Dr. Aoife Brennan is an experienced physician scientist and drug developer responsible for the successful clinical development and registration of multiple transformative medicines. Aoife has served as Synlogic’s president and chief executive officer since May 2018. She joined Synlogic in September 2016 as chief medical officer. Prior to Synlogic, Aoife spent six years at Biogen, most recently as vice president and head of the Rare Disease Innovation Unit, developing programs from pre-clinical to commercial. She has led programs across multiple therapeutic areas including the successful late phase development & registration of SPINRAZA^® (nusinersen) for spinal muscular atrophy and ALPROLIX^® and ELOCTATE^® for Hemophilia B and Hemophilia A, respectively.

Aoife serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Cerevance and Fibrogen, Inc, and previously served on the Board of Directors of Ra Pharmaceuticals until it’s acquisition by UCB. Earlier in her career, Aoife led 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.

Dr. Patricia Hurter serves 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.

Kelly-Croswell was Senior Vice President, HR and Corporate Services at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, where for seven years she was part of the executive team evolving the company from an early stage biotech, to a fully commercialized pharmaceutical company. Prior to Vertex, she also served as Vice President, HR for Nitromed, a biotech with an approved personalized medicine.

Previously, Ms. Kelly-Croswell served as SVP, HR for Healthcare and Service Operations at CIGNA. She also held multiple leadership roles at the Monsanto Company in global Finance, R&D, and as an expatriate based in Singapore. She began her career in a series of progressive HR positions at Frito-Lay, Inc. with a deeper focus in manufacturing, and received a B.S., Finance and M.A., Labor and Industrial Relations from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is a current and past Board Member for multiple non-profit organizations.