Fate’s Board of Directors has guided the building of several of the most successful companies in the biotechnology space. The group has deep expertise with all the necessary tools – science, technology, drug development, finance, and strategy – to help build Fate into the industry leader in the development and commercialization of pharmacologic modulators of cell fate.
WILLIAM RASTETTER, PH.D. Chairman
In addition to his role as chairman and CEO at Fate, Bill also currently serves as Chairman of the Board at Receptos, Illumina and Neurocrine Biosciences. Bill is a partner at Venrock, which he joined in 2006 from Biogen Idec, where he was most recently executive chairman. Bill joined Idec Pharmaceuticals at its founding in 1986 and grew it to a multi-billion-dollar market valuation company, while serving as Chairman and CEO. He was at Biogen Idec from the merger of the two companies in 2003, through the end of 2005. Prior to Idec, he was Director of Corporate Ventures at Genentech, Inc. and also served in a scientific capacity at the company. Adding to his corporate background, Bill held various faculty positions at MIT, won the award for “Excellence in the Teaching of Chemistry” at Harvard and is an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow. He is the author of numerous scientific papers and patent applications in the fields of organic and bio-organic chemistry, protein and enzyme engineering, and biotechnology. Bill holds a B.S. in Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard University.
JOHN MENDLEIN, PH.D. Vice Chairman
Dr. Mendlein is executive chairman and CEO of aTyr Pharma. He previously served as CEO of Adnexus Therapeutics, which was purchased by Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) after the award-winning partnership between Adnexus and BMY. He also served as chairman and CEO at Affinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and board member, general counsel and chief knowledge officer, at Aurora Biosciences Corporation (now Vertex Pharmaceuticals, VRTX). He is currently an advisory board member of Genesys Capital, a venture capital firm in Canada, a founder and board member of Homes for Sudan, a non-profit in Boston, and a scientific advisory board member for Ocean Discovery Institute, a non-profit in San Diego.
AMIR NASHAT, PH.D. Board Member
Dr. Nashat is a general partner of Polaris Venture Partners. His current or past directorships include Adnexus Therapeutics, Andora (where he is the founding President), Athenix Corporation, aTyr Pharmaceuticals, Avila Therapeutics, Hydra Biosciences, Pervasis Therapeutics (where he was the founding President), Promedior Pharmaceuticals and WaveRx.
ROBERT T. NELSEN Board Member
Mr. Nelsen is co-founder and managing director of ARCH Venture Partners. He has been a founding or early investor in Adolor, Alnylam, Array Biopharma, Aviron, Caliper Technologies, deCode Genetics, Illumina, Ikaria, Trubion and Xenoport, among others. He also serves as a board member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute.
BRYAN ROBERTS, PH.D. Board Member
Dr. Roberts is managing general partner of Venrock. His current or past directorships include Achaogen, Allux Medical, athenahealth, CodeRyte, Illumina, Ikaria, Intarcia, Microbia, Nanosys, Satiety, Sirna, Surface Logix, Tempo Pharmaceuticals, Vitae Pharmaceuticals and Xenoport.
CARL WEISSMAN Board Member
Mr. Weissman is a venture partner of OVP Venture Partners. Carl serves as president and CEO of Accelerator, a joint investment vehicle backed by a syndicate of venture capital firms. His current or past directorships include Allozyne and Accelerator and board observer to CODA Genomics, NanoString and Viral Logic Systems Technology.