Atalanta is pioneering new treatment options for intractable CNS diseases

Alicia most recently served as president and chief executive officer at Juniper Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a diversified public healthcare company where she led the successful turnaround strategy for the company resulting in a sale to Catalent, Inc. in August 2018. Prior to her role at Juniper, Alicia held a number of leadership positions in the life sciences industry, including chief commercial officer at Zafgen Inc., chief operating officer at Synageva BioPharma Corp, and roles of increasing responsibility at Genzyme over her 15-year tenure, including serving as vice president and general manager of metabolic diseases, a global business with multiple commercial products, including two orphan drugs. Prior to Genzyme, Alicia held positions at Alkermes, Inc. in business development, at Centocor, Inc. (a Johnson & Johnson Company) in clinical and commercial operations, and began her career at Pfizer Inc. as a hospital-based sales representative. Alicia is also a member of the board of directors at GW Pharmaceuticals, plc., Orchard Therapeutics, and a board member of the Foundation for Prader-Willi Research (FPWR). She received her B.S. in health administration from the University of New Hampshire and an MBA from Northeastern University.

Alicia spends her free time at the helm of her sailboat, traversing the ocean with her husband and twin boys. Between ports, she’s either spinning on a bike, skiing the slopes or walking the dogs – and she’s often seen scootering around Boston on her daily commute.

Aimee has worked in the field of RNA interference and oligonucleotide therapeutics for 18 years. She most recently served as vice president of research for miRagen Therapeutics, where she advanced three microRNA programs from initial concept to first-in-human clinical trials in less than five years. These programs encompassed diverse therapeutic areas and comprised both microRNA mimics and inhibitors. Two of these programs have advanced to Phase 2 clinical trials, including a fibrosis program for which Aimee served as the product development team lead. Prior to joining miRagen, Aimee led preclinical research at Regulus Therapeutics and Merck/Rosetta, where she served as molecular profiling lead for the development of siRNA-based therapeutics and played a lead role in the identification of siRNA design aspects for enhanced activity and specificity. Aimee received her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado Health Science Center.

She is known for her great love of reading, yoga, hiking, good food and good wine. Her affection for good food and wine ultimately led to her earning her Sommelier certification to more fully enjoy this passion.

Serena joins Atalanta from Arkuda Therapeutics, where she was the Chief Medical Officer where she led preparations for clinical entry of the company’s lead asset for the treatment of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), built the clinical development function, and established the company’s clinical development strategy. In previous roles at Wave Life Sciences and Biogen, Serena led clinical development of therapies in Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases, including supporting regulatory interactions and filings. She is a board-certified neurologist with more than 20 years of clinical research experience spanning both industry and academia. Serena previously held an academic appointment as Associate Professor of Neurology at the Medical College of Wisconsin. She serves on the Board of Directors at the National Ataxia Foundation and is industry co-chair of the FTD Research Roundtable. Serena earned her MD from Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Serena enjoys traveling and food and is always up for something new. In her down time, she plays time management and match-3 puzzle games on her iPad for maximum relaxation.

Mr. Young joins Atalanta with more than 25 years of experience in finance and capital markets at life sciences and medical technology companies. He most recently served as chief financial officer, senior vice president, and treasurer at Axial Therapeutics, a clinical-stage company developing therapies for CNS diseases, where he led teams across finance, accounting and tax, among other efforts, facilitated the company’s successful Series B and Series C financings, and developed corporate and commercial strategy. Earlier in his career Mr. Young held CFO roles at NASDAQ-listed companies Juniper Pharmaceutical, Ova Science, Transmedics Group, and Lantheus Medical Imaging. Mr. Young began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a certified public accountant and holds a B.S. in business administration from Georgetown University.

Outside of work, Jeff enjoys spending time with wife and three sons.  When not coaching them or watching them play various sports, he enjoys golf and reading.

Morgan brings to Atalanta more than 25 years of operational and commercial leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, with specific expertise in business strategy and organizational growth. He most recently served as Chief Corporate Development Officer at Akouos. Prior to Akouos, Morgan was Chief Commercial Officer at Enzyvant where he led all aspects of the commercial strategy for the company’s rare disease portfolio. Earlier in his career he held leadership roles at Spark Therapeutics, Genzyme and Biogen.  Morgan holds a B.S. in business management with concentrations in finance and marketing from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

When not spending time with his wife and 4 children Morgan can be found in the mountains hiking or skiing depending on the season.  Upon returning from his various activities he will likely be found in the kitchen cooking.

Bart brings to Atalanta extensive experience in biotech senior leadership along with legal and intellectual property expertise. Bart served as Biogen’s senior vice president and chief I.P. counsel for over ten years immediately prior to joining the Company. Prior to Biogen, Bart was vice president – intellectual property at Genzyme Corporation as well as a partner and shareholder at Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck in Washington, D.C. Bart’s legal career has included taking depositions of Nobel Prize winners, arguing in Federal Court, negotiating billion-dollar settlements, and meeting with US senators and representatives on Capitol Hill to promote patent law reforms. Bart earned his B.S. (honors) in microbiology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a J.D. degree from the nation’s first law school – William & Mary Law School at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. He serves on the Board of Directors of his law school alumni association where he mentors students.

Bart’s life has been engulfed in music, from banging pots and pans (earning him –and relieving his parents– drum lessons as a 5-year-old), to playing the cello, then playing the tuba in marching band throughout high school and college. He has attended over 70 Grateful Dead concerts on both coasts and venues in between!

Michele brings to Atalanta more than 20 years of product development experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. She specializes in advancing novel therapeutic product candidates through all stages of development to commercial launch. Most recently, Michele was senior vice president of R&D operations at Aura Biosciences, where she was responsible for advancing the company’s lead asset to FIH clinical trials.  Prior to Aura, she was head of operations at Moderna Therapeutics. Michele also spent more than 15 years in positions of increasing responsibility with Genzyme, providing leadership for program and alliance management in multiple therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular, pulmonology and rare and orphan diseases. Michele holds an MBA from Duke University, an M.S. in immunology from Drexel University and a B.S. from the University of Delaware.

Michele spends her (limited!) free time with her husband and three teenagers.  She also enjoys playing the piano and escapes to yoga class whenever possible.

Stephen has over twenty years of experience leading people strategies for successful life science companies. Most recently, Steve was Vice President, Human Resources for Akouos. Prior to that, he was Head of Human Resources for Scholar Rock where he played a key role in building the company from start-up phase through IPO and clinical development. Earlier in his career, Steve led the human resources function for multiple research and business areas within Genzyme. Stephen earned his B.A. in psychology at Stonehill College.

Stephen enjoys writing, oil painting and making a mean spaghetti sauce using tomatoes he grows in his garden.

Stefan was most recently at Pfizer World R&D & Medical for 5 years as Executive Director, Genetics. Stefan also held positions at Amgen Inc. from Senior Scientist to Scientific Director in the Department of Neuroscience, and as Executive Director and head of Amgen’s Genome Analysis Unit. Previously Stefan was Assistant Scientist (tenure-track) at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole MA. He currently is an Adjunct Professor at Brown University, where he also serves on the advisory board of the Carney Institute for Brain Science.

Stefan completed postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Maryland Medical School (Department of Biochemistry / calcium imaging) and at Harvard Medical School (Department of Neurobiology / neuropharmacology) and received an MS and a PhD in Biology (Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience) from Caltech. He holds an ScB in Engineering Physics from Brown.

Stefan is always looking for squash partners and swimming partners!

Garth brings to Atalanta nearly 20 years of oligonucleotide therapeutics research and development experience.  His most recent experience was as Executive Director of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Development, at Regulus Therapeutics, where he assumed roles of increasing responsibility during his over 5-year tenure.  Prior to Regulus, Garth was at Ionis Pharmaceuticals for 13 years where he conducted research in PNA, microRNA, siRNA, ss-siRNA, splicing and gapmer based therapeutics. Garth received his B.S. in Chemistry from Sonoma State University as well as his M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemistry and Biochemistry from University of California, San Diego.

Garth enjoys snorkeling, hiking, skiing, and photography.

For the past 13 years, Qingmin has worked in biotechnology research and drug development, focusing on neurodegenerative and rare diseases. Most recently, Qingmin worked at Renascent Biosciences and Voyager Therapeutics, where she was program and biology lead for multiple gene therapy programs, including Alzheimer’s Disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and neuropathic pain. Earlier in her career, Qingmin worked at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, where she led the pharmacology efforts for the transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis program, resulting in the first FDA-approved RNAi drug, Onpattro, and several neuroscience RNAi therapeutic programs. Qingmin received a Ph.D. in medical pharmacology and an M.S. in pharmacology and toxicology from the University of Arizona. She received her medical degree from Shandong Medical University, China.

Qingmin is an avid cook and baker, which she enjoys doing from scratch. She’s particularly proud of her Chinese patties.

Guillermo has more than 25 years of research experience in academia and in the biomedical industry. Before joining Atalanta, he was Senior Director of Neuroscience and Drug Discovery at Flagship Pioneering, Principal Investigator at Biogen and visiting scientist at Pfizer. His work has focused on identifying and validating therapeutic opportunities across the neurodegenerative and neuromuscular space. He received his PhD in Biochemistry from the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Argentina, with postdoctoral studies at the University of California San Francisco, research experience at the Karolinska Institute and the Weizmann Institute. He was also a tenured Associate professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology at the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Science Campus and member of several study sections at NIH. 

Guillermo enjoys scuba diving, sailing and all water sports. 

Michael has over 35 years of experience in the financial services industry. Michael is chairman of Applied Capital Management, a private investment management firm located in Scottsdale, Arizona. Previously, Michael served as president and chief executive officer of Real Estate Equity Exchange, Inc. (Rex & Co.). Prior to Rex & Co., he was chief executive officer of First Ascent Capital, a financial services firm located in New York. Michael joined First Ascent Capital after holding a decade of senior executive positions at The Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. (Tokyo) group of companies, including president and chief executive officer of Nomura Holding America Inc. and chairman of Capital America, Nomura’s commercial real estate lending subsidiary. In addition to his seat on Atalanta’s board of directors, Michael directs HomeAmerican Mortgage Corporation. He received his undergraduate degree from San Francisco State University.

Scott is co-founder and CEO of Comanche Biopharma, a private company developing novel siRNA compounds to treat preeclampsia. Prior to Comanche, Scott was a co-founder of The Medicines Company where he served as director (1996-2009) until he joined the management team as chief medical advisor (2009-2021). In that role, he was responsible for evaluating the company’s long-range global strategy and for the licensing or acquisition of innovative products, including inclisiran, for which the company was purchased by Novartis.

Previously, Scott was a founding General Partner at JSB Partners, L.P., an investment bank with a focus on mergers and acquisitions, private financings and corporate alliances within the healthcare sector. From September 1991 to July 1999, Scott served as a founder and managing director of MPM Capital, LLC, a venture capital firm.

Scott holds a B.S. in chemistry (Phi Beta Kappa) and an M.D. (Alpha Omega Alpha) from the University of Alabama. His academic career included faculty positions at Harvard Medical School, the University of Colorado Medical School, and the University of South Alabama. He has been Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and Sleep Disorders Medicine. He currently is Chairman, Board of Directors, MaxiVAX SA, a biopharmaceutical company focused on immuno-oncology.

Steve is president and managing partner at F-Prime Capital. He has worked in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries for over 25 years and invests broadly across healthcare.  Steve serves on the Board of Directors of Atalanta Therapeutics, Beam Therapeutics (NASDAQ: BEAM), Geneception, Genomics plc, Iora Health, Pulmocide and Sana Biotechnology.  Steve previously served on the boards of several private and public health care companies including Blueprint Medicines (NASDAQ: BPMC), Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ: DNLI), FoldRx Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer), Innovent Biologics (1801.HK), (Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: IRWD), NextWave Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer), Proteostasis Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PTI), Respivert, Ltd (acquired by J&J) and Semma Therapeutics (acquired by Vertex).

Prior to joining F-Prime Capital, Steve held various senior management roles in private and public biotechnology and consulting companies. He also was a researcher at AT&T Bell Laboratories, the National Institutes of Health, and Yale University. He holds an M.D. from the Yale University School of Medicine, an M.B.A. from the Yale School of Organization and Management and received a B.S. in biology from Columbia University, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.

Alicia most recently served as president and chief executive officer at Juniper Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a diversified public healthcare company where she led the successful turnaround strategy for the company resulting in a sale to Catalent, Inc. in August 2018. Prior to her role at Juniper, Alicia held a number of leadership positions in the life sciences industry, including chief commercial officer at Zafgen Inc., chief operating officer at Synageva BioPharma Corp, and roles of increasing responsibility at Genzyme over her 15-year tenure, including serving as vice president and general manager of metabolic diseases, a global business with multiple commercial products, including two orphan drugs. Prior to Genzyme, Alicia held positions at Alkermes, Inc. in business development, at Centocor, Inc. (a Johnson & Johnson Company) in clinical and commercial operations, and began her career at Pfizer Inc. as a hospital-based sales representative. Alicia is also a member of the board of directors at GW Pharmaceuticals, plc., Orchard Therapeutics, and a board member of the Foundation for Prader-Willi Research (FPWR). She received her B.S. in health administration from the University of New Hampshire and an MBA from Northeastern University.

Alicia spends her free time at the helm of her sailboat, traversing the ocean with her husband and twin boys. Between ports, she’s either spinning on a bike, skiing the slopes or walking the dogs – and she’s often seen scootering around Boston on her daily commute.

Stacie is the president of FBRI. Prior to this position, she was the senior director of science programs for the Fidelity Foundations. In 2005, Stacie served as the project manager and senior analyst for the Task Force on Women in Science at Harvard University. From 2001-2005, Stacie was a senior scientist at Cell Press for the journal Neuron. Before joining Cell Press, Stacie was a postdoctoral research fellow at Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School with Dr. Bruce Yankner. She was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute predoctoral fellow in the program in neuroscience at Harvard University. While a graduate student and postdoctoral research fellow, Stacie was actively involved in undergraduate teaching, winning six teaching awards.

Stacie received a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Harvard University, and a B.S. degree in chemistry with highest honors from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She currently chairs the Collaboration for Alzheimer’s Prevention; is President of Alzforum; serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors for Rugen Therapeutics; serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Aratome, Atalanta, Eikonizo, RBNC, Sironax, and Target ALS; and serves as a member of the Scientific Advisory Boards for Denali Therapeutics, the Indian Institute of Science’s Centre for Brain Research and the UK Dementia Research Institute. She previously served as a founding member of the Board of Directors for Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ: DNLI); as well as a member of the Board of Directors for Annexon Biosciences (NASDAQ: ANNX), BRI-Alzan (acquired by MeiraGTx), Digital Cognition Technologies (acquired by Linus Health), Enspectra, Inscopix, Syllable Life Sciences (acquired by RBNC), and Q-State Biosciences.

Dr. Sandrock spent 23 years at Biogen where he served in positions of increasing responsibility, culminating in his service as executive vice president, research and development until December 2021. He also served an eight-year term as the company’s chief medical officer, from 2012 to 2020, and on the Biogen Executive Committee, from 2013 to 2021. Earlier in his career, Dr. Sandrock held several senior executive positions at Biogen, including group senior vice president of development sciences, senior vice president of neurology R&D, and vice president of clinical development, neurology. Over the course of his tenure, he led the discovery, development, and regulatory approval of numerous medicines including Aduhelm®, Plegridy®, Spinraza®, Tecfidera®, and Tysabri®. Dr. Sandrock holds a B.A. in human biology from Stanford University, an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and a Ph.D. in neurobiology from Harvard University. He completed an internship in medicine, a residency and chief residency in neurology, and a clinical fellowship in Neuromuscular Disease and Clinical Neurophysiology (electromyography) at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Jessica is a principal at F-Prime Capital and focuses primarily on the biopharmaceutical and medical technology sectors. Prior to joining F-Prime in 2015,  Jessica was an engagement manager in McKinsey and Company’s Boston office, where she focused on pharmaceuticals and medical products and advised companies across a range of strategic, organizational and operational topics.  She began her career at MIT Lincoln Laboratory in the Biodefense Systems group, where she worked on developing novel techniques for the detection of biological agents. Jessica holds a Ph.D. in genetics from Harvard University and received her B.S. in biology from Duke University.

Neil has been a practicing endocrinologist for more than 20 years and is currently affiliated with UMass Memorial Medical Center. In 2015, Neil was awarded the Huntington’s Disease Society of America’s prestigious Research Award in recognition of his transformative contributions to what is now known about Huntington’s disease, a rare, inherited neurodegenerative condition. Neil’s exemplary research into Huntington’s disease has spanned three decades, with his most recent work focusing on exploring the disease’s mechanisms of pathogenesis, such as mutant Huntington mRNA kinetics, vesicle recycling and roles of proteins that interact with the expanded Huntington protein. Presently, Neil is exploring gene silencing for Huntington’s disease, along with a way to use viral delivery of next-generation treatments that could be studied and modified further to address a wider range of autosomal dominant conditions. He received his medical degree from Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Anastasia has more than 20 years of experience developing oligonucleotide technology and therapeutics. She is a professor in the RNA Therapeutics Institute and Program of Molecular Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), where her lab brings together hardcore organic and oligonucleotide chemists with RNA biologists and pharmacologists to develop novel approaches and solutions to understanding natural and therapeutic RNA trafficking and delivery. Anastasia founded the UMass Nucleic Acid Chemistry Core, the only nonprofit facility in North America capable of the gram-scale synthesis of modified oligonucleotides. Anastasia joined UMMS after several years in industry, during which she served as chief scientific officer at lead biotech companies (Dharmacon, ThermoFisher; RXi Pharmaceuticals) and co-founded several startups. She recently was reelected director of the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society. Anastasia is named as inventor on more than 150 patents and 200 patent applications, and she has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications – including seminal articles in Cell, Nature and Nature Biotechnology – defining the field of RNAi drug design and development. Anastasia is principal investigator on four major National Institutes of Health grants.

Arthur Levin, a founding member of Avidity, serves as Distinguished Scientist and Strategic Leader at Avidity Biosciences and is a member of the Board of Directors. He previously held the position of Chief Scientific Officer at Avidity. Dr. Levin is a key opinion leader in the RNA therapeutics field.  Prior to joining Avidity, Dr. Levin was the Executive Vice President of Research and Development at miRagen Therapeutics and held senior drug development roles at Ionis (formerly Isis) Pharmaceuticals and Santaris Pharma A/S.

Dr. Levin has played key roles in the development of numerous oligonucleotides including the first approved antisense drugs and the first microRNA-targeted therapeutic in clinical trials. He has a combined four decades of experience in all aspects of drug development from discovery through drug registration, both in large pharma and biotech companies. Dr. Levin has published more than 100 scientific articles and several of the most cited reviews in the field. He is on the scientific advisory boards and Boards of Directors of multiple institutions. Art received a doctorate in toxicology from the University of Rochester, and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Muhlenberg College.

Craig is the Blais University Chair in Molecular Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS). He was also designated an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in 2000, the third HHMI researcher selected at UMMS. HHMI is a $13 billion medical research organization that employs more than 350 eminent researchers at 72 medical schools, universities and research institutes worldwide. Craig and his colleague Andrew Fire, Ph.D., formerly of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, received the 2006 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their discovery of RNA interference (RNAi). They demonstrated that a certain form of RNA had the unanticipated property of silencing — or interfering with — the expression of a gene, ultimately halting the progression of the invading viral infection. Atalanta’s science is founded on this award-winning RNAi mechanism. Craig holds his B.S. in biochemistry from Brown University and his Ph.D. in cellular and developmental biology from Harvard University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center before coming to UMMS in 1995. He is also a 1995 Pew Scholar in the biomedical sciences.

Dr. Dinah Sah has 30 years of experience in research and drug development in the biotechnology industry, especially for neurological disorders, and currently serves on multiple scientific advisory boards and boards of biotechnology, venture capital and non-profit organizations. Dr. Sah most recently was Chief Scientific Officer at Voyager Therapeutics, focused on the discovery and development of AAV gene therapy for the treatment of severe neurological diseases. Prior to Voyager, she was Vice President of Research at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and also served at Biogen and Signal Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Sah’s primary expertise is in the discovery and development of new classes of drugs such as RNAi therapeutics and AAV gene therapy, especially for neurodegenerative disorders. Her accomplishments include leadership of multiple programs from early research through Phase 1 clinical trials, and the discovery of novel therapeutic targets and drug candidates that advanced into clinical development. Her leadership of drug discovery and development programs based on RNAi therapeutics resulted in the landmark demonstration of human proof-of-mechanism for this novel class of drugs in TTR amyloidosis patients which led tothe approval of ONPATTRO® (patisiran).

Dr. Sah is an inventor on more than 40 patents. Her publications across diverse research areas include articles in journals such as Nature Medicine, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Neuroscience, Molecular Therapeutics, Neuron, PNAS and the New England Journal of Medicine.

Sarah Tabrizi is Director of the UCL Huntington’s Disease Centre, Joint Head of Department Neurodegenerative Disease at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, a Principal Investigator at the UK Dementia Research Institute, and Honorary Consultant Neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery.

She leads an internationally recognised basic bench science and translational research team focussed on finding disease modifying therapies for Huntington’s disease. She has led multiple first in human clinical trials as PI including the first successful phase 1/2b trial of an antisense oligonucleotide (NEJM 2019), and currently serves on several SABs advising industry on the development of potential gene targeting and nucleic acid therapies for HD. Sarah has over 380 peer-reviewed research publications and has received multiple awards for her research including, most recently, the 2022 MRC Millennium Medal for her outstanding achievements in medical research, and the 2023 Arvid Carlsson award from Lund University for her research in Huntington’s disease mechanisms and therapeutics.