Board and Executive Team
| Jeffrey L. Ives, Ph.D. | Jeff Jonker | Brian S. Bronk, Ph.D. | Barbara Tate, Ph.D. |
| Kevin Pojasek, Ph.D. | Steven H. Holtzman | Bennett Shapiro, M.D. |
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| Daphne Zohar | Chris Ehrlich | Ilan Zipkin, Ph.D. | Ed Mathers |
Jeffrey L. Ives, Ph.D. - Jeff is the CEO of Satori and a member of the Satori Board of Directors. Jeff has over 32 years of experience leading teams to discover important new clinical candidates and products. He has led CNS and oncology teams that have discovered greater than 50 clinical candidates including multiple new products such as Geodon®, Chantix® and Tarceva®, and was a co-leader of in-licensing teams for Pfizer products including Celebrex®, Bextra®, and Aricept®. Jeff was a Senior Vice President during two mergers and two major restructurings at Pfizer Global Research & Development. Most recently, he was the SVP and head Pfizer portfolio leader, leading the optimization of the entire global research candidate portfolio. Prior to that position, he was the SVP of the new Pharmacokinetics, Dynamics & Metabolism organization in Pfizer and VP of CNS Discovery.
Jeff Jonker - Jeff is the Chief Business Officer of Satori. Jeff was most recently Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Planning for Gloucester Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Celgene). Previously, Jeff served seven years with Genentech in increasing positions of responsibility within both the Business Development and Corporate Legal groups, most recently as Group Director for Business Development and a member of Genentech’s Immunology leadership team. Prior to Genentech, Jeff spent six years as an attorney in the Technology Transactions Group of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, representing private and public company clients in both the life science and high tech industries. Jeff holds degrees from Columbia University, the University of St. Andrews, and Claremont McKenna College.
Brian S. Bronk, Ph.D. - Brian is Vice President of Chemistry of Satori. Brian previously spent fifteen years at Pfizer where he held a series of positions of increasing responsibility and was most recently Senior Director of Medicinal Chemistry. During his time at Pfizer, his responsibilities focused on leading synthetic and computational medicinal chemistry and multi-disciplinary research teams to deliver clinical candidates for multiple diseases, including psychiatry, neurology, infectious diseases and metabolic disorders. By focusing on innovation and collaboration, his teams were involved in the discovery of more than a dozen development candidates, including the launched products Draxxin, Convenia, Cerina and Slentrol. Brian earned his B.A. from Colgate University in 1989. Following a year in Dortmund, Germany as a Fulbright Fellow, he initiated his doctoral work at MIT and received his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1994.
Barbara Tate, Ph.D. - Barbara is Vice President of Biology. Prior to joining Satori, Barbara spent eight years at Pfizer Global Research and Development, where, as a Senior Director, she was responsible for the Alzheimer’s Disease Target Identification and Validation Unit. She was also a member of the Alzheimer’s Disease Area Strategy Team, a company-wide team responsible for developing a long-term vision for the company in this disease area. Barbara had been on the faculties of Harvard Medical School and Brown Medical School prior to joining Pfizer, working to understand the basic mechanisms of neurodegeneration and regeneration. She earned her Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Delaware and completed postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School.
Kevin Pojasek, Ph.D. - Kevin is Executive Director of Development at Satori. Prior to joining Satori in January, Kevin was the Executive Director of Clinical Development at Solace Pharmaceuticals where he was responsible for the execution of a global Phase II neuropathic pain study with the company’s lead compound. Kevin co-founded Solace in 2006 while working at PureTech Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm. As a Senior Associate at PureTech, Kevin played a leading role in starting and managing several companies based on innovative technologies from diverse scientific fields. Kevin received his PhD from the Biological Engineering Department at MIT and his BA from the Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Steven H. Holtzman - Steve is Chair of the Satori Board and is the Executive Chair of Infinity Pharmaceuticals (NASDQ: INFI). Prior to co-founding Infinity, Steve served as an early leader and the Chief Business Officer of Millennium Pharmaceuticals (now a subsidiary of Takeda). Prior to joining Millennium, from 1986-1994, Steve was a founder and Executive Vice President of DNX Corporation, the first commercial developer of transgenic animal technology. Prior to DNX, in the early 1980s, Steve conceived of and was the founding Executive Director of the Ohio Edison Program, the nation's first state government program directed to achieving economic development through funding young technology-based ventures and university/industry collaborative research and development efforts. From 1996-2001, he served as a presidential appointee to the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, the principal advisory body to the President and Congress on ethical issues in the biomedical and life sciences. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANDS) and of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), and a Trustee of the Berklee College of Music.
Bennett Shapiro, M.D. - Ben is a member of the Satori Board and a Senior Partner at PureTech Ventures. Prior to joining PureTech, he was Executive Vice President, Worldwide Licensing and External Research for Merck. He joined Merck Research Laboratories in September 1990 as Executive Vice President, Basic Research, Merck Research Laboratories. In this position he was responsible for all the basic and preclinical research activities at Merck worldwide. Ben led the research program that resulted in FDA registration of approximately 20 drugs and vaccines - including Vioxx and Arcoxia (Cox 2 inhibitors) and Emend, going back as far as the A2 antagonist Cozaar, hepatitis A vaccine VACQTA, and many others. From 1999-2003 Ben oversaw all in-licensing activities for Merck. Previously, he was Professor and Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Washington. He is the author of over 120 papers on the molecular regulation of cellular behavior and the biochemical events that integrate the cascade of cellular activations at fertilization. He has served on many institutional advisory boards and scientific review panels, and is currently a member of the board of VBL, Protein Forest Inc., Momenta, Elixir, and Ikaria and serves on the Harvard - MIT Division of Health Sciences & Technology Advisory Committee.
Daphne Zohar - Daphne is a member of the Satori Board and was previously the founding CEO. She is the Founder and Managing Partner of PureTech Ventures, a Boston-based life sciences venture firm focused on translating breakthrough research from top tier academic institutions into therapies that will impact human health. Daphne was named one of the world's top young innovators who will shape the future of technology by MIT's Technology Review magazine and one of the top "40 under 40" by the Boston Business Journal. A successful entrepreneur, she created PureTech and assembled a leading team to help implement her vision for the firm. In addition to her board role at PureTech and Satori, she sits on the boards of Solace Pharmaceuticals (and was previously Founding CEO) Follica Inc. (where she is currently founding CEO), Enlight Biosciences, and Endra, Inc.
Chris Ehrlich – Chris is a General Partner at InterWest Partners. He focuses on investing in and building new businesses around entrepreneurs with novel therapeutic approaches. He currently serves on the boards of BioMimetic Therapeutics (NASD: BMTI), Carbylan BioSurgery, Follica, KAI Pharmaceuticals, QuatRx Pharmaceuticals, Solace Pharmaceuticals, Transcept Pharmaceuticals, and Xenon Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining InterWest in 2000, Chris was Director, Licensing & Business Development at Purdue Pharma, a private pharmaceutical firm based in Stamford, CT. In this position, he was responsible for developing a biologic oncology franchise, including in-licensing key intellectual properties, establishing and managing collaborations with biotechnology companies and participating in the commercial operations of Purdue BioPharma, a biotechnology company located in Princeton, NJ. Prior to joining Purdue, Chris worked in business development at Genentech, Inc., in venture capital at The U.S. Russia Investment Fund, and in biotechnology strategy development at LEK Consulting. Chris earned his B.A. from Dartmouth College, cum laude, and an M.B.A. from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University where he served as an instructor and advisor to the Biotech program.
Ilan Zipkin, Ph.D. - Ilan is a Partner of Prospect Venture Partners. Prior to joining Prospect Venture Partners III, Ilan was a Principal at MPM Capital, and had been promoted to General Partner for MPM's next fund. At MPM, Ilan was involved with investments in biotechnology and specialty pharmaceutical companies including Somaxon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SOMX), Neuromed Pharmaceuticals, Pharmasset, KaloBios, Rinat Neuroscience and ARYx Therapeutics. Ilan also worked with MPM Capital's BioEquities hedge fund, which invests in small- to mid-cap public biotechnology companies. Prior to joining MPM Capital in 2000, Ilan was the Science Editor of BioCentury Publications Inc., a biotechnology news and analysis publication. Ilan received a Ph.D. in cell biology and biochemistry from the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF), and a B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology from U.C. Berkeley. Ilan serves on the Board of Directors of Alvine Pharmaceuticals, and Chimeros Inc.
Ed Mathers - Ed joined NEA as a Partner in August 2008 and is focused on biotechnology and specialty pharmaceuticals investments. Prior to joining NEA, Ed most recently served as Executive Vice President, Corporate Development and Venture, at MedImmune, Inc. In this role, he was responsible for the company’s licensing and business development activities and led the company’s venture capital subsidiary, MedImmune Ventures, Inc. Before joining MedImmune in 2002, he was Vice President, Marketing and Corporate Licensing and Acquisitions at Inhale Therapeutic Systems. Ed spent 15 years at Glaxo Wellcome, Inc. (GlaxoSmithKline), where he held sales and marketing positions of increasing responsibility. He started his career at Ortho Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a division of Johnson & Johnson, as a researcher. Ed currently sits on the boards of directors of Kémia, Inc. and Plexxikon Inc. He earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry from North Carolina State University.
Satori Pharmaceuticals Incorporated