Industry Advisory Board
Gaylene Anderson, M.B.A., US Director of Contracts & Alliance Management, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals
Gaylene is the US Director of Contracts and Alliance Management for Boehringer Ingelheim - managing research contracts and licensing opportunities for BI with US partners. As Director of the Notre Dame/Cleveland Clinic Innovations Alliance Program and Senior Innovations Officer for the Cleveland Clinic, Gaylene was the on-site liaison between ND and CC. She accelerated select technologies through the commercialization process, created new ventures, and identified complementary research opportunities between ND scientists and CC clinicians. She has a strong focus on BD, licensing, IP management, contract negotiations, alliance management, and entrepreneurship activities. She has created over a dozen start-up companies, developed relationships with investor groups around the U.S., raised private equity for startups, and is an expert in negotiating license and sponsored research deals.
In her work with CC and university systems, Gaylene has won leadership awards for her work with faculty and students in business plan competitions – including “Mentor of the Year” for ND in 2015. Under Gaylene’s leadership, faculty and student teams have won or placed as finalists in the World’s Best Technology Showcase, the Licensing Executive Society Invention Competition, the Global Venture Labs Investment Competition, the Asia Venture Challenge, and university business plan competitions all over the US. Previously, Gaylene was a Senior Licensing Associate for the University of Idaho, managing all life science IP for the University system, and served as the liaison for the state commodity commissions. Earlier in her career, Gaylene managed IP and economic development activities for the School of Medicine and Cancer Research Center at the University of Hawaii.
Gaylene has won several leadership awards for her work with faculty and students, particularly with respect to her entrepreneurial accomplishments (including her own company, Waterproof Kids®)..
Richard “Rick” Connell, Ph.D., Chief Operating Officer, Wuxi AppTech USA
Rick received his PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Notre Dame in 1989, doing research under the direction of Professor Paul Helquist. He spent six months doing research at the Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (KTH) aka the Royal Institute of Technology, in Stockholm, Sweden as part of a joint collaboration between the Helquist and Akermark labs. After graduation, he worked as a National Institutes of Health Post-Doctoral Investigator at Harvard University under the direction of Professor E. J. Corey: the 1990 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry.
He began his professional career at Bayer in West Haven Connecticut, rising to the position of Director of Medicinal Chemistry following a two-year assignment to Wuppertal Germany. Rick started at Pfizer in Groton, CT, as Director of Cancer Medicinal Chemistry in 1999 where he was instrumental in the nomination of several cancer compounds into clinical development. He chaired the early clinical management team for CP-724,714: an erbB2-selective kinase inhibitor being explored in breast cancer patients who failed to respond to Herceptin. He is an inventor on one of the two key patents for Tarceva® (aka CP-358,774), an erbB1 kinase inhibitor approved for the treatment of lung cancer that achieved peek annual sales of over one billion dollars.
Following a 1-year secondment to the UK to head Sex Health Medicinal Chemistry during the Pharmacia acquisition, Rick was promoted to Executive Director of Research Operations in 2005 and helped establish an integrated, global Chemistry sourcing strategy. In 2008, he became Vice President of Research Outsourcing (aka External Research Solutions or ERS), helping to implement global, non-GMP alliances related to Chemistry, Biology Pharmacology, Drug Metabolism and Drug Safety services. In 2011, when Pfizer announced the establishment of an anti-infective Research unit in Shanghai, China, Rick was seconded to Shanghai as the Chief Operating Officer/head of Research while the company sought a Chief Science Officer.
Following his return to the US in 2012, Rick helped Pfizer realize the vision of an agile, externally facing R&D organization:
- He established the lead finding collaboration with the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel.
- He enabled a broader set of external academic, government, and biotech collaborations that helped deliver the small molecule portfolio of innovative drugs to the clinic.
- He led the effort to monetize underutilized intellectual property within Pfizer, establishing licensing deals with Sigma-Aldrich related to reference standards and novel tool compounds, and a deal with Charles River relating to genetically engineered mice.
- He created a pre-competitive forum centered in Millipore-Sigma that allowed large Pharma companies (AbbVie, GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Merck KGaA, Novartis, Pfizer Roche, & Vertex) to exchange non-commercial building blocks. This forum has the potential to reduce the cost of Drug discovery while aiding the design and speeding the delivery of more selective drugs to the clinic.
In 2018, Rick was named US / EU Chief Operating Officer for WuXi AppTec: A Contract Research Organization (CRO) with nine locations in the US as well as R&D sites in Munich, Germany; Couvet, Switzerland; and Oxford, UK. In his role, he leads several operating units including IT, Legal, Facilities, Procurement, Environmental Health and Safety (EHS), and Government Affairs.
Sandra Coufal, M.D., Chief Executive Officer, Toragen, Inc.
Dr. Sandra I. Coufal, M.D., has served as a member of the Tricida board of directors since July 2013 and as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board since August 2013. Since January 2022, Dr. Coufal has served as Chief Executive Officer at Toragen, a biotechnology company developing drugs for HPV-induced cancers. Dr. Coufal is a co-founder and has served as a co-manager of Sibling Capital Ventures LLC, an affiliate of one of our principal stockholders, since 2013. Dr. Coufal was a co-founder and a co-manager of Sibling Capital, LLC from 2012 to 2016.
For the past 21 years until February of 2022, Dr. Coufal has been the Biomedical Advisor for the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation. Dr. Coufal served as the Head of the Division of Internal Medicine at the Torrey Pines site of Scripps Clinic from 1997 until 1999, was a member of the board of directors of Scripps Green Hospital from 1997 until 1999. Dr. Coufal founded and served on Relypsa, Inc.’s Scientific Advisory Board since 2007 and was a co-founder of Ilypsa’s Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Coufal has served on the boards of directors of BioAesthetics Corporation and SafetySpot Inc., since February 2016 and March 2017, respectively.
Dr. Coufal served as Associate Faculty in the Division of Internal Medicine for the University of California San Diego. She completed an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas. Dr. Coufal received her M.D. from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas and received her B.S. in Science Preprofessional Studies from the University of Notre Dame and was designated a Notre Dame Scholar.
Behrad Derakhshan, Ph.D., Chief Business Officer, Edgewise Therapeutics
Behrad is the Chief Business Officer at Edgewise Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing small molecule therapies for musculoskeletal diseases. Prior to this position, he was the Chief Business Officer at VectivBio, a global, clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative treatments for severe rare conditions with high unmet medical need. Previously, he was the Vice President, Head of Business Development at Therachon AG, a global biotech focused on developing medicines for rare, genetic diseases that currently have no available treatments. Behrad has over 10 years of experience in the rare/ultra-rare disease space. As a Director at Alexion Pharmaceuticals he was responsible for Business Development and Strategic Evaluation. In this role, he reviewed and evaluated numerous opportunities for potential in-licensing or acquisition. Prior to this role, Behrad served as the Director of New Products, leading Global Commercial Insights and Analytics, also at Alexion, where he provided commercial support for both early-stage development and late-stage life cycle programs for Alexion’s internal portfolio as well as external Business Development opportunities.
Behrad went to Alexion after spending several years in life science consulting, first as a Senior Consultant at Easton Associates and then as an Associate Director at Navigant Consulting, Inc. Behrad provided consulting services to numerous Top 20 pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology companies, including business development/opportunity searches, corporate and commercial strategies, payer/reimbursement strategies and strategic product development.
Behrad earned his Ph.D. in pharmacology and biochemistry from Cornell University, Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences and was a Postdoctoral Associate in the Interdepartmental Program in Vascular Biology and Therapeutics at the Yale University School of Medicine. He received a First Class Honors BSc. In Biochemistry from the University of Surrey. He has presented at multiple international meetings and authored several peer-reviewed research articles and book chapters. In 2006, he was the recipient of an “International Young Investigator Award” for research performed during his graduate degree.
Erik Eglite, D.P.M., J.D., M.B.A., Chief Business Officer, ARDVIR and ReversePAH Pharmaceuticals
Erik is Chief Business and Chief Regulatory Officer for ARDVIR and ReversePAH Pharmaceuticals, which specialize in ARDS, COPD and Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining Aurinia, Erik was Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Counsel for Marathon Pharmaceuticals and Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Counsel for Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that, he was Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Counsel for Ovation Pharmaceuticals and Global Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Counsel for Aspreva Pharmaceuticals. Erik has been involved with the clinical development, regulatory approval, launch and commercialization of 16 drugs and drug programs, including a launch earlier this year for Lupkynis, which is indicated for Lupus Nephritis. He is a nationally recognized and frequent speaker on pharmaceutical law.
Before entering the pharmaceutical industry, Erik worked as Assistant General Counsel for the Department of Human Services and as a medical malpractice, product liability defense litigation and intellectual property patent attorney for Querry & Harrow in Chicago, Illinois. He is a licensed podiatric physician and surgeon and is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and the United States Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
Erik has a M.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and a M.S. in F.D.A. Regulatory Legal Compliance & Clinical Research from Northwestern University. He also holds a B.S. in Biology, a B.A. in History, a M.Sc. in Chemistry, and a J.D. from Loyola University Chicago. He graduated from Des Moines University Iowa Medical School with a Doctorate in Podiatric Medicine and Surgery, D.P.M. (2019 Alumni of the Year), after which he completed his residency training at Michigan Health Medical Center Hospital. He also completed his medical/surgical externships at the University of Chicago, Department of Surgery, Division of Vascular Surgery; Great Lakes Naval Hospital Department of Podiatric Surgery; and Northwestern University Columbus Cabrini Hospital, Department of Orthopedic/Podiatric Surgery. He has a graduate certificate in Pharmaceutical & Medical Device Law from Seton Hall School of Law, an Executive Certificate in Corporate Governance from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, and an Executive Certificate in Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame.
Professor Michael Kerin, DSc, MB., MCH, FRCSI, FRCS.Ed., FRCS Gen.
Michael Kerin is Chair of Surgery at the University of Galway in Ireland and Director of the Cancer Managed Clinical Academic Network (MCAN) for Saolta University Health Care Group. As Consultant Surgeon he has a special interest in breast and endocrine cancer. He is Research Director of the National Breast Cancer Research Institute, Principal Investigator with the SFI funded Precision Oncology Ireland, the All Island Cancer Research Institute (AICRI) and co-investigator of numerous other collaborative cancer research initiatives. Professor Kerin's research interests include molecular profiling in cancer, cancer risk prediction and innovative methods for breast cancer diagnosis and management. In 2024 Professor Kerin was conferred with a higher doctorate DSc degree based on published works from the National University of Ireland. He was appointed vice president of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in June 2024.
Monica Kolinsky, Ph.D., J.D., Alliance Manager, PICI@WCM, Enterprise Innovations, Weill Cornell Medicine
As Alliance Manager, PICI@WCM, at Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM) Enterprise Innovation, Monica supports WCM scientists who participate in the collaboration between WCM and the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI), and she serves as the primary liaison to manage intellectual property and contractual matters pertaining to the collaboration.
Prior to joining Weill Cornell Medicine, Monica was a corporate lawyer at Wiggin and Dana LLP in Connecticut where her practice focused on life sciences and biotechnology transactional matters including licensing, corporate partnering and other technology transfer transactions. She also provided intellectual property-related support for due diligence matters, mergers and acquisitions, and litigation. Monica has also worked at the law firms WilmerHale and Grimes & Yvon LLP in New York, where she prepared and prosecuted patent applications in the areas of life sciences and biotechnology. She was also a licensing officer for Medical Research Council Technology (now known as LifeArc) in London, England where she negotiated intellectual property agreements.
Monica holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Cornell University, Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences, and she earned her J.D. cum laude from New York Law School. She earned her B.S. cum laude in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from Moravian College, and was an undergraduate Carolina Summer Research Fellow in the Pharmacology department at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.
Monica would be happy to meet with students or postdocs interested in pursuing a career path in patent law or life science-related opportunities in law, such as healthcare, regulatory or clinical studies, and to discuss some steps that can be taken during graduate school or postdoc to prepare for such a path. Monica can also meet with researchers who would like to discuss general aspects of IP licensing and commercialization.
Carolyn LaBonia, Ph.D., Sales Account Manager at STEMCELL Technologies
Carolyn is a Sales Account Manager at STEMCELL Technologies, Canada’s largest biotechnology company, providing products and services for immunology and stem cell biology research. She has supported academic, biotech, and routine diagnostic customers across Illinois and Indiana for the past 6 years.
Prior to joining STEMCELL Technologies, Carolyn completed her PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame (2018) in Robert V. Stahelin’s lab where she developed methods for studying lipid-protein interactions. During her time at Notre Dame, Carolyn was awarded the NSF-GRFP, was a Research Like a Champion award winner, and Ethical Leaders in STEM fellow.
Carolyn lives in Memphis, TN with her husband, Gabe LaBonia (Notre Dame, PhD ‘18) and 5 year-old daughter, Harper. In her free time, she enjoys playing golf and tennis, and cheering on the Virginia Tech Hokies, and Fighting Irish!
Gabe LaBonia, Ph.D., Vice President, Cornerstone Laboratories, LLC
Gabe LaBonia is the Vice President and co-owner of Cornerstone Laboratories, LLC in Memphis, TN. Cornerstone Laboratories provides analytical testing services for a variety of industries.
Prior to Cornerstone Laboratories, Gabe was an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company, a global management consultancy. He served Fortune 100 companies in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, specialty chemicals, medical products, transportation, and logistics. Functionally, he has helped companies on topics of strategy, operational excellence, and enterprise-wide transformations.
Gabe holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Forensic Chemistry from the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) and a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Notre Dame. While at Notre Dame, Gabe’s research focused on imaging-mass spectrometry method development, three-dimensional cell cultures, and proteomics for colon cancer research.
Gabe currently lives in Memphis, Tennessee with his wife, Carolyn, a 2018 Biochemistry Ph.D. graduate from the University of Notre Dame, and their 4-year-old daughter, Harper.
Kathryn Packman, Ph.D., Senior Director and Global Compound Development Leader, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine
Kathryn is Senior Director and Global Compound Development Leader at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine. She leads multidisciplinary global clinical teams to evaluate novel therapeutics in early and late development, including the menin inhibitor bleximenib for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia.
Prior to her current role, Kathryn led a global group of 30 Oncology pharmacologists to support discovery- and development-stage research programs. Over 8 years, collectively her laboratories supported the advancement of over 20 investigational therapeutics to clinical development including CD3 T-cell bispecific antibodies TECVAYLI™ (teclistamab; BCMAxCD3), TALVEY™ (talquetamab; GPCR5DxCD3), and BCMA-directed chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy CARVYKTI™ (ciltacabtagene autoleucel; cilta-cel), voxalatamab (PSMAxCD3), cetrelimab (anti-PD-1), onametostat (PRMT5 inhibitor), and safimaltib (MALT-1 inhibitor). They also provided translational research insights during late-stage clinical development and post-approval/marketing for BALVERSA™ (erdafitinib; FGFR inhibitor), RYBREVANT™ (amivantamab; EGFRxCMET bispecific antibody), DARZALEX® (daratumumab; anti-CD38 antibody), IMBRUVICA® (ibrutinib); BTK inhibitor), ERLEADA™ (apalutamide; CYP17 inhibitor), ZYTIGA® (abiraterone acetate; CYP17 inhibitor), and AKEEGA™ (niraparib PARP inhibitor/abiraterone acetate). Earlier at the Johnson & Johnson Innovation Center, Kathryn led academic and biotechnology research collaborations including with the Belfer Institute at Dana Farber Cancer Institute/ Harvard Medical School, MD Anderson Moon Shots Program Immunotherapy Platform, and the Koch Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Prior to joining Janssen, Kathryn was Head of Preclinical Oncology Research at the Roche Translational and Clinical Research Center, where she defined small molecule discovery and development strategies and delivered preclinical research support through academic and biotechnology alliances. In an earlier role, she led preclinical tumor biology at Roche for 10 years, where her laboratory examined the efficacy and biological mechanisms of action of novel therapeutics. This work culminated in the advancement of 10 novel therapeutics into clinical investigation, including vemurafenib (ZELBORAF; BRAFV600 inhibitor), p53-MDM2 antagonist idasanutlin, sulanemadlin (ALRN-6924; MDM2/MDMX inhibitor), and RG7386 (DR5xFAP bispecific antibody). Kathryn’s laboratory also focused on pharmacological modeling of dose, schedule, pharmacodynamic effects, and combination therapy to optimize efficacy while limiting drug toxicity. Their work provided the basis for a dose-dense regimen for the marketed drug capecitabine (XELODA) in breast and colorectal cancer, as well as for idasanutlin under clinical investigation for Acute Myeloid leukemia.
Kathryn has authored over 60 peer-reviewed research articles and is an inventor of 12 patents. She also served as an adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Rutgers (formerly the University Medical and Dental School of New Jersey) in Newark, NJ for 10 years. Kathryn earned her BS Degree in Biology at the State University of New York at Geneseo, and a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of Notre Dame.
Ricardo J. Romero Moreno, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, AstraZeneca
Ricardo Romero is a Senior Scientist at AstraZeneca, a global pharmaceutical and biotechnology company that focuses on creating life-changing medicines for patients in all therapeutic areas.
Ricardo specializes in late-stage process development of biopharmaceuticals. Among his responsibilities, Ricardo leads pipeline projects to ensure that new molecules are ready for manufacture and commercialization, facilitates technology transfer to manufacturing organizations, and leads the development of new technologies for large-scale manufacturing.
Prior to his role at AstraZeneca, he was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Notre Dame researching how fluctuations in intracellular pH alter gene expression in normal breast epithelial cells and ultimately lead to the development of a cancer-like phenotype in vitro.
Ricardo holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Genomic Sciences from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and a Ph.D. in Integrated Biomedical Sciences from the University of Notre Dame. Ricardo currently resides in Rockville, Maryland with his fiancé Chissa, a 2022 Ph.D. graduate from the University of Notre Dame and their multitude of pets.
Lou Stancato, Ph.D., Vice President of Enabling Technologies and Global Leader of the Pediatric Rare Disease Platform
Lou Stancato, PhD is the Vice President of Enabling Technologies and Leader of the Pediatric Rare Disease Platform at the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute (IBRI) in Indianapolis and is a recognized expert in adult and pediatric cancer translational research. At the intersection of the bench and the bedside, translational research is essential to turning fundamental biological understanding of molecules and disease into testable clinical hypotheses. Lou’s career began with a B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology, followed by a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Michigan. Lou continued his training as an Intramural Research Training Fellow at the FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at the National Institutes of Health, twice receiving the NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence.
Lou Joined Eli Lilly and Company in 1997 and developed significant pharmaceutical drug-hunting experience spanning the continuum of drug discovery and development. Lou’s team’s research led to pediatric cancer trials for multiple Lilly drugs, including Verzenio, Cyramza, prexasertib, and LY3295668 erbumine. In 2020, Lou joined Lilly’s Pediatric Development Center, becoming a leader in oncology and immunology clinical drug development, and advocating for safe and novel clinical trial designs to ensure the best possible care for our youngest patients. In 2016, Lou initiated and became the co-leader of an Innovative Medicines Initiative public-private partnership in the EU (http://www.imi.europa.eu/) to develop a preclinical pediatric proof of concept research platform to identify potential new medicines for children with cancer (“ITCC-P4”; http://www.itccp4.eu/). This 30-member consortium was comprised of the EU’s top pediatric cancer centers along with a host of scientists from across pharma, creating one of the world’s largest pediatric cancer research platforms to support the identification and development of innovative and life-saving medicines for our youngest patients. This public-private partnership was successfully spun off in 2023 as the ITCC-P4 gGmbH (German nonprofit corporation) headquartered in Heidelberg Germany.
In 2023, Lou retired from Lilly after nearly 26 years of service and joined the IBRI, where his team is developing novel antibody therapeutics for metastatic pediatric sarcoma, and novel patient-derived models of human and canine osteosarcoma. Externally, Lou serves on the ITCC-P4 Scientific Advisory Board, is a member of CureSearch for Children's Cancer Strategy Oversight Committee and is a Senior Editor for Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.
Emily Stoler, M.S., M.B.A., Research Liaison Manager, IDEA Center, University of Notre Dame
Emily began her academic journey at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she pursued studies in biochemistry and biomedical sciences. During her undergraduate studies, she conducted research under the guidance of Dr. Andrew Lantz, focusing on the separation and quantitation of microorganisms using capillary electrophoresis.
She advanced her education by earning a Master of Science degree in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Notre Dame, working with Dr. Zachary Schultz. Her research there concentrated on developing innovative techniques for measuring metabolites in complex solutions, such as bodily fluids, utilizing capillary electrophoresis combined with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS).
Following her graduate studies, Emily transitioned to the environmental protection sector, working with landfills and wastewater treatment facilities. She subsequently obtained a Master of Business Administration from the Judd Leighton School of Business and Economics in 2021.
Emily rejoined the University of Notre Dame in 2021, where she applies her expertise in both science and business as the Risk Assessment Assistant Director at the IDEA Center. In this role, she facilitates the commercialization of faculty research by conducting market research. Additionally, she serves on the board as the IDEA Center representative for Abbio XR, an early-stage pharmaceutical company spun off from the IDEA Center, utilizing technology developed in Dr. Webber’s lab.
Emily is also a committed advocate for women in underrepresented fields, including STEM, innovation, and commercialization. She chairs the professional development committee of Thrive, an employee resource group focused on supporting women at ND. Outside of her professional work, Emily enjoys spending time with her dog, Watson, reading, and working in her gardens.
Joe Whalen, M.B.A., Consultant, North Glen Advisors
Joe has almost 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry leading and supporting transactions involving licensing, acquisitions, and strategic alliances. Joe was among the first 20 employees when he joined Horizon in 2010 and has led or supported many of Horizon's acquisitions since that time, helping to grow Horizon into a publicly-traded company with a market capitalization of greater than $15 billion, over 2000 employees, and net sales over $3 billion per year. He played a leadership role in the strategy and execution of Horizon's acquisition of Viela Bio for $3 billion. Other transactions he led include Horizon's acquisition of Crealta Holdings LLC for $510 million, PENNSAID® 2% for $45 million, and VIMOVO® for $35 million. He has supported Horizon's IPO and other fund-raising activities.
Prior to Horizon, he was at Baxter Healthcare where he led and supported several transactions as part of Baxter's Medication Delivery business. Joe worked at Searle prior to Baxter where his experience included various finance roles supporting business development, European operations, U.S. marketing, and R&D.
Joe is on the board of the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, the Illinois Biotech Industry Association (IBIO), and was a founding member of the Industry Advisory Board of the Harper Cancer Research Institute at the University of Notre Dame.
Francesca Wuttke, Ph.D., CEO and Founder, nen
Francesca Wuttke is the CEO and Founder of nen – bringing evidence-based Digital Therapeutics (DTx) pain solutions to preschool kids with cancer. Dr. Wuttke brings broad drug development and healthcare expertise in both the US and Europe, with over 25 years of clinical, commercial, strategic, and transactional experience. She has worked with diverse organizations including start-ups, consulting, large and specialty pharma as well as academia. Formerly the Chief Digital Officer of Almirall, she created the Almirall Digital Garden to accelerate and incubate digital health startups.
Previously, she led European investments as Managing Director for the MSD Global Health Innovation Fund, LLC. Prior to that, Dr. Wuttke led Almirall’s Corporate Development Strategy team to transact on both med device and pharma M&A opportunities with a new and targeted focus for the company.
Dr. Wuttke worked at Novartis where she was responsible for two Cell and Gene therapy opportunities that were successfully brought into the organization, as well as managing the strategy and commercialization for the existing portfolio of cell therapy assets.
Dr. Wuttke holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences and a BA from Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences.