Archives: Adjunct Partners

Timothy Lu is CEO and Co-Founder of Senti Biosciences, a biotechnology company applying synthetic biology to create next-generation cell and gene therapies. Tim graduated with his SB and MEng from MIT, and his MD/PhD from the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program. Tim joined the MIT faculty in 2010 leading the Synthetic Biology Group in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT. He is a core member of the MIT Synthetic Biology Center and a co-founder of multiple biotechnology companies innovating new diagnostic and therapeutic technologies for human health, including Senti Biosciences, Synlogic, Eligo Biosciences, BiomX, Tango Therapeutics, Corvium, and Engine Biosciences.

Tim’s research focuses on engineering computing and memory into living cells and applying these technologies to create adaptive cell and gene therapies for important human diseases. His work also includes developing novel technology platforms to interrogate and correct diseased cell states. He is a recipient of the ACS Synthetic Biology Young Investigator Award, the Biochemical Engineering Journal Young Investigator Award, the NIH New Innovator Award, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, and the Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar in Aging Award, the 2018 Xconomy Scientific Founder of the Year, among others.

Leonardo Teixeira is a co-founder of Endpoint Health, a precision medicine startup focused on intensive care. Dr. Teixeira received his BS and MS from Universidade Federal de Vicosa in Brazil and his PhD from Cornell University. Dr. Teixeira co-founded GeneWEAVE Biosciences, an IVD company aimed at creating diagnostic systems that rapidly detect and guide antibiotic selection for serious infections. GeneWEAVE raised a total of $25M and was acquired by Roche Diagnostics in 2015 in a deal valued at $425M USD. Additionally, Dr. Teixeira successfully won and managed several large technical contracts with large companies in Brazil, including three of the top five largest organizations. The management of these contracts included outsourcing technical and engineering expertise to help solve operational and technical improvement challenges.

Dr. Teixeira then became a research director at Roche, where he helped develop a next-generation platform from GeneWEAVE biosciences. To recognize his impact at Roche, Dr. Teixeira and his team won the Innovation Henry Erlich Scientific Excellence Runner-Up Award. Now, as a co-founder and COO of Endpoint Health, Dr. Teixeira focuses on targeted therapies for patients with critical  illnesses including sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

Darrin Crisitello is the chief commercial officer at Mission Bio. He received his BS in biology and chemistry from Moravian College and his MBA from the University of Massachusetts. He began his career in pharmaceuticals at Wyeth and Bristol-Myers Squibb, holding various positions in sales, sales operations, training, marketing, and management in several different therapeutic areas. 

Crisitello then transitioned to startup organizations as a leader in business development, company commercialization, and exits with several acquired companies. As the vice president of global sales at Natera, Crisitello led the launch of a non-invasive prenatal test, Panorama. Most recently, Crisitello headed the global clinical team at Color Genomics, a biotechnology company democratizing access to high-quality genetic information and saving lives by advancing research on hereditary disorders. Crisitello currently works with Mission Bio’s Tapestri Platform, which provides unprecedented insights into single-cell DNA sequencing and heterogeneity among cells that drive complex diseases like cancer.

Alexander (Sasha) Kamb has almost 25 years of experience in the biotechnology sector, ranging from founder/CSO/CEO of a startup company to SVP and head of Amgen Discovery Research. Apart from drug discovery, he specializes in genetics, genomics, structural biology, neuroscience and oncology. He has published widely, including 13 peer-reviewed papers in The Cell, Science and Nature journals. Dr. Kamb received his AB from Harvard University and his PhD from Caltech. As a postdoctoral fellow at UCSF, Dr. Kamb invented an extremely rapid and broadly applicable method, using degenerate oligonucleotides coupled with DNA amplification, for cloning gene family members (Kamb et al., PNAS 1989). 

After his postdoctoral training, Dr. Kamb joined Myriad Genetics, a startup company focused on identifying and commercializing human disease genes/diagnostics. He also founded a biotechnology company, Arcaris, specializing in somatic cell genetics. Afterwards, he joined Novartis as its global head of oncology. In this capacity he built the Cambridge (NIBR) oncology group. Dr. Kamb later became the senior vice president of Amgen’s entire Discovery Research organization. Dr. Kamb currently serves as chief scientific officer of a biotechnology company, A2 Biotherapeutics, focused on cancer and immune-mediated diseases.

James J. Collins is Termeer Professor of Bioengineering in the Department of Biological Engineering and Institute for Medical Engineering and Science. He is also affiliated with the Broad Institute and the Wyss Institute. His research group works in synthetic biology and systems biology with a particular focus on using network biology approaches to study antibiotic action, bacterial defense mechanisms, and the emergence of resistance.

Professor Collins’ patented technologies have been licensed by over 25 biotech, pharma, and medical devices companies, and he has helped to launch a number of companies, including Sample6 Technologies, Synlogic, and EnBiotix. He has received numerous awards and honors, including a Rhodes Scholarship, a MacArthur “Genius” Award, an NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, a Sanofi-Institut Pasteur Award, as well as several teaching awards. Dr. Collins is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and a charter fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

George Church is a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and a professor of health sciences and technology at Harvard and MIT. He is director of the U.S. Department of Energy Technology Center and director of the National Institutes of Health Center of Excellence in Genomic Science. Dr. Church currently leads synthetic biology at the Wyss Institute, where he oversees the directed evolution of molecules, polymers, and whole genomes to create new tools in regenerative medicine and bio-production of chemicals. He has received numerous awards including the 2011 Bower Award, the Prize for Achievement in Science from the Franklin Institute, and election to the National Academy of Sciences and Engineering. 

Dr. Church’s 1984 Harvard PhD included the first methods for direct genome sequencing, molecular multiplexing, and barcoding, which led to the first genome sequence (pathogen, Helicobacter pylori). He helped initiate the Human Genome Project and the Personal Genome Project and invented concepts of molecular multiplexing and tags, homologous recombination methods, and array DNA synthesizers that have been the basis for a number of companies including Editas (gene therapy); Gen9bio (synthetic DNA); and Veritas Genetics (full human genome sequencing). Among his recent work at the Wyss Institute is a technology that synthesizes whole genes and engineers whole genomes faster, more accurately, and less costly than current methods.

Michael Aberman is an adjunct partner for IndieBio New York. Aberman has a medical degree from the University of Toronto and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business. He started his career at an immuno-oncology-focused biotech startup and then worked on Wall Street at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse conducting biotech equity research. As a senior advisor for Immunai and chief business officer for Excision Biotherapeutics, Aberman provides corporate strategy, business development, and financing advice to company leaders.

Aberman was the CEO and president of Quentis Therapeutics, a venture-backed oncology company. He previously served over seven years as senior vice president of strategy and investor relations at Regeneron. He currently serves as executive in residence at Columbia Technology Ventures. He also currently serves as a board member for Unnatural Products, a biotech company unlocking the potential of macrocycle drug discovery, and Rover Diagnostics, a company creating affordable saliva-based COVID-19 tests in under 15 minutes. Now, as an IndieBio adjunct partner, Aberman recruits companies, identifies mentors, and actively advises founders throughout the accelerator program.

Dr.Erica Pascal is the founder of Ingensity IP, which specializes in providing IP strategy for life sciences companies including biotech, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostics, food & nutrition, agriculture and digital health. Prior to the creation of Ingensity™ IP, she was a partner at a major global law firm.

Dr.Pascal began her career in science studying the control of gene expression of mammals, plants and viruses. She received her B.S. degree in biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She obtained a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of California at Berkeley where she worked in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Tjian. Dr. Pascal did her post-doctoral work at the University of Illinois and then worked for 8 years in research and management in the biotech industry.

Following these 15+ years in science, Dr. Pascal transitioned to patent law, completed her J.D. degree and then clerked for the district court in the Southern District of California. Dr. Pascal is registered to practice as a patent attorney with the USPTO. She is admitted to practice in California and admitted to the Southern and Central Districts of California, as well as the Federal Circuit.

Dr.Pascal is a frequent author of articles and posts about the life sciences industry and the intersection of business, science and IP strategy. You can find her blog at www.ingensity.com/blog. Her interest in the start-up world grew out of her work in the biotech industry, including entering and winning the Duke Startup Challenge in 2001. She enjoys working with entrepreneurs and seeing their ideas blossom into real-world applications and products.

For more information, you can visit her website at www.ingensity.com.