Our People

Ravi Srinivasan, PhD
CEO, Serial Entrepreneur

Dr. Ravi Srinivasan is a serial biotech entrepreneur and holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from MIT. He has an extensive track record of building and leading successful biotech ventures, including StrataGent Life Sciences (acquired by Corium), StemPar Sciences, OncoNano, Symyx, CAGE Bio, and ForSight VISION5 (acquired by Allergan).

Samir Mitragotri, PhD
Professor, Harvard SEAS Wyss Institute

Dr. Samir Mitragotri is a professor of bioengineering at Harvard University and a core faculty member at the Wyss Institute. Dr. Mitragotri is a pioneer in the field of drug delivery and has developed numerous therapeutic technologies. He has been working in the field of oral drug delivery for the past 20+ years. Dr. Mitragotri has authored 400+ publications and is an inventor on 200+ pending or issued patents. He is a co-founder of several biotech companies. Dr. Mitragotri is an elected member of the National Academies of Engineering, Medicine, and inventors. He received his PhD from MIT.

Kelly Ibsen, PhD
Director of Research & Strategic Project Management

Dr. Kelly Ibsen is the Director of Research and Strategic Project Management at i2o. She received her PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara and is a licensed Professional Engineer. Dr. Ibsen has 20+ years of experience in the biotech industry with experience as a consultant, COO, Director of Tech Transfer, and R&D lead in small startups, large corporations, and the federal government. Following her interest in biochemical engineering, she spent several years at Harvard as a Visiting Fellow and Research Associate in Dr. Mitragotri’s lab. Dr. Ibsen is passionate about alleviating the life-long burden associated with patients having chronic disease.

Prakash Rao, PhD, MBA
Director of Corporate Development

Dr. Prakash Rao is the Director of Corporate Development at i2o. Prior to i2o, Prakash, was a Sr. Manager/Portfolio and Programs within the DRIVe division of Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a federal agency tasked with developing countermeasures to biological threats. He was a member of the core founding team that built BARDA Ventures-an unprecedented initiative through which the US federal government will fund equity-based investments in companies that promote the health security of Americans. Prakash has also led scientific teams and projects at Dana Farber Cancer Institute and the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research. Through innovative stints in the government, academia and large pharma, Prakash has gained experience in all of the important sectors that constitute the biomedical innovation pipeline.

Dr. Rao conducted his postdoctoral research at the Whitehead Institute (mentored by Prof. Harvey Lodish) and obtained his Ph.D from the University of Pennsylvania in Cell/Molecular Biology. He received his MBA from MIT/Sloan School of Management.

Tyler Brown, PhD
Director of Technology Development

Dr. Tyler Brown is the Director of Technology Development at i2o. He received his PhD from Harvard University in bioengineering and has 10+ years of experience designing and leading collaborative projects in drug delivery and materials science. Dr. Brown has a passion for bridging the gaps between basic scientific research and the commercialization of technologies. He previously led business development teams specializing in early-stage technology commercialization though the Harvard Office of Technology Development. He co-led the Healthcare Innovation and Commercialization Course at Harvard Medical School in 2018 and was actively involved in the Harvard Biotech Club and Harvard Innovation Labs. He also holds a graduate certificate in management practice and an MS in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Sotirios Koutsopoulos, PhD
Associate Principal Scientist

Dr. Sotirios Koutsopoulos is an Associate Principal Scientist at i2o Therapeutics. Sotirios has a BSc degree in Chemistry and a PhD in Physical Chemistry with more than 25 years of experience in academia, industry, and consulting. As the project lead at MIT, UPenn, WUR-NL and DTU, his research revolved around drug delivery and formulation, drug discovery, protein biophysics, immunology, disease model development, biomaterials, and nanotechnology. His recent work focuses on the design and development of platforms for drug delivery and the treatment of patients with chronic diseases. Sotirios has consulted with many biotech and pharma companies, holds two patents on self-assembling peptides and drug delivery, serves on the Editorial Board of three journals and has published over 60 research articles, reviews, and book chapters.

Claire Tran, PhD
Research Scientist

Dr. Claire Tran is a Research Scientist at i2o Therapeutics. She received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Tran has an experimental background in bioengineering and biochemistry and has contributed to work designing nucleic acid‑based synthetic systems. Her research focuses on elucidating the interaction between nucleic acid aptamers and proteins. She is excited to advance research that will reduce the stress involved with drug delivery and administration.

Harrison Vener, BS, RLAT
Surgical Research Associate

Harrison Vener is the Animal Research Technician and Wet Lab Assistant at i2o. Prior to i2o, Harrison excelled as an animal care technician and research technician at CBSET, a premier non-for-profit preclinical research institute dedicated to biomedical research, education and advancement of medical technologies, in Lexington, MA. During his undergraduate research career, Harrison expanded his scientific skillset by studying exotic large animals, including giraffes and monkeys, internationally in Tanzania and Panama. He is a Registered Laboratory Animal Technician (RLAT), holds a BS in Neuroscience from Muhlenberg College, and specializes in neurological and oral in vivo models.

Tim Edson, BS
Research Associate

Tim Edson is a Wet Lab Assistant at i2o Therapeutics. During his undergraduate studies, he helped to elucidate the interaction between sensory nerves and muscle contraction in Manduca sexta (a type of moth) under the supervision of Dr. Barry Trimmer at Tufts University, which resulted in a publication in the Journal of Experimental Biology. He is excited to be working alongside the i2o team on cutting edge chemistry to develop innovative oral biologics, paving the way for convenient, safe, and effective oral therapies for patients. Tim received a BS in Chemistry with a minor in Mathematics from Bates College and enjoys applying his undergraduate training towards developing real-world commercial products.

Kurt Graves
Executive Chair

Kurt Graves is the Executive Chairman at i2o, bringing along 30 years of business leadership experience in leading global pharmaceutical and biotech companies. He has provided leadership to several innovative biotech companies over the last 10 years as Chairman, President and CEO of Intarcia Therapeutics, former Chairman of Radius Health, and as a Board member at Achillion Pharmaceuticals until it was acquired by Alexion, and at Seres Health. He was also E&Y’s New England Entrepreneur of the Year in 2015. Previously, Mr. Graves served as EVP, Head of Corporate & Business Development, Head of Strategic Drug Development and Program Management & Commercial at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that, he was at Novartis Pharmaceuticals for nearly 10 years, most recently as the Global Head of the General Medicines Business and the first Global Chief Marketing Officer for the Pharmaceuticals division. Earlier in his career, at Merck and Astra-Merck, he led the GI Business Unit responsible for Prilosec®, Nexium® and Prilosec OTC®.

Katie Ellias, MBA
Board Member

Katie Ellias joined the T1D Fund in July 2018 as a Managing Director from Endeavour Vision, a Geneva-based growth stage venture fund, where she focused on medical devices and digital health as Senior Investment Director. She was previously Principal at Sofinnova Partners, Paris, a leading early stage life sciences fund, investing in medical technologies. She served as Board Observer for ReCor Medical (sold to Otsuka Holdings), CorWave, Shockwave Medical (NASDAQ: SWAV), RefleXion Medical, Pixium Vision (PIX.PA), and MD Start, a medical device accelerator.

Prior to VC, Katie held roles in Business Development, Sales and Marketing at Medtronic in the Cardiac and Vascular businesses. She began her career at McKinsey & Company and Partners Healthcare in Boston. Katie holds a M.B.A. in Healthcare Management from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. cum laude in International Relations and Political Science from Yale University.

Christopher Gagliardi, PhD
Board Member

Chris joined Sanofi Ventures in 2017 with a background in life science and healthcare consulting. He previously spent three years as a management consultant at LEK consulting where his work focused on corporate strategy, due diligence, commercial launch planning and asset valuation across the pharmaceutical, biotech, R&D and API manufacturing sectors.

Chris currently serves on the Board of Directors for i2O Therapeutics and Minervax. Prior to a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University, Chris earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as well as a BS in both Biology and Chemistry from Roger Williams University.

David Graeber
Board Observer

Roger Pomerantz, MD, FACP
Scientific Advisor

Roger Pomerantz, MD, FACP, is a scientific advisor to i2o and has led the development of 12 approved small and large molecule drugs for numerous indications, including HIV, HCV, TB, CMV, and C Diff. These approved drugs include 1- Prezista/Darunavir (HIV), 2- Intelence/Etravirine (HIV), 3- Edurant/Rilpivirine (HIV), 4- Complera/ FDC of Edurant &Truvada (HIV), 5- Incivek/Telapravir (HCV), 6- Victrelis/Boceprevir (HCV), 7- Sirturo/Bedaquiline (MDR-TB), 8- Olysio/Simeprevir (HCV) and 9- Zepatier/FDC of Elbasvir & Grazoprevir (HCV)-both are new chemical entities, 10- Zinplava/Bezlotoxumab (C.Diff), 11- Prevymis/ Letermovir (CMV), and 12-Odefsey (HIV). Roger has led and completed over 160 value-creating business development, licensing, acquisition and partnership deals (including large pharma with large pharma partnerships) at Tibotec Pharma, Johnson and Johnson, and Merck & Co, in over 20 diverse therapeutic areas, for large and small molecules and has completed deals and partnerships in all emerging markets, eg. BRIC, especially in China. Previously, Roger has served as a long-time member and chairman of the Antiviral Advisory Committee of the FDA and has had continuous robust NIH grant funding over 20 years in academia. During his time at Tibotec/JNJ, Roger led and managed fully loaded P&Ls at over $800m per year and over 800 employees. He has and continues to serve as an advisor to multiple pharmaceutical companies, biotechs, & VC firms as well as a Corporate Advisory Board Member at Carey Business School of The Johns Hopkins University. During his career, he helped lead Seres Therapeutics Inc (MCRB) to an historic IPO on the NASDAQ. Roger is a strategic thinker and leader with interests in biomedicine, R&D in pharmaceuticals and vaccines, and novel business development. His specialties include biomedicine, drug discovery and development, infectious diseases, virology, molecular biology, business development and leadership. He is a recognized national and international expert in HIV pathogenesis, molecular retrovirology and HIV latency and a recognized expert in care of HIV patients. He has published over 300 papers on HIV and other infectious diseases and has given several hundred invited lectures nationally and internationally in biomedicine.

Michael Wagner
Scientific Advisor

Michael Wagner is Head Chemistry and Drug Discovery at Dewpoint Therapeutics. Before joining Dewpoint, Michael led the Synthetic Medicinal Modalities Department within Integrated Drug Discovery at Sanofi, taking care of the Frankfurt small molecule portfolio, peptide drug discovery, synthetic protein and conjugate research, as well as new delivery technologies for sustained, oral, and smart delivery of biomolecules. During his 20 year career in the pharmaceutical industry, in positions with increasing responsibility, Michael has built a successful track record of building and leading functional groups to drive drug discovery and delivering high quality candidates for clinical development comprising different therapeutic modalities in multiple therapeutic areas including cardiovascular disease, metabolic disease, pain, immunology and rare disease. His direct scientific contributions resulted in more than 15 clinical development candidates and more than 75 patents or peer-reviewed publications. Michael has served on numerous scientific advisory boards and is active in various professional societies for the advancement of chemical sciences and peptide sciences. Michael holds a PhD in organic & bioorganic chemistry from the University of Mainz, Germany.

Andrew Young, MB, ChB (MD), PhD
Scientific Advisor

Dr. Andrew Young joined Intarcia in September 2015 as Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer. Andrew is most recognized for his role in the discovery and development of peptide therapeutics for metabolic diseases. Prior to its acquisition by Intarcia, he co-founded and was CSO of Phoundry Pharmaceuticals Inc., a company dedicated to rendering peptides sufficiently potent for incorporation into innovative delivery systems such as Intarcia’s proprietary mini-pump technology. Andrew entered industry from academia 26 years ago as the founding physiologist at Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. There he pioneered work that illuminated the role of the gut in blood glucose control. He co-led different phases of the development of Symlin® and Byetta®, first-in-class medicines for the treatment of diabetes. His roles at Amylin included VP of Research and Senior Research Fellow. In 2008 he co-founded Satiogen Inc., a San Diego startup related to bile salt stimulation of gut hormone secretion, before joining GlaxoSmithKline in RTP, NC, as Head of Enteroendocrine Biology. At GSK, Andrew fostered the development of peptide therapeutics as well as non-absorbed medicines acting at gut targets. In 2015 he co-founded Phoundry Pharmaceuticals with five former GSK colleagues.

Andrew received his medical degree as well as graduate science degrees from the University of Auckland School of Medicine, New Zealand, where he also taught physiology. He worked as a Fogarty Fellow for the NIH in Phoenix AZ, studying diabetes in Pima Indians. He worked as a Von Humboldt Fellow at the Max Planck Institute in Bad Nauheim, FRG, studying sensory neurophysiology. He has participated in the development of five drugs that were commercialized, written over 100 original papers and 37 book chapters or books, and is an inventor on 56 issued US patents.

Ved Srivastava
Scientific Advisor

Ved Srivastava is the Vice President of Chemistry at Aktis Oncology. Ved’s career spans more than 30 years as an expert in peptide medicinal chemistry, formulation and drug delivery, and chemistry manufacturing control (CMC). Prior to his time at Aktis, Ved has served as Vice President of Chemistry at Intarcia Therapeutics, co-founder and Vice President of Peptide Chemistry at Phoundry Pharmaceuticals, and Head of Peptide Chemistry at both GlaxoSmithKline and Amylin Pharmaceuticals. He also has served as a scientific advisory board member to several peptide-based biotech companies. Ved currently serves as Vice Chair and member of the Peptides Expert Committee of the United States Pharmacopeia and in the governance of the American Chemical Society and the American Peptide Society (APS). He served as President of the APS from 2019-2021. Ved’s scientific research interests are in oncology, metabolic diseases, CNS, and inflammation therapeutic areas, and he has significantly contributed to the development of several peptide-based drugs, including ByettaTM, Symlin^TM, and Bydureon^TM. He has co-authored and published numerous peer-reviewed manuscripts, patents, and abstracts and is the editor of five books focused on peptide therapeutics. Ved holds a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Lucknow, India, and his hobbies include international travel and community service.

Fong Kwok Mung, AS, BS, CVT
Surgical Research Associate

Fong Kwok Mung is a Veterinary Technician at i2o Therapeutics. Graduating from Becker College, Fong holds a dual degree of Associates of Science in Veterinary Technology and Bachelor of Science in Veterinary Science. Upon graduating, he passed the Veterinary Technician National Examination (VTNE) and is a certified Veterinary Technician in the state of Massachusetts. Prior to joining i2o, Fong gained a breadth of clinical experience from his time at emergency and specialized veterinary clinics to veterinary mission trips in South America, where he performed clinical care, triage, and exams on a range of animals. He previously worked at CBSET for several years, a premier non-profit preclinical research institute, where he acquired additional surgical experience and techniques. He is excited in joining the i2o team and in sharing his knowledge on in vivo models and development.

Wyatt Walker, BS
Research Associate

Wyatt Walker is a Research Associate at i2o Therapeutics. Prior to joining the team, Wyatt worked on the microbiology team at DermBiont Inc. to support the development of targeted topical therapeutics for skin disease. He is excited to utilize his scientific skill set to help establish best-in-class transformative oral biologics and improve the lives of patients everywhere. Wyatt received a BS in Biological Sciences from Binghamton University.