Partner

Robert Blazej, PhD

Robert Blazej, PhD is a Partner based in our San Francisco office. He invests in early stage life science companies and is responsible for coordination of firmwide diligence efforts on new investment opportunities. Robert currently holds board roles at Telo Therapeutics, Photoswitch BioSciences, and Dren Bio. Robert is a passionate biotechnologist with a diverse skill set spanning business, life science, engineering and intellectual property. He brings more than 10 years of small and big company operational experience to our team. As an entrepreneur, he co-founded Allopartis Biotechnologies out of QB3’s original “garage” incubator at UCSF and has been hooked on entrepreneurship ever since. Allopartis was acquired by Novozymes in 2013, becoming Novozymes’ Digital Biotechnology research site in San Francisco which Robert directed before joining Mission BioCapital in 2017.  He holds a B.A. in Molecular Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley and a Ph.D. in Bioengineering jointly from the University of California, San Francisco and Berkeley.

Partner

Cassidy Blundell, PhD

Cassidy Blundell, PhD is a Partner based in our Cambridge office. She focuses on new investments in therapeutics companies as well as company building with interim operational roles at MBC portfolio companies. She is a Board Director at Progentos Therapeutics, Mediar Therapeutics, Volnay Therapeutics, and ARase Therapeutics and a Board Observer at Vaxess Technologies. Before joining the firm as an analyst in 2018, Cassidy completed her graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania in the HHMI Interfaces program. Cassidy’s doctorate research focused on development of microengineered in vitro systems to study the human placenta, which were used to investigate maternal-fetal transport and placental development. Cassidy holds a PhD in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University, where she was a member of the Tau Beta Pi Honor Society.

Director of Operations, Cambridge

Mark Byrnes

Mark Byrnes is Director of Operations in our Cambridge office. His responsibilities encompass overall administrative functions. Mark supports the infrastructure backbone of the organization and coordination of the full team in all locations.  He also manages key aspects of our interface with investors and portfolio companies. Prior to joining BioInnovation Capital in 2016, Mark was at Ampersand Capital Partners in Wellesley, MA for more than 20 years in a similar role. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Northeastern University.

Chief Operations Officer and Chief Compliance Officer

Chris Carlin

Chris Carlin is Chief Operations Officer and Chief Compliance Officer in our Cambridge office.  He is responsible for regulatory compliance, ensuring company policies are up to date and implemented, and the oversight of an infrastructure to educate and train employees on new compliance requirements. He is also responsible for third-party vendor relations and diligence, IT and cybersecurity, risk management, and oversees the day-to-day back-office operations of the fund.  

Prior to joining the firm in 2017, Chris spent 30 years in financial services, with the last 24 years at State Street Corporation.  He has a breadth of experience with the daily administration of the business, project management, governance, regulatory compliance, and operational risk management. Chris holds a B. A in Political Science from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio and an M.B.A. in Finance from Boston College. 

Partner

Zach Collins, PhD

Zach Collins, PhD is a Partner in our San Francisco office.  He focuses on investments in early-stage biopharmaceutical companies and launching early-stage company operations in collaboration with entrepreneurs at times through interim executive roles. He holds board roles at SiteOne Therapeutics, Cavalry Biosciences, Nuvig Therapeutics, Jupiter Bioventures and Telo Therapeutics. At MBC Biolabs, Zach supports startups as an Entrepreneur Success Partner. His training is in molecular biology & genetics. His academic work applied genome editing, single-cell sequencing, and live-imaging tools to study stem-cell differentiation in the vertebrate embryo. While at Harvard Medical School, Zach co-authored work that was recognized by Science as 2018’s Breakthrough of the Year. Zach holds a Ph.D. in Biological and Biomedical Sciences from Harvard University and a B.S. in Biology from George Washington University.

Managing General Partner

Douglas Crawford, PhD

Doug Crawford, PhD is a Managing General Partner at Mission BioCapital in our San Francisco office. He focuses on seed and early stage biopharmaceutical investments as well as overall management of the firm. He currently holds board roles at Alessa Therapeutics, Avexegen Therapeutics, Epiodyne, Graphwear Technologies, Invenio, Magnamosis, Magnap, Mitokinin, SiteOne, and Tangible Science. Doug also runs our labs in the Bay Area, MBC BioLabs.  Doug has made over 40 other investments in the Mission BioCapital portfolio including Alector Therapeutics, Caribou, Cell Design Labs, eFFECTOR, iPierian, Principia Biopharma, Redwood BioSciences, and Zymergen.

Doug has been helping entrepreneurial scientists launch biotech startups since 2004.  He created the first technical incubator for the University of California system while an associate director of QB3. This initiative demonstrated a new and better way to launch life-science startups.  Based on that success Doug founded Mission Bay Capital, a predecessor to Mission BioCapital. In 2013, he created the first of 5 co-working labs for MBC BioLabs. These Bay Area labs allow companies with nothing more than a dream and a credit card to become a viable biotech company. They have been home to 240 companies that have brought 88 drug programs to the clinic, 71 therapeutic products to market, and raised over $10 billion.

Doug received his PhD in biochemistry from UCSF where he studied the regulation of aging.

Director of Operations, Bay Area

Linda Eng

Linda Eng is Director of Operations for Mission BioCapital’s San Francisco office, helping the team track new investment prospects, organizing meetings, and providing administrative support. Linda is also Chief People Person at MBC BioLabs, where she manages space and lease interactions, application processes, and facilities. Linda worked within UCSF’s Department of Hematology and Oncology as Program Manager of the Translational Research Program under the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, an NCI cooperative group. While there, her role grew into Program Manager of the Prostate Cancer Research Program for UCSF’s Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.

General Partner

Johannes Fruehauf, MD PhD

Johannes Fruehauf, MD PhD is a General Partner in our Cambridge office. Johannes sources, diligences, and leads new investment transactions and has board roles at various portfolio companies including Arkuda, QurAlis, Vaxess Technologies, and Sentien Biotechnologies and previously for Tidal Therapeutics, Totient, and Pandion. His background includes time as a physician working in diverse health systems as well as 20+ years as a serial biotech entrepreneur. 

Through his passionate vision of re-defining life science start-up ecosystems, he is the Co-Founder and President of LabCentral, the preeminent public-private partnership model for life science incubator space. He is also CEO for BioLabs, the operator of laboratory co-working spaces for startups nationwide.  LabCentral, BioLabs and MBC BioLabs currently serve over 385 startups in 8 geographies.  The companies started within this network now routinely account for over 20% of all Seed and Series A venture capital invested in life sciences in the US. 

Johannes graduated from the University of Frankfurt and received his doctorate from the University of Heidelberg. He studied medicine in Germany and France, while also conducting field work in Africa (Zimbabwe and Guinea). He has received numerous awards and recognitions for his scientific and entrepreneurial work, including the EY Entrepreneur of the Year (New England) and Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year awards.

Partner

Jennifer Griffin, PhD

Jennifer Griffin, PhD is a Partner in our Cambridge office where she focuses on fund strategy and investor relations. Jennifer has spent the last 10+ years accelerating early-stage life science companies through direct investing, as well as creating ecosystems for them to thrive. As a VP at the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC), she designed and executed the Commonwealth’s investment strategy with a particular focus on developing underserved and underrepresented markets and talent within the industry. Before this, she served as a management and strategy consultant at Back Bay Life Science Advisors.  She began her career as a licensing professional at MIT’s Technology Licensing Office working with faculty, entrepreneurs, and investors to commercialize early-stage life science innovations. 

Jennifer holds a B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where she studied the genetic basis of mycobacterial cholesterol utilization.

Vice President of Finance

Samar Jahan

Samar Jahan is Vice President of Finance in our Cambridge office. She is responsible for managing the firm’s financial reporting and overseeing fund-related financial reporting and tax work. Prior to joining Mission BioCapital, she worked at HarbourVest Partners, a leading global private equity investment firm, where she managed financial reporting for funds and the SSAE 16 control audit for the firm. She has extensive financial and operational experience. Samar’s career began at PriceWaterhouseCoopers as a member of the assurance and advisory practice with a focus on financial services. She holds a Bachelor’s degree with a concentration in Accounting, Finance and Economics from University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

General Partner

Ulrik B. Nielsen

Ulrik B. Nielsen, Ph.D. is a General Partner in our Cambridge office. Ulrik is a seasoned entrepreneur, accomplished drug scientist and executive, and board director with deep expertise in therapeutic innovation and drug development. He currently serves as Chairman of Volnay Therapeutics, Unikum Therapeutics, Troya Therapeutics, and Notch Therapeutics, and as a board member of Alloy Therapeutics. Ulrik co-founded and served as CEO of Tidal Therapeutics, acquired by Sanofi in 2021. He was also previously co-founder and CEO of Torque Therapeutics (now Repertoire Immune Medicines). Earlier in his career, he co-founded Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, where he was Chief Scientific Officer until 2015. At Merrimack, his team advanced five novel cancer therapeutics into clinical development. The company went public in 2012 and achieved FDA approval for Onivyde, a treatment for pancreatic cancer in 2015. He trained at the University of California, San Francisco, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and holds a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Copenhagen.

Accounting and Operations Associate

Nana Kusi Minkah

Nana Kusi Minkah is an Accounting and Operations Associate in our Cambridge office. He is responsible for accounting and cash management for our venture capital funds, including managing accounts payable and receivable, and preparing financial statements. Nana joined the firm in June 2024, bringing valuable experience from his previous role as a Sr. Operations Associate at The Engine Accelerator, where he managed accounts and coordinated events. He holds a B.S. in Finance from Boston College.

Chief Financial Officer

Loretta McClary

Loretta McClary is the Chief Financial Officer in the Cambridge Office. She is responsible for managing tax and legal issues of the funds and overseeing the financial operation. As both a CPA and an attorney, she has more than 25 years’ experience in the private equity field specializing in tax planning and financial reporting. Loretta holds an MBA and JD from Suffolk University, an MST from Bentley University and an LLM from Boston University. 

Managing General Partner

Peter Parker

Peter Parker is a Managing General Partner based in our Cambridge office. He focuses on new investments in life science tools, therapeutics, and drug delivery as well as overall management of the firm. He is currently a board member at Alessa, Mitokinin, Mediar, PhotoSwitch BioSciences, Comet and Arclight Therapeutics. For the past three decades, Peter has focused on early-stage company formation, funding, and growth and has been an equity investor and board member in over 35 life science companies. He was previously a General Partner at  Ampersand Ventures from 1989-2006 and co-led the establishment of their life sciences franchise.  For the past 10 years, Peter has played a major role in the greater Boston/Cambridge start-up ecosystem. At MassChallenge, he was the first healthcare/life sciences ‘Champion’ from 2012-2017.  He also co-founded LabCentral with Johannes Fruehauf.  In 2014, Peter was appointed to the Board of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center by Governor Deval Patrick.   

Prior to Ampersand, Peter was head of worldwide R&D for AMAX Inc, a Fortune 50 industrial company. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University. 

Principal

Chaya Patel, PhD

Chaya D. Patel, PhD is a Principal in our Cambridge office, where she identifies and evaluates new investment opportunities and provides support to our portfolio companies through operational roles. Since joining our firm in 2021, Chaya has supported our investments in Arclight Therapeutics, ImmunOs, and Eikonizo Therapeutics through Board Observer roles. She is also active in the Boston venture ecosystem as a leader for the Emerging Venture Capitalists Association (EVCA). Prior to joining us, she was focused on venture creation at a family office, contributing to the development of Alloy Therapeutics. Chaya earned her PhD from Dartmouth, where her research advanced the understanding of creating maternal immunity to prevent neonatal viral infections. She received her B.S. in Microbiology and Immunology from UCLA. 

Investment Analyst

Clay Rowland

Clay Rowland is an Analyst in our San Francisco office, where he works to support new investments in therapeutics companies. He joined the firm in 2025 and most recently worked as an Associate at the T1D Fund, where he worked on sourcing and executing private and public biotech investments, and also held several board observer roles in portfolio companies. Prior to becoming an investor, Clay worked in corporate development at Syros Pharmaceuticals where he helped develop and execute the company’s business development strategy and was involved across all stages of both in-licensing and out-licensing transactions. He started his career as a Consultant at Artisan Healthcare Consulting, working with large pharmaceutical and biotech clients. He received his B.A. in Biology from Colby College and minored in Economics.

Operating Partner

Michael Taylor, PhD

Michael D. Taylor, PhD is an Operating Partner at Mission BioCapital in our Cambridge office. He provides management and operational leadership to portfolio companies, and is currently serving as Executive Chairman at ARase Therapeutics, Telo Therapeutics, Mitokinin, and Epiodyne. Previously, he served as President and CEO of Deciphera Pharmaceuticals from 2014 – 2019.  Prior to joining Deciphera, Dr. Taylor was CEO of Ensemble Therapeutics, a small molecule drug discovery company, from 2007 to 2013. Prior to joining Ensemble, Dr. Taylor was Senior Vice President for Pfizer’s Global R&D division and served as Vice President, Drug Development at Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis, where he led early and late-stage development projects across multiple therapeutic areas, including Lipitor® and Neurontin®.  

Dr. Taylor has authored or coauthored 65 manuscripts, published numerous abstracts, and is co-inventor on eight patents. Dr. Taylor holds a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Pharmacy, was awarded an NIH postdoctoral fellowship in natural products synthesis and structure elucidation at the University of Pennsylvania and holds a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of South Florida. 

Venture Operations Analyst

Sarika Temme-Bapat

Sarika Temme-Bapat is a Venture Operations Analyst based in our Cambridge office. She supports the diligence team and is involved in the operation of MBC’s Platinum Program. Before joining the firm in 2024, Sarika was a Senior Analyst at ClearView Healthcare Partners, a life sciences consulting firm in the Boston area, where her work focused on pricing and market access strategy for pharmaceutical companies. Sarika holds a B.A. in Biological Sciences and a B.S. in Statistics from the University of Chicago.

Managing General Partner

Steve Tregay, PhD

Steve Tregay, PhD is a Managing General Partner based in our Cambridge office. He focuses on new therapeutics investments with a particular emphasis on company creation opportunities as well as on overall management of the firm. Within the Mission BioCapital portfolio, he is currently founding CEO and board member of Arclight Therapeutics, LLC, a founding board member at Jupiter BioVentures LLC, and has board roles at Vedere Bio and Nocion Therapeutics. In addition, Steve serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors at LabCentral. He is a Harvard Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator Advisory Committee member and is a member of the board of advisors for the non-profit Life Sciences Cares. 

Previously, Steve was the Founder and CEO of FORMA Therapeutics. Additional roles held prior to his engagement at FORMA include Managing Director for the Novartis Venture Fund and Executive Director & Head of Strategic Alliances for Oncology, Ophthalmology and Technologies at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research. Prior to Novartis, he held roles in research and business development at Array BioPharma.

Steve received his doctoral and Master’s degrees in organic chemistry from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s from Davidson College.