Dr. David J. Mazzo is the President and Chief Executive Officer at Lisata Therapeutics (previously Caladrius Biosciences).

Dr. Mazzo is a pharmaceutical executive and strategic leader with more than 35 years of broad international experience developing and launching drug products for both big pharma and emerging pharma in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Japan. He is also a seasoned board director, having served on the boards of all the companies for which he was CEO, as well as Essex Chemie AG (EU subsidiary of Schering-Plough), Avanir Pharmaceuticals and EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, where he served as chairman of the board until 2018. Dr. Mazzo is the current chairman of the board of Visioneering Technologies, Inc.

Dr. Mazzo earned a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry and an M.S. in Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts (Amherst), and he completed a research fellowship at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland). He also holds a B.S. (Chemistry) and a B.A. (Honors – Interdisciplinary Humanities) from Villanova University (Pennsylvania).

Angie Jiwon Chun has an impressive 18-year tenure in the pharmaceutical industry. She has served in various capacities, from research to commercial roles with a career trajectory that showcases her versatility and strategic leadership. She currently is Chief Business & Marketing Officer (CBMO) at GC CELL. Before that, she held the positions of Oncology BD & Licensing Lead at LG Chem Life Sciences, and Integrated Marketing Lead at Samsung Biologics. Her background in business development and marketing has been instrumental in forging key partnerships and driving successful mergers and acquisitions. Her journey began in research, providing her with a profound understanding of the drug development process, which laid a solid foundation for her subsequent roles. Transitioning into business-focused positions, Ms. Jiwon Chun demonstrated her adaptability and strategic vision, leading to significant growth and profitability for organizations. 

Dr. Robert Wills is the Chairman of Cymabay Therapeutics’ Board of Directors since October 2015 and has been a member of the Board since March, 2015.

Dr. Wills has more than 35 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and spent over 25 years at Johnson & Johnson, where he held positions as Senior Vice President of Global Development, Vice President of Alliance Management and member of the R&D Board of Directors. He has been responsible for the R&D pipeline and for managing strategic alliances for the Pharmaceutical Group worldwide, playing an active role in the negotiations of these alliances. Dr. Wills also served on several of the Company Boards and key decision-making committees. He began his career at Hoffmann-LaRoche where he spent 10 years in several roles of scientific responsibility.

Dr. Wills holds a B.S. in Biochemistry and an M.S. in Pharmaceutics from the University of Wisconsin, and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics from the University of Texas.

Dr. Iain D. Dukes is a Venture Partner at OrbiMed Advisors.

Dr. Dukes previously served as Senior Vice-President and Head of business development and licensing for Merck Research Laboratories. Prior to joining Merck, Dr. Dukes was Vice President of External Research and Development at Amgen. Dr. Dukes has also served as President and CEO, and a member of the Board of Directors, of Essentialis Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of breakthrough medicines for the treatment of rare metabolic diseases.

Previously, Dr. Dukes was Vice-President of Scientific and Technology licensing at GlaxoSmithKline, and prior to that, he held various positions at Glaxo Wellcome, including head of exploratory development for metabolic and urogenital diseases and head of the Ion Channel Drug Discovery Group. Dr. Dukes is Chaiman of Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASQ: IOVA) and serves on the Board of Directors of Themis Biosciences (acquired by Merck & Co), Ikena Oncology, KaNDy Therapeutics (previously as Chairman, acquired by Bayer AG), NeRRe Therapeutics, ReViral Limited, and ENYO Therapeutics. Dr. Dukes co-founded and is Chief Executive Officer of Theseus Pharmaceuticals; co-founded and serves on the Board of Directors of Kartos Therapeutics where he is President; and co-founded Telios Pharma, where he is President and serves on the Board of Directors. He is also Executive Chairman of Angiex.

Dr. Dukes holds an M.A. and D.Phil, from the University of Oxford, an MSc. in Cardiovascular Studies from the University of Leeds, and a B.Sc. in Pharmacology from the University of Bath.

Ms. Sandoval currently serves as a consultant to the pharmaceutical industry and is a member of the board of directors of Procept BioRobotics since October 2021 where she serves as a member of the nom-esg and compensation committees and Vyne Therapeutics, Inc., since March 2019, where she serves as chair of the compensation committee and member of the audit committee. Ms. Sandoval was previously a member of the board of directors of Satsuma Pharmaceuticals Inc. until its acquisition by Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories in June 2023 and Intersect ENT, Inc. until its acquisition by Medtronic plc in May 2022. Ms. Sandoval previously served as the Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy at Alder Biopharmaceuticals, a public biopharmaceutical company, from August 2016 until March 2019. Prior to that, she was Chief Commercial Officer for Kythera Biopharmaceuticals, a public biopharmaceutical company, from March 2012 until October 2015 and spent over 20 years at Allergan in a variety of commercial leadership roles of increasing responsibility. Ms. Sandoval holds a B.S. in Biology from University of California at Irvine and an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University. 

Mr. Truex serves as CEO and Chairman for Thryv Therapeutics (Formerly LQT Therapeutics).

Before Thryv Therapeutics, Mr. Truex recently served as the Executive Chairman, Director, and Chief Executive Officer of Anthera Pharmaceuticals.

Mr. Truex has been involved in over $5 billion in biotech financing and strategic transactions. His recent experience includes initial public offerings for Milestone (Board Member, 2019), Trius (Board Member, 2010), Anthera (CEO, 2010), Peninsula (CEO, 2004), and Versicor (Vice President, 2000). Mr. Truex was Founder, President, and CEO of Peninsula Pharmaceuticals which was acquired by Johnson & Johnson and Forest for more than $700 million.

Mr. Truex began his biotech career at Eli Lilly where his business development experience included the Lilly ICOS joint venture for the development of Cialis®. Mr. Truex is a member of the Board of Milestone (MIST), Cymabay (CBAY), Anthera (ANTH), and Gladius.

Mr. Truex obtained his MBA from Indiana University and a BA in Economics from the University of Waterloo.

Nathalie Chauret is Vice President, Early Phase Development at Bellus Health Inc where she directs the preclinical toxicology and clinical pharmacology programs of new products. 

Ms. Chauret has over 30 years of experience in drug discovery and drug development in the biopharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Bellus Health, N. Chauret led DMPK, pharmaceutical sciences and phase 1 clinical activities with increasing responsibilities at Merck Frosst, Virochem Pharma and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Throughout her career, she has been involved in the discovery and development of several marketed drugs in different therapeutic areas (asthma, pain, osteoporosis and cystic fibrosis). 

Ms. Chauret holds a Master’s degree in Chemistry from the Université of Montreal and has published over 50 research papers, abstracts and patents. 

Dr. François-Thomas Michaud serves as the Chief Executive Officer at Feldan Therapeutics and is a co-founder of the company.

Dr. Michaud co-founded and became CEO of Feldan in 2007 while completing his PhD degree in chemical engineering. At the time, the company was mainly active in the production and international distribution of bioreagents. In parallel with sales activities, Dr. Michaud and Feldan’s team worked on a research project that led to the inception of proprietary cell-penetrating technology: the Feldan Shuttle. Over the years, Dr. Michaud’s value-creating vision has shaped the business model of the company, which now focuses exclusively on therapeutic development.

Dr. Michaud is actively engaged in corporate, academic, and entrepreneurial communities of the Province of Quebec and Canada as an administrator, speaker, and mentor. He is also a board member of Bio-Québec, Ag Biocentre and Entrepreneurial Laval.

Gladys Nunez, Director Amgen Ventures, joined Amgen in 1997 and leads investment diligence for corporate ventures including the Amgen Ventures R&D Seed Fund. As part of her portfolio management activities, she is a board observer on Obsidian Therapeutics, Inversago, Kernal Bio, Caraway Therapeutics, Celsius, and Ribometrix. Based in Amgen’s Cambridge, Ma site she is a member of the external outreach team supporting local outreach/incubator activities, and a member of the cross-site leadership team.

Prior to joining Amgen Ventures in 2014, Ms Nunez spent 12 years in Amgen's Business Development group prospecting and negotiating external alliances. Prior to joining Amgen’s Business Development organization, Ms Nunez worked 7 years in R&D, concurrent between Amgen and AstraZeneca. She holds an MSc in Biochemical Pharmacology from the University of Southampton in England, and BSc from Marist College in Pre-Med.

As an active member of the Mass Bio community, Ms Nunez is a board member and treasurer of Latinos in Bio, a non-profit sponsored by Mass Bio to increase the role of Latinos in the life sciences including career development, education and healthcare disparities. She is also a member of Women in Bio supporting women’s entrepreneurial development and increasing presence of women in venture capital careers.