Meet the visionary leaders who are here to partner with you in forging an exciting future in drug discovery and development and realize the potential of your science.
Our Team
Dushyant Pathak, PhD, MBA
Chief Executive Officer & Board Member
Dushyant is Chief Executive Officer at Autobahn Labs. He has two decades of experience in research, business, venture capital, and leadership across academia and industry ranging from Fortune-500 to startup companies. Having been a Section 16 SEC-reporting officer, he has served as CEO and led biotech business development, non-clinical/clinical operations, and product development. He was UC Davis’s first Associate Vice Chancellor of Research dedicated to innovation and technology commercialization, founding Venture Catalyst, and has led teams responsible for transformative alliances, M&A, drug pipeline advancement, and a successful NASDAQ IPO. As an adjunct professor in the University of San Francisco’s Masagung School of Graduate Management, he teaches entrepreneurship, management of technology and life science innovation. Additionally, he provides operational and strategic solutions to drug discovery and development companies through VentureEdge LLC.
Dushyant received an MBA from the Berkeley Haas School of Business, a Ph.D. from Northwestern University, a B.A. from Bennington College, and was a member of the faculty in the Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry department at Yale University.
Thomas Novak, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Tom Novak is the Chief Scientific Officer of Autobahn Labs. Prior to joining Autobahn Labs, he was Vice President of Life Sciences Business Development at Cellular Dynamics International (CDI), the world’s leading supplier of stem cell-derived, terminally differentiated cells. In addition, he was the Principal Investigator on CDI’s $16MM grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to reprogram samples from 3000 patients with a variety of multigenic disorders. As part of CIRM’s “Human iPSC Initiative” he was also the PI on CDI’s $6.3MM subcontract with the Coriell Institute for Medical Research to provide stocks of iPSC clones for commercial sale. Prior to joining CDI in 2012, Dr. Novak was Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Fate Therapeutics, a San Diego-based biotech developing small molecules and biologics to induce proliferation and differentiation of adult stem cells to replace tissue lost to aging or disease. From 2001 to 2010, Dr. Novak held a number of positions at Roche Palo Alto, including Senior Director and Head of Discovery Technologies wherein he led a group of >60 scientists with responsibility for all compound screening, cell culture, molecular biology, protein production, and crystallography at that site. In 2009, he was chosen to lead a global team of scientists to evaluate opportunities to utilize stem cells as research tools. This ultimately led to the initiation of three collaborations (CDI, iSTEM, and Harvard Stem Cell Institute) centered around nonclinical safety, neuroscience, and cardiovascular diseases, respectively.
Dr. Novak earned an AB in biology and chemistry, magna cum laude, from Amherst College (Amherst, MA) and received his PhD in molecular biology and immunology from Caltech (Pasadena, CA). After completing post-doctoral training in immunobiology at Yale University, he began his pharmaceutical career in 1994 as a research scientist at Wyeth-Ayerst in Princeton, NJ.
Deepak Kumar Jha, PhD
Associate Director, Search & Evaluation
Deepak Kumar Jha, PhD, is an Associate Director, Search & Evaluation at Autobahn Labs. He is a biomedical scientist with expertise spanning epigenetics, cancer genomics, stem cell biology, and target discovery. Before joining Autobahn, Deepak was a Senior Scientist in Merck’s Data, AI, and Genome Sciences group, where he conducted target identification and validation for Alzheimer’s disease and inflammatory bowel disease by integrating multi-omics, human genetics, and translationally relevant models. Previously, he was a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. George Q. Daley at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, studying gene regulation in normal and malignant hematopoiesis and developing cell therapy approaches. Deepak received his PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Jared Feldman, PhD
Associate Director, Business Development
Dr. Jared Feldman is an Associate at Autobahn Labs. Prior to Autobahn, Jared worked on the Business Development team at Vir Biotechnology, evaluating clinical-stage assets and platform technologies for infectious diseases and immunology indications.
Jared received a BA in Biochemistry from Bowdoin College and a PhD from Harvard’s Virology Program where he studied humoral immune responses to preemergent viral pathogens. Simultaneously, he worked as a Business Development Fellow for the Harvard University Office of Technology Development (OTD). Before graduate school, Jared was an antibody engineer at Adimab, supporting therapeutic monoclonal antibody discovery campaigns.
Our Board
Abraham Bassan, MS
Board Member
Abe Bassan is a Vice President at Samsara BioCapital. Prior to Samsara, Abe was Director of Program Biology at Revolution Medicines, where he co-led the company’s 4EBP1/mTORC1 cancer program through early preclinical development. Prior to that, Abe was at bluebird bio (BLUE), where he drove project management for gene therapy programs focused on β-Thalassemia, Sickle Cell Anemia, and Childhood Cerebral ALD. Before joining bluebird, Abe was an Associate at Third Rock Ventures, where he focused on technical diligence for the firm’s investment in bluebird bio, and played a central role in developing the company concept for Blueprint Medicines (BPMC), a precision medicine oncology company. Abe was also the founder of Aurora Medical, which focused on international commercialization of molecular diagnostics testing services. Abe received an AB in Molecular Biology from Princeton University, and an MS in Developmental Biology from Stanford University.
Justin Bryans, PhD
Board Member
Justin Bryans trained as a chemist at the universities of York and Oxford, the latter being as a post-doc under Professor Sir Jack Baldwin. Since then, he has gained over 30 years of experience in drug discovery at several biotechnology and pharma companies including Parke-Davis and Pfizer. He most recently spent 16 years at LifeArc, a UK-based charity and non-profit organization, where he led a team of 120 scientists covering chemistry, biology, antibodies, and diagnostics. He has led integrated drug discovery teams developing small molecule and antibody-based treatments for a wide range of conditions resulting in the discovery of over 30 assets, and in the process, Justin has been cited as an inventor on over 50 patents. Whilst at LifeArc, of particular note, was the discovery of Keytruda, which is projected to be the leading immuno-oncology agent for the treatment of melanoma and lung cancer. Justin holds an honorary professorship at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and he teaches various aspects of drug discovery at QMUL, University College London, and the Wellcome Trust. He also sits on a range of advisory committees and panels in the UK and Sweden.
Justin joined Charles River in April 2022 as Chief Scientific Officer (Early Discovery) where he works closely with the leadership and Science Directors to explore opportunities with existing and prospective clients and evaluate new areas of science and new approaches to strengthen the Charles River offering. He has a particular interest in the interface of small molecule and biologics and the use of big data, informatics, and AI to speed up the drug discovery process, reduce clinical attrition, and deliver quality drugs to patients. Justin and the Science Director team help others in Charles River by providing a wide range of expertise and knowledge to help deliver transformative new therapies.
Srinivas Akkaraju, MD, PhD
Board Observer
Dr. Srinivas Akkaraju is Founder and Managing General Partner of Samsara BioCapital, a biotech investment fund focused on translating cutting-edge biology into new therapies to treat patients with unmet medical needs. He serves as Director of Seattle Genetics, Intercept Pharmaceuticals, and Syros Pharmaceuticals and previously served as Director on the boards of Principia Biopharma, Barrier Therapeutics, Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, ZS Pharma, Synageva Biopharma Corp., aTyr Pharma, and Amarin. Before starting Samsara, Dr. Akkaraju was General Partner of Sofinnova Ventures and previously held managing director roles at New Leaf Venture Partners and Panorama Capital LLC., a firm he co-founded. He was a partner at JP Morgan Partners. And from 1998 to 2001, was in Business and Corporate Development at Genentech, Inc., now a wholly owned member of The Roche Group.
Dr. Akkaraju received his MD and a PhD in Immunology from Stanford University and received undergraduate degrees in Biochemistry and Computer Science from Rice University.
Julie Frearson, PhD
Board Observer
Julie Frearson, Ph.D. joined Charles River in 2014 and leads Charles River’s effort in developing and managing strategic technology partnerships, which are fundamental to the Company’s continued growth and future market leadership. She also plays a key role in the evaluation of Charles River’s strategic acquisitions.
Prof. Frearson has substantial experience in early-stage drug discovery, across multiple gene families and therapeutic areas, as a result of roles with The Babraham Institute (Cambridge, UK), Zeneca UK, Cambridge Drug Discovery, BioFocus, and a tenured faculty position in the Drug Discovery Unit of the University of Dundee. She has also served as Director for Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (SULSA), and on Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust expert committees. Prof. Frearson is author of more than 50 peer-reviewed publications.
Advisors
John Curnutte, MD, PhD
Dr. Curnutte served as Executive Vice President of Research and Development at Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing product candidates for thrombosis and other hematologic diseases from 2011 until his retirement in May 2019. Dr. Curnutte previously was Chief Executive Officer of 3-V Biosciences, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on host-directed antiviral medicines. Prior to that, from 2000 to 2008, he served as CEO of DNAX and President of Schering-Plough Biopharma, a biopharmaceutical subsidiary of Schering-Plough Corporation and was also Senior Vice President of Discovery Research at Schering Plough Research Institute, a pharmaceutical and healthcare company. From 1993 to 2000, Dr. Curnutte was the Head of Immunology at Genentech, Inc., a leading biotechnology company. Before joining Genentech, Dr. Curnutte was a tenured faculty member at The Scripps Research Institute, pursuing basic and clinical research in inflammation biochemistry and the molecular genetics of congenital immune deficiencies. He was an adjunct clinical professor of pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine and a member of the medical staff from 1993 to 2013. He currently serves on the Board of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc., a human therapeutics company developing novel therapies for the treatment of fibrosis, and has served as on the boards of Orchard Therapeutics, focused on ex vivo autologous bone marrow gene therapy, and Diadexus, Inc., a cardiovascular diagnostics company.
Dr. Curnutte holds an MD and a PhD in Biological Chemistry from Harvard Medical School and an A.B. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Harvard University.
Steve Kelsey, MD
Dr. Steve Kelsey is President of Research and Development at Revolution Medicines, a precision oncology company based in Redwood City, California. Dr. Kelsey has more than 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, working with conventional small molecules, beyond rule of five molecules, antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates, DNA oligonucleotides and mRNA platforms, and has driven multiple industry and industry-academia collaborations to provide better drugs for patients with cancer. Prior to joining Revolution Medicines, he was President of Onkaido Therapeutics, a Moderna Venture focused on the discovery and development of mRNA therapeutics for cancer. Dr. Kelsey is the former Head of Research and Development and Chief Medical Officer of Geron, where he led the development of imetelstat, a first-in-class telomerase inhibitor for hematologic myeloid malignancies. He previously served as Vice President of Hematology/Oncology at Genentech where he played a significant role in the development of key products including Perjeta®, Kadcyla® and Erivedge® as well as other molecules in the company’s oncology portfolio; and led clinical development for Pharmacia/SUGEN’s Sutent®.
Kelsey graduated with a bachelor of medicine and a bachelor of surgery degrees (MB ChB), as well as a doctorate of medicine (MD) from the University of Birmingham, U.K. He is a fellow of both the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) of London and the Royal College of Pathologists (FRCPath), U.K. He has over 100 peer-reviewed publications spanning cell biology, drug discovery, drug development and patient care, and is a named inventor on several patents.
James Larrick, MD, PhD
Dr. James Larrick is a biomedical entrepreneur with an international reputation in biotechnology, including areas in cytokines, therapeutic antibodies, molecular biology and pharmaceutical drug development. He has written or co‑authored nine books, more than 300 papers/chapters and more than 50 patents in his 25-year career. In 1991, Dr. Larrick founded the biopharmaceutical incubator Panorama Research Institute (PRI). Dr. Larrick’s PRI team has discovered and initiated development of a diverse and innovative portfolio of pharmaceutical molecules addressing major unmet needs in cancer, infectious, autoimmune, cardiovascular, neurological and metabolic diseases. PRI has incubated more than 30 life science projects/companies, which include legacy start-ups such as Kalobios Inc., NuGen Technology Inc., Adamas Inc., Absalus Inc. (now Teva), and more. Two companies were co-founded in Europe, including PanGenetics b.v. (Abbvie) and TargetQuest b.v. (Dyax). To date, PRI-initiated projects and/or companies have led to seven IPOs/exits. Recent work at PRI has focused on Applied Healthspan Engineering — the utilization of advances in molecular medicine to preserve well-being as we age. In addition, he serves as a Managing Director and Chief Medical Officer of Presidio Partners-funded Velocity Pharmaceutical Development LLC, based in San Francisco.
Dr. Larrick received his MD and PhD degrees from Duke as a Medical Scientist Training Program scholar. After medical house-staff training at Stanford, he completed a post‑doctoral fellowship in the Stanford Cancer Biology Research Labs working on therapeutic human monoclonal antibodies for cancer and infectious diseases.
Bob Stein, MD, PhD
Dr. Robert Stein has more than 35 years of experience and accomplishments in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. Over the course of his career, Dr. Stein has played a significant role in the discovery and development of eight marketed drugs, including Sustiva®, Fablyn®, Viviant®, PanRetin®, TargRetin®, Promacta®, & Eliquis®. He previously served as President of Research and Development for Agenus, Inc., and has held a number of progressively responsible senior management positions including Head of Pharmacology for Merck & Co., CSO & SVP of Research for Ligand Pharmaceuticals, EVP of Research & Preclinical Development for Dupont Merck, President and CSO for Incyte Pharmaceuticals, President of Roche Palo Alto, and CEO of KineMed.
Dr. Stein spent the early part of his career at Merck, Sharp and Dohme Research Laboratories. He holds an MD and a PhD in Physiology & Pharmacology from Duke University.
