Fearless drug hunters

APPROVED MEDICINES ASSOCIATED WITH THE JUPITER TEAM
JUPITER LEADERSHIP
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Nathaniel "Ned" David
PhD
MOOns
Cavalry
Deimos
Pulsar

Before co-founding Jupiter, Ned co-founded Syrrx (acquired by Takeda), Achaogen (NASDAQ: AKAO), Kythera Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: KYTH, acquired by Allergan), UNITY Biotechnology (NASDAQ: UBX), companies that together created four approved medicines (ALOGLIPTIN, TRELAGLIPTIN, ZEMDRI, and KYBELLA). Ned earned his PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology at UC Berkeley and his AB in Biology from Harvard College. Ned is an inventor on 70 allowed patents.

Co-Founder & Managing Director
Norman E. "Ned" Sharpless
MD
MOOns
Artemis
Ganymede
Persistence

Before co-founding Jupiter, Ned was Director of the National Cancer Institute (2017-2022), Acting Commissioner of the FDA (2019), and Director of the Lineberger Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. He serves on several boards, including G1 Therapeutics (NASDAQ: GTHX), which he co-founded, Nucleus Radiopharma, and the American Cancer Society. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and holds an MD and a BS in Mathematics from UNC, Chapel Hill.

MOON FOUNDERS
Founder
Gianpietro Dotti
MD
MOOns
Persistence

Gianpietro is a professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he leads the Immunology program. He received his medical degree at the University of Milan with subsequent clinical training in hematology at the University of Parma and research fellowships at Ospedali Riuniti di Bergamo and Baylor College of Medicine. After serving on the faculty at Baylor, he established the Cellular Immunotherapy Program at the UNC Lineberger Cancer Center.

Founder
Jan van Deursen
PhD
MOOns
Cavalry
Pulsar

Jan was a member of the faculty at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, where he also served as Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In 2011, Jan co-founded UNITY Biotechnology (NASDAQ: UBX) and, in 2021, Cavalry Biosciences. Jan earned his PhD in Cell Biology at Nijmegen University, the Netherlands, and is an inventor on 17 granted patents.

Founder
John Munroe
PhD
MOOns
Ganymede

While at Eli Lilly, John led the oncology medicinal chemistry group, delivering compounds into clinical development, and was responsible for Lilly’s global structural biology and biophysics groups. While at Dracen Pharmaceuticals, he was Head of Discovery Chemistry, identifying novel agents to treat cancer. John received his PhD in organic chemistry from Harvard University and his BS in chemistry from Purdue University. John is an inventor on over 30 allowed US patents.

Founder
Matthias Stephan
MD, PhD
MOOns
Persistence

Professor at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Matthias trained in CAR T-cell therapy with Michel Sadelain at MSKCC and bioengineering at MIT. In 2017 his group published an mRNA nanoparticle-based method to program antigen recognition into lymphocytes. In 2019 he co-founded Tidal Therapeutics, acquired by Sanofi in 2021. His group developed biomaterial implants for in situ programming of CAR T-cells. His MD is from the Medical University of Lubeck and his PhD in cancer immunotherapy from Cornell.

Founder
Pritha Agarwalla
PhD
MOOns
Persistence

Pritha is an Assistant Research Professor at the Joint BME department of NCSU and UNC-Chapel Hill and co-founder of Jupiter moon Persistence Therapeutics. With multiple patents, including one commercialized, her expertise lies in biomaterials and cell therapy. She holds her PhD in Chemical Science from CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology and her MSc from the University of Calcutta.

Founder
Robert Wild
PhD
MOOns
Ganymede

Robert is co-founder and CEO of Ganymede Oncology, the acting CEO of Azkarra Therapeutics, and previously served as CSO and Co-Founder of Dracen Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that, he was CSO and SVP of Research at Ignyta (acquired by Roche) and CSO of Oncology Research at Eli Lilly. Robert has contributed to over 20 oncology clinical development candidates, including 5 FDA-approved agents. Robert holds a PhD in Pharmacology and a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

Founder
William Kim
MD
MOOns
Artemis

William is the Rush S. Dickson Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Genetics, and Pharmacology at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is Co-Leader of the Cancer Genetics Program and Co-Director of the Precision Oncology Program at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. He holds an MD from the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, and a BA in Economics and Biology from Wesleyan University.

Founder
Yevgeny Brudno
PhD
MOOns
Persistence

Yev is a professor jointly between the University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University. Yev’s research interests span organic chemistry, materials science, and cellular immunotherapy. Yev earned his PhD in Chemistry from Harvard University and his BA in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania.

TEAM JUPITER
Sr. Scientist
Alessia Grozio
PhD
MOOns
Pulsar
Persistence

Before joining Jupiter, Alessia led sponsored preclinical studies on the effectiveness of NAD+ biosynthetic precursors against age-associated diseases at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. Alessia earned her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Genoa in Italy, and later pursued postdoctoral research at Washington University in St. Louis. Alessia has authored over 30 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Assoc. Dir., in Vivo
Brit Ventura
PhD
MOOns
Cavalry

Prior to joining Jupiter moon Cavalry, Brit investigated mechanisms of neurodegenerative senescence at UNITY Biotechnology. He holds a PhD in Cancer Biology from the University of Virginia and conducted postdoctoral work at UCSF. He also holds an MS in Molecular Biology from the University of Oregon and a BS in Biology from the University of New Mexico. He has authored publications for such journals as Cell and Nature and is the author of multiple patents.

Devices
Bruce KenKnight
PhD
MOOns
Pulsar

Bruce founded Portico Lifescience Ventures, a management/engineering consulting/investing firm. Previously, he was VP and Global Head of the Heart Failure Franchise at LivaNova, President and CEO of Valtech Cardio, and Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. Bruce received BS, MS, and PhD degrees from the University of Minnesota. Bruce is an inventor on over 500 patents and an author of over 200 peer-reviewed publications.

CEO, Persistence
Charles Buchen
MD
MOOns
Persistence

Charles is CEO of Persistence Therapeutics. Previously, he held senior roles at Fortress Biotech (NASDAQ:FBIO), spearheading creation of new companies and acquisition of technologies. As CBO of Cyprium Therapeutics, he was key to the development and sale of their lead asset. As head of business development at Mustang Bio (NASDAQ:MBIO), Charles led the expansion of its oncology and rare disease therapies. He earned an MD from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and a BA from Brooklyn College.

VP, Early Discovery
Dan Zimmer
PhD
MOOns
Artemis
Ganymede
Pulsar

Prior to Jupiter, Dan was responsible for small-molecule nonclinical development at Vedere Bio II and a Senior Principal Investigator at Cyclerion Therapeutics, a spin-out of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, where he led a small molecule discovery team that advanced multiple candidates into clinical development. Dan earned his PhD in Molecule Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale and SBs in Biology and Chemistry at MIT.

Head of Finance
David Mael
MBA, MS
MOOns
Team Jupiter

In addition to serving as Head of Finance at Jupiter, David is a Partner at van den Boom & Associates, a Life-Science-focused accounting and finance firm. David spent nearly ten years at Ernst and Young. His experience spans across both privately backed and publicly traded Life Science companies, supporting several clients from seed stage through IPO. David earned a BA in International & Global Studies from Brandeis University and an MBA and MS in Accounting from Northeastern University.

Administration
Iasmini Vatuzzi
MOOns
Team Jupiter

Iasmini comes to Jupiter with a background in Accounts Payable/Receivable and twelve years of experience as an Executive Assistant. Fluent in three languages, Iasmini’s essential work keeps everyone at Jupiter organized.

Senior Scientist
Janine van Ree
PhD
MOOns
Cavalry

Before joining Cavalry, Janine did a three-year fellowship at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital followed by over15 years in cancer research at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. She received her PhD in Genetics and BS in Medical Sciences from Leiden University in the Netherlands.

Drug Discovery
Jessie English
PhD
MOOns
Artemis

Jessie most recently was CSO of Bakx Therapeutics and Tilos Therapeutics (acquired by Merck). She has held leadership positions in oncology drug discovery at Pfizer, Merck, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Belfer Center), EMD Serono, and Schering-Plough. Jessie earned a BS in biochemistry at KSU, a PhD in neurobiology from UNC-Chapel Hill, and trained as a post-doc at UT Southwestern Medical Center. She is currently on the Board of Sensei Bio.

Chief Moon Officer
Leigh Hunnicutt
MBA, MS
MOOns
Deimos

Leigh began her career in genomics at the Broad Institute. After graduate school, she spent over 13 years at Amgen where she served in leadership roles commercializing products across therapeutic areas. Prior to joining Jupiter, Leigh was a Vice President at Applied Molecular Transport and Chief Operating Officer at Aktiv Pharma Group. Leigh earned her MBA and SM in Biological Engineering at MIT and her BS in Molecular and Cellular Biology and BA in Anthropology from the University of Arizona.

Strategy
Ning Gao
MSc
MOOns
Artemis

Ning’s research spans protein sciences, structural biology, drug-protein interactions, and mechanisms of action. She was Head of Protein Sciences at Roivant Sciences and Head of the Protein Biochemistry and Biophysics team at BAKX Therapeutics. She spent over 22 years at AstraZeneca and contributed to the development of Durlobactam, approved by the FDA as part of XacDuro. Ning holds an MSc and BS in Biochemistry from Nanjing University and has authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications.

Technology
Rob O'Brien
PhD
MOOns
Cavalry
Pulsar
Deimos

Prior to Jupiter, Rob worked with UNITY Biotechnology, and completed post-doctoral work at the Buck Institute, where his research focused on using biochemistry and proteomics to understand developmental biology and neurodegenerative disease. He has over a decade of experience in regulatory affairs, drug discovery, biomarkers and bioinformatics, and therapeutic protein design. Rob holds a PhD from UC San Diego and a BS from the University of Vermont.

Drug Discovery
Scott Armstrong
BS
MOOns
Pulsar
Deimos

Scott was the founding biologist and spent 19 years in drug discovery at Theravance, contributing to filing 10 INDs and 2 approved medicines, before joining UNITY Biotechnology as Director of in Vivo Pharmacology, leading teams in eye and lung treatments. Most recently, as VP of Research at Deciduous Therapeutics, he focused on immune-mediated clearance of senescent cells in the metabolic and IPF spaces. Scott attended Johns Hopkins University and earned his BS in Biochemistry from UC San Diego.

CSO
Tim Stowe
PhD
MOOns
Cavalry

Tim helps launch new Moons and currently serves as co-founder and CSO of Jupiter Bioventures’ first moon, Cavalry Biosciences. Tim has 10 years of drug discovery experience and has held positions at Silver Creek Pharmaceuticals (Merrimack Pharmaceuticals spin-out), UNITY Biotechnology, and Encoded Therapeutics. Tim earned his PhD in Cancer Biology at Stanford University and his BS in Biology from Hope College in Holland, MI.

Venture Operations
Zach Collins
PhD
MOOns
Team Jupiter

In addition to his role with Jupiter, by night Zach is a Partner at Mission BioCapital where he leads independent investments and supports portfolio companies through interim executive roles. Zach earned his PhD at Harvard Medical School in Biological and Biomedical Sciences, where his collaborative work was recognized by AAAS as Science’s 2018 Breakthrough of the Year, and his BS in Biology at the George Washington University.

advisors
Advisor
Jon Collins
PhD

Jon is the CSO of Pinnacle Hill and Director of Therapeutic Research Translation at UNC Chapel Hill. Prior to joining UNC, he served as Director of the Discovery Partnerships with Academia at GSK. He has 29 years’ experience leading drug development teams across all phases of early drug discovery. He is an inventor on 18 composition of matter patents claiming six clinical development compounds. He holds a PhD from Indiana University Bloomington and a BS from UNC Chapel Hill.

Advisor
Kwok-Kin Wong
MD, PhD

Kowk’s focuses on the genetic alterations driving lung tumor formation and the testing of new lung cancer therapies. Kwok is currently Professor of Medicine and Director of Medical Hematology and Oncology at the Laura & Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center at New York Langone Health. Kwok earned his MD/PhD from Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and conducted his residency at Harvard Medical School. He has authored more than 200 peer reviewed publications.

Advisor
Pedro Beltran
PhD

Currently CSO at BridgeBio Oncology, Pedro has also served as Head of Biology at UNITY Biotechnology and Executive Director at Amgen. Pedro holds a B.S. in Molecular Biology from Florida Tech and a PhD in Cancer Biology from the University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. He was awarded a Lois Pope Fellowship from the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine. Pedro has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed manuscripts and abstracts and holds multiple patents.

Advisor
Vince Miller
MD

Vince served as Physician-in-Chief at EQRx (Revolution Medicines) and CMO for Foundation Medicine (acquired by Roche). Vince received an MD from Rutgers School of Medicine, a BA in mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania, and completed his residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital with a fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He has received the American Cancer Society Clinic Oncology Career Development Award. He has published more than 300 peer reviewed papers.

jupiter board of directors
Board
Fred Eshelman
PhD

Fred is the founder of Eshelman Ventures and Pharmaceutical Product Development (NASDAQ: PPDI). He has served as founding chairman of Furiex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: FURX, sold to Forest Labs/Actavis), SVP of Development and board member of the former Glaxo, and in management with Beecham Laboratories and Boehringer Mannheim Pharmaceuticals. Fred received his PharmD from the University of Cincinnati, completing a residency at Cincinnati General Hospital, a BS Pharm from UNC-CH.

Board
Manu Nair
LL.M, MBA

Manu is Chair and Head of Corporate Development at the Department of Business Development at Mayo Clinic. Prior, Mr. Nair served as Vice President of Technology Ventures for the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation and Vice Chair of the Oklahoma Science and Technology R&D Board. He has served on many boards and as a consultant for research institutes and tech companies. He received his MBA from Lamar University and an advanced degree in law from the University of New Hampshire School of Law.

Co-Founder & Managing Director
Nathaniel "Ned" David
PhD

Before co-founding Jupiter, Ned co-founded Syrrx (acquired by Takeda), Achaogen (NASDAQ: AKAO), Kythera Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: KYTH, acquired by Allergan), UNITY Biotechnology (NASDAQ: UBX), companies that together created four approved medicines (ALOGLIPTIN, TRELAGLIPTIN, ZEMDRI, and KYBELLA). Ned earned his PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology at UC Berkeley and his AB in Biology from Harvard College. Ned is an inventor on 70 allowed patents.

Co-Founder & Managing Director
Norman E. "Ned" Sharpless
MD

Before co-founding Jupiter, Ned was Director of the National Cancer Institute (2017-2022), Acting Commissioner of the FDA (2019), and Director of the Lineberger Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. He serves on several boards, including G1 Therapeutics (NASDAQ: GTHX), which he co-founded, Nucleus Radiopharma, and the American Cancer Society. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and holds an MD and a BS in Mathematics from UNC, Chapel Hill.

Board
Steve Tregay
PhD

Steve is a Managing General Partner of Mission BioCapital. Previously, he founded FORMA Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FMTX, acquired by Novo Nordisk) and Compass Therapeutics. Prior to FORMA, he had roles in business development and venture at Novartis and Array BioPharma. Steve earned his PhD in organic chemistry from Harvard University and his BS from Davidson College.

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