Leadership Council

Raj Alva is the CEO and CIO of Avtar Investments. Prior to founding Avtar, he was a managing director at New Mountain Capital, a private equity firm with over $20 billion under management. He currently serves as a senior advisor to New Mountain Capital.

Previously, Raj worked with several family offices looking at investment opportunities in a broad range of industries. For five years, Raj was also a managing director at Credit Suisse, where he held several leadership positions, including the head of healthcare mergers & acquisitions and the head of financial sponsors, mergers & acquisitions. Before joining Credit Suisse, Raj was a partner at Lazard, where he spent more than 15 years doing financial advisory, restructuring, and M&A work in healthcare and various other industries. Raj has been involved in a diverse group of transformative healthcare transactions over his almost 30-year career, including Abbott’s acquisition of Knoll Pharmaceuticals and Guidant Vascular and a near-decade-long transformation of Fisher Scientific from a pure distribution company to its eventual $11 billion merger with Thermo Electron. 

Raj has an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.B.A. with high distinction from the University of Michigan.

Kay Chandler founded Cooley LLP’s San Diego office in 1992 and recently retired as a partner in the business department of Cooley LLP and member of the life sciences practice group. Throughout her career, she represented public and private life sciences companies in a wide range of corporate and commercial matters, advising biotechnology, diagnostic, medical device and other healthcare companies on complex commercial transactions, including technology licenses and acquisitions, research and development collaborations, supply, distribution and manufacturing agreements, and profit-sharing and co-promotion arrangements.

She serves on the boards of directors of the Colorectal Cancer Alliance and Thirona Biosciences, a private biotech company, and continues to provide advisory services to life sciences companies.

Kay received a J.D. in 1988 from the University of Michigan Law School, where she was an editor of the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform. She received a B.A. in economics from the University of Michigan in 1985, graduating with distinction.

Richard Douglas is on the board of directors of Novavax and serves as chair of the board of Aldeyra Therapeutics and MaxCyte, an advisor to Red Sky Partners in Cambridge and executive director of Labyrinth Choir. Until 2011, he was the senior vice president of corporate development and a corporate officer at Genzyme Corporation. Richard has over 30 years of biotechnology experience, having served in corporate development roles at Genzyme Corporation since 1989. During his years as the leader of Genzyme’s Corporate Development and Corporate Venture teams, he was involved in numerous acquisitions, licenses, joint ventures, investments and strategic alliances. He served in science and corporate development capacities at Integrated Genetics from 1982 until its merger with Genzyme Corporation in 1989. He is a current member and past chair of the University of Michigan Innovation Partnerships National Advisory Board.

Richard was a postdoctoral fellow in Leroy Hood’s laboratory at the California Institute of Technology. He received a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in biochemistry and a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Michigan.

Jim Flynn joined Deerfield in 2000, focusing on pharmaceutical companies. In 2005, he assumed his current role overseeing Deerfield’s investment activities and the management of the firm. Since that time, the firm has expanded its investment capabilities to include private structured financings, developed additional proprietary market research instruments through the Deerfield Institute, and created the Deerfield Foundation to contribute to the health and welfare of disadvantaged children.

Before joining Deerfield, Jim was a top-ranked analyst at Furman Selz, where he built a team to cover the pharmaceutical and medical device industries and managed a proprietary trading account. Previously he served as vice president of corporate development of Alpharma Inc., where his responsibilities included business development and strategic planning and the management of several licensing transactions. 

Since 2009, Jim served as the chair of the Quality Committee of the Board of Trustees of Continuum Health Partners until its merger in 2013 with Mount Sinai Health System, where he continues to serve on the Board of Trustees. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the New York Academy of Medicine. 

Jim holds a B.S. in economics and cellular and molecular biology from the University of Michigan.

Nikki Hadas is the chief legal officer at ARTBIO Inc., a clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company developing new therapies for cancer. She spent the past ten years at Akebia Therapeutics, where she served as senior vice president and chief legal officer and helped the company grow from a private, clinical stage company to a public company with two commercial products. Prior to Akebia, Nikki was senior vice president and general counsel at Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals Inc., where she managed the successful sale of its hemophilia assets.  Nikki began her in-house legal career in life sciences at Genzyme Corporation. Prior to Genzyme, she was an associate at Foley Hoag, representing biopharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers in a wide variety of matters.

Nikki received a J.D. from Boston College Law School and a B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Larry Hamann is the co-founder, president and CEO of Interdict Bio, which is pioneering small-molecule context-dependent translation inhibitors for addressing historically undruggable targets in oncology and neurodegeneration. Previously, he was the global head of discovery at Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Takeda, he was corporate VP and global head of small molecule drug discovery at Celgene, where he oversaw medicinal and computational chemistry, biochemistry, structural and chemical biology, and screening. In his >30 years in drug discovery, his teams have advanced 22 molecules into the clinic in oncology, immunology, metabolic diseases, virology and neurology. 

Larry is a co-inventor on 70 patents, a co-author on 90 scientific publications and an advisor to many biotech companies and VCs. In August of 2017, he was awarded the American Chemical Society’s Heroes of Chemistry Award. He was also awarded the ACS Division of Medicinal Chemistry Award in 2022 and is an inductee into the Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame.

Larry holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Michigan and a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Detroit.

Corey Horowitz is chair and CEO of Network-1 Technologies Inc., which is engaged in the development, licensing and protection of its intellectual property and proprietary technologies. The company also works with individual inventors and invests in companies to assist in the development and monetization of their intellectual property. Network-1 currently owns intellectual property portfolios covering various telecommunications and data networking technologies as well as technologies relating to document stream operating systems, Internet of Things and 5G technologies, and the identification of media content. Network-1 is a significant investor in ILiAD Biotechnologies, a company developing a platform to create next generation vaccines to treat infectious disease, including a new vaccine to treat disease caused by Bordetella Pertussis, which recently completed a successful Phase 2B clinical trial demonstrating its superiority over existing treatments for whooping cough. Corey is also a member of the Board of Managers of ILiAD.

Corey received a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law and a B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Chris Kirk is the co-founder and CEO of Kezar Life Sciences, a clinical-stage, San Francisco Bay Area-based biotechnology company focused on drug discovery and development in autoimmunity and oncology. Prior to Kezar, he was the vice president of research at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, where he played a key leadership role in the discovery and development of carfilzomib (KYPROLIS™), a proteasome inhibitor currently approved for the treatment of multiple myeloma. Chris has authored multiple publications in several select journals, including Cell, Nature Medicine and Nature Reviews, and is listed as an inventor on over 25 patents. He sits on the board of directors of Juvena Therapeutics and on the scientific advisory board at C4 Therapeutics Inc., Avidity Biosciences LLC, Rain Therapeutics Inc. and the Institute of Applied Clinical Science at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Chris received  a Ph.D. in cellular and molecular biology from the University of Michigan and a B.S. in biochemistry from University of California, Davis.

Justin Klein is a partner in Benesch’s Litigation Practice Group. He acts as a strategic legal advisor to established and emerging companies in the insurance, life sciences, financial technology, and sports and entertainment sectors. He also acts as a legal advisor to family offices and angel investors. Justin’s practice is diverse, expansive, and global. He advises a large molecule pharmaceutical company with its efforts to bring a pipeline of biologic drugs to market globally. He also advises sports venues, an NBA team, and investors and promoters, nationally and internationally, on sports-related issues and has also been involved in advising clients in blockchain-related investment and employment matters.

Prior to joining Benesch, Justin was a partner at an AMLAW firm in New York City. He also clerked for the Honorable Judge Mary Ellen Coster Williams of the United States Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C.

Justin received a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and a B.A. in political science from the University of Michigan.

David Kroin is the founder of Deep Track Capital, an asset management firm investing in human progress. He has over 25 years of investing experience in the healthcare industry. Prior to founding Deep Track Capital, David co-founded Great Point Partners in 2003 and was the co-portfolio manager for its equity long/short biotechnology hedge fund as well as an investment committee member for Great Point’s private equity funds investing in recaps and buyouts of health care companies. 

David has served on numerous boards of public and private health care companies, including CellCarta, Cytovance, CorEvitas, Mediatech, ProPT, Biodel, APT, Gentium, and US Bioservices.

David holds a B.S. in actuarial mathematics from the University of Michigan.

Shiraz Ladiwala is the former senior vice president of integrations at Thermo Fisher Scientific. As a member of the Company Leadership Team, he is responsible for all company integration activities. He previously held numerous roles within Thermo Fisher, including senior vice president, strategy and corporate development, responsible for the strategic process, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate social responsibility for the company. He was also general manager for Asia Pacific within the company’s Biosciences Division. Prior to the merger of Thermo Electron and Fisher Scientific, he was responsible for the corporate development group of Fisher Scientific, leading numerous acquisitions that transformed the company from a distributor to a leading manufacturer within the life science industry. He began his career as a business and strategy consultant for Andersen Consulting (Accenture) in India.

Shiraz holds an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Bombay.

Bruce Leuchter has deep-rooted, wide-ranging experience in neuroscience, clinical neuropsychiatry, biotechnology equity research, healthcare investment banking and entrepreneurship. As the president and CEO of Neurvati Neurosciences, he currently focuses on building and leading neuroscience companies to help patients suffering from diseases of the brain and nervous system. He completed residency training in neurology and psychiatry at New York Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College and is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He served as director of clinical neuropsychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College and maintains a voluntary faculty appointment in the Department of Psychiatry. Bruce has also held multiple financial services roles, including biotechnology equity research at Goldman Sachs, healthcare investment banking at Credits Suisse, and biotechnology mergers and acquisitions at PJT Partners. He is also co-founder of a digital therapeutics company, Click Therapeutics, and serves as a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Daedelus Fund for Innovation at Weill Cornell Medical College and as a Business Advisory Board member at FOXG1 Research Foundation.

Bruce holds an M.D. from Wayne State University and a B.A. in religions with high distinction and honors from University of Michigan.

Greg Margolies is a senior partner in the Ares Credit Group and is on the Board of Directors of the Ares Charitable Foundation. Prior to joining Ares in 2009, he served as a managing director and global head of leveraged finance and capital commitments at Merrill Lynch & Co. and was a member of the executive committee for Merrill Lynch's Global Investment Banking Group. Previously, he was co-head of the DB Capital Mezzanine Fund. Greg serves on the Board of Directors for the International Organization for Women and Development and is a member of the University of Michigan Provost's Advisory Committee.

Greg holds an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business and a B.A. from the University of Michigan in international economics and finance.

Joel Martin is an independent biotechnology consultant who performs due diligence for venture capital firms and advises academic scientists on commercialization opportunities. He was previously the managing director and chief business officer of La Jolla Institute of Immunology, where he oversaw all aspects of business and technology development, translation research, management information systems, and information technology and assisted with the implementation of new strategic initiatives.

Joel began his career as assistant professor of radiology at the University of California, San Diego, where he developed novel digital image processing techniques still used today and invented the first device for MRI imaging of the prostate. He started a series of innovative biotech companies as an entrepreneur and was a venture capitalist at three firms, where he led successful investments in neuroscience and oncology. Joel was also previously president and CEO of Dauntless Pharmaceuticals, a company that developed novel intranasal and injectable formulations of octreotide for acromegaly.

Joel has a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from UCSD and M.B.A. and B.S. honors degrees from the University of Michigan.

Paul Meister is a partner at Novalis LifeSciences, a venture capital firm, and co-founder of Liberty Lane Partners, a private investment company. He serves as chair of Arbor Biotechnologies and Amneal Pharmaceuticals, and is on the board of Ori Biotech, Mercy BioAnalytics and several other early-stage life science and diagnostic companies. He is also on the board of Aptiv PLC, Quanterix and Oaktree Acquisitions Corp III.

Paul previously served as chair of Thermo Fisher Scientific and vice chair of Fisher Scientific International. He also served as chair and CEO of inVentiv Health (now Syneos Heath) and was president of MacAndrews and Forbes. He serves on the University of Michigan Provost Advisory Committee.

Paul holds an M.B.A. from Northwestern University and a B.A. from the University of Michigan

Meera Nathan is a leader in the field of medical communications. For the past 7 years, Meera was the scientific content and engagement lead for myeloid diseases at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Prior to BMS, Meera served as medical director at ApotheCom Associates, a medical communications agency. While at ApotheCom, Meera led the development and execution of medical content across various therapeutic areas, working with both large pharmaceutical companies and smaller biotech firms. Meera serves on the advisory boards of BookSmiles LLC and the Professional Science Master’s Program, Scientific Writing at Temple University. 

Meera received a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan after completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin.

Roger Newton has worked for thirty-eight years in the pharmaceutical and biotech life sciences industries. He is currently founder, board director and scientific advisor at Esperion Therapeutics. Prior to his current responsibilities, Roger was senior vice president of Pfizer Global R&D and director of Esperion Therapeutics, a Pfizer Inc. company. He was also co-founder and president/CEO of the original Esperion founded in July 1998. Before founding the original Esperion, he was a distinguished research fellow and chair of the Atherosclerosis Drug Discovery Team at Warner Lambert/Parke-Davis, where he co-discovered and was the product champion of what is now the largest selling and most prescribed cholesterol-reducing drug in the world, atorvastatin (Lipitor®). Roger is both a fellow and president of the American College of Nutrition and is also a fellow of the American Heart Association.

Roger has a Ph.D. in nutrition from the University of California, Davis, an M.S. in nutritional biochemistry from the University of Connecticut, and a B.S. with honors in biology from Lafayette College.

John E. Osborn is a senior advisor with the global law firm Hogan Lovells and an affiliate professor at the University of Washington, Seattle. For 20 years he held senior legal and corporate affairs positions with life sciences and healthcare companies, including DuPont Merck Pharmaceuticals, McKesson/US Oncology, Cephalon, Dendreon, and Onyx Pharmaceuticals. He also has been an advisor to private equity and venture capital firms and served on boards of biomedical device, specialty pharmaceutical and healthcare IT companies. John served with the U.S. Department of State during the George H.W. Bush administration, and he was nominated by George W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate as a member of the bipartisan U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. John serves on the Board of Advisors of Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and has lectured at the U-M Ross School of Business since 1997. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Law Institute.

John holds a J.D. from the University of Virginia, a master’s degree in international public policy from The Johns Hopkins University, and a B.A. in economics and history from the University of Iowa.

Julia Owens is a seasoned biopharmaceutical executive and board member with over 25 years of experience driving innovative therapies to improve patient outcomes. She currently works with multiple biotech companies and venture capital firms and is chair and founding CEO of Verto Therapeutics, an early-stage drug discovery company. She is also the executive chair of Sena Therapeutics, a women’s health company, and an advisor to Google Ventures, specializing in women’s health investments. 

Dedicated to empowering female leadership, Julia co-founded the Biotech CEO Sisterhood to support and advance women in the biotech sector. Her previous roles include CEO of Ananke Therapeutics and nearly a decade as founder and CEO of Millendo Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MLND). Earlier in her career, she held senior roles in business and corporate development at Tularik Inc., QuatRx Pharmaceuticals and Lycera Corp., contributing to therapeutic advancements in oncology, immunology, endocrinology, women’s health and rare diseases.

Julia holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, San Francisco, and a B.S. in chemistry and B.A. in molecular and cellular biology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Atul Pande is a biotechnology executive and company board member with extensive experience in medical product development from phase 1 through post-approval and commercialization. He has been involved with designing, implementing, and overseeing clinical trials broadly across many diseases on a variety of approved products (e.g., Prozac, Zyprexa, Neurontin, Lyrica, Chantix, Geodon, Trobalt/Potiga, Lamictal XR, Requip XR, Horizant, Breo/Relvar, Tivicay, Tykerb), as well as and launches of major products.

He currently serves on the boards of Karuna Pharmaceuticals, Axovant Sciences, Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Cennerv Pharma Pte Ltd, and Autifony Therapeutics Ltd. He is the former chief medical officer of PureTech Health and of Cenerx Biopharma; EVP, CMO and SAB member of Tal Medical; and scientific advisor to Centrexion Corporation and Wave Life Sciences. He also held numerous executive roles in neurosciences research at GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and Eli Lilly and was an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School.

Atul qualified in Medicine (M.B.B.S.) with postgraduate training in psychiatry (M.D.) from King George’s Medical University in India. He completed his clinical research fellowship training at U-M and is currently a licensed Medical Doctor in the State of Michigan.

Craig Parker is president & CEO of Surrozen, a clinical stage biotechnology company pioneering the discovery and development of novel tissue-specific antibodies that modulate the Wnt signaling pathway for regeneration. Since 2018, he has led the company’s growth from Series A to a public company with multiple first-in class clinical development candidates, a robust research pipeline, proprietary antibody technologies and a corporate partnership. 

Craig was previously senior vice president and head of corporate development at Jazz Pharmaceuticals. Before joining Jazz, he was executive vice president, corporate development and scientific affairs at Geron Corporation. Craig’s biotechnology industry experience also includes senior management roles at Human Genome Sciences, Proteolix and Immunex Corporation, all of which were ultimately acquired. He spent 12 years as a Wall Street research analyst, where he was ranked one of the top biotechnology industry analysts by The Wall Street Journal, Institutional Investor and Reuters. He is a member of the Board of Directors at InduPro, and a Venture Partner at The Column Group.

Craig attended the University of Chicago, the Georgetown University School of Medicine and the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Terry Rosen is the CEO of Arcus Biosciences. He previously served as CEO of Flexus Biosciences, which was acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2015. Prior to co-founding Flexus in 2013, Terry served as vice president of therapeutic discovery at Amgen and previously held scientific and management positions at Tularik, Pfizer and Abbott. He serves on the Salk Institute Board of Trustees, the Berkeley Foundation Board of Trustees and the UC Berkeley Board of Visitors.

Terry holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Michigan.

Joe Schwarz is the former U.S. Representative for the 7th Congressional District of the State of Michigan and a practicing otolaryngologist. He is a retired Naval lieutenant commander who served in the Michigan State Senate on both the Health Policy Committee and the Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher Education. He sits on numerous advisory committees at Wayne State University and the University of Michigan and is a lecturer at U-M’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.

Joe received his medical degree from Wayne State University and his undergraduate degree in history from the University of Michigan. He conducted his residency in otolaryngology at Harvard University.

Matthew Smith the co-founder of a stealth biotech in San Francisco that is based on research conducted at the University of Chicago. Prior to his new venture, Matthew worked alongside UChicago researchers to identify and develop promising technologies into new ventures. He previously was a founding member of the team at Pear Therapeutics and served as its vice president of operations and strategy. During his tenure leading Pear’s operations, Matthew helped build the company from inception through to commercialization of its first product, reSET®, for the treatment of substance use disorder. reSET has the distinction of being the first ever FDA-cleared software product for the treatment of a disease. Matthew continues to be an active advocate for digital therapeutics.

Matthew received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in cellular & molecular pathology prior to completing a postdoctoral research fellowship at Harvard Medical School. His past research focused on how changes in the brain lead to neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, and he remains active in the research community as an advocate for the translation of science.

Michael Staebler is a former commercial practice partner with Pepper Hamilton LLP. Mike concentrated on the formation and operation of private equity and other investment funds. He is highly recognized for his expertise in the formation, management and operation of small business investment companies and in the financial and operational requirements of growing small- and medium-sized businesses. He has participated in many governmental advisory committees concerning venture capital and economic development and has served on the board of directors of numerous public agencies and private and non-profit corporations.

Mike received a J.D., cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School and a B.A., magna cum laude, in American history from Harvard University.

Burt Sutker began his career as a radiologist in New Jersey at St. Clare’s Medical Center in 1986 and continued to work there until retirement in 2019. He brought many new technologies to St. Clare’s and its patient population, such as ultrasound breast biopsies, stereotactic breast biopsies, breast MR, breast MR biopsies and fallopian tube catheterization. He served as the head of Women’s Imaging at St. Clare’s. Burt is one of the leading stereotactic breast biopsy experts in New Jersey. He paved the way for this procedure in 1993 and was one of the most proficient and experienced doctors in this field. 

Burt has served on the board of directors for Montessori Children’s House in Morristown, New Jersey, as well as on the board of the Mountain Lakes Club. He served as chair of the parent advisory board for Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Massachusetts.

Burt has a degree in medicine from NYU School of Medicine and completed his residency in diagnostic radiology and fellowship in interventional radiology and body imaging at NYU. He holds a B.S. and an M.S. in human genetics from the University of Michigan.

David Walt is the Hansjörg Wyss Professor of Bioinspired Engineering at Harvard Medical School, a professor of pathology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a core faculty member at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University, an associate member of the Broad Institute and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute professor. His lab's research focuses on creating and using novel technologies to solve unmet clinical diagnostics problems. Walt is the Scientific Founder of Illumina Inc. and Quanterix Corp. and has co-founded multiple other life sciences startups, including Ultivue Inc., Arbor Biotechnologies, Sherlock Biosciences, Vizgen Inc. and Protillion Biosciences. 

David has received numerous national and international awards and honors for his fundamental and applied work, including the 2023 National Academy of Engineering’s Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize and the 2021 Kabiller Prize in Nanoscience and Nanomedicine. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, the U.S. National Academy of Medicine and the American Philosophical Society, as well as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Academy of Inventors. In 2025, he received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Biden.

David holds a Ph.D. in chemical biology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Michigan. He performed postdoctoral studies at MIT.

Wendell Wierenga is the chair of the board of directors at Crinetics Pharmaceuticals and serves as a member of the board at Dermata Therapeutics and Cytokinetics Incorporated. He most recently served as executive vice president of research and development at Santarus Inc., a specialty biopharmaceutical company, until its acquisition by Salix Pharmaceuticals Inc. in 2014. Prior to Santarus, he was executive vice president of research and development at Ambit Biosciences Corporation  and Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. Additionally, he served as CEO of Syrrx Inc. (now part of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company) and senior vice president of worldwide pharmaceutical sciences, technologies and development at Parke-Davis/Warner Lambert Company LLC (now Pfizer Inc.), and he spent 16 years at Upjohn Pharmaceuticals in research and drug discovery roles.

Wendell was previously on the board of directors of Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (acquired by Amgen), Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc. (acquired by Pfizer), XenoPort Inc. (acquired by Arbor Pharmaceuticals), Ocera Therapeutics Inc. (acquired by Mallinckrodt), Apricus Biosciences Inc. (acquired by Seelos), Patara Pharma LLC (acquired by Respivant), and Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Wendell holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from Stanford University and a B.A. in chemistry from Hope College.

Steve Worland is CEO and a director of Atomwise Inc., a machine learning-based drug discovery company focused on immunology and inflammation. Previously he was president, CEO and a director of eFFECTOR Therapeutics, which he co-founded in 2012. eFFECTOR is a clinical stage biotherapeutics company developing selective translation regulators for cancer and other serious diseases, based on technology originally developed at UCSF. He is also a board member of Tracon Pharmaceuticals and privately held Forge Therapeutics. Steve was CEO of Anadys until its acquisition by Roche in 2011. Prior to being named CEO at Anadys, he was chief scientific officer and president, pharmaceuticals. Previously, Steve was vice president and head of antiviral research at Pfizer and vice president responsible for worldwide anti-infectives strategy at Warner-Lambert. Steve began his career at Agouron Pharmaceuticals where, as director of molecular biology and biochemistry, he led the process for target selection and project initiation across all therapeutic areas including numerous oncology programs. 

Steve was an NIH postdoctoral fellow in molecular biology at Harvard University and completed his Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. He received his B.S. with Highest Honors in biological chemistry from the University of Michigan.