Board Members and Advisors
Paul Schimmel, Ph.D.
Dr. Schimmel is the Ernest and Jean Hahn Professor at the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology at the Scripps Research Institute. He was previously a Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the Department of Biology at MIT. Dr. Schimmel is co-author of more than 450 publications and a textbook on biophysical chemistry, is the holder of several patents and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Schimmel is a co-founder or co-founding director of several biotechnology companies, including Alkermes, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Momenta Pharmaceuticals and Repligen.
Dennis A. Ausiello, MD
Denny is the Director, Center for Assessment Technology and Continuous Health (CATCH). He was physician-in-Chief, Emeritus at Massachusetts General Hospital and Chief of Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital from 1996 until April 2013. Denny is the Jackson Distinguished Professor of Clinical Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and served as President of the Association of American Physicians in 2006. He is also a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Denny serves as a Director of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, TARIS BioMedical, Inc. and several non-profit organizations. Denny is also a member of the Pfizer Board of Directors, and the scientific advisory boards of Bind Therapeutics and Blend Therapeutics.
Amir Nashat, PhD
Amir is a managing partner in Polaris’ Boston office. Amir joined Polaris in April 2002 and focuses on investments in healthcare, consumer products and energy. Amir currently represents Polaris as a Director of AgBiome, aTyr Pharmaceuticals, BIND Therapeutics (NASDAQ: BIND), Fate Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FATE), Promedior Pharmaceuticals, Scholar Rock, and Selecta Biosciences. Additionally, Amir has served as a Director of Adnexus Therapeutics (acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb), Athenix Corporation (acquired by Bayer), Avila Therapeutics (acquired by Celgene), Living Proof, Pervasis Therapeutics (acquired by Shire Pharmaceuticals), Sun Catalytix (acquired by Lockheed MArtin) and served as a Board Observer of GI Dynamics (GID.AX). In addition to his role as an investor, Amir has also served as the initial CEO of Living Proof (known as Andora at the time), and Sun Catalytix Corporation.
Paulina Hill, PhD
Paulina is a Senior Associate at Polaris Partners. Paulina joined Polaris in 2011 and focuses on investments in healthcare. Prior to joining Polaris, Paulina completed her postdoctoral fellowship in the Chemical Engineering department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In the laboratory of Bob Langer, Paulina worked on developing novel biomaterial scaffolds and drug delivery systems for neural applications. Paulina is the founding president of the MIT Postdoctoral Association, was nominated to and serves on the MIT Intellectual Property Presidential Committee, and is on the fundraising committee of the nonprofit Women Entrepreneurs in Science & Technology.
Jeffrey Bland, Ph.D., FACN, FACB
Dr. Bland is an internationally recognized leader in the nutritional medicine field. He is currently also Founder and President of the not-for-profit Personalized Lifestyle Medicine Institute. He previously served as President and CSO of Metagenics and was the founder and CEO of Healthcomm International. Dr. Bland began his career as a Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Puget Sound and as a Director of Nutritional Research at the Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine.
Jeffrey Katke
Jeff is a Managing Principal of Avistone, a real estate investment management firm. He was the founder and CEO of Metagenics Inc., a nutrigenomics and lifestyle medicine company, from 1983 to 2010. Under Jeffrey’s leadership, the company, which began operations in Southern California 30 years ago, grew to an international presence with manufacturing and/or distribution facilities located in 46 counties, employing over 1,000, offering over 1,200 products to more than 75,000 healthcare providers. During his tenure as CEO of Metagenics, Jeffrey received numerous honors and awards, including the “Family Business of the Year” award by Chapman College, winner of “Equity Deal of the Year” award by Orange County Institute for Corporate Development, and was nominated for Entrepreneur of the Year in Orange County California by Ernst & Young. In 2009, Jeffrey negotiated the sale of Metagenics.
George Conrades, MBA
George is a Venture Partner and Partner Emeritus at Polaris Partners, Managing Partner of Longfellow Venture Partners and Chairman of the Board of Akamai Technologies. He served as CEO of Akamai Technologies Network24 Communications, and BBN, and as an Executive Vice President and President of GTE Corporation’s Internetworking following its acquisition of BBN, and as President of Genuity, Inc. and Senior Vice President for Corporate Marketing and Services and Member Corporate Management Board at IBM. In addition, George is a Director of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Raytheon BBN Technologies, Harley-Davidson, Cardinal Health and Oracle Corporation.
Roger Colman, MBA
Roger is Vice President of Acquisitions for Alticor Corporate Enterprises. He is responsible for leading acquisitions for the division and providing business partnership to acquired non-core entities. Roger joined Alticor in 1994 and has held numerous positions, most recently serving as Vice President of Finance, overseeing corporate acquisitions. He serves on the boards of Gurwitch Products, LLC, headquartered in Houston, Texas, and Metagenics, headquartered in San Clemente, Calif. He also is a board member of Junior Achievement of West Michigan, and a past board member of the Southwest YMCA Grand Rapids.