Aaron Deykin, MD, is a GentiBio Board Director and the Chief Medical Officer and Head of Research and Development at Upstream Bio, a biotechnology company in Waltham MA. In that role, he leads the company’s development vision, providing clinical expertise, translational science direction, regulatory strategy to drive Upstream Bio’s programs to approval. Previously, Aaron held roles of increasing responsibility at Biogen including leadership positions in Clinical Development in which he led the approval of several drugs for multiple sclerosis and also served as SVP of Clinical Sciences overseeing Biostatistics, Statistical Programming, Biomarkers, Clinical Pharmacology, Epidemiology, and Clinical Operations for Biogen’s pipeline globally. Before moving to industry, Aaron was Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a member of the Pulmonary and Critical Care faculty at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In that capacity, Aaron led the medical activities of the Lung Transplantation Program, directed the Pulmonary Function Testing Laboratory, and serving as the Associate Director of the Asthma Research Center. Aaron has been awarded board certification in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease, and Critical Care Medicine, and holds an MD from Harvard Medical School and an AB from Dartmouth College.
Team Category: Board
Adam Cotton is a GentiBio Board Observer and an Associate at the Novartis Venture Fund (NVF). In addition to GentiBio, he is a Board Observer at Mediar Therapeutics and three other stealth-mode companies. Prior to joining NVF, his PhD research in the labs of Jim Wells and Ian Seiple on antibody-engineering led to Epi Biologics where he is a scientific co-founder. Additionally, he worked on early strategy and program prioritization in one of RA Capital’s incubator companies and helped transition Rezo Therapeutics out of the Krogan/ Shokat labs. Adam holds a BA in Chemistry from Harvard University, an MBA from the University of New Mexico, and a PhD in Chemistry and Chemical Biology from the University of California, San Francisco.
Michael Gillespie is a GentiBio Board Observer and an Analyst on the Venture Team at RA Capital Management. Michael conducts due diligence on biotechnology companies at RA Capital. Previously, Michael worked closely with the Investment Team, to originate conviction in potential investments by identifying breakthroughs and putting data into context, as well as advising RA’s portfolio companies on many aspects of program and pipeline strategy. Michael holds a BS in Exercise Science from Brigham Young University and an MD from the University of Texas Southwestern School of Medicine.
Roy Amariglio is an observer on GentiBio board of directors and Principal on the Israel team for OrbiMed Advisors LLC, a healthcare investment firm, covering venture capital investments in biotech, medical device, and diagnostics companies. Prior to joining OrbiMed, he was a Director of Mergers, Acquisitions, and Licensing at Bayer HealthCare where he was responsible for Healthcare transactions. While at Bayer, he held several positions of increasing responsibilities in Oncology Marketing and Business Development. Roy received his B.A. in Chemistry and Biology from Tel Aviv University and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from the Weizmann Institute in Israel, as well as an M.B.A. in Finance and Healthcare Management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Nandita Shangari is a GentiBio Board Director and Managing Director at RA Capital. Prior to joining RA Capital, she was a Managing Director with Novartis Venture Fund (NVF), a life science investment firm, and held various positions at Novartis in Business Development and Licensing and as a key member of the Kymriah® Global Program Team, helping to bring this novel cell therapy to market. Nandita has also held strategic and group head roles in the Novartis Preclinical Investigative Toxicology organization. She received a BSc in Biochemistry and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Toronto, Canada.
Abhiram Rao is a GentiBio Board Observer and Vice President at Matrix Capital, a technology and life sciences investment firm. In addition to GentiBio, he is a Board Observer at Maze Therapeutics, AltPep and nference. Prior to Matrix, he held roles in strategy and R&D at Tempus, Illumina, and startups in biotechnology and genomics. Abhiram holds a PhD in Bioengineering from Stanford University where his research focused on early-stage drug discovery leveraging computational and high-throughput experimental technologies. He is an author on over 30 papers in journals including Science and Nature Genetics.
Andy Tran is a GentiBio Board Director and a Vice President that leads and oversees key private biotechnology investments at Matrix Capital, a technology and life sciences investment firm. In addition to GentiBio, he has led investments in and served on the boards of multiple companies including Scribe Therapeutics, Insitro, EQRx, Dyno, and other startups in stealth-mode. Prior to Matrix, he was an Investment Partner at Andreesen Horowitz’s (a16z) Bio Fund investing in early-stage ventures in the life sciences. He has previously held roles at Genentech’s Discovery Oncology R&D department and Morgan Stanley’s investment banking group. Andy was trained as a Bioengineer and Computer scientist at Harvard University, where his research focused on gene therapy and CRISPR genome engineering technologies.
Nathaniel Brooks Horwitz is a GentiBio Board Observer and Principal at RA Capital Management, a healthcare and life sciences investment firm. He has served as a Director or Observer on the boards of several RA Capital portfolio companies, including Quench Bio, Eliem Therapeutics, Clear Creek Bio, and multiple stealth-mode ventures. He was previously CEO of Nivien Therapeutics. His writing on biotech and other subjects has been published by The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Boston Globe, and The Financial Review. Horwitz received an A.B. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Harvard University.
Michal Silverberg is a GentiBio Board Director and a Managing Director at the Novartis Venture Fund (NVF), a life science investment firm. Prior to joining NVF, she was a Senior Partner at Takeda Ventures and, before that, held roles of increasing responsibility at Novo Nordisk, including Senior Director of Business Development and New Product Commercialization. Since 1998, Michal has held positions in various sectors of the life science industry, including in the Office of the Chief Scientist of Israel, venture capital, and global pharmaceutical and biotech companies. She received her B.A. in Economics and Business Management from Haifa University, her M.B.A from Tel-Aviv University, and her M.S. in Biotechnology from Columbia University.
Carl Gordon is Board Director on GentiBio Board of Directors. Carl is a founding member, Managing Partner, and Co-Head of Global Private Equity at OrbiMed Advisors LLC, an investment firm. He also serves on the boards of directors of several public and private companies. Carl received a B.A. in Chemistry from Harvard College, a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was a fellow at The Rockefeller University.