CARA THERAPEUTICS - Key Persons


Beth Weinberg

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Management Team
  • Pharmacist
  • Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and QA
Beth Weinberg is a Pharmacist with over 27 years of drug development experience. She began her career at Eli Lilly and Company in Clinical Development and had roles of increasing responsibility in Clinical Operations/Development and Medical Affairs. She found her passion in Regulatory Affairs and spent 13 years there before retiring from Lilly in 2018. She joined Metavant Sciences as VP and Head of Regulatory Affairs and Quality, moved to Roivant as VP and Head of Regulatory and to Angion Biomedica as VP of Regulatory Affairs. Beth has strong therapeutic expertise in diabetes, metabolism, cardiovascular disease, renal diseases, and inflammation/autoimmune disorders. She has led or been involved in more than 20 INDs, NDAs, BLAs and ex-US regulatory submissions and has led dozens of regulatory authority interactions. Beth holds a BA in Liberal Arts from Bradley University and a BSPharm from Butler University.

Christopher Posner - CEO, President

Job Titles:
  • Chief Executive Officer
  • Director
  • Member of the Management Team
  • President
Mr. Posner has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer since November 2021 and has served as a member of our Board since August 2018. He has broad experience in commercial and marketing operations and product management at both large and specialty pharmaceutical companies, where he has focused on products for autoimmune, inflammatory and pain conditions, including Xeljanz® and Enbrel®. From July 2017 to October 2021, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of LEO Pharma, Inc. US, a subsidiary of LEO Pharma A/S, a global healthcare company specializing in dermatology and critical care, including such conditions as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. Prior to joining LEO, he was the Head of Worldwide Commercial Operations at R-Pharma-US, LLC, a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on oncology and chronic immune disorders, from 2014 until 2017. Previously, Mr. Posner held a variety of senior management positions in commercial and marketing operations at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Pfizer Inc., Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Endo Pharmaceuticals plc. Mr. Posner holds an M.B.A. from Fuqua School of Business, Duke University and a B.A. in Economics from Villanova University.

Helen M. Boudreau

Job Titles:
  • Chairman of the Audit Committee
  • Director
  • Audit Committee
  • Director / Chair of the Audit Committee
  • Member of Our Board
Ms. Boudreau has served as a member of our Board since August 2023. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Premier, Inc., Shattuck Labs, and Rallybio. Ms. Boudreau's 30-year career spans the biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, consulting, and banking industries. Prior to her retirement, Ms. Boudreau served as the Chief Operating Officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute. Previously, she served as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Proteostasis Therapeutics and FORMA Therapeutics. Ms. Boudreau spent 16 years at Novartis and Pfizer, where she held roles including CFO of Novartis Corporation in the U.S., global CFO of Novartis Oncology, and senior finance positions at Pfizer Inc. Prior to joining the pharmaceutical sector, she held roles at PepsiCo, McKinsey & Company, and Bank of America. She received a B.A. from the University of Maryland and an MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia.

Iris Francesconi - Chief Strategy Officer

Job Titles:
  • Chief Strategy Officer
  • Head of Investor Relations
  • Member of the Management Team
Iris has over 10 years of biopharmaceutical industry experience both in the United States and abroad. Most recently, Iris served as the head of marketing, market research, and commercial assessments at BioXcel Therapeutics. Prior to BioXcel, Iris led multiple U.S. therapeutics franchises including neurology, cardiology, gastro-enterology, and infection diseases at Allergan (now Abbvie). Before transitioning to the US organization, she also oversaw the regional and country level portfolio strategy for all regions globally. Iris transitioned to the biopharmaceutical industry via two years in strategy consulting. Iris started her professional career in the investment industry where she spent 10 years initially as a sell-side equity analyst and subsequently as a buy-side portfolio manager always focused on U.S and international biotechnology and life sciences platform companies of all market capitalizations. Iris holds an M.B.A from Cornell University, a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Georgia State University, and an M.S. and B.S. in Technical Chemistry from the University of Technology Graz, Austria.

Jeffrey L. Ives

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Member of the Audit Committee
  • Member of the Compensation Committee
  • Member of the Nominating and Governance Committee
  • Audit Committee
  • Member of Our Board
Dr. Ives has served as a member of our Board since July 2014. Dr. Ives currently is an Advisor to Access Biotechnology, a healthcare technology venture firm, and a Principal at NeuroPharma Advisors, LLC, an advisory group focused on companies developing therapeutics for the central nervous system. Dr. Ives also serves as a board member for Acumen Pharmaceuticals, a public clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. He also serves as a board member for Pinteon Therapeutics, Orthogonal Neuroscience and Astrocyte Pharmaceuticals, all companies targeting therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Ives served as the Chief Executive Officer of Satori Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company focused on discovery and development of breakthrough therapies for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease from 2008 until 2013. Prior to Satori, Dr. Ives led the CNS, pain and oncology research teams at Pfizer for over two decades and, from 2001-2007, served as a Senior Vice President leading the global Pharmacokinetics, Dynamics and Metabolism organization. Dr. Ives received his doctorate and master degrees from Yale University and received his bachelor of arts degree from Colgate University.

Lisa von Moltke

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Member of the Audit Committee
  • Member of the Nominating and Governance Committee
  • Director / Member of the Nominating and Governance Committee
  • Member of Our Board
  • Nominating and Governance Committee
Dr. von Moltke has served as a member of our Board since November 2022. Dr. von Moltke has directed successful development programs, led clinical teams, and interacted with regulatory agencies across multiple therapeutic areas. Currently, Dr. von Moltke serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Seres Therapeutics, a leading microbiome therapeutics company. Prior to joining Seres, Dr. von Moltke served in roles of increasing seniority at Alkermes, Inc., culminating as Senior Vice President and Head of Clinical Development. Previously, Dr. von Moltke was Vice President Clinical Pharmacology at Sanofi/Genzyme Corporation, where she also served as U.S. Head Clinical & Exploratory Pharmacology Sciences (CEP) and Early Development and later as Head CEP for Japan and China regions. Earlier in her career, she was Head, Translational Medicine for the Takeda Oncology Company. Dr. von Moltke has served as President of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology and Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. She received a B.A. from Wellesley College and M.D. from Michigan State University, College of Human Medicine.

Martin Vogelbaum - Chairman

Job Titles:
  • Chairman
  • Chairman of the Board of Directors
  • Chairman of the Compensation Committee
  • Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee
  • Director
  • Member of the Audit Committee
  • Partner
  • Audit Committee
  • Member of Our Board
Mr. Vogelbaum has served as a member of our Board since July 2010 and has been the Chairman of our Board since June 2022. He currently serves as Managing Partner of Inning One Ventures, an early stage life sciences venture capital firm. He also serves as CEO of Ajax Therapeutics, a private oncology company. Previously, Mr. Vogelbaum served as Corporate Vice President, Business Development at Celgene Corporation (now Bristol Myers) from 2015 to 2017. Prior to joining Celgene, Mr. Vogelbaum served as a partner of Rho Ventures from 2005 until 2015, where he focused on investments in biotechnology, biopharmaceuticals and medical devices. He has more than 27 years of investment experience in the life sciences sector, having been involved with companies at all stages of development, including co-founding multiple companies. Prior to his venture capital career, he was a research associate in the bone marrow transplantation unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital, where he conducted research in graft-versus-host-disease ("GVHD"). He currently serves on the Healthcare Advisory Board for the Partnership Fund for New York City as well as the External Advisory Board for the Office of Therapeutic Alliances at NYU Langone. Mr. Vogelbaum received his A.B. in biology and history from Columbia University. Martin Vogelbaum is a partner of Rho Ventures. He has more than 17 years of experience investing in the life sciences sector, having been involved with companies at all stages of development, including co-founding more than a half dozen companies. He joined Rho in 2005 and primarily focuses on investments in biotechnology, biopharmaceuticals and medical devices. Prior to Rho, he was a partner of Apple Tree Partners, a life sciences venture firm focused on early-stage companies. While at Apple Tree, Martin co-founded four start-ups, including Gloucester Pharmaceuticals where he served as interim CEO and chairman. Martin began his venture capital career in 1993 at Oxford Bioscience Partners, where he served as a general partner. Prior to Oxford, he was a research associate in the bone marrow transplantation unit at Memorial-Sloan Kettering Hospital, where he conducted research in graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD). Martin received his A.B. in biology and history from Columbia University. Member of the Audit Committee Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee Chair of the Compensation Committee

Ryan Maynard - CFO

Job Titles:
  • Chief Financial Officer
  • Member of the Management Team
Mr. Maynard has served as our Chief Financial Officer since September 2022. He has over 20 years of experience in leading finance organizations at both public and private biopharmaceutical companies. Prior to joining Cara, Mr. Maynard served as the Chief Financial Officer of LetsGetChecked, a global healthcare solutions company, and Blade Therapeutics, a development stage biotechnology company. From 2001-2017, he held various leadership roles at Rigel Pharmaceuticals including Chief Financial Officer from 2007-2017. During his tenure at Rigel, Mr. Maynard was a key member of the executive team that successfully discovered, developed, and launched Tavalisse for the treatment of chronic immune thrombocytopenia. He started his career at Ernst & Young, LLP where he earned his CPA. Mr. Maynard has been a member of the Board of Directors of Iovance Biotherapeutics since 2015. Mr. Maynard earned his B.S. in Commerce - Accounting from Santa Clara University.

Scott Terrillion - Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Legal Officer

Job Titles:
  • Chief Compliance Officer
  • General Counsel
  • Member of the Management Team
  • Secretary
  • Cara in 2016 As the Company 's General Counsel
Mr. Terrillion joined Cara in 2016 as the company's General Counsel. Scott oversees Cara's legal and compliance functions and serves as company Secretary. Mr. Terrillion brings over 20 years of diverse pharmaceutical industry experience from varying legal and business roles in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Mr. Terrillion spent 15 years at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he served as Vice President, Associate General Counsel. At Boehringer, Mr. Terrillion built and led the legal team supporting the global company's US human pharmaceutical business during a period of rapid, industry-leading growth. Mr. Terrillion also spent two years at Mesoblast, Inc., a publicly traded emerging biotech, as the company's Vice President, Associate General Counsel and Head of Compliance. Mr. Terrillion began his legal career at Nixon, Hargrave, Devans & Doyle (now Nixon Peabody), a large general practice law firm, where he was an associate in the Health Care and Technology/Intellectual Property Practice groups. A licensed pharmacist, Mr. Terrillion began his professional career as a community pharmacist and later served as Director of Pharmacy for Preferred Care, Inc., a HMO insurance provider. Mr. Terrillion received his B.S. in Pharmacy from the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, where he serves on the Board of Trustees, and a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Albany Law School. He is a member of the New York bar.

Susan Shiff

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Member of the Audit Committee
  • Member of the Compensation Committee
  • Member of the Nominating and Governance Committee
  • Director / Member of the Compensation Committee Member of the Nominating and Governance Committee
  • Member of Our Board
  • Nominating and Governance Committee
  • President of Ontada
Dr. Shiff has served as a member of our Board since June 2020. Currently, Dr. Shiff is the President of Ontada, McKesson's oncology technology and insights business. Ontada delivers real-world insights to transform the fight against cancer and focuses on its world-class suite of oncology provider technologies, while leveraging the business' deep expertise in oncology insights, data and real-world evidence (RWE) to improve patient outcomes. Previous to Ontada, from 2014 to 2021, Dr. Shiff served as Senior Vice President and Head of the Center for Observational and Real-World Evidence ("CORE") at Merck & Co., Inc. In 2018, CB Insights named CORE as one of the most innovative Corporate Labs in healthcare. Prior to joining Merck, Dr. Shiff was the Global Vice President, Health Economics Research and Evidence Based Medicine at Teva, Inc. Prior to Teva, she spent seven years at Pfizer, including several years as a Vice President in the areas of outcomes research, epidemiology, health economics, and access and pricing. She also led the global risk management group and US HEOR group at Roche and spent four years at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ("CDC"). In 2016, Dr. Shiff was named one of the top 15 women in Biopharma by FiercePharma, in 2017 Proclinical named her as one of today's most inspiring women in the pharmaceutical industry, and in 2019 GNS Healthcare named Dr. Shiff as an International Women's Day Healthcare Innovator. Dr. Shiff received her Ph.D. degree from UCLA, and an MBA degree from Cornell University. Dr. Shiff currently serves on the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Board of Trustees and Co-Chair of the Education Committee, is a Non-Executive Director of Synthace Ltd.