Board of Directors

Harlan W. Waksal, M.D., has led several late-stage and commercial biotech and pharmaceutical companies as well as secured successful financial deals after scaling companies  during more than 30 years  in the industry. He has led teams who have achieved several U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals and blockbuster product launches, including REZUROCKTM (belumosudil), Erbitux^® (cetuximab), and Cyramaz^®(ramucirumab). He most recently served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Directors of Kadmon Holdings prior to its acquisition by Sanofi in November 2021.

Prior to Kadmon, Dr. Waksal served as Member of the Board of Directors and Executive Vice President, Business & Scientific Affairs at Acasti Pharma. Previously, he served as Chairman of the Board of Directors at Senesco Technologies (formerly Sevion Therapeutics). He also co-founded and served as Member of the Board of Directors, Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and President at ImClone Systems prior to its acquisition by Eli Lilly in 2008.

Dr. Waksal’s additional roles include serving as a Member of the Board of Directors at Neptune Technologies & Bioresources, Observer of the Board of Directors at NeuroBiopharm, Chairman of the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science and Member of the Technology Advisory Board at the New Jersey Edison Innovation Fund. Dr. Waksal holds a B.A. from Oberlin College and an M.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine. He completed his training in internal medicine at New England Medical Center and in pathology at Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn.

Maria Palasis has served as Lyra’s President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of its board of directors since January 2015. Previously, Dr. Palasis held positions of increasing responsibility, the most recent of which was Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer from 2011 to 2015. Before that, in 2008, Dr. Palasis joined Arsenal Medical, Inc., a biotechnology company, as Executive Vice President and subsequently served as President and Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the board of directors of Arsenal Medical from January 2015 to June 2018. Prior to that, Dr. Palasis served as Director at Boston Scientific Corporation, a medical device company, where she managed a portfolio of external biotech and medical device investments and led the development of several combination therapies. Dr. Palasis holds a B.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati, and she held a postdoctoral fellowship in molecular biology at the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine.

Ann Merrifield currently serves as board director for a portfolio of public and private companies in the life sciences sector which include Flexion Therapeutics, Inc., InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp., and Veritas Genetics Inc.

Previously, she spent an 18-year career at Genzyme Corporation, a diversified global biotechnology company. While at Genzyme, Ann served as President, Genzyme Biosurgery, where she led global business strategy and operations across a portfolio of biologics and therapeutic devices. She also served as President, Genzyme Genetics, playing a key role in developing this start-up genetic diagnostics business and bringing it to profitability.

Following Genzyme from 2012-2014, she served as President, Chief Executive Officer and director of PathoGenetix Inc., a genomics company. Ms. Merrifield holds a B.A. in Zoology and a Master of Education from the University of Maine and an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

Jim Tobin is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Boston Scientific and Biogen. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board at TransMedics, Inc. and Board Member of Globus Medical, Impulse Dynamics, and Xenter Medical.

Mr. Tobin served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Boston Scientific for over a decade from March 1999 to July 2009. Before joining Boston Scientific, he was President and CEO of Biogen, which he joined as President and Chief Operating Officer in 1994 and became President and Chief Executive Officer in 1997. He also served on Biogen’s Board of Directors. Previously, Mr. Tobin spent 22 years at Baxter International, rising from financial analyst to President and Chief Operating Officer of the 60,000 employee, $9 billion company.

Mr. Tobin was a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy from 1968 to 1972. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an A.B. from Harvard College.

Mr. Smith is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Homology Medicines, Inc. (NASDAQ: FIXX), which he joined in 2017. Prior to joining Homology, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Ocular Therapeutix, Inc., (NASDAQ: OCUL) where he led the company’s strategic financings, including an IPO and subsequent follow-on offerings, and completed a development and commercialization deal with a major biopharmaceutical company. Previously, Mr. Smith has also served as Chief Financial Officer of OmniGuide Inc,. Mr. Smith holds a B.S. in Biology from Tufts University and an M.B.A. from the Whittemore School at the University of New Hampshire.

Nancy L. Snyderman, M.D., is an accomplished Otolaryngologist-Head and Neck Surgeon and healthcare systems expert. She most recently served as Chief Medical Editor at NBC News and has more than three decades of experience as a leading voice in healthcare and medicine. Dr. Snyderman is a Fellow in the American College of Surgeons, and she currently serves as a board member of Alkermes (NASDAQ: ALKS) and Axonics Modulation Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AXNX). She recently served as a Consulting Professor in the School of Global Health at Stanford University and is co-founder of the Stanford University-NBC News Global Media Fellowship.

Dr. Snyderman’s career includes 15 years working on innovative medical programs and products for General Electric and Johnson & Johnson. In addition, she has 30 years of experience as a medical journalist at NBC News and ABC News. She has received distinguished honors, including Emmy Awards, an Edward R. Murrow Award, a Columbia University DuPont Award and a Gracie Award, for her reporting.

Dr. Snyderman is a board-certified Otolaryngologist-Head and Neck Surgeon. She attended medical school at the University of Nebraska and completed residencies in Pediatrics and Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh.

Michael Altman joined Perceptive in 2007 and is a Managing Director on the investment team. His focus is on medical devices, diagnostics, digital health and specialty pharmaceuticals. Prior to Perceptive he was a healthcare trader and analyst at First New York Securities. Michael graduated from the University of Vermont with a B.S. in Business Administration. Michael served on the board of directors of Vensun Pharmaceuticals from November 2016 to January 2019. He currently serves on the board of directors of Vitruvius Therapeutics.

Ed Anderson is the founder of North Bridge Venture Partners and North Bridge Growth Equity. Mr. Anderson holds a B.F.A. from the University of Denver and an M.B.A. from Columbia University Graduate School of Business.

Konstantin is a Managing Director at Perceptive Advisors. Mr. Poukalov has also served on the board of directors of Landos Biopharma, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company since August 2019. Previously, Konstantin served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of Kadmon from 2014 to 2018. Konstantin earned Bachelor of Engineering, in Electrical Engineering, from Stony Brook University.