Board of Directors

Paul Sekhri has over 35 years of experience in the Life Science Industry. His experience encompasses senior management in large corporate pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as private equity and venture capital. Mr. Sekhri is currently Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of vTv Therapeutics, Inc. From 2019 until 2022, he was President and CEO of eGenesis, Inc.. From 2015 until 2018 Mr. Sekhri served as President and CEO of Lycera Corp.. Prior to this, he served as Senior Vice President, Integrated Care for Sanofi from April 2014 through January2015. Previously, he served as Group Executive Vice President, Global Business Development and Chief Strategy Officer for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd. Prior to joining Teva, he spent five years as Operating Partner and Head of the Biotechnology Operating Group at TPG Biotech, the life sciences venture capital arm of TPG Capital. From 2004-2009, Mr. Sekhri was Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Cerimon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to founding Cerimon, Mr. Sekhri was President and Chief Business Officer of ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Previously, Mr. Sekhri spent five years at Novartis as Senior Vice President, and Head of Global Search and Evaluation, Business Development and Licensing for Novartis Pharma AG.

Mr. Sekhri has been a director on more than 35 private, public company, and non-profit Boards, and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of AdhereTech, Likeminds, Spring Discovery, and Veeva Systems Inc. Mr. Sekhri is also the Chairman of the Boards of Directors of Compugen Ltd., Longboard Pharmaceuticals, Resolution Therapeutics, and Kaerus Bioscience. Additionally, he is on the Board of Directors of The Metropolitan Opera, the Advisory Council of the New York Philharmonic, and is the newly named Chairman of Young Concert Artists, Inc. He also serves as a Trustee of The English Concert in America.

Dr. Fahed Al Marzooqi is the Chief Operating Officer of G42 Healthcare and Deputy Group Chief Operating Officer of M42. In his current capacity, he leads the entire business operation. He has over 18 years’ experience with large and diverse organizations. Prior to joining G42 Healthcare, Dr. Al Marzooqi was the Chief Administrative Officer at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, where he was an integral part of multiple high-impact strategic programs for the hospital. Dr. Al Marzooqi led a multitude of business-critical assignments with varying degrees of complexity and has taken on progressive responsibilities to deliver strategic healthcare projects throughout his tenure. Dr Al Marzooqi was the chairman of the board of Malaffi – Abu Dhabi Health Information Exchange from October 2021 to March 2023. He graduated with a B.S. in Mathematics and an M.D. from Dalhousie University in Canada, followed by a five-year residency program in anesthesiology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Dr. Srinivas Akkaraju is the Founder and Managing General Partner at Samsara BioCapital. Previously, from April 2013 to February 2016, he served as a General Partner of Sofinnova Ventures. From January 2009 until April 2013, he served as Managing Director of New Leaf Venture Partners. Previously, he served as a Managing Director at Panorama Capital, LLC, a private equity firm. Prior to co-founding Panorama Capital, Dr. Akkaraju was with J.P. Morgan Partners, which he joined in 2001 and of which he became a Partner in 2005. From October 1998 to April 2001, he was in Business and Corporate Development at Genentech, Inc. (now a wholly owned member of The Roche Group), a biotechnology company, most recently as Senior Manager.

Prior to joining Genentech, Dr. Akkaraju was a graduate student at Stanford University, where he received his MD and a PhD in Immunology. He received his undergraduate degrees in Biochemistry and Computer Science from Rice University. Dr. Akkaraju serves as a director of Scholar Rock, Mineralys Therapeutics, Syros Pharmaceuticals, and several private biotechs. Previously, he served as a director on the boards of Seattle Genetics, Principia Biopharma, Chinook Therapeutics, Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, ZS Pharma, Synageva Biopharma Corp., Amarin Corporation, Aravive, Inc., and Barrier Therapeutics.

Dr. Cheong is a Managing Director at Baker Brothers Investments. Prior to joining Baker Brothers in 2013, Dr. Cheong completed an M.D. and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, where he was awarded the Michael A. Shanoff Award for best thesis research within the School of Medicine. Prior to Hopkins, he earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. He serves on the boards of Istari Oncology, Inc. and Talis Biomedical Corporation, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and vTv Therapeutics Inc.

Dr. Phillips was Senior Vice President of Clinical, Medical and Regulatory Affairs at Novo Nordisk Inc. (NVO), a pharmaceutical company, from 2011 until her retirement in August 2022. Previously, she served as a Vice President in various positions at GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK), which she joined in 1998, and prior to this, Dr. Phillips was Head of the Infectious Diseases Program and Deputy Physician-in-Chief at Wellesley Central Hospital/St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. She is a Fellow of The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, earned an M.D. from the University of Toronto, and received a B.Sc. from the University of Western Ontario. Dr. Phillips currently serves on the board of directors of Barinthus Biotherapeutics and Trevena.

Mr. Spiegelman has over 25 years of finance experience in biotechnology companies. Mr. Spiegelman was most recently chief financial officer and executive vice president of BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc (2012-2020), a company focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing treatments for rare genetic disorders. Prior to BioMarin, Mr. Spiegelman served as chief financial officer and senior vice president of CV Therapeutics, Inc. for 11 years through its sale in 2009 to Gilead, and before that was treasurer at Genentech, Inc. Mr. Spiegelman currently provides consulting and board services to various life sciences companies. He currently serves on the board of directors of Myriad Genetics, Inc., Spruce Biosciences, Inc., Jiya Acquisition Corp., and several private biotechnology companies. Mr. Spiegelman received his M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.S. in Economics from Stanford University.

In addition to his role as Executive Vice President Corporate Development for vTv Therapeutics, Rich Nelson is also Executive Vice President Corporate Development for Vericast, where Rich is responsible for the identification and execution of global merger and acquisition opportunities. In this role, Rich works with business leaders to source, negotiate and close acquisitions, joint ventures and partnerships that complement Vericast’s long-term vision and strategy. Rich brings more than 25 years of experience in mergers, acquisitions, and capital raising. Prior to Vericast, Rich served as Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Development at The Nielsen Company. Rich also served as Managing Director, Mergers and Acquisitions at IAC/InterActive Corp. Previously, Rich had been President and Co-Founder of Trendum, n/k/a Nielsen BuzzMetrics and SVP/General Counsel of RSL Communications, a telecommunications company. Rich began his career as a mergers and acquisition attorney at Skadden Arps. Rich earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance with High Distinction from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and a J.D. from New York University School of Law. Rich is a member of the National Advisory Board for the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, the Board of Directors of Think Pink Rocks breast cancer charity, and a former member of the Board of Directors of Reply.com, RSL COM U.S.A. and Trendum, Inc. Rich is an active venture investor and advisor to various stage private companies and their Boards, including Woolsey Pharmaceuticals.