About Us
About Profound
Pioneering the expanded human proteome
Our team is making profound impacts on our understanding of biology and disease, empowering us to create therapeutics that would not have previously been possible – another step closer to making a profound impact on human health.
Our Origin Story
PROFOUNDLY IMPACTING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF BIOLOGY
In 2019, ProFound’s founding team of Noubar Afeyan, Avak Kahvejian, Yann Echelard, Vini Mani, and Erica Weinstein were inspired by a belief that there existed “proteomic dark matter” – peptides and proteins that could potentially be detected but had thus far gone unannotated and ignored, along with aberrations in the human genome that play unexplained roles in disease. Hypothesizing that there must be a link, we began to explore the white space of proteomics. Our team unearthed several observations, among them that small, functional proteins seemed to be emerging from what were believed to be long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) transcripts in humans. This surprising insight led the team to ask, “What if the ability of so-called ‘non-coding’ RNAs to create functional proteins was a universal phenomenon and not an exception?” If that were true, it would have profound impacts on our understanding of biology and disease and our ability to create therapeutics that would not have previously been possible.
It turned out that this was precisely the case. In developing tools to reveal the compendium of sequences that are translated into proteins, the team created the ProFoundry™ Atlas, an expanse of tens of thousands of novel protein sequences across human biology, each with the potential to be a critical intervention point in disease. Using systematic, hypothesis-driven interrogation of the Atlas, combined with advanced computation and targeted functional screening, ProFound™ Therapeutics has started to reveal previously unknown genetic drivers of disease, including immune modulators, circulating metabolic factors, therapeutic targets for cancer, and more. All of these discoveries will feed a broad and diverse pipeline of revolutionary first-in-class new medicines.
LEADERSHIP Team
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John Lepore, M.D., joins ProFound after 17 years at GSK where he had extensive experience leading large international R&D organizations across diverse therapeutic areas. Dr. Lepore was most recently Senior Vice President, Head of Research at GSK where he led a large organization of scientists and physicians focused on leveraging the science of immunology, human genetics and genomics, and advanced technologies to identify novel drug targets, discover new therapeutic molecules, and demonstrate proof of mechanism in clinical studies.
Dr. Lepore joined GSK in 2006 and has held roles of increasing responsibility including VP of Clinical Pharmacology and Discovery Medicine, VP and Head of the Heart Failure Discovery Performance Unit, SVP and Head of the Metabolic Pathways and Cardiovascular Therapeutic Area Unit, and SVP R&D Pipeline responsible for end-to-end R&D activities across multiple therapeutic areas. He was also Interim Head of Business Development and played a key role in multiple preclinical and clinical deals to augment the GSK pipeline.
Before joining GSK, Dr. Lepore was on the faculty of the Cardiovascular Medicine Division of the Department of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where his lab investigated the transcriptional regulation of cardiovascular development and he was attending physician on the academic cardiology service.
Dr. Lepore received his B.S. in Biology from the University of Scranton and his medical degree from Harvard Medical School where he was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Scholar. He subsequently trained in internal medicine and cardiology and served as Medical Chief Resident at Massachusetts General Hospital, with post-doctoral training at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Dr. Lepore has been on the Board of Directors of ViiV Healthcare, the Altius Institute, and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), the Scientific Advisory Boards of Medicxi Ventures and Hatteras Ventures, and the Innovation Growth Board of Mass General Brigham. At GSK, he chaired the Research Review Board and Research Investment Board responsible for capital allocation and project prioritization.
Kala Subramanian joined Flagship Pioneering in 2021 as an Operating Partner working with Flagship NewCos to increase value creation as well as drive operational and strategic initiatives. She brings broad expertise in strategic planning, operations, business development and licensing, and global program and portfolio management. Kala has held leadership positions in emerging biotech companies as well as large pharma.
Before joining Flagship, Kala was Chief of Staff, Head of Strategy and Business Development & Licensing at Ichnos Sciences. She led Ichnos’ separation from its parent company, developing the company’s corporate strategy and preparing for fundraising and due diligence necessary for external partnerships. Prior to Ichnos, Kala served as VP, Chief of Staff Oncology at Gilead Sciences/Kite Pharma and SVP, Head of Strategic Development and Operations at CRISPR Therapeutics. She spent 13 years at Novartis Pharmaceuticals in a variety of roles including VP, Global Head of Strategic Development, and Program Management in Oncology Global Development and Medical Affairs. She led the program and portfolio management, as well as strategic planning and budget management for a portfolio of over 25 compounds. Prior to Novartis, Kala worked at Accenture and Millennium.
Kala holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Cornell University, and completed postdoctoral research in cell biology at Duke University Medical Center.
Klaus brings three decades of drug discovery and development experience to ProFound, with a successful track record in discovering and advancing first-in-human medicines from the lab to the clinic. As the Chief Scientific Officer, Klaus leads ProFound’s platform and drug discovery and development efforts to advance first-in-class therapeutics.
Prior to joining ProFound, Klaus was at Merck KGaA for 13 years, where he most recently served as the Head of EMD Serono Research and Development Institute, Global Head of Discovery and Development Technologies, Co-Chair of the Discovery-Research Committee, and Member of the Merck Ventures investment board. During his tenure, he helped rebuild the company’s R&D organization, leading discovery and development of therapeutic proteins, small molecules, and antibody-drug conjugates. Prior to Merck, Klaus served in leadership positions at AstraZeneca and Bayer, where he began his career as a medicinal chemist.
Klaus is a co-author of more than 80 publications and patents. He earned his B.S. from the University of Kiel and his M.S. from the University of Freiburg. He graduated with a Ph.D. in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from the Goethe University of Frankfurt.
Vini Mani joined Flagship Pioneering as an associate in 2019, working across the life cycle of emerging ventures in the life sciences. In her role, she works as part of the team of entrepreneurial scientists exploring new areas of biology to create and grow Flagship’s first-in-class platforms, in roles ranging from scientific development, early stage strategy, and intellectual property. At Flagship Pioneering, Vini co-founded ProFound Therapeutics, leading the genesis and growth of the ProFoundry Platform. She was also involved in the early growth of Ring Therapeutics and contributed to the origination of other endeavors still in stealth.
Prior to joining Flagship, Vini co-founded and served as Director of Product Development at Adeo Health Science, a Boston-based startup focused on the prevention of allergy development in children. From her undergraduate work, Vini co-founded Knox Medical Diagnostics (now Aluna Health), with the mission to detect the onset of asthma flares.
Vini completed her doctoral studies in Immunology at Harvard Medical School. Her graduate work shifted the paradigm of T cell differentiation, uncovering a novel stage of T cell development termed “homeostatic conditioning". Vini’s graduate work resulted in several high-impact publications in journals such as Science, Cell and Nature, and earned her several honors, including the Janeway Award from the American Association of Immunologists.
Vini holds a Ph.D. in Immunology from Harvard Medical School and a B.S. in Bioengineering with a Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Technology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Board of directors
Avak Kahvejian, Ph.D. is a life sciences inventor, entrepreneur, and CEO who has co-founded more than ten companies. Since 2011, he has been a partner at Flagship Pioneering, where he leads a team to invent and launch new therapeutic platforms. His work has led to the creation of multiple high-value public and private companies including Seres Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MCRB), the first microbiome therapy platform; Ring Therapeutics (revolutionizing gene therapy with its commensal virome platform); Cellarity (designing medicines against the cell as opposed to a single molecular target); Laronde (a predecessor to Sail Biomedicines which pioneered endless RNA – eRNA™ – a new class of programmable medicines capable of expressing therapeutic proteins inside the body); Generate Biomedicines (pioneering Generative Biology™ to create breakthrough medicines); ProFound Therapeutics (pioneering the expanded human proteome); Ampersand Biomedicines (designing and programming medicines to act only where needed); Abiologics (reimagining biologics with Synteins™, a new class of supranatural medicines); Cygnal Therapeutics (now part of Sonata Tx, a company designing therapeutics that reprogram diseased cells to become the coordinators of cure); Rubius Therapeutics (red blood cell therapeutics); and Codiak BioSciences (engineered exosome therapeutics).
Avak served as founding President and CEO of Rubius from 2013 to 2017, as co-CEO of Generate from 2018 to 2021, and as founding CEO of Cellarity (2017 to 2020), Laronde (2017 to 2020), Ring (2017 to 2020), ProFound (2020 to 2023), Ampersand (2021 to 2023), and Abiologics (2021 to present). He is on the boards of Cellarity, Sail, and Ring and Chairman of Ampersand and ProFound.
Prior to Flagship, Avak was Vice President of Business Development at Helicos BioSciences. In this role, he developed and commercialized the world’s first single molecule DNA sequencer.
Avak serves as the Chairman of the Board of the International Institute of New England, an institution which creates opportunities for refugees and immigrants to succeed through resettlement, education, career advancement and pathways to citizenship. He is also on the Board of Genome Canada, the Advisory Board of the Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST), and the McGill University Regional Advisory Board US.
Avak earned his Ph.D. and B.Sc. in Biochemistry from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
John Lepore, M.D., joins ProFound after 17 years at GSK where he had extensive experience leading large international R&D organizations across diverse therapeutic areas. Dr. Lepore was most recently Senior Vice President, Head of Research at GSK where he led a large organization of scientists and physicians focused on leveraging the science of immunology, human genetics and genomics, and advanced technologies to identify novel drug targets, discover new therapeutic molecules, and demonstrate proof of mechanism in clinical studies.
Dr. Lepore joined GSK in 2006 and has held roles of increasing responsibility including VP of Clinical Pharmacology and Discovery Medicine, VP and Head of the Heart Failure Discovery Performance Unit, SVP and Head of the Metabolic Pathways and Cardiovascular Therapeutic Area Unit, and SVP R&D Pipeline responsible for end-to-end R&D activities across multiple therapeutic areas. He was also Interim Head of Business Development and played a key role in multiple preclinical and clinical deals to augment the GSK pipeline.
Before joining GSK, Dr. Lepore was on the faculty of the Cardiovascular Medicine Division of the Department of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where his lab investigated the transcriptional regulation of cardiovascular development and he was attending physician on the academic cardiology service.
Dr. Lepore received his B.S. in Biology from the University of Scranton and his medical degree from Harvard Medical School where he was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Scholar. He subsequently trained in internal medicine and cardiology and served as Medical Chief Resident at Massachusetts General Hospital, with post-doctoral training at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Dr. Lepore has been on the Board of Directors of ViiV Healthcare, the Altius Institute, and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), the Scientific Advisory Boards of Medicxi Ventures and Hatteras Ventures, and the Innovation Growth Board of Mass General Brigham. At GSK, he chaired the Research Review Board and Research Investment Board responsible for capital allocation and project prioritization.
Gary Pisano joined Flagship in 2024 as Executive Partner and Chief Strategist. He works closely with Flagship's senior leadership on institution building and overall Flagship strategy, while also advising Flagship companies on strategy and business model design. He currently serves as a board member of Flagship-founded Generate:Biomedicines.
Prior to joining Flagship, Gary spent 36 years on the faculty of Harvard Business School as the Harry E. Figgie, Jr. Professor of Business Administration. During his career at Harvard, Gary served in various leadership roles including Senior Associate Dean, and taught in the MBA, executive, and doctoral programs.
Over the course of his career Gary has been a researcher, teacher, and consultant to many organizations. His research has focused on how organizations innovate, learn, compete, and grow and has spanned a broad range of industries. Gary has published over 125 scholarly articles and case studies on such topics as technology and operations strategy, competitive strategy, intellectual property, the management of innovation, organizational learning, commercializing science, business model design and innovation, global competitiveness, and corporate growth. He is the author of the Harvard Business School case study on Flagship Pioneering as well as co-author, together with Noubar Afeyan, of “What Evolution Can Teach Us About Innovation,” an article about Flagship's emergent discovery process published in Harvard Business Review. He has written six books, including his latest, Creative Construction: The DNA of Sustained Innovation. He has received numerous awards for his work and thought leadership.
Gary received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.A. in economics from Yale University.
John Mendlein, Ph.D., joined Flagship as executive partner in February 2019. A longtime member of Flagship’s broader ecosystem of companies, John is an experienced biotech leader and has served in numerous executive and board roles. At Flagship, John contributes to Flagship’s strategic and operational objectives, including the origination of new Flagship Labs companies and growth companies. He also serves on the boards of Flagship’s companies and works with portfolio company CEOs and their teams to achieve the best attainable value for each organization.
Throughout his multi-decade career in biotech, John has helped start and lead numerous innovative life sciences companies with product platforms. Prior to joining Flagship, John served as president of corporate and product strategy at Moderna Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MRNA), a Flagship Pioneering company. John was also a member of Moderna’s board of directors from 2012-2018.
He has also held leadership roles at multiple additional biotech platform enterprises. John was chief knowledge officer and general counsel at Aurora Biosciences (acquired by Vertex Pharmaceuticals) where he also served as a board member; CEO of Adnexus Therapeutics, a Flagship company (acquired by BMS); executive chairman, founder, and interim CEO of Fate Therapeutics (a publicly-traded (FATE) immuno-oncology cell therapy platform company); and executive chairman and CEO of Affinium Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Debiopharm Group).
John is co-author or co-inventor of over 210 publications and published patents. He has served on the boards of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), as well as Flagship’s companies: Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA), Axcella Therapeutics and Editas Medicine (NASDAQ: EDIT). John currently serves on the boards of Flagship companies Omega Therapeutics (OMEGA), Empress, and Profound, and is Executive Chairman of Sail Biomedicines and Versalius.
John holds a Ph.D. in physiology and biophysics from the University of California, Los Angeles, a J.D. from the University of California, San Francisco, and a B.S. in biology from the University of Miami.
Scientific Advisory Board
Ruedi Aebersold, Ph.D., is an emeritus Professor at the Institute of Molecular Systems Biology, at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, which he established in 2004. Dr. Aebersold is one of the world’s leading proteomics experts and has led teams that have developed several widely used techniques and generated a range of software and statistical tools that have helped make proteomic research results more transparent, reproducible, and accurate. In 2020, Ruedi received the Marcel Benoist Swiss Science Prize, the most prestigious science award in Switzerland, for his pioneering work in the field of proteomics and systems biology.
Morris Birnbaum, M.D., Ph.D., is the former Chief Scientific Officer of Pfizer’s Internal Medicine Unit. Dr. Birnbaum is a physician-scientist that has led both academic and pharmaceutical teams to investigate fundamental problems in metabolic regulation and has been responsible for the discovery and early clinical development of drugs designed to treat metabolic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, heart failure, and cachexia. Under his leadership, Pfizer brought seven novel potential medicines into clinical development.
Thomas F. Bumol, Ph.D., is the former Senior Vice President of the Biotechnology and Immunology Research components at Lilly Research Laboratories and the Site Head & President of Lilly’s Biotechnology Center of San Diego. During his 40-year career, he managed innovative drug discovery and development teams in novel target discovery, biotherapeutic discovery and engineering, and human trials in many therapeutic areas. Dr. Bumol also has over 50 publications, 8 issued U.S. patents, and has led teams at Lilly to discover and advance over 100 molecules into clinical development.
Anne-Ruxandra Carvunis, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computational and Systems Biology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Carvunis did most of her graduate research on the mechanisms and dynamics of protein interaction network evolution and then went on to study the evolution of transcriptional networks after a brief postdoctoral fellowship. Her research group studies mechanisms of change and innovation in biological systems and their evolution, combining small and large-scale experiments with bioinformatics approaches. She has received a number of distinctions and awards for her research.
Mike MacCoss, Ph.D., is a Professor of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington, Seattle. Dr. MacCoss has nearly three decades of experience in proteomics, across areas of expertise such as protein biochemistry, nanoflow liquid chromatography, instrumentation, and computational analysis of mass spectrometry data. His laboratory has been actively applying these tools to important areas of biology including but not limited to, the basic biology of aging, protein-protein interactions, insulin signaling, transcriptional regulation, proteogenomics, and clinical diagnostics. Dr. MacCoss has been actively involved in the scientific direction and management of NIH centers, program projects, and consortia for 15 years.
Anthony Manning, Ph.D., is the former Chief Scientific Officer of Momenta Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Janssen Pharmaceuticals in 2020 for $6.5 billion), where he built a pipeline of first-in-class therapeutics for the treatment of rare autoantibody-driven diseases. Dr. Manning has spent over three decades in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, contributing to the approval of two drugs for the treatment of autoimmune disease and leading teams in the discovery of multiple small molecule and biologic therapeutics in clinical development. Dr. Manning is a founder and Chairman of the non-profit Institute for Biomedical Entrepreneurship and has served as a Scientific Advisory Board member and consultant for a number of companies, including the Harvard Medical School Therapeutics Initiative and the Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator.
Nahum Sonenberg, Ph.D., is a James McGill Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute at McGill. Dr. Sonenberg is one of the world’s leading experts in mRNA translation, having discovered the Internal Ribosome Entry Site mechanism of translation initiation in eukaryotes, and the regulation of cap-dependent translation by eIF4E-binding proteins. His research group identifies and characterizes the various translation factors involved in translation initiation, elucidates the signaling pathways impinging upon translation, and discovers physiological consequences of translational control. Dr. Sonenberg has been elected to a number of prestigious societies and received multiple awards for his leadership in biomedical research.
John Prensner is a physician-scientist and pediatric neuro-oncologist. In the lab, he focuses on the human genome and the cancer genome. Prensner seeks to understand the 'dark genome' in cancer and aberrant behavior of dark genome elements in cancer. He is dedicated to training the next generation of physicians and scientists. A top priority of his is to empower young scientists both to develop their interests as well as enable young scientists to gain confidence with societal engagement and science communication.
Scientific Advisors
Ruedi Aebersold, Ph.D., is an emeritus Professor at the Institute of Molecular Systems Biology, at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, which he established in 2004. Dr. Aebersold is one of the world’s leading proteomics experts and has led teams that have developed several widely used techniques and generated a range of software and statistical tools that have helped make proteomic research results more transparent, reproducible, and accurate. In 2020, Ruedi received the Marcel Benoist Swiss Science Prize, the most prestigious science award in Switzerland, for his pioneering work in the field of proteomics and systems biology.
Morris Birnbaum, M.D., Ph.D., is the former Chief Scientific Officer of Pfizer’s Internal Medicine Unit. Dr. Birnbaum is a physician-scientist that has led both academic and pharmaceutical teams to investigate fundamental problems in metabolic regulation and has been responsible for the discovery and early clinical development of drugs designed to treat metabolic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, heart failure, and cachexia. Under his leadership, Pfizer brought seven novel potential medicines into clinical development.
Thomas F. Bumol, Ph.D., is the former Senior Vice President of the Biotechnology and Immunology Research components at Lilly Research Laboratories and the Site Head & President of Lilly’s Biotechnology Center of San Diego. During his 40-year career, he managed innovative drug discovery and development teams in novel target discovery, biotherapeutic discovery and engineering, and human trials in many therapeutic areas. Dr. Bumol also has over 50 publications, 8 issued U.S. patents, and has led teams at Lilly to discover and advance over 100 molecules into clinical development.
Anne-Ruxandra Carvunis, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computational and Systems Biology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Carvunis did most of her graduate research on the mechanisms and dynamics of protein interaction network evolution and then went on to study the evolution of transcriptional networks after a brief postdoctoral fellowship. Her research group studies mechanisms of change and innovation in biological systems and their evolution, combining small and large-scale experiments with bioinformatics approaches. She has received a number of distinctions and awards for her research.
Mike MacCoss, Ph.D., is a Professor of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington, Seattle. Dr. MacCoss has nearly three decades of experience in proteomics, across areas of expertise such as protein biochemistry, nanoflow liquid chromatography, instrumentation, and computational analysis of mass spectrometry data. His laboratory has been actively applying these tools to important areas of biology including but not limited to, the basic biology of aging, protein-protein interactions, insulin signaling, transcriptional regulation, proteogenomics, and clinical diagnostics. Dr. MacCoss has been actively involved in the scientific direction and management of NIH centers, program projects, and consortia for 15 years.
Anthony Manning, Ph.D., is the former Chief Scientific Officer of Momenta Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Janssen Pharmaceuticals in 2020 for $6.5 billion), where he built a pipeline of first-in-class therapeutics for the treatment of rare autoantibody-driven diseases. Dr. Manning has spent over three decades in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, contributing to the approval of two drugs for the treatment of autoimmune disease and leading teams in the discovery of multiple small molecule and biologic therapeutics in clinical development. Dr. Manning is a founder and Chairman of the non-profit Institute for Biomedical Entrepreneurship and has served as a Scientific Advisory Board member and consultant for a number of companies, including the Harvard Medical School Therapeutics Initiative and the Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator.
Nahum Sonenberg, Ph.D., is a James McGill Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute at McGill. Dr. Sonenberg is one of the world’s leading experts in mRNA translation, having discovered the Internal Ribosome Entry Site mechanism of translation initiation in eukaryotes, and the regulation of cap-dependent translation by eIF4E-binding proteins. His research group identifies and characterizes the various translation factors involved in translation initiation, elucidates the signaling pathways impinging upon translation, and discovers physiological consequences of translational control. Dr. Sonenberg has been elected to a number of prestigious societies and received multiple awards for his leadership in biomedical research.
John Prensner is a physician-scientist and pediatric neuro-oncologist. In the lab, he focuses on the human genome and the cancer genome. Prensner seeks to understand the 'dark genome' in cancer and aberrant behavior of dark genome elements in cancer. He is dedicated to training the next generation of physicians and scientists. A top priority of his is to empower young scientists both to develop their interests as well as enable young scientists to gain confidence with societal engagement and science communication.
Founding Team
Avak Kahvejian, Ph.D. is a life sciences inventor, entrepreneur, and CEO who has co-founded more than ten companies. Since 2011, he has been a partner at Flagship Pioneering, where he leads a team to invent and launch new therapeutic platforms. His work has led to the creation of multiple high-value public and private companies including Seres Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MCRB), the first microbiome therapy platform; Ring Therapeutics (revolutionizing gene therapy with its commensal virome platform); Cellarity (designing medicines against the cell as opposed to a single molecular target); Laronde (a predecessor to Sail Biomedicines which pioneered endless RNA – eRNA™ – a new class of programmable medicines capable of expressing therapeutic proteins inside the body); Generate Biomedicines (pioneering Generative Biology™ to create breakthrough medicines); ProFound Therapeutics (pioneering the expanded human proteome); Ampersand Biomedicines (designing and programming medicines to act only where needed); Abiologics (reimagining biologics with Synteins™, a new class of supranatural medicines); Cygnal Therapeutics (now part of Sonata Tx, a company designing therapeutics that reprogram diseased cells to become the coordinators of cure); Rubius Therapeutics (red blood cell therapeutics); and Codiak BioSciences (engineered exosome therapeutics).
Avak served as founding President and CEO of Rubius from 2013 to 2017, as co-CEO of Generate from 2018 to 2021, and as founding CEO of Cellarity (2017 to 2020), Laronde (2017 to 2020), Ring (2017 to 2020), ProFound (2020 to 2023), Ampersand (2021 to 2023), and Abiologics (2021 to present). He is on the boards of Cellarity, Sail, and Ring and Chairman of Ampersand and ProFound.
Prior to Flagship, Avak was Vice President of Business Development at Helicos BioSciences. In this role, he developed and commercialized the world’s first single molecule DNA sequencer.
Avak serves as the Chairman of the Board of the International Institute of New England, an institution which creates opportunities for refugees and immigrants to succeed through resettlement, education, career advancement and pathways to citizenship. He is also on the Board of Genome Canada, the Advisory Board of the Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST), and the McGill University Regional Advisory Board US.
Avak earned his Ph.D. and B.Sc. in Biochemistry from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
Vini Mani joined Flagship Pioneering as an associate in 2019, working across the life cycle of emerging ventures in the life sciences. In her role, she works as part of the team of entrepreneurial scientists exploring new areas of biology to create and grow Flagship’s first-in-class platforms, in roles ranging from scientific development, early stage strategy, and intellectual property. At Flagship Pioneering, Vini co-founded ProFound Therapeutics, leading the genesis and growth of the ProFoundry Platform. She was also involved in the early growth of Ring Therapeutics and contributed to the origination of other endeavors still in stealth.
Prior to joining Flagship, Vini co-founded and served as Director of Product Development at Adeo Health Science, a Boston-based startup focused on the prevention of allergy development in children. From her undergraduate work, Vini co-founded Knox Medical Diagnostics (now Aluna Health), with the mission to detect the onset of asthma flares.
Vini completed her doctoral studies in Immunology at Harvard Medical School. Her graduate work shifted the paradigm of T cell differentiation, uncovering a novel stage of T cell development termed “homeostatic conditioning". Vini’s graduate work resulted in several high-impact publications in journals such as Science, Cell and Nature, and earned her several honors, including the Janeway Award from the American Association of Immunologists.
Vini holds a Ph.D. in Immunology from Harvard Medical School and a B.S. in Bioengineering with a Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Technology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Erica Weinstein joined Flagship Pioneering in 2015 after completing the firm's Fellowship Program. At Flagship, Erica works as part of a team of entrepreneurial scientists exploring innovative ideas and developing the science, intellectual property, and business strategy that form the foundation of breakthrough startups.
At Flagship, Erica co-founded Ring Therapeutics, Laronde Therapeutics and ProFound Therapeutics and launched Inzen Therapeutics. At Laronde, Erica led the value creation strategy along with the biology team. Previously at Ring, she led the translation team where she invented and developed the company’s Anellovector platform.
Before joining Flagship, Erica earned her doctorate in biomedical sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she researched the emerging role of the microbiome in autoimmune disease development. During her studies, Erica was the recipient of the Helmsley Charitable Trust Fellowship and the Levine Foundation Fellowship Awards. Erica received her B.S. in biology and minor in global health, culture, and society from Emory University. Erica's work has resulted in numerous patents and publications. Erica was honored in 2017 as a top female leader in Business Insider's 30 Biotech leaders under 40, and in2021 in Business Insiders’ list of 12 young serial entrepreneurs building the nextgeneration of biotech startups.
Kala Subramanian joined Flagship Pioneering in 2021 as an Operating Partner working with Flagship NewCos to increase value creation as well as drive operational and strategic initiatives. She brings broad expertise in strategic planning, operations, business development and licensing, and global program and portfolio management. Kala has held leadership positions in emerging biotech companies as well as large pharma.
Before joining Flagship, Kala was Chief of Staff, Head of Strategy and Business Development & Licensing at Ichnos Sciences. She led Ichnos’ separation from its parent company, developing the company’s corporate strategy and preparing for fundraising and due diligence necessary for external partnerships. Prior to Ichnos, Kala served as VP, Chief of Staff Oncology at Gilead Sciences/Kite Pharma and SVP, Head of Strategic Development and Operations at CRISPR Therapeutics. She spent 13 years at Novartis Pharmaceuticals in a variety of roles including VP, Global Head of Strategic Development, and Program Management in Oncology Global Development and Medical Affairs. She led the program and portfolio management, as well as strategic planning and budget management for a portfolio of over 25 compounds. Prior to Novartis, Kala worked at Accenture and Millennium.
Kala holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Cornell University, and completed postdoctoral research in cell biology at Duke University Medical Center.
Yann Echelard joined Flagship Pioneering in 2018, focusing on internal biotechnology innovation and venture creation. Prior to Flagship, Yann was president and CEO at rEVO Biologics, which developed and commercialized therapeutics for thromboembolic disorders and critical care. At rEVO Biologics (and its predecessors Genzyme Transgenics and GTC Biotherapeutics) since 1994, Yann was initially involved with technology development leading to the commercial application of somatic cell nuclear transfer technology in large animals and to the regulatory approval of ATryn®, the first transgenically-derived therapeutic. Later, his involvement in business and corporate development culminated in the eventual acquisition of GTC by LFB SA, the French plasma fractionator. In addition to his role at rEVO and LFB, Yann was also engaged in spinning-out several companies out of the LFB group, such as Hema Biologics (focused on bleeding disorders), LFB-USA (transgenic platform), and TG Therapeutics.
Yann earned his Ph.D. from Université de Montréal in the laboratory of Dr. Alexandre Sasarman, working on the genetic characterization of heme biosyntesis pathway. After initial postdoctoral training in oncology at the Ludwig Institute Montreal branch (McGill University), he was a visiting scientist in the laboratory of Andy McMahon at the Roche Institute and at Harvard University where he worked on the regulation of Wnt-1 and on the isolation and functional characterization of the Hedgehog genes, the first identified vertebrate morphogens.
Yann is currently a director at TG Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TGTX), a New York City based biotechnology company focused the B-cell malignancies and auto-immune disorders.
Noubar Afeyan has dedicated his career to improving the human condition by systematically creating science-based innovations that serve as the foundation for startup companies. At Flagship Pioneering, which he founded in 2000, Noubar has created an enterprise where entrepreneurially minded scientists invent seemingly unreasonable solutions to challenges facing human health and sustainability. They begin by asking “What if?” and iterate toward the unexpected answer “It turns out,” resulting in the creation of first-in-category companies with significant impact. Flagship has fostered the development of more than 100 scientific ventures resulting in over $140 billion in aggregate value, thousands of patents and patent applications, and more than 50 drugs in clinical development.
During his career as inventor, entrepreneur, and CEO, Noubar has cofounded and helped build over 50 life science and technology startups. Prior to founding Flagship Pioneering, Noubar was the founder and CEO of PerSeptive Biosystems, a leader in bio-instrumentation that grew to $100 million in annual revenues. After PerSeptive’s acquisition by Perkin Elmer/Applera Corporation in 1998, he became senior vice president and chief business officer of Applera, where he initiated and oversaw the creation of Celera Genomics.
He is the co-founder and chairman of the board of Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA), the pioneering messenger RNA vaccine company addressing the global COVID-19 pandemic, Omega Therapeutics (NASDAQ: OMGA), Generate Biomedicines, Tessera Therapeutics, and Laronde. He is also co-founder and board member of Rubius Therapeutics (NASDAQ: RUBY) and YourBio Health. Previously, he was a member of the founding team, director, and investor in highly successful ventures including Chemgenics Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Millenium Pharmaceuticals), Color Kinetics (acquired by Philips), Adnexus Therapeutics (acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb), and Affinnova (acquired by AC Nielsen).
Noubar entered biotechnology during its emergence as an academic field and industry, completing his doctoral work in biochemical engineering at MIT in 1987. He has written numerous scientific publications and is the inventor of over 100 patents. He was a senior lecturer at MIT’s Sloan School of Management from 2000 to 2016, and a lecturer at Harvard Business School until 2020. He teaches and speaks around the world on topics ranging from entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic development to biological engineering, new medicines, and renewable energy.
Noubar’s commitment to improving the human condition through science and business goes hand in hand with social investments and a global humanitarian initiative. Together with his partners, he has launched philanthropic projects including the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, FAST Foundation, and the UWC Dilijan School. Noubar is a member of the Corporation of MIT (the Institute’s governing body) and a member of the board of trustees for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Noubar was born in Beirut to Armenian parents in 1962, did his undergraduate work at McGill University in Montreal, and completed his Ph.D. in biochemical engineering at MIT in 1987. A passionate advocate of the contributions of immigrants to economic and scientific progress, Noubar received the Golden Door Award in 2017 from the International Institute of New England, in honor of his outstanding contributions to American society as a U.S citizen of foreign birth. He was also awarded a Great Immigrant honor from the Carnegie Corporation in 2016, received a Technology Pioneer award from the World Economic Forum in 2012, and was presented with the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2008. In 2022, Noubar was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.