ATHENA - Key Persons
Christopher Locher, PhD is a biotechnology entrepreneur and executive with more than 20 years of experience in working relationships with biopharma partners and investors. He is the CEO of Versatope Therapeutics, a preclinical-stage Massachusetts-based company focused on the development of a universal influenza vaccine and supporting biopharma industry partner programs. He previously led projects for infectious diseases at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in Boston, inflammatory diseases at Opsona Therapeutics, Ltd. in Ireland and malaria and alphaviruses vaccine development programs at Maxygen, Inc. in California. He completed postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco and was a Fulbright Hayes Research Fellow at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium. He received his PhD in Tropical Medicine and BA in Biol Sci from the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa and Hilo, respectively.
Ms. Hamilton is responsible for European funding, partnerships, and growth strategies for Athena Bioventures. Having worked with a variety of European government and private groups to develop paths to the European market, she is now focused on identifying investment opportunities and partnerships with pre-market drug candidates, medtech, and biomedical research applications.
Ms. Kuo is responsible for in-depth market research analysis at Athena Bioventures. She is an economics graduate of Pomona College. Her senior thesis examined the economics of pharmaceutical pricing, analyzing how Novartis's organizational structure and licensing agreements are indicative of its focus on cutting-edge therapeutics. Her background spans corporate venture capital, data analysis and product development where she identifies sources of innovation predominantly in the tech startup ecosystem to launch strategic product initiatives. Her current work analyzes the clinical trials, financings, and industry landscape of psychedelic companies.
Dr. Kuo has been a Staff Physician for the VA San Diego Healthcare System since 2001. The San Diego VA treats more than 250,000 veterans per year. Dr. Kuo has more than 20 years of clinical experience diagnosing and treating patients with traumatic brain injury, neuropathic pain and musculoskeletal disorders. She helped found the musculoskeletal clinic at the VA San Diego Healthcare System. Dr. Kuo earned her BS in Biology from Bryn Mawr College and her MD from Jefferson Medical College. She received her board certification in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and completed her residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, where she served on the Medical Executive Committee as Chief Resident. She was the recipient of the Sidney and Elizabeth Licht Award for article of the year in Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
James Kuo - Managing Director
Dr. Kuo has experience in the life science industry as a chief executive officer, board director, business development executive, and venture capitalist. He is Chairman of the board of ImmunoPrecise Antibodies, a publicly-traded, multinational monoclonal antibody company. He is also a board director of Tryp Therapeutics, a publicly-traded psychedelic pharma company he co-founded and took public as Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Kuo is further a co-founder and Chairman of Monarch Labs, a privately-held, profitable medical device company focused on wound care. While serving as Chief Executive Officer of Synthetic Biologics, he completed two financings and a collaboration with a European pharmaceutical company. Dr. Kuo has also been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BioMicro Systems. The company completed multiple rounds of venture financing, reached profitable sales of a genetic research instrument, and was eventually sold to a major European pharmaceutical company. He has further served as Chief Executive Officer of Discovery Laboratories, a publicly-traded company he co-founded developing respiratory therapeutics. Dr. Kuo has been head of cardiovascular licensing and development at Pfizer and Vice President of Business Development at Myriad Genetics. He has also been Managing Director of HealthCare Ventures, a $378 million venture capital fund. He received his MD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and his MBA from the Wharton School of Business. He received his BA in molecular biology from Haverford College.
A proactive, results-oriented, life sciences and finance executive with a proven track record of cultivating relationships with strategic partners and within the investment community. Demonstrated ability to leverage corporate finance knowledge and life sciences experience to formulate and execute investor relations and business development strategies/ transactions. Successfully worked on 30 strategic and financing transactions representing more than $13.
Mr. Hong is a graduate of Haverford College majoring in chemistry and minoring in economics. He has been involved in the research and streamlining of graphene synthetic methods for industrial production and energy applications. During the last few years, he has also been actively following the latest trends and developments in the biotechnology and energy sectors. Jeffrey started his scientific career with biomedical and biochemical research conducted at Northwestern University, University of Pennsylvania, and the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Saha is a senior pharmaceutical scientist with experience in the development of biological and small molecule drugs for oncology and neurodegenerative, autoimmune, inflammatory, cardiovascular and kidney diseases. His research career has been at NitroMed and Eli Lilly. His work has resulted in approved drugs and numerous compounds in clinical trials. Dr Saha has expertise in identifying novel targets, planning and executing scientific goals, and collaborating with external scientific partners. He was a lead biologist and key pharmacologist for numerous drug discovery groups and was responsible for preclinical in vitro and in vivo pharmacology. Dr Saha received his PhD from University of Calcutta. He conducted his postdoctoral training at the University of Manitoba, and Harvard Medical School. He has authored 31 peer-reviewed articles, 37 abstracts and 2 book chapters.
Mr. Kilty is a graduate from Western University, he holds a Bachelor of Management and Organizational Studies with a specialization in Consumer Behaviour. With diverse experience spanning marketing, project management and operations he has turned his focus to analyzing the burgeoning field of psychedelic therapy. With a keen interest in mental health, his current work analyzes the efficacy of novel therapeutics and how these can be applied to identify potential new uses of psychedelics. His work is informed by the latest understandings in cognitive neuroscience, psychology and psychopharmacology.