Board of Directors

Dr. Ram Palanki

Chairman

Dr. Ram Palanki currently serves as executive vice president of commercial strategy & operations at REGENXBIO, a leader in AAV gene therapy, and is responsible for the planning, execution and commercialization of their pipeline across the ophthalmology, central nervous system and neuromuscular disease franchises.

He has nearly 20 years of drug development and commercialization experience in the biopharmaceutical and device industry. Before joining REGENXBIO, he was senior vice president of Commercial for all of Americas at Santen Inc. Previously, he served as the executive team member and lead the global marketing, sales, pricing, reimbursement, commercial operations and alliance management functions at ThromboGenics. Over the span of his career, Dr. Palanki has held roles of increasing responsibility at several small, mid and large companies, including NeoVista Inc, and Genentech.  He actively serves as a board member and strategic advisor to multiple biotech, technology start-up companies and global non-profits in ophthalmology.

Dr. Natalia Misciattelli

Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Misciattelli has more than 25 years of experience as an executive in the life sciences industry. She previously served as Chief Business Officer for immuno-oncology company, NovalGen, and prior to that served as SVP Strategy & Operations for gene therapy company, Freeline. Dr. Misciattelli started her career in finance with Arthur Andersen in London followed by a period in corporate development at General Electric Healthcare and went on to gain broad sector experience in the life sciences internationally as a partner at PA Consulting. She holds a B.Sc. and a Ph.D. in Marine Microbiology from Bangor University, University of Wales, UK.

Paola Pozzi – Sofinnova Telethon Fund

Non-Executive Director

Paola Pozzi is a partner with the Sofinnova Telethon Fund, Italy’s first biotechnology fund focused on rare and genetic diseases. Prior to that, she was head of the Office of Biotechnology Transfer of Ospedale San Raffaele, an internationally renowned research hospital based in Milan, where she spent 14 years actively promoting and contributing to scouting, protecting and licensing intellectual property, including through the incorporation of start-ups. She got a master’s degree in intellectual property law before heading up the patent portfolio at St. Raffaele. She uses that knowledge, along with some new skills, to fund ideas that could change lives. Prior to her time at San Raffaele, Paola spent more than 2 years working at The National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, studying neurobiology using RNA interference.

Non-Executive Director at Pincell and Epsilen Bio’s Board of Directors.
Former Head of Biotechnology Transfer Office at Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan, Italy.

Jason Rhodes – Atlas Venture

Non-Executive Director

Jason Rhodes is a partner at Atlas Venture and focuses on creating and building novel therapeutics companies. He is the chairman and was the founding CEO of Dyne Therapeutics (NASDAQ: DYN), Rectify Pharmaceuticals, and Generation Bio (NASDAQ: GBIO). He is also on the boards of AAVantgarde Bio, Be Biopharma, K36, and Accent Therapeutics. He was the chairman and founding CEO of Disarm Therapeutics, acquired by Eli Lilly in 2020, and was previously on the boards of Third Harmonic Bio (NASDAQ: THRD), Replimune (NASDAQ: REPL), and Bicycle Therapeutics (NASDAQ: BCYC).

Dmitrij Hristodorov – Forbion

Non-Executive Director

Dmitrij Hristodorov is Partner at Forbion and core member of the investment team working on new investments across funds and therapeutic areas. Before joining Forbion, he held roles in R&D Ophthalmology and Business Development at Bayer Pharma. His current portfolio covers various stages, treatment modalities and disease areas. To date, he serves as a board member for Oxular, ARMGO Pharma, Complement Therapeutics, Seamless Therapeutics and as a board observer for VectorY. He previously served as a board observer and R&D committee member of Gyroscope Therapeutics that was acquired for up to $1.5BN by Novartis in December 2021.

David Steinberg – Longwood Fund

Non-Executive Director

David Steinberg is a General Partner at Longwood Fund. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Longwood portfolio companies Photys Therapeutics and Be Biopharma, where he also served as founding Chief Executive Officer, and serves on the board of Longwood portfolio companies Aavantgarde Bio, Carbon Biosciences, Lassen Therapeutics, and Rectify Pharmaceuticals. Previously, he was co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of biotech venture creation firm PureTech Health focusing on launching and investing in innovative biotech companies. He was the co-founder and CEO of several biotech companies, including Longwood-founded companies Pyxis Oncology, Photys Therapeutics, Be Biopharma, and Carbon Biosciences as well as co-founder and CEO of Vor Biopharma, Vedanta Biosciences, and Calix, and co-founder of Restorbio. He previously worked in biopharma strategy consulting at Boston Consulting Group and Vertex Partners, and R&D at P&G Pharmaceuticals.

Doug Kerr – Generation Bio

Non-Executive Director

Doug Kerr is Chief Medical Officer of Generation Bio. He completed his neurology residency and was an Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine with appointments in neurology as well as molecular microbiology and immunology. During his tenure at Johns Hopkins, he not only saw patients with motor neuron, spinal cord and neurodegenerative disorders, but he also ran a laboratory that investigated fundamental aspects of motor neuron/axon biology and neurodegeneration. Over the course of his career, Doug has served as a trusted advisor to several biotechnology and nonprofit organizations through his participation in various board of director and scientific advisory positions. He received his M.D. from Jefferson Medical College, as well as his Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from Thomas Jefferson University. He obtained his MBA, with a specialization in entrepreneurship and finance from Northeastern University and holds a B.A. in biochemistry from Princeton University.