SPEAKERS
CHRISTIANA BARDON, M.D., M.B.A.
Co-Managing Partner of BioImpact Capital
Co-Managing Partner of MPM Oncology Impact Funds
Dr. Christiana (Chris) Bardon is Co-Managing Partner of BioImpact Capital, an affiliate manager of MPM, and leads the firm’s public market investing as portfolio manager for BioImpact Equities (f/k/a Burrage Capital) and the Oncology Impact Funds.
Previously, Chris was a health care analyst at Fidelity Investments covering biotechnology, life-science tools and diagnostics, and she started her career as an analyst at MPM. She currently serves on the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows and is a Trustee of the American Association for Cancer Research Foundation.
Chris earned her M.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School and her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. While at Harvard Medical School, she was the recipient of a Howard Hughes fellowship, and she completed her residency in Internal Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School. She received her M.S./B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
RAKHSHITA DHAR
Senior Director of Venture Investments at LEAPS by Bayer
Rakhshita Dhar is Senior Director of Venture Investments Health at Leaps by Bayer. She joined the team in 2021 and is responsible for search & evaluation and healthcare focused investment for Leaps. She currently sits on the board of Deka Biosciences, Gro Bio, and Edifice Health.
Prior to joining Leaps, Rakhshita was Director of Business Development at Roche Pharmaceuticals where she led collaborations with Dyno Therapeutics and Rheos Biosciences. She also spent a few years at MassBio developing an accelerator program for life-science start-ups.
She got her Undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Mumbai University and her Masters in Molecular Biology from Georgetown University.
STEVEN FERGUSON
Deputy Director, Licensing and Entrepreneurship, NIH
Steven M. Ferguson currently serves as the Deputy Director, Licensing and Entrepreneurship. Prior to joining NIH Office of Technology Transfer in 1990, Mr. Ferguson served in marketing and management positions in biomedical firms subsequent to being a scientist at the National Cancer Institute. His healthcare experience has also included work as Director of Marketing and Public Relations for a rural 70-bed hospital. Registered to practice before the USPTO and a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP), Mr. Ferguson also holds Master's Degrees in Business Administration (George Washington University) and Chemistry (University of Cincinnati) as well as Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry (Case Western Reserve University). Mr. Ferguson has been an economic reviewer for Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) as well as the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) grant programs and is an instructor for both the USDA Graduate School and the NIH FAES Graduate School where he is also the department chair for the new Certificate in Technology Transfer Program. Mr. Ferguson was also the Susan T. and Charles E. Harris Visiting Lecturer at the Watson School of Biological Sciences at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and has published articles on licensing and technology transfer issues.
BEN FREEBERG
Managing Partner, Oncology Ventures
Ben is uniquely positioned to launch this cancer-focused venture capital fund as he has invested in it, built it and lived it.
He has invested in healthcare technology start-ups at two venture capital funds (Vice President of Optum Ventures, where he worked closely with key UnitedHealthcare and Optum stakeholders, and 1st employee at Alpha Partners).
He helped build a value-based cancer technology start-up (health plan partnerships and operations at Thyme Care).
He lived it as a cancer patient, and he is now five years cancer free.
Ben graduated from Duke with a B.Sc. in Economics.
RAJU KUCKERLAPATI
Co-Founder, Millennium Pharmaceuticals (now Takeda Oncology)
Paul C. Cabot Professor in the Harvard Medical School Department of Genetics
Dr. Raju Kucherlapati is the Paul C. Cabot Professor in the Harvard Medical School Department of Genetics. He is also a professor in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. Kucherlapati was the first Scientific Director of the Harvard Medical School-Partners Healthcare Center for Genetics and Genomics. His research focuses on cancer genetics.
Raju is an Independent Non-Executive Director at PureTech Health and sits on PureTech Health’s Scientific Advisory Board. He was a founder and formerly a Board member of Abgenix (acquired by Amgen), and Millennium Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Takeda)
Dr. Kucherlapati’s laboratory at Harvard Medical School is involved in cloning and characterization of human disease genes with a focus on human syndromes with a significant cardiovascular involvement, use of genetic/genomic approaches to understand the biology of cancer and the generation and characterization of genetically modified mouse models for cancer and other human disorders.
During 1989-2001, Dr. Kucherlapati was the Lola and Saul Kramer Professor of Molecular Genetics and Chairman of the Department of Molecular Genetics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. He was previously a professor in the Department of Genetics at the University of Illinois, College of Medicine. He began his research as an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemical Sciences at Princeton University. He has chaired numerous NIH committees and served on the National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research and the NCI Mouse Models for Human Cancer Consortium. He is also a member of the Cancer Genome Atlas project of the National Institutes of Health. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was a member of Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues during the Obama administration. Dr. Kucherlapati received his BS and MS in Biology from universities in India, and he received his PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana, as well as conducting post-doctoral work at Yale University.
DR. MICHAEL SALGALLER
Director of Technology Transfer, National Cancer Institute
Dr. Michael Salgaller leads the Invention Development and Marketing Unit within the National Cancer Institute’s Technology Transfer Center, where he leverages over 20 years of business, scientific, and investment experience in various life science sectors to support technology development and commercialization. Previously, he provided technical and strategic expertise to The Conafay Group, a DC-based government affairs firm – leading efforts on non-dilutive funding and alliance development. Previously, he was a key member of the business development team for the healthcare practice at SAIC, a Fortune-500 government contractor. He helped lead and deepen relationships with the Department of Health and Human Services – especially NIH and FDA – as well as foundations and patient advocacy groups. Before SAIC, he was a long-time industry executive who has held various positions in early-stage biotechnology and boutique professional service firms. In addition, Dr. Salgaller was on the investment team of Toucan Capital, a $120M early-stage venture firm dedicated to the life sciences, where he guided company formation and helped raise follow-on financing. He began his career as a Senior Staff Scientist with Dr. Steve Rosenberg at the National Cancer Institute, where he oversaw a lab developing immunotherapies for patients with terminal cancer.
Dr. Salgaller serves on the Life Sciences Advisory Board of the Maryland-Israel Development Center, as well as NCI liaison to the Maryland Technology Council. He is an advisor to DC ArchAngels and the Cooperative Angel Alumni Group. He is the author of “Biotechnology Entrepreneurship,” which is used as a reference text for courses at NIH and Catholic University, among others. He is the author of over 100 articles, presentations, and book chapters, and is on the editorial boards of several journals. Dr. Salgaller received his PhD in Pathology from The Ohio State University.
DR. ALFRED SLANETZ
CEO, Geneius Biotechnology
Former CEO, Bluebird Bio
Former Head of Product Development, Genetech
Dr. Slanetz is the founder of Geneius Biotechnology and has been President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of the Company full time since its inception. Prior to co-founding the Company, he served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Bluebird Bio.
Dr. Slanetz also served as Vice President, Business Development of TRANSGENE in May 1996. From 1994 to 1996, he served as Manager, New Product Planning and Development at Genentech Inc. Prior to that, Dr. Slanetz was a Management Consultant for Arthur D. Little.
He received his Ph.D. in Molecular and Immunobiology from Yale University, as well as a Masters from Brown University.
DR. BRIAN YORDY
Principal, F-Prime Capital
Brian joined F-Prime Capital in 2018 and focuses primarily on investments in the biopharmaceutical and medical technology sectors. Prior to joining F-Prime, Brian was an engagement manager at McKinsey and Company, where he advised pharmaceutical and medical technology companies on business development, R&D, and strategy topics.
Brian holds a Ph.D. in immunology from Yale University and received his B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Notre Dame.