Meet the Team
Carolyn R. Bertozzi, PhD
Since June 2015, Dr. Bertozzi has served at Stanford University, where she is currently the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Chemistry, a professor of Chemical and Systems Biology and Radiology and the Baker Family Director of Sarafan ChEM-H. Since 2000, Dr. Bertozzi has also served as an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and is the former Director of the Molecular Foundry, a nanoscience research center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. From 1996 to 2015, she was a professor of Chemistry and Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Bertozzi currently serves on the board of directors of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Xaira Therapeutics, a privately held biotechnology company, and previously served as a member of the board of directors of Eli Lilly and Company from February 2017 to August 2021. Dr. Bertozzi was awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry, and was also awarded the 2022 Wolf Prize in Chemistry. In addition to her academic work, Dr. Bertozzi has founded multiple biotechnology start-ups based around her research. Dr. Bertozzi holds an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley.
Jennifer Cochran, PhD
Jennifer Cochran, PhD has served in numerous roles at Stanford University since 2005, where she is currently the Senior Associate Vice Provost of Research and the Addie and Al Macovski Professor of Bioengineering. She is a founding member of the Stanford Bioengineering Department and served as its Chair from 2017 to 2022. Dr. Cochran serves as Chief Scientific Advisor to Red Tree Venture Capital, a life-sciences-focused investment fund she co-founded in August 2020. Dr. Cochran formerly served as Chief Scientist of Lagunita Biosciences, a healthcare investment company and incubator, from October 2015 to April 2020. Dr. Cochran currently serves on the boards of directors of privately-held biotechnology companies Biograph 55, Kivu Bioscience, Revel Pharmaceuticals, and Rondo Therapeutics, and is a board observer at Excellergy Therapeutics. She has also served on the boards of directors of privately-held biotechnology companies she founded including Combangio, Inc. (acquired by Kala Bio in 2021), as well as xCella Biosciences until its acquisition by Ligand Pharmaceuticals in 2020. Dr. Cochran received a B.S. Degree in biochemistry from the University of Delaware and completed a PhD in biological chemistry and a postdoctoral fellowship in biological engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Steve Crouse
Mr. Crouse has more than 20 years of experience in life sciences sales and marketing, product development, business development and general management. Currently, he is Senior Vice President, General Manager of the Analytical Solutions Division at Bio-Techne with global responsibility for its ProteinSimple-branded products and R&D Systems Immunoassays portfolio. Previously, Mr. Crouse led the Protein Detection and Quantification unit at Thermo Fisher Scientific, and served as Chief Operating Officer at Vortex Biosciences. In addition, he has held leadership positions at Freeslate, Bio-Rad Laboratories and Invitrogen Corporation. Mr. Crouse holds an MBA from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California, an M.S. in biochemistry from Georgetown University and a B.S. in pharmacology from the University of California Santa Barbara.
Matthew W. Foehr
Matthew W. Foehr is President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of OmniAb, and has more than 25 years of pharmaceutical industry experience managing operations, technology development and global research and development programs. Mr. Foehr previously served as President and Chief Operating Officer at Ligand Pharmaceuticals from 2015 to 2022 and prior to that, served as Ligand’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer since 2011. Prior to joining Ligand, he was Vice President and Head of Consumer Dermatology R&D, as well as Acting Chief Scientific Officer of Dermatology, in the Stiefel division of GlaxoSmithKline. Following GSK’s acquisition of Stiefel in 2009, Mr. Foehr led the R&D integration of Stiefel into GSK. At Stiefel Laboratories, Mr. Foehr served as Senior Vice President of Global R&D Operations, Senior Vice President of Product Development & Support, and Vice President of Global Supply Chain Technical Services. Prior to Stiefel, Mr. Foehr held various executive roles at Connetics Corporation including Senior Vice President of Technical Operations and Vice President of Manufacturing. Mr. Foehr serves on the Board of Directors of Viking Therapeutics, Inc., a publicly-traded biotechnology company and served as a director of Ritter Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2015 until its merger with Qualigen Therapeutics, Inc. in 2020. Mr. Foehr received his BS degree in biology from Santa Clara University.
Philip J. Gotwals, PhD
John Higgins - Board Chair
John Higgins served as Chief Executive Officer at Ligand Pharmaceuticals from January 2007 to December 2022. Prior to joining Ligand, Mr. Higgins served as Chief Financial Officer at Connetics Corporation (Connetics), a specialty pharmaceutical company, since 1997, and also served as Executive Vice President, Finance and Administration and Corporate Development at Connetics until its acquisition by Stiefel Laboratories, Inc. in December 2006. Before joining Connetics, he was a member of the executive management team at BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. Prior to BioCryst, Mr. Higgins was a member of the healthcare banking team of Dillon, Read & Co. Inc., an investment banking firm. Mr. Higgins serves on the board, audit committee and nominations and governance committee of Bio-Techne Corporation, a publicly-traded life sciences services company. Mr. Higgins has served as a director on numerous public and private companies. He also serves as the chairperson of the board of trustees of Academy of Whole Learning, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing educational and therapy services to children of underrepresented communities. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Colgate University with an A.B. in economics.
Steve Love
Steve Love has served as the Chief Financial Officer at Sift Science, Inc., an AI platform-based company for identity-centric fraud prevention since April 2024. Prior to Sift, Mr. Love served as Chief Financial Officer at Heap Inc., a global SaaS product analytics company from 2021 to 2023. Prior to Heap, Mr. Love served as Chief Financial Officer at Juniper Square Inc. from 2020 to 2021. Mr. Love has spent nearly 30 years in finance, leading the growth strategy and data-driven decision-making at DialPad Inc., Mblox Inc., Evolv Inc., Affymax, Inc., and Connetics Corporation, among others. He began his career at Ernst & Young LLP, supporting private and public biotechnology and software companies. Mr. Love holds a Masters in Accounting and a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Southern California and is a Certified Public Accountant in California (inactive).