Investment Executives - Pappas Capital

Phillip Graham

Phill joined Pappas Capital in 2023. Prior to joining Pappas, he was Senior Associate Director at Duke Capital Partners where he helped lead the team’s deal sourcing, screening, diligence, and execution efforts, closing $50M+ in invested capital across 50+ transactions. Prior to Duke Capital Partners, he worked as a strategy consultant for Promontory Financial Group, focused on implementation of board governance, operations, and risk management best practices for institutional financial services firms. Before joining Promontory, he was a Sr. Analyst at Treliant Risk Advisors, where he led large-scale reviews on credit and mortgage products for financial services clients. He began his career as a consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton, developing requirements and test cases for the USDA’s $2B+ e-procurement system.

Education:

Washington and Lee University (BS in Business Administration and BA in Music)
The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University (MBA)

Lisa Dreyer - June 14, 2023 - No Comments

Catherine Yue, PhD

Catherine joined Pappas Capital in 2022 as an Associate. She brings to the table her experience as an entrepreneur, a startup ecosystem builder, a commercialization specialist, and an angel investor, especially in the deeptech area, as well as her deep understanding of the Asian startup ecosystem. Catherine is an engineer by training and after obtaining her PhD, she worked as a specialist in a state-owned utilities company to support plant operation, project bidding, technology evaluation and customer acquisition. She then gained knowledge on cross-border technology transfer between Singapore and China while working for a China-related technology transfer company in Singapore. Catherine's most recent involvement prior to joining Pappas was as Senior Incubation Director at a Singapore-based incubator, where she used her 10 years of experience to guide early start-ups in terms of product definition and design, early customer identification and support, market assessment, and financial analysis and planning. She also invested in deeptech companies as an angel investor. Catherine is an ESG advocate and has obtained her ESG Investing certificate from CFA Institute.

Education:
National University of Singapore (B.Eng in Environmental Engineering)
National University of Singapore (PhD in Environmental Engineering)

Lisa Dreyer - September 22, 2022 - No Comments

Brian Gibbs, PhD

Brian joined Pappas Capital in September 2022 as an Investment Analyst and Deal Flow Manager where he participates actively in deal flow management, investment opportunity evaluation, management of key strategic partnerships and identification of opportunities of strategic interest.

Prior to joining Pappas Capital, he was a Venture Analyst at Kineticos Ventures where he participated in investment opportunity evaluation and due diligence, and led the technology transfer outreach program to identify early-stage life science technologies from academic institutions. Prior to Kineticos, Brian worked as a Business Analyst at Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures in Baltimore, MD, where he managed a portfolio of technologies in oncology, neurology, research tools and stem cells for licensing, and assisted faculty in startup formation. Earlier in his career, he was a scientific advisor at Wilson Sonsini where he drafted patent applications and conducted patent landscape and freedom to operate analyses.

Brian completed his doctorate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was involved in research projects in genetics, congenital heart diseases and regenerative medicine. Brian also completed postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Pittsburgh, and at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in the Department of Cardiology where he studied cardiac regeneration and renewal during heart formation.

Education:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Ph.D.)
Stillman College (BS in Biology)

Lisa Dreyer - September 6, 2022 - No Comments

Drew Cutshaw, MD

Drew joined Pappas Capital in January 2020 as a Venture Fellow where he participated actively in investment opportunity evaluation, due diligence and deal flow management. Prior to joining Pappas Capital full-time, he worked as a resident physician in surgery at Washington University in St. Louis. He completed his medical degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was involved in research projects in otolaryngology, neurosurgery and medical education, and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. He also completed his MBA at UNC, earning concentrations in both Healthcare and Entrepreneurship/Venture Capital. He previously completed a research fellowship with Duke University Neurosurgery focusing on development of novel treatments for meningitis and neurologic cancers before medical school. He was a recipient of the Howard Hughes Summer Research Fellowship while at Duke University, with his research focusing on neurobiological basis of drug sensitization.

Drew currently serves as a board observer for CuraSen Therapeutics and Veralox Therapeutics.

Education:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (MD)
Kenan-Flagler Business School at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (MBA)
Duke University (BS in Neuroscience)

Lisa Dreyer - April 21, 2022 - No Comments

Elizabeth Kelly

Elizabeth joined Pappas Capital in 2021. Prior to joining Pappas, she consulted for early-stage life sciences and technology companies, coaching, and advising management teams on fundraising, growth, competitive and business development strategies. Elizabeth was previously part of the investment team at Echo Health Ventures, and its predecessor, Mosaic Health Solutions, both subsidiaries of Blue Cross NC. She worked on all aspects of the investment process, from identifying and evaluating digital health investment opportunities, to closing transactions and working with portfolio companies to accelerate growth strategies. Elizabeth structured the merger of Mosaic and Cambia Health Solutions’ investment teams that resulted in the launch of Echo in 2016. In addition, she took on an interim role advising Blue Cross NC on corporate development initiatives, contributing financial and operational expertise to set-up a payer-provider joint venture. Prior to Mosaic, Elizabeth had a variety of cross-functional responsibilities at Chimerix (NASDAQ: CMRX), a biopharmaceutical company developing antiviral therapies. In addition to playing a leadership role in the company’s 2013 IPO, she spearheaded activities in corporate development, finance, marketing, IR, and PR. She began her career as an Analyst at Pappas Ventures, where she managed the deal flow process and supported fundraising efforts for a $102 million new venture fund.

Education:

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – Kenan-Flagler Business School (MBA in Finance, Entrepreneurship)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (BA in Management, Spanish)

Lisa Dreyer - September 7, 2021 - No Comments