Dr. Katerina Artavanis-Tsakonas is a Lecturer in Parasitology and Head of Division of Microbiology & Parasitology in the Department of Pathology at the University of Cambridge. Her laboratory studies the interaction between host and pathogen, specifically looking at intracellular parasites and what their tissue adaptations can reveal about host cell biology.

She established her laboratory at Imperial College London as a Wellcome Trust Fellow from 2009-2015.

Prior to her fellowship, Dr. Artavanis-Tsakonas did her post-doctoral training at Harvard and at the Whitehead Institute, MIT. Dr. Artavanis-Tsakonas received a B.A. in Fine Arts from Yale University in 1996, a M.Phil. in Infectious Disease Epidemiology from Yale School of Medicine in 1998 and a Ph.D. in Immunology from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in 2003.

Prior to her academic career, Dr. Artavanis-Tsakonas served as an Assistant Vice President in the Equity Research Department of PaineWebber Inc.

Dr. Jason Fisherman is a venture investor, drug developer, and company founder. He began his career in venture capital in 1994 at the global private equity firm Advent International, specializing in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and medical technology, becoming a Managing Director in 2002. He co-founded Synthesis Capital in 2007 to continue investing in a portfolio of innovative science-driven companies. In 2016, he led the start-up C4 Therapeutics as Chief Executive Officer, a Dana-Farber Cancer Institute spin-out building a platform for the design of targeted protein-degrading drugs.

Prior to 1994, Dr. Fisherman spent over ten years in novel drug research and clinical development in biotech, academia, and the National Cancer Institute. While at the NCI, he led the development of Taxol (paclitaxel) from Phase 1b to Phase 3, and in industry he led the development of Oncaspar (PEGaspargase) for leukemia and Adagen (PEGademase bovine) for a rare immunologic orphan disease.

During his venture career, Dr. Fisherman has been responsible for thirty investments, acting as lead/co-lead in most and holding numerous public and private corporate directorships. His investee companies have initiated global clinical studies of over two dozen potential medicines and medical products, and received over ten new product approvals. These companies include Mitotix (merged with GPC Biotech NM:GPC), Exelixis (EXEL), ILEX Oncology (ILXO, acquired by Genzyme), Cubist Pharmaceuticals (CBST, acquired by Merck), Array BioPharma (ARRY), Achillion Pharmaceuticals (ACHN), Crucell (Nasdaq/Euronext:CRXL, acquired by Johnson and Johnson), deCode (DCGN, acquired by Amgen), CV Therapeutics (CVTX, acquired by Gilead), Anadys Pharmaceuticals (ANDS, acquired by Roche), Gamera Biosciences (acquired by Tecan Group), Aegerion Pharmaceuticals (AEGR, acquired by QLT/Novelion), Cellzome (acquired by GlaxoSmithKline), Managed Healthcare Associates (MHA, last acquired by Roper Technologies), Physicians’ Online (acquired by WebMD Health), and Oridion Systems (SW:ORIDN, acquired by Covidien).

A medical oncologist by training, Dr. Fisherman currently serves as a director of Achillion Pharmaceuticals and several private companies, on the Visit Committee of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and the board of Fondation Santé. He received a B.A. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University, an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Jean-Francois Formela is a partner at Atlas Venture, where he focuses on new advances in biology and drug discovery technologies as well as novel therapeutics. He is chairman of IFM Therapeutics and serves on the boards of Intellia Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NTLA), F-star, Kyn Therapeutics, Spero Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SPRO), and Translate Bio, which he co-founded.

Dr. Formela has been involved in the formation of companies such as Adnexus (acquired by BMS), Arteaus Therapeutics (acquired by Eli Lilly), Cellzome (acquired by GlaxoSmithKline), deCODE (NASDAQ: DCGN), Exelixis (NASDAQ: EXEL), MorphoSys (Xetra: MOR.DE), NxStage (NASDAQ: NXTM, acquired by Fresenius Medical) and SGX Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SGXP, acquired by Eli Lilly). He was also an investor in CoStim Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Novartis) and Horizon Pharma (NASDAQ: HZNP).

Dr. Formela joined Atlas Venture in 1993 to build the U.S. life sciences franchise. Prior to joining Atlas he worked at Schering-Plough, where he was responsible for the marketing of Intron A, Schering-Plough’s alpha-interferon. He began his career as a medical doctor and practiced emergency medicine at Necker University Hospital in Paris.

He is a member of the MGH Research Advisory Council and a former trustee of the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art. He received his M.D. from Paris University School of Medicine and his M.B.A. from Columbia University.

Mark Kessel co-founded Symphony Capital LLC, a private equity firm investing in the clinical development programs of biopharmaceutical companies. He is widely recognized as a leader in structuring product development investments for the biopharmaceutical industry. Mr. Kessel was formerly the managing partner of Shearman & Sterling, with day-to-day operating responsibility and is currently of-counsel to the Firm where he co-heads its healthcare practice. He is also the Chairman of the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), an Editorial Advisor to Nature Biotechnology and a director of Organovo.

Mr. Kessel previously served on strategic advisory committees of biotechnology companies, as a director of the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, Dynavax Technologies Corporation, OXiGENE, Inc., Antigenics, Inc., Heller Financial Inc., and Harrods (UK) Limited. He has also served as a Trustee of the Museum of the City of New York and on the advisory committee of the Mt. Sinai Rape Crisis Center. He has written on the biotech industry and on world health for Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, Nature Biotechnology, The Lancet, The Scientist, Science Translational Medicine, Start-Up, BioCentury and other publications and on issues related to governance for such publications as The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Deal, NACD Directorship, BNA’s Corporate Counsel Weekly, Bloomberg BNA, Corporate Law & Accountability Report and Euromoney. He received a B.A. with honors in Economics from the City College of New York and a J.D. magna cum laude from Syracuse University College of Law.

Dr. Angeliki Louvi is Associate Professor in the Departments of Neurosurgery and Neuroscience at the Yale School of Medicine. Her laboratory studies the molecular and cellular mechanisms governing the development of the mammalian brain and how the perturbation of basic biological processes leads to clinically significant brain pathologies. She is particularly interested in neurovascular and structural brain disorders associated with specific genetic lesions and uses model organisms and stem cell-based assays to gain insight into fundamental neurodevelopmental processes and to provide information relevant for the design of rational therapeutic approaches.

She received a B.Sc. in Biology from the University of Athens, and M.A., M. Phil, and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University. After post-doctoral work at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris and the University of Chicago, she joined Yale in 2005.

Dr. Esperanza Papadopoulos is the Clinical Director of the Adult Bone Marrow Transplantation Inpatient Unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). She is Member in the department of Medicine at MSKCC and a Professor at the Cornell University Weill College of Medicine. Dr. Papadopoulos joined MSKCC in 1989 and since that time her research and clinical practice have been focused on allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. Specifically, her research interests have centered on the use of CD34 selected stem cell transplants to minimize the risk of graft-vs-host disease and also to the use of post-transplant maintenance for prevention of post-transplant relapse.

Prior to MSKCC Dr. Papadopoulos was a Hematology-Oncology Fellow at New York University Medical Center. Dr. Papadopoulos received her medical degree from New York University School of Medicine in 1982 and continued at NYU as an intern, resident and chief resident in Internal Medicine. Dr. Papadopoulos is board certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology and Oncology. Prior to NYU Dr. Papadopoulos completed her undergraduate studies at Fordham University with a double major in biology and philosophy.

In the not-for-profit sector Dr. Papadopoulos is a founding Member of Fondation Santé.

Dr. Simos Simeonidis is a Partner and Senior Managing Director of Sarissa Capital Management and Sarissa Capital Acquisition Corporation (SRSA) and on the Board of Directors of Regulus Therapeutics, Inc.
Prior to joining Sarissa, he was a Managing Director and Senior Biotechnology Analyst at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in New York and had spent more than a decade covering the biotechnology sector as an analyst at a number of investment banks, including Cowen and Company, First Albany Capital and Morgan Stanley.
In addition to his investment management and financial expertise, Dr. Simeonidis combines both biopharmaceutical industry and biomedical research expertise, having worked at Novartis in Business Development and Strategic Planning, and prior to his corporate career, having served as a faculty member at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Simeonidis received his B.S. degree in Biology from Loyola University Chicago, and his M.A., MPhil and PhD degrees in Cellular, Molecular and Biophysical Sciences from Columbia University’s College of Physicians & Surgeons. He completed his Postdoctoral Fellowship at the laboratory of Professor Tucker Collins at Harvard Medical School and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he worked on the transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Dr. Simeonidis also holds an MBA in Healthcare Management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.