Board of Directors

Abe brings nearly two decades of biopharmaceutical industry experience to Rapport. He served as President of Cerevel Therapeutics from May 2021 through February 2023, and was previously CEO of Tiburio Therapeutics, where he built a fully integrated company that led to the investigational new drug enablement for a rare neuroendocrine tumor. Prior to joining Tiburio, Mr. Ceesay held positions including Chief Operating Officer at scPharmaceuticals, Head of Commercial at Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Vice President of Marketing at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, and roles of increasing responsibility at Sanofi, formerly Genzyme. Mr. Ceesay serves as Chairman of the Board for Life Science Cares and on the Board of Trustees at The Museum of Science in Boston. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College and Master of Business Administration from Suffolk University’s Sawyer School of Management.

Steve brings over 40 years of R&D leadership experience to Rapport. He has co-founded and led multiple neuroscience-focused companies, including Karuna Therapeutics, Sage Therapeutics and Voyager Therapeutics. He currently serves as Chief Scientific Officer and President of Research and Development at Karuna, and sits on the Board of Directors at Sage. He is also a Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Steve was at the National Institutes of Health for 18 years, where he served as the Scientific Director for the National Institute of Mental Health. Following NIMH Steve held several R&D leadership positions over a 17-year career at Eli Lilly & Co., including Executive Vice President for Science and Technology and President of the Lilly Research Laboratories. He is also a former Director of the Weill Cornell Medicine Appel Alzheimer’s Disease Research Institute.

Steve currently serves as Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for the NIH, and has served on many other advisory committees and received many awards recognizing his contributions to neuroscience research. Steve received his bachelor’s in Biology and Psychology from Tulane University, and his M.S. and M.D. from the Tulane University School of Medicine

Jim is the Managing Partner at Sofinnova Investments with over twenty three years of experience in funding innovative therapies. At Sofinnova, twenty two of his investments have gone public and twelve have been acquired. Prior to Sofinnova, Jim worked at Bayer and Sanderling. He received various recognitions over the course of his career including IBF Innovator, Xconomy’s Young and Proven Biotech VC’s and named one of Fortune’s Top Life Science Investors. An immunologist by training, Jim currently serves on the boards of ArriVent, Atsena, Bolt (BOLT), Karuna (KRTX), Natera (NTRA) and Y-mAbs (YMAB). He previously served on the boards of the Executive Committee at UC Berkeley, the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO). Jim received his M.D. and Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Reid brings to Rapport over 25 years of operating experience in the biotechnology industry. He was a member of the founding scientific team at Incyte and served there for 17 years, ending with five years as Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer. Prior to Incyte, he held positions of increasing responsibility at DuPont Pharmaceuticals and Bristol-Myers Squibb. He has been a Partner at Third Rock Ventures since 2018, and holds board positions at Asher Bio, MOMA Therapeutics, Tango Therapeutics, Terremoto Biosciences, Bellicum Pharmaceuticals and insitro. Reid received his Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and completed his post-doctoral training at the National Institutes of Health.

John is a Venture Partner at both ARCH Venture Partners and Atlas Ventures, Senior Advisor at Blackstone Life Sciences, and Principal and Chief Executive Officer at JMM Innovations, LLC. He served as founding CEO of Alnylam from 2002 to 2021, where he led the development of a novel class of medicines, referred to as RNAi therapeutics. Under John’s leadership, Alnylam built over $25 billion in market capitalization, established more than 20 major pharmaceutical alliances and saw the approval and commercialization of four of its RNAi medicines, ONPATTRO®️, GIVLAARI®️, OXLUMO®️, and Leqvio®️. Prior to founding Alnylam, John held leadership positions at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Biogen, Inc. He also previously served as Chair of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization. He received his B.A. in biological sciences and M.S. and Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Chicago.

Rob is currently an operating partner at General Atlantic. Previously, he was the chief executive officer of Cubist Pharmaceuticals where he led the launch of Cubicin® as well as multiple acquisitions and international expansion efforts leading up to its sale to Merck in 2015. Prior to that, Rob served as vice president of Biogen’s US CNS business unit, where he was responsible for commercial leadership of an $800 million business. Rob is also the founder and chairman of Life Science Cares, and the co-founder of Biopharma Leaders of Color.

Ray is a psychiatrist with over 20 years of experience in academia, medicine, and the pharmaceutical industry, specializing in areas including CNS and analgesia. He served as the chief medical officer of Cerevel Therapeutics until its acquisition by AbbVie in 2024 and is now a senior advisor at Bain Capital Life Sciences among other roles. Ray has a proven track record in global asset development, leading to regulatory approvals for multiple compounds, including Abilify®. He has also played key roles in business development, capital formation, regulatory interactions, and strategic oversight of global medical portfolios across various therapeutic areas.

An experienced finance and operations executive, Paul played a key role in transforming Vertex Pharmaceuticals into a high-growth company with over $6 billion in annual revenue. During his 15-year tenure, he led Vertex’s accounting, tax, and treasury functions, supporting global growth and critical business development initiatives, including key international reimbursement agreements for its cystic fibrosis medicines. Paul also contributed to business development transactions that enabled Vertex to advance into genetic and cell therapies. Additionally, Paul was an inaugural Board Member of the Vertex Foundation and founding executive sponsor of Vertex “PRIDE.”

Wendy is a biotechnology and life science executive with over 30 years of experience in drug discovery and development. As former senior vice president of small molecule drug discovery at Genentech, she oversaw the advancement of over 25 clinical candidates in oncology, immunology, neurology, and anti-infectives. Notably, she led the BTK program and co-invented fenebrutinib. Wendy was recently inducted into the American Chemistry Society Hall of Fame, and she has also been named “One of the Top 20 Women in Biopharma” by Endpoints News and “Most Influential Women in SF Bay Area” by the San Francisco Times.