About Us
Team
Scientific Advisory Board
Board of Directors
Daniel de Roulet
Co-Founder, CEO
A veteran entrepreneur who has cofounded three companies across the technology and life sciences industries, Mr. de Roulet brings a background in finance and startup management to the Mitokinin team. Prior to founding Mitokinin, Mr. de Roulet co-founded and served as co-CEO at Knowify, a leading SaaS business management platform for contractors. He began his career in the financial services industry, serving as an equity analyst at LaBranche & Company before joining Bishop & Carroll Capital Partners, a long-short equity hedge fund.
Mr. de Roulet graduated from Columbia University with a BA in Economics.
Nicholas Hertz, Ph.D
co-founder, CSO
Dr. Hertz’s graduate research with Kevan Shokat provided the foundation for Mitokinin’s PINK1 program. Dr. Hertz leads a team of 12 scientists and research associates, along with 8 FTEs at CRO partners, pushing Mitokinin’s science and therapeutics forward. He has authored over 18 publications in journals such as Cell, Neuron and Nature. Dr. Hertz has been an invited speaker at international conferences including the Michael J. Fox Parkinson’s Disease Therapeutics Conference in 2018 and holds several patents.
Dr. Hertz received his Ph.D in Chemistry and Chemical Biology from UCSF with a Genentech graduate fellowship in the labs of Kevan Shokat and Al Burlingame. Following his Ph.D, he completed his post-doctoral training in neuroscience as a Helen Hay Whitney fellow in the lab of Marc Tessier-Lavigne at Stanford University. He graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from UCLA with a B.S. in Biochemistry.
Rishi Rakhit, PhD
Director, Translation
Rishi Rakhit, PhD, serves at Mitokinin’s Director of Translational Medicine. In that capacity, Dr. Rakhit oversees the Company’s biomarker development and in vivo translational efforts.
Dr. Rakhit is the inventor of two clinical-stage antibody therapeutics and several more in pre-clinical development for neurodegenerative disease. Prior to Mitokinin, Dr. Rakhit held team and project leadership positions at Denali Therapeutics and Achaogen Inc. He has published first author papers in Nature Medicine, eLife, and others, as well as presented as an invited speaker at major international meetings.
Dr. Rakhit received his PhD in biochemistry from University of Toronto (Chakrabartty lab), and completed his post-doctoral training in protein engineering and proteomics in the lab of Tom Wandless at Stanford University.
Dara Ditsworth, Ph.D
Director, Cell Biology
Dr. Ditsworth is a Senior Scientist at Mitokinin and Team Leader of the Cell Biology group. An accomplished cell biologist with expertise in neurobiology and therapeutic development, Dr. Ditsworth brings nearly two decades of research experience to bear in overseeing the Company’s cell-based assays and PINK1/Parkin pathway investigations. In addition to leading her internal team, Dr. Ditsworth also coordinates the Company’s cell line development activities with outside CRO partners.
Dr. Ditsworth received her Ph.D in the lab of Craig Thompson at the University of Pennsylvania, where she focused on DNA damage response pathways in cancer chemotherapy. She then completed her Postdoctoral training in the lab of Don Cleveland at UCSD, during which time she demonstrated the importance of non-cell autonomous mechanisms to the progression of ALS.
Randall Chin, PhD
Director, Biomarkers
Dr. Randall Chin is the Director of Biomarkers at Mitokinin. He and his team are focused on developing patient selection, target engagement, and pharmacodynamic biomarkers for Mitokinin’s PINK1 program. As one of the first employees of Mitokinin, Dr. Chin previously led the development of the Company’s small molecule screening cascade.
Before Mitokinin, Dr. Chin worked at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, designing mRNA-based therapies for mitochondrial disease. Dr. Chin has published papers in Nature, PNAS, and Cell Reports, and holds several patents. He received his PhD in Molecular Biology from UCLA, where he studied the molecular mechanisms of aging in model organisms.
Chengzhong (Chad) Wang, Ph.D
Principal Scientist
Dr. Wang is a Principal Scientist at Mitokinin. In that role, he is tasked with investigating the impact of PINK1 amplification on Parkinson’s disease pathobiology across numerous model systems, including human patient-derived iPSC neurons.
Dr. Wang brings over a decade of experience working in leading neuroscience labs to Mitokinin. He completed his Ph.D at the Institute for Neuroscience at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai. He then completed his Postdoctoral training in the lab of Yadong Huang at the Gladstone Institutes UCSF), where he investigated apoE4 and tau in hiPSC models of Alzheimer’s disease. His work has been published in leading journals, including Nature Medicine, Cell Stem Cell, and Nature Cell Biology.
Shawn Johnstone, Ph.D
Chemistry Lead, IntelliSyn
Dr. Johnstone has over eighteen years of experience leading CNS-program medicinal chemistry at major pharmaceutical companies. He is currently Associate Director of Chemistry at IntelliSyn RD, the medicinal chemistry CRO chosen by Mitokinin to drive its PINK1 program forward. As Project Manager of the Mitokinin engagement, he works very closely with Robert DeVita, Ph.D, and other members of the Mitokinin team to design new chemical targets and develop synthetic routes to make them.
Formerly, Dr. Johnstone served as Project Lead at AstraZeneca, where he directed multiple projects across CNS disease and pain disorders. Three of those programs entered clinical trials. He has specialized drug development experience in GPCR and ion channel targets, particularly involving NAMs, PAMs, and biased signaling agents. He holds a Ph.D in synthetic chemistry from University of Montreal and an MSc in organometallic chemistry from University of Toronto
Robert DeVita, Ph.D
Consulting Chemistry Lead, Mitokinin
Dr. DeVita is a Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai and Director of Medicinal Chemistry in the Drug Discovery Institute (DDI). An experienced medicinal chemist and drug hunter in academia, biotech and large pharmaceutical environments (including over 20 years at Merck), Dr. DeVita has a strong track record of delivering clinical candidate molecules for complex molecular targets. At Mitokinin, Dr. DeVita works closely with both internal and external (IntelliSyn) resources to ensure that Mitokinin’s chemistry and molecule characterization efforts progress rapidly.
Dr. DeVita has delivered 10 development candidates, including two Phase II compounds. He completed his Ph.D in Organic Chemistry in the lab of Andrew S. Kende at the University of Rochester. He has over 85 publications in medicinal chemistry and patent literature.
Kevan Shokat, PhD
Dr. Shokat is a Co-Founder of Mitokinin and the Chairman of the Company’s Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Shokat uses synthetic organic chemistry, structural biology, and molecular modeling to develop selective chemical inhibitors and activators of key signal transduction targets. He is an internationally recognized expert on kinases and one of the pioneers in the field chemical biology. Dr. Shokat directed the research
along with Nicholas Hertz) that led to the discovery of the technology that underpins Mitokinin’s therapeutics. He is a Professor, HHMI investigator, and Vice Chair of Molecular Pharmacology at UCSF, and a Member of the National Academies of Science and Medicine. In addition to Mitokinin, Dr. Shokat has co-founded numerous successful startups, including IntelliKine, eFFECTOR, and Wellspring Biosciences.
Dr. Shokat completed his Ph.D in the laboratory of Peter Schultz at the University of California, Berkeley, earning UC Berkeley Regents and University Fellowships. He completed his postdoctoral training in the lab of Christopher Goodnow at Stanford.
Ray Truant, Ph.D
Dr. Truant is a Professor of Biochemistry in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences at McMaster University, where he focuses on Huntington’s disease and spinocerebellar ataxias. He is also Chair of the Scientific Advisory board and Board Officer of the Huntington Society of Canada. He helps to guide Mitokinin’s efforts in Huntington’s disease as a member of the Company’s Scientific Advisory Board.
The Truant lab is in an academic setting, but highly collaborative with pharmaceutical industry and biotech partners, as well as clinical collaborators at the the Centre for Movement Disorders in Toronto, the Toronto Western Hospital, and the University of Toronto. Dr. Truant completed his Ph.D in the lab of Jack F. Greenblatt at the C.H. Best Institute.
Ted Dawson, MD Ph.D
Dr. Dawson is the Leonard and Madlyn Abramson Professor in Neurodegenerative Diseases and Director of the Institute for Cell Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He brings his deep expertise in the PINK1/Parkin pathway and Parkinson’s disease pathobiology to the Mitokinin team as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board.
Dr. Dawson pioneered the role of nitric oxide in neuronal injury in stroke and excitotoxicity and elucidated the molecular mechanisms by which nitric oxide and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase kills neurons. Dr. Dawson’s discoveries have led to innovative approaches and enhanced the development of new agents to treat neurologic disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease as well as other neurodegenerative disorders.
Miratul Muqit, MD Ph.D
Dr. Muqit is a Programme Leader at the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit, University of Dundee. As one of the original discoverers of link between mutations in the PINK1 gene and Parkinson’s disease, he brings world-leading expertise in PINK1/Parkin pathway biology to the Mitokinin team as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board.
Miratul Muqit received his Ph.D from University College London under the supervision of Nick Wood and David Latchman. He undertook his neurology training at various London teaching hospitals including Queen Square. In 2008 he joined the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit in Dundee as a Wellcome Trust Intermediate Fellow to initiate a program of research into the biochemistry of the PINK1 kinase under the mentorship of Dario Alessi. Away from the bench he manages patients with Parkinson’s disease in the clinic.
Jean-Francois Trempe, Ph.D
Dr. Trempe is an Associate Professor in the department of Pharmacology at McGill University. He has been a pioneer in PINK1 / Parkin biology, being the first to elucidate the crystal structure of Parkin (2013) and the discoverer of the mechanism by which PINK1 autophosphorylation drives ubiquitin recognition. Dr. Trempe contributes his considerable expertise in structural biology in general and the PINK1/Parkin pathway in particular to the Company as a member of Mitokinin’s Scientific Advisory Board.
Dr. Trempe obtained his doctoral degree from the University of Oxford in 2007. He pursued postdoctoral training at McGill University and the Montreal Neurological Institute, Canada, and became an assistant professor at McGill University in 2013.
M. Flint Beal, MD
Dr. Beal is Chairman of Neurology and Neuroscience/Neurologist-in-Chief at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Medical College of Cornell University.
Dr. Beal is an internationally recognized authority on neurodegenerative disorders. He is the Anne Parrish Titzell Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurology and Neuroscience at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Director of the Neurology service at the New York Presbyterian Cornell Campus. Dr. Beal received his medical degree from the University of Virginia in 1976 and did his internship and first year residency in Medicine at New York-Cornell before completing his residency in Neurology at The Massachusetts General Hospital. He joined the neurology faculty at Harvard in 1983. Dr. Beal was Professor of Neurology at the Harvard Medical School and Chief of the Neurochemistry laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital before moving to Cornell. Dr. Beal’s research has focused on the mechanism of neuronal degeneration in Alzheimer’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
ALS).
Dr. Beal is the author or co-author of more than 300 scientific articles and more than 125 books, book chapters and reviews. He serves on the editorial boards of seven journals, the Journal of Neurochemistry, the Annals of Neurology, Journal of Molecular Neuroscience, Experimental Neurology and Neurobiology of Disease.
Dr. Beal is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honorary Society and received the Derek Denny-Brown Neurological Scholar Award of the American Neurologic Association. He has served on the Council of the American Neurologic Association and on the Science Advisory Committees of the Hereditary Disease Foundation, Huntington’s Disease Society of America, Parkinson’s Disease Study Group, Parkinson’ Disease Foundation, Bachman-Strauss Foundation, The ALS Association, and the American Health Assistance Foundation. Dr. Beal is also a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.
Peter Parker
Director
Mr. Parker is Managing General Partner of BioInnovation Capital. Previously, Peter Parker was a General Partner at Ampersand Capital Partners, Wellesley MA, where he co-led the firm’s Life Sciences activities.
Mr. Parker has played a major role in the greater Boston/Cambridge life sciences start-up community. At MassChallenge, he was the healthcare/life sciences ‘Champion’ for that Boston accelerator for five years. He is a co-founder of BioInnovation Capital, Cambridge BioLabs and the BioLabs network, and is a member of several Angel investing groups. Together with Johannes Fruehauf he launched LabCentral, Inc., a major addition to the life sciences start-up ecosystem on the East coast.
From 2006–2010 he was President and CEO of Cequent Pharmaceuticals
sold to Marina Biotech). He has served as a director of numerous companies, including ACLARA Biosciences, Tomah Products, VITEX, Magellan Biosciences, Dynex, Castlewood Surgical and Pentose Pharmaceuticals and as Chairman of Alexis, NOVEX, CoPharma, Huntington Laboratories, Protein Ingredient Technologies, Cyclis Pharmaceuticals, Nanodyne, Panacos Pharmaceuticals, AC Tech, BioEssences and TekCel.
Peter Parker holds BS and MS degrees from Columbia University.
Rana Al-Hallaq, PhD
Director
Dr. Al-Hallaq is Senior Director and Principal at Pfizer Ventures. She leverages her preclinical, clinical, and business development experience to assess, invest in, and manage equity investments for Pfizer Ventures. She oversees the Pfizer Ventures investments in Mitokinin, Inc. (San Francisco, CA) and Blade Therapeutics (South San Francisco, CA).
Prior to her current role, Dr. Al-Hallaq was a Transactionalist in Worldwide Business Development at Pfizer, where she was responsible for negotiating and transacting licenses, acquisitions, and partnerships across therapeutic areas. Rana joined Pfizer in 2015 as an Early Candidate Clinical Lead where she advised early clinical programs in CNS to ensure alignment with business strategies. Prior to joining Pfizer, she held roles at Allergan, first in Clinical Development Psychiatry as scientific and operational lead on Phase 2 and Phase 3 studies investigating novel treatments for Major Depressive Disorder and schizophrenia, and later in Business Development where she assessed and executed on a number of acquisitions and licenses across therapeutic areas. She began her training as a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health. Rana graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BA in Biology from Hamilton College and holds a PhD in Neuroscience from Georgetown University Medical Center.
Douglas Crawford, PhD
Director
Dr. Crawford goal is Managing Director of Mission Bay Capital. He has overseen the investment in 40 companies, 6 of which have already enjoyed successful exits (Calithera, iPierian, Redwood Biosciences, True North, Zephyrus, and Cell Design Labs). In additional to Mitokinin, he is also a board member of Avexegen, Circle Pharma, Epiodyne, Graphwear, Invenio, Magnamosis, Magnap, SiteOne (observer), and Tangible Sciences.
Dr. Crawford created and continues to manages MBC BioLabs, a state-of-the-art co-working laboratory program in San Francisco. In its first 4 years, MBC BioLabs helped launch 104 companies that have raised over $1.76 billion. This incubator program reflects Doug’s passion for startups and his eagerness to help entrepreneurs overcome challenges.
Dr. Crawford received his PhD in biochemistry from UCSF.
Michael D. Taylor, Ph.D
Executive Chairman
Dr. Taylor served as President and CEO of Deciphera Pharmaceuticals from 2014 until retiring in 2019. He remains a Deciphera Director. Prior to joining Deciphera, Dr. Taylor was CEO of Ensemble Therapeutics, a small molecule drug discovery company, from 2007 to 2013. Prior to joining Ensemble, Dr. Taylor was Senior Vice President for Pfizer’s Global R&D division and served as Vice President, Drug Development at Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis, where he led early and late-stage development projects across multiple therapeutic areas, including Lipitor® and Neurontin®. Dr. Taylor has authored or coauthored 65 manuscripts and published abstracts and is co-inventor on eight patents.
Dr. Taylor holds a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Pharmacy, was awarded an NIH postdoctoral fellowship in natural products synthesis and structure elucidation at the University of Pennsylvania and holds B.S. magna cum laude in Chemistry from the University of South Florida.