Our Team
John Quisel, JD, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
John Quisel, JD, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
John is the CEO of Disc Medicine. Previously, John was Chief Business Officer at Acceleron Pharma, where he spent more than thirteen years helping to build the company from a privately-held startup to a public biotech (acquired by Merck & Co. for over $11 billion in 2021). At Acceleron, John served in various roles including General Counsel, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and finally Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer. John led the in-licensing of sotatercept for pulmonary hypertension from Bristol-Myers Squibb and helped negotiate the collaboration agreement governing the development and commercialization of luspatercept (now marketed as Reblozyl®️). Prior to Acceleron, John worked at the law firms of Ropes & Gray and Foley Hoag. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College, summa cum laude, MSc from Stanford University, PhD from MIT in Biological Sciences, and JD from Harvard Law School.
Joanne Bryce, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
Joanne Bryce, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
Joanne brings over 25 years of experience leading the finance and operations organizations of early-stage companies. She previously served as chief financial officer of Quartet Medicine, a biotechnology company that focused on developing novel treatments for chronic pain. Prior to her career in the biotechnology industry, Joanne held chief financial officer roles at a number of technology companies, including WiTricity, Speedy Packets and Narrative Communications, where she led the finance role in the sale of Narrative to At Home Corp. Joanne began her career at Arthur Andersen & Co. and is a certified public accountant licensed in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Joanne holds a B.S. from Babson College.
Jonathan Yu
Chief Business Officer
Jonathan Yu
Chief Business Officer
Jonathan is the Chief Business Officer and oversees corporate strategy, business development and commercial strategy at Disc Medicine. Previously, he was a co-founder of Qpex Biopharma and the Vice President of Corporate Strategy, Finance and Operations, where he led all business functions including the spin-out of the company’s core assets, its Series A financing and its partnerships. Before Qpex, Jonathan served in various leadership roles at The Medicines Company, most recently as Vice President of Strategic Planning and Corporate Development, where he was instrumental in the divestiture of commercial-stage infectious disease assets to Melinta Therapeutics and the acquisition and subsequent integration of Rempex Pharmaceuticals. Jonathan has also held a variety of roles at SR One, Acceleron Pharma and Johnson & Johnson, spanning commercial planning and assessment, business development and finance. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an AB in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard College.
Will Savage, MD, PhD
Chief Medical Officer
Will Savage, MD, PhD
Chief Medical Officer
Will is the Chief Medical Officer and brings a decade of hematology and transfusion medicine clinical research experience, having worked across academic institutions, biopharma and biotech. Prior to joining Disc Medicine, he served as Senior Medical Director at Magenta Therapeutics, where he managed clinical development activities from preclinical through phase 2. Prior to Magenta Therapeutics, he was the Global Clinical Development Lead in Hematology at Shire/Takeda. Before transitioning to biotech/biopharma, Will was an Assistant Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He started his career at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he trained in pediatric hematology/oncology and transfusion medicine. He received his BA in Biochemistry magna cum laude from Columbia University, his MD with honors in research from Weill Cornell Medical College and his PhD in Clinical Investigation from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Brian MacDonald, MB, ChB, PhD
Chief Innovation Officer
Brian MacDonald, MB, ChB, PhD
Chief Innovation Officer
Brian is the Chief Innovation Officer and founding CEO of Disc Medicine. Prior to Disc he was the Founder and CEO of Merganser Biotech, where he worked on minihepcidin peptides. He has 25 years of drug development and executive management experience in a range of different therapeutic areas at companies that include Zelos Therapeutics, 3-Dimensional Pharmaceuticals and GlaxoSmithKline. He is a research physician with an academic and clinical background in musculoskeletal biology and rheumatology. He received his MB, ChB and PhD from the University of Sheffield and is a Member of the Royal College of Physicians.
Srikanth Venkatraman, PhD
SVP, Head of Chemistry
Srikanth Venkatraman, PhD
SVP, Head of Chemistry
Srikanth is the Senior Vice President of Medicinal Chemistry and has twenty years of research experience in medicinal chemistry and drug discovery with particular expertise in the design of novel protease inhibitors. Prior to joining Disc Medicine, he worked at Schering Plough (later Merck) where he was the co-inventor of Victrelis and Arlansa, first generation HCV protease inhibitors. For these accomplishments, he received the Heroes of Chemistry award from the American Chemical Society. Srikanth received his doctoral degree from the University of Pittsburgh and did his postdoctoral training at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.
Hua Yang, PhD
SVP, Nonclinical Development
Hua Yang, PhD
SVP, Nonclinical Development
Hua is the Vice President of Nonclinical Development and Clinical Pharmacology and brings over 20 years of experience in drug discovery, nonclinical development and clinical pharmacology. Prior to Disc, she served as the Vice President of DMPK and Clinical Pharmacology at Agios Pharmaceuticals, where she established these functions and was instrumental in the discovery, development, and successful approvals of its flagship programs IDHIFA® (enasidinib) in relapsed or refractory AML and TIBSOVO® (ivosidenib) in AML patients with IDH1 mutations, as well as mitapivat (PKR activator) and vorasidenib (dual IDH1/2 inhibitor). Prior to Agios, Hua held positions in DMPK and drug discovery at Millennium/Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Hua received her BA in Pharmacology from Fudan University, an MS in Pharmacology from Peking Union Medical School and her PhD in Pharmacokinetics from University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Rahul Khara, PharmD, JD
General Counsel
Rahul Khara, PharmD, JD
General Counsel
Dr. Khara joins Disc Medicine from Acceleron where he served as Vice President, Legal and Chief Compliance Officer. In this role, he led the commercial legal and compliance functions. While at Acceleron, Dr. Khara led or supported a wide range of legal matters including facilitating the launch of Reblozyl® (luspatercept-aamt), Acceleron’s first commercial product, building the company’s commercial compliance program, and the successful acquisition of the company by Merck. Prior to Acceleron, Dr. Khara worked at the law firms of Arnold & Porter LLP and Sidley Austin LLP, where he helped biopharma companies in various stages of development navigate legal issues related to the clinical development of new assets, launch of new drug products, business development transactions, compliance, and enforcement. Dr. Khara received a Pharm.D. from the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.
Min Wu, PhD
VP, Biology
Min Wu, PhD
VP, Biology
Min is the Vice President of Biology and brings 20 years of experience in drug discovery and development spanning a range of therapeutic areas. Prior to Disc, as the Senior Director of Biology at Proteostasis Therapeutics, she led a multi-year collaboration program with Astellas Pharma, focusing on discovery and early development of a small molecule therapeutic targeting a rare genetic liver disease. At Proteostasis, Min also oversaw multiple small molecule programs to target genetic diseases that result in the dysregulation of the proteostasis network. Prior to Proteostasis, Min held roles with increasing responsibilities in discovery biology, pharmacology, biomarker development and translational research at FORMA Therapeutics, Agios Pharmaceuticals and AVEO Oncology. Min received a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the Oak Ridge National Lab/University of Tennessee and completed her postdoctoral training at the Whitehead Institute of MIT.
Jeremy Brinkerhoff, CPA
VP, Finance
Jeremy Brinkerhoff, CPA
VP, Finance
Jeremy is the Vice President of Finance and brings 17 years of progressive experience leading teams and companies through complex transactions and SEC reporting compliance. Prior to Disc, Jeremy was a Partner at CFGI, the largest non-audit accounting advisory firm in the U.S. and a portfolio company of The Carlyle Group, providing accounting advisory and transaction services to public and private companies ranging from the Fortune 500 to seed-round startups, with a focus on life science companies. In this role, he was a national subject matter expert across a variety of complex accounting areas, led multinational public company implementations of the revenue and leasing standards, led and supported IPO readiness and acquisition integration, implemented financial systems and operationalized processes and controls across organizations. Prior to CFGI, Jeremy worked at Covidien, a $12 billion global health care device company, and began his career at PwC. He is a certified public accountant licensed in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and received his B.S. in Accounting from the University of Utah.
Jason Cathelyn, PhD
VP, Intellectual Property
Jason Cathelyn, PhD
VP, Intellectual Property
Jason is the Head of Intellectual Property of Disc Medicine. Previously, Jason was Vice President of Intellectual Property at Acceleron Pharma, where he led intellectual property strategy development and worldwide implementation for the company’s commercial, clinical-stage, and pre-development programs. In particular, he led or supported a wide range of legal matters including patent strategy for Reblozyl®️ (luspatercept-aamt) and sotatercept (currently in development by Merck & Co. for treatment of pulmonary hypertension), building the company’s IP intellectual property team, and the successful acquisition of the company by Merck. Prior to Acceleron, Jason worked at the law firm of Ropes & Gray, where he helped clients in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries on a wide range of intellectual property issues, including patent portfolio development, life-cycle management, patent prosecution, patent listing and delisting matters, patent term restoration, patent litigation, and assessments regarding patentability, validity, non-infringement, and freedom-to-operate. He received a Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology & Microbial Pathogenesis from Washington University in St. Louis.
Andeleeb Al Mobaraq-Dahy
VP, Regulatory Affairs
Andeleeb Al Mobaraq-Dahy
VP, Regulatory Affairs
Andeleeb is the Head of Global Regulatory Affairs and brings over 15 years of experience in Regulatory Affairs both in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. Prior to Disc, she had different roles in the regulatory departments of several companies such as Astellas, Sanofi/Genzyme and Novartis/Sandoz. She was responsible for multiple successful submissions to global health authorities, such as the FDA, EMA, PMDA, and many others. Her expertise extends across the entire product development lifecycle, encompassing early-stage development, late-stage development, and post-approval phases.
Andeleeb was responsible for developing regulatory strategies for drug development across a wide spectrum of therapeutic areas, encompassing both rare orphan diseases and more prevalent common diseases. She has also led the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) project on optimizing R&D of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP) in collaboration with other pharma and biotech companies. Prior to her work in Regulatory Affairs, she contributed to drug discovery and R&D, utilizing her background as a pharmacist. Andeleeb holds a master’s degree in Drug Innovation from the University of Utrecht.
Rajiv Panwar, PhD
VP, CMC and Clinical Supply Chain
Rajiv Panwar, PhD
VP, CMC and Clinical Supply Chain
Rajiv is the Vice President of CMC and Clinical Supply Chain. He brings over a decade of experience in various aspects of CMC such as process, analytical, formulation and manufacturing across small/large molecules and cell therapies. Prior to Disc, Rajiv held roles of increasing responsibilities at Magenta Therapeutics where he served as the head of technical operations supporting GMP DS and DP manufacturing campaigns for a variety of therapeutic modalities (Peptides, Monoclonal Antibodies, ADCs, and Cell Therapies) in Ph1/2 clinical programs. Before Magenta, Rajiv was the head of Analytical CMC at Eleven Biotherapeutics (later Sesen Bio). At Eleven, Rajiv led CMC activities in support of Ph2/3 clinical programs involving monoclonal antibodies and Fusion proteins. Rajiv started his career at Akrivis Technologies where he led the development of Akrivis’s proprietary technology to target small size tumor lesions and cancer stem cells. His work at Akrivis resulted in multiple NIH/NCI awards.
Rajiv holds a BS in Pharmaceutical Sciences from MD University in India and MS/PhD in Interdisciplinary Pharmaceutical Sciences from Northeastern University in Boston.
Donald Nicholson, PhD
Executive Chairman
Donald Nicholson, PhD
Executive Chairman
Don is a medical scientist / entrepreneur with deep experience in both BioTech and large Pharma. Most recently he was the CEO of Nimbus Therapeutics, a computational sciences-based drug discovery BioTech focusing on immunology, metabolic diseases and oncology. Prior to that, he spent 25 years at Merck, culminating his career there as VP & Worldwide Discovery Head for multiple therapeutic areas (immunology, respiratory, endocrine, bone, muscle, urology & anemia). He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Western Ontario, and trained as an MRC post-doctoral fellow at the University of Munich. Don has co-authored more than 150 publications and is the recipient of multiple academic and professional honors. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Kymera, Generation Bio, Jnana and NodThera.
Kevin Bitterman, PhD
Partner, Atlas Venture
Kevin Bitterman, PhD
Partner, Atlas Venture
Kevin Bitterman focuses on creating and investing in companies that translate groundbreaking science into innovative medicines. Kevin serves on the boards of Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ: AKRO) and Navitor Pharmaceuticals. He is a co-founder and board member of Disc Therapeutics, and is chair of the board of Vedere Bio. He was the founding CEO of Editas Medicine (NASDAQ: EDIT), Morphic Therapeutic and Visterra (acquired by Otsuka), and co-founded Genocea Biosciences (NASDAQ: GNCA). Prior to joining Atlas Venture in 2017, Kevin was a partner at Polaris Partners, where he had been a member of the healthcare team since 2004. Kevin received a BA in biology, summa cum laude, from Rutgers University before completing his PhD in genetics at Harvard Medical School.
John Quisel, JD, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
John Quisel, JD, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
John is the CEO of Disc Medicine. Previously, John was Chief Business Officer at Acceleron Pharma, where he spent more than thirteen years helping to build the company from a privately-held startup to a public biotech (acquired by Merck & Co. for over $11 billion in 2021). At Acceleron, John served in various roles including General Counsel, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and finally Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer. John led the in-licensing of sotatercept for pulmonary hypertension from Bristol-Myers Squibb and helped negotiate the collaboration agreement governing the development and commercialization of luspatercept (now marketed as Reblozyl®️). Prior to Acceleron, John worked at the law firms of Ropes & Gray and Foley Hoag. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College, summa cum laude, MSc from Stanford University, PhD from MIT in Biological Sciences, and JD from Harvard Law School.
Liam Ratcliffe, MD, PhD
Head, Access Biotechnology
Liam Ratcliffe, MD, PhD
Head, Access Biotechnology
Liam Ratcliffe has served as Head of Biotechnology at Access Biotechnology since 2019. He was previously Managing Director at New Leaf Venture Partners, where he focused on investing in therapeutic and therapeutic platform companies for 10 years. Prior to joining New Leaf, Liam was Senior Vice President and Development Head for Neuroscience, as well as Worldwide Head of Clinical Research and Development at Pfizer, where he spent a total of 12 years. Liam received his medical degree and PhD in Immunology from the University of Cape Town and his MBA from the University of Michigan. He completed his internal medicine training and fellowship in Immunology at Groote Schuur Hospital and associated teaching hospitals in Cape Town, South Africa.
William White, MPP, JD
CFO, Akero Therapeutics
William White, MPP, JD
CFO, Akero Therapeutics
Bill White is the Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development at Akero Therapeutics. Prior to joining Akero, Bill spent 18 years as a life-science-focused investment banker. He was most recently Head of U.S. Life Sciences Investment Banking at Deutsche Bank, and previously worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. Prior to his time on Wall Street, Bill was an attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell and a Law Clerk to the Honorable Kimba M. Wood of the Southern District of New York. He holds an AB from Princeton, a MPP from Harvard, and a JD from Columbia.
Mona Ashiya, PhD
Partner, Orbimed Advisors
Mona Ashiya, PhD
Partner, Orbimed Advisors
Mona Ashiya is a Partner at OrbiMed Advisors LLC (“OrbiMed”) where she has been involved in a number of private and public company investments. Prior to joining OrbiMed in 2010, Mona covered the biotechnology industry as a member of J.P. Morgan’s biotechnology equity research team. Her previous experience includes positions at the Global Alliance for Tuberculosis Drug Development and the Harvard Business School. She earned a B.A. degree from the University of California at Berkeley, a Ph.D. in Cellular, Molecular, and Developmental Biology from the University of Pittsburgh, and was a post-doctoral fellow at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
Mark Chin, MS, MBA
Managing Director, Arix Bioscience
Mark Chin, MS, MBA
Managing Director, Arix Bioscience
Mark is an experienced venture capital investor, with significant experience as a board director of both private and public biotech companies in the US and Europe. Mark sourced and led Arix investments into key portfolio companies, including: VelosBio (acquired by Merck for $2.75bn), Amplyx Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer), Aura Biosciences, Harpoon Therapeutics (Nasdaq IPO) and Imara (Nasdaq IPO). He is currently a Board Director of Harpoon Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: HARP), Imara Inc. (Nasdaq: IMRA) and Iterum Therapeutics plc (Nasdaq: ITRM). Mark was previously a principal at Longitude Capital, where he focused on investments in biotechnology and medical technology companies. Prior to Longitude, he was a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group, where he was responsible for strategy and corporate development projects for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Before BCG, he worked in corporate development at Gilead Sciences and market planning at Genentech. He has an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, an MS in Biotechnology from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BS in Management Science from the University of California at San Diego.
Georges Gemayel, PhD
Former Executive Chair, Gemini Therapeutics
Georges Gemayel, PhD
Former Executive Chair, Gemini Therapeutics
Dr. Gemayel has over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including management and executive positions in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East. Dr. Gemayel currently serves on the board of directors of Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and is the chair of the boards of Dynacure, Enterome SA, and GlycoEra. Previously, Dr. Gemayel served as Executive Chair of FoldRx Pharmaceuticals and of Syndexa Pharmaceuticals, as Chair of Oxthera AB, Dimension Therapeutics, Orphazyme A/S, and Epitherapeutics and as Director of Prosensa, Raptor Pharmaceuticals, NPS Pharma, Momenta Pharmaceuticals and Adolor. From 2008 to 2009, Dr. Gemayel was President and Chief Executive Officer of Altus Pharmaceuticals Inc., a publicly traded pharmaceutical company. From 2003 to 2008, he was Executive Vice President at Genzyme Corporation where he was responsible for the company’s global therapeutics, transplant, renal and biosurgery businesses. From 1998 to 2003, he held progressively senior roles at Hoffmann Ltd. and Roche Labs, most recently as Vice President, National Specialty Care, responsible for its U.S. business for dermatology, oncology, transplantation, hepatitis and HIV. Dr. Gemayel completed his doctorate in pharmacy at St. Joseph University in Beirut, Lebanon, and earned a Ph.D. in pharmacology at University in Paris, France.
Mark Fleming, MD, DPhil
Pathologist-in-Chief, Department of Pathology, Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School
Mark Fleming, MD, DPhil
Pathologist-in-Chief, Department of Pathology, Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Fleming hematological pathologist, who has been involved in iron metabolism research for >25 years. His research focuses on the area of iron and hematology. He has lead or has been involved in multiple discoveries in this domain, including the description of the transmembrane iron transporter DMT1/SLC11A2, the identification of the transferrin cycle endosomal ferrireductase STEAP3, the detection of mutations in TMPRSS6 in individuals with iron refractory iron deficiency anemia (IRIDA), as well as finding multiple genes responsible for novel forms of congenital sideroblastic anemia.
Tomas Ganz, MD, PhD
Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Pathology, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA
Tomas Ganz, MD, PhD
Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Pathology, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA
Tomas Ganz is a Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Pathology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His research focus is on the biological role of peptide mediators in innate immunity and iron metabolism. He investigated the pathogenesis of anemia of inflammation and iron overload states, and discovered and characterized hepcidin and erythroferrone, the principal hormones of iron homeostasis. He has helped start three biotechnology enterprises, Intrinsic LifeSciences, Merganser Biotech, and Silarus Therapeutics, focused on the diagnostic and therapeutic applications of hepcidin and erythroferrone. Tomas has also been a scientific advisor to the leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
Elizabeta Nemeth, PhD
Professor of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA
Elizabeta Nemeth, PhD
Professor of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA
Elizabeta Nemeth is a Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and Director of the UCLA Center for Iron Disorders. She has made major contributions to the understanding of iron homeostasis and of its dysregulation in many diseases. She has described the role of hepcidin in various iron disorders including hereditary hemochromatosis, iron-loading anemias (e.g. β-thalassemia), and iron-restricted anemias associated with inflammation and chronic kidney disease. Elizabeta is currently serving as a standing member of the Molecular and Cellular Hematology Study Section of the National Institutes of Health. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Bioiron Society and a member of the Editorial Board of Blood. Elizabetha has helped start three biotechnology companies: Intrinsic LifeSciences, focused on developing iron diagnostics, Merganser Biotech, focused on developing hepcidin peptide therapeutics, and Silarus Therapeutics, focused on developing erythroferrone-targeted therapeutics.
Stefano Rivella, PhD
Professor of Pediatrics and Chair of Pediatric Hematology Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Stefano Rivella, PhD
Professor of Pediatrics and Chair of Pediatric Hematology Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Dr. Rivella has a long-term expertise in the pathophysiology and genetics of several disease of hematopoiesis-, inflammation-, and iron-related disorders as well as in the use of new drugs for for the cure of hemoglobinopathies. He characterized the role of seminal factors contributing to the morbidity and mortality in ß-thalassemia, sickle cell anemia, Polycythemia vera, hemochromatosis and in anemia of inflammation, such as such hepcidin, intereleukin-2 and ferroportin, the phosphokinase Jak2 and macrophages. For his research, Dr. Rivella has been awarded the New Investigator Award at the International Society of Experimental Hematology, the Sultan bin Khalifa International Thalassemia Federation Award, the Marcel Simon Award from the International BioIron Society (IBIS), numerous travel and fellowship awards from several international scientific societies, grants from the Cooley’s Anemia Foundation, Roche Foundation for Anemia Research (RoFAR) and 8 grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a PI.
Uma Sinha, PhD
CSO at BridgeBio Pharma, Former CSO at Global Blood Therapeutics
Uma Sinha, PhD
CSO at BridgeBio Pharma, Former CSO at Global Blood Therapeutics
Uma has served as Chief Scientific Officer of BridgeBio Pharma since April 2016. Previously, Uma served as CSO of Global Blood Therapeutics. She has extensive experience in discovery and preclinical development of agents involved in treatment of hematologic, cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases. At GBT, she supervised activities related to development of Voxelotor for sickle cell disease. Uma and her team were responsible for initiation and progression of programs leading to development of Bevyxxa and Andexxa at Portola Pharmaceuticals.
Srdan Verstovsek, MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine, Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Srdan Verstovsek, MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine, Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Dr. Verstovsek is a distinguished hematologist-oncologist and global leader in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). He is the founder and Director of the largest MPN Clinical Research Center worldwide, and has led over 60 clinical trials. He achieved international acclaim for his leadership in developing landmark therapeutics for MPN, which had a paucity of treatments prior to his era. He has published more than 500 articles in prominent medical journals. His profound contributions have been globally recognized with distinguished awards and numerous invitations as an expert speaker.