COMPANY

Board of Directors

Noubar Afeyan, Ph.D. - Managing Partner and CEO, Flagship Ventures

Dr. Afeyan is Managing Partner and CEO of Flagship Ventures, an early stage venture firm. He is a recognized technologist and entrepreneur, having founded and helped build several successful life science and technology startups during the past 17 years. Prior to co-founding Flagship Ventures in 1999, he participated in launching six highly successful new ventures. A Senior Lecturer at MIT in both the Sloan School of Management and the Biological Engineering Division, Noubar has authored numerous scientific publications and patents. Dr. Afeyan currently serves as a Director for the following Flagship portfolio companies in which he is part of the founding team: Adnexus Therapeutics, Affinnova, BG Medicine, Codon Devices, Ensemble Discovery, Genstruct, Helicos BioSciences, T2 Biosystems and LS9. He earned his Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering from MIT

Glenn Batchelder – President and Chief Executive Officer, BIND Biosciences

Prior to joining BIND Biosciences, Mr. Batchelder was CEO of Acceleron Pharma, a company developing biotherapeutics for cancer and musculoskeletal disorders.  He grew Acceleron from a research start-up to a clinical stage company with promising bone loss therapy in the clinic and a robust preclinical pipeline.   Prior to Acceleron,  Mr. Batchelder was Senior Vice President of Operations at Millennium Pharmaceuticals where he played an integral leadership role in the launch of VELCADE and was responsible for the commercial supply chain and technical operations for INTEGRILIN.  Mr. Batchelder is on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. He received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University. 

Omid Farokhzad, M.D. – Founder and Assistant Professor, Harvard 

Dr. Farokhzad is Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and a physician-scientist in the Department of Anesthesiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). Dr. Farokhzad’s research group is focused on developing novel nanotechnologies for medical applications. He has pioneered the application of micro- and nanotechnology for high throughput development and screening of targeted drug delivery systems for a myriad of clinical applications – most notably cancer.  Dr. Farokhzad was named among the Nano50 winners of 2007 by Nanotech Briefs which awards the most innovative people and design ideas that will revolutionize nanotechnology.  He completed his post-doctoral clinical and research trainings, respectively, at the BWH/HMS and MIT in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Langer.  Dr. Farokhzad has authored more than 40 papers and is an inventor of more than 25 pending patents.  He received his M.D. and M.A. from Boston University School of Medicine.  

Paul Goldenheim, M.D. – Former President, Transform Pharmaceuticals

Dr. Goldenheim is trained as a pulmonary physician and is currently working as a director and consultant in the field of biotechnology, serving on the boards of directors of several companies. He has a long history in pharmaceutical research, development, and management, most recently as President of TransForm Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Johnson & Johnson) and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hypnion (acquired by Eli Lilly). Dr. Goldenheim has authored numerous scientific publications and been an inventor on a number of pharmaceutical patents. Dr. Goldenheim also serves on the boards of directors of select privately held and non-profit entities, including Momenta Pharmaceuticals and Medior, Inc.  He received his A.B. from Harvard College magna cum laude with highest honors in biochemical sciences and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School.

Robert Langer, Sc.D. – Founder and Institute Professor, MIT

Dr. Langer is one of 14 Institute Professors at MIT, and has done pioneering work in the use of biomaterials for tissue engineering and drug delivery, most recently applying nanotechnology for developing novel targeted strategies for cancer therapy.  Professor Langer has written over 1000 articles and has over 600 issued or pending patents worldwide.  Dr. Langer’s patents have been licensed or sublicensed to over 180 pharmaceutical, chemical, biotechnology and medical device companies.  He is a founder of over 20 successful companies, including Momenta, Alnylam, Transform Pharmaceuticals, Pervasis and AIR.  Professor Langer is one of very few people ever elected to all three United States National Academies and the youngest in history (at age 43) to ever receive this distinction.  In July 2007, he was awarded the National Medal of Science, the highest civilian honor bestowed by the United States.  Dr. Langer received his B.S. from Cornell University, and his Sc.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, both in Chemical Engineering. 

Scott Minick is a Managing Director with ARCH Venture Partners.  Mr. Minick has been instrumental in the startup, development and financing of numerous portfolio companies including XenoPort, FastTrack Systems, MedVantx, Achaogen, BIND Biosciences Amphora Discovery, Celula, Ensemble Discovery, and Sorbent Therapeutics. From 1995 until 1998, Mr. Minick was director, President and COO of SEQUUS Pharmaceuticals, a public biopharmaceutical company that was acquired by GlaxoSmithKline. From 1994 to 1995, he served as a director, President and CEO of OncoTherapeutics, a private biotechnology company. Prior to that, Mr. Minick co-founded and was a director, President and CEO of LXR Biotechnology from startup through its IPO. He serves as a board director for Achaogen, Amphora Discovery, Celula, FastTrack Systems, BIND Biosciences, and Sorbent Therapeutics. Mr. Minick currently serves as Chairman of the Board for MedVantx and formerly served as Chairman of Xcyte Therapies through its IPO in 2004 and subsequent acquisition of Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals.  He received his postgraduate training in neurobiology at the Salk Institute, an M.B.A. from Northwestern University and a B.A. with Honors from the University of California at San Diego.

Amir Nashat, Ph.D. – General Partner, Polaris Venture Partners

Dr. Nashat is a General Partner at Polaris Venture Partners and focuses on investments in the life sciences.  Prior to joining Polaris, Amir completed his Ph.D. as a Hertz Fellow in Chemical Engineering at MIT with a minor in Biology under the guidance of Dr. Robert Langer. During his time at MIT, Amir completed an internship in the London office of Goldman, Sachs & Company, where he worked on interest rate derivative products. Amir currently represents Polaris as a Director of Adnexus Therapeutics, Athenix Corporation, aTyr Pharmaceutials, Avila Therapeutics, Hydra Biosciences, Promedior Pharmaceuticals, Pervasis Therapeutics,  where he was founding president, T2 Biosystems and WaveRx, and serves on the Board of the New England Venture Capital Association, on the Advisory Board of the Simmons School of Management Entrepreneurship Initiative, and is a Catalyst for the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at MIT.  He recieved his Ph.D. at MIT, and both his M.S. and B.S. in Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.