About Us

---

Michael is a highly experienced and successful pharmaceutical industry veteran. He has worked on multiple drug development programs in big PHARMA as the team leader/team member that have led to global regulatory approvals. Within biotech he has been part of teams that have raised Series B and C rounds of financing (~$150MM), F-1/IPO submission, reverse merger and successful M&As. He has deep disease-specific and RNA therapeutics drug development expertise. He is currently supporting a number of Biotechnology companies and VCs in the role of scientific advisor and/or board director. 

Michael is a partner at Claris Ventures a biotechnology venture capital fund based in Turin (Italy) with the mission to unlock the full potential of the Italian R&D ecosystem by establishing biotechnology NewCos founded on transformational IP from top Italian scientists and to develop/nurture the early stage Biotechs as they become established and grow. Also, he is a member of the science advisory boards of Adjuvant Capital, Arcturus Therapeutics, Atriva Therapeutics, eFFECTOR Therapeutics, MiNA Therapeutics, Ochre Therapeutics, Ribox Therapeutics, Memo Therapeutics and Tether Therapeutics. He is on the board of directors of Hybridize Therapeutics, AbVacc and Resalis Therapeutics. 

Michael was previously the CMO of Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, developing small molecule and monoclonal antibody drug treatments for life-threatening viral and fungal infections in immunocompromised patients. The company was acquired by Pfizer, Inc. Prior to Amplyx he was the CMO and head of drug development for Santaris A/S, developing RNA targeting drug treatments for chronic viral diseases, cancer, metabolic/lipid and eye diseases. The company was acquired by Hoffman-La Roche, AG. 

Michael started his career in pharmaceutical medicines with Pfizer Global Research and Development where he worked on multiple infectious diseases and oncology development programs. Under his leadership two antifungal drugs where approved, VFEND® (voriconazole) and ERAXIS™ (anidulafungin). 

Michael was a Non-Executive Director of F2G Ltd., an infectious disease biotechnology company from 2010-2014. He earned his M.D. (MBBS) and BSc. in Pharmacology, from the University of London, UK.

Christine Esau is Vice President of Biology at Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, which develops RNA medicines that treat intractable diseases by silencing the genes that cause them. Dr. Esau has twenty years of experience in the discovery and development of a broad range of RNA-based therapeutics utilizing multiple modalities. Previously she oversaw preclinical activities at Genevant Sciences and Arcturus Therapeutics for a portfolio of siRNA and mRNA therapeutic programs. She performed pioneering work in microRNA targeting and biology at Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Regulus Therapeutics, moving several programs for cardiometabolic and infectious disease from discovery biology to development candidate selection. Dr. Esau also served as Chief Scientific Officer of AptamiR Therapeutics, developing a microRNA-based therapy for obesity.  Dr. Esau earned a B.S. degree in biology from Caltech and a Ph.D. from MIT.

John currently serves as the Vice President of Nonclinical Development & Clinical Pharmacology at Arena Pharmaceuticals.  He also co-founded DTx Pharma, an RNA medicines company, and currently serves as a member of its Board of Directors.   Dr. Grundy received his B.Sc. in Pharmacy and Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Alberta in 1990 and 1996, respectively.  He currently has over 25 years of experience working in the pharmaceutical industry, including contributing to the development and approval of several therapeutic compounds (Contrave®, Kynamro®, Prialt®, Spinraza®, Tegsedi®, Tysabri®, Waylivra®, and Zonegran®).  Dr. Grundy has also contributed to over 25 peer reviewed scientific publications.  

Gene Yeo is a Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), the founding Director for UCSD’s Center for RNA Technologies and Therapeutics, the founding Chief Scientific Advisor for Sanford Laboratories for Innovative Medicine, a founding member of the Institute for Genomic Medicine and member of the UCSD Stem Cell Program and Moores Cancer Center. Dr. Yeo has a BSc in Chemical Engineering and a BA in Economics from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, a Ph.D. in Computational Neuroscience from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MBA from the UCSD Rady School of Management. Dr. Yeo serves as Co-Director of the Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Graduate Program, as Associate Director of a Genetics T32 training program at UCSD and as Chair of the Scientific Steering Committee of Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine in La Jolla. Dr. Yeo is a computational and experimental molecular and cell biologist who has contributed to genomics, RNA biology and therapeutics. His primary research interest is in understanding how RNA processing is regulated and the roles that RNA binding proteins (RBPs) play in development and disease. Gene has authored >200 peer-reviewed publications (h-index 89 and i10-index 161) including invited book chapters and review articles in the areas of neurodegeneration, RNA processing, computational biology and stem cell models; and served as Editor on two books on the biology of RNA binding proteins. Gene is on the Editorial Boards of the journals Cell Reports, Cell Research and eLife, and on the Advisory Board of Review commons. Gene joined UCSD as an Assistant Professor in 2008, was promoted with tenure to Associate Professor in 2014 and to Professor in 2016.  Gene was the inaugural Crick-Jacobs Fellow at the Salk Institute (2005-2008). Other awards include the Alfred P Sloan Fellowship in recognition of his work in computational molecular biology (2011), Alpha Chi Sigma-Zeta Chapter Krug Lecturer (2016), Singapore National Research Foundation Visiting Investigatorship Award (2017), the inaugural Early Career Award from the International RNA Society (2017), the Blavatnik National Award Finalist (2018 & 2019), San Diego Xconomy Awardee for ‘Big Idea’ (2019) and Highly Cited Researcher in Cross-Field category (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022), recognizing the world’s most influential researchers of the past decade. Gene is also a Paul Allen Distinguished Investigator (2020) and received the 2021 Elisa Izaurralde Award for Innovation in Research, Teaching and Service from the RNA Society. In 2023, Gene received the inaugural Academia Europaea (AE) Sydney Brenner Medal (SBM) given to honor the best in scholarship and personal achievements not more than 20 years after the PhD degree, given within the field of molecular biology and related disciplines. Gene is an elected member of AE. Gene is a co-founder of biotech companies which includes Locanabio, Eclipse Bioinnovations, Enzerna, Proteona (acquired by Singleron), Trotana and Orbital Therapeutics. Gene serves or had served on the scientific advisory boards of the Allen Institute of Immunology, Locanabio, Eclipse Bioinnovations, Proteona, Aquinnah, Cell Applications, Tecan, LGC, Sardona Therapeutics, Insitro, Trotana, Nooma, Ribometrix, Automera, Atomic.AI, AmberBio and IntronX. Gene is among the top 50 life science academic entrepreneurs as released by BIOS Beaker List and recently received the inaugural Entrepreneurial Achievement Award by the Rady School of Management in 2023. Gene is a senior advisor to Accelerator Life Sciences Partners. Gene’s lab has current or previous support from the National Institute of Health, National Science Foundation, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, TargetALS, ALS Foundation, Department of Defense, Myotonic Dystrophy Association, Myotonic Dystrophy Foundation, Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, Takeda, Genentech and Roche.

Dr. Pad Chivukula is the co-founder of Arcturus Therapeutics and has served as the Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Operating Officer since 2013. With a deep foundation in nanoparticle technology, Dr. Chivukula leads Arcturus in discovering and developing transformative medicines for diseases with unmet needs. Since Arcturus’ founding, he has built and advanced the company’s research competencies and pipeline in the areas of RNA therapeutics and vaccines, integrating advanced therapeutic platforms, and streamlining innovative processes. Dr. Chivukula holds over 100 publications and patents. Prior to Arcturus, Dr. Chivukula held key roles at Nitto, including Group Leader and Chief Scientist, where he led the polymeric RNAi research department. He holds a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Utah, specializing in nanoparticle technology. 

Adam Mullick is currently Vice President of Cardiovascular and Renal Drug Discovery at Ionis Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Mullick contributed to the early development of Kynamro®, WAYLIVRA®, olezarsen, vupanorsen, pelacarsen and led the research efforts for IONIS-AGT-LRx currently in clinical development for treatment-resistant hypertension. His current research efforts include preclinical development of targets for heart failure and renal disease in addition to leading the efforts to identify methods to enhance heart oligonucleotide delivery. Dr. Mullick earned his Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular & Integrative Physiology from UC Davis and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Immunology at The Scripps Research Institute before joining Ionis Pharmaceuticals in 2007.

Dr. Tamar Grossman is the co-founder and CEO of La Jolla Labs, a biotechnology company focused on advancing RNA-based therapeutics to address rare and complex diseases. Under her leadership, La Jolla Labs has transitioned from a technology-driven company to an RNA therapeutics-focused organization, leveraging AI and machine learning to accelerate drug discovery and address unmet medical needs. With a career spanning over two decades, Dr. Grossman has developed extensive expertise in RNA therapeutics, gene therapy, and drug delivery modalities, including siRNA, ASO, mRNA, saRNA, and gene editing. Previously, Dr. Grossman served as the Vice President and Global Head of RNA, Gene Therapy, and Delivery at Johnson & Johnson, where she led global teams in delivering RNA-based, gene therapy and ADC development candidates across therapeutic areas. Prior to her role at Johnson & Johnson, she was the Head of Rare Diseases at Arcturus Therapeutics, where she developed RNA therapeutics for rare and common disease. Earlier in her career, she held leadership positions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals, including Director of Translational Medicine, where she advanced antisense oligonucleotide programs from concept to clinical development. Dr. Grossman earned her PhD in Biochemistry from Tel-Aviv University and completed her postdoctoral training at UCSD. 

Dr. Kate Broderick has more than 20 years of experience in the life science industry. A recognized vaccine expert, Dr. Broderick has a broad background product development in the nucleic acid therapeutic and drug delivery field. Dr. Broderick joined Maravai in 2022 as the Chief Innovation Officer and oversees the research and development of the company. Prior to joining Maravai, Dr. Broderick was the Senior Vice President, R&D. at Inovio Pharmaceuticals, running their R&D programs for a variety of DNA-based targets. Dr. Broderick has served as a principal investigator for a variety of grants and awards from government agencies and non-profits, including the National Institutes of Health, Gates Foundation and CEPI. She received her PhD from the University of Glasgow in Scotland and completed her post-doctoral research at the University of California, San Diego. 

Samir Ounzain is a molecular biologist with over 15 years of experience exploring the dark matter of the genome and its roles in development and disease. As CEO and Co-Founder of HAYA Therapeutics, Ounzain is leading the development of precision medicines targeting long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) to combat rare, common, chronic and age-related diseases. Under his leadership, HAYA has attracted top-tier investors and forged one of the largest collaborations in the regulatory genome space, with the American giant Eli Lilly and Company, to identify novel lncRNA targets for the potential development of new treatments for obesity and related metabolic disorders.

Together with his co-founder Dr. Daniel Blessing (CTO), he was honored with the Andreas & Thomas Struengmann Award 2024 for their pioneering entrepreneurial vision and was also recognized as one of the top innovators on The Medicine Maker Power List 2025, in the 'Advanced Medicine' category.

Prior to founding HAYA Therapeutics, Samir was a Project Leader and Research Fellow at the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), where his research efforts directly led to the discovery of hundreds of novel heart-enriched lncRNAs, most notably the lncRNAs CARMEN, Meteor and Wisper, a cardiac-specific lncRNA implicated in fibrosis. This discovery formed the scientific foundation for HAYA's lead therapeutic program and platform.