A radical new approach to common disease drug development A radical new approach to common disease drug development

A trained physician, Chris brings more than 30 years of clinical, academic and industry experience to his role as co-founder and CEO of Vesalius Therapeutics. Concurrently, he serves as CEO-Partner of Vesalius’ parent company, Flagship Pioneering. Based in Cambridge, Mass., Flagship Pioneering creates, resources and builds life sciences companies that invent breakthrough technologies to transform health care and sustainability. Previously, Chris spent a decade at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), serving most recently as the founding director of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). There, he formulated the Center’s strategic vision and led its efforts to develop, demonstrate, and disseminate scientific and operational advances across the spectrum of translational science. Prior, Chris founded and directed key scientific and technology initiatives at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) within the NIH to derive biological insights and therapeutic potential from the human genome. He began his pharmaceutical industry career at Merck as senior research fellow for the Departments of Human Genetics and Pharmacology and director of the Department of Neuroscience. At Merck, Chris focused on the genome-based discovery of novel targets and drugs, with a focus on common complex neuropsychiatric diseases.

He trained in internal medicine and neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and practiced medicine in academic and community hospital settings. Chris earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Princeton University and a medical doctorate degree from Harvard Medical School. At Harvard, he also completed a research fellowship in developmental neurogenetics, studying genetic and environmental influences on stem cell fate determination.

A highly regarded scientist and medicinal chemist with extensive drug development experience, Ben has more than 20 years of experience in project management, managing cross-functional drug discovery project teams and strategic planning to his role at Vesalius. Prior to joining Vesalius, he spent eight years in senior leadership roles at Proteostasis Therapeutics, serving most recently as chief scientific officer. Prior, Ben was the director of medicinal chemistry at the Molecular Libraries Probe Productions Center Network (MLPCN) at the Broad Institute, a biomedical research institute affiliated with Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At MLPCN, he was responsible for designing and implementing a phenotypic screening platform to identify active molecules within the Institute’s collection of small molecules. He also oversaw collaborations with Genzyme, Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), Gates Foundation and the World Health Organization (WHO). Ben began his career at SIBIA Neuroscience Inc., which was later acquired by Merck. Subsequently, he was director of medicinal chemistry at Merck Research Laboratories. In that role, he led key neuroscience programs delivering clinical candidates for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and multiple sclerosis (MS).

Ben earned his PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Toronto and a master’s degree in chemistry from Brock University. He completed his postdoctoral training at the Scripps Research Institute.

Doug Cole joined Flagship Pioneering in 2001. He focuses on life science.

At Flagship, Doug has co-founded Ensemble Therapeutics, Foghorn Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FHTX), Inzen Therapeutics, Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA), Permeon Biologics, Sigilon Therapeutics, (NASDAQ: SGTX), and Syros Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SYRS). He has led investments in Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AGIO), Alvine Pharmaceuticals, Avedro (NASDAQ: AVDR, acquired by Glaukos), CombinatoRx (NASDAQ: ZLCS), Concert Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: CNCE), Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ: DNLI), Editas (NASDAQ: EDIT), Quanterix Corporation (NASDAQ: QTRX), Receptos (NASDAQ: RCPT, acquired by Celgene), Seventh Sense Biosystems, Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TTPH), and Torque.

He currently serves on the board of directors of Denali Therapeutics, Cygnal Therapeutics, Foghorn Therapeutics, KSQ Therapeutics, Inzen Therapeutics, Repertoire Immune Medicines, Sana Biotechnology (NASDAQ: SANA), and Sigilon Therapeutics. He formerly served on the board of directors of Avedro, AVEO Oncology (NASDAQ: AVEO), CombinatoRx, Concert Pharmaceuticals, CGI, Moderna, Morphotek (acquired by Eisai Pharmaceuticals), Receptos, Resolvyx, Selecta (NASDAQ: SELB), Seventh Sense, Taris (acquired by JNJ), and Tetraphase.

Before joining Flagship, Doug was instructor in neurology at Harvard Medical School and assistant in neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital; medical director at Cytotherapeutics, in Providence, Rhode Island; and program executive at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., in Cambridge, Mass.

He holds an A.B. magna cum laude with high distinction in English from Dartmouth College, where he was a senior fellow and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where he was a member of Alpha Omega Alpha. He obtained post-graduate training in medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, and in neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Mass.

Doug is a member of the scientific advisory board and the board of directors of the Spinal Muscular Atrophy Foundation.

A trained physician, Chris brings more than 30 years of clinical, academic and industry experience to his role as co-founder and CEO of Vesalius Therapeutics. Concurrently, he serves as CEO-Partner of Vesalius’ parent company, Flagship Pioneering. Based in Cambridge, Mass., Flagship Pioneering creates, resources and builds life sciences companies that invent breakthrough technologies to transform health care and sustainability. Previously, Chris spent a decade at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), serving most recently as the founding director of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). There, he formulated the Center’s strategic vision and led its efforts to develop, demonstrate, and disseminate scientific and operational advances across the spectrum of translational science. Prior, Chris founded and directed key scientific and technology initiatives at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) within the NIH to derive biological insights and therapeutic potential from the human genome. He began his pharmaceutical industry career at Merck as senior research fellow for the Departments of Human Genetics and Pharmacology and director of the Department of Neuroscience. At Merck, Chris focused on the genome-based discovery of novel targets and drugs, with a focus on common complex neuropsychiatric diseases.

He trained in internal medicine and neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and practiced medicine in academic and community hospital settings. Chris earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Princeton University and a medical doctorate degree from Harvard Medical School. At Harvard, he also completed a research fellowship in developmental neurogenetics, studying genetic and environmental influences on stem cell fate determination.