John Baclawski
John Baclawski is a Partner and Head of Capital Formation at MPM BioImpact, overseeing fundraising and investor relations activities.
Previously, John spent nearly 9 years at Eaton Partners, a global placement agent, successfully raising institutional capital for private equity funds, real asset funds and credit funds. He started his career in investment banking at Bear Stearns & Co., as well as Cantor Fitzgerald and Wells Fargo Securities.
John is an Eagle Scout and spent a season as a Professional Ski Instructor in Beaver Creek, Colorado. He graduated from Colgate University and was a Member of the National History Honors Society (Phi Alpha Theta), while competing in Varsity football and rugby. John enjoys competitive sailing, and tennis.
Patrick A. Baeuerle, Ph.D.
Dr. Patrick A. Baeuerle currently serves as an MPM BioImpact Advisor. Patrick transitioned from his role as an MPM BioImpact Entrepreneur Partner in 2024. He is the co-founder of eight oncology portfolio companies including Harpoon Therapeutics (acquired by Merck), iOmx Therapeutics, Maverick Therapeutics (acquired by Takeda), TCR² Therapeutics (merged with and into Adaptimmune (NASDAQ: ADAP)), Werewolf Therapeutics (NASDAQ: HOWL), Cullinan Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CGEM), and Aktis Oncology. Patrick is Chief Scientific Advisor and Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of Cullinan Therapeutics, and Scientific Advisor at Crossbow and Aktis, both MPM BioImpact portfolio companies.
Prior to joining MPM BioImpact, Patrick served as Vice President of Research and General Manager of Amgen Research Munich GmbH and as CSO for Micromet, where he was responsible for the development of BiTE antibody Blincyto®, which was approved by the U.S. FDA in 2014 in less than three months as a therapy for relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He earlier headed small-molecule drug discovery at Tularik, a publicly traded biotechnology company acquired by Amgen. Prior to this, he was Professor and Chairman of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Medical Faculty of Freiburg University, Germany, where he did groundbreaking research on transcription factor NF-kappaB.
Patrick is the recipient of Xconomy’s 2019 “X of the Year Award”, and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory’s 2019 Lennart Philipson Award in recognition of his many contributions to the development of cancer immunotherapies. To date, he has published 245 PubMed-listed papers that have been cited more than 85,000 times. He has a Hirsch index of 141 and was rated Germany’s most frequently cited biomedical scientist of the decade (1990-1999), and among the top 50 worldwide (1990 to 1997).
Patrick holds a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Munich (LMU) and performed post-doctoral research with Dr. David Baltimore at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is also an Honorary Professor of Immunology of the Medical Faculty of LMU in Munich, Germany and is an elected member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.
Christiana Bardon, M.D., M.B.A.
Dr. Christiana (Chris) Bardon is Co-Managing Partner of MPM BioImpact and leads the firm’s public market investing as portfolio manager for BioImpact Equities and the Oncology Impact Funds.
Previously, Chris was a health care analyst at Fidelity Investments covering biotechnology, life-science tools and diagnostics, and she started her career as an analyst at MPM BioImpact. She currently serves as an Executive Fellow at the Harvard Business School, on the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows, and is a Trustee of the American Association for Cancer Research Foundation.
Chris earned her M.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School and her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. While at Harvard Medical School, she was the recipient of a Howard Hughes fellowship, and she completed her residency in Internal Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School. She received her M.S./B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Thomas M. Barnes, Ph.D.
Dr. Thomas (Tom) M. Barnes is an Entrepreneur Partner at MPM BioImpact. He is the Scientific Advisory Board Chair and former CEO of portfolio company Orna Therapeutics. Tom is a veteran entrepreneur who has turned creative scientific visions into successful businesses for both startups and established organizations, having led platform-based research and drug discovery teams for over 20 years. He has co-founded or helped launch several companies, including Intellia Therapeutics and Eleven Biotherapeutics.
Prior to joining MPM BioImpact, Tom was the Chief Scientific Officer of Intellia Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NTLA). During his tenure there, he built and established the discovery team, and helped raise over $300M over several financings, including Intellia’s IPO. He also led efforts to extend the reach of Intellia’s CRISPR platform into ex vivo delivery. He played a significant role as the main corporate spokesperson to lay and industry press, and to governmental and non-governmental organizations on the rapidly evolving and intensely followed CRISPR landscape.
Tom has wide-ranging knowledge of biological systems through his work across diverse platforms, including gene editing, genomics and gene discovery, small molecule drug repositioning, and protein engineering. Previously, as Vice President of Discovery at Eleven Biotherapeutics, Tom built the and led the research team in creating a novel chimeric cytokine antagonist, as well as novel half-life extension technologies for systemic and topical application. As Senior Vice President and site head of GeneLogic’s drug repositioning division, he oversaw technology platforms in metabolomics, toxicogenomics, gene expression informatics, and the genetics of drug metabolism and transport.
Tom received his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, and completed research fellowships at Harvard Medical School and McGill University.
Carolyn Bertozzi, Ph.D.
Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi currently serves as an MPM BioImpact Advisor. Dr. Bertozzi is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Chemical & Systems Biology and Radiology (by courtesy) at Stanford University, and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She completed her undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Harvard University in 1988 and her Ph.D. in Chemistry from UC Berkeley in 1993. After completing postdoctoral work at UCSF in the field of cellular immunology, she joined the UC Berkeley faculty in 1996. In June 2015, she joined the faculty at Stanford University coincident with the launch of Stanford’s Sarafan ChEM-H Institute.
Dr. Bertozzi’s research interests span the disciplines of chemistry and biology with an emphasis on developing new therapeutic modalities that target disease-related glycobiology. She founded the field of bioorthogonal chemistry, for which she shared the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Her group has invented targeted enzyme therapeutics for immune oncology, Lysosome Targeting Chimeras (LYTACs) for extracellular targeted protein degradation, antibody-lectin chimeras (AbLecs) for therapeutic applications, and site-specific bioconjugation methods for synthesis of next-gen antibody-drug conjugates. Her lab has also developed glycoproteomics technologies for disease biomarker discovery, point-of-care diagnostics for tuberculosis, and ultrasensitive antibody detection methods that are being used to diagnose early onset diabetes and viral infections. Her academic work has launched 12 co-founded biotechnology companies.
Dr. Bertozzi has been recognized with many honors and awards. She is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Inventors and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In addition to the Nobel Prize, she received the Welch Award in Chemistry, Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics, Lemelson-MIT Prize, and a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. She received the 2024 Priestley Medal from the American Chemical Society.
Pankaj Bhargava, M.D.
Dr. Pankaj Bhargava is an Entrepreneur Partner at MPM BioImpact. He is the CEO of portfolio company Ashibio and previously served as the interim Chief Medical Officer of Aktis Oncology. Pankaj is active in supporting MPM BioImpact’s investment collaboration with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), after having previously served as an Attending Physician at DFCI for over a decade. In addition, Pankaj supports MPM BioImpact’s relationships with its key strategic pharmaceutical partner. He also serves on the board of MPM BioImpact portfolio companies Firefly Biologics and Tizona Therapeutics.
Prior to joining MPM BioImpact, Pankaj served as Vice President and Head of the Oncology Therapeutic Area at Gilead Sciences where he was responsible for driving oncology strategy and execution across programs spanning preclinical development to post-marketing commitments. In this role, Pankaj was instrumental in building the Gilead oncology portfolio with key partnerships and transactions including the acquisition of Forty Seven, Inc. and immuno-oncology partnerships with Arcus Biosciences, Agenus, Tizona and Pionyr Therapeutics.
Pankaj has been involved in drug development over two decades, during which he oversaw several functions, including clinical research, clinical operations, pharmacovigilance, regulatory affairs and medical affairs. He previously served as Chief Medical Officer at Dicerna Pharmaceuticals where he focused on RNA therapeutics in oncology, rare diseases and liver diseases, and held roles with increasing responsibilities at Tioma Therapeutics (now ARCH oncology), Sanofi Oncology and AVEO Pharmaceuticals. Pankaj has filed multiple INDs and led global registration programs and regulatory filings leading to drug approvals in US, EU and other regions.
Pankaj earned his M.D. from the University of Delhi and completed his training in medical oncology and developmental therapeutics at Georgetown University and Lombardi Cancer Center. He also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in clinical pharmacology at Georgetown University and NIH, during which he was a visiting fellow at FDA. Pankaj previously served as an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (2004-2017), and currently serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor at University of California, San Francisco.
Detlev Biniszkiewicz, Ph.D.
Dr. Detlev Biniszkiewicz is a Managing Director at MPM BioImpact. Detlev is a serial entrepreneur and an experienced biopharma executive who brings deep knowledge of oncology and immuno-oncology to his role; recently, Detlev served as CEO of portfolio company NextPoint Therapeutics.
Prior to joining MPM and BioImpact Capital, Detlev was the President and CEO of Surface Oncology (NASDAQ: SURF), where he led its growth and transformation through to clinical-stage and its preparation for a public offering. Prior to Surface Oncology, he was Vice President of Strategy in AstraZeneca’s Oncology Unit and was part of the oncology leadership that developed Lynparza® and Tagrisso®, two innovative medicines that help thousands of patients suffering from cancer. His group transformed AstraZeneca’s Oncology pipeline through numerous licensing deals, clinical and academic collaborations, and external research. Detlev has also held multiple roles at Novartis including Global Head of Portfolio, where his group provided oversight of Novartis’ research and early development portfolio.
Detlev began his career at the Boston Consulting Group and performed his academic research at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Stephen C. Blacklow, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Stephen Blacklow currently serves as an MPM BioImpact Advisor. Stephen is the Gustavus Adolphus Pfeiffer Professor and Chair of the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School, and a member of the Department of Cancer Biology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Research by Stephen’s team has furthered the understanding of how cells can communicate with one another and cause each other to undergo downstream changes, which is an important mechanism in many cancers. His research on the Notch pathway has led to the development of new investigational therapies for hematologic malignancies such as T cell ALL.
Of his many other awards and professional affiliations, Stephen received the National Cancer Institute’s prestigious Outstanding Investigator Award in 2017 and was elected to the Association of American Physicians in 2018. Stephen also directed the MD-PhD Program in Basic and Translational Sciences at Harvard Medical School and has served on Advisory Committees for pre-clinical departments, graduate programs, and MD-PhD programs at several major research universities and institutions, including Stanford, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Stephen earned his M.D. and Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1991. He completed his residency in Clinical Pathology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and conducted his postdoctoral research at the Whitehead Institute with Dr. Peter S. Kim.
Joseph Bolen, Ph.D.
Dr. Joseph (Joe) Bolen is an Entrepreneur Partner at MPM BioImpact and the Chief Scientific Innovation Officer at Orna Therapeutics. He formerly served as Chief Science Innovation Officer at ReNAgade Therapeutics, prior to its acquisition by Orna. Joe has more than 45 years of industry and research experience and has been at the forefront of cancer and immunology research.
Joe oversaw most recently all aspects of research and development for Moderna Therapeutics as President R&D and Chief Scientific Officer. Previously, he was Chief Scientific Officer at Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Global Head of Oncology Research at Takeda Pharmaceutical Company. Prior to joining Millennium in 1999, Dr. Bolen held senior R&D positions at Hoechst Marion Roussel, Schering-Plough (DNAX) and Bristol Myers Squibb. He began his career at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where he contributed to the discovery of a class of proteins known as tyrosine kinase oncogenes as key regulators of the immune system.
Joe earned a Ph.D. in immunology and conducted his postdoctoral training in molecular virology at Kansas State University Cancer Center. He graduated from the University of Nebraska with a BS degree in microbiology and chemistry.
Diana Brainard, M.D.
Dr. Diana Brainard is an Entrepreneur Partner at MPM BioImpact. She is currently the CEO of AlloVir (NASDAQ: ALVR), a cell therapy company focused on developing innovative, allogeneic, off-the-shelf, virus-specific T cell (VST) therapies designed to treat life-threatening viral diseases. Diana has more than 25 years of research and industry experience and has been at the forefront of the most important antiviral therapies developed over the last two decades.
Previously Diana spent more than a decade at Gilead, where she played an enterprise-wide leadership role as the head of the virology therapeutic area overseeing the development and launch of some of the most successful drugs of the last decade including Sovaldi, Harvoni, Epclusa, Vosevi, Biktarvy, Descovy, and Vemlidy. In 2020, she led the company-wide initiative to rapidly advance remdesivir to become the first antiviral to receive regulatory approval for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2, which earned her global recognition as one of the most influential people in the fight against SARS-CoV-2. Her industry career began at Merck where she held positions in clinical pharmacology and experimental medicine.
Diana earned her M.D. from Tulane University School of Medicine and completed her training in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and in Infectious Diseases at MGH and Brigham & Women’s Hospital. She also completed a post-doctoral research fellowship and was on the faculty at Harvard Medical School where her NIH-funded research focused on HIV immunology and T-cell trafficking. She received her B.A. in Comparative Literature from Brown University.
Christian Desmarteaux, M.B.A.
Christian Desmarteaux is the Director of Investor Relations for BioImpact Equities (f/k/a Burrage Capital) and is responsible for coordinating all efforts relating to both existing and prospective investor relations.
Prior to joining Burrage Capital, Christian was an Account Executive at Turbonomic, a Boston based technology firm that is a global leader in business application performance. Prior to that, he worked as a Sales Consultant raising capital for several privately held companies in North America to help them achieve strategic business development and capital milestones.
Christian earned his M.B.A. from Northeastern University D’Amore-McKim School of Business and his B.S. in Communication/Business Administration from St. John’s University.
Luke Evnin, Ph.D.
Dr. Luke Evnin is co-founder and Senior Advisor at MPM BioImpact. He co-founded the predecessor company, MPM Capital, in 1997 with Ansbert Gadicke, M.D., and opened the San Francisco office in 1999.
In recent years, as a key component of his MPM activities Luke has been a co-founder and served as Chairman of the Board for seven MPM portfolio companies including Blade Therapeutics, Harpoon Therapeutics (NASDAQ: HARP), Maverick Therapeutics (acquired by Takeda), Potenza Therapeutics (acquired by Astellas), Tizona Therapeutics and Werewolf Therapeutics (NASDAQ: HOWL). He has contributed as a co-inventor in several of these companies as well as MPM portfolio company Oncorus (NASDAQ: ONCR). From October 2017 to August 2019, Dr. Evnin served as the interim Chief Executive Officer of Werewolf Therapeutics Inc. (now publicly traded), where he continues to serve as Chairman of its board of directors. In addition, he currently serves as a director for seven other public and private companies.
Luke has also served on the board of directors of many other public and private companies over his 29-year venture capital career, including past service as a director for EnteroMedics Inc. (now known as ReShape Lifesciences Inc.), Idun Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer), Intercell AG, Costim Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Novartis), Pacira Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Sonic Innovations, Inc.
Luke also serves as Chairman of the Scleroderma Research Foundation, a not-for-profit entity where he has contributed for over 20 years. He has devoted time to the External Advisory Board at the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Quantitative Genomics External Advisory Board at Princeton and at QB3 at the University of California- San Francisco. In recognition of MPM’s novel work to finance and build companies which may have a significant impact on cancer care and cures globally, Luke is a co-recipient of the 2017 Global Oncology Visionary Award.
Previously, he honed his skills as a venture capitalist at Accel Partners where he was involved in biopharmaceutical, medical device and healthcare service investing as an analyst and then General Partner at Accel Partners (1990-1997). Dr. Evnin holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry (1990) from the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) and an A.B. magna cum laude in Molecular Biology (1985) from Princeton University. He is an enthusiastic athlete (squash, tennis) and a wine collector.
Todd Foley, M.B.A.
Todd Foley is Managing Director at MPM BioImpact. He serves as Chairman of a number of portfolio company boards including Aktis Oncology, ashibio, Crossbow Therapeutics and is a director on the boards of AstronauTx, Firefly Biologics and Tetherex Pharmaceuticals. He previously served on the board of Semma Therapeutics, a potentially curative diabetes cell-therapy company founded by MPM and Doug Melton at Harvard, which was acquired by Vertex for $950M in 2019 in one of the largest ever preclinical M&A deals. He guided Selexys Pharmaceuticals to an acquisition by Novartis for $665M in 2016. Later, Novartis launched the Selexys drug, Adakveo™ in late 2019 to treat sickle cell disease.
Prior to joining MPM in 1999, Todd’s career in the life science industry included business development at Genentech (Roche) and management consulting with Arthur D. Little.
Todd earned his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and his B.S. in Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Brendan Furey, J.D.
Brendan is the Chief Compliance Officer of MPM BioImpact.
Prior to joining MPM, Brendan served as a Senior Principal Consultant at ACA Group specializing in supporting hedge, private equity, and venture capital funds to develop and administer custom compliance programs. Before ACA Group, Brendan had several legal and compliance roles with AdvisorAssist, a boutique investment adviser consulting firm and American Student Assistance. Brendan began his compliance career at Key Bank developing a customer identification program/KYC process.
Brendan has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Philosophy from the University of Delaware and a JD from Suffolk University Law School. Brendan is a licensed attorney with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Ansbert Gadicke, M.D.
Dr. Ansbert Gadicke is the Managing Partner of MPM BioImpact. Ansbert founded MPM Capital in 1992 as a biotech venture capital firm and later its affiliate BioImpact Capital for private/public funds. He is the driving force at MPM BioImpact behind building leading companies such as BioMarin Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: BMRN), Idenix Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Merck & Co.), Mitobridge (acquired by Astellas), TriNetX, and Pharmasset (acquired by Gilead Sciences) and, more recently, Cullinan Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CGEM), ElevateBio and Orna Therapeutics. MPM BioImpact believes that these companies, in which Ansbert was the lead investor and served on the Boards of Directors, are some of the biggest successes in biotech – companies that ultimately result in helping thousands of patients live longer and vastly improved lives. For example, Sovaldi, developed by Pharmasset, was the first cure for Hepatitis C, the most successful product launch in the pharmaceutical industry and has today cured over 6 million patients of Hepatitis. Prior to founding MPM, Ansbert was at The Boston Consulting Group in their Boston office.
Ansbert’s commitment to drug discovery and curing disease inspires his work both within and outside of MPM BioImpact. In recognition of MPM’s novel work to finance and build companies which may have a significant impact on cancer care and cures globally, Ansbert is a recipient of the 2017 Global Oncology Visionary Award. He is a member of the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows and the Research Advisory Council of Massachusetts General Hospital.
Ansbert received an M.D. from J.W. Goethe University in Frankfurt and held research positions at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Biochemistry Department at Harvard University. While at the German Cancer Research Center, he focused on HPV16 and 18 in Professor Harald zur Hausen’s group (Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 2008). Ansbert has published in leading scientific journals such as Nature and Cell.
Sam Goldman, Ph.D.
Dr. Samuel (Sam) Goldman is an Associate at MPM BioImpact where he is responsible for investment identification and due diligence of public equities. Prior to completing his Ph.D. Sam was a fellow with MPM BioImpact, surveilling scientific fields and evaluating innovative technologies for MPM BioImpact’s portfolio.
Sam completed his Ph.D. in Computational and Systems Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Professor Connor Coley’s lab. His research focused on developing new artificial intelligence and machine learning methodologies to analyze small molecules, proteins, and mass spectrometry data. During his time at MIT, Sam served as Co-President of the MIT Biotechnology Group and Co-Managing Director of a student-led life sciences accelerator, Nucleate.
Sam received his A.B., summa cum laude, in Computer Science from Harvard College, with a secondary focus in microbial sciences. He also competed on their NCAA Division I wrestling team and is still an avid college wrestling fan.
Brian Goodman, Ph.D.
Dr. Brian Goodman is a Partner at MPM BioImpact. He is responsible for leading investments and new company creation activities. Brian is a co-founder of Aktis Oncology (and currently serves as an Advisor to the company) and ReNAgade Therapeutics (acquired by Orna). Brian also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Antiva Biosciences, Seawolf Therapeutics and Orna Therapeutics. He has also played key leadership roles at portfolio companies during the early stages of development, including leading Business Development at Orna and ReNAgade and serving as Chief Operations Officer and Chief Business Officer at Aktis Oncology.
Prior to joining MPM BioImpact, Brian co-founded Evelo Biosciences (NASDAQ: EVLO) and served as Head of Technology and Innovation. Before taking the operational role at Evelo, Brian was a Senior Associate at Flagship Pioneering. Brian has worked across a diverse span of science, drug discovery, and development including the microbiome, extracellular vesicles, nonviral delivery, RNA medicines, and radiopharmaceuticals. He is an inventor on multiple patent applications.
Brian holds a Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology from Harvard Medical School, and B.S. and B.A. degrees in biochemistry and economics, respectively, from Brandeis University.
H. Robert Horvitz, Ph.D.
Dr. H. Robert (Bob) Horvitz has been an Advisor to MPM BioImpact since 2005 and has served as the Chairman of its Advisory Board since 2007.
Having joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Department of Biology faculty in 1978, he was named the David H. Koch Professor of Biology in 2000. He was appointed a Member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research in 2000 and a Member of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research in 2001. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Massachusetts General Hospital.
Bob received the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering and characterizing genes that control programmed cell death (apoptosis), findings that have provided the basis for understanding many aspects of human biology and disease.
Bob is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and The Royal Society of London. He is a recipient of the Gairdner Foundation International Award, the Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. Prize from the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation and the Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Neuroscience. He received a Ph.D. in Biology in 1974 from Harvard University and S.B. degrees in Mathematics and Economics from MIT in 1968.
Wu Jie, M.S.
Wu Jie is the Head of APAC at MPM BioImpact, where she focuses exclusively on early-stage investment and company creation opportunities in the region.
Prior to joining MPM BioImpact, Wu Jie spent 16 years with Temasek and invested in healthcare companies across different geographies and subsectors, including Juno Therapeutics, Guardant Health and JW Therapeutics. She most recently served as Director of Life Sciences Investment at Temasek International in Singapore, where she led a team to develop new markets across APAC regions. Before that, she served as Director of Temasek’s China Investment Team, devising and implementing the firm’s China healthcare strategy and building an extensive network of leading scientists and innovators across Asia.
Wu Jie received a M.S. degree in biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University, as well as both a M.S. and B.S. degree in engineering from Princeton University. In her free time, she enjoys badminton and multi-day hikes.
Hans-Peter Kiem, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Hans-Peter Kiem currently serves as an MPM BioImpact Advisor. Dr. Kiem is an expert in stem cell biology, transplantation and gene therapy. His focus has been the development of improved hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) gene therapy and genome editing approaches for the treatment of patients with genetic and infectious diseases or cancer. His lab has described a refined HSC population for improved HSC engineering and targeting. A major recent focus has also been the development of in vivo gene therapy using various delivery platforms including viral vectors and nanoformulations to make HSC gene therapy and gene editing more portable and more widely accessible also in low and middle income countries and setting where HIV and hemoglobinopathies are most prevalent.
Dr. Kiem has had continuous NIH funding for the past 25 years and has published more than 300 manuscripts, mostly in the area of HSC biology/transplantation and gene therapy. Dr. Kiem was the inaugural recipient of the José Carreras/E. Donnall Thomas Endowed Chair for Cancer Research at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center from 2009 to 2014 and now holds the Stephanus Family Endowed Chair for Cell and Gene Therapy. He is the Deputy Director of the Translational Science and Therapeutics Division and Director of the Stem Cell and Gene Therapy Program. He is also a Professor of Medicine and Pathology at the University of Washington. He served on the American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) and American Society of Hematology (ASH) Stem Cell committees, and also chaired them in 2016/17. In recent years, he served on the ASGCT Board and Executive Committee and served as President of ASGCT from 2022-2023. Dr. Kiem has also been an advisor to and been involved in founding companies in the stem cell transplant and gene therapy spaces.
David Kolesky, Ph.D.
Dr. David Kolesky is a Principal at MPM BioImpact. He is responsible for driving investments and company creation activities.
Before joining MPM BioImpact, David was a Principal at Flagship Pioneering, where he focused on conceiving, creating, and operating new bioplatform technology companies. David co-founded and helped launch several companies, notably Senda Biosciences and Montai Health, where he held key leadership roles at early stages of development including Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Innovation Officer at Montai, and Head of Platform at Senda. David has developed a wide range of scientific and technical experience by working across diverse platforms, including AI-enabled small molecule discovery, programmable delivery of genomic medicines, and cell & tissue engineering.
David received his Ph.D. in Engineering Sciences from Harvard University and conducted a postdoctoral fellowship at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. Working with Professor Jennifer Lewis at Harvard, he invented various technologies for creating vascularized kidney tissues for drug screening and tissue replacement. His work has been published in top journals and he is co-inventor of several issued patents. David has received numerous awards, including the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame Collegiate Inventor Prize.
A native of South Florida, David received his B.S in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida.
Kristen Laguerre, M.B.A.
Kristen Laguerre, an accomplished operating executive, is Partner, Finance and Operations at MPM BioImpact. With 25 years of financial leadership and management experience in the venture capital industry, her primary responsibility is to oversee the firm’s finance, operations and administrative functions. Kristen is also an investment committee member of a number of MPM BioImpact funds. Kristen recently served as interim CFO at portfolio company ReNAgade Therapeutics (acquired by Orna) and was previously at portfolio company Cullinan Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CGEM).
Prior to joining MPM BioImpact, Kristen served as Partner and CFO at Flare Capital Partners, and, previously, Partner and CFO at Atlas Venture, an early-stage life sciences and technology venture capital firm, where she was responsible for finance, operations and administration. Before Atlas Venture, she was Vice President – Finance at Softbank Capital, where she was responsible for finance, human resources and operations associated with both Softbank’s venture funds and its global activities outside of East Asia. Earlier in her career, Kristen spent seven years at Arthur Andersen LLP.
Kristen earned her M.B.A. in Finance and Accounting from Boston University and her B.A. in Economics from Wesleyan University.
Briggs Morrison, M.D.
Dr. Briggs W. Morrison is an Entrepreneur Partner at MPM BioImpact. He is the CEO of Crossbow Therapeutics, an MPM BioImpact portfolio company. Briggs also serves on the board of portfolio companies Repare Therapeutics (NASDAQ, RPTX) and Werewolf Therapeutics (NASDAQ: HOWL). In addition, Briggs is an investment committee member of the Oncology Impact Funds, private/public funds focused on oncology as well as new modalities, and is a member of the BioImpact Equities investment team.
Prior to joining MPM BioImpact, Briggs served as Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President for Global Medicines Development at AstraZeneca. His career also includes distinguished roles at Pfizer and Merck. As Head of Global Medicines Development at AstraZeneca, he oversaw all clinical development functions and late-stage clinical development projects. As Head of Clinical Development at Pfizer, he oversaw Phase 1-3 development and operations for all therapeutic areas before being appointed the Head of Development, Medical Affairs, Safety and Regulatory Affairs for all Pfizer human health businesses. Briggs has overseen the development of numerous biopharmaceutical products in multiple therapeutic areas, such as LYMPARZA® and TAGRISSO®. He was also the former Chairman of Transcelerate BioPharma, an industry-funded company charged with improving aspects of clinical trials.
Briggs earned his M.D. from the University of Connecticut and completed his training in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and in Medical Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He also completed a post-doctoral research fellowship in the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and additional post-doctoral work at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He received his B.S. in Biology from Georgetown University.
Frank Neumann, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Frank Neumann is an Entrepreneur Partner at MPM BioImpact and Chief Medical Officer of Orna Therapeutics, an MPM BioImpact portfolio company. Frank brings extensive experience and proven leadership in cell therapy and oncology clinical development to these roles.
Prior to joining MPM BioImpact, Frank served as Senior Vice President and Global Head of Clinical Development at Kite, a Gilead Company. Previously Frank held positions as Chief Medical Officer at Verastem, Inc. (also known as Verastem Oncology) and Vice President, Head of Oncology Clinical Research at bluebird bio. In addition, he was clinical development head of global cell therapy approaches at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, where he also held various leadership roles of increasing prominence including global clinical lead and medical team lead for two distinct cancer therapies. Earlier in his career, Frank was a member of the oncology medical teams at AstraZeneca and Sanofi-Aventis.
Board certified in Hematology/Oncology, Internal Medicine and Palliative Care Medicine, Frank was a research scholar at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and is currently an assistant professor at the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, Germany, where he received his M.D. He earned his Ph.D. from the Rheinische-Friedrich-Wilhelm University in Bonn, Germany.
Kellie Neville
Kellie Neville is a Director of Investor Relations at MPM BioImpact. She joins MPM’s Managing Directors in building lasting relationships with its Limited Partners. Kellie also leads MPM BioImpact’s communications and marketing efforts.
Prior to joining MPM BioImpact, Kellie was Director of Investor Relations & Marketing at 424 Capital, a boutique private equity investor, where she was responsible for raising capital, investor relationships and product development. Prior to that, Kellie was a Senior Investor Relations Associate at TA Associates, a middle market growth equity partner, supporting the firm’s fundraising efforts and ongoing Limited Partner relationships.
Kellie earned her B.A. in Public Relations and Marketing Communications from Simmons University.
Devin Quinlan, Ph.D.
Devin Quinlan is a Principal on the investment team at MPM BioImpact, where he is focused primarily on early-stage investment and company creation.
Since joining MPM BioImpact, Devin has supported multiple investments, including Orna Therapeutics, Seawolf Therapeutics, Firefly Bio and AstronauTx. Additionally, Devin serves as a Board Observer at Crossbow Therapeutics and Firefly Bio, and he also supports a number of MPM BioImpact’s strategic relationships.
Devin completed his Ph.D. in Biological Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His thesis was focused on uncovering structure-function relationships of antibodies which target viral antigens, including Ebola and Zika viruses. In addition to his academic research, Devin served as part of the inaugural leadership team of the MIT Biotech Group, which has since grown into the largest life-sciences student organization at MIT.
Devin is originally from Fresno, CA, and received his undergraduate degree in Bioengineering from the University of California, Los Angeles. In his free time, he loves tennis, indoor climbing and live comedy, and can occasionally be seen performing improv in theaters around the greater Boston area.
Rami Rahal, Ph.D.
Dr. Rami Rahal is a Senior Principal at MPM BioImpact where he is responsible for investment identification and due diligence of public equities.
Prior to joining MPM BioImpact, Rami spent the majority of his career in drug discovery prosecuting multiple target classes for both precision oncology and immunotherapy. Most recently, he was a Senior Director of Cancer Biology at Scorpion Therapeutics where he joined as the first biologist and played pivotal roles in expanding the biology drug discovery team, research infrastructure, and early portfolio. Before joining Scorpion Therapeutics, Rami was at KSQ Therapeutics, where he led multiple small molecule drug discovery programs for novel IO targets and helped build an integrative IO drug discovery strategy. Rami began his career in biotech at Blueprint Medicines where he served as the lead biologist for the RET inhibitor program (BLU-667/Pralsetinib) from early optimization into Phase 1. Pralsetinib is now an FDA approved medicine (Gavreto) for RET-driven metastatic NSCLC and medullary thyroid cancer.
Rami earned his PhD in Genetics from MIT and conducted postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard Medical School and the Novartis Institutes of Biomedical Research (NIBR). At NIBR, he leveraged pharmacological and genomic profiling to identify new treatment strategies for mantle cell lymphoma and characterized novel synthetic lethal cancer vulnerabilities. His work has been highlighted in Cancer Cell, Cancer Discovery, and Nature Reviews Cancer.
Robert Risoleo, J.D.
Bob Risoleo is the General Counsel at MPM BioImpact.
Prior to joining MPM BioImpact, Bob spent 35 years at the global law firm Sullivan and Cromwell LLP where he served as a trusted advisor to clients who relied on him to handle novel and complex transactions, including in the areas of capital markets, structured and leveraged finance, M&A, joint ventures, and corporate restructuring. Known for his deep curiosity and ability to ask incisive questions, Bob has succeeded in helping U.S. and foreign companies, sovereign governments, and multilateral institutions secure high impact outcomes in some of their most critical transactional, governance, risk management and compliance matters.
Bob received his J.D. from Yale Law School and his B.A. from Yale College. Before joining Sullivan & Cromwell, Bob served as a law clerk to Judge Edward R. Becker on the United States Court of Appeals.
Matthew Roden, Ph.D.
Dr. Matthew (Matt) Roden is an Entrepreneur Partner at MPM BioImpact. He is the CEO of portfolio company Aktis Oncology. Matt also serves on the Boards of Directors of portfolio companies Orna Therapeutics and NextPoint Therapeutics and is an investment committee member of the Oncology Impact Funds, private/public funds focused on oncology as well as new modalities.
Prior to joining MPM BioImpact, Matt’s career spanned senior leadership in large pharma, the healthcare equity capital markets, and in basic science as an immunologist and structural biologist. Most recently, Matt was Senior Vice President and Head of Enterprise Strategy at Bristol Myers Squibb. In this role, Matt delivered the initial strategic plan for the company following its acquisition of Celgene. Earlier, he served as Head of Strategic Corporate Development, accountable for mergers and acquisitions, structured transactions, strategic equity investing, and divestitures, and concurrently served as Head of Global BD Assessment, leading business development search and evaluation activities for all therapeutic categories. Matt served on the R&D Leadership Team representing external innovation and led teams on over 100 business development transactions that are cumulatively valued at over $125 billion, including Bristol Myers Squibb’s acquisition of Celgene, the largest acquisition in the healthcare industry to date.
Earlier, Matt was Head of Biotechnology Equity Research at UBS Investment Bank, he was a Senior Equity Analyst covering biotechnology at J.P. Morgan and Bank of America Merrill Lynch and was an Associate at Credit Suisse First Boston. In addition to his research coverage of the biotech sector, Matt and his teams provided equity research diligences and investor engagement on 24 equity offerings totaling $3.3bn in initial value from 2005-2016. Matt has also served in advisory or Board capacities to several organizations, including biotechnology companies, investment funds, BIO, BioNJ, and the State of New Jersey.
Matt earned a Ph.D. from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, focusing on the structural biology of immune-relevant molecules. His graduate work was preceded by his pre-doctoral clinical research fellowship in immuno-oncology at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. Matt holds a M.S. degree from Georgetown University and a B.S. from George Mason University.
David P. Ryan, M.D.
Dr. David P. Ryan currently serves as an Advisor to MPM BioImpact. David is Chief of Hematology/Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center, the Clinical Director of the MGH Cancer Center, and a Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
David undertook his hematology and oncology training at the combined MGH/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 1996 in Boston, MA. In 1998, he was appointed Clinical Assistant in Medicine at MGH, then Assistant in Medicine. The principal focus of his clinical research is the design and implementation of Phases I and II trials in gastrointestinal malignancies. Since 1998, he has been a member of both the Experimental Therapeutics Group and the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center where he has been the Clinical Director since 2003. In 2009, he became the Clinical Director of the MGH Cancer Center and in 2012, became Chief of the MGH Cancer Center. His clinical practice focuses exclusively on gastrointestinal oncology.
David graduated in medicine from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY in 1992 where he remained for his internship and medical residency. He is a member of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the New England Cancer Society. He has published over 50 articles in peer review journals, reviews, book chapters and editorials, and authored numerous abstracts.
Uciane Scarlett, Ph.D.
Dr. Uciane Scarlett is a Principal at MPM BioImpact. She is responsible for investment identification, due diligence, business development and new company creation activities at MPM BioImpact.
Prior to joining MPM BioImpact, Uciane was a Principal at Oxford Sciences Enterprise (OSI, UK), an Oxford-affiliated firm, where she initially co-led the life science sector. While at OSE, Uciane led financings and drove company creation efforts for several companies including T-Cypher Bio, where she served as interim Executive Chair, Alethiomics, PepGen and Endlyz. She represented OSE on the boards of T-Cypher, PepGen, Miro Bio, Scenic Bio, and DJS. Prior to OSE, Uciane was on the investment team at Atlas Venture where she drove company creation, operations, and financings activities for Dyne Therapeutics (DYN) and Quench Bio and served in operational roles for AVROBIO (AVRO) and KorroBio. Uciane was the Director of BD & Strategy at Compass Therapeutics prior to Atlas.
Uciane holds a Ph.D. in cancer immunology from Dartmouth College. She received her BSc, first-class honors, in biotechnology (major) and zoology (minor) from the University of the West Indies.
Andrew M. Scharenberg, M.D.
Dr. Andrew M. Scharenberg is an Entrepreneur Partner at MPM BioImpact. Andrew is the founder and CEO of portfolio company Umoja Biopharma. Prior to founding Umoja, Andrew was an Attending Physician at Seattle Children’s Hospital, a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Immunology at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.
While at Seattle Children’s/UW, Andrew co-directed the Program in Cell and Gene Therapy at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, working to translate cell and gene therapies for the treatment of inherited immunologic and blood diseases. This work led to the development of a program in engineered regulatory T-cells, partnered with Casebia Therapeutics for the purpose of developing a gene edited cell therapeutic for Type I diabetes and other inflammatory diseases. Previously, he was the Chief Scientific Officer of Cellectis Therapeutics, where he initiated the development of an allogeneic CAR T-cell platform, and co-founder of Pregenen Inc., a gene editing and cell-signaling technology company that was acquired by bluebird bio in 2014. He also serves on the scientific advisory boards of Alpine Immune Sciences (chair), Generation Bio (chair), Genti Bio (chair), and Tessera Therapeutics.
Andrew earned his M.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, and then completed residency at the University of North Carolina Children’s Hospital and his fellowship in immunology at NIH and at the Division of Experimental Pathology, Beth Israel Hospital. Andrew received the American Pediatric Society/Society for Pediatric Research National Young Investigator Award in 2002. He is an active member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the American Pediatric Society.
Florencia Segal, M.D.
Dr. Florencia Pereyra Segal is a Partner at MPM BioImpact. Florencia is an Infectious Diseases physician-scientist and drug development leader. She serves on the Board of Directors of portfolio company Antiva Biosciences.
Prior to joining MPM BioImpact, Florencia was the Global Head of Translational Medicine for Global Health at Novartis, during which time she and her team lead the early development of a broad portfolio, including small molecules and biologics for the treatment of viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Prior to her time in industry Florencia was a Principal Investigator leading translational and laboratory research focused on HIV immunology at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard.
Florencia earned her M.D. with honors at the Universidad Central de Venezuela and completed her specialty Infectious Diseases and post-doctoral training at Brigham and Women’s and Massachusetts General Hospital. She remains a faculty member and associate physician at the Division of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital where she has practiced for over 15 years.
Grey Sieczkiewicz, J.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Grey Sieczkiewicz serves as IP Counsel to several MPM BioImpact portfolio companies.
Prior to joining MPM BioImpact, Grey was the IP strategy architect for more than a dozen venture-backed life sciences companies across the spectrum—from nucleic acid therapeutics, oral biologics and the microbiome to oncology and protein engineering. He has served as Vice President, IP at Flagship Ventures, and also practiced patent counseling and enforcement at national law firms Mintz Levin, Proskauer Rose and Foley Hoag. Grey is a member of the bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He is also the former President of the Boston Patent Law Association.
Grey received his J.D., magna cum laude, from the evening program of Suffolk University Law School and earned his Ph.D. in Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology from Tufts University School of Medicine and completed his post-doctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute. He received his A.B. in Biology from the College of the Holy Cross.
Elizabeth Stoner, M.D.
Dr. Elizabeth (Liz) Stoner is an Entrepreneur Partner at MPM BioImpact. She serves as Senior Clinical Advisor to Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RYTM). Liz is a distinguished biopharma executive, who brings decades of international industry experience to her role guiding and growing MPM BioImpact portfolio companies.
Liz has held several leadership roles at MPM BioImpact portfolio companies including interim CEO of Semma Therapeutics; founder, CMO and Chief Development Officer (CDO) of Rhythm and the CDO of Vascular Pharmaceuticals. She also served in clinical and advisory roles at Clinical Ink, Potenza Therapeutics, Solasia and TriNetX. Liz is a member of the Cures Acceleration Network Review Board of the National Center for Advisory Translations Sciences of the NIH to represent viewpoints of drug development and venture capital professionals regarding the discovery and development of therapeutics, diagnostics and devices.
Prior to joining MPM BioImpact, Liz was Senior Vice President of Global Clinical Development Operations at Merck Research Laboratories where she was responsible for its clinical development activities in more than 40 countries. While at Merck, she also oversaw the clinical development activities of its Japanese subsidiary and played a leading role in Merck/Schering Plough Joint Venture’s development of Vytorin and Zetia, blockbuster cholesterol lowering drugs. Previously, she led the 5-alpha reductase clinical development program, establishing Merck as a leader in the field of prostate disease. As Endocrine Therapeutic Head at Merck, her responsibilities included all steroid and lipid metabolism, as well as the bisphosphonate and growth hormone secretagogue clinical research programs. Prior to joining the biopharma industry, she was an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Cornell University Medical College. Liz currently serves on the boards of Vascular Pharmaceuticals and Momenta Pharmaceuticals. She is also a member of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Board of Governors, and the Weill Cornell Medical College Clinical and Translational Science Center External Advisory Board.
Liz received her M.D. from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, her M.S. in Chemistry from SUNY at Stony Brook and her B.S. in Chemistry from Ottawa University, KS.
Matthew Vander Heiden, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Matthew Vander Heiden currently serves as an MPM BioImpact Advisor. He is the Director of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, the Lester Wolfe Chair in Molecular Biology, and a Professor in the Department of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is also an Institute Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, and a practicing Medical Oncologist and Instructor of Medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School.
Matthew received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Chicago, where he worked in the laboratory of Craig Thompson. He completed clinical training in internal medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a Hematology-Oncology fellowship at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Massachusetts General Hospital program. He was a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Lewis Cantley at Harvard Medical School, where he was supported by a Mel Karmazin Fellowship from the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.
In 2010, Matthew joined the MIT faculty. His laboratory studies how metabolism is regulated to meet the needs of cells in different physiological situations. A major focus of his research is the role of metabolism in cancer, and particularly how metabolic pathways support cancer cell proliferation and survival. Using a combination of biochemistry, molecular biology and mouse models, the aim of the Vander Heiden laboratory is to understand how metabolism influences different stages of tumor biology with a goal to improve cancer treatment in the clinic. Matthew’s work has been recognized by some awards, including the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Medical Sciences, the AACR Gertrude B. Elion Award, an NCI Outstanding Investigator Award, and election to the ASCI, AAP, and European Academy of Cancer Sciences. He serves on the scientific advisory boards of the Yale Cancer Center, the Salk Institute Cancer Center, and the Wistar Cancer Center. In addition, Matthew is a member of the scientific advisory boards of several companies including Agios Pharmaceuticals, iTeos Therapeutics, Sage Therapeutics, Lime Therapeutics, Pretzel Therapeutics, and Auron Therapeutics, where he is also an academic founder.
Christopher Wolf, M.B.A.
Christopher Wolf is Chief Financial Officer at MPM BioImpact. With 20+ years of experience as CFO at a variety of alternative investment firms, his primary responsibility is to oversee the firm’s finance functions. Prior to joining MPM BioImpact, Christopher has served in the CFO role at several firms, including most recently Lincoln Peak Capital an investment firm that serves as a long-term, supportive equity partner that helps facilitate ownership transitions in the asset management and private wealth industry. Christopher also was CFO for 11 years at HighVista Strategies LLC where he established the operations and finance team as the firm grew from a startup to a diversified asset manager with ~$4b in AUM, and CFO at Abrams Capital LLC. He also worked for Williams College as the Manager of Investment and Treasury Operations and began his career as an auditor for Price Waterhouse LLP.
Christopher is a member of the Crane Advisory Committee for the Trustees of Reservations and a member of the Town of Essex Finance Committee. He received his B.A. from Williams College and his M.S./M.B.A from Northeastern University.
Hao Xing, Ph.D.
Dr. Hao Xing is an Associate at MPM BioImpact and is responsible for investment identification, due diligence, business development, and company creation activities.
Prior to joining MPM BioImpact, Hao was a management consultant in the New York Office at Bain & Company, advising clients at Fortune 500 companies and Private Equity firms on growth strategies, transformation, and M&A due diligence.
Hao completed his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at Yale University, focusing on understanding and treating diabetic wounds through the lens of biomechanics. During his graduate study, Hao was a venture fellow with Canaan Partners and was elected the President of the Yale Graduate and Professional Student Senate. Hao received his B.S. in Biological Engineering with a minor in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. He was the Co-founding Undergraduate President of the MIT Biotech Group. Hao is an avid ceramicist and home chef outside of the office.