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Management Team and Executive Advisors Robert Paull
Robert is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Lux Capital, focusing on ventures in life sciences. Robert graduated from the University of Virginia and is a member of the Regional Selection Committee for UVA's Jefferson Scholars Foundation. Robert is also a member of Motorola's Research Visionary Board and an invited lecturer at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the National Cancer Institute, Yale University, Georgetown, and the University of Virginia. He has been published in Journal of Biomedical Materials Research(Applied Biomaterials) and Nature Biotechnology. Robert manages Lux Capital's investments in Cerulean Pharmaceuticals (pharmaceutical nanoencapsulation), Magen Biosciences (dermatology) [Acquired by PPD], Molecular Imprints (semiconductor imprint lithography), Kereos (targeted nanoparticle diagnostics), and Visterra, Inc. (infectious diseases). Robert was founding CEO and is currently on the board of directors at Harvard Medical School spinout Genocea Biosciences (vaccine discovery). In 2009, Robert was nominated as Biotech CEO of the Year at the World Vaccine Congress. In 2010, Robert was selected as one of the "100 of the Most Inspiring People" by PharmaVoice Magazine. Robert is Co-Founder of Lux Research (emerging technology research), and has served as an advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Hongming Chen, Sc.D.
Hongming joined Kala from TransForm Pharmaceuticals, where she was Director of Formulation Development responsible for formulation design for drugs and drug/device combinations. Dr. Chen started as the first employee at TransForm and helped to define and execute the business strategies that ultimately led to its acquisition by Johnson&Johnson in 2005 for $230MM. Before joining TransForm, Dr. Chen conducted vaccine delivery research and development at AstraZeneca from 1997 to 2000, and at Merck Research Laboratories from 1996 to 1997. Dr. Chen received her B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from University Texas at Austin in 1992, and her Master and Sc.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1995 and 1996, respectively. Her doctorial thesis work, performed under Prof. Robert Langer, was in the field of nano-colloidal systems for oral drug and vaccine delivery. Her graduate work was awarded the Controlled Release Society-Cygnus Graduate Student Award for Outstanding Research in Drug Delivery in 1996. Dr. Chen is the co-author of 35 publications and patents and she is currently Co-Chair of the Controlled Release Society Capsugel Award Committee. Kevin Pojasek, Ph.D.
Kevin joined Kala in February, 2011 to oversee the company's corporate development efforts, including product strategy, operations, and business development. Dr. Pojasek joined Kala from Satori Pharmaceuticals where, as Executive Director of Development and a member of the executive leadership team, he was responsible for the company's late preclinical and clinical development strategy and execution. Prior to Satori, Dr. Pojasek was a co-founder and the Executive Director of Development at Solace Pharmaceuticals where he oversaw the development of the company's lead compound, including the execution of a global Phase II neuropathic pain study. Dr. Pojasek also spent 3 years at PureTech Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm, where he led the formation and management of several life science companies based on innovative technologies from diverse scientific fields. Dr. Pojasek received his PhD from the Biological Engineering Department at MIT and his BA from the Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Peter Courossi
Peter joined Kala in February, 2011 as Chief Financial Officer. He is a financial executive with 20 years of experience managing many aspects of early-stage technology companies including finance, accounting, human resources, and operations. He has successfully closed two initial public offerings and has been involved with several high-growth biotechnology start-ups backed by venture capital. Peter's experience includes positions at Visterra, Aveo Pharmaceuticals, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Acceleron Pharma, and TransForm Pharmaceuticals. Peter is a CPA and holds an MBA from Babson College. Colin Gardner, Ph.D.
Colin was born and educated in Scotland, receiving a BSc and Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Glasgow. After post-doctoral studies at Harvard Medical School (Biophysics) and MIT (Chemical Engineering), he returned to Europe and spent 2 years in the chemistry department at the University of Aberdeen followed by 6 years in drug discovery at the Merrell International Research Center in Strasbourg. Thereafter he joined Merck and Co. in the US, spending the first 4 years as a leader in a drug delivery group. He was then appointed to develop and lead a more effective interface between drug discovery and early pharmaceutical development; he pioneered the paradigm of early intervention which has become the standard in the industry. He progressed in the department to become VP and Global Head of formulation design and development for all Merck products - he was involved in the development of 16 small molecule NCEs whose combined maximum annual sales averaged $20Bn and three major vaccines. In 2001, Colin took early retirement from Merck to become the CSO of a start-up formulation company (TransForm Pharmaceuticals) in the Boston area. Four years later TransForm was acquired by Johnson & Johnson and led to major changes in the way in which J&J integrated discovery and early development. Colin stayed on as the President and Site Leader of TransForm. Colin retired from TransForm/J&J in June 2009 and is now an industry consultant.
Howie Rosen
Howie is an independent consultant and serves on the board of directors of AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACRX), CNS Therapeutics, Inc., PaxVax, Inc. and Pearl Therapeutics, Inc., where he served as interim President and CEO from June 2010 to March 2011. From 2004 to 2008, he was Vice President, Commercial Strategy at Gilead Sciences, Inc. where his responsibilities included strategic marketing, global brand management, health economics, competitive intelligence, market research and Gilead's overall portfolio and business planning. Prior to joining Gilead, Mr. Rosen was President of ALZA Corporation/J&J where he was responsible for all aspects of managing ALZA as an independent 1000-person operating company within the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies. Previously at ALZA as Vice President, Product Development, he was responsible for product development activities, portfolio management and corporate and new product planning. Over his 10 years at ALZA, Mr. Rosen also had responsibilities for mergers and acquisitions, R&D planning, and technology ventures. Prior to joining ALZA, Mr. Rosen managed the west coast practice of Integral, Inc., was Director, Corporate Development at GenPharm International, Inc. and was a consultant in the San Francisco office of McKinsey & Co. Mr. Rosen is a member of the Stanford University Advisory Council on Interdisciplinary Biosciences and was a member of the Stanford School of Engineering Advisory Council from 2004 to 2007. Mr. Rosen is also a member of the Biomedical Engineering Advisory Board at City College of New York and the BOD of the MIT Club of Northern California. Previously he was a member of the BODs of CoTherix, Inc and Pharsight Corporation. Mr. Rosen is a lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Stanford and teaches entrepreneurship at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering and co-inventor on 7 US patents. Mr. Rosen received an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he graduated first in his class as the Henry Ford II Scholar. Mr. Rosen has an MS in Chemical Engineering from MIT and he graduated with distinction from Stanford University with a BS in Chemical Engineering.
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