Dr. Subramanian has spent more than 20 years advancing first-in-class therapies to approval. He was previously Senior Vice President and Therapeutic Area Head for Liver Diseases at Gilead Sciences where he oversaw approval of multiple therapies for viral hepatitis (Sovaldi®, Harvoni®, Epclusa®, Vosevi®, Vemlidy®) and a portfolio of compounds in NASH and other liver diseases. Previously, he was at Human Genome Sciences where he developed albumin-fusion proteins and monoclonal antibodies. He started his biotechnology career at Celera Genomics where he made major contributions to the sequencing and annotation of the human and mouse genomes.
Dr. Subramanian received his Internal Medicine training at University Hospitals of Cleveland (CWRU) and Infectious Diseases fellowship at NIAID, NIH. He holds a PhD degree from University of Michigan and MD from Armed Forces Medical College, India.
Dr. Myers is a hepatologist with over 20 years’ experience in academia and the biopharmaceutical industry. He was previously Vice President at Gilead Sciences, where he oversaw clinical development in liver fibrosis (NASH, cholestatic and alcoholic liver disease) and GI inflammation, and Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Calgary. Dr. Myers has published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts and was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his contributions to research and patient care in liver disease.
Dr. Myers received his MD and Internal Medicine training at Western University, Gastroenterology fellowship at the University of Calgary, and Hepatology fellowship at the Université de Paris VI, and holds a master’s degree in Epidemiology from the University of Calgary.
Dr. Shulman is the George R. Cowgill Professor of Medicine and Cellular & Molecular Physiology at Yale University. He is also Co-Director of the Yale Diabetes Research Center and was an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for 21 years. Dr. Shulman has pioneered the non-invasive assessment of glucose and fat metabolism in humans and rodent models, and his discoveries have led to paradigm shifts in our understanding of diabetes and molecular mechanisms of insulin resistance.
Dr. Shulman is the recipient of the Banting Medal for Lifetime Scientific Achievement from the American Diabetes Association. He has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Auwerx is Professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EFPL), Switzerland, where he heads the Laboratory of Integrative Systems Biology. Dr. Auwerx uses molecular physiology and systems genetics approaches to understand mitochondrial function and metabolism in health, aging, and disease. His research has spurred the development of new drugs for the treatment of metabolic, cardiovascular, renal, and neuromuscular diseases, including PPAR agonists, urolithin A, PARP inhibitors, and other NAD+ enhancers.
Dr. Auwerx was elected as a member of EMBO in 2003 and founded multiple biotech companies including Mitobridge, Carex, and PhytoDia.
Dr. Takebe is Chair of Organoid Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Division of Developmental Biology Center for Stem Cell and Organoid Medicine (CuSTOM) Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Dr. Takebe is a Principal Investigator at the Takeda-CiRA joint program and full professor at Tokyo Medical and Dental University. He integrates cutting-edge stem cell biology and organoid technology to facilitate research of human biology and disease.
Dr. Takebe is on the Board of Directors for the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) and is an elected member of American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI) and recipient of the Robertson Investigator Award from the New-York Stem Cell Foundation
Dr. Srinivas Akkaraju is the Founder and Managing General Partner at Samsara BioCapital. Previously, from April 2013 to February 2016, he served as a General Partner of Sofinnova Ventures. From January 2009 until April 2013, he served as Managing Director of New Leaf Venture Partners. Previously, he served as a Managing Director at Panorama Capital, LLC, a private equity firm. Prior to co-founding Panorama Capital, Dr. Akkaraju was with J.P. Morgan Partners, which he joined in 2001 and of which he became a Partner in 2005. From October 1998 to April 2001, he was in Business and Corporate Development at Genentech, Inc. (now a wholly owned member of The Roche Group), a biotechnology company, most recently as Senior Manager.
Prior to joining Genentech, Dr. Akkaraju was a graduate student at Stanford University, where he received his M.D. and a Ph.D. in Immunology. He received his undergraduate degrees in Biochemistry and Computer Science from Rice University. Dr. Akkaraju serves as a director of Scholar Rock, Mineralys Therapeutics, Syros Pharmaceuticals, and several private biotechs. Previously, he served as a director on the boards of Seattle Genetics, Principia Biopharma, Chinook Therapeutics, Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, ZS Pharma, Synageva Biopharma Corp., Amarin Corporation, Aravive, Inc., and Barrier Therapeutics.
Aditya joined Samsara as a Senior Analyst in 2020 and he currently serves on the Board of Palvella Therapeutics and is a Board Observer for Abata Therapeutics, Alpha 9 Oncology, Fluent Biosciences and ImmunOs Therapeutics.
Prior to joining Samsara, Aditya completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University where he studied the role of microglia in synapse pruning and cognition in the adult brain, and the role of aberrant neuro-immune signaling in the progression of neurodegenerative disorders. As a graduate student, Aditya studied the role of neuroinflammation in age-related cognitive decline. Outside the lab, Aditya also consulted for various life science investment firms such as Aquilo Capital Management and Sofinnova Investments and was a founding member of the Mythos Biotechnology Fund, a student and postdoc-led life science investment club at Stanford.
Aditya received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Florida and is an alumnus of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Ignite Program in Entrepreneurship and innovation.
Edd Fleming, M.D. is the Executive Vice President, Commercialization at Enavate Sciences. He is integral to the origination, diligence and selection of Enavate investments and support of the Enavate portfolio of companies, including strategic planning, governance, partnerships and commercialization. Edd currently serves on the board of directors of several Enavate portfolio companies, including OrsoBio, Sionna Therapeutics, Sudo Biosciences and Upstream Bio.
Edd has spent more than 30 years in the health care industry, including 26 years at McKinsey and Company where he was a senior partner and leader in McKinsey’s Life Science practice. Edd worked closely with the executive teams and Boards of leading biopharmaceutical and biotech companies to support strategic planning, R&D priorities, commercialization and numerous mergers and acquisitions. He founded the Firm’s Chief Medical Officer and Medical Affairs forums and has an extensive network of commercial and R&D leaders across the industry. During his final 8 years at the Firm, he led McKinsey’s R&D practice, responsible for McKinsey’s client support and new knowledge development in R&D for the Life Science industry. Prior to McKinsey, Edd was a board-certified pulmonologist and critical care physician at University of California, San Francisco, where he trained in addition to Johns Hopkins.
Edd is on the board of CRISPR Therapeutics, Komodo Health and Egnite Health. He serves on the Board of Visitors for Vanderbilt’s School of Basic Sciences.
Edd earned his A.B. in Chemistry from Harvard College and an M.D. from Vanderbilt Medical School.
Mr. Young is a Managing Director of Longitude Capital. Prior to joining Longitude Capital in 2022, Mr. Young was the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of GRAIL, a developer of blood cancer tests that was acquired by Illumina (ILMN) for $8 billion in 2021. From 2013 to 2019, Mr. Young held positions of increasing responsibility at Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ), a Longitude portfolio company, most recently as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to Jazz, Mr. Young was an investment banker for nearly 20 years at Barclays Capital, Citigroup, Lehman Brothers, and Merrill Lynch, where he advised and led financings for hundreds of emerging and established life science companies.
Additionally, Mr. Young served on the board of PRA Health Sciences (PRAH) until its acquisition by ICON plc for $12 billion in 2021, and currently serves as Lead Independent Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of CytomX Therapeutics (CTMX). Mr. Young currently serves on the boards of AllinBio, Alpha-9 Oncology, and OrsoBio. He also led Longitude Capital’s investment in Aviceda Therapeutics and Mirum Pharmaceuticals (MIRM). Mr. Young holds an MBA and a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Evan Rachlin, MD, is the co-founder and a Managing Partner of Ascenta Capital.
Evan was previously a Managing Director at Blackstone Life Sciences from 2019 to 2022. Prior to Blackstone, he was Head of Strategy (reporting to the CEO) at Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) from 2015 to 2019, where he led development of the company’s annual long-range plan and helped formulate portfolio strategy and execute equity financings. He was a Principal at Bain Capital Ventures from 2012 to 2015, and began his career in New York City at McKinsey & Company and Pfizer.
Evan currently serves on the board of directors of Ascenta Portfolio companies Iambic Therapeutics, Cardurion Pharmaceuticals, OrsoBio, and Alpha-9 Oncology. He also serves on the board of Boston Children’s Hospital Trust, and he previously served on the boards of Fergene, Apixio, MedHOK, Boston Heart Diagnostics, and MedeAnalytics.
Evan graduated from Harvard University, magna cum laude with an A.B. in Biochemistry and Japanese. He earned an M.D. from Harvard Medical School.
Muz Mansuri joined F-Prime Capital in January 2020 as a Venture Partner and is based in the Boston office. Muz works with various F-Prime team members to evaluate therapeutic and digital investment and company creation opportunities. Muz has more than 35 years of experience in various R&D roles as a senior executive within the global biopharmaceutical industry.
Prior to joining F-Prime, Muz was a member of the Executive Committee at Sanofi, as Executive Vice President, Strategy, Business Development, and Licensing. Among other responsibilities, Muz headed the Strategy, Business Development, Alliance Management and the Venture Group for Sanofi. Before this, he was at Gilead Sciences as Senior Vice President, Research and Development Strategy and Business Development. In that capacity he led the R&D Strategy, Business Development, and M&A activities for the company. Muz has served as Chief Executive Officer of several biotech companies and as a General Partner at Flagship Ventures (now Flagship Pioneering). He began his career in the pharmaceutical industry as a bench medicinal chemist with Bristol Myers.
Muz received his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University College London. He conducted postdoctoral research at UCLA and Columbia University.
OrsoBio team members collaborated with Professor Takebe in his pioneering study in Cell on the first use of en masse human liver organoids to define the genetic basis of metabolic liver disease and potential for tailored therapeutic development.
