Venture Partners, Executives-in-Residence and Advisors

Bruce Sullenger, PhD

Bruce's research program is focused on the discovery and development of novel RNA therapeutics. As a postdoctoral fellow in Tom Cech’s lab, he developed a detailed working knowledge of nucleic acid biochemistry and during his 30 years on the faculty at Duke, he developed one of the pre-eminent academic laboratories exploring the potential utility of nucleic acid aptamers as therapeutic agents. In particular, his group invented novel methods to control the activity of coagulation factors using aptamers and matched antidotes and has translated this invention/discovery into 8 clinical studies with over 2,000 patients including a phase 2 clinical trial evaluating an aptamer against VWF that is currently enrolling ischemic stroke patients. In addition, Bruce has worked closely with the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors and has held numerous positions on scientific societies in the nucleic acid therapeutic space. Finally, he is an entrepreneur and founder of five biotechnology companies and has served as a consultant for three large pharmaceutical companies and as an SAB member for several biotechnology companies.

Education:

Indiana University (BS Biology)
Cornell University (PhD Molecular Biology)
University of Colorado (Postdoc Biochemistry)

Lisa Dreyer - February 11, 2025 - No Comments

Charles Gersbach, PhD

Dr. Gersbach is the John W. Strohbehn Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University, the Director of the Duke Center for Biomolecular and Tissue Engineering, and the Director of the Duke Center for Advanced Genomic Technologies. His research interests are in genome and epigenome editing, gene therapy, regenerative medicine, biomolecular and cellular engineering, synthetic biology, and genomics. His work has led to new approaches to study genome structure and function, program cell biology, and treat genetic disease. Dr. Gersbach’s work has been recognized through awards including the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, the NSF CAREER Award, the Outstanding New Investigator Award from the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, and induction as a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and member of the National Academy of Inventors. He is also the co-founder of three biotechnology companies and an advisor to several others.

Lisa Dreyer - February 27, 2024 - No Comments

Rodolphe Barrangou, PhD

Dr. Barrangou is the T. R. Klaenhammer Distinguished Professor at North Carolina State University. He is focusing on the characterization of CRISPR-Cas systems and their applications in bacteria. Dr. Barrangou spent 9 years in R&D and M&A at Danisco and DuPont, and has been at NC State since 2013. He has received several international awards, and was elected into the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Inventors. Dr. Barrangou is a co-founder of Intellia Therapeutics, Locus Biosciences, TreeCo, Ancilia Biosciences and CRISPR Biotechnologies, and the Editor in Chief of the CRISPR Journal. He earned a BS in Biological Sciences from Rene Descartes University, France, an MS in Biological Engineering from the University of Technology in Compiegne, France, an MS in Food Science from NC State, a PhD in Genomics from NC State, and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Lisa Dreyer - February 16, 2024 - No Comments

Donald McDonnell, PhD

Dr. McDonnell is a Glaxo Welcome Professor of Molecular Cancer Biology in the Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at the Duke University School of Medicine, as well as Associate Director of Translational Research at the Duke Cancer Institute. Dr. McDonnell is a translational scientist who employs genetics, biochemistry, and chemical biology to probe the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathobiology of dysregulated hormone signaling in different cancers. His group discovered a new class of medicines (oral Selective Estrogen Receptor Downregulators; SERDs), thirteen of which are currently in clinical trials. Notable was his group’s discovery of Elacestrant (FDA approved January 2023) and Lasofoxifene (Phase III) as treatments for metastatic breast cancer. They are also developing new approaches to target the androgen signaling axis in metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer. In recent years, his group has embarked on a major effort to understand how sex hormones impact tumor immunity through their ability to regulate immune cell repertoire and function. The clinical translation of insights from this work is a current focus of the group’s efforts. Dr. McDonnell and his team have also had a longstanding interest in defining the mechanisms by which hypercholesterolemia and dyslipidemia impact cancer biology. This research has been funded continuously for 33 years by the NCI/NIH, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the Komen Foundation, and the Department of Defense. Dr. McDonnell is a recipient of a DOD Breast Cancer Innovator Award and is a Komen Scholar. He is a Member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Inventors.

Lisa Dreyer - February 16, 2024 - No Comments

Manesh Patel, MD

Dr. Patel is Chief of the Division of Cardiology and Director of the Duke Heart Center. His clinical interests include diagnostic and interventional coronary angiography, peripheral angiography and percutaneous intervention. His research interest in therapies for athero-thrombosis in the coronary and peripheral vascular arteries has been highlighted by leading several multi-center PCI trials. He also led the Peripheral Academic Research Consortium (PARC) on peripheral artery definitions and is working on defining and improving patient outcomes with cardiovascular disease. In 2016, he was elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI). In 2020, Dr. Patel was named the endowed Distinguished Richard S. Stack Professor. In 2022, he received the Duke School of Medicine Career Mentoring Award, and was named the Ron Stoney Vascular Hero by Vascular Cures, a non-profit patient organization aimed at improving vascular health. In 2023, Dr. Patel was named the AHA Physician of the year. Dr. Patel has published over 400 peer-reviewed articles in high impact journals and has been named in the top 1% of cited researchers by Clarivate Analytics. Dr. Patel received his medical degree from Emory University School of Medicine in 1997. He completed his residency at Duke in 2000, followed by fellowships in cardiology and interventional cardiology at Duke University and a clinical research fellowship at the Duke Clinical Research Institute.

Lisa Dreyer - February 15, 2024 - No Comments

William Pay

William joined Pappas Capital in 2023 as a Venture Partner. Prior to joining Pappas, he was the Founding Managing Director for Asia at Bryan Garnier & Co., a leading European boutique investment bank headquartered in Paris with over 180 bankers. In this role, he specialized in advising mid-cap, high-growth, and disruptive companies.

William has served for many years as an advisor to EPS Holdings, one of the largest privately held clinical CROs headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. He also holds an advisory position serving the Chairman of Hong Kong WinHealth Pharma Group, a prominent pharmaceutical company focused on commercialization of rare diseases and specialty pharmaceuticals in the Greater China region.

Before transitioning to the investment sector, William’s last corporate role was with Bayer Healthcare in the Far East as the Chief of Strategic Sourcing. He led a cross-category strategic sourcing and quality compliance team, managing a volatile supply chain with an annual spend of half a billion euros. Prior to joining Bayer in July 2012, William held various globally-based strategic sourcing and business development/sales marketing positions of increasing responsibility at Takeda (Singapore), Johnson & Johnson (California), and Pfizer (NYC and Madrid) on the buy side, and for PPD (then part of the Carlyle Group and now part of Thermo Fisher) and Quintiles Transnational (now rebranded as IQVIA) on the supply side. His career has spanned over 25 years across Singapore, the US, Europe, and China.

William is a member of the BayHelix Group, a non-profit professional organization of business leaders from the investment and health-tech communities. The group’s mission is to shape the growth of the life science industry, foster business collaborations, and share information and career experiences among its members. Educated in both China and the US, William is based in Wuxi near Shanghai. He is fluent in English and Mandarin Chinese.

Lisa Dreyer - October 20, 2022 - No Comments

Richard Staub

Richard joined Pappas Capital in 2022 as a Venture Partner and is currently the President of R&D Solutions at IQVIA. Supported by high-powered information and technology assets, the clinical experts in R&D Solutions leverage comprehensive evidence-driven trial design, accelerate site activation and patient recruitment, and optimize trial execution. Richard also serves as chair of the R&D Solutions Executive Committee. Prior to his role as President of IQVIA's R&D Solutions business unit, Richard was president of Novella Clinical, a specialty clinical research organization acquired by Quintiles in 2013, and the leader of QuintilesIMS’s Global Functional Resourcing business. Richard joined Novella in 2004 and served as president and CEO from 2008-2013. Under his leadership, Novella became a distinctively agile, results oriented CRO in the highly complex and fast-growing areas of specialty pharma and medical technology. Prior to Novella, Richard was senior vice president of global business development for one of the world’s largest CROs. His career in the pharmaceutical industry began at Zeneca Pharmaceuticals in 1989, where he was given increasing responsibilities as a medical and hospital sales representative, cardiovascular portfolio analyst and marketing manager.

Education:

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (BA in Economics)

Lisa Dreyer - October 11, 2022 - No Comments

Catherine Yue, PhD

Catherine joined Pappas Capital in 2022, covering deal sourcing, investment opportunity evaluation, due diligence and network building in Singapore, Hong Kong and Mainland China. She brings to the Pappas team a strong understanding of the start-up ecosystem in Asia based on her deep tech experience as an entrepreneur, start-up ecosystem builder, and angel investor. Catherine started her career as an engineering specialist for a state-owned utilities company, supporting technical and commercial operations and cross-border transactions in both Singapore- and China-based companies. Catherine is an ESG advocate and received a Certificate in ESG Investing from the 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

Tina Wong-Russell

Tina is an Advisor to Pappas Capital and is also a consultant and executive coach to clients in both the public and private sectors. She brings a global perspective from years of working in Europe, Latin and North America, and especially Asia. Her consulting engagements have included strategies and programs in organizational development and talent management initiatives, such as leadership development, performance & talent management, succession planning and learning & development. Tina’s experience spans multiple industries and multinational organizations, with emphasis in life sciences and technology ranging from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups. She has also had multi-year consulting engagements with Federal Government Agencies, including Homeland Security and NASA. She was a board member of the National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP) in Boston from 2014-2023, and is fluent in Chinese.

Education:

Boston University (MBA)
Illinois State University (BS in Communications)

Lisa Dreyer - September 16, 2021 - No Comments

Thyagi Thyagarajan

Thyagi is a Special Advisor to Pappas Capital. A 38-year veteran of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Thyagi is actively involved as an advisor/mentor to a Singapore-based med-tech start-up and a venture-funded healthcare company in India. He has been an independent non-executive director on boards of global companies such as Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Varian Medical Systems, and the Murugappa Group of Companies, a leading family-owned conglomerate in South India.

Thyagi’s tenure with GSK included senior executive roles as Marketing Consultant in Spain and Europe, Marketing Director of Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe, and Managing Director of GSK India, culminating with his role as Regional Director and Senior Vice President of GSK Asia Pacific. In this capacity, he was a member of the International Management Team of GSK. Thyagi was also chairman of PhRMA (Pharmaceutical Research Manufacturers of America) for Asia from 2005 to 2008, leading the industry’s advocacy with governments in the region. Before his retirement from GSK in 2008, Thyagi served on the Board of International Enterprise (I.E.) Singapore, a statutory board of the Government of Singapore responsible for promoting Singapore’s overseas trade, and as vice-chairman and non-executive director on the board of GlaxoSmithKline Ltd in India, a publicly listed company.

Having worked in both developed and emerging markets, Thyagi has a unique east-west perspective and an in-depth knowledge of Asia and Asian markets, combined with expertise in running significant business operations for a global corporation in Asia. Thyagi is fluent in Hindi and Tamil.

Education:

Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (MBA)
Indian Institute of Technology (BS in Electrical Engineering)

Lisa Dreyer - September 16, 2021 - No Comments