Our leaders bring all the necessary skills and experience from world-leading organizations, and embody Intellia’s values – one, explore, disrupt, deliver – to deliver genome editing therapeutics. Our team comprises experts in all aspects of developing human therapeutics, including preclinical research, manufacturing and clinical development.
After a 30-year career in pharmaceutical R&D, John Leonard retired from his position as Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice President of Research and Development at AbbVie in 2013. Inspired by the opportunity to work with a new therapeutic modality and form a new company, he returned to his life’s passion and joined the Intellia team to direct the research and development effort to make CRISPR/Cas9 technology into a therapeutic reality.
John is among the leading R&D executives who have led breakthrough medicines through their discovery, development and launch into blockbuster drugs. While serving as the Global Head of Pharmaceutical R&D at Abbott Laboratories, John oversaw the development of numerous novel therapeutics. His ground-breaking work with HIV protease inhibitors Norvir® and Kaletra® led to new treatment paradigms for AIDS, his years of work with Humira® made it the all-time top-selling drug worldwide and he led significant growth of the R&D pipeline at Abbott and Abbvie. John’s teams were twice recognized with the prestigious Prix Galien Award for excellence in pharmaceutical research.
In addition to serving on the Board of Directors of Intellia, John serves on the Board of Directors of IQVIA (NYSE: IQV) and IFM Therapeutics. He received his M.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine followed by a fellowship at the National Institutes of Health.
Eliana Clark brings to Intellia nearly 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Prior to Intellia, Eliana spent seven years in many leadership roles at Biogen, including Vice President of Product Development and Portfolio Management, Vice President of International Manufacturing Operations and Vice President of Global Manufacturing Sciences. In her most recent role, she led the team responsible for product strategy, supply and lifecycle management for their entire product portfolio. Before Biogen, Eliana spent many years at Sanofi/Genzyme, where she held leadership roles in formulation development, technical services and CMC regulatory. Prior to working in industry, Eliana was a professor at Tufts University in the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department for nearly 15 years.
As Senior Vice President of Technical Operations at Intellia, Eliana is responsible for building out our manufacturing capabilities and CMC to support the necessary requirements for clinical trials and global regulatory filings. She holds a B.A. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Universidad Nacional de Litoral in Santa Fe, Argentina, and has graduated from the Greater Boston Executive Program at MIT Sloan School of Management.
Christine Foster brings to Intellia a wealth of experience with more than 25 years under her belt in the pharmaceutical industry, both in biotech and large pharma. Prior to joining Intellia, Christine served as Vice President, Business Development at Acceleron Pharma, where she led business development and diligence activities designed to expand Acceleron’s leadership in rare pulmonary and neuromuscular diseases.
Prior to Acceleron, Christine was Head of Business Development and Alliance Management at Sunovion, where, among other transactions, she led the acquisition of Cynapsus Therapeutics by Sunovion. Prior to Sunovion, Christine was responsible for CNS search and evaluation in the specialty business at Teva Pharmaceuticals. During her time at Teva, she served on the teams responsible for the acquisition of two neurology companies, Labrys Pharmaceuticals and Auspex. Christine has also served in senior corporate strategy and global business development roles at GlaxoSmithKline, Wyeth (now Pfizer) and Genaissance Pharmaceuticals. She specializes in technology licensing, clinical licensing and merger and acquisitions.
At Intellia, Christine oversees all facets of new business development and existing alliance management. Christine holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Oxford University. She also completed postdoctoral fellowships in Neuroscience at Brandeis University and in Cardiovascular Diseases at UMass Medical School.
Glenn Goddard has nearly two decades of experience leading business and financial operations for public and private companies in the biotechnology industry. Prior to joining Intellia, Glenn served as the Chief Financial Officer at Generation Bio Company, where he led all financial functions, investor relations, information technologies and certain operational functions. During his time at Generation Bio, he closed a $100 million private financing and a long-term lease deal for 75,000 square feet of lab and office space. Before joining Generation Bio, Glenn served as Senior Vice President of Finance and Principal Financial Officer of Agios Pharmaceuticals, where he led the company’s strategic financings efforts raising more than $700 million in equity financings, including a private crossover financing, an initial public offering and several subsequent follow-on offerings. In addition, Glenn was responsible for all financial functions of the company, including strategic planning and analysis, investor relations, treasury, tax, finance and accounting. He also was responsible for information technologies, certain operational functions and supporting strategic partnering efforts.
Previously, Glenn held various senior-level financial management positions at both Archemix, a privately held oligonucleotide platform-based biopharmaceutical company, and Immunogen, a publicly traded oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company. Earlier in his career, Glenn was an audit supervisor at Ernst & Young LLP and a business advisory manager at Feeley & Driscoll, P.C. Glenn is a graduate of Bentley College, where he earned a B.S. in Accountancy and is a Certified Public Accountant in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Nishla Keiser has been working with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies since 2004, building extensive experience in intellectual property strategy, management and litigation in technologies ranging from nucleic acid and protein therapeutics, small molecules, formulations, analytics and medical devices. At Intellia, Nishla focuses on developing and implementing Intellia’s internal and external IP strategies, as well as general regulatory, compliance, and corporate legal matters for the company. Prior to joining Intellia, Nishla was an attorney at a leading global intellectual property law firm, where she worked on patent litigation to protect multiple branded pharmaceutical products and strategic IP counseling for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies ranging from start-up companies to large corporations. Nishla received her B.S. in Biology, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School.
Dr. David Lebwohl’s career spans three decades in the biopharmaceutical industry, successfully bringing novel medicines through all phases of clinical trials and global regulatory approvals. During his career, he has overseen multiple full-scale development programs with more than 200 clinical studies across myriad indications.
Before Intellia, David was chief medical officer at Semma, Therapeutics Inc., a subsidiary of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., where he was leading the company’s regenerative medicine efforts using stem-cell-derived pancreatic islets to cure type I diabetes. Prior to his role at Semma Therapeutics, David held numerous senior-level positions leading drug development at the global healthcare company, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Inc. There, he was most recently senior vice president and franchise global program head, CAR-T, Promacta and SEG101 Global Program Teams, responsible for the development of the breakthrough therapy Kymriah® (tisagenlecleucel), approved for the treatment of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. During his time at Novartis, David was responsible for numerous oncology drug development programs, and led the company’s Cell and Gene Therapies Unit. Under his leadership, the blockbuster drug, Afinitor® (everolimus), was approved for five indications, including metastatic breast, kidney, brain and lung cancers. Prior to working at Novartis, David spent five years at Bristol Myers Squibb Inc., where he led in the Oncology Clinical Development group at the company’s Pharmaceutical Research Institute.
He is a well-recognized medical oncologist, with certifications in hematology and internal medicine. David received an undergraduate degree in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard College and an M.D. from the Yale University School of Medicine. He completed his fellowship training at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and his residency in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. David has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
José Rivera has over 20 years of experience managing complex legal and business issues in the pharmaceutical industry with extensive expertise in navigating biopharmaceutical intellectual property, regulatory environment and litigation.
José led Abbott’s global Intellectual Property group, and before that its IP Litigation, Regulatory Legal and Litigation departments. As the head of Abbott’s IP group, José was responsible for managing all aspects of the company’s intellectual property issues worldwide, including prosecution, acquisition, valuation, defense and enforcement. José was responsible for the enforcement of the IP protecting the world’s best-selling biological product, various multi-billion small molecule pharmaceutical products, and many other healthcare products and devices, as well as for defending these products against infringement claims from third parties. He also formed a new department focused on counseling Abbott’s various business units regarding regulatory requirements of the FDA, European Medicines Agency and other international regulatory agencies. José also led Abbott’s litigation department, where he was responsible for providing pre-litigation and litigation advice regarding key issues facing healthcare companies, such as antitrust, healthcare compliance, fraud and abuse laws, contracts and financial laws. Before joining Intellia, he was the Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer at AbbVie responsible for its global compliance program.
José graduated from Boston College with a degree in Economics and received his J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Andrew Schiermeier has spent more than two decades as an executive in the biotech and pharmaceutical sectors, with experience ranging from managing the growth and operations for startups to directing the strategic and operational expansion of global brands for large pharma companies.
At Intellia, he is responsible for working with the board of directors and executive committee in establishing and overseeing the implementation of Intellia’s strategic direction in both in vivo and ex vivo (engineered cell therapy) areas. He also oversees the company’s portfolio management, drug development, manufacturing and business development efforts. Andrew also currently serves on the Board of Directors at Kynan Pharmaceuticals, a private, preclinical stage biotech company working in oncology and auto-immune therapeutic areas.
Andrew joined Intellia in January 2017, having most recently served as SVP and Global Head of Merck KGaA’s Oncology Business, a global operation with revenues in excess of $1 billion across 66 countries. While at Merck, he was responsible for re-energizing the company’s oncology pipeline, continuing the growth and expanded indications of Erbitux®, and overseeing the development and launch of the world’s first commercialized blood-based biopsy based on circulating free DNA. After successfully partnering the company’s anti-PDL1 antibody (avelumab/ BAVENCIO®) in a landmark deal with Pfizer in 2014, he also held the position of General Manager for the Merck-Pfizer Immuno-Oncology Alliance.
Prior to Merck, Andrew served as chief operating officer of Aura Biosciences, a clinical-stage biotech startup in Cambridge, MA. He also held executive leadership positions at Medicine in Need Corp.; LantiBio, Inc.; and Aventis Pharma.
Andrew holds several advanced degrees, including an International MBA from the Collège des Ingénieurs in Paris; a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University; and an M.S. in Bio-mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.
Laura Sepp-Lorenzino oversees all platform and pipeline research activities across in vivo and ex vivo (engineered cell therapy) areas as Intellia’s Chief Scientific Officer. Before joining Intellia, she was vice president, Head of Nucleic Acid Therapies, Research, and member of the External Innovation team at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. She also served as vice president, entrepreneur-in-residence at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in the development of RNAi Therapeutics. At Alnylam, she was responsible for the Hepatic Infectious Disease Strategic Therapeutic Area, championed extra hepatic siRNA delivery, and was active in licensing and partnering.
Laura spent 14 years at Merck & Co., most recently having served as executive director and department head, RNA Therapeutics Discovery Biology. In this role, she was responsible for identification and optimization of siRNAs and delivery vehicles, advancement of preclinical candidates, and development of an siRNA-conjugate platform to expand the repertoire of tissues accessible to in vivo siRNA delivery. Laura also has expertise in oncology drug discovery and development acquired earlier in her career by leading the Cancer Research Department at Merck West Point and working as an assistant lab member and assistant attending molecular biologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
She received her professional degree in Biochemistry from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina and both her M.S. and Ph.D. in Biochemistry from New York University. Laura holds professional affiliations with key scientific organizations, including the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society, the American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy, the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, and the New York Academy of Sciences, as well as a number of oncology societies. She also sits on the Scientific Advisory Board of Thermo Fisher Scientific.
Jennifer Smoter brings more than 20 years’ experience in the global biotech biopharmaceutical and healthcare industries to her role leading Intellia’s external affairs and communications. She is a recognized expert in corporate identity, brand, advocacy, stakeholder engagement and communications. Jennifer oversees communications, corporate marketing, government affairs, public affairs, patient access and stakeholder engagement.
Prior to joining Intellia, Jennifer oversaw the global communications, patient advocacy and corporate marketing organizations for AbbVie, after leading communications for AbbVie’s successful separation from Abbott, the single largest transaction in NYSE history. AbbVie was named a Top 5 brand by FutureBrand in 2015 and a Top 20 brand in 2014. Jennifer previously held a number of senior-level communications roles in Abbott, including head of communications for the consumer-facing Nutrition business and head of Public Affairs for global pharmaceuticals.
Jennifer holds more than a dozen awards for public relations and brand campaigns and founded and led Amicus Communications & Brand Management, a network of senior-level communication and brand management consultants working in regulated industries.
Jennifer received her B.A. from Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with focus areas of philosophy, communications and social sciences. Currently, Jennifer serves at the co-chair of the communication section of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine and is a founding Board member of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine’s Foundation.
Marika St. Amand brings a wealth of experience to the Human Resources team at Intellia, as she has a broad understanding of technical, strategic and operational aspects of HR, including strategic workforce planning, organizational and leadership development and talent development.
Prior to joining Intellia, Marika was Senior Director of Human Resources at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and was part of the leadership team that built Alnylam’s HR infrastructure. She was also responsible for implementing numerous programs for the first time, including building Alnylam’s manager curriculum, development planning, the post-doctoral program and the first-ever recognition program. In addition, she held the role of Lead Business Partner to the Global Technical Operations and Quality functions. Prior to joining Alnylam, she spent 10 years at Biogen Idec, where she held various positions of increasing responsibility including roles in HR operations and as a business partner to the R&D organization.
At Intellia, Marika provides strategic human resources leadership at a critical phase of growth for Intellia. She is responsible for strategic initiatives regarding culture, collaboration, innovation, career development and further embedding Intellia’s core values as the company evolves. She earned her B.A. in History from Tufts University and holds certifications in MBTI and DISC from the Center for Creative Leadership in 360 Assessment.
Industry veterans and experienced investors with demonstrated skills in building leading biotechnology companies.
Frank Verwiel brings more than 25 years of strategic, operational and international experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry to Intellia’s board of directors as its chairman. Frank also currently serves as chairman of the board of directors of ObsEva SA, a biopharmaceutical company focused on women’s reproductive health, and holds membership on the board of Bavarian Nordic A/S (CPH: BAVA). Previously, he served on the board of directors of AveXis Inc. (NASDAQ: AVXS) until the acquisition by Novartis (2018) and Achillion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ACHN) until the acquisition by Alexion (2020), Inc. He was also a member of the board of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization.
Frank possesses significant biotech and pharmaceutical experience, having been the president and chief executive officer of Aptalis Pharma Inc., prior to its acquisition in 2014 by Forest Laboratories. Additionally, Frank led the global hypertension franchise at Merck & Co., served as managing director of Merck’s Dutch subsidiary, and held numerous leadership positions in the commercial organization at Servier Laboratories.
Frank received an M.D. from Erasmus University in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He received his MBA from the Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires (INSEAD) in Fontainebleau, France.
Fred Cohen is a co-founder and senior managing director at Vida Ventures. Prior to Vida, he founded and was a partner at TPG Biotechnology, where he served 16 years and is now a senior advisor. Fred also was previously chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism and professor of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). At UCSF, he also held various clinical responsibilities as a research scientist, internist for hospitalized patients and consulting endocrinologist.
His research interests include structure-based drug design, prion diseases, computational biology and heteropolymer chemistry. Fred has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles, is a co-inventor on more than 10 patents and has been an editor or editorial board member of several international scientific journals.
He currently serves in many scientific and advisory roles in the biotechnology field, including on the board of directors of CareDx Inc., Progyny Inc., Veracyte Inc., and UroGen Pharmaceuticals Ltd., as well as various private companies. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Fred is also a fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American College of Medical Informatics, and a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and Association of American Physicians.
Fred received his B.S. in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University, his D.Phil. in Molecular Biophysics from University of Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, his M.D. from Stanford University and his postdoctoral training and postgraduate medical training in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology at UCSF.
With a distinguished 30-year career as a top financial executive, Caroline Dorsa brings strong financial credentials and management expertise to Intellia’s board of directors. In addition to her membership on Intellia’s board and role as Audit Committee Chair, she serves on the boards of directors for Biogen Inc. and Illumina Inc. She is also on the board of trustees of several Goldman Sachs Asset Management investment funds, such as the Goldman Sachs ETF Trust, the Goldman Sachs MLP and Energy Renaissance Fund and the Goldman Sachs MLP Income Opportunities Fund.
Caroline served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Public Service Enterprise Group Inc., an integrated provider of regulated utility electric and gas distribution services, from April 2009 until her retirement in October 2015. Prior to that she served as senior vice president, global human health, strategy and integration for Merck & Co. and senior vice president and chief financial officer at Avaya Inc., where she oversaw its leveraged buyout in 2007.
Caroline was honored in 2015 with the New Jersey Governor’s Jefferson Award for Public Service for her support of youth development in the state. She holds an MBA from Columbia University and earned her B.A. at Colgate University.
Jean-François Formela focuses on new advances in biology and drug discovery technologies as well as novel therapeutics. He has been involved in the formation of companies such as Adnexus (acquired by BMS), ArQule (NASDAQ: ARQL), Arteaus Therapeutics (acquired by Eli Lilly), Cellzome (acquired by GSK), deCODE (NASDAQ: DCGN, acquired by Amgen), Exelixis (NASDAQ: EXEL), MorphoSys (Xetra: MOR.DE), NxStage (NASDAQ: NXTM, acquired by Fresenius Medical) and SGX Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SGXP, acquired by Eli Lilly). He also was an investor in Achillion (NASDAQ: ACHN), Annovation Biopharma (acquired by The Medicines Company), CoStim Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Novartis) and Horizon Pharma (NASDAQ: HZNP) as well as a board member of Biochem Pharma (NASDAQ: BCHE, acquired by Shire) and Novexel (acquired by AstraZeneca).
Jean-François joined Atlas Venture in 1993 to build the U.S. life sciences franchise. Prior to joining Atlas, Jean-François worked at Schering-Plough, where he directed U.S. Phase IV studies in all therapeutic areas. Before that, he was responsible for the marketing of Intron A, Schering-Plough’s alpha-interferon. Jean-François began his career as a medical doctor and practiced emergency medicine at Necker University Hospital in Paris.
He has served on the boards of several public companies, including Spero Therapeutics, Egalet Corporation (now known as Zyla Life Sciences) and Translate Bio (formerly RaNA Therapeutics), which he co-founded. He also serves on the board of directors of various private biotechnology and healthcare companies. Jean-François is a member of the Massachusetts General Hospital Research Advisory Council and a former trustee of the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art. He received his M.D. from Paris University School of Medicine and his MBA from Columbia University.
Jesse Goodman brings to Intellia more than three decades of expertise in medicine and public health, including as a professor, practicing clinician and senior government leader. Jesse is currently a professor of medicine at Georgetown University, where he directs the Center on Medical Product Access, Safety and Stewardship (COMPASS). He also is an active clinician, serving as attending physician in infectious diseases.
He was the FDA’s chief scientist between 2009 and 2014, and previously served as the FDA’s deputy commissioner for science and public health and as director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER). Jesse additionally helped develop the FDA’s Regulatory Science and Medical Countermeasures Initiatives and served on the senior leadership team for the 2010 White House Medical Countermeasure Review. As the FDA’s chief scientist, he led preparations and responses to major public health threats, including emerging infectious diseases, disasters and terrorism, such as West Nile Virus and the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic. Previously, he was professor of medicine and chief of infectious diseases at the University of Minnesota, where his laboratory first isolated and characterized the biology of the emerging tick-borne pathogen, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and where he also led clinical trials helping to develop new anti-infective agents.
Jesse serves on the board of GlaxoSmithKline plc, a global pharmaceutical company and as president and trustee of the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention. He was also appointed to the Board of Scientific Counselors of the Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC).
Jesse graduated with a B.S. in Biology from Harvard University; earned an MPH from the University of Minnesota; and received his M.D. from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He completed his residency and fellowship training at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and at the University of California at Los Angeles, where he was also chief medical resident. He is board-certified in internal medicine, infectious diseases and oncology and has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and to the U.S. National Academy of Medicine.
Perry Karsen brings decades of successful executive leadership and board experience to his role as a member of Intellia’s board of directors. He is a venture partner with Samsara BioCapital. Perry has served in senior executive positions in multi-national biopharmaceutical companies, led start-up biotechnology companies, and is a member of the board of directors for both public and private biopharmaceutical companies.
He was the chief executive officer of the Celgene Cellular Therapeutics division (CCT) of Celgene Corporation, a global biopharmaceutical company. Prior to being named CEO of CCT, he served for nearly a decade in other senior executive positions at the company, as chief operations officer and executive vice president, and before that as senior vice president and head of worldwide business development. Perry was also president and chief executive officer of Pearl Therapeutics Inc., a privately held biotechnology company subsequently acquired by AstraZeneca plc.
Perry has held executive positions at Human Genome Sciences Inc., a biopharmaceutical company subsequently acquired by GlaxoSmithKline; Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.; Genentech Inc., a member of the Roche Group; and Abbott Laboratories.
He currently serves as a member of the boards for the privately held company, Escape Bio and the Gladstone Foundation. Perry also is chairman of the board of directors at Jounce Therapeutics and is the executive chair of the board of directors at the early-stage drug discovery incubator, Autobahn Labs. He previously served as a general partner at Pequot Ventures, a venture capital firm. Perry is additionally a past member of the board of directors at the Sonoma Land Trust, the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, where he also served as a member of the executive committee. In 2019, he was appointed as a fellow in the Stanford University Distinguished Careers Institute.
Perry earned an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management, an M.A.T. in the teaching of Biology from Duke University and a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
After a 30-year career in pharmaceutical R&D, John Leonard retired from his position as chief scientific officer and senior vice president of R&D at AbbVie in 2013. Inspired by the opportunity to work with a new therapeutic modality and form a new company, he returned to his life’s passion and joined the Intellia team to direct the research and development effort to make CRISPR/Cas9 technology into a therapeutic reality. He became Intellia’s president and chief executive officer in January 2018.
John is among the leading R&D executives who have led breakthrough medicines through their discovery, development and launch into blockbuster drugs. While serving as the global head of pharmaceutical R&D at Abbott Laboratories, John oversaw the development of numerous novel therapeutics. His groundbreaking work with HIV protease inhibitors Norvir® and Kaletra® led to new treatment paradigms for AIDS, his years of work with Humira® made it the all-time top-selling drug worldwide and he led significant growth of the R&D pipeline at Abbott and Abbvie. John’s teams were twice recognized with the prestigious Prix Galien Award for excellence in pharmaceutical research.
In addition to serving on the board of directors of Intellia, John serves on the board of directors of IQVIA (NYSE: IQV) and IFM Therapeutics. He received his M.D. from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, followed by a fellowship at the National Institutes of Health.
