About Us

Our leadership and board of directors have over 350 collective years of biotechnology and clinical experience.

Leadership Team

Jeffrey Nau, PhD, MMS

President & CEO

Jeffrey Nau, Ph.D., M.M.S., is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Aviceda Therapeutics. He has over 20 years of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, with a career dedicated to ophthalmology and the treatment of retinal diseases.

Prior to joining Aviceda, Dr. Nau served as the Chief Operating Officer of Kalaris Therapeutics, where he played a key role in defining the company’s operational and strategic direction and oversaw its merger with Allovir, Inc. Previously, he was CEO of Oyster Point Pharma, where he led the company through its $92 million initial public offering in 2019, raised over $200 million in public capital, and managed multiple value-generating business development deals, including the company’s acquisition by Viatris in 2023. During his tenure, he was responsible for the development and commercial launch of TYRVAYA^® (varenicline solution), the first and only FDA-approved nasal spray approved for the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease. He also led the out-licensing of the company’s lead asset in Greater China in a $200 million+ deal.

Earlier in his career, Dr. Nau held leadership positions at Genentech, a subsidiary of Roche, where he contributed to the development and launch of multiple indications for Lucentis^® , a therapy that revolutionized the treatment of blindness and achieved global peak sales exceeding $4.3 billion. He has also held roles at several other biotech companies focused on ophthalmology, including NeoVista, Acuity Pharmaceuticals, and Genaera Corporation. While at these companies, Dr. Nau led the development of several transformative therapies in eye care and helped raise over $400 million in private equity for multiple early-stage ventures.

Dr. Nau is an inventor on multiple patents and has authored numerous peer reviewed publications. Dr. Nau holds a Ph.D. in Public Health and Epidemiology from Walden University, a Master of Medical Science from MCP Hahnemann College of Medicine, and a Bachelor’s in Biology from Stony Brook University.

David Callanan, MD

Chief Medical Officer & Senior Vice-President

Dr. Callanan has over 30 years of experience in Ophthalmology research & development. After receiving his MD at the University of Iowa College of Medicine, he accepted an Internal Medicine residency and ophthalmology residency at Parkland Memorial Hospital UT-Southwestern. He was a Heed Ophthalmic Foundation Fellow at the prestigious Eye Institute in US, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, Florida. He completed fellowships in Medical Retina with legendary Dr. J. Donald M. Gass and Vtreoretinal surgery with the Bascom Palmer faculty. He also received additional training in uveitis with Dr. Robert Nussenblatt at the National Eye Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Callanan joined Texas Retina Associates in 1993 and was appointed to the faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School the same year.

A respected leader in his field, Dr. Callanan has actively conducted clinical research throughout his career and has played an instrumental role in many ophthalmic global drug approvals including Lucentis and Eylea, and Ozurdex. He received a National Research Service Award from the National Eye Institute in 1985. His areas of focus include Vitreoretinal Surgery, Medical Retina, and Uveitis. He is passionate about improving care for patients with retina conditions and diseases, and he led global retina clinical trials focused on potential new treatments for macular edema, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), retinal vein occlusion and uveitis.

Dr. Callanan is a clinical professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at UT Southwestern Medical Center and also serves on the board of directors of the Retina Foundation of the Southwest. A member of numerous medical societies, including the American Academy of Ophthalmology, The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, The Macula Society, The American Uveitis Society, and the American Society of Retina Specialists, among others.

Dr. Callanan has authored over 60 peer reviewed articles and several book chapters and has also presented at multiple national and international conferences focusing on ophthalmic clinical research and novel therapeutics. He has received the American Academy’s Achievement Award and was selected as one of the Best Doctors in America starting in 2001 up to the present. He has been elected to several prestigious groups including the Macula Society and the Club Jules Gonin.

Derek Kunimoto, MD, JD

Chief Strategy Officer, Head of Clinical Development & Co-Founder

Dr. Kunimoto received his law degree with honors from Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship. He previously worked at McKinsey & Co with biotech and pharma companies, focusing on both strategy development and operational projects, including supply chain management.

Dr. Kunimoto is a vitreoretinal surgeon and spent 20 years building a practice to become the largest retina only practice in Arizona, including an aviation and nutraceutical department. His practice was successfully sold to a private equity platform in 2019.

Dr. Kunimoto graduated from Harvard College summa cum laude and Harvard Medical School with honors. He completed his ophthalmology residency and retina fellowship at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, where he served as co-chief resident, and was awarded a Heed and Ronald G. Michels fellowship. He has authored numerous peer reviewed publications, and two major ophthalmology textbooks, The Wills Eye Video Atlas of Ocular Surgery, and the 4th edition of The Wills Eye Manual. He has been an invited speaker at numerous national and international ophthalmology conferences and is widely recognized as a clinical researcher of retinal diseases, acting as Investigator or Principal Investigator in over 200 clinical trials.

Dr. Kunimoto co-founded Aviceda Therapeutics, which is in clinical trials for geographic atrophy. He has held positions including Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer, as well as Head of Clinical Development.

Tarek S. Hassan, MD

Chief Development Officer & Senior Vice-President

Tarek S. Hassan, M.D. is Professor of Ophthalmology at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, Senior Partner, and Past Director of the Vitreoretinal Fellowship Training Program at Associated Retinal Consultants in Royal Oak, Michigan. He is the Past President of the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS), Past President of the Foundation of the ASRS, Past President of the Retina World Congress (RWC), and Immediate Past President of the Retina Hall of Fame. He has been on the Founder’s Board, Executive Board, and Board of Directors of the RWC for the past 9 years. He served on the Executive Committee of both the ASRS and the Foundation of the ASRS for 12 years and was on the Board of Directors of the ASRS for 22 years.

Dr. Hassan is a Founder and Director of the Retina Fellows Forum (25 years), Club Vit (26 years), and the Retina Hall of Fame (9 years). He has served as President of Club Vit for 26 years. He was Program Chairman for two ASRS Annual Meetings and two Retina Subspecialty Day Meetings of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO).

Dr. Hassan has an active academic clinical practice in which he is extensively involved in both basic science and clinical vitreoretinal research studies. He has served as principal investigator or co-investigator in more than 160 national trials, notably in the areas of macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinal vein occlusion, and vitreoretinal surgery. He has authored and co- authored more than 240 papers published in peer-reviewed journals and 9 books and book chapters for medical texts. He is the Founder and Senior Associate Editor of the Journal of Vitreoretinal Diseases, as well as a scientific reviewer for all the leading journals within ophthalmology and retina, and an editorial board member of several. He has been a leader in the areas of retinal detachment repair, diabetic retinopathy, and macular degeneration, and has lectured extensively nationally and internationally for many years, giving over 840 presentations on numerous retinal topics. He was awarded the AAO Achievement Award in 2003, the ASRS Senior Honor Award in 2004, and the AAO Senior Achievement Award in 2013. He has also been named to the “Best Doctors in America” listing every year since 2000 and was elected as an inaugural member of the Retina Hall of Fame in 2017. He is very committed to retina fellow education and has had the honor to train 64 clinical vitreoretinal fellows and over 30 international research fellows. He has founded or co-founded 6 medical device and/or educational companies and holds numerous United States government-issued patents.

Born in Houston, Texas, Dr. Hassan obtained his undergraduate and medical school training at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He received his ophthalmology residency training at the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center prior to completing his vitreoretinal surgery fellowship at Associated Retinal Consultants/William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan.

Matthew Barrows, MBA

Vice President, Chemistry, Manufacturing,
and Control (CMC) & Technical Operations

Matt brings over 25 years of senior leadership in CMC. Most recently Matt was CTO at Tome Biosciences responsible for Quality, Manufacturing and Process/Analytical Development for the cell and gene therapy company.

Prior to Tome, Matt was Executive Director, Commercial Manufacturing at Moderna Therapeutics, where he led the manufacturing scale-up of Spikevax, Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine and Clinical Manufacturing for Moderna’s Personalized Cancer Vaccine scale-out and production among other clinical programs. Matt served as Upstream Manufacturing Lead & Head of Operational Readiness at Alexion Pharmaceuticals and held leadership roles at Genzyme/Sanofi in Manufacturing, Process & Automation Engineering and Quality System Remediation. He received his MBA from Northeastern University and BS in Biotechnology from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

George Donato

Senior Vice President, External Manufacturing & Supply Chain

George has over 35 years of senior leadership in External Supply and CMC. Most recently George was Sr. VP CMC & Operations at Viatris responsible for commercial supply and product development of the Ophthalmology products.

Prior to Viatris, Geroge was Sr. VP CMC, at Oyster Point Pharma, where he led the development, gained FDA approval and launched Tryvaya Nasal Spray for Dry Eye. George also was Sr. VP Operations at Iroko Pharmaceuticals, responsible for Global approval and launch of three Low-Dose SoluMatrix® NSAID products. George held several senior positions at Pfizer in Global Technology, New Product Leadership, External Manufacturing and Supply Chain. He received his MBA and BS in Engineering from Widener University.

Raisa Lowe, MS

Vice President, Quality

Raisa Lowe is the Vice President of Quality at Aviceda Therapeutics. In this role, she oversees all aspects of quality and compliance as the company moves its leading product toward commercialization.

With over 30 years of experience in drug development, Raisa brings extensive expertise in designing and implementing comprehensive Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) and quality strategies. Her work spans both clinical and commercial operations and involves navigating global regulatory environments to ensure the highest standards of quality and compliance.

Throughout her career, Raisa has held senior leadership positions in Quality, CMC, and Regulatory functions across diverse areas, including cell and gene therapy, biologics, medical devices, and small molecule therapeutics. She has effectively managed cross-functional teams through complex health authority inspections and has led continuous improvement initiatives in quality management systems.

Prior to joining Aviceda Therapeutics, Raisa was the Vice President, Head of CMC at Arbor Biotechnologies. There, she led process and analytical development, manufacturing, quality, and CMC regulatory for the company’s first-in-human study of its in vivo gene therapy program. Her career also includes impactful leadership roles at organizations such as Editas Medicine, Bristol Myers Squibb, Argos Therapeutics, Novartis, and Diosynth Biotechnologies.

Raisa has contributed to the advancement of multiple clinical programs and provided key contributions for the commercialization of drug products, including Somarvet®, Retavase®, and Breyanzi®.

Raisa Lowe holds a Master of Science in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from The Interamerican University of Puerto Rico.

Anitha Krishnan, PhD

Executive Director, Research

Anitha Krishnan, Ph.D., joined Aviceda Therapeutics in 2019 and currently serves as the Executive Director of Research. In this role, she leads the non-clinical and translational teams, driving the advancement of therapeutic solutions from discovery to the clinical stage.

Dr. Krishnan's expertise spans a diverse range of disease areas and therapeutic approaches. She has worked extensively on neuro-inflammation in both the central nervous system and ocular diseases for over 15 years. Her research has focused on understanding the role of Toll-like receptors in microglial cells and the significance of the Fas-FasL axis in neuroprotection, particularly focused on immune cells. She has explored various modalities to target diseases, including viral gene therapy, small molecules, nanoparticles, and antibodies.

Before joining Aviceda, Dr. Krishnan was a Staff Scientist and Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard Medical School's Department of Ophthalmology for six plus years. There, she managed multiple projects related to various ocular diseases, with a focus on neuroprotection of retinal ganglion cells using gene therapy.

A co-author of a landmark 2020 publication in Nature on the reversal of aging and vision loss, Dr. Krishnan holds several patents. Her research has led to a small molecule approach currently in clinical trials and a gene therapy approach in preclinical development for glaucoma. Dr. Krishnan has participated in pre-IND/IND FDA meetings, successfully supporting approvals that led to clinical trials. Dr. Krishnan's contributions exemplify her commitment to advancing therapeutic solutions and improving patient outcomes.

She earned her Ph.D. in Pl. Physiology and Molecular Biology from G.B. Pant University in India, after completing her Bachelor's (Hons) in Microbiology from Delhi University. She was a Post-Doctoral fellow at University of Minnesota Medical Centre and Boston College before joining Harvard. She has published in high tier journals viz., Nature, J of Neuroscience, J of immunology, J of Infectious diseases, Frontiers in Immunology and Plos Pathogens.

Kristen Striffler

Vice President, Clinical Operations

Kristen brings over 20 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Aviceda, Kristen was the Sr. Director, Clinical Development at Viatris Eye Care (formerly Oyster Point) where she was responsible for the oversight of all the ophthalmic clinical trials within the company portfolio.

During her tenure at Oyster Point, she was responsible for the oversight and operations of all clinical trials related to TYRVAYA® (varenicline solution), the first and only FDA-approved nasal spray approved for the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease.

Prior to joining Oyster Point, she was Global Clinical Trial Manager at Amgen where she was responsible for the management of a large cardiovascular trial. She has also held roles at several other biotech companies focused on ophthalmology, including Ophthotech, NeoVista, and Genaera Corporation.

Kristen received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Delaware.

Heather Malcolm, J.D.

Head of Human Resources, Consultant

Heather Malcolm, J.D., joined Aviceda Therapeutics with more than 25 years of experience in Human Resources at life science companies and organizations, including 17 years of experience leading HR functions. Since 2019, she has provided strategic HR consulting to more than a dozen early stage biotech companies, both building HR functions and supporting transitions including IPOs, reverse mergers and acquisitions.

Prior to consulting, Heather led Human Resources at Alder Biopharmaceuticals for over a decade, helping to build the company from 35 employees through IPO and the eventual acquisition of Alder by Lundbeck. In that time, the company brought a product candidate from preclinical research through NDA, resulting in approval shortly after acquisition by Lundbeck. Heather has also held roles in HR at Seattle Children’s Research Insititute, SeaGen, Chiron and Pathogenesis.

She received an undergraduate degree at St John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and graduated Magna Cum Laude with her Juris Doctor degree from Seattle University.

Board of Directors

David Guyer, MD

Chair

David is the Co-founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Eyebio, which was acquired by Merck for a $3 billion. He is also a Venture Partner at SV Health Investors and is the Co-Founder, former CEO, and Executive Chairman of Iveric Bio (previously Ophthotech). He served as Chairman of Iveric Bio's board of directors from 2007 to 2017, as CEO from 2013 to 2017, and as Executive Chairman from 2017 to 2021. Under David's leadership, Iveric Bio entered into a partnership with Novartis that, at the time, was one of the largest ex-U.S. partnering transactions in biotechnology industry history. David in-licensed and developed IZERVAY, which created the first class of complement inhibitors commercially available for patients with dry macular degeneration. This endeavor led to the acquisition of Iveric by Astellas for $5.9 billion in 2023.

He has expansive medical, drug development, and commercial experience in ophthalmology. His expertise is highly sought after, and he has served on the boards of 27 companies, both public and private. In addition to co-founding EyeBio and Iveric Bio, David co-founded Eyetech Pharmaceuticals Inc. and served as its CEO and member of the board of directors from 2000 until the company's acquisition by OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in November 2005. At Eyetech, David developed and commercialized the first anti-VEGF drug for retinal diseases.

David has founded three companies with two of these completing IPOs. All three companies have been successfully acquired.

Prior to co-founding Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, David was a professor and Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at New York University School of Medicine. David received a B.S. from Yale College and an M.D. from Johns Hopkins Medical School. He completed his ophthalmology residency at Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute at Johns Hopkins Hospital and a retinal fellowship at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary at Harvard Medical School.

Jeffrey Nau, PhD, MMS

President & CEO

Emmett T. Cunningham Jr., MD, PhD, MPH

Director

Dr. Emmett T. Cunningham, Jr. is a physician-scientist, entrepreneur, and investor with more than two decades of experience in pharma, biotechnology, medical devices, and venture capital. He brings to Aviceda deep expertise in ophthalmology, immunology, clinical development, and the advancement of therapeutic innovation through strategic investment and board leadership.

Dr. Cunningham was previously a Senior Managing Director at the Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX), following its acquisition of Clarus Ventures, where he was a Managing Director. Over the course of his investment career, he has led or co-led financings that supported the FDA approval of ten therapeutics, including treatments in ophthalmology, endocrinology, hematology, and rare diseases.

Dr. Cunningham has served on the boards of more than a dozen life science companies across both private and public markets. He currently serves on the Boards of Eyconis, Oryon Cell Therapies, Nacuity Pharmaceuticals, and InflammX Therapeutics, and previously held board roles at Annexon Biosciences (NASDAQ: ANNX), GrayBug Vision (NASDAQ: GRAY), Lumos Pharma (NASDAQ: LUMO), the SFJ Pharmaceutical Group, SARcode Biosciences (acquired by Shire), Galera Therapeutics (GRTX), Neomend (acquired by Bard), Restoration Robotics (acquired by Venus Concept), Viewpoint Therapeutics, and Silktech Biopharmaceuticals. He is also a co-founder and personal seed investor in several early-stage companies, including Xeris Biopharma Holdings (NASDAQ: XERS), Aiolos Bio (acquired by GSK), Placid0 (acquired by WALDO), and Pr3vent Medical. He is Executive Chair of both Eyconis, a spinout of Ascendis Pharma (NASDAQ: ASND) and Oryon Cell Therapies.

Prior to his investing career, Dr. Cunningham was Senior Vice President of Medical Strategy at Eyetech Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: EYET), where he played a leadership role in the development of Macugen® (pegaptanib sodium), the first VEGF-A inhibitor approved for neovascular age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema. Before Eyetech, he held clinical development and licensing roles at Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), focused on CNS and ophthalmology assets.

Dr. Cunningham is a board-certified ophthalmologist and internationally recognized expert in infectious and inflammatory eye disease and retina, with more than 400 co-authored publications. He is the founder and former chairman of the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit (OIS), which he led for over a decade in partnership with major ophthalmology congresses.

He holds an MD and MPH in epidemiology and statistics from Johns Hopkins University and a PhD in neuroscience from the University of California, San Diego, for research conducted at The Salk Institute. He completed residency and fellowship training in ophthalmology, corneal disease, and uveitis at UCSF and The Francis I. Proctor Foundation, with additional fellowships in Retina at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London and Public Health Ophthalmology at The Dana Center of the Wilmer Eye Institute in Baltimore.

Dr. Cunningham currently teaches at California Pacific Medical Center, is an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at Stanford University, and a Research Associate at UCSF School of Medicine.

Bernard Davitian

Director

Bernard joined Omega Funds in 2020. He has extensive experience in the life sciences and biotech industry, marked by a number of successful transactions involving financings and M&A. Bernard currently serves on the Board of Directors of Endeavor BioMedicines, and Vanqua Bio. Bernard was previously a board member of EyeBio (acquired by Merck & Co in July 2024), Upstream Bio (Nasdaq: UPB), and Lexeo Therapeutics (Nasdaq:LXEO).

Bernard previously served as SVP and Managing Director at Sanofi Ventures, having first joined Sanofi in 2010 as Vice President, Deputy Global Head, Business Development. Over his 7-year tenure, Sanofi Ventures invested in 28 new companies and generated 14 exits (12 Nasdaq IPOs, 1 trade sale and 1 option deal).

Prior to Sanofi, Bernard held CEO, CFO and other leadership roles at Fovea Pharmaceuticals (which was sold to Sanofi in 2009 in a $540 million cash transaction), Neurotech Pharmaceuticals, Transgene (which successfully raised $100 million in a 1998 IPO on the NASDAQ/EuroNext) and Institut Mérieux (now Sanofi Pasteur).

Chen Yu, MD, MBA

Director

Dr. Yu is the founder and Managing Partner at TCGX. Prior to founding TCGX, Dr. Yu spent sixteen years as a Managing Partner at Vivo Capital, a life sciences focused investor with $4.5 B AUM. Dr. Yu has extensive operating experience with leadership roles at both private and public companies, including stints as the COO of Sagent Pharmaceuticals and CBO of China KangHui, both of which went public and were ultimately acquired.

Dr. Yu has served on the board of over a dozen private/public companies, including Artios, Upstream Bio, Structure Therapeutics (NASDAQ:GPCR), Arbor Biotechnologies, Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TARS), Sagent Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SGNT, acquired by Nichi-I-Ko), China Kanghui (NYSE:KH, acquired by Medtronic), Rempex (acquired by Medicines Company), Kala (NASDAQ:KALA), Nabriva (NASDAQ: NBRV), Surgical Specialties (acquired by GTCR), Sentre Heart (acquired by Atricure), and NKF Pharma (SHA: 603707). While at Vivo, he also led investments in Zai Labs (NASDAQ: ZLAB), RiverVision (acquired by Horizon), CRISPR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRSP), Intellia (NASDAQ: NTLA), Durata (acquired by Actavis), Trauson (acquired by Stryker), and Revolution Medicines (NASDAQ:RVMD).

Dr. Yu also serves on the California Leadership Council for the Nature Conservancy and was previously a member of the Stanford Medical School Alumni Board of Governors. Dr. Yu received his M.D. and M.B.A. from Stanford University and graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Biology from Harvard University.

Erin Lavelle

Director

Erin Lavelle has over 25 years of strategic and operational leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. She most recently served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at ProfoundBio where she led a $112 million Series B and IPO preparation and negotiated a $1.9 billion sale to Genmab in 2024.

Prior to her leadership roles at ProfoundBio, she was the COO/CFO at Eliem Therapeutics, a biotechnology firm based in Seattle. She was instrumental in orchestrating Eliem's Initial Public Offering (IPO). Before Eliem, she was the COO of Alder Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., where she led Alder’s $2.3 billion acquisition by H. Lundbeck A/S. Her extensive tenure in the biopharmaceutical sector also includes 15 years at Amgen, culminating as the General Manager of Amgen's Taiwan affiliate. Prior to this leadership role, she was based in Hong Kong as an Executive Director for the Japan Asia-Pacific region, spearheading Commercial Excellence and Digital Health initiatives. Her earlier positions at Amgen involved executive leadership in Global Marketing, Global Commercial Finance, and Strategy & Corporate Development. Erin began her career as an investment banker within the healthcare group at Merrill Lynch & Co. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Economics from Yale University and has served on the boards of Neoleukin (NLTX) and Vitaeris, a private company located in Vancouver.

Evelyn Harrison, MBA

Director

Evelyn M. Harrison brings more than 30 years of experience in the biotech industry. Her responsibilities grew progressively with each position she held in each of the three biotech companies during her career. She has experience in management, clinical research and development.

For the first ten years, she was Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Ophthotech Corp. which was later reorganized to IVERIC Bio where she held the position of Chief Clinical Operating Officer. During her tenure at IVERIC Bio, she was instrumental in the approval of Izervay™ for the treatment of Geographic Atrophy (GA).

Prior experience with Eyetech Pharmaceuticals as Senior Vice-President of clinical research and development, Evelyn played a key role in the development and approval of Macugen® (pegaptanib sodium) for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration.

Evelyn began her career at Hoffmann LaRoche, where she held several positions in clinical development. She was responsible for the development and implementation of strategic programs for Roche’s oncology and virology franchise. She also had experience working on all phases of global clinical trials in multiple therapeutic areas such as ophthalmology, bone marrow and organ transplantation.

Evelyn holds a BA degree in Biology from Hofstra University and an MBA degree from Manhattan College.

Rafaele Tordjman, MD, PhD

Board Observer

Dr. Rafaèle Tordjman, MD PhD, has been an investor in life sciences for 20 years. She started her career at Sofinnova Partners, a Paris-based venture capital firm, in 2001, as an analyst, and became co-leader and Managing partner with €1.5 billion in assets under management.

Prior to joining Sofinnova Partners, Dr. Tordjman worked as a physician and researcher in haemato-oncology. She worked at the Paris University Hospitals as a medical doctor specialising in internal medicine and clinical hematology. She completed her post-doctoral work in immunology at INSERM.

In 2018, Dr. Tordjman founded Jeito Capital, an independent investment company dedicated to biopharma to invest in the next generation of leaders in medical innovation. Jeito I raised €534 million ($630 million) in September 2021, becoming the largest independent European fund in Life Sciences.

In September 2020, Dr. Tordjman was awarded Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, France’s highest distinction. In July 2021, she was appointed by President Emmanuel Macron to promote the French biotech ecosystem among leading international players.

Dr. Tordjman has also been nominated in the 2023 Forbes “50 Over 50” selection across Europe, Middle East and Africa, spotlighting successful women who are reaching new heights in their industries.

To engage more women in the life sciences industry, in 2010 Dr. Tordjman founded the association W.I.T.H.(Women Innovating Together in Healthcare) that now has a global membership of 500 women representing the full chain of medical innovation.

Sara Nayeem, MD

Board Observer

Sara Nayeem, M.D. is Executive Vice President, Investments at Enavate Sciences. Sara has 20 years of experience in biotech investing and advisory services. She previously served as Partner at Avoro Ventures, a biopharma venture fund she helped launch in 2021. Previously she was a Partner at New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA), where she spent 12 years as part of the biopharma investing group.

Over her investing career, Sara has played a key diligence and management role in 29 investments, from which there have been 11 IPOs and 10 acquisitions with upfront payments exceeding $16 billion. Prior to joining NEA, Sara was an Associate with Merrill Lynch’s Global Healthcare Group, where she advised biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device companies on mergers, acquisitions and financing transactions. She began her career as an Investment Banking Analyst at Morgan Stanley. Sara earned her A.B. in Biology from Harvard College magna cum laude and concurrent M.D./MBA degrees from Yale University.

Haithem Laaribi

Board Observer

Prior to joining TCGX, Haithem was a Senior Associate at Evercore ISI, focusing on SMID Cap biotech coverage. Prior to Evercore, he was a consultant at Eversana Consulting and Deallus. Haithem received a B.Sc. in Pharmacology from McGill University.

Jay Woods

Board Observer

Jay Woods is a seasoned serial entrepreneur, business executive, and financial expert with 20 years of experience delivering strategic solutions to businesses.

As the Founder and President of Omega Accounting Solutions, an accounting, finance, and tax consulting firm located in Irvine, California, Woods has established long-term strategic partnerships with clients and helped grow the business into a thriving national provider recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America. He is also the founder of the Braided Cord Foundation, a non-profit that provides support, training, and opportunity to people from under-resourced communities worldwide.

Woods started his career in finance and tax, working as a Controller for an action-sports apparel company and as a Tax Accountant for several CPA firms that catered to high-net-worth individuals. Through these roles, he developed his expertise in strategic financial planning and business operations. Woods holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from California State University, Long Beach.

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