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. (Nasdaq: ALNY) and Xaira Therapeutics, a privately held biotechnology company, and previously served as a member of the board of directors of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) 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.
Sarah Boyce
Sarah Boyce has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Avidity Biosciences, Inc., a publicly-traded biotechnology company, since October 2019. Prior to joining Avidity, she served as a Director and President of Akcea Therapeutics (Nasdaq: AKCA), a publicly-traded biopharmaceutical company focused on serious and rare diseases, from April 2018 through September 2019. Ms. Boyce served as Chief Business Officer at Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: IONS) from January 2015 to April 2018, where she was responsible for business development, alliance management, patient advocacy and investor relations. Prior to joining Ionis, she served as Vice President, Head of International Business Strategy and Operations at Forest Laboratories, Inc. Ms. Boyce held various positions with Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., Novartis Group AG (NYSE: NVS), Bayer AG and F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG. Ms. Boyce also served on the board of directors of Berkeley Lights Inc. (Nasdaq: BLI), a publicly-held biopharmaceutical company, from July 2019 until May 2022. Ms. Boyce received a B.S. degree in microbiology from the University of Manchester, England.
Jennifer Cochran, PhD
Jennifer Cochran, Ph.D. has served in numerous roles at Stanford University since 2005, where she is currently the Senior Associate Vice Provost of Research, Addie and Al Macovski Professor of Bioengineering. She is a founding member of the Stanford Department of Bioengineering, and served as its Chair from 2017 to 2022. Dr. Cochran has served as Chief Scientific Advisor to Red Tree Venture Capital, a life-sciences-focused investment fund, since she co-founded it in August 2020. Dr. Cochran was also the Chief Scientist of Lagunita Biosciences, a healthcare investment company and incubator, from October 2015 to April 2020. Prior to Stanford, she held several research positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, most recently as a Postdoctoral Fellow. Dr. Cochran currently serves on the boards of directors of privately-held biotechnology companies Revel Pharmaceuticals, Excellergy Therapeutics, Biograph 55, Rondo Therapeutics, and Tachyon Therapeutics, and is a board observer at Acrigen Biosciences. 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.
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.
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. (Nasdaq: BCRX). 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 (Nasdaq: TECH), 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 is the Chief Financial Officer at Sift, an AI platform-based company for identity-centric fraud prevention. Prior to Sift, Mr. Love served as Chief Financial Officer at Heap Inc. (acquired by Contentsquare in December 2023) from 2021 to 2023 and, before that, served as Chief Financial Officer at Juniper Square Inc. since 2020. Mr. Love has spent nearly 30 years in finance, leading the growth strategy and data-driven decision-making at DialPad Inc., Mblox Inc. (acquired by CLX in July 2016), Evolv Inc. (acquired by Cornerstone OnDemand in Nov 2013), Affymax, Inc., and Connetics Corporation, among others. As a financial leader, Mr. Love has overseen more than $750 million in fundraising from top-tier venture capital firms, led buy- and sell-side M&A transactions totaling more than $2 billion in transaction value, and been responsible for worldwide teams across finance, legal, data analytics, facilities, and human resources. 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).
Joshua Tamaroff
Joshua Tamaroff joined Avista in 2009 and serves as a Partner. Prior to joining Avista, Mr. Tamaroff worked as an Analyst in the leveraged finance group at Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital. Mr. Tamaroff currently serves as a director of Cosette Pharmaceuticals, Inc., GCM Holding Corporation, Probo Medical, Solmetex and United BioSource Corporation, and previously served as a director of InvestorPlace Media, IWCO Direct, OptiNose, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPTN), Organogenesis Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: ORGO) and WideOpenWest, Inc. (NYSE: WOW). Mr. Tamaroff received a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University and a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Palmer Scholar.