Columbia University

Technology Ventures

2020

Michael Aberman

Quentis Therapeutics, Regeneron, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley
Year Served: 
2020
Bio 

Michael Aberman, M.D. was most recently president and chief executive officer of Quentis Therapeutics, a NY based biotech start up company. Prior to joining Quentis, Dr. Aberman spent over seven years at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals as the Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Strategy. In that role, Dr. Aberman was a member of the senior management team and was responsible for the investor relations, corporate communications, business development, and corporate strategy functions at Regeneron. Prior to joining Regeneron, Dr. Aberman spent six years as a Wall Street research analyst covering the biotechnology industry at Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley. Before moving to Wall Street, Dr. Aberman was Director of Business Development at Antigenics, Inc., an oncology-focused biotechnology company. Dr. Aberman received his B.A. from Cornell University and his medical degree from the University of Toronto. He completed his residency training at New York Presbyterian Hospital and received an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of Business.

 

Mamta Gautam-Basak

US Pharmacopeia, FDA, NIH
Year Served: 
2020
Bio 

Mamta currently serves as a senior technical advisor for US Pharmacopeia's Promoting the Quality of Medicines program, a USAID-funded initiative that helps low- and middle-income countries improve the systems that ensure the quality of and increase the supply of priority medicines. In this role, she provides technical oversight and direction to all global implementation activities related to regional and country regulatory systems.

Prior to USP, Mamta spent 20+ years with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) working in various scientific and regulatory roles primarily within the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). She was consistently recognized for her ability to bring technical insight to regulatory, policy, quality, and compliance challenges for global pharmaceutical manufacturers specifically focused on product development and regulatory submission processes for INDs and NDAs. She is able to provide CMC guidance for pre-IND, EOP2, pre-NDA, market approval, and post-approval life cycle management of drug products and advise how to make the operation process of drug development more intelligent and cost-effective while navigating regulatory requirements.

Mamta earned her PhD in analytical chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi and her MSc and BSc in chemistry from the University of Delhi. She also earned a post-graduate diploma in chemistry and chemical engineering from the Tokyo Insitute of Technology where she was one of two people selected from India and one of fourteen worldwide selected to participate in a UNESCO-sponsored fellowship with Japan's Ministry of Health. 

 

 

Sam Hall

Apple Tree Partners, Burke Neurological Institute
Year Served: 
2020
Bio 

Sam Hall has experience in the life sciences across roles as a private equity investor, investment banker, and basic scientist. 

From 2013 until October 2019, Sam was a Partner at Apple Tree Partners (ATP), a New York-based life sciences venture capital firm with $2.5 billion under management.  At ATP Sam co-led the therapeutics investing practice and focused principally on the formation and growth of new biotechnology companies.  During his tenure Sam served as a director of ATP portfolio companies Syntimmune (acquired by Alexion Pharmaceuticals), Elstar Therapeutics, Limelight Bio and Chinook Therapeutics and he continues to serve as a director of Stoke Therapeutics (NASDAQ: STOK).  Sam also is a director of the Burke Neurological Institute, an independent neuroscience research institute affiliated with Weill Cornell Medicine.

Prior to joining ATP in 2013, Sam was a researcher at the University of Cambridge in the UK, where his work focused on novel therapeutic strategies for autoimmune diseases. Previously, Sam was a member of the investment team at Symphony Capital, a private equity firm dedicated to investments in biopharmaceutical development. Prior to Symphony, he served as a member of the healthcare investment banking team at Citigroup, where he advised leading biotechnology, medical device and healthcare services businesses on numerous completed strategic and debt and equity financing engagements.

Sam holds an A.B. in Molecular Biology from Princeton University and completed his M.Phil. and Ph.D. research at the University of Cambridge, where he was a Taylor Research Scholar and was awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship for his work.

 

Juan Carlos López

Haystack Science, Nature Medicine, Hoffmann-La Roche
Year Served: 
2020
Bio 
Juan Carlos López is Founder of Haystack Science, a consulting firm specialized in providing editorial services and in helping academic scientists working in novel research areas fulfill the commercial potential of their work. A native of Oaxaca, Mexico, Juan Carlos obtained his Ph.D. degree from Columbia University (New York), working in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Eric Kandel, and carried out postdoctoral research at the Instituto Cajal (Madrid). In 2000, Juan Carlos helped launch and became Chief Editor of Nature Reviews Neuroscience in London. Four years later, he returned to New York as Chief Editor of the prestigious journal Nature Medicine. In 2014, Juan Carlos joined Hoffmann-La Roche as Global Head of Academic Relations and Collaborations, leading a team in charge of fostering scientific interactions between the company and academic institutions worldwide. Juan Carlos has served on the Boards of multiple biotechnology and non-profit organizations, most recently on the Board of Directors of Keystone Symposia.

Lisa Ricciardi

Foundation Medicine, Express Scripts, Pfizer
Year Served: 
2020
Bio 

Lisa Ricciardi is a CEO and Chief Business Officer with sell-side experience with VC-backed life science companies (biotech, genomics, and medical devices) and buy-side experience with Fortune 100 pharmaceutical and pharmacy benefits companies. She has expertise in strategic partner sourcing, Series A fundraising, and M&A identification, due diligence, negotiation, and integration. Throughout her career, she has successfully developed product positioning, messaging, and collateral to support product launches and drive the path to commercialization and exit. Lisa possesses a robust network of investors across multiple life sciences and therapeutics categories and has leveraged these relationships to make introductions to accelerate company goals. Additionally, Lisa has consistently introduced operational and financial rigor to both start-up and mature organizations to optimize product development, improve workflow, leverage top-talent, and extend cash reserve.