biotech-leadership
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Helena Chaye Spent 20 Years Looking for the Right Virus
A virologist went to law school, learned patents were only the beginning, and built a career carrying engineered viruses from the lab toward the clinic. At KaliVir, every detour has become part of the job.
Shehnaaz Suliman built a career by changing the scale of the problem
From Cape Flats protests to Oxford, Wall Street and the biotech boardroom, Suliman kept asking one question: how can one decision reach more people?
Axel Hoos Keeps Choosing the Empty Blueprint
He helped give immuno-oncology a working language, rebuilt an oncology operation after its cupboard was cleared, and turned a young biotech into a clinical-stage company. Now Axel Hoos is starting again.
Alan Walts Has Spent Four Decades Turning Chemistry Into Companies
The Aleta Biotherapeutics CEO built his career in the quiet machinery of biotech: translating science, assembling teams, making deals, and turning one mentor’s habit of connecting people into an institution.
David Woodhouse Knows What Biotech Must Prove Next
He trained in molecular pharmacology, advised on more than $90 billion in deals, and spent a decade inside one research company. Now Nuvig's CEO is bringing those three languages to the same table.
Jessica Grossman Keeps Choosing the Harder, More Useful Company
The physician-turned-founder has spent two decades converting clinical frustration into companies, products and hard-won momentum. At IgGenix, her operating system is simple: keep the mission close, the team candid and the next milestone concrete.
Aron Knickerbocker Built a Career by Following the Data
The Aulos Bioscience CEO has spent three decades moving closer to the work - from the lab, to the deal table, to the small teams where one clear decision can redirect an entire company.
Alicia Secor
After three decades turning complex science into operating companies, Alicia Secor has taken on a new translation problem: helping Paratus turn lessons from evolution into a disciplined pipeline of medicines.
Kevin Walton
Kevin Walton is the Chief Executive Officer and Board Director of Baseimmune, a London-based biotech using AI and computational protein design to build next-generation vaccines and active immunotherapies. He joined in 2024 after a career in biotech corporate development and dealmaking at Moderna, StrideBio, Curis and G1 Therapeutics, and is steering the company beyond infectious-disease vaccines into chronic diseases, starting with a lead fibrosis program in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Jennifer Cygan
Jennifer Cygan is a seasoned biotech executive and Chief Business Officer at EpiBiologics, where she helps advance a pipeline of novel bispecific antibodies designed to selectively degrade extracellular protein targets in oncology and immunology. With a Ph.D. from Harvard and over two decades of business leadership in biotechnology, she has been a pivotal force at Genentech, Calico Life Sciences (managing a $2.5B AbbVie alliance), and has co-founded and served as CBO for multiple emerging biotech companies including Broadwing Bio, Eikon Therapeutics, GenEdit, and Plexium. Her career sits at the intersection of science and strategy - translating cutting-edge biology into deals, partnerships, and companies that matter.
Nathaniel Fernhoff
Nathaniel Fernhoff is the CEO and Co-founder of Orca Bio, a late-stage biotechnology company headquartered in Menlo Park, California, developing high-precision allogeneic T-cell immunotherapies to treat blood cancers and autoimmune diseases. Holding a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology from UC Berkeley and dual Bachelor's degrees in Biological Sciences and Mathematics from Stanford, Fernhoff co-founded Orca Bio in 2016 based on decades-old Stanford research. He rose from Chief Scientific Officer to CEO in May 2025, leading the company through a landmark Phase 3 clinical trial for Orca-T - showing 78% survival free from chronic graft-versus-host disease versus 38% for standard-of-care - a BLA submission under FDA Priority Review, and a $250M Series F round bringing total funding to over $625M. With a 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Sacramento capable of producing ~3,000 cell therapy products per year, Fernhoff is steering Orca Bio toward potential commercialization and a cure for blood diseases without compromise.