Annette, one of the co-founders of Vasarya Therapeutics, brings 20 years of biotech experience in corporate strategy, business development, new product planning, and private and public fund raising. Broadening Annette’s Ph.D. expertise in immunology she has worked in the therapeutic areas of oncology and immuno-oncology (IO), inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, metabolic disease, and fibrosis.

Annette was previously the Chief Business Officer at Elicio Therapeutics. Prior to Elicio, Annette held positions of increasing responsibility in corporate development at eFFECTOR, Receptos (acquired by Celgene for $7.2B), Facet Biotech (acquired by Abbott for $450M), and Biogen Idec. Annette was a consult at L.E.K. consulting prior to her entrepeutrial roles in biotech.

Tom, a co-founder of Vasarya Therapeutics and lead inventor of Vasarya's anti-fibrosis technology, is an International Leader with 20+ years of Academic experience as a Principal Investigator (>$15M in grant funding) in the study of wound healing, mechanisms of fibrosis, and biotechnological & bioengineering solutions. He is the Founding Director of the UVA Fibrosis Inititative, boasting 30+ faculty studying fibrosis in multiple organ systems and previously served as co-Director of the Pediatric Nanotechnology Center at GA Tech.

Tom has served as an expert witness and KOL in matters of fibrosis, fibrotic remodeling and drug targets to mitigate fibrotic outcomes. In addition to Vasarya, Tom co-founded SelSym Biotech in 2019, a start-up focused on “smart” nanotechnology for hemostasis applications in surgery and trauma.

John is a co-founder of Vasarya Therapeutics as well as a co-inventor of Vasarya’s anti-fibrosis technology. He was previously the Associate Director of Biolocity, a life sciences accelerator supporting early stage biomedical innovation at Georgia Tech and Emory University. Prior to Biolocity, John was a licensing associate for Emory’s Office of Technology Transfer, where he managed over 300 intellectual property assets and negotiated multiple licenses with biotech companies. A biomedical engineer by training, he received his PhD from the joint program at Georgia Tech and Emory University.

With 25 years of experience in biotechnology, Dr. Paul Frohna is a seasoned executive and physician-scientist with expertise in translational medicine, clinical development, and regulatory affairs spanning fibrosis, oncology/IO, immunology, neurodegeneration, and infectious diseases. Dr. Frohna led the clinical development of a novel anti-fibrotic for pulmonary fibrosis with positive Phase 2a results and designed the expanded Phase 2b WHISTLE-PF trial in IPF and PPF while CMO at Endeavor BioMedicines (USA). Prior to Endeavor, as CSO/CMO he led the discovery, research, and development of novel cancer and infectious disease immunotherapeutics at ImCheck Therapeutics (France) using mAbs targeting butyrophylins, a next generation family of checkpoint molecules. He has previously served in senior clinical development roles at Receptos, Fibrogen, and Genentech. Over his career, he has designed and overseen more than 50 clinical trials (Phases I–III) conducted in North/South America, Australia, Asia, and the EU/UK, and contributed to FDA and EMA regulatory filings for 5 approved products. He holds an M.D. degree from Georgetown University, a Ph.D. degree in Pharmacology from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Pharmacy Degree from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a Board Director for Accure Therapeutics (Spain) and on the Scientific & Clinical Advisory Board for IAMA Therapeutics (Italy), which focus on developing novel neurotherapeutics.