Global Marketing lead for Alzheimer's Disease and Global Strategy Lead for the Multiple Sclerosis portfolio. Fanny also spent a decade at McKinsey in Europe, advising a diverse portfolio of BioPharma’s, payers, and providers. As Associate Partner and Co-leader of the EMEA Pharma Launch service line, she directed more than 50 projects encompassing strategy, organizational transformation, and product commercialization. Fanny holds an MBA from HEC in France.

KARA COLUCCIO

Head of Talent Acquisition and Strategy

Kara Coluccio is the Head of Talent Acquisition and Strategy for Raven where she leads executive search and talent strategy for its portfolio of newly formed companies. She also advises on talent acquisition strategy for venture-stage portfolio companies for RA Capital Management. Prior to joining Raven, Kara worked at Spencer Stuart where she was a member of the global biopharma practice. Kara began her search career in 2004 at Russell Reynolds Associates and has since worked with boutique retained search firms specializing in early-stage biotech company builds across the Board and C-Suite, including leading her own firm for 6 years. Prior to Spencer Stuart, Kara also served as the Managing Partner for Perspective Group where she was responsible for cultivating new clients, executing searches, and leading the firm’s team, strategy, and operations. Kara began her career in healthcare policy in Washington, DC. and did contract projects with PhRMA, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care’s Ethics Advisory Board, Tufts Health Plan’s Government Affairs Division, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Kara holds a BA in the History and Sociology of Science and a Masters of Bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania.

KATIE DAHLSTROM

Vice President, Development Strategy & Operations

Katie Dahlstrom is Vice President, Development Strategy & Operations at Raven. Katie's primary responsibilities at Raven are to lead the development and oversee the implementation of best practices in clinical strategies in RA Capital Management's newcos and portfolio companies. Katie was previously Vice President of Clinical Development Operations at Theseus Pharmaceuticals where she built the development operations organization and executed the early-stage oncology portfolio. Before Theseus, she held increasing levels of responsibility in Clinical Operations at Agios Pharmaceuticals where she oversaw the operational execution of the TIBSOVO® (ivosidenib) program for R/R AML from IND to NDA and the PYRUKIND® (mitapivat) program for pyruvate kinase deficiency from Phase 2 to NDA. Katie has prior clinical operations experience from Takeda Oncology and pharmacovigilance experience from Genzyme, a Sanofi Company. Katie has a BS in Biology from Stonehill College and an MA in Clinical Investigation from Boston University Medical School.

MILIND DESHPANDE, PhD

Venture Partner

Milind Deshpande is a Venture Partner at Raven. Milind has more than 25 years of leadership and operational experience through all stages of drug discovery and development. He is the co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Spero Therapeutics and Scientific Advisory Board member at Avilar Therapeutics. Formerly, he was the CEO at Hyku Biosciences and President and CEO of Nayan Therapeutics and Hyku Biosciences, both were RA Capital portfolio companies. Formerly, he was the President, CEO and member of the Board of Directors of Achillion Pharmaceuticals, and was Group Leader at Bristol-Myers Squibb for all early stage discovery programs in infectious diseases and neuroscience. He is the co-inventor of first-in-class HCV NS5A inhibitors, which led to the approval of DaklinzaTM, the first marketed drug in its class. Milind has co-authored more than 80 scientific articles, is co-inventor on 30 patents, and is a frequent speaker at international scientific conferences. He received his doctorate in Organic Chemistry from Ohio University, and was a Fellow and Instructor in the Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine. Milind attended the residential Executive Program at The Wharton School of Management.

EMILY ENGEL

Senior Manager, Patient Engagement Operations

Emily Engel is a Senior Manager, Patient Engagement Operations at Raven. Emily's primary responsibilities at Raven are to support Clinical Operations and Patient Engagement efforts to identify and implement best practices in clinical trial operations in RA Capital Management's newcos and portfolio companies. Emily was previously the Global Clinical Trial Manager at Amylyx where she managed Phase I-III clinical trials as well as Expanded Access Programs, providing new therapies for rare, neurodegenerative disorders at no cost to participants, including RELYVRIO®/ALBRIOZA™ for the treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Before Amylyx, she was the Clinical Project Manager at Eledon Pharmaceuticals where she managed a team overseeing the operations of several early-stage clinical programs including kidney and islet cell transplantation. She has prior project management and clinical trial experience at IQVIA. Massachusetts General Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Emily has a BS in Public Health Services from the University of Massachusetts - Amherst.

GUNNAR ESIASON, MBA, MPH

Senior Director of Patient Engagement

Gunnar Esiason is Senior Director of Patient Engagement at Raven. Gunnar is a cystic fibrosis and rare disease patient leader, who is passionate about early-stage drug development, patient empowerment, and health policy. Professionally, he is an accomplished patient advocate who has also developed a patient engagement platform for a medical nutrition company, built a venture philanthropy practice at the Boomer Esiason Foundation. He has consulted on clinical trial development, a real-world evidence population health study, and a cystic fibrosis-specific mental health and wellness screening tool. Gunnar holds an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, where he was a Wilson Scholar and received the Julia Stell Award, an M.P.H. from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, and a B.A. from Boston College. His health policy opinions have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Hill, and STAT News.

ERIKA FIGUEROA

Executive Assistant

Erika Figueroa is an Executive Assistant at Raven. Her primary responsibilities are to coordinate calendars, events, travel and meetings for the Venture Partners in addition to providing support to the Operations team within Raven. Erika brings to Raven nearly two decades of administrative experience. Most recently, Erika spent over two years at Bain Capital Life Sciences (BCLS), where she held an Executive Assistant role supporting the Co-Head of Life Sciences. Prior to BCLS, she gained Administrative and Project Management experience at Wellington Management, Wells Fargo Asset Management and PIMCO, respectively. Erika received her BS in Technical Management from DeVry University in Long Beach CA.

JOSEPH FLANAGAN

Senior Director of Data Product

Joseph Flanagan is a Senior Director of Data Product at Raven, leading the development of generalizable data tools to accelerate decision-making across the firm's portfolio. Prior to joining Raven, Joseph held leadership roles at several innovative life sciences companies, including Indigo Agriculture, EQRx, and Montai Therapeutics. At these organizations, he built and led product teams, leveraging modern technologies to drive business growth and improve outcomes. His experience spans the intersection of technology and life sciences, with a focus on using data to empower rapid discovery and decision-making. He holds a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts.

GLENICE GALLAGHER

Senior Talent Acquisition Operations Specialist

Glenice Gallagher is the Senior Talent Acquisition Operations Specialist at Raven. In this role, Glenice works closely with leadership to refine, implement and manage operational strategies related to the talent lifecycle across the organization. Prior to joining Raven, Glenice served as the Senior Talent Acquisition & University Operations Lead at Cerevel Therapeutics, an early/mid stage biotech focused on developing treatments for individuals living with neurological conditions. While there, she was instrumental in establishing and managing standard talent practices to support internal growth. Glenice led Cerevel’s University Programs, and was responsible for the development, recruitment and execution of the InSPiRE Internship and co-op programs. She was a founding member of Cerevel’s Early in Career Group, and oversaw its curriculum planning and management. Glenice holds her B.S. in Psychology and B.A. in Art & Art History from St. Lawrence University. 

COSMAS GIALLOURAKIS

Venture Partner

Cosmas Giallourakis is a Venture Partner at Raven, focusing on new company creation. Cosmas brings to Raven over a decade of leadership experiences at the interface of basic science, drug development and clinical care. Prior to Raven, Cosmas was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Third Rock Ventures and was part of the teams that built Asher Bio (cell targeted biologics for oncology/autoimmune diseases) and Septerna (GPCR focused drug discovery) as well as other NewCOs in development. In addition, Cosmas has co-founded companies including Design Pharma (synthetic bio) and a company in stealth focused on RNA-based genetic medicines. Prior to this, Cosmas was a Director at Takeda Pharmaceuticals where he was responsible for developing multiple partnerships and platforms on emerging technologies, along with leading drug development teams in cell and gene therapies. Before transitioning to industry, Cosmas was a faculty member at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), where he had an active gastroenterology clinical practice and ran a lab whose research centered on fundamental aspects of RNA and epigenetics. Cosmas’s academic research has been published in journals such as Cell, Science, and Nature. Cosmas received his BS in Physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his MD from Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital and completed his clinical gastroenterology fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School as well post-doctoral training with Frederick Alt, an HHMI investigator, in molecular immunology.

CHRIS HALPIN

Director of Operations and Laboratory Management

Chris Halpin is the Director of Operations and Laboratory Management at Raven. His primary responsibilities are to provide strategic direction and execution to newly-formed Raven companies ready to expand their operations and facilities. Most recently, Chris worked as Director of Operations at TRIANA Biomedicines, where he managed the operation of several laboratories and office locations and built out the IT, Facilities, Recruiting, and Administrative functions. Prior to that, Chris was the Venture Operation Manager at Raven. He has previously held operations roles at Synlogic, Cabot, and Great Hill Partners. He holds a BA in Sociology from Suffolk University.

ALLISON HARRIGAN, MBA

Senior Director Corporate Development

Allison Harrigan is Senior Director of Corporate Development at Raven focusing on new company creation. Prior to joining Raven, Allison was Executive Director of Strategy and Business Development at a neuroscience biotech company operating in stealth. Previously, Allison spent over three years at Valo Health in positions of increasing responsibility. As Director of Corporate Strategy, she was responsible for driving strategic initiatives, held a key role in fundraising, and led key business development efforts, including the diligence, acquisition and integration of a drug discovery company and two clinical drug programs. Prior to Valo Health, she spent over three years at McKinsey where she primarily served pharmaceutical and biotech clients on topics including R&D strategy, portfolio management, and innovation. Allison started her career at the National Institutes of Health in a drug discovery group focused on rare and neglected diseases. Allison received her MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management, and her BS degree in Chemistry from Georgetown University.

GARRETT HEFFNER, PhD

Entrepreneur in Residence

Garrett Heffner is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Raven, focusing on genetic medicines. In this role, he will work to evaluate and incubate early-stage therapeutic programs. Garrett has over 20 years of experience in cell and gene therapy, including over 12 years in roles of increasing responsibility in biotech companies, including with Bluebird Bio, Audentes Therapeutics, and Ambys Medicines, and he was most recently the VP of Gene Therapy at Voyager Therapeutics. Garrett has worked cross-functionally across the landscape of in vivo and ex vivo genetic medicine modalities, often at the interface of payload design, platform research and manufacturing, IND-enabling activities, bioanalytical and computational biology, and strategy. Garrett received a BS with honors from the California Institute of Technology while publishing his first paper with Dr. Paul H. Patterson, holds a PhD in Immunology from Stanford University, where he studied hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells with Dr. Irving L. Weissman, and completed his post-doctoral training at Childrens Hospital Boston/Harvard Medical School studying ES/iPSC specification to the hematopoietic fate with Dr. George Q. Daley.

JACLYN HENDERSON, PhD

Entrepreneur in Residence

Jaclyn Henderson is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Raven, focusing on new company creation. Jaclyn joins Raven from Arclight Therapeutics where as VP Early Discovery, she was responsible for developing a diverse portfolio of early-stage assets across neurodegenerative diseases. Her prior roles include Pfizer, Biogen, Vertex and Jnana Therapeutics. During her career, she has worked on developing four clinical stage compounds across several therapeutic areas including Parkinson’s Disease, and Phenylketonuria. Jaclyn holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh and completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Aberdeen.

JONATHAN HILL, PhD

Entrepreneur in Residence

Jonathan is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Raven. In this role, he evaluates and incubates early-stage therapeutic programs. Jonathan most recently served as Vice President of Biology at Surface Oncology, where he led a diverse group of scientists in developing therapeutic antibodies to enhance anti-tumor immune responses in patients with cancer. His team’s responsibilities spanned from target validation to IND-enabling studies and supported translational efforts to monitor these therapeutics’ biological activity in clinical trials. Prior to Surface Oncology, Jonathan held several positions of increasing responsibility at Tempero Pharmaceuticals and GlaxoSmithKline within the Immuno-Inflammation Therapeutic Area. His group’s efforts were focused on target identification/validation and high-throughput phenotypic screening aimed at modulating Treg and Th17 cells in autoimmune disease and cancer. Jonathan earned his bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and PhD in Immunology at the University of Western Ontario and was a post-doctoral fellow in the lab of Christophe Benoist and Diane Mathis at Harvard Medical School.

PEYMAN HOSSEINCHI, PhD

RA Ventures Senior Associate

Peyman Hosseinchi is a Senior Associate at Raven. Peyman's primary responsibility is NewCo creation in collaboration with Ventures Partners and Entrepreneur-in-Residences at Raven. Prior to joining Raven, Peyman was an Associate within the TechAtlas division of RA Capital Management, focusing on identifying emerging therapeutics and advising RA Capital's portfolio companies on their pipeline. Peyman holds a dual B.S. in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran and a PhD in Molecular Engineering from Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago.

MILIND KAMKOLKAR

Venture Partner

Milind Kamkolkar is a Venture Partner at Raven focusing on new company creation. He is a seasoned entrepreneur, pre-seed investor, Board Member, and Fortune 500 C-suite executive. Milind’s career has spanned big pharma, big and boutique management consulting organizations, and numerous technology startup companies focused on the intersection of health, AI, and data. Milind is a strategic advisor to several startup companies in the AI applied to healthcare and biotech. He co-founded Paradigm in 2022 backed by Arch and General Catalyst. He raised 203.5M USD for their Series A, focused on creating equitable access to clinical trials as a treatment option for any patient, anywhere. Before that, Milind was the CDO of Cellarity, a Flagship Pioneering biotechnology company that, using AI, is rewriting the rules of drug creation by unraveling the complexity of disease biology at the cellular level. At Flagship, Milind supported numerous AI for drug discovery initiatives including seeding Pioneering Intelligence. At Sanofi, Milind was the pharmaceutical industry's first enterprise Chief Data Officer. As VP of AI & Behavioral Science, Milind launched the AI & Data Science role in Digital Medicine at Novartis. He was also on the Board of Directors for Castor and Turbine, two techbio companies specializing in improving clinical trials and drug discovery simulation. Milind is a featured speaker; TEDx, Top 100 Leaders in AI, Business Transformation Top 150 Leader, and a thought leader in Digital Health, AI & Big Data. He has also served as an Honorary Lecturer for physician entrepreneurship at BartsX, Faculty at Exponential Medicine, and a Former Special Advisor to the UN Global Sustainable Development Goals. Milind completed his undergraduate degree from the University of Sydney and graduated with his Masters from Thomas Jefferson University.

SONIA KARTHA, PhD

RA Ventures Senior Associate

Sonia Kartha is a Senior Associate at Raven. Sonia's primary responsibility is NewCo creation in collaboration with Ventures Partners and Entrepreneur-in-Residences. Prior to joining Raven, Sonia was an Associate within the TechAtlas division of RA Capital where she worked closely with members of the investment team and portfolio companies to deeply understand competitive landscapes, evaluated investment opportunities in a variety of therapeutic areas across all stages, and advised portfolio companies on program and pipeline strategy. Sonia has a BA in Chemistry and a PhD in Bioengineering, both from the University of Pennsylvania.

ALBERT KIM, MD/PhD

Venture Partner

Albert Kim is a Venture Partner at Raven focusing on new company creation. He is a physician-scientist experienced in novel therapeutic product development, translational science, and clinical medicine. He was Chief Medical Officer at Cytel, Inc. where he led clinical and medical development interests across business units including the Solara© software platform for clinical trial design, and served as general manager for the Therapeutics Development Team. Prior to Cytel, Dr. Kim held leadership roles at Novartis and Pfizer. During his Pfizer tenure, he was the Vice President, Clinical Research Head for the Internal Medicine Research Unit and oversaw clinical research efforts for the legacy neuroscience portfolio and cardiometabolic diseases. Dr Kim contributed to development programs for Ilaris®, Gilenya®, bococizumab, clesacostat, Comirnaty®, ponsegromab, and danuglipron.

Prior to Novartis and Pfizer, Dr. Kim worked at the FDA in the Division of Cardiac Devices as a medical reviewer and project lead for the industry guidance document on catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation. Dr. Kim achieved board certification in internal medicine, cardiology, and clinical cardiac electrophysiology and practiced clinical medicine for 18 years, He has held academic appointments with VA Boston Cardiac Electrophysiology Section, Boston University, and Harvard Medical School. Additionally, he is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC) and the Heart Rhythm Society (FHRS). Dr. Kim earned his undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering from Harvard, MD and PhD degrees from UCLA, completed his residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, cardiology fellowship training at Massachusetts General Hospital, and clinical cardiac electrophysiology training at UCSF.

PRISCILLA LEE, PhD

RA Ventures Associate

Priscilla Lee is an Associate at Raven. Priscilla's primary responsibility is NewCo creation in collaboration with Ventures Partners and Entrepreneur-in-Residences at Raven. Prior to joining Raven, Priscilla was an Associate within the TechAtlas division of RA Capital Management, focusing on identifying emerging therapeutics and advising RA Capital's portfolio companies on their pipeline. Priscilla has a BS in Life Science from National Taiwan University, an MS in Immunology from National Taiwan University College of Medicine, and a PhD in Biomedical Science from The Ohio State University.

DAVID LUBNER

Venture Partner

David Lubner is a Venture Partner at Raven. Prior to joining Raven, David was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Ra Pharmaceuticals Inc. from 2016 until it was acquired by UCB S.A. in 2020. Previously, David served as Chief Financial Officer of Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals from its inception in 2006 to 2016, as Chief Financial Officer of PharMetrics from 1999 until it was acquired by IMS Health in 2005 and as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of ProScript from 1996 to 1999, where Velcade® (bortezomib), a therapy widely used for the treatment of the blood cancer multiple myeloma, was discovered. Independent from RA, David serves as a member of the board of directors of Arcellx, Inc. (Nasdaq: ACLX), Dyne Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq:DYNE), Vor Biopharma Inc. (Nasdaq:VOR) and Point Biopharma, Inc. (Nasdaq:PNT) and several other private companies. David previously served on the board of directors of Nightstar Therapeutics plc from 2017 until it was acquired by Biogen in June 2019

NEEL MADHUKAR, PhD

Senior Director, AI Product

Neel Madhukar is a Senior Director, AI Product, at Raven, where he focuses on new company creation. Prior to Raven, Neel was the CEO and founder of OneThree Biotech, a company developing novel oncology therapeutics driven by an AI -powered discovery engine. During his time at OneThree, he led the company's internal engineering and R&D efforts (resulting in a preclinical pipeline of multiple novel cancer targets), external biopharma partnerships, organizational strategy, and fundraising. In addition to his role at OneThree he was an advisor to multiple AI + Bio companies and organizations, including Lantern Pharma, Merck's Digital Sciences Studio, and AAIH’s working group for AI for Drug Development and Safety. Neel is a computational biologist by training and has multiple publications in the fields of machine learning, drug discovery, and precision medicine, with his work published in journals like Nature Communications and Cell Reports. This has led to the development of new AI methods, the discovery of a novel class of cancer therapeutics, and the start of new oncology clinical trials. Neel is an awardee of the PhRMA informatics fellowship, was named one of Forbes “30 under 30” in Healthcare, and was named as one of the top 100 AI Leaders in Drug Discovery and Advanced Healthcare by Deep Knowledge Analytics. Neel has a PhD in Computational Biology and Medicine from Weill Cornell Medical College and a BS in Biochemistry, Cellular, and Molecular Biology.

KARA MAKOWSKI

Total Rewards, Associate Director*

Kara serves as the Total Rewards, Associate Director for Raven and RA Capital Management. Kara is responsible for working across the firm's leadership to develop a comprehensive Total Rewards strategy, including managing our annual total rewards and compensation competitive analyses and finding new, innovative approaches to our Total Rewards program. Kara brings over 15 years of Human Resources experience. Before joining Raven, Kara was the Human Resources Manager at PSPDFKit where she was responsible for the provision of global human resources. Prior to PSPDFKit, she was the Senior Human Resources Manager at Intelerad Medical Systems where she facilitated the company’s growth from 60 to 350 employees; and led the HR integration process for five mergers and acquisitions. Her prior experience includes various leadership roles in Human Resources and Operations at Tiverton Advisors and Prometheus Group. Kara received her Bachelor of Science in Gerontology from the University of South Florida.

*Shared resource between RA Ventures and RA Capital.

ED MONAGHAN, PhD

Entrepreneur in Residence

Ed Monaghan is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Raven. In this role, he works closely with the RA Capital Management Investment Team to evaluate and incubate early-stage therapeutic programs. Ed has 30 years of experience in preclinical and clinical drug development, and in regulatory affairs for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. After joining Raven as Chief Development Officer, Ed built the development team, oversaw development of six compounds from discovery-stage through to clinical-stage, and led the formation of several new companies, including Lusaris Therapeutics. Ed began his career working with neurologically active compounds at Allergan, CoCensys, and Serono. Since 2002, he has been working in start-up pharma companies, including co-founding Thesan Pharmaceuticals and NeoKera, where he assumed responsibilities for all development activities, including regulatory affairs. Ed holds a PhD in neuroscience from the University of California Berkeley, an MS in psychology from Villanova University, and a BA from La Salle University.

ANISH MORE, MBA

Senior Director of Healthcare Services

Anish More is a Senior Director of Healthcare Services at Raven. Anish's primary responsibility is supporting the team in evaluating investments and developing NewCos. Prior to joining Raven, Anish spent his career developing healthcare services in strategy and product development roles at CVS Health, Aetna, and Signify Health. He started his career at IBM on the IBM Watson team. Anish holds an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and a BA from Michigan State University.

ROBERT NICOL, PhD

Venture Partner

Robert Nicol is a Venture Partner at Raven, focusing on company creation. Prior to Raven, Rob spent 21 years at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, most recently as the Senior Director of Technology Development and a Principal Investigator. His laboratory at the Broad focused on advanced high throughput biotechnology tools including DNA synthesis, single cell analysis, synthetic biology derived biomolecule libraries, and microbiome profiling. Robert has led multiple DARPA, IARPA, and NIH advanced technology development programs. He is also the co-founder of multiple biotechnology companies including HiFiBiO and Design Pharmaceuticals. He served on the Scientific Advisory Boards of multiple companies including DNA Script, Danaher Life Sciences, and CircBio. Robert also led the Sequencing Operations and Technology Development groups at the Broad for over 12 years, implementing industrial process control methods, developing multiple generations of high-throughput DNA sequencing technologies, and establishing an agile learning culture in the organization. Prior to his career at the Broad Institute, Robert was an MIT Leaders for Manufacturing Fellow, and a project manager for Fluor Corporation, where he managed large-scale petrochemical design and construction projects. Robert received his BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Houston. He earned an MS in chemical engineering and his MBA and PhD in engineering systems from MIT.

NIK OBHOLZER, PhD

Senior Director Omics and AI

Nik Obholzer is the Senior Director Omics and AI at Raven. Prior to Raven, Nik was a Director of Computational Biology at Kronos Bio. Over the course of his career, he has worked in academia, consulting, biotech, and pharma. Nik holds a PhD in Biology from Heidelberg University in Germany.

JACOB OPPENHEIM, PhD

Venture Partner

Jacob Oppenheim is a Venture Partner at RA Ventures (RAVen), focusing on new company creation. Prior to joining RAVen, Jacob was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Digitalis Ventures and co-founded Fresnel, a "Bloomberg for Biology" platform. He previously served as Vice President of Data Science and Engineering at EQRx, where he led the development of data strategy and implementation of scalable data infrastructure. Jacob also held leadership roles at Indigo, including Senior Director of Data Science, where he developed machine learning systems for agricultural applications. Jacob holds extensive experience in building and scaling high-performing cross-functional teams in data science, engineering, and product development, with a focus on applying AI/ML to biological problems. He has presented at top conferences and is named on multiple patent applications in the field. He holds a PhD in Biological Physics from Rockefeller University and an AB in Physics from Princeton University.

SARA PACHECO

Director of Finance

Sara Pacheco is the Director of Finance at Raven, focusing on providing strategic finance support to newco's from incubation through formation and beyond. Before this role, Sara was a Director of Accounting and Finance at van den Boom & Associates where she worked as a Controller consultant with companies of various sizes in the life sciences sector. Her primary responsibilities included overseeing day-to-day accounting, monitoring budget performance, preparing financial analyses, and providing SOX compliance support. Before entering the life science space, Sara held various accounting roles in the retail industry and started her career at Deloitte. Sara has a BA in Economics and Accounting from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She is a CPA.

SOPHIE PAPA, FRCP PhD

Consulting Venture Partner

Sophie Papa is a Venture Partner Consultant at Raven, a Clinical Reader (Associate Professor) of Immune Oncology at King’s College London and the Chief Medical Officer of Enara Bio. Dr. Papa is a Medical Oncologist with over twenty years of experience. She worked as a melanoma oncologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (GSTFT) in London, UK. She was a principal investigator on the early phase trials team with clinical research expertise spanning first in human to late phase clinical trial leadership and experience. She was program lead for Cell and Gene Therapy at GSTFT working with a broad multidisciplinary team to bring together GMP manufacturing, biological safety and clinical excellence in delivery of complex cellular and genetic medicines.

Dr. Papa received her doctorate in solid tumor CAR T cell therapy from King’s College London, her pre-clinical medical degree from St John’s College, University of Oxford, and her clinical medical degree from Imperial College London. She has published over sixty papers in the field of oncology and cancer immunology. Dr. Papa was awarded a Medical Research Council Clinician Scientist Fellowship in 2013 and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London.

ALONSO RICARDO, PhD

Venture Partner

Alonso Ricardo PhD, is a Venture Partner at RA Ventures. Prior to Raven Alonso co-founded and was the former Chief Scientific Officer of Mariana Oncology, an RA Capital portfolio company focused on the development of targeted therapies for the treatment of solid tumors (acquired by Novartis). Before this, he was an entrepreneur in residence at RA Capital Management and the Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at Ra Pharmaceuticals (acquired by UCB). Alonso has experience leading scientific programs across multiple therapeutic programs in immunology, metabolic diseases, and oncology. He led the discovery and early development of ZILBRYSQ®, a first-in-class immune modulator peptide drug approved for the treatment of generalized myasthenia gravis, the discovery of an orally available peptide targeting PCSK9 (MK-0616) in development by Merck for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, and the discovery of radiotheranostic peptides for the treatment of a variety of solid tumors. Alonso was formerly a professor at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Colombia, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellow at Harvard University and the Massachusetts General Hospital. He obtained his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Florida and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution.

KAT RIESEN

Senior VP, Finance

Kat Riesen is the Senior VP, Finance at Raven. Kat’s primary responsibility is supporting newcos, portfolio companies and executives within Raven, focusing on strategic finance. Prior to joining Raven, Kat was a Partner at van den Boom & Associates where she provided accounting and finance services including new company formation through IPO and public company accounting support, SOX compliance implementation, and financial modeling to several public and private life science companies. Before entering the life science space, Kat held various accounting roles in the retail industry and started her career at Ernst & Young. Kat has a BS in Business Administration, majoring in Accounting from the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management. She is a CPA.

PAUL ROTHMAN, M.D.

Venture Partner

Paul Rothman, M.D. is a Venture Partner at Raven. Prior to joining Raven, he was the former Dean of the Medical Faculty for the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine from 2012 until 2022. A rheumatologist and molecular immunologist, he came to Hopkins after serving as Dean of the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa. Previously, he served as Head of Internal Medicine at the University of Iowa, and Vice Chairman for Research and Founding Director of the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Rothman received his BS from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Medical degree from Yale University. He trained at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in internal medicine and rheumatology and held a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University. Dr Rothman's research focused on immune system molecules known as cytokines. Specifically, he investigated the role these molecules play in the normal development of blood cells, as well as the abnormal development of these blood cell that leads to leukemia. Dr. Rothman serves on the boards of Merck, Labcorp as well as the King Faisal Specialty Hospital.

GERALD SEWACK, PhD

Venture Partner

Gerald is Vice President of Scientific Operations at Raven. In this role, Gerald is responsible for evaluating new technology and novel biology to originate and support the generation of new companies in collaboration with Raven’s Venture Partners and Entrepreneur-in-Residences. He also supports select Raven portfolio companies in active strategic operating roles and serves as Board Director for GIVax, Summation Bio, and Astro Therapeutics. Prior to this, Gerald was Director of Scientific Operations for RA Capital. He worked previously at Global Prior Art, an intellectual property analysis firm, as a Partner and the Director of the Life Sciences Division. Gerald holds a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Harvard Medical School. His research investigated chromatin structure and transcription factor binding.

BIMAL SHAH, MD

Venture Partner

Bimal Shah, M.D. is a Venture Partner at Raven. He is a cardiologist who was formerly the Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder of Homeward. Previously, Dr. Shah was the Chief Medical Officer at Teladoc after its merger with Livongo Health. In these roles he oversaw clinical product strategy and, value and insight analytics, behavioral health strategy, quality and credentialing, and commercial enablement. Prior to Livongo, he was the Chief Medical Officer for Emerging Technology and Informatics and Service Line Vice President for Life Sciences at Premier Inc. Prior to Premier, Dr. Shah served as an Assistant Professor in both the Department of Medicine and Fuqua School of Business at Duke University as well as Director of Quality for the Department of Medicine. He remains on faculty at Duke. Dr. Shah received his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and earned both a MD and MBA from Duke University. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Stanford University before finishing a general cardiology fellowship at Duke University.

JAMES STANKOWICZ

Senior Director, AI Product

James Stankowicz is a Senior Director, AI Product at Raven, where he focuses on new company creation. Prior to Raven, James worked in biotech and on US Department of Defense (DoD) research programs. At Flagship Pioneering, James was an original member of the Pioneering Intelligence team, with a focus on using large language models to bootstrap the Flagship innovation pipeline. James has been a PI on several large DoD research programs at both BAE Systems FAST Labs and STR. He has focused on a wide range of topics including multimodal large language models, information extraction, AI forensics, deep learning in signals processing, deep learning on networks, reinforcement learning, and generative AI models for biological sequences. James has several patents and research publications in machine learning and graph theory resulting from this work. James was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Brown University High Energy Theory group; holds a PhD in Theoretical Physics from UCLA where he was an NDSEG scholar; and Holds a BS in Physics from the University of Florida Honors College where he graudated summa cum laude.

ANISH SURI, PhD

Consulting Venture Partner

Anish Suri is a Consulting Venture Partner at Raven and the Executive Vice President and CSO at Synolo. He is an immunologist with more than 20 years of experience in basic and translational research focused on immuno-oncology, autoimmune disorders, transplantation rejection, and inflammation. In his last role as President and CSO of Cue Biopharma, he was responsible for shaping the corporate and scientific strategy to develop novel therapeutic platforms for oncology and autoimmune diseases, which led to several compounds that are currently in clinical development. Prior to joining Cue Biopharma, he held roles of increasing responsibility at Janssen Pharmaceuticals (Johnson & Johnson) with the primary focus on identifying early triggers of immune dysfunction and therapeutic opportunities to reset immune balance. While at Janssen, in 2015 he was recognized by PharmaVOICE as one of the100 Most Inspiring Leaders in the Life Sciences. Prior to Janssen, he was responsible for providing strategic guidance to immuno-oncology and immunology drug discovery programs at Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute. Before his work in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Suri was Assistant Professor of Pathology and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine. He received his Ph.D. in immunology from Washington University St. Louis.

ADAM TRAVIS, MD

Vice President of Corporate Development

Adam Travis, MD is Vice President of Corporate Development at Raven, where he is focused on new venture incubation in healthcare services. Prior to joining Raven, Adam was VP Corporate Strategy at Teladoc Health - a scale-leading international provider of virtual and digital healthcare products and services. In this role, he was responsible for leading long-range strategic and financial planning, enterprise product and platform investment planning, and growth / GTM strategy for Teladoc’s largest business unit focused on services sold to US payers and self-insured employers. Adam began his career as a radiologist, but for the past 10+ years he has worked entirely in Strategy, GM, and Product leadership roles in health tech and healthcare delivery businesses and has advised clients and led Product and Commercial teams as an expert on care delivery innovation and value-based care. Prior to joining Teladoc through its acquisition of Livongo in 2020, Adam was a VP of Product Management and GM at Clarify Health and before that a Principal at Boston Consulting Group where he focused on growth and M&A strategy for clients spanning biopharma, medical device, payer, and provider sectors of the healthcare industry. He completed residency training and board certification in diagnostic radiology at University of Chicago Hospitals where he served as Chief Resident in 2012, and holds a Doctor of Medicine from University of Louisville School of Medicine and a Bachelor of Engineering in Biomedical Engineering with Honors from Vanderbilt University.

NOAH ULLMAN

Senior Director, AI Product

Noah is a Senior Director, AI Product at Raven, where he focuses on new company creation. Noah has led teams in developing digital health tools that integrate clinical and biological datasets, with a focus on scalable precision medicine. Most recently, he designed and built a direct-to-patient platform for modeling computable human health phenotypes across multiple therapeutic areas. Noah’s experience further includes leading strategic partnerships and building software products at the Matrix Capital & Mayo Ventures-backed biomedical AI startup nference. He was instrumental in the early commercialization of nference's clinical data analytics platform, where the team leveraged the Mayo Clinic’s unparalleled electronic health records alongside cutting-edge computational techniques to accelerate clinical trial design, recruitment, and lifecycle management in partnership with pharmaceutical companies. Noah also co-founded and served as co-CEO and CBO to Abyssinia Biologics, a CNS therapeutics company, where he was responsible for raising the company’s seed round, building the preclinical development team, and establishing strategic partnerships to advance monoclonal antibody therapies targeting protein aggregation disorders. He hold a BSc. in Business Marketing and Entrepreneurship from Montana State University.

MICHAEL VARNUM

Manager, Project & Portfolio Analytics

Michael Varnum is a Manager, Project & Portfolio Analytics, at RA Ventures (Raven). Michael tracks and summarizes progress on all internal projects as well as performs research and data analysis for several of our projects. Before RA Ventures, he was a Senior Research Assistant with the TechAtlas division of RA Capital, conducting research and analysis for competitive landscapes of drugs and medical devices across a range of disease indications and capabilities. Prior to RA, he served as a Business Development Intern at Lykan Bioscience and as an Isenberg Business Innovation Fellow at the UMass Amherst Institute for Applied Life Sciences. Michael has a B.S. in Business Administration in Management with a Minor in Biology from UMass Amherst Commonwealth Honors College.

MARYANN VIGLIOTTA

Vice President of Operations and HR

Maryann Vigliotta is the Vice President of Operations and HR at Raven. In this role, Maryann supports start-up business infrastructure development for newcos as well as provides strategic HR guidance for founding team members. Prior to joining Raven, Maryann was Director of Business Operations and HR at Q32 Bio where she wore many hats helping to establish the company’s business infrastructure including IT, contract management, facilities, administrative support, Human Resources, recruiting, internal communications and was a strong driver of company culture. Prior to Q32 Bio, Maryann worked as the Operations Manager for Surface Oncology and several other biotech start-up companies from discovery research through end of Phase 2 Clinical trials. Maryann received her Bachelor of Science in English from Northeastern University.

IRIS WANG

Director of Talent Acquisition

Iris Wang is Director of Talent Acquisition at Raven. In this role, Iris works closely with leadership to execute strategies for full-cycle recruiting across the organization. Before joining Raven, Iris served as a Business Unit Talent Acquisition Lead at Flagship Pioneering. In this role, she was instrumental in developing and executing recruitment strategies for a wide range of Flagship’s portfolio companies, divisions, and origination teams. Prior to Flagship, Iris was a Senior Talent Acquisition Partner at Biogen. She was a trusted talent advisor for large R&D and global medical affairs teams and thEntrepreneur-in-Residence leaders. She led multiple talent expansion projects to fruition and was a key contributor to develop scalable operational best practices. Iris was the first talent partner at Biogen to conceive and oversee a comprehensive recruitment marketing campaign with the journal Nature. Iris’ passion for recruitment and healthcare started over a decade ago when she worked to recruit patients for national and international HIV/AIDS clinical trials at Fenway Health, a Boston-based health center with a mission to enhance the wellbeing of the LGBTQIA+ community and beyond. Iris holds a B.A. in English from the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing and an M.S. in Business and Corporate Communications from Simmons School of Management.

JOSH XIAO, PhD

Entrepreneur in Residence

Josh Xiao is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Raven, focusing on developing novel biologics. Prior to joining Raven, Josh served as Vice President and Head of Research at Binacea Pharma, a clinical stage biotech with a focus on first-in-class bi-/multi-specific conditional-active biologics for immuno oncology and autoimmune diseases. Prior to that, Josh led data driven antibody target and drug discovery at Amgen, where he led several antibody projects in both ADC and CD3 bispecific modalities. Josh has also previously worked at 23andMe, where he led target and drug discovery efforts in oncology, NASH and related metabolic diseases. Josh began his biotech career at Millennium Pharmaceuticals and has also worked in several biotech startups. Josh earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Louisiana State University and completed his post-doctoral training in Dr. James Manley’s lab at Columbia University.

SAM XIFARAS

Software Engineer III- Full Stack

Sam is a full stack software engineer at RA Ventures. Prior to Raven he was a full stack software engineer at Paperless Parts, a SaaS company that makes innovative quoting software for manufacturers He Holds a MS in computer science from Northeastern University. 

KATRINA BOGAN-BROWN, PHD

Advisor

Katrina Bogan-Brown is an Advisor at Raven. Prior to joining Raven, Katrina was founder of Brownian Consulting, a firm dedicated to securing nondilutive funding for clients. In this position, Katrina provided grant writing and scientific consulting services to clients from colleges, universities, research centers, start-up and established science and technology companies, and non-profits. She secured funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Energy (DOE), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Economic Development Administration (EDA), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and numerous private foundations. To date, Katrina has designed and executed funding strategies that led to acquisition of more than $150 million in nondilutive funds for clients. Katrina received a BS in Biology from Providence College and a PhD in Biochemistry from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College.

MIKE CLOONAN

Advisor

Mike is President and Chief Executive Officer of Sionna and a Raven Advisor. He is a respected biotech leader with over twenty years of biopharma experience across global organizations. Most recently he served as Chief Operating Officer at Sage Therapeutics leading all the business functions (commercial, medical affairs, government affairs, business development, technical operations, strategy and program management) and G&A functions. During his four years with Sage, he helped lead the growth of the organization through multiple capital raises, the launch of the company’s first product, and execution of a transformational, multi-billion collaboration. Prior to Sage, he had a 14-year tenure at Biogen in various business and commercial roles. His most recent role at Biogen was as Senior Vice President, U.S. Commercial, where he was the general manager of the MS, hemophilia, and SMA franchises. Prior to Biogen, Mike worked at Bain & Company as a consultant specializing in healthcare. Mike earned his MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration.

RAMIN FARZANEH-FAR

Advisor

Ramin Farzaneh-Far is the Chief Medical Officer at Capstan. Previously, as Venture Partner at Raven he worked closely with RA Capital Management’s Investment 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.

DANIEL GRAU

Advisor

Daniel Grau is a Raven Advisor and experienced biotech entrepreneur and operating executive, currently serves as CEO and Director at Avilar Therapeutics, a leading extracellular protein degradation company. He is also an Advisor to HotSpot Therapeutics and recently served on the Board of Directors at Research Alliance Corporation I (merged with POINT Biopharma) and at TetraGenetics (acquired by AbCellera). Prior to Avilar, Mr. Grau was CEO at Sojournix, President at Heptares Therapeutics (acquired 2015), CEO at Cortria (acquired 2010), and COO at CombinatoRx (IPO 2005). He also served as member of the Product Advisory Board at Concert Pharmaceuticals and as an Advisor to Nimbus Therapeutics. Early in his career, Mr. Grau worked with multi-national pharma companies including Pharmacia, Pharmacia & Upjohn, and Eisai as a management consultant focused on corporate strategy, M&A, and new product launch. Prior to management consulting, Mr. Grau was Director of Marketing & Business Development at a clinical information technology startup. Mr. Grau earned his BA with High Honors from Davidson College, where he was awarded a Dana Honor Scholarship and elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and his MPhil, MA, and MAR degrees from Yale University, where he was awarded the Day Graduate Prize and was the recipient of a Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities.

SADIK KASSIM, PhD

Advisor

Sadik Kassim is a Raven Advisor and a scientist and executive with extensive experience in the biotechnology industry with a specific focus on cell and gene therapy bioprocessing and translational research. Currently, he serves as Chief Technology Officer at Danaher, with a focus on new genomic medicines. Most recently, he was Chief Technology Officer at Vor Bio where he built the technical operations team responsible for process development, analytical development, supply chain and manufacturing support of a CRISPR gene-edited HSPC product and oversaw the company’s CAR-T efforts. Prior to Vor, Sadik served as Executive Director at Kite Pharma and led the development of manufacturing processes for autologous CAR-T and TCR-based cell therapies. As the Chief Scientific Officer at Mustang Bio, Sadik managed the foundational build-out of the company’s preclinical and manufacturing activities. Earlier in his career, he was Head of Early Analytical Development for Novartis’ Cell and Gene Therapies Unit and worked on research teams at the National Cancer Institute with Dr. Steven Rosenberg, the University of Pennsylvania Gene Therapy Program with Dr. Jim Wilson, and Johnson and Johnson’s Immunology Discovery group. Sadik and his teams have contributed to the successful BLA and MAA applications for three of the commercially available CAR-T therapies: Kymriah®, Yescarta®, and Tecartus®. Sadik holds a bachelor of science degree in Cell and Molecular Biology from Tulane University, and earned his PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from Louisiana State University.

MICHAEL ROSENZWEIG DVM, PhD

Advisor

Michael is Executive Vice President at Capstan Therapeutics. In his most recent role as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Raven, Michael worked closely with the RA Capital Management Investment Team to evaluate drug discovery platforms and initiate novel therapeutic programs. Michael has more than two decades of experience in immuno-oncology and immunology research in both large pharma and biotech settings. Prior to joining Raven, Michael was Associate Vice President at Merck Research Labs. In this position, he played a critical role in building Merck’s oncology pipeline into one of the most robust in cancer immunotherapy, focusing on a modality-agnostic strategy with a broad biology of targets and Keytruda combination strategies. He was also responsible for initiating the transition of the autoimmunity strategy from one based on systemic immunosuppression to a targeted immunomodulation approach. Prior to his time at Merck, Michael held discovery leadership roles at Immunext and Tolerx. Michael earned a DVM at the University of Pretoria and a PhD in Immunology at the University of Pennsylvania.

MICHAEL SHERMAN, MD

Advisor

Michael Sherman is an Advisor at Raven. Prior to joining Raven, Michael was the Executive Vice President and CMO at Point32Health, formed by the merger of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan. Prior to Point32Health, Michael served as CMO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, the Corporate Medical Director at Humana and also served as Vice President of Network and Consumer Solutions for UnitedHealth Groups subsidiary Ingenix (now part of Optum). Michael has also previously held the position of Vice President and General Manager at Thomson Medstat (now part of IBM Watson Health), as well as held management roles at Immusol, a San Diego-based biotechnology company, HealthAllies, an organization created to provide discretionary medical benefits to the cash-pay market, and Da Vita, a national provider of dialysis services. Before pursuing an M.B.A. at Harvard Business School, Michael received his M.D. from Yale and practiced as a cardiac anesthesiologist. He also holds a B.A. in Anthropology and Natural Sciences and an M.S. in Biomedical Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. Michael is chair of the Board of Managers of the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute. He holds additional board appointments with several well-respected nonprofit organizations, including the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), the Personalized Medicine Coalition, the Harvard Business School Healthcare Initiative, NEHI (Network for Excellence in Health Innovation), and the Massachusetts Rare Disease Advisory Council.

ALISON TISDALE, PhD

Advisor

Alison Tisdale is the Chief Scientific Officer, Sera Medicines. Previously, as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Raven, she focussed on the discovery and development of novel biologics. Alison was the Vice President of Therapeutic Discovery at Seeker Biologics, where she led the development of a high-throughput functional screening platform for multi-specific biologics, and oversaw discovery efforts for the company’s pipeline of antibodies targeting pathologic cell types in autoimmune diseases. Before that, Alison was a founding employee at Immunitas Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech, where she built their discovery and engineering platform and helped shepherd the company’s lead immuno-oncology program into the clinic. Alison has also held roles leading programs and teams at other biotech startups including Generate Biomedicines and Eleven Biotherapeutics. She has a BS and MS in Chemical Engineering and earned her PhD in Biological Engineering from MIT.

PATRICK TROJER, PhD

Advisor

Patrick is a Raven Advisor and joined TRIANA Biomedicines in December of 2021 as President & CEO and Board member after a successful career at Constellation Pharmaceuticals where he served as the company’s CSO. As a founder and member of Constellation’s executive team Patrick materially contributed to several successful financing rounds and deals, including a crossover round, an IPO and the ultimate acqusition of the company. Patrick was instrumental to building Constellation‘s discovery platform, establishing a portfolio of competitive clinical candidates and drove the maturation of the company‘s development efforts, leading to one PhIII and two PhII assets and three additional clinical candidates. Prior to this, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at NYU Medical School in the laboratory of Dr. Danny Reinberg, exploring the functional downstream consequences of changes to the histone posttranslational modification landscape on processes that require access to DNA, including the regulation of gene expression. Patrick received his PhD in Natural Sciences, specifically Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, from the Leopold-Franzens University, Innsbruck, Austria.

JESSE CHEN, PhD

Jesse Chen is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Emeritus, at Raven. In this role he works closely with RA Capital Management's Investment Team to evaluate various drug discovery platforms and initiate novel therapeutics programs. Jesse has more than a decade of discovery research and management experience, from early discovery through preclinical development. Prior to joining Raven, Jesse was Senior Director of Discovery at Kymera Therapeutics. As the first and founding member of Kymera’s scientific team, Jesse was responsible for building the company’s industry-leading targeted protein degradation platform and pipeline, and he helped secure the company’s Series A and B financings as well as a partnership with Vertex. Jesse also held research leadership roles at Moderna Therapeutics and Millennium Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for developing novel platforms and leading discovery programs. Jesse earned his Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry from MIT and was a Harvard Origins Research Fellow.

HABIB DABLE

Habib Dable is a Venture Partner at Raven, focusing on advising and supporting newcos, portfolio companies and executives within Raven. Habib brings to Raven nearly three decades of experience as a strategic leader in Big Pharma and emerging Biotech. Prior to joining Raven, Habib spent five years as President and CEO at Acceleron Pharma. In this role, he propelled the company to the next stage of growth and increased shareholder value by altering the course of this formerly research-based company to prioritize innovation, speed to commercialization, and culture transformation. While at Acceleron he successfully launched the company's first blockbuster asset - REBLOZYL® - and brought in the company's lead drug - Sotatercept - prior to Acceleron's eventual sale to Merck in 2021. Prior to Acceleron, Habib held various leadership roles at Bayer AG during his ~22-year tenure with the company. As President, U.S. Pharmaceuticals at Bayer, he directed a multi-billion-dollar portfolio of products across multiple therapeutic areas (cardiovascular disease, hematology, neurology, oncology, and women's health). Prior to that, he held roles as Executive Vice President, Global Head Specialty Medicine and Vice President, Ophthalmology/Global Launch Team Head, EYLEA®. Habib received his BBA in Marketing & Finance and his MBA in International Business from University of New Brunswick. He completed the Executive Program at Stanford University, Graduate School of Business, as well as the Executive to Leader Institute at Korn/Ferry International. Habib has earned his Director Professionalism® Certificate from the National Association of Corporate Directors.

BEN DAKE, PhD

Ben Dake is a Venture Associate, Emeritus, at Raven. Ben’s primary responsibility at Raven 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 Management. 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.

CONY D'CRUZ

Cony D'Cruz is a Venture Partner, Emeritus at Raven. Prior to Raven, Cony was Executive VP and Chief Business Officer at Schrödinger for eight years, responsible for business development involving strategic collaborations and new company formation as well as software sales in the US and Japan. Prior to Schrödinger, Cony was President/Chief Business Officer at Proteros responsible for all commercial activities. Prior to Proteros, Cony was Senior VP, Business Development, North America for Evotec and was responsible for managing all commercial activities of Evotec in North America. In these commercial roles, he initiated innovative discovery deal structures with venture companies, research foundations, and large integrated deals with pharmaceutical companies. Prior to Evotec, Cony worked at IGEN, where he was responsible for the marketing strategy of the life sciences division; in addition, he was involved in investor presentations and fundraising. Prior to IGEN Cony worked for Corning in the US and in Europe. At Corning, he held a number of sales and marketing roles with increasing responsibility; in his last position at Corning, Cony was responsible for marketing at a new business unit focused on high-throughput screening and molecular biology products. Cony received a BSc in Applied Biology from the University of London and an MBA from The Open University, Milton Keynes UK.

DANIELLE FELDMAN, PhD

Danielle Feldman is the Director of Corporate Development at Aliada Therapeutics. Most recently, she was as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Raven and was a Scientific Co-Founder and Associate Director of Corporate Development at Athenen Therapeutics (merged into Eliem Therapeutics; ELYM). Previously, Danielle was an Associate at RA Capital, and worked in IP and tech licensing at Seven Bridges Genomics and the MIT Technology Licensing Office, respectively. Danielle received her PhD in Neuroscience from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

KEVIN GROSSELIN, PhD

RA Ventures Associate

Kevin Grosselin is Raven Ventures Associate. Kevin's primary responsibilities is to research early-stage projects in collaboration with Raven team members, Venture Partners, and Entrepreneurs-in-Residence. Prior to Raven, Kevin was a postdoctoral associate at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and an EMBO fellow. Kevin has a ME in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from Chimie ParisTech in France, a MS in Biotechnology from the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, and a PhD in Physics and Chemistry from Paris Sciences et Lettres Research University in France.

REZ HALSE, PhD

Rez Halse is a Senior Advisor, Emeritus, at Raven, RA Capital’s healthcare incubator. Rez’s primary responsibility is to lead early-stage private investments in, and oversee the creation of, new companies developing therapeutics and other medical technologies. Rez brings to Raven over 20 years of experience working in the life-science industry. Prior to Raven, he served in a dual role at Merck Research Laboratories (MRL). He was Vice President of Merck business development and licensing where he led BD activities in the US (West Coast), Europe, and Asia Pacific region, as well as President of MRL Ventures where he led equity investing in early-stage therapeutics companies. Prior to Merck, he was a Partner with the Partners Innovation Fund, the corporate venture arm of Mass General Brigham hospital (formerly Partners HealthCare), where he invested in Seed/Series A therapeutics-focused companies. Rez has also held roles at Novartis, a virtual R&D company (BVD), and Xcellsyz Ltd, a UK-based start-up. Rez holds a BSc in biochemistry and PhD in cell biology from Newcastle University, UK.

VIKRAM SHEEL KUMAR, MD

Vikram Sheel Kumar is a Venture Partner, Emeritus, at Raven where he is applying software to develop drugs and new ventures. He is co-founder and CEO of Clear Creek Bio, an RA Capital Management portfolio company. Vikram studied engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi before earning a BS in Operations Research with honors from Columbia University. He holds an MD magna cum laude from Harvard-MIT, Program in Health Sciences and Technology, where he was a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow. He was named an MIT Technology Review 100 innovators under 35 for his MIT Media Lab social enterprise, Dimagi, that has impacted millions with its mobile data collection platform. Vikram trained in clinical pathology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital where he was chief resident.

DANIEL MACAYA, PhD

Daniel Macaya is Senior Director of Corporate Development at Raven, focusing on new company creation. Prior to Raven, Daniel co-founded and led strategy and operations for Seeker Biologics, Series A funded multi-specific biologics platform company aimed at discovering precision medicines for inflammatory disease. Prior to this, Daniel was an Associate Director within the TechAtlas division of RA Capital Management where he drove internal and external strategic and diligence initiatives and oversaw the workflow and professional development of TechAtlas Associates. Prior to this role, as an Associate at RA Capital, Daniel mapped a diverse range of competitive landscapes, spanning autoimmune, oncology, neurologic, and metabolic diseases, as well as the pipelines of several large pharma. Daniel holds a PhD in Medical Engineering from the Harvard-MIT division of Health Sciences and Technology, where his research focused on the development of tissue engineered grafts capable of restoring function after spinal cord injury, and a BS in Materials Science from Cornell University.

JAMES McARTHUR, PhD

James McArthur is an Advisor, Emeritus, for Raven. James was most recently the founder, Chief Executive Officer, and served as a Board Director for Imara, a public company developing therapies for sickle cell disease and β-thallasemia. He was also the co-founder and President of Research and Development of Cydan, a rare disease accelerator. James has over 25 years of industry experience in creating and building biotechnology companies including experience as a co-founder of the lysosomal storage diseases company Vtesse acquired by Sucampo/Malinkrodt, co-founder of the clinical stage neuroendocrine company Tiburio, Board Director of the ocular gene therapy company Nightstar acquired by Biogen, and as founding Chief Scientific Officer of the rheumatology therapy company Synovex/Adheron acquired by Roche. Prior to these companies, James held senior research leadership roles in the gene and stem cell therapy companies Cell Genesys, Phylogix, and Somatix Therapy. James was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at HealthCare Ventures, an advisor to Kurma Ventures, and is on the Scientific Advisory Board and Board of Directors of the Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA), a patient advocacy group. James was a post-doctoral fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of California, Berkeley. He worked with Dr. David Raulet and Nobel Laureate Dr. James Allison before which he received a PhD in Molecular Oncology and BSc in Biochemistry from McGill University in Montreal.

TIMOTHY NOYES, MBA

Timothy Noyes is an Advisor, Emeritus, for Raven and CEO of Arcuate Therapeutics. In this role he works closely with RA Capital Management's Investment Team to evaluate various drug discovery platforms and initiate novel therapeutics programs. Timothy is a veteran biotech leader with deep experience in growing companies and bringing innovative therapies to market. Prior to joining Raven and Arcuate Therapeutics, Tim was President and CEO of Proteon Therapeutics, a company focused on developing novel therapeutics to improve the lives of patients with kidney and vascular diseases. Tim was hired as the fourth employee at Proteon and built a team that brought an innovative biologic for blood vessel remodeling from pre-clinical through two Phase 3 clinical trials. Before joining Proteon, Tim was the COO of Trine Pharmaceuticals and he held several management positions with GelTex Pharmaceuticals prior to its acquisition by Genzyme. Tim was responsible for building the commercial team at GelTex and launching Renagel, a novel treatment for patients with kidney failure that grew to a $1B franchise . After the acquisition, Tim was named President of Genzyme’s Renal Division and GelTex Pharmaceuticals. Tim began his career at Merck & Co., serving in multiple commercial roles in its cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and managed care divisions. Tim received his A.B. from Harvard College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

ADAM ROSENBERG

Adam Rosenberg is an Advisor, Emeritus, for Raven. Adam was most recently President, CEO and member of the Board of Directors of Rodin Therapeutics until its acquisition by Alkermes in 2019. Adam has 20+ years of industry experience in building healthcare and technology companies, including as CEO and co-founder of Link Medicine, a company focused on developing disease-modifying neurodegenerative therapies and as CEO and co-founder of Teleos Therapeutics, an innovative neuroscience drug discovery platform company. Adam has led and advised companies in diverse areas such as digital health, materials and diagnostics, and has served as Director on the board of multiple venture-backed companies. Adam was also an advisor and investor in “A Late Quartet”, an entrepreneurial feature film centered on a cellist diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener and Christopher Walken. Adam received his JD from the University of Virginia School of Law, and his BA from Whittier College.

J. MICHAEL RYAN, MD

Michael Ryan is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Emeritus, at Raven. He most recently served as Chief Medical Officer for Rodin Therapeutics, where he led all clinical development activities from first-in-human through patient studies until the acquisition by Alkermes. He has held multiple senior level clinical development positions including Chief Medical Officer at Asceneuron SA and Neurodegeneration Therapeutic Area Head at Novartis. Michael received his undergraduate degree at Georgetown University and his medical degree at the Medical University of South Carolina. He completed an internship in Internal Medicine and residency in Psychiatry at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center. Dr. Ryan was also a fellow in Geriatric Psychiatry and Neuropsychiatry at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. He was a faculty member at the University of Rochester School of Medicine prior to joining Merck Research Laboratories in 2004.

NADIM SHOHDY, PhD

Nadim Shohdy is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Emeritus, at Raven and recently took a fulltime role at Hyku Bioscience as VP of Corporate Development. Nadim has 11+ years’ experience in commercializing drug discovery across diverse indications and modalities. Prior to joining Raven, Nadim was at NYU School of Medicine as Associate Dean of Therapeutics Alliances, a drug discovery accelerator that de-risks academic research towards partnerships with biopharma, investors, and nonprofits. Under his leadership, Therapeutics Alliances advanced 40+ projects, including 11 projects partnered with biopharma or new startups such as Repare Therapeutics and GliXogen Therapeutics. Prior to co-founding Therapeutics Alliances, Nadim worked in NYU’s Industrial Liaison technology transfer group, and was a Research Analyst at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. Nadim completed his BS in Biology at Stony Brook University, received his PhD with Distinction in Microbiology at Columbia University, and was an NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow studying the cell biology of HCV in the laboratory of Nobel Prize winner Charles M. Rice at the Rockefeller University.