About

Steve Paul, M.D., is an expert in central nervous system (CNS) drug discovery and development. He spent 17 years at Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY), during which time he held several key leadership roles, including Executive Vice President for Science and Technology and President of the Lilly Research Laboratories. At Lilly he was responsible for the company’s overall research and development efforts and helped to oversee the development of CNS drugs such as Zyprexa® and Cymbalta® as well as the development of xanomeline where its antipsychotic and procognitive properties were initially demonstrated. Prior to Lilly, Steve spent 18 years at the National Institute of Health (NIH) and served as the Scientific Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Dr. Paul is a co-founder and board member of Sage Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SAGE), a co-founder of Voyager Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VYGR) where he served as President, Chief Executive Officer, and member of the board of directors, and a member of the board of directors at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALNY). Dr. Paul is the former director of the Appel Alzheimer Disease Research Institute at Weill Cornell Medical College and is currently a Professor of Psychiatry at Washington University of St. Louis School of Medicine.

Dr. Paul has authored or co-authored more than 550 papers and book chapters. He is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). He is also an elected Fellow Emeritus of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) and served as ACNP President (1999). Dr. Paul is the Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for the NIH (FNIH) and previously served on the Science Board of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in addition to serving on many other advisory committees and receiving many awards and honors for his scientific research.

Bharatt Chowrira, JD, PhD, has been the President and Chief of Business and Strategy at PureTech Health since March 2017. Prior to joining PureTech Health, Dr. Chowrira was the President of Synlogic, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing synthetic microbiome-based therapeutics, from September 2015 to February 2017, where he oversaw and managed corporate and business development, alliance management, financial, human resources, intellectual property and legal operations. Prior to joining Synlogic, Dr. Chowrira was the Chief Operating Officer of Auspex Pharmaceuticals from 2013 to 2015, which was acquired by Teva Pharmaceuticals in the Spring of 2015. Previously, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Addex Therapeutics from 2011 to 2013, a biotechnology company publicly-traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Prior to that Dr. Chowrira held various leadership and management positions at Nektar Therapeutics (COO), Merck & Co (VP), Sirna Therapeutics (GC; acquired by Merck &Co) and Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals (Chief Patent Counsel). Dr. Chowrira is currently a member of the board of directors of Akili Interactive and Karuna Therapeutics, Inc.

Dr. Chowrira received a JD from the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law, a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Vermont College of Medicine, an MS in Molecular Biology from Illinois State University and a BS in Microbiology from the UAS, Bangalore, India.

Dr. Harrigan is a non-executive director of the Karuna Therapeutics Board. He previously served as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Safety and Regulatory for Pfizer Inc. from 2012 to 2015, where he led a 3,500-person team in 80 countries that was responsible for collecting, interpreting and reporting clinical safety data for more than 600 marketed products, and managing regulatory interactions with global health agencies. Dr. Harrigan’s previous executive leadership roles at Pfizer include serving as Senior Vice President, Head of Worldwide Business Development, Senior Vice President, Head of Worldwide Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance, and Vice President, Head of Neuroscience and Ophthalmology. Earlier in his career at Pfizer, Dr. Harrigan served as Vice President of Clinical Development, Therapeutic Area Head, CNS and Pain.

Before entering the pharmaceutical industry in 1990, Dr. Harrigan was a practicing neurologist for seven years. He currently serves on the boards of directors of Acadia, Bellicum and PhaseBIO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Harrigan earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from St. Anselm College and holds an M.D. from the University of Massachusetts.

Jim joined Sofinnova in 2000 as a General Partner. Dr. Healy finances companies that are developing potentially important therapies that could be transformative for patients. He has funded companies where eleven products were approved by the FDA or EMA. Eighteen of his investments have gone public and ten have been acquired as private or public companies. He is a member of the board of directors of Ascendis (ASND), CinCor Pharma, Coherus (CHRS), Iterum (ITRM), Karuna (KRTX), Natera (NTRA), Nucana (NCNA), Obseva (OBSV) and Y-Mabs (YMAB).

Jim received a B.A. in Molecular Biology and B.A. Scandinavian Studies from UC Berkeley where he graduated with Honors and received the Departmental Citation. He subsequently completed the NIH sponsored Medical Scientist Training Program and received his MD and PhD in Immunology from Stanford University where he received the Novartis Foundation Bursary Award and was a Beckman Scholar. He authored or co-authored thirteen scientific articles and reviews, including three papers published in Nature.

Prior to Sofinnova Jim worked at Bayer and Sanderling. In 2011 Dr. Healy received the IBF Innovator Award for his investment in Amarin (AMRN). In 2012 Xconomy named him one the leading “Young and Proven Biotech VC’s”. In 2013, Fortune selected him as one of the top life science investors and in 2015 he received a Healthcare and Lifesciences 50 award from Irish America. He has lectured on entrepreneurship at Stanford University and served on the boards of the Executive Committee at UC Berkeley, the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO).

Jeff Jonas joined Sage as CEO in 2013, bringing with him more than 20 years of experience on both the scientific and business sides of the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, with a focus on central nervous system disorders. At Sage, he’s created an engine of innovation that encourages creating new opportunities by taking smart risks and challenging conventional wisdom. Jeff’s approach is shaped by a career that encompasses one-on-one patient care, rapid advancement through corporate structures, academic accomplishments, and entrepreneurial endeavors. Before joining the Sage team, Jeff served as president of the Regenerative Medicine Division of Shire plc and previously as Senior Vice President of Research and Development, Pharmaceuticals at Shire. Prior to Shire, he served as the Executive Vice President of ISIS Pharmaceuticals, as the Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Forest Laboratories, Inc. and in senior-level positions at Upjohn Laboratories. Jeff is a member of the board for Decibel Therapeutics, Generation Bio and Karuna Therapeutics. He has published more than 70 scientific papers and chapters, authored more than 100 books, scientific articles and abstracts and has received numerous awards.

Jeff received his B.A. from Amherst College and M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He completed a residency in psychiatry at Harvard and then served as Chief Resident in psychopharmacology at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Pande is a physician who qualified in medicine, and specialized in psychiatry, at the University of Lucknow in India. He obtained additional specialty training at Western University in Canada, and subsequently served on the faculty of the University of Michigan Medical School. Over nearly thirty years of his academic and industry career, Dr. Pande has been involved in the development of important central nervous system drugs while holding various senior roles in GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Parke-Davis/Warner-Lambert, and Lilly Research Laboratories. His experience includes drug development, registration, launch and lifecycle management in the areas of anxiety, depression, epilepsy, neuropathic pain, schizophrenia, traumatic brain injury, and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and others.

Dr. Pande currently serves as Senior Advisor to PureTech Health; non-executive director of Autifony Therapeutics; lead independent director of Axovant Gene Therapies (NASDAQ:AXGT); scientific advisory to Cennerv Pharma; development consultant to various companies; and as President and CEO of Verity BioConsulting. Dr. Pande is a fellow of several professional societies, including the American Psychiatric Association. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed scientific papers and over 100 abstracts, book chapters, and book reviews.

Robert Nelsen is a co-founder and a Managing Director of ARCH Venture Partners. He joined ARCH at its founding and played a significant role in the early sourcing, financing and development of more than 100 companies, including nineteen which have reached valuations exceeding $1 billion. His seed and early-stage investments include Illumina (ILMN); Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY); Juno Therapeutics (JUNO); Unity Biotechnology (UBX); Sienna Biopharmaceuticals (SNNA); Vir Biotechnology, Agios Pharmaceuticals (AGIO); Sage Therapeutics (SAGE); GRAIL, Ikaria; Kythera Biopharmaceuticals (KYTH), Receptos (RCPT); Aviron (AVIR); Denali Therapeutics (DNLI); Rubius Therapeutics, KSQ Therapeutics, Beam Therapeutics, NetBot; Bluebird Bio (BLUE); R2 Technology; XenoPort (XNPT); Caliper Life Sciences (CALP); Trubion Pharmaceuticals (TRBN); Adolor (ADLR); deCODE Genetics; Array BioPharma (ARRY); Editas (EDIT), IDUN Pharmaceuticals; Classmates.com; Hua Medicine; Fate Therapeutics (FATE); WuxiNextCODE; and Everyday Learning Corporation.

Mr. Nelsen is a director of Vir Bio, GRAIL, Sana Biotechnology, Beam Therapeutics, Karuna Therapeutics, Unity Biotechnology, Denali Therapeutics, insitro, Maze Therapeutics, Inc., Encoded Therapeutics and serves as Chairman of Hua Medicine, among others. He previously served as a Trustee of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute, the Institute for Systems Biology, and was a director of the National Venture Capital Association. Mr. Nelsen holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and a B.S. from the University of Puget Sound with majors in Economics and Biology.

Heather Preston, M.D. joined Pivotal bioVentures in 2018 and brings 30 years of healthcare experience. Most recently she was a Firm Partner and Managing Director at TPG Biotech and she is currently a Senior Advisor to TPG. Prior to joining TPG in 2005, Dr. Preston spent two years investing with JP Morgan Partners and she was also an Entrepreneur-in-Residence with New Enterprise Associates. Prior to becoming a venture capital investor, she spent five years at McKinsey & Co. in New York, where she was a leader of their pharmaceutical and medical products consulting practice. She advised large pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies on critical strategic issues such as R&D portfolio prioritization, M&A opportunities, new technology acquisitions, new product launches and product growth strategies.

Dr. Preston has an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of London and a medical degree from the University of Oxford. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in molecular biology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard University and trained in Internal Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard and sub-specialized in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at UCSF. During her academic medical career, she was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship, a Fulbright Cancer Research Scholarship, a Harlech Scholarship and a Science and Engineering Research Council Post-doctoral Fellowship Award. Dr. Preston also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Harvard Discovery Council, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Saint Luke’s School and the Harlech Scholarship Foundation.