Scientific Advisors
FRS FMedSci, John Humphrey Plummer Professor of Chemical and Structural Biology at the University of Cambridge and Master of St John’s College, Cambridge
Remembering Sir Chris Dobson (1949-2019)
Professor Sir Chris Dobson was the John Humphrey Plummer Professor of Chemical and Structural Biology at the University of Cambridge and Master of St John’s College, Cambridge. He co-founded the Cambridge Centre for Misfolding Diseases and served as Vice-Chairman of the board of WaveBreak. Professor Sir Chris Dobson was a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) and of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci), and a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences. He was the recipient of many honours including the Royal Medal by the Royal Society (2009), the Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics (2014) and the Feltrinelli International Prize for Medicine (2014). In 2018, he was awarded a Knighthood by the Queen. He was one of the world’s leading scientists working at the interface of the physical and biological sciences. His work had led to the discovery of fundamental principles that determine the aberrant self-association of protein molecules, and the manner in which such behaviour can give rise to a multitude of human diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. He made very significant contributions to our fundamental understanding of how and why proteins are in most cases able to fold correctly to generate normal biological function, yet in certain circumstances misfold and drive a wide range of diseases. He developed entirely novel biophysical and biochemical approaches for this purpose, and he deployed these techniques to unravel the molecular basis of these highly complex processes.
Nora Bengoa-Vergniory’s research focuses on alpha-synuclein aggregation and neuroinflammation in neurodegeneration, specifically in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. Although it is known that aggregation and neuroinflammation are key features of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease progression, many unanswered questions persist. Where does the aggregation begin? How does it spread? Which cells respond to it? How do they respond? And, importantly, how can we prevent these processes? Dr. Bengoa-Vergniory’s laboratory leverages genetic models, patient-derived induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, human tissue, and PLA-based assays for the detection of early aggregation to provide novel insights into the role of aggregation and glial activation in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. In 2022, Dr. Bengoa-Vergniory established her research laboratory at Achucarro Basque Center for Neuroscience, Spain, with the support of Ikerbasque, IBRO, MJFF, and the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation while remaining a Research Visitor at Oxford University. She completed her PhD in 2014 at the University of the Basque Country, where she studied the role of Wnt signaling during early neuronal differentiation in human stem cell models. Dr. Bengoa-Vergniory joined the Wade-Martins laboratory at Oxford University in 2015 for her postdoctoral training on the role of alpha-synuclein aggregation in Parkinson’s disease. In 2018, she became an Oxford-BMS/Celgene Research Fellow studying alpha-synuclein aggregation and glial activation in Parkinson’s. Through the years, she has been supported generously by MJFF, ARUK, PDUK, the Guarantors of Brain, the Center of Excellence in Neuroscience, BMS, Ikerbasque, IBRO, the Basque Government, and the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation.
Pat Connelly is a biophysics expert who created and led a number of specialized R&D business units at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, where he was a founding scientist and former employee. He established the unique Materials Discovery & Characterization development function at Vertex, where he, his staff, and colleagues co-invented three first-in-class medicines—INCIVEK® for hepatitis C, and KALYDECO® and ORKAMBI® for cystic fibrosis. Dr. Connelly also co-founded and led Vertex’s Corporate Innovation unit that catalyzed the company’s entry into sickle cell disease and was a member of the Vertex-CRISPR Therapeutics Joint Research Committee that brought forth Exa-cel, one of the first gene-editing medicines to be tested in humans, currently in Phase 3 clinical trials.
Jeffrey Cummings, MD, ScD, is the Joy Chambers-Grundy Professor of Brain Science, Director of the Chambers-Gundy Center for Transformative Neuroscience, Co-Director of the Pam Quirk Brain Health and Biomarker Laboratory, Department of Brain Health, School of Integrated Health Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Dr. Cummings is globally recognized for his contributions to Alzheimer’s research, drug development, and clinical trials. He has been recognized for his research and leadership contributions in the field of Alzheimer’s disease through the Henderson Award of the American Geriatrics Society (2006), the Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Award of the national Alzheimer’s Association (2008), the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Society for Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology (2017), the Distinguished Scientist Award of the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry (2010), the Leadership and Achievement Award by the International Society of CNS Drug Development (2018), the Bengt Winblad Lifetime Achievement Award from the Alzheimer’s Association (2019), the International Psychogeriatric Association Distinguished Service Award (2019), and the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation’s Melvin R. Goodes Prize. He was featured in the GQ (formerly Gentleman’s Quarterly) June 2009 issue as a “Rock Star of Science™.” Dr. Cummings’ interests embrace clinical trials, developing new therapies for brain diseases, and the interface of neuroscience and society. He was formerly Augustas Rose Professor of Neurology and Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA, Director of the Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research at UCLA, Director of the Deane F. Johnson Center for Neurotherapeutics at UCLA, and Director of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. Dr. Cummings is past president of the Behavioral Neurology Society and of the American Neuropsychiatric Association. He has authored or edited 43 books and published more than 800 peer-reviewed papers. Dr. Cummings completed a Neurology residency and a Fellowship in Behavioral Neurology at Boston University followed by a Research Fellowship in Neuropathology and Neuropsychiatry at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, Queen Square, London.
Bradley Hyman is the John B. Penney, Jr. Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital and the Director of the Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MIND). His laboratory studies the anatomical and molecular basis of dementia in Alzheimer’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. Dr. Hyman has received the Metropolitan Life Award, the Potamkin Prize, a National Institute on Aging Merit award, and an Alzheimer Association Pioneer Award. He received his MD and PhD from University of Iowa.
Professor Knowles is a Founder and Head of Kinetics for WaveBreak. He is a Professor of Physical Chemistry and Biophysics in the Department of Chemistry and at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. Professor Knowles is co-director of the Cambridge Centre for Protein Misfolding Diseases at the University of Cambridge. Professor Knowles has received several distinguished awards for his work including the Harrison Meldola Memorial Prize (2012) and the Corday-Morgan Prize (2017) awarded by The Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Raymond and Beverly Sackler International Prize in Biophysics (2017). Professor Knowles research focuses on applying physical approaches to study the self-assembly of protein molecules in the context of both biological function and malfunction. His groundbreaking work on the chemical kinetics of protein misfolding and self-assembly, in particular, has transformed our understanding of the pathways that generate the aberrant forms of misfolded proteins believed to be the primary cause of disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Professor Knowles studied Biology at the University of Geneva, and Physics at ETH Zurich. He moved to Cambridge in 2004 to work towards his PhD in the Cavendish Laboratory and the Nanoscience Centre. In 2008 Professor Knowles was elected to a Research Fellowship at St John’s College, Cambridge, and was then appointed successively to a University Lectureship, Readership and Professorship. Since 2016, he holds Professorships in both the Department of Chemistry and the Cavendish Laboratory (Department of Physics). Professor Knowles has co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed scientific articles.
Professor Linse is Founder and Head of the Sweden office for WaveBreak. She is Professor of Physical Chemistry and Molecular Protein Science at Lund University, Sweden. Her current research focuses on protein misfolding and self-assembly, including the aggregation process, the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic factors, and coaggregation between lipids and proteins. Professor Linse’s research has focused on developing new experimental and theoretical tools for studying highly complex systems of misfolding proteins in a quantitative and repeatable manner. Her approaches have made it possible to generate (for the first time) high signal-to-noise data from these systems, and have subsequently revealed fundamental insights into the molecular mechanisms driving these systems, including the importance of auto-catalytic cycles in the protein misfolding and aggregation pathway. Professor Linse has received numerous awards for her work, including the Cozzarelli Prize awarded by the National Academy of Sciences, USA (2007), the IUPAC Distinguished Woman in Chemistry prize (2011), Sweden’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology’s Great Prize (2014) and the FEBS/EMBO Woman in Science Prize (2019). Professor Linse studied Chemical Engineering at Lund University and Stanford University, and received her doctorate in Physical Chemistry from Lund. In 2009, Professor Linse became a Member of the Nobel Prize Committee for Chemistry; she served as Chair of the Committee from 2015-2017, and continued as a Member of the Committee until 2020. Professor Linse has co-authored over 245 peer-reviewed scientific articles.
Kelvin Luk is Research Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and the Penn Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (CNDR). His research aims to untangle the relationship between the formation of alpha-synuclein pathology that characterizes Parkinson’s disease and related disorders [e.g., dementia with Lewy bodies and multiple system atrophy (MSA)] as well as its contribution to neuronal dysfunction and degeneration. Using a multidisciplinary approach spanning in vitro, cell-based, and in vivo models, Dr. Luk’s team has been revealing the mechanisms by which this protein misfolds into pathological agents that self-propagate and transmit between cells. His group developed several novel cell- and animal-based models of synucleinopathy that are widely used in the field. This knowledge base has also been leveraged toward developing innovative tools for detecting neurodegeneration-related proteins and to evaluate emerging therapies for neurodegenerative disorders. Dr. Luk received his PhD from McGill University and completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania.
Rajesh Pahwa is the Laverne and Joyce Rider Professor of Neurology, Chief of the Parkinson’s and Movement Disorder Division, and Director of Parkinson Foundation Center of Excellence at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Dr. Pahwa joined the faculty of the Department of Neurology as an instructor in 1992 and was named the inaugural recipient of the Laverne and Joyce Rider Professorship in 2005. Dr. Pahwa is also a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and he directs the Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorder Center at The University of Kansas Health System. Dr. Pahwa’s research focuses on the various aspects of Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor, and he is currently involved in studies related to medical and surgical forms of therapies for Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor. In addition to publishing more than 250 peer-reviewed articles, chapters, and abstracts in leading neurology and movement disorder journals, he has conducted more than 150 clinical trials related to Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders. Dr. Pahwa is the co-editor of Handbook of Parkinson’s Disease (3rd and 4th editions), Therapy of Parkinson’s Disease (3rd edition), and Handbook of Essential Tremor and other Tremor Disorders. He also is co-author of the book, Parkinson’s Disease: Questions and Answers (4th edition). Dr. Pahwa received his M.B.B.S. (M.D.) degree at Seth G.S. Medical College, University of Bombay, India. He completed an internship in medicine followed by a residency in Neurology, both at Baylor College of Medicine. He then completed a one-year fellowship in movement disorders at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Professor Vendruscolo is a Founder of WaveBreak. He is a Professor of Biophysics and co-director of the Cambridge Centre for Protein Misfolding Diseases at the University of Cambridge. Professor Vendruscolo’s research interests are focused on the investigation of the physico-chemical principles of protein homeostasis and their application to the development of therapeutic strategies against neurodegenerative diseases. His methods offer new insights into the manner in which physics and chemistry regulate the biochemical reactions taking place in living organisms, and have led him to clarify the fundamental role that protein solubility has in the maintenance of protein homeostasis. Professor Vendruscolo has demonstrated how these approaches provide a rational basis for diagnostic and therapeutic strategies to combat some of the most prevalent and still incurable protein misfolding diseases. Professor Vendruscolo has received several awards for his work, including the Soft Matter & Biophysical Chemistry award from the Royal Society of Chemistry (2013) and the Giuseppe Occhialini Prize from the UK Institute of Physics (2017). Professor Vendruscolo received his PhD in Condensed Matter Physics in 1996 from the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste (Italy). He then spent two years as post-doctoral fellow at the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel), before moving to Oxford, where he worked in collaboration with Chris Dobson. He later moved to Cambridge and was appointed successively as a Royal Society University Research Fellow, a Lecturer, a Reader and a Professor (2010). Professor Vendruscolo has co-authored over 300 peer-reviewed scientific articles.
Executive Leadership
Bart Henderson is President and Chief Executive Officer of WaveBreak. Mr. Henderson brings extensive experience in company-building and developing innovative medicines. Previously, he was operating partner at Flagship Pioneering, where he led the build-out of Harbinger Health, developing a multi-cancer early-detection platform with leading-edge artificial intelligence and machine-learning technologies. Prior to Flagship, he was CEO and co-founder of Torque (now Repertoire Immune Medicines) where, under his leadership, the company significantly advanced its cellular immunotherapy pipeline, initiating the company’s first clinical trial, receiving Fast Track designation from the FDA, and building a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for Torque’s T cell immunotherapies. Bart was founder and president of Rhythm and its subsidiary, Motus, where he acquired and completed successful Phase II clinical trials for two metabolic disease therapeutics: Imcivree™, which was granted Breakthrough Designation and is the first drug approved in the U.S. for genetic obesity; and relamorelin, which was acquired by Allergan (with Motus). He was a founding employee and chief business officer of Radius, where he built the pipeline, acquiring Tymlos™, now approved for the treatment of osteoporosis, and acquiring Orserdu™, now approved for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Previously, he was an entrepreneur-in-residence at MPM Capital. He led business development at Microbia (now Ironwood Pharmaceuticals) and was head of sales and marketing at Vertex, which launched its first product and significantly expanded its pipeline during his tenure. Mr. Henderson previously held marketing management positions at Amgen and Merck. He received an M.B.A. from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and a B.A. from Amherst College.
John Thomson is Chief Scientific Officer of WaveBreak. Previously, he was Head of Research for Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ USA-based research operations, a company he helped to build from the ground up. During his 25-year tenure, he was involved with all Vertex research programs spanning antivirals and anti-infectives, immunoregulation, inflammation, neurological dysfunction, cystic fibrosis, and oncology research. He headed the Hepatitis C project that yielded INCIVEK® (telaprevir) and contributed to the discovery and selection of more than 40 development candidates—many first-in-class, and of which six were eventually approved as drugs.
Dan Kaganovich joined WaveBreak Therapeutics as Vice President, Neurobiology following more than 10 years as a Cell Biology Professor on the faculty of leading universities, where his lab became one of the world-leading groups studying protein aggregation in live cells. The Kaganovich lab published dozens of papers in peer-reviewed journals, including breakthrough studies in high-resolution 4D imaging of protein aggregation and dynamics in diverse cell models as well as physiological consequences of pathological protein aggregation. The Kaganovich lab has worked on cellular aging and pathophysiology in ALS, Parkinson’s, and other neurodegenerative diseases and on the adaptive functions of molecular condensates (i.e., how self-organizing protein super-structures can exhibit complex functionality in cells). Dr. Kaganovich is especially expert at applying genetic and biochemical interventions to elicit hidden disease-relevant phenotypes in diverse cellular systems, including neuronal cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) generated from human patient samples and applying high-resolution cellular imaging and metabolomic profiling techniques in living cells to explore the causal chain of events in aberrant cellular disease processes. This work has led to a new hypothesis of the causal biology of ALS and generated a hitherto unexplored therapeutic strategy for human treatment. Dr. Kaganovich has an AB from Harvard University in Biochemistry and a PhD from Stanford University in Molecular Cell Biology.
Johnny Habchi is a Founder and Vice President, Early Discovery for WaveBreak. Previously, he worked at the Centre for Misfolding Diseases, Cambridge, where his research focused on developing new methodologies in drug discovery for protein aggregation. Dr. Habchi’s research included the first proof-of-principle studies demonstrating the mechanism of action of a small molecule drug targeting the misfolding and aggregation process, driven by a conceptual shift from structure-based to kinetics-based drug discovery in protein misfolding diseases. Dr. Habchi completed his BSc in Biochemistry at the Lebanese University during which he became interested in understanding the protein folding process. He then obtained masters and doctoral degrees in protein science from Aix-Marseille University, France, where he studied the folding of unstructured (intrinsically disordered) proteins. Dr. Habchi has co-authored more than 40 publications, is a Cambridge University Fellow in Leadership and a Fellow at Hughes Hall College, Cambridge.
Bochong Li is Vice President, Innovation at WaveBreak, with responsibility for science, technology platform, and company-building strategy as well as leading initiatives in external collaboration. Prior to joining WaveBreak, Dr. Li was Senior Director of Strategy and Innovation at Cullinan Oncology, an investing and drug development company focused on oncology assets. As part of the founding team and through the company’s IPO, Dr. Li was responsible for investment identification, due diligence, business development, and internal new asset creation and was an inventor on multiple patents including multi-specific T cell engagers and cytokine fusion constructs. Dr. Li started his career at MPM Capital, where he led initiatives in company creation in synthetic biology and living medicine. Dr. Li holds a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University, where he also received his BSE magna cum laude in Biomedical Engineering and Mathematics.
Janeta Popovici-Muller is WaveBreak’s Head of Drug Discovery. She is a seasoned biotech/pharma executive with more than 20 years of experience in early and late-stage drug discovery. Before joining WaveBreak, Dr. Popovici-Muller was founding employee and Senior Vice President, Head of Drug Discovery at Rectify Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company focused on developing disease-modifying precision therapies that restore ABC transporter function to address the underlying cause of serious genetic diseases. Prior to her work with Rectify, Dr. Popovici-Muller was Vice President, Head of Chemistry at Decibel Therapeutics, a biotechnology company discovering and developing transformative treatments to restore and improve hearing and balance. Previous to that, Dr. Popovici-Muller co-led drug discovery programs at Agios Pharmaceuticals that delivered clinical-stage molecules in the areas of cancer metabolism (co-inventor of Tibsovo®) and rare genetic metabolic disorders (Pyrukynd®). Preceding her tenure at Agios, Dr. Popovici-Muller spent 10 years at Merck Research Labs in Cambridge, MA (through merger with Schering-Plough) focused on small-molecule drug discovery in oncology, inflammation, and anti-viral therapeutic areas. Dr. Popovici-Muller is the author of more than 75 peer-reviewed publications and patents and has presented numerous invited lectures and scientific presentations. She has been actively involved in the Gordon Research Conferences and American Chemical Society and served as the 2021 Chair of the Medicinal Chemistry GRC. Dr. Popovici-Muller holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Dartmouth College.
Rajeev Sivasankaran, PhD joined WaveBreak as Head of Translational Development after an 18-year tenure at the Novartis Institutes of Biomedical Research (NIBR) leading drug discovery programs ranging from small molecules to gene therapy, most recently as Executive Director and Head of Rare Diseases in the Neuroscience Division. His group initiated and advanced drug discovery programs focused on a broad range of monogenic neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases including spinal muscular atrophy, Huntington’s disease, Friedreich’s ataxia, and autism spectrum disorders, and other conditions. Dr. Sivasankaran’s leadership at NIBR included the advancement of numerous innovative drug discovery programs from early ideation to human clinical trials and publishing seminal research, including a groundbreaking paper that described the mechanism of action of a sequence-selective, small-molecule splicing modulator, LMI070 / Branaplam. At NIBR, he also initiated and led collaborations with external academic and clinical groups as well as with patient foundations, and he helped to shape work culture by serving as a mentor to scientists and promoting inclusion, collaborative teamwork, and talent development. Dr. Sivasankaran earned a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Zurich working on the TGFbeta and WNT signaling pathways. As a postdoctoral fellow, he was a recipient of a Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation award and a Lefler Fellowship at Children’s Hospital, Boston where he co-authored several key publications detailing signaling pathways involved in spinal cord injury.
Mike Dey is Head of Manufacturing and Technical Operations at WaveBreak, responsible for development of chemical and drug product processes, production, quality control & assurance, and clinical supply to support the WaveBreak portfolio. He brings extensive experience in development, industrialization, and manufacturing innovative medicines, with more than 40 NDA/BLA approvals. Previous to joining WaveBreak, Dr. Dey held senior R&D, manufacturing, and commercial positions at large and small pharmaceutical companies as well as start-up companies, including 10 years leading his own consulting company supporting multiple clients in these areas. He was Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development and Vice President, Endocrinology Strategy team at Ipsen, where he supported Somatuline in becoming a $1 billion product as well as multiple out-licensing partnerships on early products that are now approved life-changing therapies. Dr. Dey held senior manufacturing and R&D positions in Aventis (now Sanofi) in various mergers, including Fisons and RPR, for which he led integration of industrialization and R&D teams to accelerate new products, including delivery systems such as SoloStar. He has developed novel equipment and built facilities in the U.S., EU, and Asia to secure supply from earliest clinical trials to global launches. Dr. Dey has led both multisite global organizations and “virtual,” fully outsourced operations with a global network of development and manufacturing partners, from early research through all clinical stages and regulatory approvals, with multiple successful FDA pre-approval inspections. He is an inventor of multiple formulation and drug delivery patents supporting several approved products. Dr. Dey has a BSc in Pharmacy and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Technology/Engineering from Robert Gordon University, UK.
Suzanne Brewerton is WaveBreak’s Head of Data and Analytics. Previously, she worked at AstraZeneca where she was a senior leader in the R&D IT organisation, responsible for Data, Analytics and IT strategy for Oncology and Precision Medicine. Dr. Brewerton is a proven leader with more than 20 years’ experience working with teams in data engineering, data management, software engineering and analytics, including ML and AI, across various domains such as genomics, multi-omics and structure-based drug discovery. She has led multiple, matrixed, multi-disciplinary teams in both start-ups and pharma to build data and analytics platforms and has worked and lived in both the UK and Singapore. Dr. Brewerton completed her BSc in Biochemistry at the University of Manchester during which she became interested in computational biology and analytics. She then completed her PhD in protein structural bioinformatics at the University of Cambridge, where she studied the prediction of domain boundaries, repeating motifs and unstructured regions in proteins.
Board of Directors
Kelly Martin is Chairman of WaveBreak Therapeutics. He served as Chief Executive Officer of Radius Health, Inc., from 2020 until its acquisition by Gurnet Point Capital and Patient Square Capital in 2022. From 2003 to 2013, Mr. Martin was CEO of Elan Corporation plc, a pharmaceutical company focused on neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s. Headquartered in Ireland, Elan operated globally and maintained several strategic partnerships including Biogen Idec and Johnson & Johnson. The company was sold to Perrigo Company plc in 2013 for more than $8.6 billion in stock and cash. Mr. Martin’s professional career started in finance having spent 22 years at Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., leading several global divisions including Debt markets, International Equities, Systems & Technology, and the International Private Banking Group. While at Merrill Lynch, Mr. Martin lived and worked in New York, Tokyo, and London.
Bart Henderson is President and Chief Executive Officer of WaveBreak. Mr. Henderson brings extensive experience in company-building and developing innovative medicines. Previously, he was operating partner at Flagship Pioneering, where he led the build-out of Harbinger Health, developing a multi-cancer early-detection platform with leading-edge artificial intelligence and machine-learning technologies. Prior to Flagship, he was CEO and co-founder of Torque (now Repertoire Immune Medicines) where, under his leadership, the company significantly advanced its cellular immunotherapy pipeline, initiating the company’s first clinical trial, receiving Fast Track designation from the FDA, and building a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for Torque’s T cell immunotherapies. Bart was founder and president of Rhythm and its subsidiary, Motus, where he acquired and completed successful Phase II clinical trials for two metabolic disease therapeutics: Imcivree™, which was granted Breakthrough Designation and is the first drug approved in the U.S. for genetic obesity; and relamorelin, which was acquired by Allergan (with Motus). He was a founding employee and chief business officer of Radius, where he built the pipeline, acquiring Tymlos™, now approved for the treatment of osteoporosis, and acquiring Orserdu™, now approved for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Previously, he was an entrepreneur-in-residence at MPM Capital. He led business development at Microbia (now Ironwood Pharmaceuticals) and was head of sales and marketing at Vertex, which launched its first product and significantly expanded its pipeline during his tenure. Mr. Henderson previously held marketing management positions at Amgen and Merck. He received an M.B.A. from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and a B.A. from Amherst College.
Mr. Owen Hughes is the Chief Executive Officer of Cullinan Oncology and an Executive Partner at MPM Capital. Prior to joining Cullinan and MPM, Mr. Hughes served as the Chief Business Officer and Head of Corporate Development at Intarcia Therapeutics, where he was responsible for financing, M&A, business development and operations. He led several licensing and M&A transactions, including a long term partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and raised approximately $1.8 billion in private capital. Prior to Intarcia, Mr. Hughes served as a Director of Brookside Capital, a hedge fund under the Bain Capital umbrella, managing public and private healthcare investments. Prior to his tenure at Brookside, he was Senior Portfolio Manager at Pyramis Global Advisors, a Fidelity Investments Company. Owen has more than 16 years of Wall Street experience, on both the buy and sell-side. Mr. Hughes received his B.A. from Dartmouth College. Mr. Hughes currently serves on the Board of Directors of Radius Health (NASDAQ: RDUS) and Translate Bio (NASDAQ: TBIO).
Professor Knowles is a Founder and Head of Kinetics for WaveBreak. He is a Professor of Physical Chemistry and Biophysics in the Department of Chemistry and at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. Professor Knowles is co-director of the Cambridge Centre for Protein Misfolding Diseases at the University of Cambridge. Professor Knowles has received several distinguished awards for his work including the Harrison Meldola Memorial Prize (2012) and the Corday-Morgan Prize (2017) awarded by The Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Raymond and Beverly Sackler International Prize in Biophysics (2017). Professor Knowles research focuses on applying physical approaches to study the self-assembly of protein molecules in the context of both biological function and malfunction. His groundbreaking work on the chemical kinetics of protein misfolding and self-assembly, in particular, has transformed our understanding of the pathways that generate the aberrant forms of misfolded proteins believed to be the primary cause of disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Professor Knowles studied Biology at the University of Geneva, and Physics at ETH Zurich. He moved to Cambridge in 2004 to work towards his PhD in the Cavendish Laboratory and the Nanoscience Centre. In 2008 Professor Knowles was elected to a Research Fellowship at St John’s College, Cambridge, and was then appointed successively to a University Lectureship, Readership and Professorship. Since 2016, he holds Professorships in both the Department of Chemistry and the Cavendish Laboratory (Department of Physics). Professor Knowles has co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed scientific articles.
Dr. von Eschenbach was appointed acting Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2005, was later confirmed by the Senate as Commissioner in 2006, and then held the role until his resignation in 2009. Prior to that, Dr. von Eschenbach served as director of the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health from 2002 to 2006. Dr. von Eschenbach also previously served as a physician, surgeon, oncologist and executive, from Chairman of the Department of Urologic Oncology to Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center from 1976 until 2002, and since 2009, he has continued to serve as an adjunct professor there. Dr. von Eschenbach also currently serves on the Board of Directors of Bausch Health plc, as president of Samaritan Health Initiative, senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Centre, and as a senior fellow at the Milken Institute. In 2006, Dr. von Eschenbach was named to the “Time 100,” the magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people to shape the world. Additionally, Dr. von Eschenbach was selected in both 2007 and 2008 as one of the Modern Healthcare/Modern Physician’s “50 Most Powerful Physician Executives in Healthcare.” Dr. von Eschenbach is the author of more than 300 scientific articles and studies.
Fiona has served as Company Secretary of Malin plc (ISE:MLC), a publicly listed company investing in highly innovative life sciences companies, since September 2018, prior to which she was Head of Tax from 2015. Before joining Malin, Fiona worked at Elan Corporation plc and with Deloitte’s international tax group in Dublin and New York. Fiona is an associate of the Irish Taxation Institute and of Chartered Accountants Ireland.
