Advisors
Advisors
Merit Cudkowicz
Scientific Advisor
- Chief of neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital and professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School
- MD from Harvard Medical School (HST Scholar), MS in clinical epidemiology from Harvard T. Chan School of Public Health, and bachelor’s in chemical engineering from MIT
Mike Dyszel
Scientific Advisor
- Currently serves as the Senior Director and Global Program Head of Bayer
- Previously served as Director of R&D project management at Endo Pharma, Director of Project Management at Allergan, and Senior Director of Global Portfolio and Program Management at Mallinckrodt
Chris Ehrlich
Chris Ehrlich is CEO and a Director of Phoenix Biotech Acquisition Corp, a $175M blank check company focused on biotech. Prior to PBAC, Chris was CEO and a Director of Locust Walk Acquisition Corp, a $175M blank check company that merged with eFFECTOR Therapeutics in August 2021. Chris was a Managing Director at Locust Walk for eight years, leading the strategic transactions efforts. Prior to joining Locust Walk in 2013, Mr. Ehrlich served as a Managing Director at InterWest Partners, a venture capital firm focused on healthcare and information technology, from 2000 to 2013. At InterWest, he served on the boards of KAI Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Amgen in 2012), Biomimetic Therapeutics (acquired by Wright Medical Technologies in 2013), Invuity (acquired by Stryker in 2018) and Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: XENE). Prior to joining InterWest, Mr. Ehrlich was a Director of Licensing and Business Development at Purdue Pharma. Prior to joining Purdue, Mr. Ehrlich worked in business development at Genentech, in venture capital at the U.S. Russia Investment Fund, and in biotechnology strategy development at L.E.K. Consulting. Since 2014, Mr. Ehrlich has served on the Board of Directors of Prostate Management Diagnostics, on the Advisory Board of the Peter Michael Foundation, a charity focused on prostate cancer where he has been a Senior Advisor since 2012, and on the Healthcare at Kellogg Advisory Board at Northwestern University since 2019. He received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and a MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Rob Garnick
Scientific Advisor
- Currently serves as a bioanalytics consultant for Lone Mountain Biotechnology
- Previously Senior VP at Genentech (>20 years)
- Co-founder and serves on the Board of Bioanalytics
- SAB of StemCentryx, which sold to Abbvie for $5.8B
- 17 drugs approved in the US & EU
Jeremy Goldberg
Jeremy Goldberg has over 25 years of experience, mainly focused on investing and business development in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. Jeremy has been an operating executive in a $1B + sales pharmaceutical company, a partner in a venture capital fund, and an entrepreneurial founder of several companies that were later acquired, and has advised leading financial firms that advise or invest in healthcare companies, including a leading $5B private equity fund Arsenal Capital Partners, Torreya Partners, and TPG Sixth Street Partners (the $30B credit fund within $100B TPG funds.)
Jeremy served as Managing Director, Corporate Development for Endo Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ENDP), a leading pain therapeutics company, from 2003-2008. In this position, Jeremy was responsible for Endo’s overall corporate development activities, including structuring, negotiating and closing transactions such as the acquisitions of companies, products and product lines. Prior to Endo, Jeremy was a founding partner of ProQuest Investments from 1997-2002, the first cancer-focused venture capital fund, where he and partners raised over $250M in Funds I, II to acquire positions in biotechnology, specialty pharmaceutical, and medical device companies. Representative investments or deals sourced include Conforma Therapeutics (acquired by Biogen IDEC), Threshold Pharmaceuticals, and Pharmion (acquired by Celgene). Prior operating experience includes roles as founding CEO or founder of three biotechnology companies that were acquired or taken public, including Versicor (Vicuron), a Sepracor spin-out later acquired by Pfizer for $1.9B, as well as operating positions at SmithKline (now Glaxo SmithKline) and Becton Dickinson. Jeremy is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College in biochemistry and East Asian History, and Harvard Business School with distinction (top 10% of class). Jeremy has served on the Visiting Committees at Dana Farber Cancer Institute since 1999 and on the board of the International Research Alliance, a private sector philanthropy supporting NIH and Oxford and Cambridge University since 2007. He serves on the boards of Harvard Business School Healthcare Alumni organization and Einstein Health Network in Philadelphia.
Susan Graf
Accomplished global biopharma executive with broad industry experience in large pharma, mid-cap biotech and entrepreneurial startups. Driven to bring impactful products to patients in need and passionate about building and leading such companies.
Praised for business acumen, strategic agility and functional expertise in corporate strategy, deal making, M&A, financing and the development and commercialization of biopharmaceuticals. Recognized as a leader that develops talent through genuine mentoring and coaching and engenders the trust of her team and respect from her colleagues through honest, transparent communication.- Broad corporate growth and company building experience: pre-clinical through commercial stage.
- Skilled global manager leading through change & with resource constraints.
- Extensive deal making expertise: acquisitions, product & discovery deals, both buy-side and sell-side.
- Relevant capital-raising experience and credibility with investors and analysts.
- Impactful Board of Directors interface: strategic planning, audit committee and M&A defense.
- Track record of delivery
Rachel Humphrey
Scientific Advisor
- Currently serves as the CEO of a new venture
- Serves on the Board of Xilio Therapeutics
- Previously served as CMO of Black Diamond Therapeutics, VP and SVP roles at Bristol Myers Squibb (ipilimumab), Bayer (sorafenib), Cytomyx, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly
Ross Levine
Senior Vice President
Contact Us Rene brings over 20 years experience in US and international life sciences M&A, strategy and venture capital at both publicly listed and private equity backed companies. As a venture investor at Ivy Capital Partners, he participated in $200M of financings and successfully exited 4 portfolio investments via strategic sales. Rene worked at Integra LifeSciences as Senior Director of Corporate Development where he led both buyside M&A and licensing deals. Prior to joining Locust Walk, he also held roles at Merrill Lynch Healthcare Investment Banking, Monitor Group and the Hospital for Special Surgery. Rene has extensive domain expertise in orthopedics, regenerative medicine, behavioral health, and oncology. Rene holds a MBA from the Ross School of Business, a JD from the Pritzker School of Law, and a BA with Honors from Washington University in St. Louis. In his free time, he enjoys riding Peloton, attending original theater productions, and hosting dinners with friends, family and his labradoodle Murphy.
Jay Mohr
As Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer, Jay Mohr provides business development leadership to the organization and is also responsible for directing NYBC’s cell manufacturing business unit, Comprehensive Cell Solutions®, and for co-managing the Enterprise’s recently-launched investment fund, NYBC Ventures.
Jay brings over 30 years of successful executive leadership in the biopharmaceutical industry. Before joining NYBC, Jay served as the Chief Operating and Business Officer of AZTherapies, a privately held biopharma company focused on neurodegenerative diseases. At AZTherapies, Jay implemented financing and business development initiatives, developed and executed corporate strategy, and managed investor relations. Having previously served as CEO of several pharma and life science companies, Jay has vast experience in capital formation, P&L management, and corporate and business development, and in those roles his efforts generated significant shareholder value. He co-founded Dirigo Therapeutics, Locust Walk Partners, and Gloucester Pharmaceuticals. Jay currently serves on the boards of Mesentech, Inc., the T1D Exchange, and the Maine Technological Institute. He currently holds Series 79, 24 and 63 securities licenses. Jay graduated from Vanderbilt University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and German. He received his Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Troy Norris
Senior Advisor
Contact UsTroy Norris is Senior Advisor for the Strategy & Analytics practice at Locust Walk. Troy’s focus envelops innovation strategy, transactions, and new product commercialization to drive growth and value for life sciences companies and their investors.
Prior to Locust Walk, Troy held senior level positions in the life sciences practice groups at the following leading strategy consulting firms: McKinsey & Company, EY-Parthenon, L.E.K. Consulting, and Quintiles Consulting. Over the past two decades, Troy has advised all of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies, every major biotech company, and more than 100 other therapeutic, diagnostic, medical device, and digital health innovators. As a former Vice President of Corporate Development for Biogen Idec, Troy completed multiple acquisitions to diversify the R&D portfolio and establish a new growth trajectory for the company, having earlier led Biogen’s R&D investment prioritization process. Troy received a BA in biochemistry from Harvard College, completing his honors research at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and his MBA from Harvard Business School. Troy devotes part of his time to mentoring, currently serving as an Innovation Fellow and Mentor at Harvard Innovation Labs, a member of MassBio’s Academic Initiatives Steering Committee, and a mentor to entrepreneurs via MassConnect.
Chandra Ramanathan
Senior Advisor
- Executive-in-Residence at MassGeneral Brigham, working with key investigators to identify and advance technologies towards commercialization
- Previously Global Head of Pharma R&D Open Innovation at Bayer, where he led the Open Innovation Centers (OICs) around the world (US, Europe, Japan, China, and Singapore)
- Adjunct assistant professor at the Tufts School of Medicine and on the Board of Directors of MassBIO, the Massachusetts Biotech Council
- Earned an MBA from the Columbia Business School, a PhD in Genomics/ Bioinformatics, an MS in Medicinal Chemistry, and a BS in Pharmacy
Keith Usiskin
Scientific Advisor
- Clinical instructor at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine
- Formerly TA clinical lead at Janssen, Sanofi & Celgene; VP at Bristol-Myers Squibb
- MD from Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, fellowship at Medical College of Virginia in Richmond and BS in chemical engineering from Cornell University
Stan Wang
Scientific Advisor
- CEO and founder of Thymmune Therapeutics
- Previously founding CSO of Cellino Biotech
- PhD in stem cell biology & regenerative medicine from University of Cambridge as a Gates Scholar & NIH-Cambridge Scholar; MD from Columbia University; postdoctoral fellow in cell & gene therapy with George Church at Harvard Medical School.