About us

Dr. Steven Altschuler brings nearly 20 years of experience building and leading world-class, integrated, translational, value-based health care systems and transformational biotechnology companies. He currently serves as Managing Director of Healthcare Ventures at Ziff Capital Partners and was previously chair of the board of directors at Spark Therapeutics (now part of Roche) for six years, from its founding until it was acquired in 2019. In his role at Ziff Capital Partners, Dr. Altschuler co-leads the firm’s efforts towards investing in and facilitating the startup and development of companies with potentially transformative technologies that emphasize cellular and molecular approaches to human disease. He previously co-founded Spark Therapeutics to develop and commercialize the preclinical and clinical gene therapy programs advanced at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and other institutions. Dr. Altschuler served as Spark’s board chair from its founding through its acquisition in 2019, which included leading the company through a successful transition to a public company and the launch of an approved commercial product, which was the first gene therapy for an inherited disease approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency. He formerly held chief executive positions at CHOP and the University of Miami Health System. Dr. Altschuler is a member of the board of directors of WW (formerly Weight Watchers International), Orchard Therapeutics, AsclepiX Therapeutics, and Platelet Biogenesis. He is also an independent trustee of the Brigham and Women’s Physician Organization at Mass General Brigham. Dr. Altschuler holds a B.A. in Mathematics and an M.D. from Case Western Reserve University.

Ira Brind has extensive experience in private equity and venture capital investing, as well as running, acquiring, and divesting companies, with primary experience in healthcare services, technology, and biotechnology. Mr. Brind currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of The Wistar Institute (former Chair of the Board), the University of the Arts, The Connelly Foundation, Thomas Jefferson University, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Young Scholars Charter School. He is a former Partner in Pulse Equity Partners, a private equity firm specializing in healthcare and healthy living investments, and President of Brind Investments where he focuses on investing in private equity, venture, real estate, and hedge funds. Mr. Brind was also instrumental in the creation of the Jefferson Myrna Brind Center for Integrative Medicine at Jefferson University Hospital, named a Top Hospital in Integrative Medicine by Philadelphia Magazine. He is a past Chair of the Jefferson Health System and has served on the boards of directors of three public companies, and currently serves on several private boards, including Imvax. He received both a B.A. in Biology and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, and an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the University of the Arts.

David G. Bunning is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of the TLP Group, LLC (TLP), which he established in 2004. Investing in a broad range of asset classes in both public and private markets, TLP and its affiliates are the principal investing arm of the Bunning Family Office. Prior to TLP, Mr. Bunning joined Citadel Investment Group LLC (Citadel) in 1991 when the firm’s assets under management were less than $20 million. When Mr. Bunning left Citadel in 2004 as a Principal, Head of Global Credit Trading, and a member of the Management Committee, the firm had assets under management in excess of $10 billion.

Mr. Bunning devoted a substantial amount of his time from 2004 through 2013 to supporting efforts to develop effective treatments for life-threatening food allergies, with the ultimate goal of developing a cure for this disease. In search for a cure, Mr. Bunning and his family foundation provided funding for research and built collaborative relationships among research leaders at universities across the country, including Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern, University of Chicago, Duke, and Johns Hopkins. Mr. Bunning was instrumental in spearheading the inaugural Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) symposium at Harvard Medical School. This meeting brought together thought leaders in food allergy research, the NIH, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the pharmaceutical industry and patient advocates. Symposiums are now held annually and aim to develop a coordinated strategy for the treatment of life-threatening food allergies.

Reinforced by his experiences with life-threatening food allergies, Mr. Bunning continues to believe in the positive impact that venture philanthropy and early stage biotechnology company incubation can have in achieving transformative healthcare outcomes.

Mr. Bunning has a B.A. from Harvard College and an MBA from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. He is currently the chairman of the board of directors for FARE, and has been an active member of the board of directors of Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Ducks Unlimited and the National Wrestling Coaches Association.

Dr. Peter B. Corr is Co-Founder and Managing General Partner of Auven Therapeutics Management LLP. Dr. Corr retired from Pfizer in December 2006 where he was Senior Vice President for Science and Technology. He also headed worldwide pharmaceutical research and development for Pfizer. Previously, Dr. Corr served as Executive Vice President, Pfizer Global Research & Development, and President, Worldwide Development. He also served as Senior Vice President, Discovery Research, at Monsanto/Searle, and President of Pharmaceutical Research and Development at Warner Lambert/Parke Davis.

Dr. Corr, who received his doctorate from Georgetown University School of Medicine, spent 18 years as a researcher in molecular biology and pharmacology at Washington University in St. Louis. When he left Washington University, Dr. Corr was Professor, Department of Medicine (Cardiology) and Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Biology. His research has been published in more than 160 scientific manuscripts.

Dr. Corr is the recipient of numerous awards, including membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha National Medical Honorary Society, an Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association, and a Research Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health. He received the Washington University Distinguished Faculty Award, as well as multiple Teacher of the Year awards.

He is both a past Governor of the New York Academy of Sciences (and past Chairman of the Board of Governors) and past member of the Board of Regents of Georgetown University. Additionally, Dr. Corr is Immediate Past Chair of the Board of the International Partnership for Microbicides, Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Critical Path Institute (retired in June, 2016 after 10 years), and Chairman of the Board of Directors for ADC Therapeutics, S.A. through the completion of its IPO in May, 2020. He served as a founding Board member on the Board of Directors of Furiex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., until the sale of the company in July 2014. Dr. Corr is Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Patient Assist VI from its founding which provides medicines to indigent patients in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He is a member of the National Council for Washington University School of Medicine and the Barnes Hospital Medical Center.

Wendy DiCicco is a veteran healthcare executive with 30 years of financial, operational and corporate development experience. Ms. DiCicco currently serves the emerging growth life sciences community in the role of board member or as financial, executive and board advisory consultant.  She currently serves as a consultant for several immuno-oncology and gene therapy companies, including often serving in the role of interim Chief Financial Officer. Ms. DiCicco currently serves on the Boards of Directors of EyePoint Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: EYPT), where she serves as the Audit Committee Chair, Carmell Therapeutics, and ExpressCells, life sciences companies in the fields of ophthalmic pharmaceuticals, plasma-based regenerative medicine, and gene editing, respectfully.

She was most recently the Chief Operating and Financial Officer of Centinel Spine, a privately-held designer, developer, and worldwide distributor of spinal implants, where she established the Company’s international operations, and was instrumental in both the recapitalization of the Company and in corporate development and global commercialization initiatives.  She previously served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Camber Spine Technologies, where she significantly expanded the Company’s operations, infrastructure, and commercial organization. Prior to Camber Spine, she held several Chief Financial Officer roles at Nuron Biotech, Quench USA, Globus Medical, and Kensey Nash Corporation. Her career started in public accounting at Deloitte & Touche.

Ms. DiCicco received a B.S. in Accounting from Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science and is a licensed CPA. She is also an appointed Board Leadership Fellow and Corporate Governance Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).

John P. Furey serves as Executive Chairman of Imvax’s Board of Directors, and previously led the company as Chief Executive Officer. Most recently, Mr. Furey was Chief Operating Officer of Spark Therapeutics, Inc., where he led the successful U.S. launch of LUXTURNA™, the first FDA-approved gene therapy for a genetic disease, and contributed to the build-out of Spark as a fully integrated company. Prior to Spark, Mr. Furey served as Senior Vice President and Head of Global Operations at Baxalta, where he transformed the company’s global operations into a first-in-class supply chain network for rare diseases and led the 14,000-employee manufacturing, quality, engineering and process development organization. Earlier in his career, Mr. Furey initiated the restructuring and ultimate divestiture of Baxter International’s vaccines franchise to Pfizer (NYSE: PFE). While at Pfizer, he transformed the China vaccine business into one of the company’s fastest growing units.

Mr. Furey also currently serves on the board of directors of Adaptimmune (NASDAQ: ADAP), a leader in T-cell therapy, and Sensorion, a pioneering clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapies for the ear. Mr. Furey earned an executive MBA from St Joseph’s University, a B.S. with Honors from Trinity College, Dublin, and a Diploma in Environmental Health from the Technological University, Dublin.

Dr. Koutouzis is an experienced investor and physician. He practices emergency medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He worked at Magnetar Capital from 2006-2023. While at Magnetar, he spent the first ten years focused on risk arbitrage investments while on the event driven equity desk and later transitioned to the fixed income team where he was responsible for the underwriting process for structured finance solutions across the life sciences. More recently, he joined Quantitative Bio, an asset management fund focused on biotech investments.

Dr. Koutouzis graduated from Florida State University with a B.S. in Nutrition/Exercise Science and an M.D. from the University of Miami School of Medicine. He received his graduate degree in Emergency Medicine from Northwestern University.

Mr. Pfisterer holds a Senior Management role at WILD Group Management, heading the direct investment activities of the WILD Family Investment Office. He joined the Family Office following the sale of WILD Flavors GmbH, one of the world’s leading suppliers of natural ingredients to the food and beverage industry, for which he served as Head of Strategic Development and directed the company’s global M&A activities.

In addition to his position as member of the Board of Directors of Imvax, Mr. Pfisterer currently serves on the boards of directors of several other companies, including biotech companies ADC Therapeutics (NYSE:ADCT) and InSphero or pharma company Sermonix Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Previously, Mr. Pfisterer worked in the investment banking division of Morgan Stanley in Frankfurt, focusing on M&A and capital market transactions for German healthcare clients.

Mr. Pfisterer holds a Master in Finance from Cambridge University, U.K., as well as a B.A in Economics and a B.A in Business Administration, both from University of St. Gallen, CH.

Stephen Webster is a seasoned finance executive with over 30 years of biotechnology industry experience. He most recently served as the Chief Financial Officer of Spark Therapeutics, a publicly traded gene therapy biotechnology company, from July 2014 until its acquisition by Roche for $4.3 billion in December 2019. Mr. Webster was previously Senior Vice President (SVP) and Chief Financial Officer of Optimer Pharmaceuticals, a publicly traded biotechnology company, from July 2012 until its acquisition by Cubist Pharmaceuticals in October 2013. Prior to joining Optimer, he served as SVP and Chief Financial Officer of Adolor Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, from 2008 until its acquisition by Cubist Pharmaceuticals in 2011. Mr. Webster also served in leadership positions in the investment banking healthcare groups of Broadpoint Capital and PaineWebber Incorporated. He currently serves as a director of two publicly traded biopharmaceutical companies: Cullinan Oncology, Inc., and NextCure, Inc. Mr. Webster received an A.B. in Economics from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Shefali Agarwal is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Sironax Ltd, an emerging leader in the discovery and development of transformational therapies that address neurodegenerative and muscular degenerative diseases affecting longevity.  Before joining Sironax, Dr. Agarwal was the President, CEO, and Chair of the Board at Onxeo S.A., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing drugs targeting DNA Damage Response (DDR). Prior to Onxeo S.A., she was the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at Epizyme, a clinical-stage company dedicated to developing novel epigenetic therapies for the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases. There, she led the global clinical development and regulatory strategy for tazemetostat. Before joining Epizyme, Dr. Agarwal held leadership positions in various domains including medical research, clinical development, clinical operations, and medical affairs. She was the CMO at SQZ Biotech, and held leadership roles at Curis and Tesaro. At Curis, she oversaw the Phase II study of its HDAC/PI3K dual inhibitor in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and the Phase I study of the oral checkpoint inhibitor in solid tumors. At Tesaro, she led the NDA and European Medicines Agency (EMA) submission for ZEJULA in ovarian cancer. Dr. Agarwal also held increasingly important positions at Covidien, AVEO, and Pfizer.

In addition to receiving her medical degree, Dr. Agarwal holds a Master of Public Health and a Master of Science in Business.

Dr. Tyler Curiel is a physician-scientist, The Victoria Gmelich ’91 Professor of Cancer Immunotherapy and Professor of Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology at Dartmouth. Dr. Curiel completed internal medicine training at Yale, Infectious Disease training at Harvard/Massachusetts General Hospital and Medical Oncology training at the University of Colorado. He has significant NIH and other grant support and has served in many national and international scientific and editorial leadership roles. Dr. Curiel’s lab investigates the immunopathogenic basis of human disease with an emphasis on novel strategies for cancer immunotherapy, concepts of which have been put into human clinical trials. His current work focuses on novel aspects of immune checkpoint blockade immunotherapy, notably tumor-intrinsic PDL1 signals, pathogenic effects of regulatory T cells and on engineered cytokines, especially IL2. Dr. Curiel received his B.S. summa cum laude from the University of Georgia, his MPH from Harvard and his M.D. from Duke.

David W. Andrews, M.D. is a member of the Imvax Scientific Advisors, a co-founder of the company and formerly its Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Andrews has over 30 years of experience as an academic brain tumor neurosurgeon, completing residency at New York Presbyterian Cornell and a Fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, both in New York, NY.

As a junior attending neurosurgeon, he received a prestigious NIH Physician Scientist Award to study brain tumors, and he has devoted his career to find better treatments for glioblastoma. He currently serves at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital as Professor and Vice Chair of Clinical Services, Department of Neurological Surgery, and Chief of the Division of Neuro-oncology.

He established the Brain Tumor Division at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in 1995 and served as its chief, expanding the division to four neurosurgeons and two neuro-oncologists before stepping down to assume his role as a founder of Imvax in 2015. Under his leadership, the division became a national leader performing over 1,100 brain tumor treatments a year.

Mark Exley, Ph.D., is a member of the Imvax Scientific Advisors and was formerly the company’s Chief Scientific Officer, directing the company’s research & development strategy and activities. Prior to joining Imvax, Dr. Exley was Vice President, Cellular Immunology for AgenTus (now Mink Therapeutics, NASDAQ:INKT). He also served on the faculty at Harvard Medical School and at the University of Manchester, U.K and was a scientist at Immulogic Pharmaceutical. He currently retains an honorary appointment at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston.

Dr. Exley’s areas of research have included natural immunity and immunotherapy for cancers, acute and chronic infections, suppression of graft-versus-host disease, obesity-associated diseases and other inflammations. He has published over 130 articles in scientific journals and has received numerous research awards and grants.

Dr. Exley received his B.S. from Imperial College, M.S. from Kings College and his Ph.D. from the Institute of Cancer Research, all in London, UK. He completed his post-doctoral fellowship at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston.