Virtual Breakfast Series: Recent Episodes
NewYorkBIO
Each Tuesday morning, NewYorkBIO hosts a fireside chat via with guests from the life science and biotechnology space. Here, listen to the recordings of each webinar and learn more about our guests.
In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Tal Zaks, previously the Chief Medical Officer of Moderna and now a Venture Partner at OrbiMed.
Dr. Zaks brings an incredible background -he was a senior leader at Moderna during their growth from a private company through their IPO and spearheaded the development of their COVID19 vaccine. He also brings senior leadership experience at Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline prior to his post with Moderna, and a perspective that touches every facet of the innovation spectrum from discovery to the patient.
He received his M.D. and Ph.D. from the Ben Gurion University and conducted post-doctoral research at the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
We are joined by Rana Al Hallaq, Senior Director and Partner at Pfizer Ventures, and discuss the role of corporate venture capital in the marketplace, venture investing, strategic capital, and what the industry trends could mean for startup companies across the board.
Rana joined Pfizer in 2015 as an Early Candidate Clinical Lead where she advised early clinical programs in CNS to ensure alignment with business strategies. Prior to joining Pfizer, she held roles at Allergan (formerly Actavis, formerly Forest Laboratories), first in Clinical Development Psychiatry as scientific and operational lead on Phase 2 and Phase 3 studies investigating novel treatments for Major Depressive Disorder and schizophrenia, and later in Business Development where she assessed and executed on a number of acquisitions and licenses across therapeutic areas. She began her training as a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health. Rana graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in Biology from Hamilton College and holds a PhD in Neuroscience from Georgetown University Medical Center.
In this episode of the Virtual Breakfast Series, we are joined by Alicia Staley, Vice President of Patient Engagement at Medidata. Alicia is a three time cancer survivor and a leading voice for the patient experience and perspective throughout the healthcare industry. We discuss how biotech the life sciences have evolving to a more "patient-centric" approach to innovation and therapeutic development and how we can continue to put the patient first in all of our endeavors.
In this episode of the Virtual Breakfast Series, we are joined by James Peyer and Juliette Han, the CEO and COO, respectively, of Cambrian Biopharma. Cambrian is focused on the basic biology of aging, also known as geroscience, and on developing therapeutics that target biological hallmarks of aging. The company completed a $100MM Series C round in 2021 and was a presenter at our Emerging Company Showcase at the New York Stock Exchange in December 2-21
We have another terrific episode of our Virtual Breakfast Series where we are joined by Michael Gilman. Michael is the CEO of Arrakis Therapeutics and has had an amazing career - with a scientific background that includes Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and posts at ARIAD Pharmaceuticals and Biogen to leading startup companies like Arrakis, Padlock Therapeutics (acquired by BMS) and Stromedix (Acquired by Biogen) before Arrakis.
On this week's episode of the Virtual Breakfast Series, we are joined by Patroski Lawson, a veteran healthcare advocate who has spent twenty years engaging political leaders across the U.S. and Europe. Our discussion is an interesting one, especially as Washington discusses potential new policies that will impact a patient’s access to new therapeutics.
On this episode of the Virtual Breakfast Series, we are joined by Emily Minkow (Venture Partner at RA Capital) and Jason Kent (Partner at Cooley LLP). We discuss the inner workings of building biotech companies: from venture financing to corporate partnerships to IPOs and everything in between.
On this episode of the Virtual Breakfast Series we are joined by Travis Whitfill, serial entrepreneur and partner with Bios Partners. He brings a great perspective to NYC, from Yale and MD Anderson Cancer Center, to Duke and University College London. We cover so many angles regarding entrepreneurship and the future of venture creation.
On this episode of the Virtual Breakfast Series, we are joined Martin Graham and Ron Newbold, the CEO and CBO, respectively, of the Empire Discovery Institute (EDI). EDI is an integrated drug discovery and development accelerator that was formed as an equal partnership between the University at Buffalo, the University of Rochester, and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. We had the opportunity to dig in to the founding and growth of the EDI along with their collective experiences across larger biopharma companies, startup ventures, investing, dealmaking, and bringing innovative therapeutics to patients.
For this week, our Virtual Breakfast Series guest is Michael Aberman. He brings an exceptional perspective as a CEO, founder, advisor, and mentor to several startup companies, along with previous experience in a larger biopharma company and on Wall Street. We talk about the year ahead for biotech - market conditions, new company formation, and touch on the outlook for New York as well.
On this episode of the Virtual Breakfast Series and we welcome Dennis Purcell as our guest. Dennis is the founder of Aisling Capital and was on the Hambrecht and Quist team that started what we now know as the "JP Morgan Healthcare Conference." In addition, he has been honored in the “Biotech Hall of Fame” by Genetic Engineering News, named to the Biotechnology All-Stars list by Forbes ASAP, honored as one of the top 50 Irish-American businessmen and cited as one of the top 100 contributors to the biotechnology industry.
On this episode of the Virtual Breakfast Series we welcome Ginger Davis, president of the Sickle Cell Thalassemia Patients Network, as our guest.
Ginger is a life-long health and education advocate, and spokesperson for sickle cell disease. She is leading the expansion of the Sickle Cell Thalassemia Patients Network and establishing affiliate chapters for the organization. Her story as a patient and her efforts through SCPTN highlight so many areas of importance to our industry - how we recognize patient needs, how our healthcare system delivers care, and our industry's goals of scientific advancement and innovation to improve patient outcomes and (hopefully) develop new cures.
Join us for another episode of the Virtual Breakfast Series where we are joined by Imran Babar, who has been at the forefront of rare disease innovation for over a decade. He was the chief business officer of Cydan, a venture-backed orphan drug accelerator founded in 2013 and was a co-founder and executive for several of the ventures that Cydan created; he was also on the venture team at OrbiMed and is the co-founder and CSO of the Rare Genomics Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to helping rare disease patients. Listen for an in-depth dialogue on the strides our industry has made in how we discover and develop new therapies for rare diseases, and what may be on the horizon for investors, entrepreneurs, patients and their families.
Join us for another episode of the Virtual Breakfast Series where we are joined by Jordyne Blaise, the Vice President for Equity and Community Engagement at Circuit Clinical. At Circuit Clinical, Jordyne is focused on expanding access to clinical trials and increasing representation in research across underrepresented groups. She has also published nationally as a leading scholar-activist in the areas of civil rights, Black feminist legal and social theory, and intersectionality. Her contributions have been featured in The Atlantic, TIME, and Essence. This is en exceptional opportunity to discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion, whether in clinical research or across the workforce of the biotech industry.
Join us for another episode of the Virtual Breakfast Series where we are joined by Marc Sedam, the Vice President, Technology Opportunities & Ventures, at NYU Langone Health. Marc has deep experience in the development and commercialization of technologies developed in academic medical centers, has operating experience at startup ventures, and was Chair of AUTM (the Association of University Technology Managers) in 2020. He also brings a great perspective to NYC and has an amazing substrate of biomedical research from across the University's and Medical Center's researchers.
Join us for another episode of the Virtual Breakfast Series where we are joined by John Maraganore, founding CEO of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, which he led for more than 20 years before stepping down as CEO at the end of 2021. In addition to pioneering the RNAi therapeutics space with his team at Alnylam, John has served as the Chair of BIO and is now stepping into the role of building new companies in the venture capital space as a venture partner with ARCH and as an advisor to Atlas Venture and RTW investments.