MLSC Scientific Advisory Board Members

Chair:
Harvey F. Lodish, Ph.D., Member, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research; Professor of Biology and Professor of Bioengineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Members:
James Barry, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Corporate Technology Development, Boston Scientific Corporation
Doug Cole, MD, General Partner, Flagship Ventures  
James J. Collins, Ph.D., Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University
George Q. Daley, M.D., PH.D., Associate Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology and of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, Harvard Stem Cell Institute
Patricia K. Donahoe, M.D., Director of the Pediatric Surgical Research Laboratories and Chief Emerita of Pediatric Surgical Services, Massachusetts General Hospital; Marshall K. Bartlett Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School
Jonathan Fleming, M.P.A., Managing General Partner, Oxford Bioscience Partners
Jean George, M.B.A., Partner, Advanced Technology Ventures
Lila Gierasch, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Richard A. Goldsby, Ph.D., John Woodruff Simpson Lecturer and Professor of Biology, Amherst College
Jeffrey Leiden, M.D., Ph.D., Managing Director, Clarus Ventures 
David T. Scadden, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Harvard University; Co-Chair, Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University; Co-Director, Harvard Stem Cell Institute; Director, MGH Center for Regenerative Medicine
Alan E. Smith, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Genzyme Corp.
Alison Taunton-Rigby, Ph.D., Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Director, RiboNovix, Inc.   
David Walt, Ph.D., Robinson Professor of Chemistry, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor, Tufts University 
Phillip Zamore, Ph.D., Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, University of Massachusetts Medical School

Chair:
Harvey F. Lodish, Ph.D., Member, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Professor of Biology and Professor of Bioengineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

A leader in the field of membrane biology, Harvey F. Lodish has isolated and cloned numerous proteins that reside on the surface of cells and play a role in cell growth, glucose transport, and fatty acid transport. His results have important implications for the treatment of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. A Founding Member of the Whitehead Institute, Lodish joined the MIT faculty in 1968 and has been a professor of biology since 1976 and professor of bioengineering since 1999. He earned his PhD at Rockefeller University in 1966. He was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1986, a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1987, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1999.

Members:
James Barry, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Corporate Technology Development, Boston Scientific Corporation
James Barry leads the company’s efforts in the identification and early development of drug, device and biological systems for potential application in implantable and catheter-based delivery systems. Dr. Barry joined Boston Scientific in 1992 and was the initiator and champion of the company’s drug eluting stent program. This effort resulted in the TAXUS™ coronary stent which was developed under Dr Barry’s leadership; a paclitaxel-eluting polymeric stent that became the most successful medical device launched with annual sales exceeding $3 billion. Prior to joining Boston Scientific, Dr. Barry held positions at the Howmedica Division of Pfizer where he initiated their bio-resorbable fracture fixation program. Dr. Barry is the author of multiple articles in peer reviewed publications, including the journals of Controlled Release, Biomaterials and several clinical journals in the cardiovascular field and holds in excess of 35 national and international patents. Dr. Barry also represents Boston Scientific’s interests on the boards of a number of emerging technology companies. Dr. Barry holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell and a B.A. degree in chemistry from Saint Anselm College.

Doug Cole, MD, General Partner, Flagship Ventures
Doug joined Flagship Ventures in 2001 where he focuses on Life Science investments. He came to Flagship with significant industrial experience and a strong academic background.

In 1996, Doug joined Cytotherapeutics, in Providence, RI. As Medical Director he oversaw various research and clinical activities related to the company’s cell-based therapeutic technologies. In 1997, he was appointed Program Executive at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., in Cambridge, MA, where he led a multidisciplinary program that conducted preclinical development through Phase II studies in tissue protection and repair, oversaw an international research collaboration, and was responsible for identifying strategic market and technology opportunities in multiple arenas.

At Flagship, Doug has led investments in CombinatoRx (NASDAQ: CRXX), Tetraphase, Alvine Pharmaceuticals, Concert Pharmaceuticals, and Quanterix. He co-founded Ensemble Discovery with Noubar Afeyan and Professor David Liu of Harvard University, and he served as CEO of the company in its initial stages. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Ensemble Discovery, Tetraphase, Concert Pharmaceuticals, Quanterix, AVEO Pharmaceuticals, and CGI Pharmaceuticals, and is an Observer on the Board of Directors of Alvine. He formerly served on the Board of Directors of CombinatoRx and Morphotek. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Spinal Muscular Atrophy Foundation and the Genetics Advisory Council of the Harvard-Partners Center for Genetics and Genomics, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Birch Rock Camp in Waterford, ME.

He obtained post-graduate training in medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD and in neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA. In 1992, Doug was appointed Instructor in Neurology at Harvard Medical School and an Assistant in Neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He established a research program investigating the mechanistic basis of neuronal signaling events and plasticity in neuro-psychiatric disorders with the support of the NIH and several non-profit research foundations. Doug holds an AB magna cum laude with High Distinction in English from Dartmouth College, where he was a Senior Fellow and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and an MD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where he was a member of Alpha Omega Alpha.

James J. Collins, Ph.D., Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University

James J. Collins is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Boston University. He is one of the founders of the emerging field of synthetic biology, and a pioneering researcher in systems biology, stochastic resonance, biological dynamics and neurostimulation. Collins has invented a number of novel devices and techniques, including vibrating insoles for enhancing balance, bistable genetic toggle switches for biotechnology and bioenergy applications, and systems biology techniques for identifying drug targets and disease mediators.

Dr. Collins has co-founded two companies based on his technologies: Afferent Corporation, a medical device company, and Cellicon Biotechnologies, a drug discovery company. Dr. Collins is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of Codon Devices, Inc., and has served on the SAB of Mannkind Corporation (Nasdaq: MNKD) and Bios Group Inc.
Collins' has received numerous awards including the 2007 NIH Director's Pioneer Award and the Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar Award in Aging. From 1987 to 1990, he was a Rhodes Scholar, since which he has been a faculty member in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Boston University and currently serves as Co-Director of the Center for BioDynamics at Boston University, in addition to performing his duties as a professor.

George Q. Daley, M.D., PH.D., Associate Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology and of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, Harvard Stem Cell Institute

George Q. Daley, M.D., Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Hematology/Oncology at Children’s Hospital Boston and Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School, and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is currently President of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, Associate Director of the Stem Cell Program at Children’s Hospital, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. Dr. Daley received his bachelor's degree magna cum laude from Harvard University, a Ph.D. in biology from MIT, and his M.D. summa cum laude from Harvard Medical School. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and has received the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, the Judson Daland Prize from the American Philosophical Society, and research awards from Harvard Medical School, the National Institutes of Health, the New England Cancer Society, the Burroughs-Wellcome Fund, the Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America.

Patricia K. Donahoe, M.D., Director of the Pediatric Surgical Research Laboratories and Chief Emerita of Pediatric Surgical Services, Massachusetts General Hospital; Marshall K. Bartlett Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Donahoe received her M.D. from Columbia University and BS from Boston University where she currently serves on the Board of Trustees. She is a member and past Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board at St. Judes Medical Center and has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Board at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and of the NICHD National Advisory Council. She has published over 230 peer-reviewed publications in developmental biology concentrating on Mullerian Inhibiting Substance (MIS) as a potential anticancer agent against human ovarian carcinomas, as well as the genetics of sex differentiation and a number of other congenital anomalies for which she has been steadily funded by the NIH.

She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Donahoe served as President of the Boston Surgical Society and is President-elect of the American Pediatric Surgical Association. Dr. Donahoe is also an associate member of the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University and a principal faculty member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. She has received many research prizes and honorary degrees for her work on MIS, but her fondest dream is to see it developed as a therapeutic for ovarian and other reproductive cancers.

Jonathan Fleming, M.P.A., Managing General Partner, Oxford Bioscience Partners

Jonathan Fleming is the Managing General Partner of Oxford Bioscience Partners, an international venture capital firm specializing in life science technology based investments, with offices in Boston and Connecticut.

Mr. Fleming has been in the investment business for over twenty years, starting and financing growth companies in the United States, Europe and Israel. Prior to joining OBP in 1996, he was a Founding General Partner of MVP Ventures in Boston, MA. He began his investment career with TVM Techno Venture Management in Munich, Germany. Mr. Fleming has also co-founded Medica Venture Partners, a venture capital investment firm specializing in early stage healthcare and biotechnology companies in Israel. Mr. Fleming holds a Master's degree in Public Administration from Princeton University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Mr. Fleming is on the board of Asterand plc (LSE: ATD). He is also a director of several private companies including Leerink Swann, a Boston based investment bank specializing in healthcare companies. Mr. Fleming is a Trustee of the Museum of Science in Boston and a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Business.

Jean M. George, M.B.A., Partner, Advanced Technology Ventures

Jean George joined Advanced Technology Ventures as a Partner in 2002, with 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including 10 years at Genzyme Corporation. Jean assesses new deals in the life sciences and therapeutics markets, and utlizes her operational skills to actively assist portfolio companies on their strategic planning and development. Jean is currently on the Boards of NuGenesis Technologies Corp. and Microbia, Inc.

Prior to joining ATV, Jean was a Director at BancBoston Ventures, where she led the health care team’s investment activity in NuGenesis Technologies Corp., Microbia, Inc., Syntonix Pharmaceuticals and Neurometrix, Inc. Previously, during Jean’s tenure at Genzyme, she held a variety of operational roles in marketing, product development and business development, including Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing. Jean was a member of the founding team of the Genzyme Tissue Repair Division, and held responsibilities for identifying new product opportunities and potential acquisition candidates for the Therapeutic Products Division. In addition to her extensive operating background, Jean spent six years working in chemistry and bioresearch fields.

Jean earned an MBA from Simmons College Graduate School of Management and a BS in Biology from the University of Maine.

Lila Gierasch, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Professor Gierasch is working on the protein folding problem or how the amino acid sequence determines the three-dimensional structure of a protein. The systems under development in her lab will help to examine the origins and mechanisms of protein aggregation in vivo, with a goal of better understanding misfolding-based diseases such as the many neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s).
Professor Gierasch received her Ph.D. in Physics at Harvard University and her B.A. at Mount Holyoke College. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the A.P. Sloan Fellowship, the Vincent du Vigneaud Award for Young Investigators in Peptide Chemistry, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Garvan-Olin Medal from the American Chemical Society, NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, and she is a Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Richard A. Goldsby, Ph.D., John Woodruff Simpson Lecturer and Professor of Biology, Amherst College

Dr. Goldsby has been a professor at Amherst College since 1982 and also teaches at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He is the author of many scientific papers and with Thomas Kindt and Barbara Osborne, the author of the 4th edition of Kuby Immunology (2000), a widely used textbook. Other works include Cells and Energy (1977) and Race and Races (1977), Thinking AIDS, with Mary Catherine Bateson (1989), and many scientific papers.

Professor Goldsby and his colleagues at Hematech, a company he founded, have produced four cloned calves that make human antibodies. The research is the first step in developing a system for producing human polyclonal antibodies that could be used to prevent or treat antibiotic-resistant infections, autoimmune diseases, cancer and diseases resulting from bioterrorism.

Jeffrey Leiden, M.D., Ph.D., Managing Director, Clarus Ventures

Jeffrey Leiden has more than 20 years of experience in the biomedical and pharmaceutical sectors. Dr. Leiden was President and COO of Abbott Laboratories, Pharmaceuticals Products Group, and a member of the Abbott Board of Directors and the TAP Board of Directors from 2000-2006. From 1987-2000 Dr. Leiden held several academic appointments including Chief of Cardiology and Director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of Chicago, the Elkan R. Blout Professor of Biological Sciences at the Harvard School of Public Health, and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

During his academic career, Dr. Leiden was involved in starting several biotechnology companies including Vical and Cardiogene. He is an elected member of both the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Leiden represents Clarus on the Board of Directors of TyRx Pharma, Inc. and is Chairman of the Board of Variation Biotechnologies, Inc. Dr. Leiden is also a member of the Board of Directors of Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (MLNM), a non-executive director of Shire plc and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ravinia Festival and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

David T. Scadden, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Harvard University; Co-Chair, Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University; Co-Director, Harvard Stem Cell Institute; Director, MGH Center for Regenerative Medicine

In addition to his work as a Professor of Medicine at Harvard University and director positions currently held at both the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and MGH Center for Regenerative Medicine, Dr. David Scadden has pioneered research in stem cell biology application.

Dr. Scadden’s lab has focused on hematopoietic stem cell biology, particularly the problems that limit the ability of stem cells to be used more effectively as therapy. Emphasis of the research has been placed on the application of basic research to the clinical care of patients with blood diseases (including AIDS) and cancer.

Alan E. Smith, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Genzyme Corp.

Alan E. Smith has been Chief Scientific Officer of Genzyme Molecular Oncology, Genzyme Corp. and Genzyme Biosurgery since September 1996. Dr. Smith has also been Senior Vice President of Research of Genzyme Molecular Oncology, Genzyme Corp., and Genzyme Biosurgery since August 1989.

Prior to joining Genzyme, Dr. Smith served as Vice President and Scientific Director of Integrated Genetics, Inc., from November 1984 to its acquisition by Genzyme in August 1989. From October 1980 to October 1984, Dr. Smith served as Head of The Biochemistry Division of the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London, England and from 1972 to October 1980, he served as Member of the scientific staff for The Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London, England.

Alison Taunton-Rigby, Ph.D., Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Director, RiboNovix, Inc.

Alison Taunton-Rigby has more than 30 years of experience in the biomedical and pharmaceutical sectors. As an industry leader in the life science and healthcare sectors she has achieved results in developing products and building companies. Dr. Taunton-Rigby has managed product development from basic research to FDA approval, marketing and sales. Her experience includes: significant strategic, regulatory, sales, reimbursment and international experience. She was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in June 2002 by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II for leadership in the research, development and promotion of biotechnology.

David Walt, Ph.D., Robinson Professor of Chemistry, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor, Tufts University 

Phillip D. Zamore, Ph.D., Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, University of Massachusetts Medical School

Phillip D. Zamore is the Gretchen Stone Cook Professor of Biomedical Sciences and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He received his A.B. (1986) and his Ph.D. (1992) from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Harvard University. After post-doctoral studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he joined the faculty of the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 1999.

A 2000 Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences and a 2002 W.M. Keck Foundation Young Scholar in Medical Research, he is also an honorary member of Alpha Omega Alpha. Dr. Zamore studies the biochemical mechanisms and biological functions of small silencing RNAs, including those that act in the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway. He is especially interested in the intersection of RNA silencing pathways and animal development and in the application of RNAi as a therapy for human diseases, especially Huntington’s disease.

Dr. Zamore is a co-founder of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company that seeks to develop RNAi-based therapies for human diseases. He serves on the scientific advisory boards of Alnylam and of Regulus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a microRNA-therapeutics company.