Board of Directors : Synlogic Therapeutics : Synlogic Therapeutics

Defying convention.

As leaders in the life sciences, our Directors share our vision for the potential of Synthetic Biotic medicines and challenge us daily to achieve more to advance our mission. Having served at the helm of biotechnology companies and investment firms, our Directors serve as strategic partners and advisors guiding us to achieve progress for patients and the field.

Peter Barrett, PhD

Chairman, Partner, Atlas Venture

Peter Barrett, PhD

Peter Barrett is a partner at Atlas Venture and has been involved in the creation of several novel therapeutic and drug discovery platform companies. He is also a Senior Fellow at Harvard Business School, where he teaches Commercializing Science to second year MBA students and is the faculty chair of the key advisory board of the Blavatnik Fellowship Program.

Peter is currently chairman of Zafgen (NASDAQ:ZFGN), Synlogic (NASDAQ:SYBX), Cadent Therapeutics and Obsidian Therapeutics, and also serves on the board of Indalo Therapeutics. He previously served on the boards of past Atlas companies Vitae Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VTAE; acquired by Allergan), Stromedix (acquired by Biogen), Novamed (acquired by Sciclone), Alnylam (NASDAQ:ALNY), Harbour Antibodies (acquired by Harbour Biomed), Momenta (NASDAQ:MNTA), Sirion Therapeutics (acquired by Alcon and Bausch & Lomb), Infacare (acquired by Mallinckrodt), Archemix (acquired by Baxter) and a number of other ventures.

Prior to joining Atlas Peter was co-founder, executive vice president, and chief business officer of Celera Genomics, which announced the first successful sequencing of the human genome in 2001. While at Celera, Peter led strategic alliances, acquisitions, and business strategy and helped launch it as a public company in 1999.

Prior to founding Celera, Peter held senior management positions at Applera, most recently serving as vice president of corporate planning and business development. During his tenure, he ran several businesses and expanded the life science business through a series of licensing agreements, partnerships, and acquisitions.

Peter is a member of the research council at Boston Children’s Hospital, and serves on the board of Perkin Elmer (NYSE:PKI).

Peter received a BS in chemistry from Lowell Technological Institute (now known as the University of Massachusetts, Lowell), and a PhD in analytical chemistry from Northeastern University. He also completed Harvard Business School’s Management Development Program.

Aoife M. Brennan, MB, ChB

President, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Medical Officer

Aoife M. Brennan, MB, ChB

Dr. Aoife Brennan has served as Synlogic’s president and chief executive officer since October 2018 after serving as interim president and CEO from May 2018. She joined Synlogic in September 2016 as chief medical officer responsible for the oversight and direction of the company’s clinical development strategy and operations. In addition to her duties as chief executive officer, she will continue to serve as chief medical officer until a replacement is appointed. Aoife previously spent six years at Biogen, where she was in roles of increasing responsibility and most recently served as vice president and head of the Rare Disease Innovation Unit, which included programs ranging from pre-clinical to commercial. She has also led programs across multiple therapeutic areas including the late phase development of nusinersen for spinal muscular atrophy and ALPROLIX® and ELOCTATE®, treatments for Hemophilia B and Hemophilia A. Prior to joining Biogen, she was director of clinical development at Tolerx, a start-up biotech company focusing on immunotherapy for Type 1 diabetes. Aoife holds a medical degree from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland and has completed post-graduate training in internal medicine, endocrinology and metabolism. She has completed post-doctoral training in clinical research and metabolism at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and is a graduate of the Harvard Medical School Scholars in Clinical Science Program.

Chau Q. Khuong

Partner, Orbimed Advisors

Chau Q. Khuong

Chau Quang Khuong has been at OrbiMed Advisors LLC since 2003 and is Private Equity Partner. Mr. Khuong gained experience in start-up operations and business development at Veritas Medicine, Inc. and in basic science research at the Yale School of Medicine and at Massachusetts General Hospital. He has been an active investor in drug development and medical device companies across many therapeutic areas and technology disciplines. He has been a Board of Directors representative at numerous OrbiMed investments, including currently Aerpio Therapeutics, Inc., Graybug Vision, Inspire Medical Systems, Intellia, Nabriva (NASDAQ: NBVR), NextCure, Otonomy, Inc. (NASDAQ: OTIC), Pieris Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: PIRS), and ReViral. Mr. Khuong holds a B.S. in molecular, cellular and developmental biology with concentration in biotechnology and an MPH with concentration in infectious diseases, both from Yale University.

Nick Leschly

CEO, bluebird bio

Nick Leschly

Nick Leschly is CEO of bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ: BLUE) and has served in this role since September 2010. Previously, Nick was a partner and founding member of Third Rock Ventures in 2007. He played an integral role in the overall formation, development and business strategy of several of Third Rock’s portfolio companies, including Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Prior to joining Third Rock, Nick worked at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., leading several early-stage drug development programs and served as the product leader for VELCADE.

Nick received his B.S. in molecular biology from Princeton University and his MBA from Wharton Business School. He currently serves as a board member of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO).

Ed Mathers

Partner, New Enterprise Associates

Ed Mathers

Ed Mathers joined NEA as a Partner in August 2008 after spending 26 years working within the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry in a variety of senior roles. Ed is focused on biotechnology and specialty pharmaceuticals investments, and is a director of Akouos, Ampylx Pharmaceuticals, Envisia Therapeutics, Inozyme, Liquidia Technologies, Lumos Pharmaceuticals, ObEva, Ra Pharmaceuticals, Reneo Pharma, Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Senti Biosciences and Trevi Therapeutics. Previously, Ed was a director of Intarcia, Lumena (sold to Shire) Motus Therapeutics (sold to Allergan), Plexxikon (sold to Daiichi Sankyo) and MedImmune,LLC.

Immediately prior to joining NEA, Ed served as Executive Vice President, Corporate Development and Venture, at MedImmune, Inc., and was a director of MedImmune, LLC. In this role, he was a member of the leadership team that executed the sale of the company to Astra Zeneca for $15.6 billion in 2007. While at MedImmune, Ed was responsible for the company’s corporate and business development activities and led the company’s venture capital subsidiary, MedImmune Ventures, Inc. Before joining MedImmune in 2002, he served as Vice President, Marketing and Corporate Licensing and Acquisitions at Inhale Therapeutic Systems (now Nektar). Previously, Ed spent 15 years at Glaxo Wellcome, Inc. (GlaxoSmithKline), where he held sales and marketing positions of increasing responsibility. He earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from North Carolina State University.

Michael Powell, PhD

General Partner, Sofinnova Ventures

Michael Powell, PhD

Dr. Mike Powell is a General Partner of Sofinnova Ventures, a venture capital firm. Previously, he held positions at Genentech, Inc., Cytel Inc., a research and development company, and Syntex Research Group, a pharmaceutical company. Mike is currently a director of biopharmaceutical companies Galera Therapeutics, Dauntless Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Checkmate Pharma and Pionyr. He was previously Chairman of the Mirna Board of Directors from October 2012 until its merger with Synlogic in 2017. Dr. Powell is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Kansas and serves on the Washington University Board of Trustees in St. Louis. He received a BS in Chemistry from Scarborough College, a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Toronto and completed his post-doctorate work in Bioorganic Chemistry at the University of California.

Richard P. Shea

CFO, Syndax Pharmaceuticals

Richard P. Shea

Rick Shea has served as the Chief Financial Officer of Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc. since February 2017. Rick previously served as a member of the Syndax Pharmaceuticals board of directors from January 2014 to February 2017. From July 2007 through December 2016, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company, and was its Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since October 2003. Prior to joining Momenta, Rick served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Variagenics Inc., a publicly traded pharmacogenomics company, that was merged with Hyseq Pharmaceuticals Inc., and as Vice President, Finance of Genetics Institute, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company, which was acquired by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which was then acquired by Pfizer, Inc. Rick received an AB from Princeton University and an MBA from the Public Management Program at Boston University.

Patricia N. Hurter, PHD

Incoming CEO, Lyndra Therapeutics

Patricia N. Hurter, PhD

Dr. Patricia Hurter will serve as Chief Executive Officer of Lyndra Therapeutics, a privately held biotechnology company focused on the development of oral, ultra-long-acting, sustained-release therapies, beginning in September 2019. From 2011 to 2019 she served as Senior Vice President of Pharmaceutical and Preclinical Sciences at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) during which time her responsibilities grew to include all CMC and preclinical development activities of Vertex’s R&D portfolio, as well as the internal GMP manufacturing facility that provides drug substance and product for clinical development and commercial supply. While serving as Interim Head of Global Regulatory Affairs from 2013-2014, she oversaw several label expansions for Kalydeco® and the submission of the new drug application for Orkambi®. She has played a leadership role in the development and commercialization of 4 transformative therapies for Vertex: Incivek®, Kalydeco®, Orkambi® and Symdeko®. Prior to joining Vertex, Dr. Hurter was Director, Formulation Design and Characterization for Merck where she was a key member of the early development team for Januvia®, a treatment for Type II diabetes.

A respected thought leader in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Hurter is a frequent contributor to many scientific publications. She serves on the Vertex Research & Development and Operating Committees and is the founder and executive sponsor of “IWILL,” a Vertex employee network devoted to the advancement of women leaders. Dr. Hurter also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Harvard Conservation Trust. She holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an M.S. in mechanical engineering from West Virginia University and earned a B.Sc. in chemical engineering, cum laude, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa.

Synlogic Therapeutics

Board of Directors

Defying convention.

Peter Barrett, PhD

Chairman, Partner, Atlas Venture

Aoife M. Brennan, MB, ChB

President, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Medical Officer

Chau Q. Khuong

Partner, Orbimed Advisors

Nick Leschly

CEO, bluebird bio

Ed Mathers

Partner, New Enterprise Associates

Michael Powell, PhD

General Partner, Sofinnova Ventures

Richard P. Shea

CFO, Syndax Pharmaceuticals

Patricia N. Hurter, PHD

Incoming CEO, Lyndra Therapeutics

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