Board of Directors
Todd R. Brady has served as a member of our board of directors since November 2019. Mr. Brady has served as the Director of Finance and Investments at Brace Pharma Capital since 2014. He currently serves on the board of directors of Vero Biotech LLC since July 2015 and Tyrogenex since April 2015, and as board observer for HotSpot Therapeutics since May 2020. He previously served as a board member of Avidity Biosciences (May 2017 to January 2021), Cocrystal Pharma Inc. (February 2019 to March 2020), and as a board observer for Precision Biosciences (June 2018 to March 2019), and Miragen Therapeutics (October 2015 to February 2017). Mr. Brady has an extensive and diverse background in Capital Markets, working in equity research, asset management, private equity, and corporate banking over the duration of his career. Mr. Brady received a Master of Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business (York University) in 2007 and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Stefan M. Larson, PhD has served as a member of our board of directors since November 2019. Dr. Larson has served as partner at Sectoral Asset Management, responsible for leading biotechnology venture investments, since September 2018. He also serves on the boards of directors of eFFECTOR Therapeutics (since September 2018), Turnstone Biologics (since January 2019), and Prilenia Therapeutics BV (since May 2020). Prior to joining Sectoral Asset Management, he was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence and later Venture Partner with Versant Ventures (from July 2013 to July 2018), where he led the establishment of their Toronto-based Discovery Engine. He was also the founding CEO of Northern Biologics (from January 2015 to November 2017) and a cofounder of two medical device companies: Perimeter Medical Imaging (from January 2010 to December 2012), and Tornado Spectral Systems (from January 2010 to December 2012). He began his career at McKinsey & Company in San Francisco and Toronto. Dr. Larson graduated in 1997 from McGill University with a B.Sc. in Biology, and in 1999 from University of Toronto with an M.Sc. in Molecular and Medical Genetics. He completed his PhD in Biophysics at Stanford University in 2004.
Clare R. Ozawa, PhD has served as a member of our board of directors since May 2017. Dr. Ozawa has served as a Managing Director at Versant Venture Management, LLC, a life science venture capital firm investing in early stage healthcare companies, since July 2017 and was an investment professional at Versant from 2008 to 2011. Prior to re-joining Versant, Dr. Ozawa was the Chief Business Officer of Inception Sciences from January 2011 to May 2014 and served as Inception’s Chief Operating Officer from June 2014 to July 2017. She also worked in the Office of the Chief Executive Officer at Novartis Pharma from 2006 to 2008 and at McKinsey & Company from 2002 to 2006. Dr. Ozawa currently serves on the board of Oyster Point Pharma, Inc., a public biopharmaceutical company and several private companies. Dr. Ozawa received a B.S. in biological sciences in 1995 and a PhD in neurosciences from Stanford University in 2002.
Paul A. Grayson has served as a member of our board of directors since November 2018. Mr. Grayson currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Tentarix Biotherapeutics Inc. Mr. Grayson formally served as a Venture Partner at Versant Venture Management LLC, a life science venture capital firm investing in early-stage healthcare companies, since June 2018. Mr. Grayson has also served as the Chief Executive Officer of Bird Rock Bio Inc. since June 2011 and on the board of directors of Tempest Therapeutics since November 2018. Mr. Grayson also served as the founding Chief Executive Officer of Fate Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FATE) from 2008 to 2011, as the managing director of Sanderling Ventures from 2003 to 2008 and as the founding Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Senomyx Inc. from 1999 to 2003. Mr. Grayson received a B.S. in Biochemistry and Computer Science from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1987 and an M.B.A. from the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine in 1991.
Lori M. Lyons-Williams has served as a member of our board of directors since August 2020. Most recently, Lori Lyons-Williams served as chief operating officer of Neumora Therapeutics, Inc. Prior to that, from December 2016 to May 2020, Ms. Lyons-Williams served as Chief Commercial Officer at Dermira, Inc., or Dermira, a biopharmaceutical company, where she was responsible for the strategic, financial, and operational leadership of the company’s product portfolio. From January 2002 to August 2016, Ms. Lyons-Williams worked at Allergan, Inc., or Allergan, a public biotechnology company, where she held positions of increasing responsibility, most recently as Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Urology. Ms. Lyons-Williams also served as a member of the Allergan Commercial Leadership Team and the Operational Leadership Team. Since June 2019, Ms. Lyons-Williams has served on the board of directors of Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. Ms. Lyons-Williams received a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and an M.B.A., Marketing from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.
Evert (Eef) Schimmelpennink has served as a member of our board of directors since January 2022. Mr. Schimmelpennink is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of LENZ Therapeutics, a private biotechnology company. From August 2017 to October 2020 he was the Chief Executive Officer of Pfenex Inc. (NYSE: PFNX), which he led through a turnaround and its first FDA approval resulting in an acquisition by Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. in late 2020. From October 2015 to July 2017, Mr. Schimmelpennink was Chief Executive Officer of Alvotech, a private specialty biopharmaceutical company, where he led the company through a critical growth phase, and aligned R&D, manufacturing and commercial capabilities across a portfolio of monoclonal antibodies. Prior to that, he held senior positions at Pfizer Inc. and Hospira, Inc. within their global specialty injectables businesses, as well as Synthon BV. Mr. Schimmelpennik also serves on the board of directors of IBio, Inc. (NYSE:iBIO). Mr. Schimmelpennink earned a M.Sc. in bioprocess engineering from the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands and a Business Degree from the Arnhem Business School.
Carmine has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer and on our board of directors since October 2018. Previously, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Avelas Biosciences, Inc. from January 2014 to October 2018, where he has also served on the board of directors since January 2014 and as Chief Business Officer from May 2012 to January 2014. Before that he served as Senior Vice President, Business Development for COI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from May 2013 to October 2018, where he helped co-found five new biotechnology companies. Mr. Stengone also served as Vice President of Corporate Development for Afraxis, Inc. from 2010 to 2013 and co-founder and CEO of Araxes, Inc., a spin-out company from Araxes Holdings, Inc. from 2013 to 2014. Before that, he was with Phenomix Corporation as the Senior Director of Business Development from 2006 to 2010, and previously held positions of increasing responsibility at Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc., from 2004 to 2006 and Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development from 2003 to 2004. Carmine received his MBA from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University in 2003. He also received an M.S. degree in Organic Chemistry from Duke University in 1999 and a B.S. in Chemistry from Wake Forest University in 1997.
