About
Our interdisciplinary team has decades of expertise in building life-sciences-focused companies. We believe the optimal team is paramount in forming a successful business.
Meet Our Team
Previously, Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. Expert on cancer prevention, obesity, inflammation & biomarkers. MD, Washington University in St. Louis.
Andrew Dannenberg
Partner
Previously VP and Head of Late Phase Strategy & Development Group, Oncology at Pfizer. Former head of early cancer detection at Guardant. Previous roles at Bayer and various health systems. BS, PharmD, Purdue University.
Leena Das-Young
Managing Partner
Tim has 30 years of experience leading strategic and financing transactions across multiple sectors and is an active healthcare investment banker. He has helped to form and finance a number of healthcare start-up companies and holds a Ph.D. in Economics from UCLA.
Tim Opler
Capital Partner
Manages finances and investments for Emerald. Formerly in a management role at Wells Fargo. Received a degree in Accounting from the University of Alaska, Anchorage.
Catherine Smith
Head of Finance
Michael provides support from origination to exit, advising on capital raising, structuring, and strategic considerations. Michael has a BBA from the University of Wisconsin and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
Michael Friedman
Executive in Residence
Travis has nearly two decades of experience in building PE and venture backed healthcare businesses across biopharmaceuticals and healthcare services. He previously led externalization efforts at Health Outlook, an Emerald portfolio company, after serving as a Principal at a multi-billion-dollar healthcare fund. His total transaction experience exceeds $2b across M&A, strategic transactions and private placements. Travis is a member of our investment team and is focused on sourcing, deal execution and portfolio management.
Travis Read
Principal
Ernest supports ideation, diligence and fundraising for therapeutics companies in Emerald’s portfolio. Previously interned with Timberwind Capital Partners. Received a BA in Economics from Cornell University.
Ernest Li
Senior Associate
Bryant recently graduated from NYU with a BS in Economics. Has experience working in several pharmaceutical companies, with private equity companies, and supports incubation projects at Emerald.
Bryant Jin
Analyst
Former Partner and Deputy General Counsel, Goldman Sachs. Previously at Sullivan & Cromwell. JD, Yale Law School, Managing Editor, Yale Law Journal; Clerkship on Second Circuit. Advises Emerald and related companies.
Ellen Porges
Legal Advisor
Responsible for developing and executing HR strategies. Previously worked as HR Director at Greycroft and Torreya Partners. Nicole holds a BA from the University of Vermont.
Nicole Barham
HR Director
Leadership role at Reverie. Previous roles at Essential Data, Health Outlook, AccurexDx, and Yale University. BA, University of Bridgeport.
Ariana Shuckerow
Venture Manager
Meet Our Advisors
How Our Approach is Different
Starting from scratch, we look at difficult medical issues like neurodegenerative diseases, breast cancer, heart failure, or the obesity epidemic and ask “How can one best intervene to positively impact these diseases?”
In other cases, we will encounter a new technology or scientific innovation and then begin an ideation phase to find how to best use it for the benefit of patients.
Business Advisor
Eli Dorf
Cofounder of Bask, a software company that supports entrepreneurs who focus on online sales of medications. Worked previously as a senior associate for venture studio Emerald Bioventures and healthcare investment bank Torreya Partners. Graduate of Bard College.
Clinical Advisor
Yves Duroseau
Chair and VP Emergency Medicine Service Line, Lenox Hill, Northwell Health. President of the Medical Board, Lenox Hill Hospital. Appointment in Medicine at Hofstra University. MD, MPH from George Washington University.
Scientific Advisor
Sebastian Hogl
Expert on biologics development, in particular process development, manufacturing, and supply chain management. Experienced in protein engineering and proteomics. Worked at Pieris Pharmaceuticals, MorphoSys and Sandoz. Ph.D., Biochemistry, International Max Planck Research School.
Advisor
Par Hyare
Par has more than 25 years of biopharma executive leadership with over 14 years of experience with commercial stage oncology products. Heads Valorum Biologics. Par has successfully led global, national, and regional organizations across development and commercial stage products. Par led the Government Reimbursement & Policy team, the Commercial Payer Team and was the former Chairman of the US Pricing Committee at AMAG pharmaceuticals.
Advisor
Howard Sams
Previously Global Head of Siemens Digital and Computational Pathology business. He headed global leadership roles in Roche Diagnostics for over a decade. He had multiple roles at Guidant/Boston Scientific and started career at Conseco. MBA from the University of Notre Dame.
Advisor
Mark Simon
Mark Simon has over 30 years of experience in life sciences investment banking. He co-founded Torreya Partners and previously led biotech banking at Citigroup and Robertson Stephens. Mark contributed to the IPO of Genzyme and serves on the board of Portage Biotech, and as an advisor to Sun Pharmaceutical Industries. His expertise spans oncology, CNS, and metabolic diseases.
Scientific Advisor
Robert Stein
Dr. Robert Stein has over 45 years of experience and accomplishments in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. Bob has played a role in the discovery and development of eight marketed drugs. He holds an MD and a PhD in Physiology & Pharmacology from Duke University.
Scientific Advisor
Richard Ulevitch
Professor of immunology and Chairman Emeritus of the Department of Immunology at The Scripps Research Institute. His career is marked by a number of seminal scientific discoveries in the field of innate immunity. Formerly a venture partner with 5AM Ventures and the Lombard Odier Immunology Fund. PhD in Biochemistry, University of Pennsylvania.
